#would anyone be interested in live/video lock screens? i used to do them but i feel like nobody uses them apart from me lol

[xinyuehui]

/ᐠ˵- ⩊ -˵マ Meow's Café Ⳋ

[lets-try-some-writing]

Emergency Protocols: To Preserve A Legacy

Optimus Prime has fallen, and now everyone must deal with the after effects of his sudden and horrific death. Knockout, unlike the rest of the Decepticons, has taken grim inspiration from the loss.

Part 1 here.

(Warning for robogore)

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“This is an order! Every mech will travel in a group until further notice!” Megatron’s order rang out on the bridge, earning frantic nods of understanding from every single Vehicon present. Starscream in particular seemed keen to obey an order for once and almost instantly grabbed a few Vehicons to stay by his side.

Knockout watched quietly, his optics never once leaving the screen above Megatron’s helm.

“I don’t care what you are doing or what your orders are. If I catch anyone alone, there will be consequences.” Megatron all but growled as he glared down at every one of his soldiers. Knockout’s optics cycled in quiet interest at the sight, but he refused to look away from the screen and the beginnings of grotesque suffering playing on it.

“The Autobots have begun to fall. We cannot risk such a fate ourselves.” The warlord’s words were frighteningly shaky as a video played on screen. It was a recording obviously taken by Soundwave, or perhaps Laserbeak. Whatever the case, it projected a scene of true horror.

Optimus Prime wailed in agony, his frame tearing itself apart as buds began to form all over him. One on each limb, and two great ones on his chassis and jetpack. He tore himself to pieces, ripping off armor and frantically screeching as his frame cannibilized itself to produce six new lives. That was a new record, at least in modern documentation. The largest recorded budding only produced five newbuilds. How very Optimus of him.

“Prime succumbed, and if a mech as mighty as him fell, any one of us is just as likely to suffer a similar end.” The recording zoomed in on Optimus’s expression of sheer agony as he tried to crawl on mutilated limbs. If things were different, Knockout might have gagged as he watched the Prime convulse, wheeze, and then fall still while whatever remained of him was consumed by his unwanted offspring.

As it was, Knockout found himself more intrigued than afraid, especially as the recording showed the six that came from the fallen Prime. Five of them were flight frames, an incredible oddity considering Optimus was, up until his reforging, a grounder. The sixth was the one that really caught his attention. The newbuild had Optimus’s structure, tapered waist, and overall build. But they had an interesting series of differences, a few of which felt vaguely familiar.

“Be wary! And never find yourselves alone! Until we can confirm that none of our number are liable to succumb to this brutality, this ship is on lockdown.” With a final wave of his servo, Megatron marched off, likely to hound Soundwave about something or other. The Vehicons filed off eventually, most huddled in groups of five or more to limit their fear. A few attempted to gather around Knockout, but he waved them off.

He didn’t want companionship. He had other plans.

Making his way back to the medical bay, Knockout quietly shut the door behind him and locked it. He settled at his console, tapping the device thoughtfully as he pulled up the recording of Optimus Prime’s final moments all over again. He really should have been disgusted or upset with what he was going to be seeing, but after so much loss, it was more interesting than anything else. Eventually, the Decepticons would have someone end up budding. After all, one budding meant that the situation was dire. Dire circumstances induced panic, and panic tended to make budding happen in other subjects even if their numbers were acceptable.

Stress was bound to get to them. After all, activation of the protocols needed for budding only required a deep sense of loneliness and isolation. If the crew felt that they were alone, those who were capable of budding were likely going to begin expiring one after another. The Vehicons would be fine, largely since they were the result of budding and cold forging. Empurata victims were incapable of budding since the entire section of their processor devoted to registering emotional distress was deactivated, so Shockwave would be fine. Beastformers tended to take longer to start budding, meaning that Arachnid would be alright on her own for a while. The same went for the Insecticons and the Predacons.

That left high command of both the Autobots and the Decepticons. Optimus had already keeled over, and considering how traumatic and sudden it was, Knockout didn’t doubt that someone else would follow after him. Probably Ratchet or the Prime’s unofficial ward. 

One by one, the shock and horror would get to all of them, regardless of faction.

They were well and truly slagged. Sooner or later, all the big players in the war would combust into several smaller and inexperienced idiots who would, inevitably, end the war at some point. Be it through extinction or peace, it wasn’t really important. Knockout personally had no desire to live in a world or on a restored Cybertron with a bunch of framewalkers who looked far too similar to old friends and foes for his liking. It all seemed so pointless. 

He was tired. That was the only way he had to describe the sheer apathy burning in his spark. Breakdown, his other half, was gone, taken by enemies who were now long dead and dispersed. There were no more victors to join, not when everyone would quickly be put on even ground once old grudges joined their holders in the grave. There was no point to all of it anymore. What did he have to gain from trudging ever onward? A restored homeworld? Sure, that might be nice for a grand total of five kliks, but it wouldn’t be the same without proper closure or Breakdown.

“If we’re all doomed anyway, we might as well make the most of it.” He grumbled, taking great care to not rub his face and ruin the polish, even though exhaustion weighed on him. They were all going down, so why not try and make it somewhat meaningful? Budding was a process that had not been properly studied since the Quintessons ruled. It either happened in private or it was so sudden that no real documentation could be made. Case point: Optimus’s spontaneous and gruesome death.

If he was going to die, he wanted to leave something behind and perhaps even secure his legacy with something important.

“Show me what you’ve got, sweet rims.” He pressed play on the video, leaning back in his chair as he sighed and observed Optimus’s final moments. He had to watch it three or four times before he became desensitized enough to actually start making note of things of interest, but he got there after a few sessions of wretching into his disposal unit.

Optimus’s early symptoms began with itching and, from the looks of it, twitchyness and emotional turmoil. That seemed about right overall. Then it seemed that as the budding began, tearing off armor was an instinctual response meant to allow the buds to grow without hindrance. The spine tearing out of the back appeared to just be a side effect of one of the buds developing in that location, as bones and other skeletal structures also tore free where buds developed on the Prime’s body. 

The malformation didn’t appear to be a necessary part of the process, but one that Optimus unfortunately endured due to the sheer number of buds on him. The buds themselves sucked protomatter right out of their host by liquidizing the host’s internals. A lot was lost, as evidenced by Optimus quite literally being dismeboweled via his innards turning to goo and oozing out of him. Frankly, it seemed that the process was largely streamlined. Optimus was just an unfortunate victim of Primely fertility.

If he were back on Cybertron, he might have broken the record again by producing more due to his increased mass prior to their arrival on the mudball they currently called their battlefield.

“Noted. More buds equals more pain.” He tapped the console methodically, watching again and again as Optimus wailed and endured a fate far worse than most other forms of death. Knockout took notes meticulously, observing with silent interest as he watched the buds develop over and over again. The biggest of the lot caught his attention more than the others. That one was obviously a powerhouse in the making, having Optimus’s overall frame structure. But there was something about the new build—something unique.

Once he recorded everything he could from the video, Knockout turned to the database. His digits flew across the keys until he pulled up Optimus’s record. A few passwords later, and he was looking at sensitive data that was only tenuiously confirmed. The Prime’s history in the archives, embarrassing and noteworthy developmental milestones, but most importantly, his relationships.

Optimus only had one confirmed romantic partner. The depth of their relationship was not recorded, but there were enough indicators of a spark merge having been involved for Knockout to feel fairly confident calling them Conjunxes. With that in mind, he pulled up the video again on his second screen, zooming in on the largest of the newbuilds hovering around Optimus’s battered corpse. 

He looked at Elita-One’s picture and then at the newbuild. The similarities were obvious. The frame shape, the kibble placement, even the newbuild’s optics. All of them were similar to Elita. Had the spark merged influenced the budding to produce a newbuild that possessed Optimus and Elita’s traits?

“A spark merge affecting a newbuild... it’s certainly not impossible.” He tapped the console with more frequency as he considered the possibilities. If all of high command was going to keel over, Knockout most likely included, why shouldn’t he research the process? Why shouldn’t he make the most of it? For Optimus and Elita to have produced a bud that carried both their traits after what might have only been a single spark merge...

He stood up sharply, his optics widened as he glanced over at the single piece of Breakdown’s armor he’d taken from the corpse as a keepsake. It sat innocently on his shelf, a reminder of the loss and now a symbol of possible hope.

“One merge. It only took them one merge.” He reached out to collect the piece of armor, a dark plan forming in the back of his processor. He didn’t necessarily want to die, but it was going to happen anyway. Sooner or later, he’d drop dead and spawn something that was but an echo of himself. Why not die on his own terms? He could study the process of budding and, if things worked out, preserve Breakdown’s legacy as well.

He’d keep his reputation as Cybertron’s finest medic through his research, and he’d be able to honor his fallen partner before joining him. It saved him from having to go on endlessly without the mech he loved most, and it meant that all his loose ends would be neatly tied up. He wouldn’t have to live in a world not his own with mecha mimicking the dead.

It would be painful, but he could limit that to a certain extent. 

"Well, Breakdown, it seems I’ll be seeing you soon enough.” A grin wormed its way onto Knockout’s features as he laughed and carried the piece of plating over to his workbench. There was much to do, and considering the panic amongst the crew, very little time.

“Lord Megatron, I’ll be performing a little analysis on some sensitive material over the course of the next deca-cycle or so. Don’t worry if I’m unavailable; my research will prove quite useful, I’m certain.” He sent his message to Megatron with quiet glee as he settled at his workbench. He had preparations to see to and he couldn’t afford an interruption. Not now.

“All alone now. It’s just us, Breakie.” Tapping the piece of plating, Knockout laughed again before gathering his determination to drop the piece into a vat. He placed the vat into one of his extractors and stepped back, looking over himself and his medical bay. While CNA was being extracted from Breakdown’s plating, Knockout could begin his real work.

He spent a whole cycle thinking through Optimus’s fate and preparing for every eventuality. He methodically, albeit with much chagrin, removed his outer armor. He would rather not endure the pain of ripping it all off in a frenzied madness and so opted to skip that step altogether. Once that was all removed, he began preparing various painkillers of different doses. Too much at one time might have a negative effect on himself or his spawn, so a gentle ramping up of the solution would be necessary. The finished solutions were left near the medical berth, ready to be used.

For good measure, he adjusted the straps on the medical berth to activate the moment he laid down and to deactivate once his vitals dropped beyond a certain threshold. He couldn’t risk the buds, not when they were going to be so vital to his goals.

“As much as I pride myself on my finish, I do think you’ll forgive me this once for not sporting the red you adored so much.” Knockout found himself laughing more and more in the quiet of his medical bay by just the second cycle of work. He had gone to great pains to continually keep himself from heading out for any reason, and so far it seemed to be working. He could feel a faint tingle underneath his plating.

He wasn’t quite sure if it was nerves getting to him or not, but as he handled a full vial of Breakdown’s CNA, he reassured himself of his goal. He was going to do this and document the whole affair.

This was fine. He was going to be fine. He wanted this. He’d get to see Breakdown again.

Right?

“Breakdown, I hope you aren’t going to be too upset. I’m doing this for both of us.” He spoke into the open air, quietly and with more than a little hesitance. It took all of his mental fortitude to keep it together when Megatron called him.

“Knockout, what in the Unmaker’s name are you doing?” The warlord’s glyphs were harsh and layered with over a dozen vaguely fearful undertones. Knockout would have grinned, but he couldn’t blame Megatron for being afraid. Optimus was dead. The Prime of Cybertron was not only gone, but the first to have perished. In a way, Knockout envied him. To be the first meant Optimus didn’t have to watch everyone crumble around him.

“Lord Megatron, as I stated in my previous message, I am working on something of incredible importance. Don’t worry your pretty little helm about it. The experiment shall conclude in a few cycles, just as planned.” He kept up his usual attitude of cockiness as he stared at scans he’d taken of his frame. According to what his machinery was gathering, his frame was starting to swell in places, small pockets of protomatter less than an inch in side, all forming one by one all over him like organic skin pores.

It was rather disgusting to think about it in that light.

“Do you have assistants with you? I will not risk this vessel’s only medical expert offlining.” Knockout fought back a scoff as he held the vial of Breakdown’s extracted CNA. He fiddled with the container, smiling as he replied.

“Of course. I have my most trusted assistant right by my side.” Megatron made a noise of agreement before shutting down the comm link. Knockout leaned against his console, fondling the vial a while longer as he looked up at his scans. 

Soon. Very soon.

The cycles wore on, and as they did, Knockout dutifully documented the changes. His need for fuel had drastically decreased, a sign of his frame preparing for something or other. Additionally, he was recharging more and more often and for longer periods of time. A certain level of lethargy hung in his limbs, making it difficult for him to continually make note of his circumstances and not leave his medical bay despite how much base instinct tried to get him to move and go toward where he knew there were others.

Megatron bothered him every now and then, but Knockout was quite skilled at keeping his tone even. The warlord suspected nothing, just like Knockout wanted. This was meant to be special—just him and Breakdown. He didn’t want his boss to come kicking the door down in an attempt to stop what had already begun and ruin the significance of it all.

“Till all are one... you know, Breakdown, I never really believed in that lovely quote from the Primacy. But I think it makes more sense now that we’re going to make something beautiful together.” He was tired, so very tired. But looking into the faint blue glow of the vial containing all that was left of his other half, Knockout found something akin to peace settling in his spark. His frame ached, but soon everything would be better.

“I miss when you held me in your arms and complimented my features. I don’t think I ever told you that the reason I kept up the red was because you liked it so much.” Leaning back in his chair, Knockout held the vial to his chassis, closing his optics in order to pretend that somehow, through some miracle, Breakdown was with him. He imagined firm servos on his shoulders, massaging tense cables and helping him unwind after a long cycle. 

Fond memories supplied him with a cheerful laugh filled with nothing but adoration as he and Breakdown playfully bantered, exchanging gossip like there wouldn’t be consequences if they were caught distracted. He recalled all their frantic couplings, never daring to risk taking too long to be one in mind and spark for fear of punishment. He wished he’d taken more time back then. He wished he’d savored the protective warmth of his companion’s spark brushing up against his own in the most intimate of kisses.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them from taking you.” Coolant gathered in his optics as his frame began to heat up in response to his unsettling emotional state. He felt the drops roll down his cheeks, but he didn’t wipe them away. He merely held the chilled vial close, desperately longing for a spark signature that was long gone. It was clinical, so very clinical... and there was no warmth to be found.

“I’m sorry, I’m too weak to go on without you. I know… I know you’d want me to live life to the fullest in your absence, but I can’t.” His composure cracked as he looked up at the ceiling, trying not to gaze around his medical bay in the vain hope that his beloved might still be there, gathering supplies or sorting through datapads on his behalf. 

He could hardly vent; it hurt so much.

“Not without you.” Primus was cruel to take a mech as good as Breakdown so soon.

The itching started around the fifth cycle of his isolation. It was faint at first, but then it grew more and more difficult to ignore. It felt like he was bloated, almost as if he had a series of microscopic tears in every single one of his fuel lines. He scratched without meaning to more often than not, and more than once he had to set his door to lock automatically to keep himself from running out.

Itching, itching, itching.

He wished Breakdown were there to caress his frame, chasing away the discomfort with loving touches and soothing words. For such a big mech, he was so very kind. 

But Breakdown was gone. He’d been gone for months now. All Knockout had left was a vial of his CNA. His forever’s final gift and remnant.

By the sixth cycle, taking decent notes was all but impossible. He settled on setting up a camera just above the medical berth for when he inevitably met his end. He was fidgety, itching, and nervous in a way he’d never been before. Sometimes he found himself pacing, muttering nonsense that he only managed to stop through sheer force of will.

The itch never stopped. 

Emotional codes became tangled and out of place. Priority calculations shifted and left him paranoid, leading Knockout to try and perform manual labor more than once before realizing he was out of his designated role. His protocols were blaring all the time, drowning out his vision with demands for him to find a group and to get to safety. He screamed at some point, clutching his helm and whimpering at how overwhelming it all was.

How had Prime dealt with it all before death all but snuck up on him?

On what he assumed was the seventh cycle, the itch turned to an infuriating burn. Clawing at his protoform and base armor wasn’t enough. It hurt, so much so that he could hardly see straight, much less make any logical decisions. All he had the strength to do was jab and IV with his painkillers into his arm and inject himself with Breakdown’s precious CNA before he collapsed onto his medical berth, the straps clamping down on his limbs.

The vial was discarded on the ground, empty, and used. Despite the fact that it no longer had anything of Breakdown left in it, Knockout wished he could hold it, if only to comfort himself as the pain increased.

Panic set in not long after the straps finished tightening. His venting hitched as the burn worsened. For a moment, he regretted every life decision he’d ever made, including his idiotic choice to go down in flames like he was taking one for the team. When had he ever been a team player? What the frag was wrong with him?

“Slag. This is going to hurt.” He winced, biting back a cry as he felt the first tears begin to form along his protoform. Optimus had skipped this part entirely, going straight for bone obliteration and internal shredding. Knockout almost wished he could do the same as cracks began running along his limbs, the angle of the medical berth letting him see how energon and protomatter started to swell in the wounds.

The painkillers were his salvation as he watched in grim fascination, observing as his very protoform bubbled as if an inflamed fuel line was growing and threatening to burst right beneath the surface layer of his very being. He bit his lower derma as his protoform continued to bulge, finally bursting in his legs and in his right arm. He didn’t dare cry out, instead forcefully silencing himself for as long as possible.

Screams would draw attention. Sound would ruin this precious moment between himself and what he was going to make. This was a family matter, his and Breakdown’s last gift to the world. It couldn’t be interrupted.

Cables burst, spurting energon that trickled down the medical berth and pooled on the ground beneath him. Wires and various connectivity tissues pulsed and all but slithered as the buds started to take shape. It hurt like slag, but it wasn’t as bad as it likely would have been without painkillers. The scene itself was still a work of horror, especially as the small mounds began to grow, their mass pushing aside everything else.

“Looks like at least one of these buds is going to turn out just like you, Breakdown! They’ve got your size already!” Knockout laughed, lost in medically induced mania as the bud on his left leg swelled and caused the entire limb to bloat. His pede shifted, deforming before snapping off entirely to allow the bud to consume the stump. Knockout did end up screaming as his bones snapped under the weight of the thing, every pain receptor in the limb activating in hot waves of agony.

The bone stuck out from his leg, jutting at an odd angle and glittering blue as if Primus himself had thrown some sort of polish on it. Knockout could see every single micro-connector within the broken skeletal structure, still pulsing with charge. The medic in him screamed, demanding he heal the wound. But he was well aware of his doom. The metal around his abdomen was already graying, a sign of severe energon loss.

There was no stopping it now.

The chorus of suffering was only added to as the two other buds performed similarly. The smaller one on his right leg bulged and crawled up his limb like mold, eating away at his plating with acidic effects that revealed delicate circitry that sizzled and popped as they were corroded. Knockout couldn’t have possibly predicted that outcome with how the bud on his left leg was acting. The one on his arm hurt the most, surprisingly. Knockout could hardly see through the coolant, causing his vision to become hazy, but he did note his digits doing the same thing that Optimus’s had before his death. They increased in size, the plating oozing with protomatter before cracking and all but exploding to make way for the bud.

The remnants of his digits were nothing more than thin skeletal bones connected only by tender ligaments, which had quickly begun to lose their strength. 

He shrieked as the painkillers were overridden by the sheer amount of torment assaulting him. There was no comfort to be found as he started to flail, composure fleeing him as he cried out for anyone to help him. He was sure he screamed for Breakdown most, but at some point he must have cried for someone else as well, because he started to hear murmurs outside his medical bay. A Vehicon must have noted his wails.

“Breakdown-!” He sobbed against his restraints, hardly able to watch as more and more parts of his very frame tore themselves apart. The buds did not climb higher than their sectioned limbs, but they consumed, ripped, and tore. There was so much blue. So much blue...

Crack after crack, cry after cry. It blended into a meaningless babble. 

At some point, the agony almost entirely ceased as weight dropped off Knockout like a heavy burden long forgotten. The straps holding him came undone, leaving him to lay there, bleeding out and struggling to keep his fans running. The relief he felt was palpable as he reveled in the lack of pain. Although the chill that crept into what remained of his frame did little to comfort him.

Once he’d cleared the coolant from his optics, he mustered the will to look toward the ground where the three buds floundered. The sticky mounds convulsed, thin stick-like limbs jutting out in almost spider-like fashion before more living metal could wreath the limb in musculature and mass. The things looked horrifying as faces tore themselves from the masses, gaping intakes and lightless optics appearing half melted before they convulsed a few more times and finally booted online.

Knockout’s venting slowed as energon loss began to set in. The painkillers were finally doing their slagging job, giving him a half-decent look at his spawn as they stood up one by one, looking over their frames with the innocence of the newly forged. The newbuilds were so very fascinating, so very... Breakdown, each in their own way.

“You are not supposed to be alive.” The biggest of the bunch, a heavy-set newbuild with a rounded helm structure and bright headlights already in formation, addressed Knockout quietly. There was no mockery, no insults, merely an observation. This was like him. Knockout could see it in the red optics that met his own. They were modeled just like Breakdown’s.

“Just had to make sure... that you lot carried Breakdown... in your CNA as well.” His voice came out as little more than a pitiful wheeze, but Knockout didn’t have the presence of mind of care as the other two stared at him. The smallest of the ground was also quite a bulky thing, another of Breakdown’s traits. They shone with gold optics, so reminiscent of his beloved.

“I don’t think you have to worry about that, originator.” The smallest one looked him up and down, likely assessing the horror that was Knockout’s devastated frame. He managed a grim laugh at that, even as his senses started to dull.

“You look just like him.” Knockout coughed up energon, his spark flaring painfully in remembrance as the last of the newbuilds waved to him shyly. The newbuild was blue and orange, looking almost exactly like his other creator in all but accenting paint and digits. He had Knockout’s claws, a fact that brought him no small amount of pride.

“You’ve done well, originator. Return to your Conjunx. We will take over from here.” The biggest of the newbuilds touched Knockout’s helm, caressing his helm crest and audials in a fond manner. His venting hitched again, this time in loss as he looked over all three of his spawn.

Breakdown would have been thrilled to meet them.

“Your… designations?” His vision started to fail him as he stared at the three. They shared a look, and then all of them smiled.

“Flatline of Knockout and Breakdown.” The largest answered first, bringing more tears to Knockout’s optics as he heard both his and his beloved’s designation. They were both honored here.

“Quickmix.” The smallest replied curtly, but they were kind enough to touch Knockout’s shoulder in their form of a silent goodbye. They reminded Knockout of himself when he was young. At least this one would have siblings to help them along.

“Wildbreak... of Knockout and Breakdown.” The last of the bunch uttered their name quietly, but with a hint of awe. Knockout couldn’t help but smile as his vision failed him and the touches of his three creations lingered on his frame.

This... this had been worth it.

“We did it… Breakdown.” His voice was lost as his hearing started to putter out. The last thing he heard was his door crashing down and the booming voice of Megatron echoing in his medical bay.

“KNOCKOUT-!”

[the-soliloquies-of-sadists]

#365

“I just got the notice.  It’s done.  I never thought I would have seen a wire transfer of fifty thousand dollars into my account.  OK shithead, you are for real.  Get naked.  I want to inspect my property.  That’s what you are to me.  You are a cunt.  You are a toilet.  You are a punching bag.  You are whatever the fuck I want to make of you.  Right now, I want you naked…. 

“I don’t give a shit about those two drivers over there.  Leave your clothes right there, but hand me your phone.  Look at the screen.  I saw your post to Facebook.  You were able to follow orders.  The video was short and to the point.  You let your family and friends know that you met a hot daddy that you are moving in with, and that you will be living off the grid and that you won’t be able to respond to anyone for a long time.  You actually told them not to worry, that you trust me.  That last part was a nice added touch.

“What’s your passcode?...  I’m going to change it and then deactivate the facial recognition.  Your phone will be locked away, but I will still need to access it from time to time—you know, for the $5,000 monthly payment to me.  Which reminds me, what is your password for money transfers?...  Ok.  This is your first real test….  Yup that works.  I’m going to change that code later.

“Stand up and turn around.  Let me see what I own for the next year.  Nice tiny pecker.  Don’t like that it feels that it is free to get hard.  I completely understand why it is hard.  I’m that fucking hot.  When I install you inside the cab, I’ll have a cage to put on it.  It won’t come off too often, if ever. 

“Are you naturally smooth, or do you shave your chest?...  Good.  No manly pelt for you, God made sure of it.  Your pubes will come off in a bit too.  Turn around, let me see my new fuck hole….  Nice and hairless.  You douched out like I told you?  Good.  We’ll get you set up for cleaning out while on the road.  How many times in the past week have you been bred?... 

“Interesting.  I don’t get it.  You are quite cute.  You seem to have no problem getting men to fuck you.  You have money, enough to not only pay me over 100K across the next year, but you can take a year off to be tied up, roughed up, fucked up in the back cab of some unknown brutal asshole truck driver.

“I don’t know what you are running from.  And I don’t care.  What I do care about is I don’t want some drama creeping into my cab, during the year you are with me and the time after.

“Get on your knees and look up and into your phone’s camera.  I want you to say the following in your own words.  That you come here of your own choice.  You are paying me $50,000 up front to live in cab with me, and $5,000 each month.  This is non-refundable at any time.  You want to be controlled by me in all aspect of your life.  You know that I am a brutal sadistic man.  Sex with me is not a guarantee and is not part of the money paid.  I want you to beg on camera for me to brutally use you, sexually and otherwise.  That includes using you anyway I see fit.  You consent to all my demands.  You can revoke it at any time and terminate our agreement.  In fact you know either of us can terminate this role.  If I do it, you will be left naked on the side of the road somewhere.  If you do it for any reason, then you would gladly pay me a penalty of additional $50K, transferred from this phone.  You will beg to be bound for most of the day.  You will beg for me to humiliate you and degrade you.  You got all that?

“Good.  Now look at your phone’s camera…. Wait I should also get you on my camera too.  Can’t be too cautious….  Focus your attention on your phone, and… go….

––––

“That’s done.  So now let’s get you locked up properly in the cab.  Come here.  When crawling into my cab and I’m right behind you, pause and lean over my seat.  Stick your pussy out.  Let the world see your ass.  I want to check out my new fuck hole. 

“This is a pretty pussy.  Oh there is some hair back here.  Don’t start yelping now.  I just yanked out a couple.  There’s a lot more to pull out.  What?  You think I’m going to use my clippers on a pussy?  Or your crotch?  Fuck that.  You’ll be fine with a yank or two… or twenty, or whatever it takes. 

“If you are going to have an issue that I’m going to yank out your hair, this is not going to go well for you.  If you can’t handle one minute with me, how the hell are you going to last for a year?  You paid for one year to submit to a sadistic trucker with one the fattest cocks out there.  Do you still want to do this?  Or are you living in a fantasy world?  If you want to bail, now is the time.  I will pull out of here, leaving you naked without your phone.  And I will definitely make sure that the penalty fee is transferred to my account before you can even make it over to one of those two drivers over there.

“What’s it going to be?  Climb down and go over to them, or climb into the bunk on your back and get your legs up high.  You have ten seconds to decide your next year.

“Atta faggot.  When you get up there, you’ll see some ankle and wrist cuffs.  Go ahead and put them on.  I need to secure your shit. 

––––

“Hey shithead.  I talked with one of the other drivers who was watching you present yourself to me.  He wants to fuck you.  I told him that I will only let him if he’s brutal.  He just smiled and said, ‘Ohhhhh I can do that.’  So it looks you got your first fuck customer. 

“Damn you look good.  But let’s get you secured.  These wrist restraints get clipped here.  You secure?...  Good.  Now this ankle goes over here.  The hard one is this last ankle.  The fags I secure always find this difficult….  Relax.  Relax this leg.  Fucker, just suffer through the pain.  This is the pose you will be in as we drive across the country; your cunt leading the way.

“Now for this.  See this.  This is not your ordinary chastity cage.  No this one flattens your dick head to just over half an inch.  There is no way for you pull out.  Your balls, as tiny as they are, are pushed in your taint region so that when you sit down, you will crush them.  You won’t be able to get a hard on due to the pain it causes.  This is going to hurt. 

“Scream.  I don’t give a fuck.  This is going on.  There!  Now for the lock….  With that click, this is not coming off. 

“Oh shit!  He’s already here.

“Come on up….  I was about to cunt the fag.  You can watch….  I just need to remove some of his pubes.  Get over there so you can watch.  I don’t use a clipper or anything like that.  I just grab a hold of a tuft and yank it out.  The faggots always scream when I do that.  That’s music to my ears.  Gets me rock hard.

“No, you can leave the curtain open.  I don’t give a shit who sees me take ownership of this fagmeat.  If the other driver wants to join, so be it.  This is the pussy’s first moments submitting to me; he needs to know what’s in store for him for the next year.

“Hey shithead, open your fucking mouth.  Eat your pubic hair.  Chew and swallow.  Everything that gets yanked out goes right into your mouth.

“That’s what you got to do to these fags.  He knew that I am a sadistic bastard when he agreed to live with me for a year.  He knew that’s what he was paying me for….

“Yeah, he paid me fifty thousand to ride with me and ride me….  No shit!  And he’s paying me five thousand every month.  Fuck yeah.  The first transfer went through about ten minutes ago.  A friend of mine told me that I should be charging for my fat cock.  He told me about a site where this type of shit goes on.  I posted that I’m a driver with a seven by eight-inch dick looking for a hole to fuck while on the road for the next year.  I jokingly put a fifty-thousand-dollar price tag, and wouldn’t you know it within a week, this faggot replied.  Once I showed him a pic of my cock and me next to my tractor, he wanted to throw money at me. 

“Open up.  Eat this last tuft.  I will save the rest of your snatch for another time.  It’s time for me to fuck this cunt.  Let me show you the dick that will own your life.  Look at it.  It’s barely rock hard, and it’s already fatter than a beer can.  You got me leaking boy.  There is so much slop under my foreskin.  You will be expected to clean me up every day, after every time I fuck you.

“Hand me some of that lube.

“Hey shithead.  You ready to be cunted?  The lube goes on for my pleasure, not yours….

“Scream fucker scream.  Right to the root.  Resist or accept me, I don’t give a shit.  I’m going to dump my three-day load into you through all your screaming.  You want me to cum faster, keep screaming.  It ain’t going to take me long.  First cuntings never do.  Your pussy walls are like silk on my dick.  Oh fuck.  I’m gonna cum. 

“Look up at me.  You know I own you?  You know this cunt is mine?  Just nod.  Good.  You want this load?  Of course, you do.  It’s what you live for.  It’s gonna cost you though.  Look at my fist.  Here comes your first black eye.

“BOOM!  Fuck yeah.  And I’m gonna cum.  I’m gonna cum!  Ahhhhhh!  Ahhhhhh.  Fuck yeah.

“Whew!  That was fucking good.  You’re up!...  What?  That bother you?  Then don’t fuck him.  I don’t give a shit.  Besides, I love giving black eyes.  My favorite part is making the fagmeat respond ‘I didn’t listen’ to any inquiry as to how it happened.  Damn.  Thinking about that is getting me hard again.  He’s already starting to regain consciousness.

“Hey Shithead!  Rise and shine in the summertime!

“Your dick is still hard.  Go on.  Fuck him…. Yeah, there you go.  Go on give it to him.  You said you would be brutal.  Fuckin’ be brutal….  Yeah yank his nips right off.  He needs to know the year of hell that lies in front of him.”

[ravenzeppeli]

Permanence |Yandere Mista x Reader Angst|

Warning: physical violence mention, threats, unhealthy relationship, emotional abuse, manipulation.

      “If you ever decide to hurt me or break up with me I would cut off your right hand as punishment,” Mista muttered as you entered his room, his dark bottomless eyes focused on the video game that was in front of him, his fingers going to work on the controller. “I got the idea when we got into that fight last night, I know you did not threaten to leave me, but you could have, and I won’t allow that.”

       You sat down next to him on his bed, your eyes on not the screen but him. You turned to face him, watching him as his eyes stayed steady on the screen, his dark eyebrows raised in concentration. “What happens if you ever decide to leave me?” You questioned softly, placing your hands in your lap, staring at your right hand. Leave him? You couldn’t possibly ever dream of that. You were a loner like him - that was what brought the two of you together.

        The ones who sat at the back of the classroom so nobody would talk to them, the ones who were never quite able to get close to anyone until his dark eyes locked onto yours one day as you walked down the hallway. Rows and rows of people walking side by side, friends and lovers, siblings and enemies - everyone had someone except for the two of you. Then one day the two of you had each other, when Mista approached you and asked you to eat lunch with him you found someone to cure your loneliness, despite him having.. unhealthy tendencies.

      You’ve never had anyone obsessed with you or even remotely interested in you so it was a lot to get use to, always having your mobster boyfriend stalking behind you, never giving you a single moment of space. He even waited for you outside of the girls' bathroom when you needed to go to school, and he always snuck into your window at night. He went from being a stranger to being everywhere in a matter of days. You didn’t do anything to stop it.. you were too afraid of being alone again.

      Once you got a taste of love, a feeling of what it was like to have someone to talk with and spend time with, you couldn’t imagine what it would be like to live without it. When you’ve been lonely for so long, you grow desperate, clinging to the idea of having someone no matter what the price may be. The price could be your hand, but he had only ever pushed you and forced you to stay at his home.. he had never threatened you like that before. What was with him?

      A low chuckle escaped his full lips as he paused his game, sitting the controller on the floor as he turned his body to face yours, sitting cross-legged. “I am never going to leave you, I am in love with you, and I only want you. I don’t care if you don’t love me either. It won’t change how I feel.”

      You turned to face him well, copying the way he was sitting, your hands now resting at your sides, pressing into the soft mattress. “Isn’t threatening to cut off my hand a little cruel, Mista? It’s unsettling when you speak to me like this or hit me. Can we just be a normal couple like the ones in school? I don’t think hitting is normal.” You’ve never been in a relationship, but it wasn’t like this in the movies at all.

        “Babe, hitting is completely normal when you’re the one in the wrong. As the one in charge in our relationship, I hold the authority. You never see these kinds of things in school because these matters should always be handled privately,” he spoke to you calmly, a small but awkward smile appearing on his lips as he raised his palm, placing it on top of your head. “Besides, I'm dropping out of school. I'm in the mafia now, fuck school. Once you graduate in a few months you can move in with me. I'll cut your leg off if you don't."

       “Why would you want to cut my leg off? Wouldn’t that kill me?” You questioned, staring into his calm dark eyes as he spoke about cutting your body parts off. You’ve never mentioned leaving him and despite thinking about it you’re too much of pussy to actually leave him. These threats should be sending you running but he was saying that the two of you had a normal relationship- did you? “Why would you do that to me?” You were uncertain. How could you know?

        “I would cut your leg off so that you would always be fully dependent on me to take care of you. Without a hand, you could still take care of yourself, but without a leg, you would never be able to leave my side,” he said calmly, his hand staying on top of your head. “But I know that you wouldn’t leave me, right? Without me, you would be all alone again with nobody to love you. Is that what you want?” He tilted his head to the side, a few dark strands of hair sticking out from his beanie.

       You shook your head, “I don’t want to be alone again. You don’t have to worry about me leaving, you won’t have to cut off my hand or my leg so just please relax.” You reached a hand forward, gently but still so awkwardly rubbing his knee. “You have no need to worry. I care about you, and you also scare me, so I won’t be leaving any time soon.” You were always completely honest with him. He wouldn’t hit you for being honest unless it insulted himself.

       “Good, I am glad that I have installed some fear in you. Hold onto that fear and remember that those were not threats but promises, and you will get no second chance. You will just suffer,” he said, finally removing his hand from your head, his warm hand covering yours. “Also, if I cut off your leg, it will not kill you. I’ve already researched everything. Why would I ever kill my girlfriend?” He kept his head tilted to the side, his small smile growing wider, a sinister grin appearing on his lips. He was a predator, and you were his prey.. you knew that now.

       “Whatever you want, that is fine with me. I’ll just listen and be happy that I’m with you,” you said, a small amount of fakeness in your tone that he and yourself would never speak on. Guido Mista was your boyfriend, and he was going to be your boyfriend for the rest of his life. You didn’t know what this was, but you knew one thing - you weren’t alone anymore, and you never would be again.

[torreshalstead]

Family means family

Summary - After Stella dies on a call, Kelly locks himself away and refuses to see anyone including his daughter. There was only person who could pull Kelly out of the spiral he was in, yet he was 2000 miles away. But a single phone call from the last person Matt Casey expected to hear from changes that.

Warnings - Major Character Death

Notes - this is a prequel to Memories Bring Back You. That fic goes against my own long held headcannon that Severide is the most likely character to die from a broken heart so it was interesting to delve into a situation where he can’t do that and how that would impact him. This came out with a lot more Brettsey in than I had originally planned but I’m not mad about it! You don’t have to have read MBBY for this to make sense, they are standalone. Hope you enjoy! AO3 Link

Matt Casey finally had a second to sit down after an incredibly busy shift. When he hadn’t been on a call, he was busy running drills trying to get a couple of new firefighters on his rig up to scratch. They weren’t quite the same as his Truck crew back in Chicago but he was determined to make them as good as they could possibly be. He did enjoy seeing them grow and develop but he was still tired and was looking forward to a quick lie down, if the bells would allow it.

It wasn’t the bells that hindered his sleep however, it was his phone ringing and a glance down at the screen showed it was possibly the last person he had expected to see calling him.

He swiped his thumb across the screen to answer the call.

‘Hey,’ he said, unsure what tone he should be taking.

‘Hey Matt, I’m sorry to call but…’ Sylvie’s voice tailed off. It was quieter and shakier than he remembered. He knew her well enough to understand that this was not going to be a catch up call.

‘No, it’s okay, what’s up?’ He asked, his uncertainty turning to concern.

‘It’s not me, it’s Stella,’ he heard her sniff as she stifled a small sob. Matt sat up straighter.

‘What happened?’ He asked quietly, a lump growing in his throat knowing this couldn’t be anything good. He had spoken to Stella just last week. Lizzie had wanted to show him a painting she had done of him and Kelly, so Stella had video called him. She had seemed fine then. That meant that something must have happened on a call.

‘There was an accident’, Sylvie took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself but it came out shaky. ‘She didn’t make it out of a storage unit fire…’

Matt’s head dropped to his hands, it felt like a piece of his heart had been chipped off at his her words. He had known Stella for years, lived with her for a few. Watched her develop into the most incredible firefighter and leader. Been an incredible wife to his best friend and seen her become the most wonderful mother to Lizzie. That she had been taken from her family, both the one with her husband and daughter and the one at the firehouse. It wasn’t fair.

‘Kelly needs you Matt, I don’t want to ask or tell you what to do-’

‘No, I’m on the first flight.’ He interrupted with a small shake of his head. It was his best friend. There was nothing to keep him from Chicago at this point. ‘Thanks for calling Sylvie,’ he said softly, knowing it would have been hard for her to pick up the phone to call anyone and tell them about Stella, let alone call him.

‘They’re our family,’ she said quietly.

‘How are you doing?’ He asked, knowing that Sylvie always put everyone else's needs above her own and he doubted this time would be any different.

‘I.. I haven’t processed it yet. I don’t think any of us have. Just trying to hold it together for Severide’, she sniffed. ‘He’s in a bad way Matt’.

‘I wish I could say I would expect something else but he loves her with everything he has. Has he told Lizzie?’

‘That’s part of the problem. He hasn’t seen her since it happened yesterday. Sorry I didn’t ca-’

‘No no, it’s fine. I get it Sylvie, I do. Where is she then?’ He asked, knowing his best friend must be in an awful place if he was refusing to see his daughter.

‘She’s with Cindy and Hermann, she just thinks they are both working late I think. I’ll explain everything else when you get here. Let me know which flight you get on and I’ll pick you up.’

‘Okay. And thank you Sylvie, I’m glad it was you that called,’ he smiled softly, allowing himself a moment of comfort.

‘Of course, I’ll see you soon Matt’. And with that the call ended. And Matt was sitting alone in his office with the knowledge that one of his closest friends was no longer with them and his best friend was in agonising pain and he was almost 2000 miles away.

—————————————————————————

His chief had granted him the furlough immediately, no questions asked. He hadn’t even gone back home, just grabbed his station bag which had a couple of changes of clothes in it and headed straight to the airport. He had enough friends in Chicago that someone could lend him some clothes if needed. He didn’t want to waste any time.

Matt didn’t know what he would find when he touched down in Chicago but if Sylvie had called him, he knew it wouldn’t be anything good. Kelly had suffered loss before, more loss than one person should experience in their life and to have his wife taken away from him and leave him as a single parent, it was just cruel.

When Kelly had taken the OFI position after Stella had given birth, Matt wasn’t even a little bit surprised. He knew how much he loved his wife and Stella was just at the beginning of her career. She still had so much to give to the CFD. Severide had always been exceptional at arson investigation and if it meant he could be at home for his daughter then it made perfect sense.

However Matt knew his best friend, had known him and worked alongside him for years, so he knew that somewhere inside he would be questioning if he had been on the call if he could have helped, or even saved her. Without knowing the exact details of the call Matt couldn’t give a definitive answer but knew that if Kelly had been there, the likeness was that Lizzie would have lost both of her parents that day and Matt would be flying back to his home city for an even more heartbreaking reason.

Before he got on the flight, he dropped Sylvie a message to let her know when he was due to land, with a caveat to say she didn’t need to pick him up and he could get an Uber. He knew that she would be waiting for him at the arrivals gate though. He had also sent a message to Boden, Cruz, Hermann and Mouch to let them all know he was on his way back and that Sylvie had filled him in. He wished he was heading back to see his friends for a more positive reason but some small part of him was glad he would be around people experiencing the same grief he was. If he had had to go through losing Stella alone in Oregon, well, he’s not sure he could have.

—————————————————————————

As he had expected, Sylvie was waiting for him when he got through the arrivals gate. He could feel the nerves and the sense of uneasiness coming off of her as soon as he spotted where she was standing. She was tugging her sleeves over her hands, glancing around and nibbling her bottom lip. He hadn’t seen her since the morning after Kelly and Stella’s wedding, they had said goodbye at her apartment door as she had to go to shift and he had a flight to catch. They hadn’t spoken aloud the thought they were both sharing, that it might be the final time to see each other. They just held each other closely.

He walked over to her and before saying anything wrapped her tightly in his arms. He knew it had been the right decision when he felt her stiffness disappear and she melted into his embrace. He didn’t loosen his hold when he felt her shake and her tears wet his neck, he just let her cry in his arms. He felt the tears begin to spill from his own eyes but didn’t care enough to wipe them away. They were both sad, a horrible thing had happened and crying was a natural response, what onlookers thought didn’t matter right now.

‘Hi,’ he said softly when she eventually pulled back. He reached to wipe a stray tear from her cheek, not questioning how easy it was to fall back into simple physical contact with her.

‘Hi,’ she echoed. ‘That all you bring?’ she asked, nodding to the bag which was slung over his shoulder.

‘Yep, came straight from the firehouse, figured I could borrow some clothes off people if I need to’, he said as the pair started to walk towards the exit.

‘I still have a few of your things,’ Sylvie said quietly, a hint of embarrassment laced through her voice.

‘Then that’s perfect’, he said, smiling to dissuade her of those feelings. He still had a couple of her shirts in the back of his closet too. Getting rid of them had always felt too final. ‘Is Severide at the loft?’ He asked.

‘We think so’, she answered. ‘We haven’t seen him since the hospital. But that must have been where he went.’

‘Okay, so first stop is there? Then go see Lizzie?’ Sylvie nodded in agreement. First thing first, he had to see if he could coax his oldest friend out to see his one and only daughter, Matt knew it would be a challenge but knew he needed to succeed. For Kelly’s own sake.

—————————————————————————

The drive to the loft was bizarre. The air was thick with everything they weren’t saying. Matt was fighting the urge to reach across the centre console to hold Sylvie’s hand or rest his hand on her leg like they used to. What had brought them back together was something so tragic but the fact it could have been anyone who came to pick him up brought him an ounce of hope. Maybe it was wrong to feel this way considering where they were driving and what would be waiting for him but in the same breath he knew that Stella would want everyone to be happy.

When they pulled up to the loft, it was eerily quiet.

‘I’ll wait in the car for you. If you can get him out then I’ll drive you both to Hermann’s, I don’t imagine he’s in a fit state to drive,’ Sylvie said as she put her car in park.

‘Okay, I’ll leave you with my bag?’ he asked as he got out of the car, Sylvie nodded.

The walk up to the loft was bizarre, almost a sense of deja vu took over him, having walked this route for many years but not being back to visit in some time. Although he knew there was likely to be a spare key above the door frame, now was not quite the time to invade his friend's privacy. He would wait to see if he would be invited in, so knocked the door loudly and waited.

He couldn’t hear any movement inside but Kelly’s Mustang and Stella’s Jeep had been outside, along with his bike so Matt knew he was inside.

‘Kelly, it’s Matt, you going to let me in?’ He said loudly after a couple of moments, accompanying it with another loud knock. ‘I’m so sorry about Stella, Sylvie told me. I can’t imagine what you’re going through. Open up and we can talk about it?’ When he still received no response, he tried another tack. ‘Sylvie and I were going to go and see Lizzie, I’m sure she’d like to see her dad? You could come with us?’

After another few moments of silence, Matt decided today was clearly not the day. Grief worked in funny ways and if Severide needed another day of solitude then Matt was going to be the one to grant that.

‘I’m going to go now Kelly but if you need me I’m at the other end of the phone. I’ll give Lizzie your love and I’ll be back tomorrow. And I really am sorry mate’. He hung his head and rested his palm against the door, hoping for a moment that Kelly would open the door but when that didn’t occur, he turned around and walked back to the car and to Sylvie.

‘You tried’, Sylvie said solemnly when he climbed back into her car.

‘I guess, let’s go see Lizzie and we can try again later’, Matt said. He hadn’t seen Lizzie in person since she was a baby, when Stella and Kelly had surprised him with a visit, although he spoke on the phone with her a lot so he was excited to see her. A pang deep in his chest reminded him that she didn’t know her mother had died and her father had locked himself away from the world. Maybe that was best, he thought, to give her another day before her life was irrevocably changed forever.

—————————————————————————

When Matt knocked on the door to the Hermann residence, with Sylvie behind him, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep it together in front of the little girl but knew he had to.

Hermann opened the door and immediately pulled him into a hug. The older firefighter was not usually one to initiate physical contact but Matt held him tightly anyway.

‘Good to see you man’ he said when he finally pulled back. ‘Did you see him?’

Matt shook his head dejectedly, ‘wouldn’t open the door’.

‘Same for all of us. Come on in then, the little one is in the garden playing.’ He stood back to let them in, ‘hey there Brett’, he added when Sylvie passed him with a sad smile.

The house was devoid of its usual hubbub. There had always been kids running around, the smell of something delightful coming from the kitchen, but today it was void of all of that as they walked through to the backyard.

Lizzie Severide was sitting on the swing set, kicking her feet against the dirt but not attempting to swing any further than the couple of inches it was moving as a result of her motions. When the door opened and Casey and Syvlie stepped out, her head shot up and a sudden look of disappointment flickered across her young face when the people at the door were not the ones she was clearly waiting for. The excitement when she realised who it was took over quickly however and she squealed with excitement before jumping off the swing and running towards the pair, throwing herself at Matt’s legs.

‘Uncle Matt!’ she said excitedly as he knelt down and pulled her into a tight hug.

‘Hey kiddo,’ he said as he kept the little girl cradled against his chest, trying to pour all the love he had for her into it. ‘How are you?’ he said as he pulled back slightly, keeping his hands on the tops of her arms, squeezing lightly.

‘Good. Cindy made brownies,’ she said excitedly, tugging at the bottom of her shirt and bouncing from foot to foot. ‘But Mommy and Daddy are working,’ she said, pushing her bottom lip out. The pout he was sure could get his best friend to do anything his daughter asked.

‘They are, they have important jobs. But I know they love you lots and lots,’ Matt said and pulled a smile onto his face, shielding the pain.

‘I know,’ Lizzie said with a smile, clearly it was something her parents told her a lot. Good, Matt thought, she should be told it as often as possible.

‘Did you see who I brought with me?’ Matt asked, nodding his head up at Sylvie. Lizzie’s head spun around quickly to look where he was nodding, the smile widened on her face as she realised who had come to visit with her favourite Uncle.

‘Auntie Betty!’ Matt had to stifle a laugh at this and shot Syvlie a questioning look.

‘People were calling me both Sylvie and Brett and somehow Auntie Betty was born,’ she chuckled lightly.

‘I like it,’ Matt said with a wink.

‘Only I call Auntie Betty!’ Lizzie said firmly, the little girl clearly had her mothers fire within her.

‘Of course, only you get to call me Auntie Betty,’ Sylvie smiled and ran her hand over the girl's head, her curls were attempting to be restrained with some tight dutch braids but a few flyways were escaping.

‘Uncle Matt’, Lizzie said, turning back to Casey, an inquisitive look in her eyes.

‘Yes Lizzie’, he said, dreading the question that was coming next.

‘When Mommy and Daddy coming home?’ She looked down at the floor sadly. This had clearly been a question she had asked numerous times since she had arrived at the Hermann’s.

Sylvie had explained on the drive to the loft earlier what had happened. Kelly had brought Lizzie to the firehouse to celebrate her birthday and surprise Stella, that’s when the call to the storage facility came in. Kelly and Lizzie had stayed at the firehouse, assuming the call wouldn’t take too long and they could continue the birthday celebrations afterwards. When the worst had happened, Boden had called Kelly immediately knowing he would want, more accurately, would need to be there. Kelly left Lizzie at the firehouse with Stephanie, Kylie’s replacement, and Cindy had picked her up from there. Lizzie hadn’t seen her father since.

Kelly had pulled up to the scene and it had been worse than anyone had imagined. Cruz and Boden had to physically restrain him to stop him running into the building that was still burning. Sylvie’s eyes had filled with tears when she had been telling Matt how Kelly hadn’t stopped calling Stella’s name, his voice getting more hoarse with each yell.

When she had been brought out by the Truck crew, Kelly had attempted to resuscitate her himself, yelling at everyone that he could help her, he could bring her back. The rest of them had looked on in desperation, no one knowing when they should pull him back.

Finally, Boden had pulled him back. He had fallen to his knees and hadn’t said anything else. The tears stopped and he just watched them load her into the ambulance. Sylvie described it as seeing his soul disappear, it was like it was just Kelly’s body, he wasn’t in there anymore, his eyes had grown empty and he hadn’t said anything else.

Cindy and Hermann had expected Kelly to come and pick Lizzie up after leaving Med but he hadn’t shown. They had tried calling, Sylvie and Joe had gone round to the loft but there had been no answer. They hadn’t seen or heard from him since.

‘As soon as they can sweetie,’ Matt said, hoping the small white lie wouldn’t come back to haunt him. ‘How about we go inside and have one of those yummy brownies and you can tell me everything you’ve been up to since I’ve seen you last?’

Lizzie took a moment to contemplate before she nodded with a smile and tugged on Matt’s hand, pulling him towards the kitchen.

——————————————————————————

‘Can you drop me off at the loft?’ Matt asked as the pair got back into the car having spent the last couple of hours hearing all about what Lizzie had been drawing or making or eating. Once you got the little girl talking, there’s no way to stop her. It was refreshing, Matt had thought, she was such a happy child, he really hoped she’d be able to keep that spark even when the awful news was broken to her.

‘Are you going to try and talk to him again?’ Sylvie asked curiously.

‘Figured I’d fill him in on how Lizzie is doing and hope that works, then I’ll kip on the couch’.

‘And if it doesn’t, you plan on sleeping in the hallway?’ She chuckled.

Matt ran his hand over his chin, his 5 o’clock shadow firmly adorning his cheeks. ‘Guess I hadn’t really thought that far’, he admitted bashfully.

‘Okay, well if you can’t get through to him, I’ll wait downstairs and you can crash with me,’ Matt’s head swivelled quickly towards her, ‘I have a perfectly good couch Matt, you know that.’

‘Guess I do’, he smiled. ‘Thanks Sylvie, that sounds like a plan’.

‘I’ll give you 20 minutes, if I don’t hear from you then I’ll assume you’re staying with Severide, okay?’ Matt nodded in agreement as they continued their way towards the loft.

The climb up to the loft felt less unusual this time, but Matt had less hope that his friend would open the door than he had had previously. He knew Kelly well enough to know that he would have gone completely into his shell and it would take a lot to get him out of it.

He had debated bringing Lizzie back with him, knowing that Severide would have to open the door to his daughter. But having no idea what state Kelly was in on the other side of the door, he didn’t want to subject Lizzie to that. He would give Kelly one more chance to let him in of his own volition before he resorted to more drastic methods.

He knocked the door slightly harder than he had done when he had been here a few hours ago, thinking maybe it was just that he had been in his bedroom and couldn’t hear him knocking.

‘Sev, hey. It’s me again. I’ve just come from seeing Lizzie. She misses you man, is asking about you and Stella. I just told her that you both loved her.’ Matt took a deep breath before continuing. ‘It can’t come from anyone else but you Kelly, and I know that’s awful and painful, but it has to. She can’t hear this when she hasn’t got you there to turn to. You’re all she’s got. She needs you.’

‘She’s grown so much man, and she’s the spitting image of Stella. She’s so smart too, took great pride in telling me all the things Hermann does wrong around the house that Cindy has to correct him. You must be so proud of her.’

‘I’m going to go now, give you a little bit more time. But I’ll be back first thing tomorrow. And Sev, I’m coming in whether you like it or not. And I really would prefer if you opened the door for me, don’t want to screw my shoulder up again by barging it down. But I will.’

As he turned to leave, he stopped and approached the door again.

‘We are all here for you. We love you, we love Stella and we love Lizzie. You’re not going through this alone man.’

—————————————————————————

‘Thanks for letting me stay Sylvie’, Matt said as he finished his takeout. They had ordered Chinese when they got back to her place, neither being in the mood to cook. Placing the empty container on the coffee table and he relaxed into the back of the couch.

It was odd being back here in her apartment. They had spent the majority of their time here when they were together. He had begun to think of it as much more of their apartment with the amount of time he spent there, sleeping in her bed more often than he slept in his own.

This is the place where they had spent their first night together, but he also knew this was the place where he had broken her heart, telling her he was leaving and going to Oregon. He knew he had had his reasons, knew that Sylvie understood them, but he still wished that they had stayed the course. He missed her, had spent a long time missing her before realising that it was futile. Until the thing keeping them apart stopped being an issue, then they would continue to stay apart.

It had stopped being an issue in the last couple of months, but Matt had still not made the final decision to come back to home. He did genuinely love his job in Oregon, fighting forest fires was something completely different and refreshing. He had spent a long time working with his crew to bring them up to the level he expected. But without the boys, there was nothing keeping him in Portland anymore.

He had contemplated coming back so often. Of calling up Boden and seeing if he could return, the likelihood of coming back to 51 was slim, he knew that, all the leadership positions had been filled. But even if he was back here, he would be around his family again.

Griffin had been accepted into the CFD and was now working as a candidate at a house across the city, although Matt knew his dream was to work on 81, the same truck as his father.

Ben was studying Maths over on the East Coast. He didn’t have the same pull back to Chicago as Griffin did but also had no inclination of staying in Portland. When he had applied to colleges on the East Coast and got accepted to a small school, he was incredibly excited and Matt was equally as proud of him.

He would be lying if he had said that Sylvie wasn’t a factor in his decision either. Both for the want to come back and the uncertainty about it. He didn’t expect them to be able to immediately fall back into what they had before, but at least without the physical distance between them, it could actually be a possibility again.

‘It’s no problem’, Sylvie said with the soft smile that Matt had been so fond of. It was different to the smile that Syvlie used the majority of the time, the one she dolled out to patients as easily as breathing. This was the smile she shared only with those she cared deeply about, the ones that she had let into her life and through her defences. Matt was grateful that he could still be included in that group. ‘You sure you’ll be okay out here?’ She brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. ‘We’ve shared a bed before, I don’t mind,’ she said softly.

Matt smiled warmly but shook his head. ‘It’s alright, I’ve stayed out here before. It’s perfectly comfortable. I don’t think either of us are in an emotionally stable state to be sharing a bed again, not yet,’ he added with a glance up at Sylvie and clocked how a blush started to spread across her cheeks. ‘But I’m here if you need me’, he said and she nodded in response.

‘Probably a smart idea,’ Sylvie said with a smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes. ‘I’ll get you some blankets then.’ She retrieved them, placed them on the coffee table and then smiled before retreating to her bedroom, leaving Matt standing alone in the living room wondering if he had just made the wrong choice.

At some point in the night however, he felt a small hand on his shoulder and awoke to see Sylvie standing over him, her eyes rimmed with red. He sat up quickly and she reached out a hand to him, he hesitated slightly before placing his hand in hers. She tugged him wordlessly towards her bedroom and he went willingly, following her without question.

She climbed into the bed, the side she had always slept on and held up the covers for him to slide under as well. When he had made himself comfortable, she curled herself into his chest, her body warm against his. He wrapped his arms around her in a familiar motion, allowing himself a moment to breathe in her usual vanilla shampoo scented hair. The pair fell asleep, awash in the comfort that being in each other's presence and arms provided and when they awoke in the morning they didn’t question it, they simply just smiled.

—————————————————————————

Sylvie was on the shift that day so Matt drove her to work and then headed straight over to the loft in her car. He wasn’t taking no for an answer today, he needed to see his friend and he needed Kelly to agree to go see his daughter. Keeping Lizzie in the dark any longer than necessary wasn’t the right thing to do but at the same time, the news had to come from Kelly.

Approaching the front door, he stretched out his shoulders. Matt hadn’t been kidding when he said he’d break down the door if he needed to. Feeling like he should probably give his friend a warning, he knocked on the door and announced his presence.

As with the previous times he had stood in this spot, there was no answer. So Matt took a couple of steps back, he knew the door was pretty heavy so might take a bit to get it down. Just as he began to take the first step forward it opened and a dishevelled looking Kelly stood before him.

He didn’t say anything as Matt took in his appearance. His hair, much greyer than it had been when Matt had left Chicago, was stood up in a myriad of directions, he was supporting at least 2 days worth of stubble on his cheeks and if Matt had to take a guess, the sweatpants and t shirt adorning his body were equally as old.

‘Hey,’ Matt said as he walked past his friend and into the apartment they had once shared. Just like Kelly, the apartment was also in a state. There were empty beer bottles littering the coffee table and the kitchen counters, containers of home cooked food no doubt brought over by Cindy and Donna, were sitting out of the fridge.

‘Didn’t want you breaking down the door,’ Kelly huffed as he walked over to the couch and threw himself down on it. Resuming the position that Casey assumed he had been in since he had returned here after the news broke. He reached out and grabbed one of the beer bottles off the table and took a swig, clearly one of the not completely empty ones.

‘I wouldn’t have to if you'd opened it yesterday when I knocked,’ Matt said, standing near the kitchen, unsure if his best friend would welcome him sat down near him at this point.

‘Thought you’d take the hint that I didn’t want company,’ Kelly said with a gruff laugh.

‘Well too bad, I’m here now so why don’t you get cleaned up and we can go see Lizzie. She’s asking for you.’

Kelly shook his head and lowered his gaze, picking at the label on the bottle.

‘I know it’s tough-’ Matt started to say before Kelly’s head shot up, his eyes rimmed with red.

‘You know?’ Kelly scoffed harshly. ‘You’ve had to tell your daughter that her mother is dead and won’t ever be coming home?’ He laughed coolly and took another draft from the bottle. ‘Didn’t think so’, he muttered and his gaze fell back down to the floor.

‘No, but I did lose a fianceé,’ Matt said calmly. ‘And I had to tell the Darden boys that their mother was in jail and couldn’t come home.’ Matt took a deep breath before continuing. ‘And I lost my father when I was a kid too, lost my mother at the same time as well in a manner of speaking.’ Matt swallowed, he wasn’t one to compare traumas but he hoped it would reinforce with Kelly that he was speaking from a place with a little knowledge on the subject.

Severide looked up, the tears that had been held back by his eyelashes before, were now silently making their way down his cheeks. ‘Sorry,’ he said quietly. ‘I didn’t mean it like that.’

‘I know you didn’t,’ Casey said as he made his way over to the living space and took a seat on the empty chair. ‘But Lizzie needs you Kelly.’

‘I know but how do I tell her? I haven’t even processed it myself yet,’ Kelly said, angrily wiping the tears away from his face as if they were a display of weakness.

‘You process it together,’ Matt said steadily. ‘I’m not saying it’ll be easy Severide, hell, it’ll be the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do. But it’s the right thing to do.’

Kelly nodded, keeping his gaze firmly on the floor. ‘I keep thinking I’m going to see her, out here making dinner or coming in the door after a shift. Keep hearing her voice, talking to Lizzie, playing with her. And then I look over and there’s no one there.’ He sniffed and wiped away his continued stream of tears. ‘And if I’d have been there, I could have done something. I could have saved her.’ The final sentence was distorted by a sob and a thud as the beer bottle he had been holding fell to the floor and Kelly cradled his head in his hands.

‘If you’d have been there, Lizzie would have lost two parents that day.’ Matt said slowly. ‘There was a reason when you had her, you went to work at OFI. And you can say it was the hours of whatever, but I know you and Stella had the discussion about you both being on a call. When you’re a first responder and have kids, you have to think like that.’ Kelly nodded but kept his head buried in his palms.

‘I can’t do this without Stella,’ he whispered.

Matt had stayed strong until this point, had decided this was not the place for him to display his grief, he was here for his friend, but the heartbreak in hearing those words brought tears to his eyes.

‘You can’, he said, ignoring how his voice cracked. ‘You’re not alone in this Kelly. Your 51 family is here for you and we won’t let you go through this alone. We’ve got you and we’ve got Lizzie.’

‘She was the best mom’, he said, lifting his head out of his hands slightly to gaze across the room. Matt followed his line of sight and saw that his eyes had landed on a framed photo of Stella and Lizzie laughing. ‘She was scared about it when we found out we were expecting but she was incredible. The pregnancy, the birth, everything. I fell in love with her even more every day.’ He wiped a wayward tear but a hint of a sad smile was beginning to tug on his lips. ‘And then Lizzie came along and she’s the spitting image of Stella. A mini her if ever there was one. She talks like her, walks like her, has her eyes and her smile. Stella taught her everything she knew, and I know she’s so proud of her,’ his smile faltered but he continued. ‘I’m so proud of her. I’m proud of them both. They made me who I am but without Stella… it just feels like a piece of me is missing. And I don’t want to pass that hurt on to Lizzie. She doesn’t deserve that. She’s so perfect. Too perfect to be in pain.’

Matt sat silently, letting his friend get everything out that he needed to. It was breaking him to see Kelly in this much pain and for the first time he really understood why he had been avoiding seeing his daughter.

He was trying to protect her. To let her have a couple more hours, more days, before her life would be changed forever. He didn’t want to be the one that caused her pain.

‘Stella didn’t deserve to die.’ Kelly said into the silence. Matt didn’t know how to respond, he agreed of course but in their line of work unfortunately they could never guarantee they would walk out of every fire. Both he and Kelly understood that but he guessed the reality was something that couldn’t be completely comprehended until it happened.

‘Is she okay?’ Kelly said, turning his head quickly to look at Matt who looked stunned at the question. ‘Lizzie, I mean.’

Matt nodded. ‘She’s fine. She misses you and her mom and has been asking about you. Cindy and Hermann have just been saying you’re still at work which seems to have appeased her for now but it won’t for much longer.’

Kelly nodded, wiping his hands across his face and pressing his heels into his eyes. ‘Will you come with me?’ He asked as he stood up. ‘To tell her?’

Matt nodded in agreement, ‘I’m here for whatever you need. We’re family.’

—————————————————————————

Whilst Kelly showered and got himself cleaned up, Matt busied himself by tidying up around the apartment. Throwing out all the empty bottles and checking the contents of the food containers to see if anything could be saved and refrigerating what he could salvage. By the time Kelly came out of the bedroom, the loft was back to looking in a more inhabitable state.

‘You didn’t have to-’ but Matt shook his head before Kelly could finish his sentence.

‘Don’t. We’re family.’ He smiled, and Kelly returned it, albeit a smaller smile but it was genuine all the same. ‘I called Cindy to let her know we were coming over’. Kelly nodded. ‘You ready?’ Matt asked.

‘No, but I don’t think I ever will be.’

‘Come on then, let’s go’. Matt said, leading the way to the door. He turned around once he had reached it and saw Kelly rooted firmly to the same spot he had been a minute before. He opened the door and waited patiently. He knew his friend just needed another moment, he had said he was going to see Lizzie today and Matt believed him.

‘Okay’, Kelly said shakily as he ran his hand through his hair and walked through the door Matt was holding open for him.

—————————————————————————

The drive to the Hermann’s was tense, the air was thick. Everytime Matt glanced over Kelly he was bouncing his leg and wringing his hands. The old roommates sat in silence, this was going to be tough no matter which way you span it and if Kelly needed any help, Matt hoped he knew he could ask.

When they walked up to the door, Severide hesitated with his fist outstretched, an inch away from making contact with the wood. Matt rested his hand comfortingly on his shoulder and felt an ounce of tension drain from Kelly who knocked 3 times before taking a step back.

Cindy opened the door, a sad smile on her face as she pulled Kelly in for a hug.

‘I’m so sorry for your loss Kelly,’ she said quietly, holding him tightly before pulling back. ‘She’s in the garden.’

Kelly nodded and pulled his lips into a tight line.

‘I’ll stay with Cindy but we will be in here if you need us,’ Matt said, closing the front door behind them and gesturing to the living room.

Kelly nodded again and walked towards the backdoor. Matt heard the yells of ‘Daddy!’ when he opened it. It felt like a stab to his chest knowing that that excited voice would become the exact opposite in just a few moments.

He and Cindy sat side by side on the couch, neither knowing what to say or do, trying to give the Severide’s their privacy but at the same time being ready to jump in with support if it was needed.

After 15 minutes when neither Kelly or Lizzie had reappeared, Matt walked into the kitchen to peer out the window. What he was greeted with, shattered his heart even more.

Kelly was sitting on the swing, with Lizzie in his lap, her body curled tightly into his, his arms around her, a hand running over her hair. Matt could see the tears on Kelly’s face from here and could see how the little girl's body was shaking too. Severide was talking quietly to her whilst lightly pushing the swing back and forth. Matt stood there for a moment, before it felt like he was intruding on a private moment and returned to the living room. He smiled softly at Cindy and nodded at the unasked question.

A couple of minutes later, Severide appeared with a tired Lizzie still curled in his arms holding on tightly to her father.

‘Uncle Matt, is it alright if you take me and Lizzie home?’ He asked, his eyes were still red from the tears but he seemed lighter than when he had left the loft.

‘Of course’, Matt got up and smiled. ‘You okay?’ he mouthed, not wanting to ask anything else outright in front of Lizzie. Severide nodded with a sad smile.

Lizzie fell asleep in the back of Sylvie’s car as Matt drove them back to the loft so Severide carried her upstairs and tucked her in on the couch.

‘I don’t want to put her in her room in case she wakes up and doesn’t know where she is’, Kelly said as he leant against the kitchen island, with Matt on the other side.

‘Good idea. Do you want me to get you two anything?’ He asked but Kelly shook his head.

‘You’ve already done enough man, we appreciate it. And I know Stella would too’, he smiled sadly again. ‘When are you going back to Portland?’ he asked curiously, knowing his best friend must have had to drop everything quickly to make it out to Chicago as fast as he did.

‘Still got a few things to work out on that front, but I’ll let you know.’ Matt smiled as he picked up his jacket. ‘I’ll leave you to it, but call me if you need anything okay?’ Kelly nodded and followed Matt to the door.

‘Thanks again, not sure anyone else could have got me out that door today’.

Matt hesitated and then pulled Kelly into a hug, slapping him a couple of times on the back before pulling away. ‘Family means family’.

—————————————————————————

Matt used the remainder of the day visiting his sister who he hadn’t seen since he had left either. She hadn’t heard about Stella but had met her a few times so was still saddened by the news. She offered to let him stay there that night which he took her up on. Sylvie had said he could crash at hers again but it felt weird being there without her and he didn’t want to intrude on Severide’s time with his daughter.

He got up early the following morning, his flight was later that afternoon but he had a couple of things he wanted to get done before he headed to the airport.

First was to stop by 51. He was picking up Sylvie and a conversation with her was high on his list but first, he had a meeting with Boden.

He had called his old boss and mentor the previous afternoon when it became clear to Matt that he was needed back in Chicago. The same thing that had called him to leave for Potrland in the first place, was now calling him home. Family.

He wanted to speak to Boden about returning to the CFD. And specifically about returning to Boden’s district. He knew he wanted to return to 51 at some point but for now he would settle to being somewhere under Boden’s watchful eye.

He hadn’t expected the meeting to be as direct as it had been. Boden without hesitation offered him the command position back on Truck 81. It wasn’t the same company it had been when he had left but Boden was wary about putting a floater or someone from another house into the empty space. The whole house was grieving and that crew specifically had lost their leader. But if there was anyone who Boden felt comfortable being in charge of the truck, it was Matt Casey. He was grieving too and understood just what an important person's shoes he would be attempting to step into.

Matt had been shocked by the offer and let him know he would need to speak to Kelly about it. Although for years 81 had been his rig, it was Stella’s now and her husband should at least get a say about who would take over. He didn’t want anyone to feel like he was replacing her or usurping her position.

He was still deep in thought, when Sylvie walked onto the apron.

‘Penny for them?’ She asked with a smile, nudging him gently with her shoulder.

‘Not sure they’re worth that but I’ll tell you in a bit. Fancy a walk along the riverwalk? I missed it in Portland’.

—————————————————————————

Matt wasn’t sure what Sylvie’s response would be when he told her he was coming back to Chicago. He hadn’t expected her to jump into his arms immediately but he also hadn’t been expecting the stoney silence he was currently experiencing.

‘Say something Sylvie,’ he asked as they continued to meander next to the river.

‘Don’t come back just for me,’ she said quietly and abruptly stopped.

‘What?’ Matt asked, confused, turning around to face her.

‘I’ve moved for relationships before Matt, and felt stuck and I don’t want you to feel like that.’ She ran a hand through her hair, her expression difficult to read. ‘If you want to come back to Chicago for you, then please do. I know it’s your home. But if you’re only coming back for me, then please… please don’t’.

‘I’m coming back for a number of reasons,’ Matt started. ‘But I won’t lie to you and say that you aren’t included in that. But you’re not the only one.’ He added quickly as she opened her mouth to interrupt him.

‘There’s nothing holding me in Portland anymore. Griffin is in Chicago now and Ben’s off at college. And sure I like my job there but it’s got nothing on the CFD. And I need to be here for Severide. He won’t say he needs the help or even ask for it, but this is going to be so hard on him and Lizzie. I can’t abandon them.’

He reached out his palm, hoping Sylvie would take it. He squeezed her hand lightly when she did.

‘But the reason we didn’t work was because I wasn’t here. And I’m not saying we will get back together or everything would be simple again but if I’m here then at least there’s a chance, right?’ he smiled and Sylvie returned it warmly.

‘There’s a chance’, she echoed. ‘But what about work? Will the CFD have you back?’

‘Boden’s offered me the spot on 81. But I need to talk to Kelly before I take it. I don’t want him to think I’m erasing Stella’s legacy by going back to it. She deserves to be remembered and held in everyone’s memory.’

The pair continued to stroll along the riverwalk, taking in the early morning bustle of Chicago. And if they were still holding hands at the end of it, then neither of them mentioned it.

—————————————————————————

Sylvie dropped Matt off at the loft again, having called ahead to make sure it was alright for him to pop in.

‘Hey’, Kelly said as he welcomed Matt in through the door. A stark comparison to the last time he had opened the door for him. ‘Want breakfast?’ He gestured to the kitchen where the bacon was cooking in the pan.

‘Nah I picked something up with Sylvie’, Matt smiled and followed him over, taking a seat at one of the bar stools.

‘Interesting’, Kelly said with a smirk as he turned the bacon over.

‘Shush, but there is something I want to talk to you about’, he said, a sudden sense of apprehension filling him.

‘Shoot’, Kelly said, busying himself with some eggs.

‘I’m coming back to Chicago. And Boden offered me the command of 81’. He saw Kelly freeze, still facing away from him. After a couple of seconds of silence, Matt continued. ‘But I told him I needed to speak to you. 81 is Stella’s truck and I don’t want you to think I’m stepping in where I shouldn’t, or trying to take over from her.’

Kelly turned around and shook his head. ‘If anyone’s going to take over from Stella, I’m glad it’s you.’ He said with a smile, his eyes brimming with tears. ‘You understand how big of a task it is, to walk in her shoes. And I know the crew would respect you, unlike if someone new came along and tried to take her place. And I know Stella would be okay with it too.’

‘If you’re sure?’ Matt asked.

‘I’m sure, but you’re sure you want to come back to Chicago? You’re not just coming back because of me and Lizzie right?’ He gestured at himself and then down the corridor with the spatula in his hand. ‘Because we’ll be okay, it’ll be a tough road, but we will be okay’.

Matt chuckled lightly, ‘you sound just like Sylvie. No I’m not just coming back for you too, although it has factored into my decision. And no, before you ask, I’m not just coming back for Sylvie either. Chicago is my home and my family is here. And it’s time for me to come back to that’.

‘Okay then’, Kelly said, downing his tools and walking round to the other side of the island. ‘Welcome back to Chicago,’ he said as he pulled Matt into a hug.

‘I do have to go back to Portland first and actually resign,’ he chuckled as Kelly pulled back a smirk etched on his face. ‘But I’ll be back for the funeral in a couple of days, and then I’m staying. For good.’

[streetlight11]

Something About You

Summary: He has been going on dates, meeting new people online, wanting to find the girl of his dreams. But so far, all of them whom he met either have nothing in common with him or has a lot of common interest except cats. He has 3 cats so he could never imagine dating someone who would never get along with his cats. Turns out, the girl he has been dreaming about happens to be a lot closer than he think.

Theme: University au, partial strangers to friends to lovers

Genre: Fluffy fluff

WC: 4.2k

Pairing: Lee Minho x Fem!Reader

a/n: Hello! I’m back with a new fic. Hope you enjoy!

“So, how was your date?” Chan asked his roommate who had just entered their shared apartment looking just as tired and done as his pet cats. The boy simply frowned, kicking off his shoes and went straight to their living room only to crash on the couch next to where the older boy was seated with his laptop in his lap, probably just composing new tracks.

“Horrible. Probably won’t be getting back to her anytime soon.” Minho shrugged before taking out his phone only to scroll through YouTube of cat videos. 

Just then, a soft meow came from below his feet only for Soonie to hop into Minho’s lap and purred when he stroked its head to its tail in a loving motion. Chan let out a soft chuckle. He had a hunch on why this date didn’t work out just like the rest of Minho’s date.

“Was she another one of those girls who are scared of cats?” Chan asked but Minho’s face turned into a scowl.

“Worse. Can you believe she actually kicked the poor kitty away when all it wanted was a pet from her? God, how can some people be so awful?!” Minho grunted in annoyance, making Chan gasp in shock.

He has heard about all Minho’s past dates being scared of cats and sometimes even running away from them but never did he think someone would actually harm the poor animal. 

“Geez, yeah, she is definitely out of your list then.”

“Tell me about it.” Minho rolled his eyes as he got up to take a warm shower after a terrible first date.

The next morning, Y/N got woken up by her blaring alarm that has been going off for the past 5 minutes. Her morning lecture was in an hour but her roommate and also her close friend, Sana had already left since she had classes slightly earlier. She forced herself out of bed, only to shower and change into a comfortable outfit that was campus appropriate.

She managed to stop by the café right outside her apartment to get her morning dose of caffeine before walking to campus that was conveniently 20 minutes away from where they lived.

Y/N arrived on campus 5 minutes before her first class, making her way straight to class on the opposite side of the back entrance. Y/N was a CS major while Sana was a Psych major, hence the different schedules. She wasn’t really an outgoing type of girl, but she’s not exactly an introvert either.

Y/N has never been the one to start a random conversation with someone first. But, once she feels comfortable with a person, she can joke and chat for hours and never get tired of it.

She was a shy yet friendly girl at the same time and that’s what makes Sana befriend her so easily.

Above else, Y/N was a very sporty girl and she loved playing netball. Hence, the reason why she was the Team Captain of Konkuk U girl’s netball team. Sana wasn’t in the sport but she always came down to support her best friend if they had any tournaments for that season. Hours passed and Y/N had just finished her classes, only to receive a text from Sana, telling her to meet at the cafeteria.

Y/N entered the cafeteria hall with her laptop in one hand and her phone in the other, just scrolling through her twitter when she came to a stop at the entrance to try and find her friend.

When she spotted her blonde haired roommate standing by a table where there were at least 8 guys seated at, she knew it was Sana’s best guy friend.

Y/N walked as her eyes were trained to her phone screen but her feet brought her exactly to where Sana was. She didn’t realise where she was walking until she heard Sana’s adorable voice calling out her name.

“Y/N!”

The said girl froze in her spot, seeing that she was just 2 feet away from her and the guys.

Y/N simply smiled, proceeding to join Sana by the side of the table, only for her eyes to naturally travel to the people seated at the table. If she could admit, she was currently staring at two rows of handsome looking guys.

“Babe! This is my best friend I told you about! This is Chan. Chan, this is my roommate and best friend, Y/N!” Sana introduced them to each other, only for Chan to smile. He stuck his hand out, making Y/N shake it gently.

“Hello. It’s nice to finally meet you!” Chan said as a smile appeared on his face.

“Hey, nice to meet you too.” Y/N mimicked his expression, something she normally did when she just met someone.

“Don’t mind her, she’s just shy!” Sana explained and some of the boys found themselves smiling at this remark. Just then, Y/N’s eyes seemed to find it’s own way towards Minho who was seated at the very end of the table. Of course she doesn’t know him, but he did attract her eye for being quite cute. Probably even cuter than the others.

“Okay guys, I’ll see you later. Y/N let’s go! I’m starving!” Sana giggled as she bid the boys goodbye before linking her arms with her roommate and soon dragged her down the cafeteria aisle.

“You didn’t tell us your best friend’s friend is cute too?!” Jisung said, causing Chan to shrug.

“Sorry guys, cause I didn’t know either.” Chan teased, making Jisung roll his eyes but a small chuckle left his lips right after.

A few weeks passed and as expected, Y/N often rejected Sana’s offer of joining her to hang out with the guys not because she didn’t like them. It was because she was shy and Sana of course understood this but she never pressed on it. Instead, she gave Y/N the chance to willingly join if she wanted to without any pressure.

However, it was a Thursday late afternoon and the girl’s netball team was having a tournament that day. As promised, Sana came down to support Y/N and her team. Except this time, she made sure to tag all the boys along and they came without a single doubt.

Y/N was just doing her warm up when she glanced over to the bleachers, that’s when she saw Sana and the rest of the guys on the fourth and fifth rows of the bleachers.

Y/N didn’t know why but she found herself instantly smiling when she saw that they came down to support her. Just then, Sana happened to look over and she locked eyes with Y/N, making her wave her hand up high as she let out a soft giggle.

She responded back with a small wave while some of the guys did the same.

Right at that moment, she locked eyes with Minho who was seated in the seat just below Sana. For some reason, she could feel her heartbeat speeding up in her chest.

Almost an hour later, it’s the final round and it was between Konkuk U and Sogang U. Y/N currently sat on the ground beside the bench where her team members were seated.

“Alright girls. I have a lot of faith in you guys but let’s switch some of you so that you guys get to participate in the games fair and square.” Y/N announced to her teammates who then nodded, waiting for her next command. After switching 3 of the players and Y/N was satisfied with this, the 7 players soon cheered before going to the court.

The game started and it already got pretty intense.

Sogang U was winning by a thread but Y/N tried to keep the game in their court. Right when Yeri was about to toss the ball towards Y/N who was sprinting forwards, a member from the Sogang team forcefully threw themselves against her form.

Y/N practically got thrown across the court when she crashed onto the ground with an awful loud thud before she slid to a stop.

At the fall, she managed to hit her head on the ground from the impact, causing her to go lightheaded for a brief moment. A series of gasps were heard from the crowd, watching her press her forehead against the ground as a hiss left her lips.

The girl who shoved her, only smirked before they continued the game.

“Oh no…” Sana whispered as they stared at Y/N’s limp body. Just then, Yeri ran to her team captain, only for her to gasp asking if she wanted to swap with anyone on the team. Y/N brushed her off when Yeri helped her up, only to hear that Sogang U scored another point.

She rubbed her temple slightly, wincing in pain but nonetheless told Yeri that she was okay. Just then, their coach shouted at Y/N to swap with Irene but Y/N gave him a shake of her head followed by an ‘okay’ sign and soon resumed the game. Her friends watched anxiously as Minho couldn’t keep his eyes off her.

“Why won’t you just rest?” He whispered under his breath when he saw her jog to get the ball.

A few moments later, the same opponent from Sogang U targeted Y/N again, pushing Y/N by her shoulders. Y/N almost lost her balance but she swiftly threw the ball over their heads, towards Lisa on the other side of the court.

The girl snarled at Y/N but she gave the girl a soft smirk before raising an eyebrow up to taunt her.

A few runs later, the girl purposely tripped Y/N, making her accidentally fall backwards with her ass hitting the ground hard. Y/N glared at the girl, only to hear a few seconds later that Konkuk U was taking the victory trophy.

The girls were just walking back to their side of the hall when somebody roughly turned her around and threw a snarky remark to her and her team.

“Better luck next time, when I actually get you on the bench. That way my team for sure can win that trophy.” The girl said before she gave Y/N’s cheek a few slaps. Y/N’s friends who saw this were furious as Chan and Felix practically had to hold Sana back. Y/N scoffed, watching the girls of Sogang U continue walking while Y/N’s teammates comforted her, telling her it’s okay. 

Once everyone in the bleachers were leaving, Y/N was just wiping her neck from the sweat when Sana came running to her with her arms open. Sana gave her a few words of comfort, telling her not to be too affected by whatever that girl said. After the tournament was over and their coach had dismissed them, she took her duffle bag. They were walking towards the entrance of the hall when her vision suddenly went black and her head was pounding. 

A soft groan left her lips when she nearly collapsed down to the left side but someone was quick to catch her and it was Minho. He wrapped an arm around her waist while the other hand reached for her forearm that was clutching onto her head.

“Woah. Are you okay?” His voice soft, laced with obvious worry.

Y/N nodded, letting Sana help Minho hold her as they each held her on either side. Outside the campus’ back entrance, Minho asked if Y/N was strong enough to walk back to her apartment with Sana alone and she said yes.

Sana told the boys she would update them if anything happened along the way. But the girls ended up going home safely, only for her to recover in just two days.

A week passed and it was a Saturday night, where Sana told Y/N she would be out with her boyfriend. Y/N decided to head to a nearby library to study since the campus was closed on weekends. It was already nearing 10pm, probably the reason why she kept yawning every 5 minutes.

“Maybe I should head home.” She thought as she began to slowly pack her bags and soon left.

The boys on the other hand had just finished checking out the new steakhouse downtown. Simply hanging out without having alcohol involved.

They were just walking down the dimly lit street, their voices were probably the only audible sounds currently apart from the cars driving past every few minutes. The street was quite empty, they could literally count with their fingers on how many people they’ve passed by.

They were just talking about some soccer league when Minho’s eyes travelled towards the alley down the road, only to see a girl petting what looks to be a stray cat.

His eyes lit up as a smile tugged on his lips.

He has never seen anyone openly pet a stray cat around this area before so he was quite surprised to say the least. Nevertheless, he smiled brightly as he quickened his pace, telling the boys to meet up with him at that alley where the cat and unknown girl was.

Minho briskly walked towards the alley, only to be met with a very familiar face.

“Y/N?”

At the mention of her name, she turned to look up towards the guy standing by the sidewalk, currently looking down at her just gently scratching the cat’s ears.

“Minho? Hey…” She smiled and she could feel her heartbeat pick up speed.

“What are you doing out here at this late timing alone?” He asked, genuinely worried.

“I was at the library studying. I‘m on my way home actually.” She admitted, only to feel her cheeks heat up. Just then, she heard Chan’s voice from behind her, making her turn around.

“Y/N? Is that you?” Chan asked, making her giggle with a nod.

“Where were you headed?” He asked.

But before she could answer, a soft meow echoed down the street as the cat pressed it’s head into Y/N’s open hands, making her giggle. 

This small gesture was enough to make the boys smile, and maybe Minho’s heart to flutter.

“I actually just told Minho that I was about to head home from the library, when this adorable little one just started following me from down the block and I don’t think it’s gonna leave my side anytime soon.” Y/N said with a soft sigh. The cat meowed yet again as though responding to her.

Minho tilted his head to the side in confusion upon hearing her sigh when she looked down at the pretty brown fur ball before scratching the side of the cat’s face again.

“As much as you’re super adorable, I can’t take you home with me, baby.” Her voice was soft. The cat simply purred with soft round eyes staring back at her. Her words came as a shock to some of them but curious to the remaining.

“Wait, why can’t you?” Minho asked.

“I’m actually sensitive to cats.” She confessed, only for Minho’s heart to blossom. She’s sensitive to cats and yet she still pets them and even showers them with love? Where has she been all his life?

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Is it bad though?” Hyunjin asked, only for her to shake her head.

“I can touch them, but if I stay too long in an enclosed area with them, my skin will start to get red and itchy, and my nose would start to get runny.” Y/N said pressing her lips in a thin line, making the guys nod, feeling bad for her.

Just then, Minho squats down beside her figure only to stretch his arm over to pet the cat and the little fur ball just willingly went over to him. The cat rubs its face against Minho’s knees and thighs. Y/N couldn’t help but smile when she saw just how equally loving he was towards it. At that very moment, Minho just happened to look up only to catch her looking at him.

A small little bubble burst in the pit of his stomach as she soon tickled the cat’s lower back, making it go to her.

Y/N giggled when the cat stood on its hind legs, pressing its two front paws on her collarbone, making her laugh. Y/N cupped the fur ball’s face and soon caressed it sweetly before she nuzzled her nose against the cat’s pink ones, only for the cat to meow in her face.

“Looks like it really loves you Y/N.” Chan said, making her laugh.

However, her smile was soon wiped off and a soft frown appeared on her face. But this didn’t go unnoticed by Minho. So he suggested something quite smart.

“I have an idea. We’ll distract it while you quickly head back home. You know? To avoid it from following you?” Minho said, making the rest of them nod in agreement. She stared at the cat for slightly too long before she locked eyes with Minho, only for her to mouth to him softly.

“Thank you.”

With that being said, the rest of the boys slowly began to huddle around the cat while Y/N carefully got up and tiptoed her way down the street in the direction of her apartment.

She glanced back when she was reaching the traffic junction, only to catch Minho staring at her with a very soft expression. After she finally turned the corner, Changbin couldn’t help but speak up while the rest were busy pouring their attention on the cat.

“Damn, she’s pretty, she’s a team captain, she’s nice, AND she loves cats even though she’s allergic to it? I think you’ve found your match made in heaven, hyung.” He ended with his usual smirk, wiggling his eyebrows to Minho only for the elder boy to huff although he knew deep down that what Changbin said was right.

Y/N went home that night only to find her mind going back to when Minho looked so in love with the cat. Why did that make him look so… so endearing?

She smiled to herself thinking about how happy he looked when the cat was practically smearing its scent all over him. Y/N simply shook her head off of the thoughts and soon took a fresh shower before heading to bed, with Sana still nowhere to be seen.

Ever since that night, Y/N slowly began to warm up with the guys more. Especially Minho since it seemed as though they could literally talk about cats for hours. She found out later that he owned 3 cats in his shared apartment with Chan and that they were basically his children. She couldn’t help but laugh despite finding that extremely cute.

Y/N was added to their group chat which had the boys and Sana in it, only for her to exchange numbers with Minho as well. It has been 3 months since they’ve gotten closer and needless to say, Minho started to fall for her as the days go by and so did she.

It was currently a Saturday evening and both her and Sana got invited to Chan’s place to just hangout and chill, in which the girls agreed without a second thought.

Y/N wore her denim ripped skinny jeans, a shirt tucked in, a black jacket and her converse. Sana wore an open shoulder dress and a pair of vans since she was just a very girly girl compared to Y/N.

They arrived at Chan’s shared apartment, only for her to find out that Minho had kept his cats in his room. Something he doesn’t do whenever any of them come over.

Perhaps he cared for her and he didn’t want her to get sick for coming to their house.

Despite the teasing coming from his friends, he simply ignored them. He brushed them off by saying that he was just trying to be nice. When the girls entered the apartment, immediately, Y/N could already feel her nose being tickled by the atmosphere thanks to the cats living in that space.

But it wasn’t too serious yet but still, a small sneeze left her lips.

They greeted the guys who were in the living room when Minho came out of his room in just grey sweatpants, a tank top and his cutely tousled hair.

As soon as Minho locked eyes with Y/N, he froze in his spot. He saw the small smile on her face, making him shy all of a sudden. A few minutes later, they were all just gathered in the living room when Y/N turned to Minho who was seated on the floor beside her feet.

“Min ah, where’s your cats?” She asked. Minho felt himself tense up at the nickname but quickly regained himself.

“They’re in my room. Why? You wanna see them?” He asked, not realizing that some of them were actually watching them from their respective seats discreetly. Y/N smiled as she gave him a cute little nod. He could’ve sworn his heart jumped out of his chest for a bit. Nonetheless, he brought her to his closed bedroom only to push the door open and was instantly greeted by the soft jingle sounds of their collars.

Y/N smiled as 2 of the fur balls ran up to Minho and her. Making him quickly close the door behind him. Both of them kneeled down onto the ground when the dark grey cat began to nuzzle against her legs, while the light golden one hopped into Minho’s arms effortlessly.

“They’re so cute! What are their names?” She asked as she scratched the grey cat behind its ear, earning a soft purr from it.

“The one in your lap is Dori. This is Soonie. And that sleeping one is Doongie.” Minho introduced when he heard a soft squeak from her in excitement, causing him to chuckle. A blush crept onto his cheeks.

“How long have you had them for?” She asked curiously as Dori snuggled into her chest, making her pout.

“I’ve had them since I was young. When I went off to college, I told my parents I wanted to bring them with me. So, here we are.” Minho said, making her giggle thinking that his story was very cute.

Just then, Dori licked the tip of Y/N’s nose, catching her off guard.

She let out a soft giggle, turning her head towards Minho with her eyes crinkled shut. He found this extremely cute. When she fluttered her eyelids back open, she was met with him staring at her with a warm smile on his face.

She got shy so she turned to look back down at Dori, scratching the back of its ear. Soonie left Minho’s lap as he turned to her and Dori, only for him to give a few scratches to Dori’s head. Just then, Minho leaned in to rub his face into Dori’s body. Y/N giggled, watching him interact with his own pet.

Just then, he pulled away from Dori, taking this chance to turn his head towards her.

But for some reason, it felt like a mistake with how close their faces were from each other. It was almost as if they could feel each other’s breath fanning their lips and unfortunately for them, it was true. The room fell silent as nobody dared to say a word.

For some odd reason, Minho felt brave enough to actually lean in closer. 

Y/N watched very carefully as he closed the gap until she could feel his lips brushing against hers very lightly. At that very second, she closed her eyes, afraid to continue looking. Minho saw this and he began to smile, thinking she was adorable.

So he decided not to dwell on this and instead, he firmly pressed his lips on hers. Her breath hitched in her throat. She soon found herself melting against his lips. Minho’s arm found its way around her waist as he pulled her closer, until she could feel Dori jump out of her lap.

She pulled away when her stomach got pressed by Dori’s paws when it leaped off, causing him to chuckle.

“Sorry about that.” He apologized, only for her to smile.

“It’s fine.” She said with a soft little smile, only for him to blush as he kissed her again, this time reaching up to cup her face in his hand. Her heart was racing against her chest when he felt her rest her hands on his chest. Minho pulled away, having to force himself not to get too intoxicated by her soft, crème brûlée tasting lips thanks to her lip balm.

“Can I take you out on a date tomorrow?” He asked, only for her to giggle.

“Will you bring me to see your babies again?” She said.

“That depends.” He teased, making her laugh as he soon did the same. She smiled against his lips when she kissed him again, feeling extremely happy. They came back out to find the rest of them smirking. They asked why the two of them were taking their own sweet time in there, only for Minho to smirk.

“Maybe because I’m going on a date with the cutest, sweetest girl I’ve ever met who loves cats as much as I do?” Minho said, only for the rest of them to cheer happily for the new couple. Y/N blushed as she hid her face in Minho’s arm, causing him to chuckle but he simply hugged her and kissed her forehead endearingly.

Looks like he managed to find the girl of his dreams anyway.

[just-here-for-the-moment]

Paloma, Part I

Series Masterlist - Part I - Part II

Word count: 4100+

Rating: mature, 18+ only

Outline: Statesman!Frankie "Catfish" Morales, Agent Jack “Whiskey” Daniels, and "You" (OC cis/het female reader, Statesman research analyst, code name “Paloma”; age 26; reader is “blank canvas”/no physical description/no use of “Y/N”)

Warnings: fully legal age gap; curse words; references to M/F sex; lots of yearning; a little sprinkling of angst; American readers, please be warned that this piece features the absolutely filthy fantasy of Statesman paying off your student loans in full

You left Kentucky on a sunny June morning with a rolling suitcase, six cardboard boxes, and a heart full of golden light. You were ready for the new challenges of your promotion and the move to New York, but it was still hard to quell the little butterflies that insisted on dancing and twirling in your gut. Statesman HQ was like a beacon that had been calling to you for the last three years, and you were half-convinced that the promotion and the move were a daydream; something that would be snatched out of your hands if you thought about it too much.

It was strange to leave Kentucky, your home since you were four years old. You had been raised in a small town about an hour south of Louisville, and you hadn't had the opportunity to leave until college. Even then you didn't travel very far, just to a dorm room at the University of Louisville, going back to your hometown for every vacation instead of flying off to California or Europe like some of your more glamorous friends.

You had put your time to good use, though. You busted your ass and completed an accelerated program in Criminal Justice that earned you both a Bachelor's and a Master's in one go, with a minor in statistics and data science. The result was a deep and abiding love of research and analysis, with the burning desire to do good in the world.

---

The Friday morning of your graduation ceremony, you emerged from your apartment fresh-faced and giddy, ready to walk the stage and start the next phase: adult life in the "real world." You knew that your life was about to change, but as you juggled the garment bag with your cap and gown and tried to lock your door, you had no idea just how much. You heard a soft voice say your name behind you, and it made you jump and drop your purse, spilling the contents across your doorstep. You turned to see a woman of about 40, with flawless terra-cotta skin and an adorable mop of chestnut hair. Black horn-rimmed glasses framed bright, inquisitive eyes. She immediately bent to help you retrieve your belongings, stammering gentle apologies.

"I'm so sorry! Let me help you get your things. I didn't mean to scare you." She smiled sweetly at you and handed you back your sunglasses and lip gloss.

"No! It's fine, I'm sorry I'm so preoccupied." You lifted the garment bag by way of explanation. "Graduation day! Um, how can I help you?"

"You don't know me, but my name is Ginger. I work for an organization that recruits bright young minds like yours. It's a lot to explain, but if you're interested in a job interview next week, we'd love to talk with you." She handed you a creamy white business card with a Louisville address.

You frowned. "Statesman Distillery? I don't have any experience with alcohol production or marketing. I do data analysis and my degrees are in criminal justice."

"We know. We've been following your research and your schooling for a while." She gave you a mischievous smile, and it looked for all the world like she was hiding something fun behind it, something secretive and intriguing that made you want to know more.

"Please, just give me an hour of your time next week? When you have some time to pay us a visit, just call that number and ask for me. I'm really looking forward to chatting with you."

You thanked her and promised you would call, and then you tucked the card into your bag and forgot all about it for nearly a week. Graduation day was hectic, with lots of relatives visiting and interrogating you about your career plans, and the days afterward were spent attending parties and saying goodbye to friends who were scattering to far-flung places. After you had finished the last of your university-related errands like returning a few library books and picking up your official transcript, there wasn't much left to do except putter around your apartment and take a few days off before beginning a job search. Those student loans weren't going to pay themselves off.

You found Ginger's card in your purse on Wednesday morning and put it on the fridge with a magnet. On Thursday you were so hungover you didn't want to make any calls. On Friday you found yourself at loose ends with nothing planned, so you picked up the phone and dialed. When you reached the switchboard you gave your name and asked for Ginger, and they put you right through. She picked up after one ring, as if she had been waiting for your call.

"Hi! I'm so glad you called me! Can you come by today?" Ginger sounded genuinely excited to talk to you, not smarmy or fake like other corporate recruiters you had spoken with.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I mean, yes, thank you. Are you sure today's okay? I can come next week if that's better."

"No! Please come whenever you're ready. I'm really hoping you'll like what you see."

"Okay, will I need to dress up? Will I be meeting with anyone for an interview? Should I bring copies of my resume?" You wanted to make a good impression, but you weren't sure if this was just something the distillery did casually, like a winery tour, or if you would need to be ready for a formal interview.

"Nope! Just bring yourself! We already know everything we need to know about your qualifications."

"Ah... okay. I'm all yours. I'll see you in about an hour?"

"Perfect! I'll leave your name at the front gate with the guard. Just show them your ID and they'll wave you through."

You said your goodbyes and put the phone down. What kind of data analysis job was even available at a distillery? Market trends? Did they need a criminal justice major for tracking down rip-offs, like people counterfeiting their product? But wait, didn't the government do that kind of thing? The ATF? You shook your head clear of questions and hopped in the shower. You could ask Ginger all of your questions, since she seemed to be so happy to talk with you.

When you arrived at the Statesman Distillery an hour later, you were impressed at the size of the facility. Distilleries were pretty common in the state of Kentucky, with lots of little family companies sprinkled around. But Statesman rivaled the big names for sheer square footage.

Ginger met you in a conference room and offered you coffee, and then asked you to sign a non-disclosure agreement. You didn't think twice about it. NDAs were common in lots of industries, and you guessed that it had something to do with trade secrets, Statesman not wanting to leak information about their whiskey production details. When Ginger began the tour and you walked down a long hallway with multiple sparkling white laboratories behind thick glass, you found it unusual, but not alarming. Cleanrooms, maybe? Something to do with alcohol distillation formulas, probably.

When she ushered you into a large wood-paneled office and introduced you to Champ, the head of Statesman, you thought it was odd. Companies didn't normally introduce new college graduates to executives during tours. Based on the size of the organization, you thought you might meet the CEO or President once or twice a year, maybe at a holiday party or a company retreat. But he was friendly, and he seemed to have already heard of you; his eyebrows raised an inch at Ginger when she gave him your name. He also seemed far more interested in criminal justice and data analysis than you expected for a distillery executive, but you shook hands and answered all of his questions politely.

When Ginger asked you to step into an elevator and it dropped 10 floors, you started to wonder a little. When the doors opened and she walked you to a room with a huge bank of monitors, with screens showing all kinds of maps and security video feeds, you were downright confused. But when she revealed the cherry on top, the fact that Statesman was not in the business you thought they were? That was too shocking. You were sure she was joking. You turned behind you to look for hidden cameras, expecting a prank show host to come jumping out at you.

"This is a joke, right?"

Ginger smiled that sweet, warm smile at you. "No joke. We want you to join the Research Unit, working in the Data Analysis section. You would be keeping our agents safe, helping them make the best decisions possible. And in turn your work could save lives, hundreds of them. Maybe even thousands. What do you say?"

"I... uh... I still think you’re joking. I’ve never heard of anything like this. I… are you sure you want me?"

"Yes, if you're interested. We could use you on the team." She pushed a little slip of paper into your hand, and when you saw the annual salary that was listed, you almost fainted.

"Ginger, this is way too much. I just graduated and this is, like... this is a senior analyst's salary. I'd be able to pay off my student loans in like three years!"

"Actually, we would be paying your student loans off before you start work. If you have financial burdens hanging over your head you could be vulnerable to bribes or extortion attempts from foreign governments or bad actors. We want you clear before you start with us. Think of it as a signing bonus."

"Holy shit! Sorry, I mean... I... Jesus." You looked at her in confusion. "Y'all really want me?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yes, we really do."

"Okay, when do I start?"

And that had been it, your first "big girl" job out of college. You were welcomed warmly to the Statesman team, and you loved the fact that you did interesting work that had a real impact. The hardest part had been telling your friends and family the required cover story, saying you were doing market analysis until you could find a job in criminal justice somewhere. But since you were happy with your new job and it paid well, none of them pressured you to move on.

During your first two years with Statesman you climbed the ranks, earning promotions and new responsibilities that eventually put you in the seat of Assistant Director of Data Analysis. You had risen high enough in Statesman that your work required a code name, and you chose “Paloma,” a nod to your favorite grapefruit cocktail. You answered directly to the head of the Research Unit, and every report that your team produced was vital. You weren't wasting your talent in some corporate hole, enriching the CEO's salary at the expense of your sanity. You were saving lives, making a difference. Your reports had even been sent to the New York headquarters, where they used them as a model for operations.

And the job had brought you romance, too. One day not long after your promotion to Assistant Director, you were walking out of the conference room, so focused on your phone that you didn't see where you were going. You bumped into something large and solid in a denim shirt, and a pair of warm, calloused hands held your shoulders to steady you. You cursed softly to yourself and then looked up into the most gorgeous pair of brown eyes that you had ever seen. A man with patchy stubble and a well-worn baseball cap smiled at you, eyes crinkling with warmth.

"Whoa! Are you okay?" His eyes looked concerned as they searched your face. You looked at him with wonder. He was so, so beautiful. The smile dropped, and then his brows knitted together into a slight frown. "I said, are you okay?"

You realized you were staring with your mouth half open like some lovestruck teenager, and that an embarrassing amount of time had passed since you first met his eyes.

"Yes!" Your voice was louder than you intended. "Yes, I'm sorry. Sorry I bumped into you. I should have watched where I was going. I'm sorry."

"That's okay. Did I hurt you?"

"Ah, no. No, I'm fine. Sorry. Just distracted today."

"That's okay. Sorry I startled you." He smiled again and squeezed your upper arm.

You could have stayed there forever, leaning into his touch. He let go, much to your chagrin, and then went into the conference room. You made a note to ask someone who he was, to see if you could find out more about him. He wasn't being escorted by a staff member, so he was obviously part of the Statesman organization somehow. Someone would know who he was.

You went into the ladies room, running into Ginger at the sinks. "Oh, Paloma! I'm so glad I saw you. I need to steal your boss for an urgent matter. Can you run his 11:00 meeting in the conference room? I know it's last minute, but I'll buy you lunch later."

Your brain flickered out for a nanosecond. The 11:00 meeting? The conference room? The handsome man? You recovered your composure and smiled at Ginger. "Yeah, no problem at all. Tell him to drop his notes off in the conference room and I'll be there in just a moment."

Ginger smiled and punched your shoulder softly. "Thanks, Pal. I owe you one."

You washed your hands in a trance. Oh lord, this was going to be interesting. You squared your shoulders and met your own eyes in the mirror. You looked exactly like you had this morning, just your normal self. Most of the time that was fine, but right now you wanted to be more glamorous, more devastating. You wanted to absolutely bewitch the handsome mystery man in the meeting. In the absence of some kind of last-minute emergency Hollywood makeup team, you would have to settle for a fresh application of lip balm and a quick scrub of your teeth with a damp paper towel. You flicked a stray eyebrow hair into place, sighed, and headed back to the conference room. Looks weren't important anyway, right? Statesman had hired you for your brain, not your face. And really, you were more interested in showing your boss that you could do well in your new role. So you banished your insecurities from your mind and breezed into the meeting.

"Good morning everyone." You studiously chose not to look at the handsome man you had run into, keeping your eyes on your notes for the time being. You were afraid that if you looked at him you wouldn't be able to tear your gaze away. "The Director has been called away for an urgent matter, so I'll be leading today’s operational planning meeting. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Paloma."

You risked a glance at the handsome stranger, relieved to see that his eyes were on his notepad and not on you. You let out a breath and found your stride, walking the group through the team's findings, the data, the implications, and the desired outcome for the mission. Agent Tequila asked a few cocky, half-assed questions, probing you for weaknesses. Normally that would have irritated you, but today it was a welcome focus that took your mind off the butterflies. You knocked Tequila back in place with a few well-chosen words, and then opened up the floor for questions.

The handsome man raised his hand, and your eyes fixed on how large and thick his fingers were. Oh God, this was torture. "Yes, Mr...?"

"Catfish. Um, can you tell me more about the extraction plan?"

"Yes, absolutely." You went over that phase of the mission, giving all the details your team had gathered about the terrain and the timing. When you were done, Catfish smiled at you, and your knees went weak at the sight of the dimple that appeared. No one else had questions, so you closed the meeting and stood to leave.

Suddenly there was a warm wall of denim at your elbow. "Hey, that was really detailed information. Thank you so much for walking me through everything."

You turned and smiled. "You're welcome. Glad I could help." You fumbled for something to say, trying to extend the conversation and keep him in your orbit for however long you could while everyone else filed out of the room.

"So, um, you go by 'Catfish.' Can I ask why? That's your code name, right? There's not some kind of hidden tragedy where that's the name your parents actually wrote on your birth certificate?"

He chuckled, throwing his head back. The expanse of his thick neck and bobbing Adam's apple did nothing to improve the butterflies. They only fluttered harder, rising higher in your chest.

"It's an old Army nickname, I was Special Forces about a million years ago. Now I'm here on the transport team. I'm a helicopter pilot. When we're not working you can just call me Frankie."

"Ah." You bit your lip and nodded. Why couldn't you think of something else to say? Fortunately, Frankie continued the conversation.

"And you're Paloma around here? I love that drink. Am I allowed to know your real name, or is that classified?"

You grinned and shook his hand, giving him your name. When it rolled off his lips in that deep voice it sounded like heaven to you. You didn't want anyone else to say your name ever again. Just him.

He leaned closer, like he was sharing a secret. “Can I ask you a question? Top secret.” He winked, and you nodded.

“Can I take you to lunch?”

Your heart dropped into your pelvis, and you gulped, hard. “Y-yes. Yes, that would be great. I’d love to.”

---

When Ginger found you in your office at 2:00 p.m. you were staring off into space, smiling blissfully.

“Hey, Paloma. Why did you blow me off for lunch? I came by at 12:30, I was going to take you out.”

“Oh! Oh my god, Ginger, I’m so sorry! I had a date.”

She raised her eyebrows at you, settling down in one of your visitors chairs. “A date?”

“No! Not a date. A, um…” You burst into husky giggles, and then confessed everything to her: the handsome man, the crinkles around his eyes, his dimples and his silly code name, the easy conversation over lunch, and the fact that he had scribbled his phone number down on a sticky note that was now burning a hole in your pocket. You felt like you were 12 again, confiding in your girlfriend about crushes and cute boys.

Ginger laughed and gave your hand a squeeze. “No wonder you forgot about me. I can’t compete with a handsome helicopter pilot!”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Ginger. I really didn’t mean to forget.”

“No, it’s okay. But definitely call him this weekend and make a real date. I’ll want details when you take me out for an apology lunch on Monday.” She winked and left your office.

You sat back in your chair and tilted back to look at the ceiling while you considered it. Was it too soon to call him and make a date? Ugh, this was agony. You decided that going by conventional rules hadn’t really mattered to you at any point in your life until now, so why the hell not?

You took a deep breath, trying to puff up your confidence. When he answered the phone on the second ring, you dove right in. “Hi, Catfish? It’s Paloma. Listen, I had a really good time at lunch, and I’d like to see you this weekend if you’re free.”

---

On Monday, you had a whole lot to report to Ginger.

Frankie took you up for a sightseeing flight on your date, and you loved the way he controlled everything; making sure he warned you before any sudden movements, and checking that you weren’t getting airsick or anxious. When the rotors were stilled and you were back on the ground, Frankie reached over to help you unbuckle your harness. Something got stuck, and the agonizing extra seconds of feeling him jostle the strap near your hip made you bold. When it was finally free and he was about to pull his hand away, you grabbed his wrist. He looked at you, alarmed that something was wrong, and you crashed your lips against his, all teeth and tongue and wanting. Frankie was as good a kisser as he was a pilot, and you spent the rest of the date making out in his truck.

The next weekend, you found out that his warm, work-worn hands were also magic in the bedroom. Frankie was adept at tweaking your sensitive spots as gently as the little buttons and switches of the flight panel, bringing you to thrumming heights the same way he did his helicopter.

The rest of the summer passed in heady, humid days and nights like a dream. You loved Frankie’s easy sense of humor and his confidence in the cockpit. But Frankie was less confident about your relationship, voicing concerns about the decade-plus that separated your ages, and whether he was keeping you from dating men your own age. He made self-deprecating comments about being an “old man,” and you reassured him that there was no one you’d rather be with, no one who could sway your attention. You loved using your hands and arms and lips and tongue to reassure him, finding that he had his own sensitive spots that you could manipulate. You loved sending him to sleep with a smile on his face.

But as much as you and Frankie enjoyed the relationship, the nature of his work with the transportation team meant that he was never in town for very long. At the same time, your job was getting more complex, requiring late nights at the office that interfered with your time together. You refused to dwell too much on the fact that you were torn, that you loved your work as equally as you wanted to spend those nights with Frankie.

By the end of the summer, you both came to the realization that it was nobody’s fault, simply a case of poor circumstances, and you decided to end things and remain friends. In October Frankie left Statesman to take a job that relocated him to Florida. You were wistful, and you missed him, but at least it had been an amicable split. At least friends was something. And as sometimes happens even with the best of intentions, the time in between each phone call grew longer, and you eventually lost touch. Last you heard he was spending weekends with his old Army buddies who all lived nearby, and he had a new girlfriend. By February the ache was starting to subside, and by April you were nearly ready to date again.

In May, almost three years to the day after Ginger’s visit to your apartment had changed your life, you were offered the position to lead the Data Analysis team in New York. You jumped at the chance. Statesman located an apartment for you, and from the pictures you were already in love with it. Huge windows looked out over the city, and it was within walking distance of Statesman HQ. Your farewell party was bittersweet. Ginger offered to come visit you, and promised that New York would be everything you hoped it would be. Your team gave you such high praises that you joked that if that’s what it took to hear accolades, you would have left ages ago.

---

Your first few days in New York were spent acclimating to the Statesman HQ, and getting to know your neighborhood. It was strange to find that you could walk or take the subway for whatever you needed, compared to the Midwest where a car was required for everything. Your new team was welcoming, and you enjoyed your new duties immensely. Your first two weeks on the job passed in no time, and you went home every night feeling like you could fly.

And then you hit a wall, in the form of Jack Daniels, a.k.a. “Senior Agent Whiskey.” You knew him by reputation, of course. Ginger had filled you in on his exploits, his overbearing charm, his smarmy flirtations. You had seen him once or twice in passing when he had visited Champ’s office, but you hadn’t actually met him in person.

When you finally did, you almost asked for an immediate transfer back to Louisville. --- "Paloma" Series Masterlist Just-here-for-the-moment’s masterlist

Tag list: @honeymandos @driedgreentomatoes @silverwolf319 @mourningbirds1 @honestly-shite @anaaaispunk @greeneyedblondie44 @spacedilf @maxwell–lord @nicolethered @dihra-vesa @the-queen-of-fools @juletheghoul @anxiousandboujee

[maxismatchccworld]

Patch Notes

Update 11/10/2020 PC: 1.68.154.1020 / Mac: 1.68.154.1220 Console: Version: 1.33

Welcome, Simmers! A relaxing getaway sure sounds nice right about now. We’re inviting you to take a trip with your Sims to your favorite destination with the newly added ability to vacation anywhere within The Sims 4! Here at Maxis, we’ll be hitting the slopes of Mt. Komorebi with the release of The Sims 4 Snowy Escape in just a few short days. Curious how it works? Read on! We’ve got a big haul of new features and requested fixes in this major update to The Sims 4.

-SimGuruGraham and SimGuruRusskii

NEW & IMPROVED FEATURES Platforms

Platforms enable you to build rooms at varying heights within a story level. As much as we’d love to sit here and go on and on about how incredible platforms are and how they completely revolutionize Build Mode, you’ll see that for yourself as soon as you try them out in-game! Here are some basics for how they function and how you start building with them.

You either can use the new

Platform Tool

directly in or you can place preset platforms that come in various shapes and sizes. You’ll find both of these within the “Walls and Empty Rooms” section of Build Mode.

You easily can add or adjust the height of a platform in any room. Simply click on a room to select it, and the new up & down arrows in the widget that appears will allow you to add or adjust the height of a platform within that space.

Because platforms can have their height adjusted up or down, you can even create platforms that sink down beneath ground… like, really,

really

deep down. I don’t know why anyone would want to do that *

cough

* devious players *

cough

*, but the option’s there! This ability to go deep is reserved for the ground level and basements.

You can stack platforms on top of platforms, on top of platforms, on top of platforms, on top of platforms, on top of platforms… Seriously, go nuts. Get creative. Make something nobody has ever seen in The Sims before!... On top of platforms…

When a platform’s height is a single step higher or lower than the adjacent floor, Sims are able to step onto it. For anything higher than a single step, connecting a set of stairs or a ladder between the different surfaces will allow Sims to reach them. Here’s your first advanced lesson in platforming: Remember that callout about stacking platforms on top of each other? If each stacked platform is a single step in height, you could certainly make some interesting custom staircases…

One notable exception - platforms can’t connect across multiple levels. If you build a stack of platforms all the way to the ceiling, the very last step will need to be a staircase or ladder to connect two separate floors of a building together.

Platforms can be utilized as fully functional space or be purely decorative areas - the choice is yours! As you adjust the height of a platform, your Sims will intelligently adapt to that space. For example, you could create a platform with only enough head clearance for a child to enter. The possibilities are endless!

The visual look of platforms can be customized in a variety of ways. The “Walls and Empty Rooms” section of Build Mode now has a “Platform Trims” subcategory. Here you’ll find trims that match all of our foundations as well as some new trims with basic materials that look perfect in the interior of a building. Want to go even further? Try wrapping the edge of a platform with half walls and then customize the edge with any wall material. Mix and match these methods for creative results!

Even More Half-Walls

Speaking of Half-Walls, we’re pleased to share that we’ve created 12 additional Half-Wall heights to choose from, adding to the 7 heights previously available. One could factually say this is our most sizable Half-Wall update ever! Pity the poor person who was tasked with writing uniquely descriptive names for each of these 19 height variations.

Sentiments

Sentiments are those special fuzzy feelings that form between Sims when they share a memorable moment together. Shared experiences between Sims now offer the opportunity for Sims to develop long-lasting sentiments between each other, which in turn affects how they feel and act in the presence of (or the absence of) another particular Sim. Unlike relationships between Sims, Sentiments can be a one-sided affair. When two or more Sims share an experience together, you may find that all, some, or none of them walk away from that moment having formed a lasting impression of the other Sims that were involved. The base game includes a wide variety of these Sentiments and Snowy Escape has additional ones tied to experiences within that pack.

Sentiments that have formed between Sims can be viewed in two locations. When socializing with another Sim, click on the heart-covered notebook that appears in the social UI at the top of your screen. Alternatively, you can view the Sentiments that exist between two Sims at any time within the new Sim Profile within the Relationship Panel. Read on for more information on this new Sim Profile ...

Sim Profiles

Have you ever gone to check out the other Sims in your Sims’ life, only to be greeted with an overwhelmingly large tooltip that extended from the tippy top all the way to the bottom of your screen? We certainly have, and we weren’t happy with it.

There has to be a better way!

...And there is! Introducing:

Sim Profiles

! Within the Relationship Panel, you can now click on the portrait of any Sim and select “Open Sim Profile” for a full breakdown of all the info the active Sim knows about that Sim. It even includes those nifty new Sentiments everyone’s been talking about!

Skin Tone Update Console & Community Identified Issues

We saw your feedback about the October skin tones update and, to improve clarity and transparency, we shared a first look on Twitter of the fix in progress.

With this patch, the Console game gets the October fixes for texture compression, resolving the banding on the cheeks and foreheads as well as discoloration on the tip of the nose.

In addition, this patch addresses the two community-identified issues of red dots around the lips and a dark blotch between the eyes. The red dots around the lips should be completely resolved at this time. The dark blotch between the eyes was softened to remove the hard edge, but the darkening is expected as part of the shadowing around the nose.

Vacation Anywhere

Couldn’t we all use a good vacation right about now? Your Sims certainly could, and now they can go anywhere! The ability to go on a vacation to any of your worlds has been added to the game for all players along with the “Rental” lot type.

To vacation to a world, a rental lot must exist within it. Should you purchase Snowy Escape, you’ll find the residential world of Mt. Komorebi includes some pre-built rental lots - a ready getaway awaiting your Sims. If you prefer to vacation in another world (Sulani, anyone?), you’ll first need to enter Manage Worlds mode and update at least one of the lots within the desired world to become a rental lot.

During a vacation, if your Sims are lacking any necessities, they now can “Order Supplies Now” from the rental’s mailbox or from their phone. Happy travels!

Toddler Slippers

We figured it’d be nice to give toddlers a pair of slippers to wear. So we did. Cozy feet!

S-Pop Radio Station

You may remember S-Pop (short for “Sim-Pop”) as a radio station in the City Living expansion pack. While the music tracks that originally came with that station will remain exclusive to City Living, the station itself is now available for all players with five new songs for all players to enjoy:

“keep on rocking” Performed by CHAI Written by Yuki Mizutani (p/k/a/ Yuki), Kanae Obata (p/k/a Kana) and Manami Obata (p/k/a Mana) Published by Sony Music Publishing (Japan) (JASRAC) Recording courtesy of Sony Music Japan by arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment “Kanzen Houki Sengen (Simlish Version)” Performed by Nanawoakari Written by Nanawoakari & Tamaya2060 Published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing Recording courtesy of Sony Music Japan by arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment “Part. 2” Performed by SASUKE Written by SASUKE Published by Warner Chappell Publishing Recording courtesy of Warner Music Japan Inc. by arrangement with Warner Music Group Video Game Licensing “Ninhursag’s Tone” Performed by Unite Satisfy Written by Shintaro Aoki Published by Syn Songs Recording courtesy of NNN Records & Cross Groove/Syn Songs “Harujion” Performed by YOASOBI Written by Takuya Shimizu (p/k/a Takuya) and Akira Tsubono (p/k/a Akira) Published by Sony Music Publishing (Japan) (JASRAC) Recording courtesy of Sony Music Japan by arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment

And now, onto the fixes:

The Sims 4

Freelancer Sims now can complete Gigs they have signed up for and harvest the fruits of their labor. Simoleons, Simoleons, Simoooleons… SIMOOOLEOOONS.

Does your Sim look bored all the time? Even when you think they are having fun, they look bored to you? Not a problem anymore. It’s been… taken care of.

Calls Dropping? Is your Cell Phone behaving like a certain network is just not up to snuff? We have upgraded all Sims to Simgular - Llama’s Choice Network that does not allow Off-the-Grid shenanigans when your Sims are not Off-the-Grid.

The NanoCan Touchless Trash Can has been recalled and fixed so now all your trash can be cash in a flash.

Did you ever experience the Honey I Shrunk the Basil and Sage Plants issue in-game? No longer! *No Sage or Basil Plants were harmed in the fixing of this issue*.

Ever had Sims show up looking like a product of a bad makeover? Did your Debate Judge just show up to the debate wearing a mascot hat when they're not the mascot? Did your fellow Spellcasters show up in the Magic Realm wearing not so magical clothes? Say no more… We have applied a fix so that non-playable Sims can be a bit more appropriately coordinated in their outfits and per occasion.

Door lock settings now persist when Sims travel. That’s right! If I disallow everybody, it should stay that way when I travel… or when I exit the game… and the occasional restart, too... hmpf!

Sims who have passed away no longer sometimes disappear from their Genealogy. This is not retroactive, so any Sims that already disappeared will not return.

Sims no longer ignore the kitchen sink and dishwasher to wash their dishes in the bathroom sink. Okay.

Oasis Springs’ World Map now shows lots in the correct locations. I see you, Yuma Heights - don’t be sneaky now.

Sims now can propose to their beloved without rejection (congratulations!). On the same note, Sims with multiple romantic partners now can propose and marry one of them and not get sabotaged by their partners’ predicament of not being able to get married because they are employed together, even when they are not.

Sims who have finished their workday now get back to things sooner instead of sometimes staring off into space.

Ever wished your delicious food just never… ended? We thought we did until our Sims were unable to finish their meals. Now they are able to finish Eating Leftovers. They are leftovers, not leftFOREVERS.

Sims sharing double beds now can Nap or Sleep in any combination. Sim A can nap and Sim B can Sleep… or Sim A can Sleep and Sim B can nap… or they can both Sleep… or nap… well, you get the picture.

Shower Tubs now can be cleaned enough to be visibly squeaky-clean.

Another one bites the dust. The issue that generated Error Code: 110:c875d8ff on game load has been fixed.

Style Influencer Sims now perform Quick Sketch Impression without breaking the Digital Sketchpad. Be kind with your tools and toys.

Removed incorrect Moodlets such as “Awkward Hug” when Unflirty Sims hugged kids. In the same fashion, we made sure Unflirty Sims no longer receive the “Witnessed Crass Act” Moodlet when parents and children hug or kiss cheeks.

Adult Sims now Teach Blocks to their Toddlers. Learning in early life is important!

Sims on vacation now can hire a Nanny and/or a Butler to take care of things while they are away.

Toddlers no longer will show as “At Daycare” when they are taken back home via the “Care for Self” option. No Toddler clones here... you can’t be two places at once!

Toddlers left at home while the rest of the household goes on Vacation now receive proper care and otherwise can join the Vacation. THINK OF THE CHILDREN. Toddlers deserve fun and relaxation in new places, too!

Toddlers no longer get the “Silly Ocean” Moodlet from playing in rivers.

Children once again can earn Adult skills. *sniff* They grow up so fast!

Simmers in social events now get a warning when switching to a Sim in another neighborhood rather than the event cancelling automatically.

Sims with enough Simoleons now can move into empty lots.

Splitting households and then moving no longer causes an infinite load.

We told Sims that they should probably not take 45 minutes to drink a single cup of Coffee. As you guys know, I am a coffee fiend, but nursing the same cup for that long is not in the coffee lover’s manual for enjoying fresh coffee.

We met with our wonderful Sim Firefighters and came to the agreement that they now also will extinguish fires on wall objects such as paintings.

Action progress bars no longer are interrupted when a new action is added to a Sim's queue.

Sometimes items could disappear from your Sim's inventory after travelling. This should no longer happen. Where is my cup of coffee? Oh, okay, it is here….

Sims no longer have Clay Blobs, Future Cubes, and/or Sketch Pads spawn infinitely in their Inventory. This felt like grabbing something out of Felix the Cat’s bag… just a never-ending bag of Clay Blobs, Future Cubes, and Sketch Pads… what did it all mean!? We may never know.

Opening a stack of Inventory items and then going back now highlights the correct item.

In reviewing items in Inventory, we realized that some item stacks were showing the number 99+ incorrectly on Multiselect. What’s the number? - Stomp, Stomp! - What’s the number? - Stomp, Stomp! - The number of the day… you’re about to see the number is the actual number of items you have! Ah ha ha. That’s the number of the day!

Sims no longer endlessly play games such as Chess, Sabacc (if you own Journey to Batuu), Voidcritter Cards (if you own Kids Stuff), and your regular Card games. I could play with Meduso forever though… #Meduso4ever.

Page Up/Page Down and Home/End Keys now work in Free Cam Mode.

The Aspiration Panel now shows the gender of Sims regardless of whether they are active.

Now only Gardeners autonomously remove wild plants. Sims with Green Fiend Trait (if you own Eco Lifestyle) were being a bit overly eager in removing plants everywhere, so the professionals will handle it from now on.

“Listen To Together” on a Stereo no longer resets Sims.

Sims no longer get “Poorly Decorated” and “Dismally Decorated” Moodlets when decorations are in the room. This applies to new Saves as it is not retroactive, but, my, how judgemental Lots were….

Columns now can rotate 45 degrees and in Free Rotation. Spin them right round, Simmers, right round.

The liveeditobjects cheat no longer surfaces items with broken thumbnails that were not meant to be part of that cheat. Pardon our dust.

Shower descriptions in the catalog said they were “Uncomfortable.” Showers are meant to relax and be a place of meditation, so the catalog now says they provide “Discomfort Relief” unless the specific shower really is uncomfortable.

The Subtle Saucer and the Super Subtle Saucer now have images that are more distinct from each other in the catalog. Super Subtle, Super Saucer.

Removed the “Player Feats” door because it wasn’t really a door…

Dishwashers The Professional Dish Laborer, Washer Pro Free-Standing Dishwasher (from Dine Out), and Industrial Dishwasher Unit (from Parenthood) no longer have a gap between counters.

Digital World wall tiles have been polished. Shiny and new!

Career-unlockable outfits no longer show up when filtering for Custom Content.

Toddlers no longer have bald spots when zoomed out on Low Graphics Settings.

Frayed jean ymBottom_EF13JeansFrayedCrop_Black no longer clips with several tops.

Anniversary t-shirts yfTop_EF05ShirtTeeAnniversary and ymTop_EF05ShirtTeeAnniversary fit better on more body types.

Sims with certain feminine frames now look better when wearing Pants or Full Body outfits.

Fixed some Create a Sim item backgrounds.

Selecting what you want to do next at the end of the tutorial on console no longer has the mysterious word "Label" in the background.

Gallery filters no longer cut off some venue type names in some languages. This was particularly egregious for French and Brazilian Portuguese text.

Game fonts got some spiffing up to keep all characters looking their best.

As with every update, the localization team has tweaked, improved, and fixed text across all Packs and previous updates.

To explain a bit further, we created a much more robust set of internal tools that allows us to have greater control over the outfits that the Sims choose to wear in unique situations. We’ve improved a lot of the wacky townie fashion you’ve seen previously (it’s called fashion sweaty - look it up), but if you still see oddities - let us know. It’ll be an easier issue for us to “iron out” moving forward! Together, we can defeat the dreaded eyeball ring.

Get to Work

Scientist Sims placing collected crystals and metals in their Laboratory no longer crash the game. Do you ever science so hard, the simulation crashes?

The “Test Serum” action on a Scientist co-worker no longer causes an error.

Get Together

Stone Frame Window (window1x1_EP02TUDstoneFrame2Tile_set1), Holey Geometry (window1x1_EP02TUDLow_03_2Tile_set1), and King of Diamonds Classical Door (doorSingle2x1_EP02TUDHigh3Tile_set1) now place properly.

Sims in Clubs with a Read rule now finish the books they choose to read. No cheating, my friends.

Wearing their Earbuds (if you own Fitness Stuff) and participating in Club Gatherings no longer causes an error.

Club affiliation on University Housing (if you own Discover University) now persists after entering Build/Buy Mode.

City Living

Ultra Speed now works while Festivals are in progress. Some conspiracy can be said about Festivals wanting Simmers to enjoy them in all their glory… at a normal speed at every speed, but these are just conjectures… yes.

Sims no longer read their mail aloud while conversing with their apartment neighbors. Talk about rude, right?

“Read about Festival” now consistently displays festival information.

Sims from specific San Myshuno neighborhoods now have more variety on their appearance.

Cats and Dogs

Stencils in Create a Sim (Pet) now consistently paint your furry friends without crashing.

Seasons

The holiday tradition New Skill Day now focuses on starting new skills and improving low level skills so skills that are maxed out don’t count.

Toddlers who are inside during a blizzard and in a high chair no longer want to Run Inside, so their caretakers won’t take them out of the chair prematurely. You are safe little one; you are safe.

Now all onions, carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, apples, tomatoes, and growfruits can be planted indoors during freezing weather.

Plants no longer change their quality or evolve on their own after Sims traveling.

Some Outdoor Plants that were stuck in summer/fall now turn brown and lose their flowers when winter starts.

Sims now can book Vacations on the computer during holidays.

Simmers who have disabled Rain and Snow no longer should see them during Mysterious Weather. Mysterious indeed.

Male Sims now wear appropriate shoes when working as a Floral Designer or Botanist.

The beanie hat cuHat_EP05BeaniePom now looks a bit better.

Sims scheduling an event in the Calendar for a Rental Lot no longer end up in a Lot where they have not been greeted.

Get Famous

Stans (“stalker fans”) and Kleptomaniac Sims no longer steal Pet food bowls or Cat litter. I have no words for this one. I have nothing.

Sims with maxed out Atrocious Reputation now maintain their reputation when traveling. Atrocious you shall be forever.

Island Living

Conservationist Sims now Write Conservation Articles at the appropriate career level (level 4). On the same note, the task for Research Conservation now can be completed.

Odd Jobs no longer get stuck in a state where Inventory and Build Mode cannot be accessed.

We had long conversations with Island Celebration Participants and agreed that no random Sims should enter a Sim’s home without permission, barging in as if they owned the place. Excuse you, privacy, and property are a thing, you know?

Discover University

We chatted with the registrar at Britechester University and got them to agree that students should receive class time reminders before class instead of after. You’re welcome. Now, make sure you go on time, alright?

School Spirit Day no longer schedules multiple instances at the same time. But… Did you know it is Spirit Day?

Club gatherings no longer have Sims with their bikes indoors in a disruptive manner.

Sims traveling long distances including stairs now properly walk the stairs and then hop their bikes and they don’t leave their bike behind. You can’t just abandon your bicycle - what about the poor bike’s feelings?

Sims now properly get off bikes while on a slope.

Lawyer Sims now File Court Documents as their tasks dictate at levels after 5. Just because you move up doesn’t mean you stop filing docs.

Students in a different neighborhood from their University now go to school instead of work when choosing “Go to Class” from the Career Panel.

Students now can receive only one merit scholarship per term.

Sims no longer are listed as being at University when they are at home.

The game no longer sometimes freezes when Sims enroll in University. We get that attending University is life-changing, but freezing a game is taking it a bit to extremes.

Students now return to Campuses in their leisure time to cloud gaze and play Soccer in the surrounding areas of Britechester University and Foxbury Institute respectively.

Sims jogging in an Exo-Mech suit no longer get fatigue-related Moodlets.

For Eco Lifestyle Simmers, “Throw Away” and “Compost” now are available on piles of discarded food. The consequences of not having these were especially egregious at University Dorms.

Sweatpants yfBottom_EP08LooseSweatpants now look better when paired with scarf yfTop_EP08SweaterScarf in Create a Sim.

Eco Lifestyle

Recycle Disciple Sims without the Kleptomaniac Trait now swipe household objects less often. We get it, we are all trying to do our best for the environment, but going after your Dumpster was a bit too far… we kinda need that.

Eco Footprints no longer change very quickly from “Green” to “Neutral.” Knox rejoices.

Eco Footprints in Worlds no longer become Neutral when entering Manage Worlds.

We had a chat with Eco Inspectors and they agreed that they should display the correct occupation from now on. And they shall be known as Eco Inspectors… forever.

Bulldozing Pinecrest Apartments now is possible without damaging the lot.

Harvestables obtained via a Dumpster no longer disappear from Inventory a few minutes later. Easy come, easy go… would you not disappear, though?

Recycling is a wonderful thing. Recycling for Inventory exposed missing text on some Grand Meals, so we filled in those names.

Toddlers living in Lots with the Reduce and Recycle Lot Trait mayyyybe were taking it a bit too far generating trash piles in their inventories. Put that down - No more trash in your pockets.

Did your floor patterns experience a glow that never went away after selecting all of them? That’s not a problem anymore.

The Wallpaper formerly known as sheetStandingSeam01GEN has been renamed to Corrugated Metal.

The Fabricator’s Fabricated Couch (no dye) recipe now creates the correct item.

Residential Wall Speaker is renamed to Venue Wall Speaker: Americana to accurately reflect its function and music.

Venue Wall Speaker: Americana now looks correct with the neutral wood option.

Women’s sandals yfShoes_EP09PlatformSandals now look better when paired with jumpsuit yfBody_EP09JumpsuitUtility.

Men’s hairstyles ymHair_EP09CurlyBun_Black and ymHair_EP09CrimpedLong_Black have cleaner hairlines now.

Dine Out

Sims no longer get up from their seats at restaurants randomly and create chaos by speaking to other patrons, grabbing food from their table, putting it somewhere else, and taking over the place by playing the piano or singing. But it was quite the show, wasn’t it?

Xbox One Simmers now can edit Restaurant Staff Uniforms in Build Mode along with other Simmers.

Vampires

Vampire Spar no longer negatively affects Conflict resolution for Simmers with Parenthood.

Realm of Magic

Spellcasters with all spells learned and maxed out no longer lose those when downloaded from the Library/Gallery Muscle memory perhaps?

Create a Sim no longer has the less-than-attractive skin type that was intended only for cursed Sims as an option.

Spellcasters have reviewed the terms of their “Always Transportalate” Spell and now can actually teleport anywhere, even places with stairs.

Journey To Batuu

Sims now are able to complete First Order or Resistance missions and then choose the Hope vs Order - First Steps Aspiration and complete all goals.

The Lightsaber Collection plaque now has a proper name and description so you can display it with pride.

The First Order sent a memo stating to change the First Order Blast Door to not accept any decals or wall decorations.

Create a Sim asset yfBottom_GP09VillagerPatchVertical now goes better with different styles of shoes across multiple Packs.

The Career Panel now displays the active Mission chosen from the Mission Panel.

The game no longer freezes when Sims “Freshen up at the Dwelling” at Black Spire Outpost.

Luxury Party

Create a Sim asset yfBody_SP01SleevesFlutter_SolidBrown fits better when wearing Get to Work’s ymHair_EP01LongWavySwept_Platinum hairstyle.

Movie Hangout

Movie night has been reclaimed! Sims now can watch complete films from start to finish without getting stuck in a never-ending loop… or I should say not in a Neverending Story? STTOOooooryyyyyYYYY.

Knifty Knitting

Create a Sim boots cuShoes_SP17BootsBuckled_SolidRedPin work better with jeans cfBottom_SP07JeansPrint_FloralBlueLt.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

TOP 12 PORTRAYALS OF RAPUNZEL

@princesssarisa​ @sunlit-music​ @superkingofpriderock​ @mademoiselle-princesse​ @amalthea9​ @theancientvaleofsoulmaking​ @astrangechoiceoffavourites​ @notyouraveragejulie​ @tilthenextbluemoon​ @giuliettaluce​

Rapunzel, Rapunzel: lay down your hair so i can climb the golden stair! 

These are the words to call the lady named after a vegetable, so one can climb her hair and visit the tower where she is kept prisoner. At the same time that she is known for her exotic name and very long hair, personality wise Rapunzel tends to get very underestimated. Some adaptations gaved her a pretty passive role, and pop culture parodies would usually paint her as “just a girl who cries for the Prince to save her”, downplaying the inteligence and resilience to adapt into harsh situations that she showed in the original Brothers Grimm’s tale. So today, i will share my twelve favorite portrayals of the long haired heroine, that showed respect to her, gaved her carisma and made justice to her strenghts.

12º The version from ‘The Story of Rapunzel’ (1951)

At the start of his career as a stop motion animator, Ray Harryhausen made, with the collaboration of his relatives, a series of shorts based on fairy tales. Those shorts were ‘The Mother Goose Stories’, ‘The Tortoise and The Hare’, ‘The Story of Rapunzel’, ‘The Story of Hansel and Gretel’, ‘The Story of Little Red Riding Hood’ and ‘The Story of King Midas’ (when this tale started to be taken out of greek mythology and be perceived as a medieval fairy tale in the public conscience), where the characters were silent and the voice was given to a narrator. This encarnation of Rapunzel is more on the naive and passive spectrum, but i like her design and the fact she is animated in stop motion, plus the short is historically significant for being one of the early atempts to adapt her tale , and that’s why she has a place on this ranking.

11º The version from Simsala Grimm (1999)

In this german-french, two plushies, Yoyo and Doc Croc, receive life from a magic book to have adventures inside the Brother’s Grimm tales. They go to the tale of Rapunzel and help her and Prince Egmond get together. This encarnation of Rapunzel is kept as both prisoner and apprentice of Frau Gothel, who wants to turn the young woman into a mean spirited sorceress like her. But Rapunzel can only make spells that create pretty and merry things, like squirrels and birds. It’s a nice touch of humour, and that grants her the Eleventh Place at this ranking.

10º Mackenzie Mauzy in Disney’s Into the Woods (2014)

This movie as a whole is a weak adaptation of the now classic Broadway stage musical. But it had some enjoyable elements, one of them being Mackenzie Mauzy’s performance as Rapunzel. Mauzy has a short time on screen, but in that short time she brings beauty, grace, melancholy and anger to the role, and this makes it stand out enough to be the Tenth Place in this ranking.

09º Linda Purl in Timeless Tales from Hallmark (1990-91)

Timeless Tales from Hallmark was a direct to video series that had a live action hosted by Olivia Newton John and animated segments showing the fairy tale of the day, animated by the Hannah-Barbera studio. Purl’s Rapunzel is the romantic dreamer archetype, who sings her wish to be free. She has two encounters with the Prince before getting caught by the Witch Scarlotta, having her hair cutted and exiled to the distant woods. She reunites with the Prince, who has been turned into a blue bird (i see what you did there, screenwriters), and breaks the spell over him with her tears. She should smell more onions to cry and bottle those tears, that can be very usefull.

08º Tisha Campbell in Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1995)

In the bayous of Louisiana, Rapunzel is taken from her parents by Zenobia the Hoodoo Diva (played by Whoopi Goldberg, by the way), who seeks to make her a protege and shows her such neat tricks as voodoo dolls and shrinking her head down. Rapunzel is reluctant to do this when she sees Zenobia is hurting innocent creatures. Rapunzel soon attracts a handsome Creole prince, who must rescue Rapunzel and reunite her with her parents, but Zenobia seeks to thwart the interloper. One of the first african-american portrayals, this kind yet rebellious encarnation is a refreshing take on the character, and that is why she takes the Eight Place here.

07º Mandy Moore in Disney’s Tangled (2010)

After her mother dranked a tea made of a magical flower, Rapunzel was born with a magical hair that is able to heal any desease and rejuvenate anyone who touches it. Because of that, she was kidnapped and emprisoned in a Tower by Gothel, who raises Rapunzel to be insecure and afrayed of the outside world. But her curiosity is more powerfull, and with the guidance of a thief named Flinn Rider, the young lady escapes the Tower and goes on a journey to discover both what is scary and what is beautifull on the outside world with her own eyes, along the way captivating people with her merry and spontaneous personality, wich gives her the Seventh Place on this list.

06º Pamela Winslow Kashani in American Playhouse: Into the Woods (1991)

The lady who originated the role in the Broadway stage musical. Like Mackenzie Mauzy, Pamela Winslow Kashani brings the beauty, the grance, the melancholy and the anger to the role, but with an extra touch of energetic humour, taking advantage of the fact that she is in a stage show and getting intense as possible. That humour in the First Act  is what makes her PTSD and tragic death in the Second Act all the more heartbreaking. Plus, she probably has the most beautifull singing voice ever gaved to a Rapunzel encarnation, and sometimes that is enough to earn a place in my rankings.

05º Mitsuko Horie/Lara Cody in Grimm’s Fairy Tale Classics (1988-89)

This encarnation has a tragic backstory, having been forgotten by her parents after they received a memory spell from the Witch and they had three more kids after her. She is raised in the Tower as the Witch’s granddaughter, and develops a great talent to play the harp. Is the sound of that harp that attracts the atention of the Prince, who comes to the tower and conquers Rapunzel’s love. Sadly, when they are making plans on how to take her away from the Tower, the Witch sees the Prince climbing down, so she cuts Rapunzel’s hair and beats her till unconsciousness before exiling the poor young woman in the desert, where she learns to survive while raising the son that she conceived with the Prince, who searches for Rapunzel despite being blinded by thorns.

04º Luisa Wietzorek in Sechs Auf Einen Streich (2009)

This adaptation gives some interesting touches to Rapunzel’s story and character: until age 12, she lived a nomadic life, travelling in Gothel’s donkey pulled cart. But one day Gothel spots Rapunzel talking with a young boy, and decides to lock her in the Tower, where there is a magic golden haircomb that makes Rapunzel’s hair grow to be used as a ladder by her adoptive mother. Years pass, and the destiny brings the Prince, who was the young boy of the pass, to the Tower where the now grown up Rapunzel lives, and she has to face a dilema: continuing to live in the Tower, that brings the feel of comfort and safety, or taking risks and running away to freedom with the Prince she fell in love with.

03º Kelly Sheridan in Barbie as Rapunzel (2002)

This was my first animated adaptation of the fairy tale, and still is my favorite. In this movie, while giving some painting lessons to her little sister, Barbie tells a version of the Rapunzel story to encourage her creativity: kidnapped as a baby by the Witch Gothel, Rapunzel was raised as a house maid, receiving constant verbal mistreatments. But, thanks to her friendship with a rabbit named Hobie and a dragon cub (who still needs to learn how to fly) called Penelope, and her love of painting, the young long haired lady never lets her spirit be broken, always dreaming of someday go to live free in a castle by the sea. One night, she is surprised to find a haircomb that turns into a magic paint brush, wich can make a portal where she can escape and explore the ouside world, and in her first journey, she meets and falls in love with the dashing Prince Stefan, while asking him to not his name to her, because she is afrayed of being forced to tell it to Gothel. And she doesn’t stay long, because she fears that Gothel will get revenge on Hugo, Penelope’s father, for her escape. Talk about having a great sense of altruism, who wouldn’t want to have this lady as their best friend?!

02º Sylvia Wolff  in Rapunzel oder Der Zauber der Tränen (1988)

This german TV Movie combines the tale of Rapunzel with another, more obscure tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, called Maid Maleen. In this version, Rapunzel growed up very acustomed to the comfort and rich life provided by the Old Witch, using a magic reel to roll her hair in and make it grow to be used as a latter. Even tough she is in love with Prince Mathias, she is afrayed of going to the outside world. Later, not being enough that the Old Witch discovers her secret, cuts of her hair and blinds Prince Mathias, the King, after learning the existence of a maiden in the tower who becamed the love of his son, orders his troops to search the tower and seal its window, because he wants Mathias to marry another neighbour princess he arranged for him! Fortunally one of the soldiers takes enough pity to let a loose brick so Rapunzel can breath. She tries to use the point reel to scratch the clay that glues the bricks, and after cutting herself in the reel and crying over it, the reel regains magic, floating, opening the bricks, helping her to escape  to the outside world and search for her beloved Mathias...

And my Number One favorite portrayal of Rapunzel is:

01º Shelley Duvall in Faerie Tale Theatre (1983)

There were some small changes made in some detailles of the story (radishes replacing rampion to be more familiar with international, non german audiences,  insinuation that the Peasants Wife’s craving of the vegetal was a spell purposefully cast by the Witch, Rapunzel being traped in the Tower at adulthood instead of age twelve and a talking parrot/macaw that tells the Witch of the Prince’s visits), but as a whole, this is probably the most faithfull adaptation of the Brothers Grimm tale, and is all the more benefited for it, specially Rapunzel’s character, portrayed by the shows herself, Shelley Duvall. Duvall presented a very sincere passion for the source material, and in her performance, she showed a deep understanding of Rapunzel’s character and why she resonates with so many people: her rebeliousness, her curiosity, her romanticism, her inteligence, her quiet strenght, her resilience and her sense of hope, all of those qualities that the Grimm’s described in their heroine, are all there! When i watch this episode of Faerie Tale Theatre, i don’t see an actress playing a role, i see an icon of my childhood coming to life!

And that is why Shelley Duvall in Faerie Tale Theatre is whom i consider my definitive Rapunzel.

[aiden21]

Video Games. Spinner x gn!Reader

Word count: 3.5k+

Slow days were a common occurrence for the League. Flashy, grand missions didn’t come by easily and most of the time the bar was empty except for Kurogiri. Most members of the League had homes—or at least places where they could sleep—and so, when Shigaraki dismissed everyone, most people just up and left the place. You were not one of those people.

Having lived under a bridge before joining the team of villains, the bar was the only place you truly had. Your possessions consisted of the clothes on your back and the small bed in one of the rooms upstairs, and that was it. You were thankful, always had been, that Shigaraki had been gracious enough to give you a place to stay, but that didn’t mean you didn’t get bored all by your lonesome from time to time.

You sighed, sinking deeper into the couch. The bar was deserted, Kurogiri having left with Shigaraki to meet with some person of interest, and the silence was pressing down upon you like a weighted blanket. You stared at the door longingly, putting all your mental strength into willing someone to open the door and join you. But if the past hour after returning from the store had taught you anything, your mental powers were absolute shit, and you were doomed to spend the rest of the day by yourself.

You knew a few people had some things strewn around the place, but nothing had truly caught your eye. No one read books that you found interesting, no one was childish enough to leave a board game lying around, and you valued your life enough to know that using the small handheld PSP that belonged to Shigaraki was out of bounds. You changed the channel on the TV once more, huffing in annoyance. God, you were so bored.

You glanced over at the clock on the wall, grunting when you realized it was only 4 in the afternoon.

“Screw it, I’m taking a nap.” You finally told yourself, shutting off the TV and getting up from the couch. You weren’t tired or sleepy, not even a little, but you figured that trying to rest a little was your best option at the moment. You dragged your feet up the stairs, already wrapping your mind around the fact that today would just be a very slow day and cursing yourself for not having a phone or a laptop or something to keep you entertained. But alas, you mourned as you reached for the doorknob of your room, you had no money of your own and you knew nothing about using technology in general.

“Goddammit!”

You stopped, your hand outstretched still. The voice had come from the end of the hallway and you were sure you weren’t imagining it. Was it a voice you recognized? Oh, who cares, you told yourself. You’d take a police officer at this point. You walked all the way to the end of the hall and knocked on the door to the common room the guys sometimes hung out in, fully expecting to get no answer, since the room was usually locked when Shigaraki was out; he valued his game consoles and trusted almost no one with them. Keyword here being almost.

The muffled noise of, well, something, stopped and you heard a hesitant ‘Yes?’. You cracked open the door, narrowing your eyes at the darkness and artificial lights that met you.

There, in the dark and with a game controller in his hand, was Spinner.

“Oh. Hi.” He said awkwardly, his face illuminated only by the glow of the TV in front of him.

“Hi,” You called back, glancing around the room but finding no other forms laying on the couches and chairs that adorned the game room. “I thought I was the only one here.”

“M-me too.” Spinner admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

There was a brief silence, Spinner not unpausing his game and you not quite coming inside the room. You two had never found much common ground to really sit down and talk, even though you both, unknowingly, wished you were closer.

“So… What’cha doing?” You asked, leaning against the door frame.

“I’m… playing video games.” Why did that sound so much like a question?

“What are you playing?”

“Grand Theft Auto.” He said, the name meaning absolutely nothing to you. You blinked once and Spinner sighed in defeat, his shoulders dropping. “It’s a... crime game, I guess.”

It was no big secret that Spinner was a massive game fan, a passion he only shared with Shigaraki. They’d both attempted to, sometimes, engage the other members of the League in conversation about their games (Spinner much more often than Shigaraki) but no one really understood a word of what they were saying. Toga said they weren’t cute, Dabi said they were boring, Magne always had better things to do, and Compress couldn’t use a computer to save his life. Still, Shigaraki loved games and movies and all that jazz, and thus one of the rooms on the second floor of the bar had been deemed the ‘game room’, furnished with comfortable seats, a massive TV, and various gaming consoles that anyone could use if Shigaraki was present, even if no one ever did. No one other than Spinner, Shigaraki’s only trusted teammate that had his own key to the room.

Because yes, villains can also have hobbies, hang out, and also share their gaming stuff with their friends. Or coworkers. Or whatever the League was to one another at any given time.

You hummed, balancing back and forth on your feet. You had no idea what the game was or how it was played, having never played a video game once in your entire life, something that Spinner didn’t actually know. He just believed you found them boring. He looked almost defeated, the way he always did when he asked one of the others if they wanted to play with him before getting rejected, and you hesitated at the door.

“...Can I stay here and watch you?” You asked in a soft tone, your expression hesitant.

It would probably be like watching a foreign movie with no subtitles, but it seemed like a better idea than just locking yourself in your room and staring at the wall for hours.

Spinner blinked once, twice, a bunch of times, his eyebrows going higher and higher up his forehead with each passing second. He fumbled around in his seat, mouth opening and closing, before abruptly speaking in a high voice.

“Sure! I mean it’s a room for everyone, right? Y-you don’t need to ask me or anything. I can go if you-”

You giggled, making his eyes go even wider, “It’s fine. I’m actually kinda curious about this whole ‘video game’ thing.”

You stepped into the room. The couch was big enough for four people to sit side by side comfortably, and you sat down around the middle, a polite distance away from Spinner. He was tightly pressed against the armrest, his once crossed leg now stiffly placed in front of him. You settled down and grabbed a cushion, hugging it to your chest.

It took a few silent seconds, but Spinner eventually unpaused the game. You blinked, your eyes following the tiny man in the middle of the screen as he walked around some unknown city, a few other things popping up on the screen.

“What’s that?” You asked, pointing at one corner of the screen. Spinner followed your finger, looking both amazed and scared.

“My money and health.”

“And that?”

“The map. So I don’t get lost, know where my missions are.”

“Do you have a mission right now?”

“Not right now. It’s an open-world game and you can pretty much choose the pacing of the story and such and…” He stopped himself, surely realizing that he’d already lost you. He cleared his throat and then, slowly, “We can do whatever we want, basically.”

“Anything?”

“Yeah.”

You looked at the screen, watching as the little avatar ran along the sidewalk, people and vehicles all around him. You eventually nodded towards the screen.

“Can you steal that car?”

“Which one?” Spinner chuckled a little, raising a brow.

“That red one, the one at the traffic light.”

Spinner nodded, his eyes far more serious than the situation called for. His avatar approached the vehicle and then opened the door, promptly throwing the driver out onto the street and easily taking the car. You laughed a little as Spinner drove away, curses from the car’s owner growing fainter as he made his escape.

“You fiend,” you teased, earning a proper laugh out of the mutant. “That was way too easy, though!”

“Well, then give me a challenge.” Spinner said, giving you a glance and a small smile.

“Steal a plane.” You said confidently, but Spinner scoffed.

“You’re thinking too small.” He said, relaxing back into his seat. You realized for the first time that he had none of his usual gear on, only a pair of black jeans and a white t-shirt, his hair pulled back in a very messy ponytail. You rarely saw him like this, chill and confident and secure and you found yourself really liking the way all of those things looked on the usually shy mutant.

You spent the next hour watching as Spinner attempted (and usually succeeded) whatever idiotic, ridiculous idea you could conjure up. You had him running from one side of the map to the other, stealing some things, blowing up a few others, spawning things in places where they didn’t belong, and generally just causing absolute chaos wherever he went.

You laughed like an idiot as you watched him play, your dorky laugh making Spinner laugh in turn. You didn’t know it, but every time you had a fit of laughter, his chest would swell with happiness and so he kept the antics coming one after the other, each stunt dumber and flashier than the last.

You were honestly enamored with just how many absurd things you could get away with in the game, and so your eyes stayed mostly on the screen. You pointed and things and made up dumb scenarios for Spinner to somehow accomplish, your smile only fading when you focused on trying to understand what he was doing at any given moment. Spinner’s eyes though? He kept glancing your way, thankful that he was familiar enough with the game to be able to look at you for a second or two without dying.

He was currently driving, having just explained to you how cheat codes worked, an explanation that you listened to with rapt attention even if you didn’t get all of the things he told you. He was excited and you were giddy with laughter and the both of you were honestly having a great time together. You settled back into the comfy couch with a dumb smile on your face, a small giggle escaping your lips.

Spinner paused the game, stretching his arms in a wide arch.

“I’m gonna go get some water, you want anything?” He asked you, already getting up from the couch.

“Water is fine,” You responded, smiling appreciatively up at him. He smiled back, suddenly unable to keep eye contact. He half-ran out of the room, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

You still had the small, soft cushion in between your arms and you started running your fingers through its fluffy, black surface. This cushion had been brought home by Toga after one of her shopping sprees with Magne. It was soft and warm and you and Toga always fought over the damned thing on the rare occasions that you two watched movies together in the game room.

After a minute you stretched like a cat, groaning and readjusting your position on the couch to be more comfortable. Unknowingly, you’d scooted closer and closer to where Spinner had been sitting, and as soon as you noticed, you blushed, thankful that he wasn’t in the room at the moment.

Suddenly very aware of your surroundings, a light sense of anxiety came over you and you grabbed the closest thing you had in an attempt to distract yourself. Sure enough, it was the game controller. It was still a little warm, something that made you blush a tad more, and you turned it in your hands to examine it.

Truly inexperienced when it came to these kinds of things, you watched the object in your hands as if it was an ancient artifact of unknown origin and purpose. The buttons were marked with symbols and there was a light shining in the middle. You gave one of the triggers a try, liking the small clicking that came from it, and then, feeling braver, you pressed one of the buttons at random.

The game immediately unpaused, the scene going right back to where Spinner had left it before he left. You cursed, eyes wide in panic, as you attempted to pause the game again. But you couldn’t manage, and you were left with no other choice‪‬󠀥 than to try and control the car in the game. It was just a game, there was no need to act as if the world was ending, but the car was in the middle of the highway and you honestly didn’t want to look as useless as you felt in front of Spinner.

You guessed, correctly, that the little nub on the left of the controller steered the car, but you weren’t able to figure out how to make the damn vehicle accelerate for the life of you. The car behind yours crashed into your car and you cursed louder, feeling like a total idiot. Then you pressed who knows what and the little man on the game got out of the car and you wanted to throw the controller at the screen. Well, you told yourself, at least you could easily figure out how to walk in the game. This wasn’t that embarrassing a scene, in all honesty. Your confidence lasted all of three seconds before you were brutally reminded that the character had gotten off the car in the middle of a concurred highway, a semi plowing into the little avatar and sending his body flying through the air and into the other side of the road.

The image on the screen slowed and desaturated, the word ‘wasted’ flashing on the screen as, in the background, your character was run over by yet another car. The text was still on the screen when Spinner walked back through the door, his eyes immediately landing on your grand failure.

“What… happened?” He asked carefully, hyper-aware of your panicked expression. He placed two glasses of water down on the coffee table but didn’t sit down just yet.

You pointed at the controller as if the thing had committed murder, your voice getting higher and louder by the word.

“I don’t know! I pressed something and the game started and I couldn’t pause it and then the little guy thought it was a great idea to walk into traffic and he died and-”

Spinner snorted. He couldn’t help it, though he did have the decency to wave his hands in front of himself apologetically when you glared at him.

“Don’t laugh at me! I’ve never played a game before!”

“You never played one of these when you were a kid?” He asked, sitting on the armrest of the couch. He, too, had noticed how much closer to his spot you had gotten and he wasn’t quite confident enough to just sit down by your side.

You paused for a moment, bitterly self-conscious despite not wanting to be. You tapped at the controller with a fingernail, suddenly much quieter than before.

“I’ve… never played a video game before. Like, ever.”

Spinner’s eyes widened a bit, but it was soon replaced by a frown at your change in mood.

“Nothing?”

“We were too poor to afford anything when I was little, and then my parents kicked me out and well… I’ve never really had the chance.” You admitted, your eyes low. You tried not to bring up much about your past with the rest of the League, in part because you were a bit ashamed and in part because you knew most of them had had way worse childhoods than you. You honestly just didn’t like complaining, not now that you had so much to be thankful for. Those things were in the past, after all, and there was no point in being sad anymore, right?

You offered Spinner the controller once more, attempting to shake off your feelings to not ruin the mood. He took the controller from your hands but he didn’t sit back down, instead walking over to the TV. He paused the game again and shut off the PlayStation. You immediately started telling him that it was okay, that you were sorry, but you shut up when he threw a different, much smaller controller at you. The screen was only dark for a few moments before a different console was turned on and Spinner took his seat by your side with only a light blush dusting the skin under his scales.

“Let’s try something we can both play, shall we?” He asked you, already pressing around at the blue controller in his hand.

“You sure? You were having fun with the other game.” You pointed out, a weird feeling growing in your chest at the thought that you’d ruined Spinner’s fun. He chuckled, swallowed, and then looked at you for the briefest of moments.

“Well, I mean, it’s a good game, but… I was having fun with you, not the game, in particular, so yeah...” The last words were said in an embarrassed mumble and the feeling in your chest fell down into your stomach, turning warm and fuzzy. You smiled widely, settling down on the couch and crossing your legs. Your knee was resting on Spinner’s leg and, while you both noticed, neither of you said anything.

“What’s this one about?”

“You’ll see.”

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

Shigaraki and Kurogiri warped back inside the bar, the young leader of the League of Villains wanting nothing more than to lock himself inside his room, play some games, and then fall asleep. He turned towards the stairs but was met with an… odd sight if you will. Toga and Magne were standing at the foot of the stairs, both of them giggling like little girls.

“What the hell are you doing?” He asked, frowning as both women shushed him without any regard for who he was. He cursed under his breath and approached them.

“What?” He said, not as loud as before, but the answer presented itself before either woman could say anything.

From some room upstairs, he heard a clear scream of joy, followed by voices and laughter. He narrowed his eyes, glancing over at the two blushing morons at his side.

“We heard them when we got here ten minutes ago.” Toga giggled, her face more flushed than usual.

“Someone’s having a lot of fun up there~” Magne added, no attempt at hiding the implications of her words. Another high-pitched scream came from above and both women squealed.

Shigaraki moved a lot faster than he had in a while. He jumped the steps two at a time, following the loud noises of ecstasy and pointedly ignoring how Toga and Magne cursed him in your name, not quite managing to stop him. He flew down the hall like a demon out of hell, throwing open the door to the game room so hard that it bounced off the wall and left a small dent where the doorknob collided against the plaster. His red eyes were glowing with rage, his hands more than ready to turn whoever was fooling around in there into dust, but the scene that greeted him wasn’t quite the one he expected.

You were jumping on the couch, your arms raised in victory and a Switch controller in your hand. Spinner was sitting next to you, laughing carelessly and looking at you as if you were pure sunshine. On the screen, Yoshi had just won his first star in Super Mario Party.

“Did you see that!?” You asked Spinner, laughing as the mutant nodded, “I just got a star!”

“What the…” Shigaraki said, his stance deflating immediately. You turned towards him, a face-splitting grin adorning your face.

“Oh! Hi, Shigaraki! We’re playing Mario Party!” You pointed out, rather obviously. When Shigaraki didn’t react, you shyly got off the couch, assuming that he was angry at your outburst of energy. Behind him, Toga and Magne peeked into the room and started giggling like idiots.

“You wanna join? We’re almost done with this round.” You offered hopefully, plopping back in your place right next to Spinner, adding an inch of air between you two now that there were other people in the room. Likewise, Spinner removed the arm he’d had on the back of the couch, one that had been rather close to wrapping around your shoulders more than once.

“I wanna play!” Toga said cheerfully, running past Shigaraki and landing on her favorite beanbag, though not before reclaiming her cushion from your hands.

“Oh, me too! I wanna be Rosalina!” Magne said, choosing one of the reclining chairs near the back of the room, giving Toga a knowing look as they both left the couch only for you and Spinner.

“I call Princess Peach!” Toga added childishly, which made you laugh.

Shigaraki sighed like a man with no future, turned around, and promptly locked himself in his room for the remainder of the evening.

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[bloodstained-ballgowns]

Things I... didn’t like as much, about Black Widow (2021):

Disclaimer: I loved this movie. I would give it 4/5 stars overall. This is a lot of nit-picking. Most of the choices I’m talking about here I still really enjoyed, but this is how I would change them to improve it *for me*. If you disagree, that’s fine! Obviously, spoilers.

I said in my ‘Things I Loved About Black Widow’ post that I consider the first 53 minutes to be perfect, and the rest to be not-so-perfect. This is where I complain about the not-so-perfect stuff. They didn’t drop the ball on the third act, they just...fumbled it a bit. It stayed dark, but to me, it lost a bit of its grit. Cate Shortland’s influence really shone through in the first act, but it got lost around the second and third acts for me because of how Marvel-y it got.

Firstly, I’m considering the hand-to-hand combat here to be second only to CATWS. So why did that element basically dissolve towards the end of the film? She barely fought anyone in the prison breakout. Yes, Natasha fought the Widows, but that was all slowmo-y and widows-bites-y and did not have the same level of choreography. I wish they’d carried it through. 

Talking of action, there was not enough of it between Natasha and Taskmaster (who is getting a whole other post, because that is a bag of mixed feelings I don’t want to delve into here), particularly in the third act. Action isn’t something I’m particularly interested in but I was excited for this dynamic. Antonia wasn’t the villain, but like, the bridge fight did not effectively demonstrate her whole mirroring deal. Yelena and Nat’s fight had more mirroring than her and Tasky’s. Antonia’s skill set really shines in hand-to-hand onscreen, but as I said, I felt that kind of dissolved in the third act. They completely cheated us out of an impressive showdown when Natasha let Antonia out of the cell and moved backwards and I totally thought they were going to duel...which would lead into the sky fight...and then...the room cracks and they’re blown apart?? Hmmm.

Why was the Red Room in the sky??? I get that they were moving around a lot and this movie needed to have some kind of Marvel explosive finale and it looked cool and everything but I prefer the comics’ more grounded version. I just think it would have been more effective for Natasha and Yelena to walk through the old halls of the building they grew up/were trained in, find the new facility underground or something and then blow the whole place to smithereens. It would have actually cemented the whole ‘going back to where it all started’ thing.

Now I know the reason for Dreykov’s off-screen demise was to show how a man as purely evil as him didn’t deserve a major, glorified death. He deserved the death of an afterthought. But I would have liked to see Nat plunge a knife into his heart. Or to see him try to go after Yelena somehow and Nat just shoot him in the back of the head. It didn’t feel like they gave us any closure on that front, particularly as they made a whole deal about Nat not seeing the body in Budapest...and then we didn’t see the body here either. I almost feel like his death was made so insignificant that it was forgettable.

The whole flashing back and showing that actually they did have everything figured out did not work for me, it felt like lazy writing. It gave me “BET YOU DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING, BET YOU UNDERESTIMATED HER, LOOK HOW CLEVER NATASHA IS! DIDN’T YOU UNDERESTIMATE HER? SHE HAD IT ALL FIGURED OUT YOU FOOLS HARHARHAR” vibes and I was just like...I know. Literally, I know how clever and calculated she is. I knew she wouldn’t have been outplayed like that at Melina’s. Maybe other people didn’t, but come on guys, think up with something a little less ‘gotcha’.

What the hell happened with Nat and Ross before they cut to ‘two weeks later’? *confusion intensifies*

Again, this is getting long. See the read-more.

This movie had a lot of bases to cover and a lot of information to convey and I think the script managed that pretty well overall, but it did lapse into a bit of ‘show-don’t-tell’ syndrome at times. Show me Nat’s mother being ‘relentless’ in her search, don’t just tell me about it. I did not want Renner’s Clint Barton in this movie, but they could have made the Budapest flashback a smidge longer, for my liking.

Disney would never do this, but I would have loved an R-rated Black Widow movie. Yelena is absolutely a character that would yell ‘Fuck!’ really loudly (think Florence Pugh in that cactus video). My suggestions above for Dreykov’s death were me being reserved: Nat stabbing him repeatedly would have been so cathartic (for me, idk about her).

Y’all know I’m a slut for Nat’s everything in this movie, particularly the hair, but goddammit the hair. Riddle me this, if Nat had in a perfectly good braid when she got into the helicopter, why did she emerge with flowing locks and one tiny useless plait on the left side of her head?? And then she redid that into the ponytail with all the little braids while preparing for battle at Melina’s (never mind the fact that Nat’s hair would not have been long enough for them to reach much past her shoulders as well as being tied up) and fit it all under a Melina-wig! HELLO, LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE SPEAKING.

I’m pretty sure the whole Nat-not-understanding-science-speak thing was only there for the “In English”-*replies in Russian* gag but it still seemed a little ooc since she’s never had a problem with it before. Idk if I would class this is as Nat ‘playing dumb’ to get more information like she does later with Dreykov since Yelena is readily giving her that info, and Yelena is also good enough to realise when she’s being manipulated like that.

Ummmm whole separate post for reasoning and such but the magic dust antidote? Not a vibe. No thank you. Lazy. Unrealistic. 

So...Alexei and Melina. It’s not that I don’t like them as characters - I really enjoyed them, I think they’re great characters. Fascinating to analyse. Did I love the Ohio mission sequence? Yes. Did I really appreciate the family dynamic and all the fanfic possibilities it gave us? Yes. But do I wish they weren’t in this movie at all? Yeah, kinda. The family dynamic was funny, and it was heartwarming, and it was heartbreaking, because it was executed so well, but the fact is that it was added by Kevin Feige to make this movie more palatable for the wider audience. Alexei’s dad jokes breaking the tension were probably an imperative for most audiences to enjoy the film. (Yelena’s dry sarcasm could have filled that role easily for me). But I didn’t want the tension broken. I didn’t want people to relax. I wanted them to come out and have to decompress because it was so intense. It’s easier to market a film about ‘family and going back to the past’ than ‘female subjugation and exploitation’. I don’t appreciate it, but I get it. Making this into a quasi-ensemble piece in the second and third acts just irritated me though. I wanted all the screentime possible to be on Natasha and Yelena. They could totally have pulled it off without their parents.

This really is nitpicky, but would a Liho mention have been too much to ask for? It would have been so easy, when Yelena asked “did you ever wish for kids?”, Nat could have replied with “i have a cat”, which is a good deflection but also informative, or her lockscreen could have lit up to show a tiny black kitten. Idk, this movie used a couple of good comics references and I guess I was hoping for one more.

*whispers and runs away* Bucky should have been here. Goddammit.

In conclusion, a lot of my critiques could be fixed if we didn’t live in a time where this film still had to be palatable for wider audiences who do not care about characters nearly as much as they care about action or humour or plot or spectacle. A lot of the strong choices paid off (they’ve riled up dudebros enough to prove that). The Marvel-y ending and Alexei’s humour did not. The rest is just logistical errors and missed opportunities.

This is a lot of complaining but I promise, these annoyances are much more minor than I’m making them out to be. The movie is magnificent even with them.

[sgtbradfords]

I just had an idea and I don’t think anyone wrote about it yet 🙈

SE2E12 when Lucy takes down that guy at the speed dating place

Any chance you would write something on that?

Lucy shutting down, nayla and Harper not being able to help her and having to call Tim to come and help

This turned out really cute and I am kinda happy with how it turned out... I hope you enjoy anon! :)

Lucy Chen thought they would be going to a bar or a club for her first girl’s night out with Nyla Harper and Angela Lopez. But no, what the two officers had planned was so much worse.

Speed dating.

As soon as she read the white words on the hideous pink sign, her fight or flight response kicked in. She wanted to run but knowing her two friends, they would never allow that. She tried talking her way out of it, didn’t work. So, she took the only option left, being to rope them into their own scheme.

‘Trust your judgement.’ They said. ‘Control the environment.’

‘Bullshit.’ Lucy thought as she took a seat, a sip of liquid courage coursing through her veins.

The night had started off decent, easily picking out the creeps to be vague to and actively ignoring the weirdos who sent a shiver down her spine. Though, she was not much better, as she came off a little too forward with the men that sat down in the seat across from her.

The buzzer sounded, announcing the end of the night as she and the last prospect, Isaiah stood. He told her he had a good evening, to which she off-handedly agreed. She heard him before she could see him as he reached out, pulling at the loose thread on her sweater.

She reacted instantly, his hands were moving towards her and all she could think about was the last time a set of unwanted hands approached her.

Lucy had him on the floor with his hands secured behind his back in eight seconds flat, Nyla and Angela running over when Lucy laid him out.

“Hey.” Nyla told her placing a hand on her shoulder, bringing her out of her daze. “You’re ok. It’s alright.”

She could hear the shrieks of people being startled around her, Angela’s voice foggy as she spoke to the man she just laid out. Her breathing increased rapidly, adrenaline coursing through her veins as her heart pounded in her chest.

Lucy never heard the question that Nyla was asking as she pulled out of the hold the other woman had on her arm. Her body moved on it’s own accord, her feet carrying her quickly, returning her to the car she had vacated not even an hour earlier, pulling on the handle of the car, sitting down in the passenger seat before she hit the automatic lock button, locking the doors.

“Hey, Chen?” said Nyla as she knocked on the window.

Lucy took a shaky breath to steady herself, focusing on grounding her mind.

“Lucy?” Angela asked as she pulled on the handle of the locked door, hitting the button of her car, unlocking it.

Lucy’s right hand hovered over the switch panel, pressing the button to lock the doors back.

Angela hit it again, only for the occupant of the vehicle to lock it back.

“Seriously. What do we do?” she asked looking over the top of the vehicle.

Nyla pulled out her phone, her thumb scrolling on the screen before pressing the glass, moving the phone to her ear. “Hey. You busy? Yes, I know you’re off duty. We’ve kinda got a situation. I mean kinda like you’ll find out when you get here. We’re in the pay by the hour parking lot on 42nd street. You can’t miss us.” She said before ending the call, placing the phone back into the back pocket of her jeans. “Well, this has been an experience.”

“He on his way?”

Nyla nodded, leaning back on the car. “Relax, she’s not going to budge.”

Angela glanced into the car, standing between the car and the one next to it, keeping an eye on the woman sitting in the passenger seat.

“You meet anyone interesting?”

Nyla snorted, telling Angela about the guy who got up and ran from the table holding a hand to his mouth, and the one she thoroughly grossed out, telling her the stories she had told them.

“What about you?” Angela had just asked when a familiar truck pulled in off the road.

Tim Bradford pulled his truck into the parking lot, stopping at the automated machine to pay for parking, grabbing his ticket before pulling up behind the car he knew all too well. He put the vehicle in park, pressing the button to roll down the passenger side window. “I’m not going to be your DD Harper.”

Nyla walked over to the truck, resting her arms on the sill of the window. “We may have done something stupid.”

“Define stupid.”

Angela walked over, joining Nyla as she looked at the driver guiltily. “I may have pushed Lucy too hard.”

Tim’s face dropped, concern quickly taking over before he could mask the emotion. “What did you do?” he asked as he unbuckled, opening the door of the truck.

Angela shared a look with Nyla, “We may have gone speed dating.”

Tim stared her as he rounded the truck. “You what?”

“She agreed, after some encouragement and bribing.”

“Speed dating.” Tim said as he ran a hand over his face. “What happened?”

“She had a loose string on her shirt and one of the imbeciles tried to pull it without telling her.” Nyla began telling him.

“Then she laid him out. It was impressive really.”

“Not the point Angela. Listen, we tried to calm her down, but she ran out of there and locked herself in the car.”

Sighing Tim moved towards the driver’s side of the car. “Unlock the car.”

Angela hit the button, Tim opening the door simultaneously, getting in behind the wheel before he pulled the door close.

Lucy stared ahead as the vehicle shook, her training officer sliding into the seat next to her, his chest against the steering wheel as his left-hand moved to his side, fumbling with the buttons on the side of the seat.

“How the hell does Ang drive like this?” he grumbled as the seat began sliding all the way back, his long legs slowly unfolding. “So, what happened boot?”

Lucy held a hand to her face, her elbow resting in-between the glass of the window and the door as she continued staring ahead, watching the things moving around the outside world of the vehicle.

“You’re uncharacteristically quiet.”

“Are you here as my boss or as my friend?” She asked, moving her hand down from her face as she began to wring her fingers.

Tim thought for a second, hesitating before answering. “Friend.” They were friends and they were coworkers but somehow, they were also more than that, their working chemistry setting the base of their friendship outside the four sides of the shop.

“I thought I was ready.” She sighed.

“For?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Something more.”

Tim nodded. “It’s only been two months boot. Your recovery isn’t something that will fix itself overnight.”

Lucy somberly let out a lone laugh. “Like hell it will! I’m tired Tim. I’m tired of the pity, I’m tired of the looks, tired of it all. I just want to put it behind me, live a normal life.”

“I know.” He whispered. “But neither one of us has a time machine Chen.”

“Tim, it wasn’t-“

“Don’t. Don’t say it wasn’t my fault. I’m the one who- I almost lost you Lucy.” He told her, his voice cracking at the admission.

“We talked about this the other night. What happened was neither here nor there and both of us are going to have to move on from it sooner or later.”

Tim knew that his rookie was growing restless, the outcome of those twenty-four hours still eating away at her. “I think… what you need, is to find an outlet.”

“An outlet.” She stated, turning her head to face him.

“Something that takes the stress off, where your thoughts disappear and I don’t mean paintball, something a little more strenuous.”

Lucy snorted, rolling her eyes. “Isn’t that what sex is for?”

“That’s not a healthy outlet.”

“And what, Officer Bradford, is your healthy outlet?”

“I have a few, one of them being running.” He told her shrugging. “I try, every day, to run. In the morning, in the evening, doesn’t matter. If you hold onto the shit that we see on the job, you’re going to implode.”

She nodded. “So, what would you suggest?”

“Everyone’s different, you just have to find something that works for you.”

Lucy mulled over his words, silence enveloping the car before she took the opportunity to speak. “Thank you.”

“I would say anytime Chen but you’re making me miss Thursday night football.”

Lucy shoved his shoulder. “I’m sorry for ruining your Thursday with my insecurities.”

Tim flashed her a smile. “We all have our days boot. I do have to say that I wouldn’t mind seeing the video of you putting this guy in his place though.”

“What, so you can critique me?”

“No, so I can see you laying this guy out on his ass.” He said with pride in his voice. “Then critique you.”

A knock sounded on the driver side window. “If you two are done with whatever this is,” Angela said, gesturing between the two “we would like to get out of here.”

“Find an outlet boot.” He said as he pulled the handle of the door, his tall frame exiting the car. “You three text me when you get home.”

“Awwwe look Ang, I think he’s worried.” Nyla teased as Tim walked back towards his waiting truck, the man raising his right hand up the air as he flashed his middle finger.

It took several days and shifts to find what he was talking about, but as she wrapped her hands in tape, a bag of sand hanging in front of her, she took the advice given to her to heart. Lucy couldn’t help the smile that overtook her as she replayed the conversation that followed the disaster that was the other night as she began hitting the swaying bag. ‘Find an outlet boot.’

“Bring your elbow up.” A voice spoke from a few feet behind her causing her to jump.

“Giving boxing advice now are we Officer Bradford?”

Tim shrugged off the bag on his shoulder, letting it fall to the ground. “No but, I would rather you hit the bag properly than have a bummed wrist tomorrow and us get into a shootout.”

Lucy jabbed the bag. “Sounds like advice to me.”

He rolled his eyes. “Do you want my help or not?”

She stopped the swaying bag, grasping it with both hands. “Fine.”

Tim stepped closer, moving into her line of sight as he stood next to the bag. He began critiquing her, Lucy adjusting her stance and positioning countless times as he began placed a pair of boxing pads on his hands. “Enough with the bag. Hit me boot.”

“What?” she said in astonishment. “I’m not-“

“You will Chen, hit me.”

Lucy took a swing at him, missing him as he ducked. “Again.” He ordered.

She forcefully swung her right arm, her throw landing on the soft padding. “Good. Again.”

They kept it up, Tim counteracting her throws and punches, throwing in his own punches that she successfully blocked for the most part.

“See? Outlet.” He told her as he pulled a bottle of water from his bag, taking a sip.

Lucy began unwrapping her wrists, wading the tape into a ball. “Thanks, Tim.”

“You’ve got a mean right hook but your uppercut could use some work. We’ll meet back here in two days boot.” He told her, gathering his bag, moving towards the door.

“Don’t I spend enough time with you already?”

Tim turned around, smirking. “Two days boot.”

Lucy sighed, turning around mumbling under her breath. “He’s lucky I like him.”

“Heard that!” he yelled as the door closed.

[darylandbethfanforever9]

Devil’s Backbone

Devil’s Backbone

Chapter 6 

Story Rating: Explicit, 18+ 

Warnings: Smut, violence, past flashbacks of sexual assault, descriptions of torture, racial hate and forced abortion. Not Tony Stark friendly.

Relationships: Bucky/OC, Steve/Natasha, Billy/Wanda/Grant, past Clint/Laura. eventual Clint/Yelena and Frank/Karen.

Summary: In the aftermath of the Blip, Bucky struggled to find his place among the world and the Avengers. However, when he is sent on a mission to Madripoor to investigate a young woman, he starts to realize that maybe his past isn’t too far behind him. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14

"It was amazing, you guys. Absolutely." They had been on a video call with Bucky for about fifteen minutes now, starting to get some intake on his trip there and how everything had been going. But up until now, Steve had waited with a raised brow as Bucky described everything he had seen. "That sounds great, Buck," Steve chuckles a bit. "But there was a point of this mission." "Right, uh-" Bucky rubs the back of his neck a bit embarrassingly, chuckling. "Sorry. Sharon just knows what she's doing. I've never seen so much art and so many fancy people all in one sitting. But you're right. Sharon did direct me to the young woman that supposedly took up the Power Broker position." He pulls up photos and splays them onto the screen so they could see it. "I got some of these pictures last night before she left." Steve crosses his arms against his chest, shaking his head. "I can't believe this." "She looks just like Anastasia," Wanda remarks lightly. "See, you think that, but that's not her name – at least the one that she gave me isn't Anastasia. It's Maria Kapitonova. Interesting alias, but if it is her, she's certainly taking a different route than what I'm doing." "Did you learn anything else about her?" "Nothing that we didn't already know," Bucky states quietly. "Sharon told me that she is the one who's taken over the city, but she's dangerous, just as we suspected. She has morals and has laid down some rules but hasn't stopped herself from killing those who against them. Sharon said she's ended at least three so far. Something did sort of stand out to me for a moment though. I was talking with her and she said she moved to Madripoor to escape the cold from somewhere. If she WAS in Siberia, that would make sense." Sam rolls his eyes from where he stood. "There are a lot of cold places in the world, Bucky." "I know, I know, but it's curious, is all I'm saying." Steve sighs but nods. "Alright, at least we have that. You said you'd see her again?" "Yeah, we ah…kind of hit it off, in a way." At Steve's questioning response, he responds quickly. "Not like that, I just - I mean it seems she's willing to meet with me again outside of a party, so it'll be easier to get info." "Right," Steve chuckles, although a bit of him was curious. "Remember that this is a mission though, Buck." Bucky rolls his eyes. "I know, you don't have to remind me. I'll get the info you guys need." There was a loud meowing off screen and Bucky chuckles. "I gotta go. Alpine is being a little minx and wants some food." "Tell him that I say hi!" Wanda says, smiling. "I will," Bucky snickers before nodding at them. "I'll talk to you soon." They wave goodbye to him and he signals off the call, leaving them alone.

Ana lets out a soft sigh of content as she cooks up some dinner. While she did have someone that could cook for her, she preferred to cook her own food – usually for safety rather than convenience. She knew that there were several people who would most likely pay a chef to put poison in there. She wasn't about to let herself go down like that. As she starts to plate up her food, however, she pauses when she suddenly hears a crash from the living room. Quickly, she reaches into her cutlery drawer and grabs a knife, approaching quietly. "Hello?" She asks. No response.

She keeps her guard up as she ventures into the living room to see if anyone or something was in the living room. There was nothing aside from a card box having fallen on the glass coffee table. Luckily, it hadn't cracked the glass. She suddenly saw movement from the corner of her eye and picked up a gun that was in a drawer. Ana started cautiously walking down the hallway where the dining room was, when someone suddenly lunged at her. She moved out of the way quickly as the man jumped at her with a knife directed at her throat. She dodged out of the way as the assassin slashed at her with knife, but Ana used her ballet training to avoid being stabbed. Grabbing her by the hair, she threw him into the wall to slow him down slightly. The man glared at her disdainfully, sneering at her as he pulled out a knife that looked like it could slice her to pieces. "This is called a serbcutter, little girl. My ancestors used this knife to kill enemies of Croatia during World War II," the man taunted cruelty, lunging at her again. She kicked him in the chest, gripping her own knife and stabbed him in his left shoulder. She heard him yell out in pain, as she wrapped her legs around his neck, but he kicked her right knee, causing her to hiss in her own pain. Ana backed away from him as she saw two more of his friends had joined him. They must have come from the back garden to get into the apartment. Damn it. "Three on one…that's hardly fair," she remarked coldly, keeping a fighting stance as she kept an eye on where all of them were positioned. And then, she ran, all the way down. And they weren't that far behind in following her down into the streets.

After feeding Alpine and falling asleep, Bucky woke up to the sounds of fight from across the street. He quickly got dressed before grabbing his gun and his Da Lai knife that Steve had given back to him. It had been his when he'd been with the Howling Commandos. After locking the door, he walked quickly across the street to see what was going on. When he did find what was the cause, Bucky was stunned to see Maria fighting four people, one of whom had a knife and another man that he recognized as Diego, a Flag Smasher. "Hey, isn't four on one an unfair disadvantage?" he called out dangerously, pulling out his knife. His voice caused Maria to turn in surprise, and he sees a slight smile come over her lips at him suddenly showing up. One of the assassins tried to gut him. He kicked him in the face, causing the man to stumble back at his nose breaking from Bucky's kick. "You're pissing off our boss, Kapitonova! She wants Madripoor to be like how the country was before you arrived and started putting down all of these stupid rules for us to follow!" Axelle spat contemptuously, lunging at her with a hunter's knife. He saw Maria sigh in annoyance before punching her hard across the face, using a pair of batons that glowed dark red. They were similar to the ones that Natasha used, only hers glowed blue and not a dark crimson red. He knocked out the remaining one as Maria came over with a slightly bruised face. Her lip was bleeding, and she had a tear in her t-shirt that had blood on it. "What do you wanna do about them?" He asked quietly, nodding at two of the surviving assassins. One of the women was dead. Maria had stabbed her in the throat, severing her carotid artery and causing her to bleed out. "I'll question them…thank you for helping me," she answered cautiously, glancing up at him. He nodded and watched as she picked up their weapons off the floor. He discreetly checked to see if any of them had any identifiable scars or tattoos and got lucky. The woman had a tattoo on her back that had the words 'Elite Hunters' with roses on either side. It looked like it had been branded into her skin. He felt his blood run cold but took a photo and sent it to Steve. Maybe, they could find out who had sent them to kill Maria and why?

Steve had gotten Bucky's message and the attachment of a photo that showed a tattoo. He'd never seen that tattoo before, but Billy, Clint, Natasha, Yelena and Grant were staring at the tattoo as if they'd seen a ghost. "Do any of you know what this tattoo is? Because I've never seen it before, and I've seen my fair share of tattoos," Steve asked curiously. Natasha was the one who answered his question, surprisingly. "I do, and so do the others. It's the tattoo of a secret organization called the Elite Hunters who prey on people by luring them to holiday hotels and spas in countries such as Italy, Czech Republic, and Iceland. They revel in dark fantasies such as murder, cannibalism, and torture of many forms that include fetish pornography and amputation. Only wealthy people run the organization, and it was very secretive…until 2013," Natasha explained gravely, her face showing her disgust. No one in the room could speak. They were all horrified by what they were hearing. Wanda looked like she was going to be sick. Scott had stopped eating his slice of pepperoni pizza, while Sam looked disgusted. "Just gonna put that down," Scott mutters, lowering his slice. "So, what happened in 2014, Romanoff?" Tony asked, causing Natasha to ignore him. Steve shook his head, shocked at the revelation. "After I dumped all of S.H.I.E.L. D’s secrets, the Elite Hunters were discovered by Fury. A lot of victims that had escaped or survived killed the Elite Hunters in revenge, or they committed suicide rather than go to prison for multiple murders," she explained quietly. Clint then took over. "At least three of them escaped and went to hide in Madripoor. These are the only surviving Elite Hunters," he said gravely, as he used his iPad to pull up the images. Three images came up on the large plasma screen. One of a man with light brown hair and cold blue eyes. The next two were of another man who had blonde hair and emotionless hazel eyes that caused Wanda to shiver at his disturbing, twisted smile. The final image was of a blonde-haired woman who looked like she was a model, but she had a demented smile, one that made Steve know instinctively that the woman was dangerous. "Do we know who hired them to kill Maria?" Steve asked concerned. Before she could respond, a furious Thaddeus Ross stormed into the conference room. His hands were balled into fists, as he glared at where Steve was sitting. "Who authorized Sergeant James Barnes to go undercover as a Russian arms dealer in Madripoor!? I made it perfectly clear that the woman was to be terminated as soon as you acquired her location!" Ross shouted infuriated, causing Steve to speak up for his team and Fury. "With all due respect Home Secretary, the young woman has shown no threat to us. I personally believe, as do many of the others, that she is perhaps more like Frank Castle," Steve argued, causing Ross's face to turn an interesting shade of purple that resembled an eggplant. "You overstep yourself, Captain Rogers. As from now, you are no longer the leader of the Avengers due to your behavior as of late and your recklessness in allowing Sergeant Barnes to go on a mission without being cleared by me. As a result, Tony Stark will be leading the team," Ross said harshly, a cruel smile appearing on his face. Tony's expression was one of arrogance, triumph and smugness. "Sir, Steve did the right thing. Who else could he send undercover?" Natasha argued firmly, causing everyone aside from Clint and Sam to stare at her in surprise. Ross's lip curled, as he looked at the young woman who sitting next to Yelena. He wasn't impressed or bothered by her question.

"He could've sent you, Agent Romanoff, or Belova." Natasha's shoulders fall. "Barnes knows Madripoor far better than I ever could have. And he knows Sharon better than I ever did. He was logically the best choice for this mission besides maybe Sam, but even then, he has his duties here. Barnes didn't have further missions that were outstanding that were blocking him from going. I did, and so does Belova." Ross lets out a huff before shaking his head. "Your missions could wait for something like this – either way, it was a bad decision to send Barnes off on this. If it were up to me, I'd bring him back instantly. But that's Fury's area." He glares at him, who doesn't give a proper response, just shrugs his shoulders. "Even so, Steve's lost jurisdiction. Tony, it's your job now." He shakes his head almost in disappointment before storming out, closing the door. Steve feels himself glare at where Tony was. "You just couldn't keep your mouth shut, huh?" "Oh, stop. You're being dramatic. This is what's been going on for ages," Tony states, crossing his arms against his chest. Steve shakes his head and sits down, quieting himself as Tony started to talk, changing the screen at the front. He glances at Nat and nudges her side, to which she glances over at him. "Thanks for standing up for me, Nat." The young woman nods in response, glancing at the ground. He could see she was still uncomfortable with something sitting inside of her. He wished there were a way he could see inside her head and wonder what the hell was going on. But hey, if she were standing up for him, that had to mean something good, right?

"Wait, what happened?" After the big fight with Maria out in the streets, Bucky had instantly gone back to his apartment to tell Sharon over the phone. And she had understandably listened and been surprised when he told her about everything. "It was insane, Sharon," Bucky says, running a hand through his hair. "There were four of 'em up against her. They really wanted her gone. She ended up killing one of them but the others…think she dragged them back to her place to interrogate them." "What did you say the tattoo said?" "Elite Hunters. Don't really know exactly what they are but got a feeling that whoever sent them wants her gone." Sharon sighs from the other end of the phone. "I'll be sure to look them up and find some info – I'm sure you've already talked to Steve and the others?" He nods. "Of course." "Good. Just keep an eye out." There was a beat of silence. "Maybe you should go out and check up on her. This might be the best time for you to figure out more about her. Vulnerable and shit." Bucky raises an eyebrow. "That's a bit manipulative." He could almost her hear shrug from across the phone. "You gotta do what you have to do. Might be your best option right now." Bucky sighs a bit. She wasn't wrong. It was an option. And right now, it really was one of the best he could lean towards. "Alright…you rest up now." "See you, Bucky." He hangs up the phone after that, glancing outside. It seems that she wasn't that far from where he lived. Maybe he could walk around until he found where she lived. He saw the direction she had gone. Maybe Sharon was right. Maybe it was the best time to do it.

The sound of a knife slitting across skin was loud enough for anyone in her penthouse to hear. The scream that followed was enough to make someone cringe. But Ana didn't care. Ana wanted answers. "Now," she says lowly, pushing the man close to her. She could see it was Diego, one of the Flag Smashers from before. "Either you tell me who sent you here, or I can make your time a little more terrible like your friend over there." She points to the other hostages that were now passed out. "I'm…n-not gonna s-say shit!" He stutters. She grabs her knife and stabs it deep into his arm, to which he screams out in pain before dragging it right back up to his elbow. The blood spurts out as tears start to evade his eyes. "No, you gonna play nice?" "It-t's Melina!" he yells out, his voice shaking. She pauses. "She sent us – p-please, we were only doing our j-" She instantly brings the knife up and slits his throat, watching as he bleeds out before falling to the ground. He was no innocent man. This wasn't a job. She knew what Diego had done prior to this. The same with these two. And now, it was done. Melina…god, she was going to murder that bitch. She wipes the blood away, letting out a soft sigh before grabbing a towel to wipe the blood from her face. Before she could start wondering what to do with the bodies, however, there was a beep that came from her intercom. Her brow raises before coming over. Who on earth would be here this time of night? "Yes?" She asks as her finger hovers over the button. "Who is it?" "Miss Maria, you have a gentleman visiting you," her concierge stated from below. "A Mr. Yakov?" She had wondered why he had come out to help her like that. Seems he was a bit more than she had originally thought. But he did aid her in getting these goons…maybe he wouldn't be opposed to helping her now. "Send him up," she responds back, glancing at the mess of bodies below her. She wondered what Yakov would say to this.

She heard footsteps heading up the stairs as she grabbed a towel and wiped the blood from her face. She didn't enjoy killing people, far from it, but she was pissed that Melina Vostokoff had tried to kill her for putting down some moral laws. She was well aware that no one in Madripoor was innocent, but she wasn't going to stand by and allow rape or trafficking or any of that shit. Just because Madripoor was keeping it's lawless ways didn't mean that she was going allow the sickest people to get away with hurting people. Shaking her head, she started getting the cleaning products out to deal with the blood on the floor. She heard Yakov coming up to her soundproof room. And as soon as he walks in, he whistles at the sight of the blood before looking up at her. "Maria, what the hell happened?" Yakov asked concerned, his eyes scanning her over for any sign of injuries. She smiled faintly at his own concern for her, but she gave him a reassuring smile. "Someone wasn't happy with how I run Madripoor with a moral code…so she decided to send three Elite Hunters and a Flag Smasher to kill me. I questioned the Flag Smasher, and he spilled his guts to try and save his life," she said coldly, glaring down at the body of Diego with no emotion.

Over in Bucky's head, he felt his heart pound at her words, as his mind processed what she was saying. Someone, a woman, had ordered a hit on Maria to kill her in a violent manner, but she had fought back and killed all of her would be killers. She was definitely trained in the Red Room. He could tell that she had been trained in that facility. He just had a feeling that she had been raised in the there. God, he wished he could remember more of his time during that period. "Do you know who it was that ordered the hit on you, Maria?" he asked curiously, keeping his voice concerned. The last thing he wanted to do was to make her suspicious of him in any manner. "Melina Vostokoff, that old bitch…I was hoping she died when the Black Widow and Crimson Widow destroyed the Red Room. Well…she doesn't know if I'm dead yet and I intend on sending her a gift," she answered forebodingly, her grey eyes cold as ice. Bucky showed no emotion but privately, he knew Melina's days were now numbered. "Can you help me out here?" She asks him lightly, trying to move the bodies off of the carpet, to which he does. "You know, for someone I just met, you've been quite the helper tonight." Bucky shrugs a bit and smiles a bit at Maria. "I'm not about to let someone who's trying to at least do some good in this city die like that." "Well…thank you. That means a lot," she says genuinely. "But I don't want to drag you into this. This is my fight." Oh, he was already dragged in so deep. But for her, he could at least play it off.

[bffsoobin]

Never Not

↳life in the entertainment industry is grueling. You and your friends with benefits, Soobin, know this better than almost anyone. When you seek comfort in one another, it’s easy to forget the faults in the system. How long can you trust Soobin with your heart?

➤ idol!soobin x trainee!reader, smut, angst, some fluff

Word Count: 5,004

Requested?: yes

Warnings: this includes mature content! Please do not read past the illustrated line divider (not the keep reading) in the story if you are under 18 years old or uncomfortable. There is no happy ending to this story, so keep that in mind. Use of some mature language, my awful attempt at coming up with believable Korean names. Smut warnings include: fingering (female receiving), riding, multiple orgasms, mentions of overstimulation, unprotected sex (please use protection, y’all), some dirty talk, praise kink.

A/N: This fic got away from me and came out way longer than I planned and I’m lowkey insecure about it. Also my normal notes that I didn’t proofread or edit (laziness) and that I suck at titles obviously apply!

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Your bathroom was not nearly private enough. The lock on the door had long been broken, so you and the other girls you’d lived with for close to a year had agreed on a rule of mutual respect and trust. A rule that Minjee was currently abandoning. She busted into the bathroom as you brushed your teeth, nearly knocking you over with her force. Her petite features were soaked in panic. 

“What’s wrong?” your toothbrush hung loosely in your mouth, forgotten as you worried over your younger friend. 

“Your phone has been ringing off the hook since you got in the shower. And you didn’t answer, so now he’s here!” 

“He? Who are you-” a smooth and unforgettable voice sounded from the hallway just outside. Soobin. Your eyes widened. Soobin? Your hair was still dripping, your face red and splotchy from the heat of the shower. Not to mention the toothbrush still dangling precariously. You heard him talk again, muffled like he had moved to the kitchen and you noted that Sooyoung probably ushered him into the small dining space to let you gather your thoughts. You thanked whoever was listening for your thoughtful friend as you cleaned out your mouth, toweled down you hair and did your best to soothe the heat in your cheeks. At least you were fully dressed.

Minjee still looked like a deer caught in headlights, and you shot her what you hoped was a reassuring smile as you left the bathroom. It was hard to miss Soobin’s presence as you turned into the kitchen. He towered over all of your friends, a slightly awkward smile on his face as he waved off offers for snacks left and right. 

“Soobin?” you questioned, and all other conversation stopped. He whirled around to see you and you shrunk under his gaze. He was intimidating in every way, yet you found him oddly charming. 

“Hey! I wanted to talk to you and you weren’t answering your phone. And I knew you were here so,” he shrugged. 

“Let’s talk somewhere else, okay?” you turned without seeing his agreement and led him toward your room. You knew your roommates were all huddled in the common areas of the house, whispering about Soobin. Thankfully, the lock on that door wasn’t busted. 

“What are you doing here?” you hissed as he dwarfed your bed under his body. 

“Missed you. Do you wanna go get something to eat?” he picked at your sheets mindlessly. You raised an eyebrow and began to tap your foot.

“That sounds a hell of a lot like a date, Soobin.” you accused, already planning an outfit in your head. You could never say no to the handsome boy in front of you. 

“It’s not a date, Y/N. We’re just friends. We can erase and add back on the “with benefits” whenever we want, remember?” you scowled at him in place of admitting that he was right. 

“Get out. I have to change.” you glanced down at your lounging attire pointedly. 

“Nothing I haven’t already seen, princess,” his eyes sparked at his own teasing before you picked up one of Sooyoung’s beloved plushies and flung it at his infuriatingly charming face. 

“Get. Out.”

With Soobin standing guard outside the door, you quickly changed into a better outfit and tried to make some semblance of your face before slipping back out. Your friends eyed you questioningly, but you waved them off with promises of being back in no time. 

The blanket of night made Soobin bold. He wrapped his arm around your waist, guiding you down the street with a confidence you only see when- a thought cropped up in your mind. “We aren’t going to dinner, are we?” you questioned although you already knew the answer. 

“We are going to dinner! Just, in the dorm. In my room.” You were already in front of the familiar building when he finally owned up. You could have backed out, could have told him you were mad at him for lying, but you followed him up to his room anyway. He did have food, as he promised. A pizza box was situated at the foot of his bed when you walked in and settled onto the mattress. Soobin sat up against his pillow and motioned for you to sit on his lap. You brought the warm pizza box with you and laid against his broad chest. You two ate in relative silence and you couldn’t help but notice the lack of...boys. 

“Where are they?” Soobin didn’t answer your question and instead went to work running a hand up your leg. 

“Does it matter?” his voice ghosted over your ear as you pondered for a minute and then supposed it didn’t. Unlike your groupmates, Soobin’s were all privy to your relationship and exactly what it entailed. 

“I just missed you,” he mumbled into your skin, biting at the soft flesh under your ear. Soobin made a point to move the half empty pizza box to the ground as he continued his work on your neck. You melted into his hold, helpless to his sweet whispers and gentle touches in all the right places. For the rest of the night, all that mattered was the way Choi Soobin could work you up and bring you back down so gently. 

It had been almost two months since your fake dinner date with Soobin. He became busy with a comeback, and you became busy with general training duties. It was natural, you supposed. You both chose a hectic lifestyle and a relationship that required no actual commitment. While you missed seeing him, you understood that you chose this. That didn’t stop you from being upset, though. Sooyoung, your ever observant roommate noticed your sulking behavior and lack of interest in group activities. 

Having had enough of your change in attitude, she cornered you in the kitchen one day while the rest of the girls were still training. 

“What’s up with you? I know we’ve been busy. But you’ve just been miserable. You know you can talk to me, right?” You just nodded and crossed your arms. She sighed at your stance and placed a hand on your shoulder. 

“Seriously. Why don’t you at least try to hang out with someone, or leave the house? I know Soobin is busy, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind a visit?” The sound of his name made your insides burn. Too many confusing thoughts circled your being when you thought of him. Deciding to humor Sooyoung, you announced that she was right; and that you were going to get ready and treat yourself to a donut and coffee at the little cafe down the block. 

The smell of blueberry muffins and coffee invaded your senses as you ordered a large iced coffee and a sprinkled donut to sulk over as you thought about Soobin. Sitting at a hightop table, your legs swung in the air as you debated over calling Soobin to check up on him or simply letting him go until he contacted you. You weren’t dating Soobin, but would it be so wrong for a friend to reach out? Did you just miss having someone to fool around with? The longer you thought, the more you had to forcefully push down the thought that you really had feelings for Soobin. Maybe his goofy smile and clumsy compliments had really hatched in your brain and created- you shuddered at the thought- love. There was no way he would ever feel the same, you convinced yourself. It is much easier to believe that the famous and loved Choi Soobin would never like you the way you have started to like him. 

The donut tasted bland in your mouth and your coffee had certainly been watered down in your thinking, but you finished them both. You wiped your hands on your jeans and made way to get down from your elevated seat until a cheerful voice called your name. Looking around, you spotted the form of a girl you couldn’t quite remember the name of. She had been a trainee in the very early stages, but she had to leave due to family troubles and you hadn’t thought of her since. The back of your neck burned with embarrassment as you waved to the girl you didn't remember. The uncertainty must not have shown on your face as the mystery girl propped herself right next to you and grabbed your arm. 

“I just had to talk to you when I saw you! I still talk to Sooyoung every once in a while, and she told me you’re friends with Soobin,” you nodded but felt suspicion creep into the corners of your mind. “Anywho, since I ran into you and you’re friends with him I was wondering if you could confirm something for me.” She plopped a phone onto the table in front of you and hit play on a dark, shaky video. It looked like a club of some sort and you squinted at the screen wondering what this had to do with Soobin. You were about to voice your confusion when someone's phone flashlight illuminated the form you knew all too well crowding a girl against the wall, kissing her neck and pressing the length of his body into her. You body heated at the knowledge that you knew exactly how that felt. Tears stung at the corners of your eyes as the video ended and the unknown girl slid her phone back into her bag. 

“I don’t know her,” you mumbled, hurrying to find your purse hung on the back of the chair. “And I haven’t talked to Soobin lately, he’s been busy and-” she snorted as you got down from the chair. 

“Yeah, he’s definitely been busy,” she wiggled her eyebrows in a joking manner, but the gesture only broke your heart even more. Nodding tightly, you made up excuses for your sudden absence and walked back to your dorm with tears dripping down your cheeks. Everyone noticed your change in behavior when you returned; especially Sooyoung who was hoping to see you come back much happier. It was only about 4pm when you got home so you bargained with Jihyun to let you shower although she was already getting ready to do so. You tried to convince yourself that she agreed because of your persuasion skills and not because of the tear tracks on your face. The hot water didn’t do much to curb your upset. You ate dinner in silence and crawled into bed before the sun even started to set.

Being a trainee means pushing a lot of things aside. You had to forget about Soobin. Monthly evaluations started in about a week, and you had to worry about nursing a wrist you had accidentally hurt during practice. During the day, you put on a mask for your members and the staff, laughing along at jokes and throwing yourself into your work in a way they all seemed to admire. Not a single night passed where you didn’t think about the shaky video of Soobin and the mystery girl. Not a single night passed where your heart didn’t ache in two ways. One, for the love you harborded so dangerously, and the other for the fact that you knew you could never trust Soobin. That even if he liked you back, his reckless show of public affection when he was already in the eye of the media would make a real relationship impossible. It was too risky for either of you. 

News of their comeback traveled extremely fast. You had even seen Taehyun in the halls of the building and offered him a quick congratulations on their success. With every day that passed, you knew you were closer to the impending argument with Soobin; but you tried your best to push that to the back of your mind. Until you got a text from him. Seeing his name pop up on the screen after so long roused a lot of emotions you weren’t expecting. The message was nothing too remarkable, but you made plans to meet him the next day at his dorm. 

When you arrived at his door, you felt nerves you hadn’t since the very first time you visited. You laid two hard knocks on the door and stood aside; hoping that Soobin had heard you. The door swung open gently to reveal Soobin’s towering frame. Your stomach rolled in an odd mix of happiness and anxiety upon seeing him for the first time in weeks. He ushered you in, giving you no more time to process your whirling thoughts.

“I like your hair,” your voice sounded odd even to your own ears, but you hoped Soobin would be distracted by the complement of his purple locks. 

“Thank you!” he was beaming as he rubbed a chunk of hair between his fingers lovingly. His eyes shifted up and down your body as if examining every detail to find something new about you to compliment back. He remained quiet. The corners of your eyes began to burn under his scrutiny, and you felt something deep inside of you snap. 

“Soobin,” you looked around the dorm, finding it surprisingly empty. He must have kicked all of the boys out for a few hours to have you over. “I wanted to talk to you about some stuff.” The leather of his couch squeaked underneath you as you sat and waited for him to do the same. He settled right next to you, close enough that you could feel the heat radiating from his side into yours. For a fleeting moment you contemplated saying nothing and letting yourself fall back into your normal pattern; but you knew you would regret it. 

Sighing, you tried to ignore the way worry permeated every corner of Soobin’s face. “I saw a video of you uh,” a long pause “with another girl. Which is fine!” Your words became rushed as his face turned bright red. “It’s fine. I know we aren’t serious but the problem is,” your voice was starting to shake in a dangerous way. “The problem is that...I started to have real feelings for you. And when I saw that video I kind of lost it. I know it’s dumb but I just can’t keep pretending.” You had run this scenario so many times in your mind. You had imagined Soobin staying totally silent until you slipped out of the dorm alone. You imagined that he might argue with you, telling you that you were reckless for forming feelings over a friends with benefits relationship. What you never imagined was for him to lean over and attach his lips to yours in a fervor you had never felt from him. The rest of the world slowed as you kissed him. Really kissed him for the first time since the two of you started to hook up. 

You could taste toothpaste on his tongue, and if your insides weren’t fighting with emotion you would have smiled into the kiss. When you finally pulled apart, Soobin pressed his forehead into yours and shut his eyes. You could feel his eyelashes flutter along your skin. 

“I’m sorry,” his voice was the smallest you had ever heard it. “I’m sorry about the girl, the video, I just missed you and I was being stupid. I have feelings for you too.” What should have been a moment of celebration became a catalyst for war in your mind. You had prepared yourself for this possibility- repeating in a mantra that the relationship would only end badly for your public images. 

But all those times you ran this scenario in your head, you didn’t account for the weight of his body against yours. You didn’t account for the way his voice shook, or the feeling of his skin resting so intimately against your own. You didn’t account for how raw and vulnerable this moment would be. 

So you made a real life choice that theoretical you never would have been so weak as to consider. You wrapped your hands around the back of Soobin’s neck and pulled him in for another kiss. His surprise was evident at your move as he gasped against your lips. Every feeling you had toward him felt like it was bubbling over into a mess inside your brain. Fuzzy happiness was winning over until Soobin separated you from himself to cup your jaw in his hands. Taking the time to survey his face this closely made your heart break all over again. His face seemed to mirror back a similar sentiment as his fingers traced over your cheekbones. 

“Soobin,” you whispered his name weakly; trying to ignore the tears beginning to leak from the corners of your eyes. His face crumpled at the sight and he rushed to shush you. 

“Don’t cry,” he wiped the wetness away from your cheeks, “please don’t cry, why are you so upset?” His breath ghosted over your skin in a way that would haunt you for weeks to come. 

“Because,” you hiccuped in a breath, “because we can’t do this. We can’t date, and we can’t keep doing this. There’s too much on the line either way.” Soobin stayed silent as you worked through your thoughts. “I just want to be with you one last time.”

In a movement you almost missed, the boy nodded solemnly. With the knowledge of your last goodbye weighing heavily on your minds, Soobin guided you into his bedroom. While the lighting in the room didn’t offer much clarity, you still knew your way around. Soobin made short work of undressing you, making sure to pay attention- in the form of kisses or loving caresses- to every newly exposed strip of skin. His mouth traveled down your neck, leaving the most possessive marks he had ever left on your collarbones. You could do nothing but whine under him at the thought of bright purple bruises spotting your skin tomorrow. Most nights you would have whined at him for taking too long, but the air was different this time. The last time. 

You stood completely bare in front of him as he took a seat on his bed. He was still fully clothed although you could see a sliver of his smooth stomach where his shirt had ridden up. You could see the beginning of a bulge in his sweatpants and bittersweet excitement brewed within you. 

“You are so so fucking pretty, come here,” he pulled you into his lap forcefully so that you could feel him directly against your core. The praises falling from his mouth made you weak at the knees and pliable to any of his wishes. A needy whine left your throat as you ground down on him instinctively. Both of his hands flew to your waist and grabbed at the flesh there as you let yourself get lost in the feeling of him slowly hardening. He made a particularly hard squeeze on your waist and you took that as a message to stop. 

“Wanna finger you, baby,” Soobins usual shy and clumsy demeanor flew out of the window in a second. As you scrambled to lay down on your back, he finally stripped himself of his clothing. You openly stared at his body for much longer than normal and he let you, returning the gaze just as long. Memorizing. His cock stood proudly, as perfect as you always remembered it as your thighs rubbed together at the sight. Soobin tutted at you and pushed your legs apart forcefully. 

“Not yet, love. You know you can’t take my cock without me stretching you open first.” You knew he was right but you whined at him anyway as a new wave of arousal rolled through you. “God,” Soobin grunted at the sight of you laid out beneath him. His deft fingers danced down your stomach, causing your hips to jump up toward his approaching hand. A small chuckle fell from him lips and you would have complained had he not chosen that exact moment to run his thumb around your clit in slow circles. You cried out at the touch. Having gone weeks without release made you extremely sensitive, and Soobin was using that to his advantage. 

The slow circles sped up and then slowed down in an erratic pattern until you were so fed up with him you wanted to cry. “Soobin please, please stop teasing me, I need more!” You knew you were being loud but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. 

“I’ll give you whatever you want, baby. Just use your words,” his voice was velvety smooth, pitched deeper with lust. 

“Your fingers!” The request was clumsy as it came out of your mouth but you couldn’t have cared less because he finally sunk one long finger inside of you. You wanted to thank him, but your tongue felt too heavy in your mouth so you settled for clenching your inner muscles around his digit. He groaned to himself as he pumped the single finger in and out before finally adding a second alongside it. The stretch burned a bit but you welcomed the gush of wetness that had Soobin swearing under his breath. 

“Look at you. I was busy for a few weeks and suddenly your pussy can barely fit two fingers inside.” He began scissoring his fingers to widen your entrance. A string of pleas and curses fell from your lips constantly as he finally found your g-spot and continuously crooked his fingers over it. Your teeth sunk harshly into your bottom lip as you tried your best to keep it together but it was no use. Soobin had learned every tip and trick to getting you to cum. There was no eloquence left in your voice as you begged him for more and got just what you asked for. His second hand, which had been keeping pressure on your hips,  played with your clit in circles and figure eight shapes in various speeds. It only took a few more seconds under his movements for you to announce your release and gush around his fingers. Despite your obvious orgasm, Soobin kept working his hands against you until the overstimulation became way too much. Your mind was so fuzzy afterwards that you could barely hear his praise.  

“So good,” you vaguely made out as you came back to Earth to see his face hovering right over your own. He pressed kisses on every corner of your face until you were finally coherent enough to talk again. 

“Soobs,” you didn’t miss the way he flinched at the nickname. “Please fuck me.” The words were blunt, you knew. But there was no need to beat around the bush anymore. Soobin groaned loudly, unabashedly palming at his own cock as he sat back on his heels. His positioning gave you an idea that had heat rushing through your veins anew. “Lemme ride you,” you rushed the words out, unsure if he had even heard them until he cursed loudly and drew his hand away from himself. 

“That’s my girl. So good for me.” Soobin used your love for praise to his advantage as he settled at the head of his bed and waited for you to straddle his hips. His eyes were glazed with arousal as you held yourself over his cock and gave it a few experimental strokes. Soobin’s eyes fluttered shut and his reddened lips fell open in a sigh. In one swift movement, you began to sink down on him slowly. Your hands found support on his smooth stomach as you felt your knees buckle at the intrusion. Both of you whined loudly at the initial stretch. Fire coiled in your stomach as you worked yourself onto him in small increments. He was trying his best to let you take time to adjust, but his control was slipping more and more with every second. 

A growl emitted from the back of Soobin’s throat as he tightened a hand on your left thigh as a not so subtle hint to get moving faster. You already felt so full that the idea of taking his entire length felt impossible. Your head fell, hair creating a curtain around your face in the exact second that Soobin’s strong hand pushed you all the way down his cock. A burning mix of pain and pleasure flooded your veins and made your inner walls clench around him. Soobin’s cock twitched inside you and the feeling drove you wild. 

With the leverage your arms on his chest offered, you lifted your hips slowly before slamming them back down to connect your bodies. Pitchy whines escaped from your mouth with every single move you made. Soobin’s hands roamed all over, one traveling up to pinch at your nipples and another keeping a bruising grip on the flesh of your hip. 

“God, you’re so pretty,” Soobin’s grunted praises peppered between moans only heightened your pleasure to a point where you could no longer keep your thoughts straight. Every sensation he was providing you became so overwhelming that you could barely continue a steady rhythm on his cock. He seemed to catch on to your slipping as his face softened. Chest heaving, you leaned forward to lay yourself on top of him. Your head fit perfectly into his shoulder and for a second you missed being able to see his face until he took the initiative to thrust up into you. He wrapped his arms around you so there was no escape from the pleasure of him filling you up. Soobin worked magic on your body, rolling his hips expertly to hit every spot inside of you while he whispered dirty praise to you. 

“You feel so good, baby. So tight,” you clenched at his words and a breathy moan escaped his lips in a rush. Your clit ground against his pelvic bone; not enough to make you cum but enough to create more sparks in your core. Between his words and his hard and consistent thrusts you could feel your pleasure mounting to an intense high. The strong hold he had on you slipped away and he guided you to sit up once again. Seeing his flushed face drew out a desperate whine and buck of your hips. 

“Look at me,” Soobin’s voice was oddly calm and collected as you obeyed the request. He thrusted  up into you even faster and you had to fight to keep your eyes on his. 

“Soobs, I’m gonna cum,” your voice was strung out and breathy but it only pushed Soobin further. Without your realization, Soobin circled a thumb around your clit and you were soon hurdling off the edge of your orgasm, vision going blank with the pleasure. Although you were lost in a haze of pleasure, you could hear Soobin’s grunts growing louder and more frequent before he released inside of you; warmth flooding your insides as he came. 

Neither of you moved for several minutes. Your breathing gradually slowed to a normal rate and Soobin’s cock softened inside of you; but you stayed still on top of him anyway. No words were exchanged until he lifted your chin with two fingers. 

“You have to know that I really do like you. I’ve liked you since the first time we met.” The words sent a dagger through your heart and you would have looked away from him if it weren’t for the strong grip he had on your jaw. His breath hitched as he spoke again; “but I can understand why you don’t think I’m worth it.”

The way he worded it broke a dam of emotions inside of you and suddenly you were sobbing, struggling to even catch your breath. Soobin panicked a little, rubbing your sides and softly pulling out of you. Both of you ignored the stickiness the move created in favor of laying your back down on the sheets. He shushed you, producing some tissues out of nowhere to deal with the mess between your sensitive thighs. When the crying stopped, all that was left behind was cold emptiness. You redressed in stunning silence, hyper aware of Soobin’s eyes on you. You didn’t know what else to say to him. 

“I wish I had met you in another life,” you sniffled, “I’m going to miss you.” The words were supercharged and you clenched your teeth to refrain from crying again. Soobin reached out for your hand and you reluctantly let him lace his fingers through yours. 

“I’ll miss you too. You know that-” he swallowed audibly “You can come back here, back to me...whenever you want. I have a place for you,” he guided your clasped hands to hover right over his heart, “right here.” 

Leaving was the hardest part. Both of you stalled in every possible way. You pretended you lost your phone even though you knew it was in your bag. Soobin offered to let you take a shower before you went back to your own dorm. Eventually, it was time for the both of you to face the truth. At the front door, where the light was much brighter, you could see shiny tear tracks decorating Soobin’s puffy cheeks in a way you never wanted to see again. You felt like you could puke just at the thought of having caused him that pain. With one hand on the doorknob, you steadied yourself to say goodbye to him, goodbye to this one last time. 

“I’ll um, see you around? At work.” You didn’t even bother to smile at him. He simply nodded and fixed his gaze on the ground. He didn’t want to watch you leave. The door squealed as you pulled it open, shattering the quiet atmosphere into messy, anxious pieces. You rushed out of his dorm without another word and began your walk home. It was a clear night, so you stopped briefly to stare up at the stars. You would never not think about Soobin.

[calpalirwin]

Australian Love Affair

Request: Based on that tiktok video @itjustkindahappenedreally​ sent me where the guys find out you’re dating Luke.

Word Count: ~2k

And away, and away we go!

__

When you had first met the boys, the inevitable question of if you had a partner was asked almost as soon as pleasantries were exchanged.

“So? You seeing anyone?” Calum asked. “Boyfriend? Girlfriend? That sort of thing?”

You laughed politely at the brown-eyed boy while his friends muttered the disapproval cry of “Dude…” under their breath. “Nope. Single,” you answered. “Happily so,” you added as an afterthought. You had just met these men, and while you assumed they were good enough sorts given that two of them were dating two of your friends, you weren’t interested in dating people you barely knew.

“Oh, thank God!” Calum laughed in relief. “Someone on my side, finally.”

“Hey!” the other three said in protest, the tallest of the lot specifically affronted. “I’m single, too,” Luke pouted, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

“Yeah, and you’re bloody miserable about it,” Calum snorted with an eye roll. “I need someone who’s happy being single.”

“Well your search is over,” you joked, bowing dramatically. “Y/N, pleased to make your acquaintance.”

That earned a round of laughs, and a few murmured, “Glad to meet ya,”s before the group disbanded, Ashton and Michael in search of their girlfriends, and Calum in search of a drink.

“You don’t have to hang around the new kid if you don’t want,” you told Luke with a soft smile. “Like it’s a big party. If you got… I dunno… other people to say hi to, or something, that’s cool.”

One of his hands tugged at a blonde curl along the nape of his neck. “Kinda wanted to ask you something first, if that’s alright?”

You twisted your wrist in a motion of encouraging him to continue. “Go ahead.”

“Are you happily single in that you’re not looking to date? Or happily single, but you’d go on a date if you got asked?”

You brought a finger to your lips in thought. “Hmm… I guess it depends on who was asking.”

“Me?”

“Oh, Luke…”

“It’s fine!” he rushed. “I mean… no harm, no foul, right?”

“Right. And sorry. I just… don’t date people I don’t really know.”

“Yep. Totally cool. Friends?”

“Friends,” you nodded, shaking his offered hand.

A year later found you and Luke hanging out. “So, what are you in the mood to do today?” he asked from where he was lying across your couch.

“I dunno,” you called out from the kitchen as you grabbed drinks. “Something stupid?”

“I’m stupid, do me.”

You choked on your sip, stalling in the archway that separated your kitchen from your living room. “I- What?”

The blue eyes went wide, and his cheeks flushed, as Luke shot straight up into a sitting position. “I-I-” he stammered, “didn’t mean to say that out loud. Was a joke…”

“Mmm,” you said, recovering in the brief moment it took you to set his drink down in front of him. “Pity. So, you don’t fancy me anymore?”

“I mean… I’ve always fancied you. But you said you don’t date people you don’t know.”

“Well… I know you now.”

“Well… would you maybe wanna go on a date sometime?”

“I’m free today,” you pointed out.

“What a coincidence, so am I,” Luke giggled. “C’mon, let’s go then.”

“Wait,” you said, putting a hand on his arm.

“Let me guess, you also don’t tell anyone you’re seeing someone until it’s serious, and since this is just a date, you’d rather I didn’t shout this from the rooftops.”

You felt your cheeks heat up. “You wanna shout this from the rooftops?”

“Not if you don’t want me to, I don’t. Look, I’m not gonna make you feel bad for having hesitations, or wanting to take things slow. I’m fine with that. We can tell as few, or as many people we like about us when there’s something worth telling. Not that this isn’t worth telling! But, I-”

“Luke,” you interrupted. “You’re doing that thing where you ramble when you’re nervous.”

“Shit, sorry. Just-”

“I know. And thanks. C’mon, let’s go have that date.”

~~~

You chuckled quietly to yourself, catching Luke’s eye from across the room. He winked and you rolled your eyes, sparing your phone one last glance before locking the screen. “Oooo!” Crystal’s voice sounded next to you. “Got a secret admirer you wanna tell us about?”

You scoffed. “Pfft. Secret admirer. Yeah, right.”

“Mmm, so you just giggle at your phone all the time?” she teased. “C’mon, Y/N. I know how you look when you’re crushing on someone.”

“It’s nothing,” you mumbled, your entire face growing warm.

“‘Nothing’ aka Y/N for ‘I’m totally smitten, but we haven’t labeled anything, so I’m playing indifferent,’” Kaykay chimed in.

“You know what? Just for that comment, I’m leaving now.”

“Have fun with lover boy!” they taunted making kissy faces at you.

“Lover boy?” Luke asked when he got to your place ten minutes after you did. “Do the girls know?”

“No. Well, they think I’m seeing someone. But they don’t have any proof, much less any idea that it’s you.”

“Cool…”

You frowned. “That’s not a very convincing response.”

He gave a small shake of his head, like he was pushing back whatever he’d been thinking. “It’s nothing. C’mon. Let’s go to bed.”

You interlinked your fingers with his, but when he took a step forward, you didn’t follow. “No. What is it? What’s on that pretty mind of yours?”

“I- We’ve been doing this for like two months now. And I get that we’re still figuring shit out. And that you don’t like telling people that you’re seeing someone until you slap that label on it because of your past experiences. But, I’ve been used in the past. Kept a secret. And that’s not something I’d like to repeat. So, yeah. That’s where I’m at.”

“At the point where you want to label this? Or at the point where you want to tell people you’re seeing someone?”

“Mostly the second one. But, maybe the first one, too? So, we don’t have to time our exits from our friends.”

You rubbed your thumbs over the backs of his hands in soothing circles. “Yeah. Yeah, we could do that.”

He brightened. “Cool! But, um… not right this second. Need to do something light-hearted first. Too much seriousness all at once-”

“Stresses you out. I know,” you smiled up at him.

“You’re fuckin’ great, you know that?”

“Yeah. But I’m always open to hearing it again.”

Luke pressed a swift kiss to the top of your head. “The fuckin’ greatest.”

~~~

Your phone ringing shrilly had you both sitting bolt upright in bed. “Who is it?” Luke asked, his voice thick with sleep.

“Cal.”

“Well go ahead and answer it.”

“It’s a FaceTime…”

“Shit!” Luke laid flat back down in bed, pulling the blankets up over his head. “Okay,” his muffled voice called out. “Go ahead.”

You giggled, and hit accept, your phone screen splitting into 4 screens as Calum’s face appeared on it, along with Ashton’s and Michael’s.

“See? I told ya Y/N was still asleep,” Michael grumbled.

“It’s almost fuckin’ noon!” Ashton protested.

“Oh, shut up, and add Luke to the call.”

“No!” you blurted. “I- I mean… what’s up guys?”

“We had a question for ya,” Calum said. “Cuz they’re nosy little shits.”

While Ashton and Michael both pulled faces of being offended, you laughed. “What’s the question?”

“Crystal and Kaykay mentioned you were on your phone before you left last night,” Michael started.

“So we were just curious…” Ashton added.

“You bailing on being the only other single person?” Calum finished.

“You’re not the only other single person,” you pointed out.

Calum scoffed. “Oh, you mean Luke? Nah. That boy’s been bit by the lovebug. Which is great for him. Single life isn’t his style. But damn… I thought what we had was special, Y/N.”

“You were the chosen one!” Michael cackled.

“It was said you would mock the lovebirds, not join them!” Ashton jumped in on the joke.

“Oh, my God,” you giggled while you felt the blankets shake beside you with Luke’s stifled laughter. “But yeah. To answer your question. Yeah, I’m seeing someone. Sorry, Cal.”

Calum’s eyes narrowed briefly. “I’ll forgive you, on one condition.”

“And what condition’s that?”

“Tell us who it is.”

“Wow, way to make a real case for yourself. I think I’ll take being unforgiven.”

“Wow…” they all deadpanned. “Gonna do me like that?” Calum muttered in fake disbelief. “Just keep breaking my heart like that?”

“That would require you to have a heart first.”

“Ouch!” Calum gasped, while Michael mimicked in his best videogame voice “Finish him!” which sent Ashton giggling.

Ashton giggling made you giggle. “Wait, wait, back up a second. You said Luke was seeing somebody? And he didn’t tell us? Fuckin’ rude.”

“Yeah! Sounds like somebody else we know. How bout this? We get Luke on here to tell us who he’s seeing, and you can tell us who you’re seeing, too. Then it’s all out in the open about how you both ditched me for the dark side,” Calum tried to negotiate again.

“Aw, c’mon. Is it really necessary to drag Luke into this? I mean, he’ll tell us when he’s ready to tell us, ri-” you scrambled to diffuse, but got cut off when Luke’s phone started ringing on your nightstand.

“Shh, it’s ringing,” Ashton shushed, waving his hand.

“Wait… I can hear it…” Michael said, bringing his phone closer to his face to listen better.

“Yeah, me too,” Calum nodded, before his eyes went wide with realization. “Y/N… is Luke there?”

“What? Why would he be at Y- OH! OH shit!” Michael yelled as the pieces clicked in his head.

“Luke! Answer your bloody phone!” Ashton scolded.

“I don’t think Ash has figured it out yet,” Calum muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Me neither,” Michael said with a pity shake of his head.

“Oh, I did. Lukey! Come out and plaaaaaay!” Ashton taunted.

Beside you, the blankets flipped back and Luke’s head popped into view. “Hey, guys,” he greeted sheepishly.

“When were you gonna tell us, mate?” Michael asked, his question directed at Luke.

“When there was something worth telling.”

“Two months of you being the happiest we’ve ever seen you isn’t ‘worth telling’?”

“You’ve been at your happiest with me?” you asked in a small voice.

Luke chuckled, wrapping an arm around you. “Course I have,” he smiled, pressing a kiss to your temple.

“Aw! You’re gonna make me sick!” Calum cooed sweetly.

“What Cal means to say,” Ashton interjected, “is that we’re really happy for you guys.”

“Yeah. And if we did something that made you think you couldn’t tell us, we’re sorry,” Michael apologized.

“It wasn’t anything you guys, or Luke did,” you stepped back in. “It was me. It takes a lot for me to develop the trust where I’m comfortable saying I’m in a relationship.”

“Hey, you don’t gotta explain yourself to anyone, Y/N,” Calum told you. “We were just messing with you. And we’re glad you feel comfortable enough to tell us. Even though we did kinda force it out of you… in our defense, we didn’t know Luke was with you.”

You laughed. “It’s fine, guys. We were gonna tell you in a few days anyhow.”

“Alright,” Michael cut in. “Serious question. You two make each other happy?”

You and Luke nodded. “Very much so, yeah.”

“Then that’s all that matters. We’ll uh… leave now and let you get back to your morning.”

“It’s past noon!” Ashton screeched.

“Oh, shut up, and go make another pot of coffee,” Calum told him.

“I will! Anybody want some?”

“I’m down,” Luke grinned at Ashton.

“You know how to get in. Cal? Mike?”

“Only if food is involved. You know I don’t drink coffee,” Michael listed his conditions.

“Deal. Cal?”

“Ah, fuck it. Yeah, I’m in.”

“Whoohoo! Brunch at Ash’s!” you cheered.

“Y/N, you only get brunch if you bring that new guy you’ve been seeing,” Ashton joked playfully.

“I think I can arrange that,” you giggled, snuggling into Luke.

__

Tag List

 @aquarius-hood1996​ @creator-appreciator​ @philthepegacorn​ @myfavfanficsever​ @cxddlyash​ @youngblood199456​ @stormrider505​ @tarltongrl96​ @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof​ @hoodhoran​ @i-like-5sos​

[imaginewarehouse]

Tate Staskiewicz x Reader || Oneshot

Plot: 

Inspired by ‘Something That We’re Not’ by Demi Lovato. Basically, you and Tate hooked up one night… for the second time… and you’re content with that just being a wrap (That’s that! That was good, that’s enough- why push it?). You aren’t a relationship person, you don’t like the commitment. But… Tate has other plans.

Warnings: Hmmm, I don’t think so. Commitment issues?

🔆  🔆  🔆

“Hey, Y/N?”

“Hm?” I look up from my - fucking bottom, - locker and to the table Sarah and Justine are at eating their lunch. Sarah, the talker, is staring at her phone; A deep frown plastered to her lips that causes my eyebrows to knit together in confusion. Justine notices, too, and leans over to see what’s on the phone- and when she does see, her brows promptly shoot up. Oh, boy. That’s not good to see. What’s happened? “Yeah?”

“Did you and Tate really hit it off the other night??”

… w h y? My heart just about stops beating in fear. Why. Why mention Tate. Any mention of a one night stand in that tone is not going to be good. I get up from the floor and rush into the empty seat beside Sarah, looing expectantly for her to explain but she just looks right back. Looking for an answer to her question. “Uhh? Yeah, I guess?? We had a good time. Why! ?” Oh good god, tell me the whole store doesn’t know. What is it?? A video, pictures, a running gag!? Good god, I thought we were beyond slut shaming but I guess not-

Sarah’s face scrunches up in confusion. “Are you dating then, now??”

Now that really causes my heart to feel like it’s skipped a beat. Or two. “What!? No! Why would you say that? It was just sex- Oh.” I look sheepishly to Justine, waiting for the high five or the ‘Heyo!’ that’s classic from her at the word ‘sex’… but receive nothing but an awkward look- her gaze turning to the wall as she takes a nervous sip of her coffee instead of talking. Realisation that this is really not good dawns on me. Jesus christ- Justine skipping the chance to talk sex? Its like a sign of the apocalypse. What’s next? The river Nile turning to blood? “Show me the phone, please.”

Sarah glances at Justine, before letting out a sigh and revealing the screen of her iPhone to me. It’s Tate’s Instagram profile- and it says, ‘In a Relationship’, at the top. I look up, deeply confused to Sarah and Justine.

“It didn’t say that before Saturday night.” Justine explains. The night Tate and I were at the bar and hooked up. “Trust me, I keep a close eye on those kinda status’.” She grins, proudly, before sobering again and adding lowly, “And Tate is pretty anal about how his social media looks, so… “She shrugs, meaningfully. So, he knows that that incriminating, incorrect phrase is printed there in his bio. 

Sarah vocalises my assessment. “We can’t see him putting that kind of thing down willy nilly… Also, it says that on all his other profiles, too. Snap Chat, Twitter, even Facebook.”

“Yeah, and I mean,” Justine’s cute little nose scrunches up and her eyebrows knit together as she looks at Sarah who mouths ‘I know, right?’, back.  “Who even uses Facebook anymore?? Ugh.”  

I’m running through the night in my head, wondering if there was any point that I might have hinted to the pharmacist that I was looking for anything more then casual sex, at all. And I find nothing! I did not treat him any differently to how I would usually treat a person in his position- and that treatment has been carefully strung together and thought out so confusions like this do not occur. And it has nothing to do with us working together, I know that much seeing as Isaac understood just fine!

… well actually, honestly, mayyyybe I shouldn’t have slept with him at all this weekend… seeing as this was not our first time… that might have given him the wrong idea...

But god fucking damn it, Tate’s handsomeness obscured my rational and interesting conversation distracted me. I’m a fucking idiot!

I am not a relationship kinda person! I can’t be in a relationship with, fuck I don’t know… Channing Tatum- much less Tate the Pharmacist! Commitment is not for me; No, no, no-no, no. Fuck, fuck, fuck… I have to talk to Tate.

“I should go talk to him,” I say, excusing myself from the table with a polite smile but freaking out inside as I get out of the chair, kneel down and lock my locker back up, then rush out of the room leaving the girls behind in my dust. As I’m passing Grocery, I’m stopped by Cheyanne and Marcus who have their phones out, and show me a picture of me on Tate’s Twitter w i t h  a  h e a r t emoji and the tag #bae. My eyes bulge nearly out of my head as I look in horror at it over Cheyanne’s shoulder. 

“You know, now that I’m seeing it- you two are a cute couple.” Marcus’ words cause a tsunami in my brain- all the little Inside Out-type emotions are drowning and struggling- and Fear is screaming.

“Yeah you do, but- I didn’t think you ‘did’ commitment, Y/N?” Cheyanne adds, sceptical.

“Uh, I do- “Damn. I slam my mouth shut again. I can’t talk to her about this before I talk to Tate. So instead, I just toothlessly smile, and shrug at the two- For lack of any appropriate words. “Anyway! I gotta go- see y’all later!”

And then I’m off again.

~

I find Tate exactly where, and in what position, I thought he would be; Sitting behind the lonely pharmacy desk with his feet up on the register bench and his nose buried in his phone rather then working. I approach with caution, but confidence also, and knock on the desk surface by his feet to get his attention- and watch his eyes light up when he sees me.

Oh dear god.

“Hey, love bug.” - Oh god, oh god! - “Nice of you to visit me at work!”

Oh… is it? Is it really? Nerves swallow me whole and I nearly shrink back down because to just go with this relationship for the rest of our lives until we get married and have 4 children together and raise them and send them all off to community college instead of having an awkward conversation, sounds really good. How dare he look so soft- this T a t e. Tate is narcissist and an asshole. This isn’t how the world is supposed to work-

“Hey… “My voice cracks like pubescent teenage boy, and I avoid eye contact like a criminal. “Tate, um- So! I think that… maybe, possibly… we might have gotten our signals crossed the other night?”

Tate tilts his head to the side and sets his phone down- all attention on me. “How so?”

“Well,” Why is my voice so high??? I cough into my fist, trying to clear it and return it to its regular register, but fail. The show must go on, though. “Um, I-I was under the impression, that… what we were doing, was, uh… a one-time thing? I guess?” Tate’s eyebrows begin to knit together. “A-and, I think you might have interpreted it a different way?”

“So… you’re saying, that you were just using me, for sex. And somehow that’s my fault?”

My eyes blow wide open and I rush to amend his reiteration as he gets up from his chair and stands, looking down on me now. And… I… oop. That’s just great “No no! Not your fault, at all Tate!! I was just at that bar looking for… err, well, sex! And I thought you were too, but apparently not, and… do you understand?”

“I understand.” For a millisecond, I begin to relax- before Tate’s eyes narrow so much so that they’re nothing but sparkly, black-lashed slits of death. I wish I was at that bar now- I would order a Long Island Iced Tea and black out. “You’re screwing me.”

“What- No!”

“Yes! You want the rig, but not the rest of the machine.” Does he know what a rig is?- Either way, I solemnly, apologetically, shake my head. Well, yes, he’s correct, but I also don’t want to lose the, uh, machine! I really like talking to him when I’m stuck stocking shelves in the pharmacy! I don’t want to lose that? Then, suddenly like the changing wind, Tate’s eyes widen and a ghost of a smirk flickers across his face. “Oh, or- its more than that.” Hold on what. “Cuz Y/N, this isn’t the first time this has happened, you know? The first time, fine. I get it, you need a release. We all do- especially working a lowly job like you do, unlike mine. Heh. But you came back. To me. You could’ve approached anyone else at that bar and gotten the same results… but you came back to this one.”  

Now I narrow my eyes and furrow my brows, leaning back from the self-absorbed chemist. “… what are suggesting, Tate?”

He lets the smirk come out, now, and the only comprehensive thought that passes through my brain is: ‘shittttt’. 

“You just can’t get enough of me.”

“What!?” I gape, jaw dropped. Ridiculous!-

“I’m Y/N-Nip.” Oh sweet jesus. The thought genuinely seems to please him. Of course, it does. Ugh… No way. This cannot be right. I do not want a relationship! No way no how! “So it doesn't really matter if you don’t want me right now- because you will. We both know you will.” 

“I- Tate! You’re cracked!” 

He chuckles, dipping hands into the pockets of his lab coat and shaking his head slowly. “Love you too, babe.” 

“TATE!” 

“Yeah... you keep screaming my name like that. Good practise.” 

“Oh my god!” I exclaim, covering the bottom of my face and closing my eyes, a grin hidden behind my hands at how ridiculous this is. He’s too cute, oh my god! “How have you twisted this, you insane person. I do not have feelings for you!- Well, romantic feelings.” I cross my arms across my chest. “I do not have the romantic feelings, for you. All the feelings that I have for you can be simply summed up by whatever insane, terrible illness that kept putting Lorelai and Christopher together.” 

“Gilmore girls?” He grimaces. 

“Yes.” 

His eyebrows shoot up his forehead and his eyes light up even more, despite his apparent aversion towards my chosen American favourite, and I immediately regret my analogy. “So, you admit there are feelings there?” 

“Yeah- raw, animal sex-drive! That’s it!” I try to explain, looking away to avoid his eyes and feeling my cheeks warm up. 

“But you like talking to me, too, don’t you.” Its not a question, its a statement. He knows! And... it is not totally wrong. I do like to talk to him. He’s a narcissist and he’s smug but I happen to find that funny on all but bad days, and he keeps up with my antics like no one else. But so does Sarah. So does Jonah. So do Mateo and the guy on Echat so charmingly called ‘B1gHairyDucksRunTheW8rld’- long story short; I’m darling and lots of people like to talk to me! 

“Oh, Tate. Since when has an amusement by intelligent conversation been considered a for sure indication of desire for a romantic relationship?” 

“Oh, its not. But combined with the ‘raw, animal sex-drive’ that you so aptly named, it kinda does.” He leans closer a little bit over the desk towards me. “Also, you’ve said my name no less then six times while you’ve been here.” 

I laugh out loud- a definite sense of nervousness laced through the sound. “That means nothing!” 

“No, no-no. It means... “ He raises his eyebrows again at me and sets me with a wise look, like somehow he knows the deep secrets that hide out in the recesses of my mind. “Something.” 

Maybe he’s right.

“No!” 

“Oh, believe what you want, love bug.” 

“This is crazy, Tate. We are not in any kind of relationship and I do not have feelings for you!” 

“So I’ll see you tonight?” 

“No?” 

“My place? 7?” 

“You will not see me tonight!” 

“Do you think you’ll end up staying over? Just because, man of riches and luxury that I am, I need to change the sheets if you are to set the right mood.” 

My jaw drops. He’s lost his mind... and maybe I am too a little bit, because for some reason I’m leaning towards agreeing and going to his place tonight. Is there anything that I can say to him to dissuade him from these delusions of me being in love with him? Because I don’t! 

But... I wont lie. This is the most stimulating conversation I’ve had in forever, it feels good. It always does, with Tate. But again still, I am not commitment girl. He is commitment guy. He may not seem like it, in fact he has the complete guide and tool set to be a grade-A douchebag, but he isn’t and he apparently somehow likes me which is not a horrible feeling and I do not want to let him down. I... really don’t. 

Sighing, I collapse against the register and roll my eyes back. “Tate... I might like you. A lot.” 

“Oh. Shocker.” He rolls his own eyes, pressing some buttons on the register. Oh, he thinks that he’s funny. Hm. 

“... but I want you to hear me now. Okay? Listen.” Thankfully he looks up and focuses on me, blue eyes meeting mine. “I am not relationship compatible. I cant do it. I’ve tried it before and I couldn't hack it. Its not in my genetic make-up!- please don’t push this and make me ruin what we have.” 

He takes a deep breath, and sighs it out... before reaching over and holding my hand on top of the desk. He sets me with a reassuring look. “... I’m a Pharmacist. We don’t ruin things.” 

BONUS: 

“... Jesus Christ you’re self absorbed.” 

“Maybe you can work on that with me at my place at 7. Now I have to get back to work, pharmaceutical business waits for no man.”

“Oh boy.” I’m dating this guy...