#you can literally just ask me. “hey who do we know from New England who lives in the UK

[elodieunderglass]

I can’t let you guys continue this conversation without pointing out that they’re different meals with different recipes. Boston baked beans (USA) have a molasses/brown sugar/bacon/onion profile and when properly prepared are closer to a thick cassoulet - not so much a soup-type dish as a sort of solid preparation that you can pretty much shape into a mound, like in the thumbnail of that video. They’re thick, sticky and dark brown.

UK beans, as in beans-on-toast, are in a loose tomato sauce. They do not mound; they spread. The tomato sauce is rather like a more sophisticated spaghettiO sauce in texture, and in taste is pleasant but with a strong tomato profile, much like ketchup.

Sure they have shared roots but this is like starting off your post by saying “ketchup is the same thing as barbecue sauce.” Well, yes, if you zoom out enough, sure! But also, on the more conventional plane, no.

Yes, UK haricot beans in tomato sauce are adapted entirely from indigenous American plant engineering (haricot beans and tomatoes.) no, they did not invent the concept.

No, most Americans will not recognise what is being served when handed a portion of Branston’s. Yes, British people are startled and excited when I produce actual baked beans, which they perceive to be more aligned with a sort of chilli con carne. They are deeply related dishes that exist in conversation with each other and are both influenced by colonialism, but as a dish you might serve someone, they are pretty different in texture, taste, colour, intention, ingredients, and all the sort of things that we look for when describing a food.

Anyway here’s a recipe for my evil UK fusion gluten free huevos rancheros, which will be violently disclaimed as an abomination by every culture involved in the violence of its creation :

Have on hand:

- leftover cooked chicken or pork, chopped or shredded by hand. I usually do this with leftover roast chicken carcass.

- tin of branston beans. I strongly dislike Heinz for not letting you stack the tins. Fuck them.

- enough Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce (gluten free, available at Tesco/asda/Sainsbury’s in the world food section)

- a lot of whatever fajita seasoning you use to taste

-old El Paso GF tortilla wraps found in the GF section. You can do this with the gluten version, but it will do you good to have to have a recipe written the other way ‘round.

-eggs

-avocado

-shredded cheese

-sour cream, or use up crème fraiche or Greek yogurt if that’s what you have left

-pesto or basil leaves lmao

Shred meat and mix with beans. Heat the meat within the beans with the spices and bbq sauce.

Fry the tortillas on both sides until Activated. (Pronounce them tor-TEE-ya, not turtle-a, thanks). Set aside. You may rub with pesto.

Use that pan to fry eggs UK style. Runny yolks but cooked on top.

Order of assembly: tortilla, beans, fried egg on top. Decorate egg with cheese, sour cream, chopped avocado. Sprinkle basil leaves or coriander if people like coriander.

Surprisingly successful with children, high protein, gluten free, cheap and easy, uses up leftover meat and stuff you probably have around, not too difficult, will cause people on the internet to shout at you. You’re welcome.

Baked beans are an American dish adapted from a similar dish first made by native Americans and baked beans were first canned in the US and then brought to Britain where the British decided to start putting them on toast and calling them a British food. And I’ve started to realize that some British people think that we think beans on toast is strange because we don’t have baked beans. When in fact we’ve had baked beans this whole time. We brought the baked beans over there. We just think it’s mildly confusing that Brits put them on toast.

[bluestrawberrybunny]

Garth from @ask-marios-apprentice asks

I got some asks from some from some friends.

Mario: How does your Mario protect the Kingdom. Garth told me that he is not a SUPER Also congratulations on your wedding.

Peach: What is your Kingdoms government like. Is Peach doing a good job. What are relation with other nations.

Meggy: Meggy. Do you remember our mom and dad. Our biological parents I mean. I sometimes have trouble remembering who they were.

Shigeru Miyamoto: how is the Kopai doing. Does tears of the kingdom do well. We need to know if we can release it in tandem with the new switch in 2022

Ricardo (My dad): Ask if they need you also to kill the artist guy like in the universe with the mutants.

My dad was referring to how SMG4 in the @asksmg4hollowau wanted me to kill Axol because he was showing symptoms of an illness

SMG3: why would I ever want to marry that smooth brain knucklehead. I have me, eggdog, and a cafe i almost have a permit for.

Alice (The Fourth SUPER): ask what was the organized syndicate seem like in their 1950s. I want to know if their Alice stayed fully evil.

I'll see if I can find anyone else who wants to ask questions.

SMG4: Pfft. You would totally say that back then.

SMG3: Oh, shut up! ... baka...

SMG5: Ok, so... let's go question by question...

Mario: Okey dokey! Mario protects the kingdom by being Mario!

Luigi: ... he means the whole avatar thing...

Mario: That's what I said-donkey!

Luigi: Basically, the whole SMG4 crew works together for that. But Mario and I have some special abilities due to being our world's avatars.

SMG6: For the second question... um... our Peach here is... uh... we don't talk to her much after... the... um...

SMG5: Since SMG4 got possessed by a demonic keyboard in his pursuit of perfection and destroyed Peach's castle and kind of left her to rot down there for 2 years as some sort of virus mutant beast and then we snuck down there and then you got possessed by the demonic keyboard as well, and then we had to go in and save you and then we finally turned her back to normal but now she's taller and has 4 arms and white eyes and isn't exactly friendly with the crew anymore but will remain civil?

SMG6: Um... yeah... that...

Meggy: Um... no, sadly I don't remember our biological parents either. Sorry...

SMG5: What is Kopai...?

SMG6: I'll take this one, Bunny! It's doing. Although its more known as Nintendo around here. And Tears of the Kingdom is great! But... try not to... announce the title when the Queen of England dies. Yeah? Yeah.

SMG4: *wheeze*

SMG6: Wait! Controller drift! Get that shit fixed or I swear-

SMG4: Ok. That's enough out of you

SMG6: But Dad!

SMG4: Nope. Don't cus out random interdimensional Miyamotos. You can do that enough in our dimension.

SMG6: Ok...

Melony: You'd better not!

Axol: Yeah... I literally just got brought back from the dead a year ago... please don't kill me again...

SMG4: *laughing* Hey 3... wanna answer that last question?

SMG3:

SMG3: No

SMG4: Awwww... :(

SMG3: Listen, if other dimension me is asking why I'd marry SMG4 he's either lying to himself or has 0 feelings towards his SMG4, so... not answering

SMG5: SMG3 HAS HAD A CRUSH ON SMG4 SINCE BEFORE SNOWTRAPPED AND HE SAID THAT HE IS VERY IN LOVE WITH SMG4 AND WOULD DIE AND KILL FOR HIM AND THINKS HE IS ADORABLE AND ACTUALLY FINDS HIS JOKES FUNNY AND WANTS TO SQUISH HIS FACE AND KISS IT ALL DAY!

SMG3: ...

SMG5: I know. I read his diary.

SMG3: ...

SMG5: He also wants to do unspeakable and unholy things to him.

SMG3: I hope you die

SMG5: Damn. Rude.

[vole-mon-amour]

3x12, Jamie edition, part 3.

You fucking idiots, both of you. "He's fine." I'M GONNA BEAT YOUR ASS, ROY KENT.

Coffee scene <3 Just make out already! Jfc!

Keeley is so sweet & deserves someone new who will take out all the drama of her life and bring only joy and no jealousy. Drop both Roy and Jamie, find yourself some Boss Ass Bitch for your happily ever after.

But hey, at least they're gonna talk! Hopefully. It was due, like, a couple of weeks ago. (Me who actually ships them) DROP THEIR ASSES, KEELEY.

Both? Neither?

LMAOO. She's the exact savage that we need. "Oh, for real? Me? I actually get to choose???" It's like I said, they sat down bickering without considering what KEELEY actually wants. Drag their asses.

TRY-ANGLES. Jamie is so cute, ugh.

The entire episode I'm thinking about Phil's "People might think they're having a wild affair" so I'm more than happy about this outcome. I'm actually ready to accept OT3 or all single, it's all good. Go spend the night together again, just like Amsterdam, but get lost in each other's arms for real this time.

When everybody started barking after Roy asking if he can be a Diamond dog, the door closed, and Jamie got really curious. hehe.

"A care package from Zava"

Heh. Who is that guy constantly next to Jamie? What's his name? They're obviously friends.

Both laughing and crying. Stop it. ;_;

Colin crying, but we know it was emotional for the actors too. The dude in the back is full on wailing.

"Richmond appear to be crying. Interesting strategy." That strategy is called "I love you all very much" ;_____;

Hands off, asshole. Honestly, the rules of football... Barely touching, apparently, doesn't count.

I love watching Jamie play. I love knowing that Phil really loves football and enjoys filming this.

It's the second (or the third?) time this happens this season. When is Ted going to adopt Jamie? ;_; I mean, he already has a stepdad, but he can have two wonderful ones as a treat.

JAMIE STILL HAS THE BOOK AND IT LOOKS LIKE HE READ IT MANY TIMES. Or at least carried around with him everywhere. Weeping.

"And Tartt finally puts it away" I literally started sheering with tears streaming down my cheeks. I feel like only this show can do it.

Henry is me. Henry is all of us Jamie lovers. God, he could've moved to England and have a constant access to Jamie. Jamie would've loved spending time with him.

Not Jamie's leg AGAIN, but that expression <3 Jamie is THE best. And that smile. That tongue. Having thoughts. :')

Jamie giving up the ball, giving it to Dani to score? TEAM PLAYER. My heart is so full of love for Jamie.

Stay mad about it. x)

[fanficfish]

hetalia thoughts: america's states/canada's provinces HC

idk these were jus some thoughts i had about it. i'll go deeper if anyone asks.

also there was something i wanted to mention but i forgot it.

so if you don't know US history: basically Europe came over and settled in a bunch of places. Like, a lot of places. Alllll the way down the coast. These colonies were separate but most had the same idea of "hey new land! let's get some resources and stuffs and things!" Jamestown wasn't under the same local rule as New York, for example.

now in Hetalia, we know colonies, staets, provinces, etc. can have personifications, because personifciation represent the people. So if you have enough people claiming a certain place as their home, you could get a personification. E.g. American settlers were English but thought of themselves as a little more then that so America pops up.

And I like to think America is Jamestown (I think Canada miiight have been New France's Canada since that came under British rule after the Seven Years' war), obviously they don't call them that in the canon but they also use modern names for countries across the board regardless of time period soooo whatever with that. Eventually of course the colonies grow, but there's a good chance there were other colonies personified, especially in Canada with the French Canadians and the Arcadians and what is now Florida. But Brittain decided to take the two colonies he probably thought were the most likely to do something great for him so we got America and Canada meeting and hanging out for a while. The long times England is gone, he's probably at his other colonies and trying to divide his time equally, or to an extent anyways.

Jamestown also served as the the colonel capital for a while, so this would also add to that. Canada is Canada, and I personally think he was just all of New France (America of course is just weird and we all get insulted if you think we're from a different place, America the country was probably literally just the Jamestown area and maybe Roanoke Island and the other small colonies of the colony, who knows)

anyways considering there were so many colonies and many had different purposes (religious freedom, the Pennsylvania thing, common language differences, reactions to natives, etc.), there were almost definitely more then just two dudes.

moving on from that, I think America as we know him kind of became the "ringleader" of sorts for the 13 colonies' rebellion. He was the first permanent colony, he was at a central location, and he knew England well because England hung out with him so much. And since Canada was fighting on England's side, it would make sense to maybe not have him up north having to fight him (although that didn't really stop Canada ofc). Since the 13 states were technically each their own, it's likely there were 13 American personifications (or at least a couple, depending on how strong the colonists' identity as part of their state needs to be for that to happen).

Eventually when America became the 50 states and Canada became a bunch of provinces and territories, I think America and Canada kind of became like the representation of "being American/'Canadian". America I think became like Washington D.C. - he's the main guy the diplomats talk to, he's the one deciding "oh ima go bother Japan and hang out with him", while his states all do their own things (for non americans yes we have state pride. My friend from Arizona likes to yell that he's from Arizona (walking around in winter with flipflops) and there's a bit of rivalry between Northerners and Southlanders in California)). Canada is the same, and I think his nightmare about Quebec might prove he's not Quebec (they seem pretty set on staying French Canadian) and he's just been general-Canada.

Now that i think of it, America might have jsut been "whoever is the capital rn that's me". Would make sense as Virginia and Maryland gave up land to make Washington D.C.

So how exactly do the states/territories in America and Canada's provinces/territories work?

Well, like I said- they're all personified. There's more then enough people, and the US I know even has laws about "you need x amount of people to be a state". Probably just add "you have a personification" to that list. I imagine that most of them are around middle-highschool age, a few like California or New York who could rank as small countries might be tipping on the edge of 17-18 physically But America or Canada would be the oldest of their broods respectively, and it'd kind of be like how Japan has all his provinces and they sort of act like assistants. States on the lower end of the spectrum, like in the Midwest, would be younger for sure. The whole territories thing is the same- Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, the Phillipines when they were under America, Hawai'i before it became a state, etc. would all have been younger and if they got a new title (independent or statehood), they would age up a bit as normal. Think Iceland going from territory slowly growing before speedrunning puberty in the 1900s.

And ofc there's little cliques and groups. Border states between Canada and America like to join each others' sports leagues, for example, and people sometimes cross the border if things on the other side are closer, heck if memory serves me there's even an airport cut in half because of the border. Though there's a fascinating video or two on YouTube about the no-touch line that's just canonical real-life America and Canada being sibligns and complaining the other touched their islands. Naturally those border states are much closer relationship-wise. The Southern states have their own thing going on (for a while they tried to be rebels and went through their punk era), the New England states have their own deal, etc.

and of course personalities differ! Quebec is quite set in his way (complete with Marukaite Chikyuu). California complains constantly about gas prices while their neighbors complain about California's inability to not go on fire every summer, Florida is Florida, Winsconsin has a cheese obsession, etc.

The key difference for me though is that Canadian provinces and territories are all under Canada but in America, each state is its own little country. So while fundamentally they'd serve similar purposes, America's assistants are....well, they're a bit more free-range lol.

Also! America probably just lets his states go freerange (most of them are nearly his age anyways they'll be fiiiine they're American-) so unlike Japan or France whose regions live nearby or with them, America's live in their respective states and Canada's are probably the same considering the size of their countries. I presume most countries' places do this (Japan's house might be in Osaka and that's why we get to see him as Japan's assistant.)

so basically tldr: The American states are mini countries (they technically are-) and the provinces/territories just exist the same way Japan's and China's do. America and Canada were also probably never actual states. Probably.

thank you for coming to my utterly useless rambly tedtalk.

also random thought but Hawai'i is the American version of Europeans going to France for the summer.

[new-berry]

Okay there is some delulu under here. NUFC mad rambles .. like regular rambles, not special stories.

So people who don’t follow NUFC they are in a PSR hole, well they should be out of it now as they have sold two players Minteh to BHA (meh) and Elliot Anderson (sad!) to Wolves.

When they were trying to find a way out of the hole they apparently offered Anthony Gordon to Liverpool. Fell over for the fee and the player they wanted. It may be reserected depending on what happens in the rest of the window. (Let me say: I would be sad. But I was also sad over David Batty and Alan Shearer and dude… there have been plenty. I will be sad about Triopier in probably the next six weeks. I’m sad over Callum Wilson.)

Although the in no order, rose coloured glasses: a common comment is “wouldn’t AG feel betrayed / not supposed by club/ just seen as an asset. “ and actually I don’t think so. For one, the person who broke the story is someone who has interviewed him before.

Personally I think they would have gone to him and asked his if he was to be traded where would he pick?

Becuase he’s a lifelong Liverpool supporter. Like, I won’t stand in Bruno G’s way if he gets offered Real Madrid. It would suck if AG went to Liverpool I hate all teams that aren’t mine, but I would get over it and look at left wingers. I’m for anyone who gets their boyhood club. And I know that he has said in the past he needed to get out. But the Everton situation was poisoned at the end and he’s coming back an England international and a success. Like not with his tail between his legs.

I think it shows they know how valuable he is.

Also Isak to Chelsea, as long as we don’t fall for getting their offshoots dumped on us (we have Conor Gallagher at home he’s called Sean Longstaff) if they were going to pay 170 mill well, yeah. We can get a striker for that.

The thing is I get what people are really pissed about. We have all this money (let’s not front: Newcastle’s owners could fill St James with money and backstroke Scrooge McDuck style around it) and we can’t spend it.

Chelsea are owned by a hedge fund (which means they also have buckets of gulf money) but they have an “academy” which had about twenty branches and an industrial complex of players. Man City also an academy assembly line, it’s why NUFC is trying so hard to restart its academy. But I mean.

Can we not pretend that PSR is anything but protecting some clubs that have been earmarked as the favourites. Like it’s embarrassing to pretend it’s to protect some clubs from themselves or that it’s about a level playing field.

anyway, my other complaint is the injuries of last season continue to fuck us. Like Callum Wilson would have been moved in to a preferred club for him (don’t even say Saudi unless he wants cash, for one NUFC have to jump through hoops to sell there and for a second the “buy anyone for huge money” was as much a marketing ploy as anything else. They were the new gas station in town who offered rates 10 percent below everyone else to get you in the door.

They are not paying 150 mill to take Casemiro and Antony (the gross Man Red one) anymore. ) probably one of the slightly lower list Spanish or Italian clubs (where people who actually watch those leagues say he would be an adequate fit).

But he has to prove fitness. And Jamaal Lascalles probably would have gone to Betis but hey he’s injured. It’s just… transfer season sucks. But like it’s gets easier and you will always have new favourite players. You just have to do it every season, to mangle the Bojack quote.

But having to do it when the club has literal buckets of cash because man red has lots of international fans and it’s important for them to be in Europe so the super league doesn’t get successfully resurrected? Ug.

Everyone other club in England actually doesn’t want to be a supporting player to the victory myth of clubs that think they deserve it more.

It’s good that fans are passionate about keeping certain players. But the opposite of love is indifference (as another song goes). And the Prem can make as many rules to protect the sky six as it likes, but then you are piping cheering in. And wondering why kids these days would rather play Fortnite. / grumpy old lady rants.

[feysandfeels]

thank u! The situation is this, roughly. I'm in my mid 20s and I live in city A, where I'm very comfortable. I have all my friends here, old firndships of 10+ years and new ones. Since I'm not close to my family, they're extremely important to me. In the past two years I've maybe spent 15 days without meeting anyone, being able to socialise and lean on my friends is super important to me. I love my city, I'm comfortable here and I know I wanna spend my life here. However, I cant get my masters degree here, I'd have to do an expensive online degree and I've really been considering moving somewhere else for my masters for a while now, to use that opportunity and get to know a new place before returning here for good. I dont really wanna do an online degree, spending 6 hours a day in my room with no way to socialise and meet new friends. Ive been dating someone since november 22, we just broke up a couple days ago. I think ive sent u asks about him before lol. He lives in city B, 600 km away from me and ultimately the distance was the break up reason, although admittedly there have been other struggles as well. He said if I were to move there, he'd love to date me again for real this time. City B is far away, but it would actually offer me a good (and free) degree, its a vibrant metropolis and I could honestly do worse. The thing is, I'm scared of moving there only to end up depressed and homesick and on top of that back in a rocky relationship. I love and miss him a lot but there is no guarantee this would work out, even without the distance.

Got any advice? Both options have their pros and cons I guess

Hello My Love,

I'm sorry for the late reply but it was my grandma's birthday and a woman is nothing if not extra and we literally had celebrations for her the whole week. But she deserves it. Fabulous lady, truly.

Anywho, I have been thinking about this a lot and I - do you have a cunty friend? Can I be your cunty friend? Like I will give you hugs and bake you cookies, but can I be the cunty friend?

Because here is what I think: do not include that man or your relationship with him in your decision making process. Even though, I think distance is a valid reason when talking about North America -and America in general as traveling within the continent is not as cheap or easy as it is in other places... I am looking at you "long distance relationships within England"- the fact that you were also having other issues makes me believe that maybe maybe this is not where you should be putting your energy. If you give him a deciding factor weight type of thing then there might be chance you end up in a program that is good but not "the one", in a relationship that shows you that the problems that were not distance related are still there and well with a cup half empty. Personally, and feel free to disagree and be more of a romantic here... but personally I feel that if you guys have only been together a couple of months he should not hold such privilege weight in your life as to be a deciding factor to where you do your MA, that is something that comes with time and dedication.

Even if you do think it is worth a shot please please have a good think about whether it comes from a sense of comfort and of "hey at least I would have someone there" or the comfort of having previously been together. If this dude was not in an emotional position to put the effort to be in a long distance relationship with you then I think you deserve someone who will put that effort and even encourage you to fully look at all the available brilliant MA options you have. There's nothing wrong with him not wanting to do that and peace be with him and all that, but you deserve someone who will be there even when an ocean stands between you two.

Choose your MA because it feels your heart with joy to study whatever it is on, because you love the classes, because the campus seems nice and they have cool clubs and a nice community, because there are cute cafes and the nice restaurants, because the bookstores are amazing, because the scenery is inspiring, because you want to learn... and then jump.

Now for the MA experience and the fear of leaving home. I will not lie to you babygirl, it is daunting and settling in will take a while. This being said it will be an adventure! A great one at that. I feel these experiences allow you to truly get to know you for who you are when your familiar context is stripped away, you learn to spend time with you, to date you, to enjoy your own company; simultaneously it forces you to grow past the beautiful fence that limits your comfort space, to face the horizon and see all that land with boundless opportunity for you to build something from it and cherish it.

I know there's a fear of what if I don't meet new friends? what if my teachers suck? what if there is no cute cafes? what if I feel alone? But during those years you learn to communicate with your loneliness and find company within it; you learn that a smile is universal and most likely people will also be looking to make friendly connections; you learn things that you like about yourself that can help you grow into a new version; your teachers will most likely be lovely; you learn to love and be with people at a distance (you have an online community that literally travels with you, and your friends from home will adapt to you being away and you will not feel alone). Don't let fear of the unknown stop you, because even within the borders of your hometown the unknown will find you.

There's something my MA teacher used to say to me that I have loved ever since: be brave and head into the unknown, you never know which constellations you will find in a new sky.

Hope it helped..

sending you lots of love and light.

Ps: if you end up choosing the MA in the city he is in, make sure you are choosing it because of the program and the city... make sure you would choose it even if that dude did not live there.

Ahora sí, besos mi reina (gn)

[hikari-kaitou]

Capcom's Official AA Fanclub Surveys - DGS Edition

Many Western fans may be familiar with the Turnabout 4koma comics that get posted on the official AA fanclub site that Capcom runs, thanks to some lovely fans on tumblr and elsewhere who have shared their translations. What fewer people seem to know about is the character surveys.

Back in the old days, they used to hold a survey on Capcom's official AA fansite every few months where they'd write about the seasonal activities of a handful of characters and ask fans to vote for the funniest/most pleasant/strangest/etc answer.

They stopped doing them in like... 2016? 2017? The original text is lost for good as far as I can tell. Even the wayback machine couldn't help because the content was password locked and you can't get past the password wall while remaining in the archived version.

Fortunately, I saved some of my translations of them so I thought I’d share them.

Cut for length...

"February has begun, and the DGS cast is nearing the end of their journey aboard the RFS Alacrei. Which of them acted the most strangely?"

Ryuunosuke ~ Exhausted from his intensive study session, he decided to try some katana swinging practice as a change of pace and to combat his recent lack of exercise. But because he wasn't used to handling the katana, he swung it too hard and it went flying out of his hands and got stuck in the wall right next to Sherlock, who had just entered the room. Sherlock asked him, "aren't you supposed to be studying right now, Mr. Naruhodo?" and handcuffed him to his desk.

Susato- worked on developing a curriculum for Ryuunosuke. 'If we keep going at this pace, he won't be able to learn it all in time... It'll be hard on Naruhodo-sama, but we'll have to work hard through a couple of nights together.' With that thought, she created a harsh study schedule, and almost seemed to be looking forward to it for some reason.

Sherlock- Driven by excitement over the thought of returning to England after a long absence, he went up on deck to stare at the ocean. Being February, it was very cold out there and he ended up being chilled all the way to the tips of his fingers. He returned to the ship cabins and amused himself by putting his frozen hands on Ryuunosuke, who was stuck in his room studying.

Van Zieks- Upon hearing from Vortex that there was a Japanese exchange student coming to England to study law, he smashed a Lord's Bottle. He apparently also didn't care for the fact that that Japanese student wouldn't be alone, because he proceeded to shatter his chalice, too.

Hosonaga- in order to provide a respite from studying, he provided some hot chocolate. They enjoyed a pleasant tea time, marveling over how sweet and delicious the drink was until Sherlock piped up with some unnecessary trivia: 'Actually folks, chocolate has long been used in Europe as an aphrodisiac!' Everyone promptly spat it out."

"The long winter is nearly over and spring is on it's way, putting the DGS cast members in a celebratory mood. Who found the best way of enjoying spring?"

Ryuunosuke: the Yuumei University faculty members were holding a flower viewing event, and he joined the assistance committee. He exhausted himself keeping the blankets clean so the intense shower of flower petals wouldn't pile up too high on them, delivering sake and snacks, and mediating whatever pointless fights arose. To top it all off, for some reason his compensation was only a single piece of leftover candy. Talk about a sad result!

Susato- her father and the others living in his dormitory were  holding the flower viewing event, so she got up early to prepare the bentos. But her father carelessly forgot to tell her that they wanted tea cakes, so she had to go around the house and neighborhood collecting sweets. For some reason, she ended up being able to gather caramels, biscuits, candy sticks, basically everything but tea cakes, for the tea ceremony.

Sherlock- he disguised himself as a beat officer and infiltrated Scotland Yard to have some fun. There was a real beat officer napping on his feet in the spring sunshine, and while observing him, Sherlock ended up falling asleep too. Detective Gregson gave them a good scolding when he found them, but then Sherlock revealed his true identity with a "hey, it's me, folks!" "What the blazes do you think you're doing?!" Gregson shouted, his rage growing even more, and Sherlock ended up making a run for it.

Van Zieks- went to the vineyard to oversee the production of the contents of his Lord's Bottle. As he viewed the still unopened grape blossom buds, he thought about how they would someday grow up to fill his Lord's Bottle, and ended up going around to look at each one. But the farm hands couldn't stop wondering whether the bottle itself or its owner's heel might come flying at them and were quite uneasy.

Asougi: exhausted himself running around since early morning helping with the professors' flower viewing event. When it was over, he took a break, sharing his reward candy stick [the name of the candy literally translates to 1,000 year candy] with Ryuunosuke, who had also been helping out. 

"I wonder if the candy's effect is halved if you share it with someone."

"That still gives us 500 years."

They laughed and enjoyed looking at the flowers until dark. Then they parted ways with a handshake and a "see you later, best friend."

(This one was something about celebrating New Years. For some reason I didn't save the original question)

"Ryuunosuke ~ To celebrate New Years, he planned to pound mochi with everyone at the office. He somehow managed to get his hands on some mochi rice and he and Sherlock started pounding. Iris was having such fun watching them that she steamed a whole bunch more mochi rice so they could have some to share, and he and Sherlock spent the whole evening pounding mochi like crazy.

Asougi~ Because it's New Years, he went around to a bunch of shrines. When he drew his new year's fortune, he got a "horrible luck" result. "I'm not worried about it," he claimed, and headed up to the mountains early on New Years morning and work hard on a full training course of purification by water, meditation under a waterfall and wooden sword practice. It seems that he was working really hard to clear his mind of all earthly thoughts

Sherlock- Agreed to help Ryuunosuke pound mochi. As Ryuunosuke was flipping the mochi over, he carelessly dropped his badge into the bowl and Sherlock mixed it in without noticing, so they had to crack open both the hard and soft mochi to look for it. Fortunately they found it in the 4th one they checked, but apparently Sherlock got his hands and face covered in sticky white mochi in the process.

Susato- Wore a furisode and went with her father to do the first shrine visit of the year. The shrine was incredibly crowded and they had to wait in line for a long time, but she brought the Encyclopaedia of British Law and a copy of the Strand Magazine in her sleeves to secretly read as they waited so she actually ended up enjoying the wait.

Van Zieks- Ryuunosuke cheerfully gave him some mochi as a New Year’s (which at that time was celebrated at the same time as the Chinese New Year) gift, which he accepted confusedly, wondering “...Can the Japanese not even keep track of when the New Year is?” Because Ryuunosuke referred to it as a rice cake, he tried to eat it like a regular cake without softening it with heat first. It was so hard that he couldn’t imagine how it could possibly be food, and ended up misunderstanding the Japanese even more!

"Autumn has arrived, and the weather is starting to cool off, which means that everyone is becoming more active. Which character chose the most pleasant autumn activity to keep busy with?"

Iris was making bread but her hands are small and it’s difficult for her to knead the dough, so she asked for Ryuunosuke’s help. She wanted to make enough to hand out to Gina and all the other homeless children in the East End, so she made a massive amount and Ryuunosuke was stuck kneading this massive mountain of bread dough all day. Apparently he became such a expert at kneading that he could be a baker now.

Asougi was practicing with his sword, slicing autumn-colored ginko leaves as they fell from the tree. He cut so many leaves, though, that he ended up making a big mess on the ground, the number of fallen leaves now having increased, and it took him a long time to clean it all up.    

Sherlock: Ryuunosuke told him that he was making anpan (bread filled with sweet red bean paste, the bane of my Asian-dwelling existance) and asked Sherlock to help by being in charge of getting the poppy seeds they’d need to sprinkle on top, so Sherlock went out and gathered a ton of poppy seeds. In fact, he got so many of them that no one knew what to do with them all cuz they had a huge amount of leftovers. Sherlock said, “Well, they’re only the size of poppy seeds! Surely you two can deal with them somehow! Ahahaha!” and Iris scolded him.   

(I couldn’t capture it in English, but Sherlock’s line contained a pun, and a pretty stupid one at that, so that’s part of why he got scolded)

It’s grape harvesting season, so Van Zieks commutes to the winery regularly to direct the production of the contents for his “Lord’s Bottle.” He demands perfection in everything from the selection of the grapes to the way they’re squeezed, and the winery staff is terrified by the “grim reaper’s” gaze and heel swinging (i.e. the leg thing he does in court) so they grumble as they work. 

"Hearing that there’s a holiday in the West called Halloween, the people involved with the court in Japan decided to try it out themselves. Naturally Halloween is a big deal in England as well. So, which member of the DGS cast had the best celebration?"

Team Ryuunosuke and Asougi- Asougi got Naruhodo up on his shoulders and they draped a white sheet over themselves to make a ghost costume. They went out like that, but Naruhodo had such exaggerated reactions to the fear of the people who saw them and to bumping his head on tree branches that they ended up losing their balance and falling on top of each other?!   

Sherlock Holmes- went wearing a horse’s head mask. Iris used her skills to make it a fancy horse covered in stars, but the eye holes weren’t well made and he had to wander around blindly. Because of that he tripped hard over a pile of coal! He ended up getting so dirty that the stars on his costume were covered up!

Van Zieks- took inspiration from his nickname and dressed up as the grim reaper. He covered himself up with a skeleton mask and hood figuring no one would know it was him. Unfortunately he got angry when he saw Megundal (McGilded) pass by and started throwing bottles and glasses and ended up giving himself away.

"November has arrived, and autumn is nearing its end. However, the DGS cast is still keeping busy, even on their days off. Which character chose the most interesting way to spend their late autumn day?"

Ryuunosuke- Thinking that he’d better learn more about British culture if he was going to be a defense attorney in Britain, he went down to the East End with Gina for a little observation. However, because an Asian like him stood out so much, he got mobbed by the other children. On top of it all, his arm band got stolen from him and he had to send a replacement request to Yumei University on the other side of the ocean.

Asougi- He went for a meal at La Quantas. The customer at a nearby table got a persimmon for dessert and scarfed it down, saying “Mm! This is it! This sweetness makes it worthy of being called a treasure among foods!” Asougi tried to comment on this by saying, “The customer at that table sure is enjoying his pershim--gak!” but he may or may not have accidentally bitten his tongue in the process and been unable to finish his sentence.

Iris- She accepted Ryuunosuke’s request to learn more about British culture and prepared a bagpipe and kilt costume for him. “This outfit sure is breezy,” Ryuunosuke said shyly upon trying it on. With Ryuunosuke now dressed, he, Iris, and the others from their office headed over to Gregson’s place to get him to treat them to some fish and chips.   

Sherlock- He accepted Ryuunosuke’s request to learn more about British culture and cooked up some European style curry for dinner. Thanks to the fact that his secret ingredient was a large amount of Chinese herbal medicine style spice, it caused some strange side effects and Ryuunosuke, who’d eaten it, ended up passing out and falling over.

“Another taxing trial for Ryuunosuke has finished and now it’s December. As the year draws to a close, which character acts the strangest?”

Ryuunosuke- he was recruited to help with snow removal around Yumei University and the courthouse and he enthusiastically began his task with the help of a large shovel. He got a little carried away, though, and ended up accidentally burying his umbrella, which he’d left propped up against the side of the building, in the snow he’d just finished shoveling.  He had no choice but to share Asougi’s umbrella on the way home.

Asougi- On the way home, he nods silently to Ryuunosuke’s question of whether he’d finished his travel preparations and changes the subject: “...Come to think of it, it seems that tomorrow is celebrated in the West as God’s birthday.” “I’ve heard that they eat chicken as part of the traditional celebration. Wanna try it?” Ryuunosuke asks invitingly. Asougi is strongly opposed to that particular menu item, however, and they end up going out for their usual beef stew that night instead.           

Susato- in addition to her year-end travel preparations, she also was busy with straightening up the book room in her home. She managed to get the law books in order when she suddenly stumbled upon some old issues of Strand Magazine! She hurried through the rest of her cleaning, then began flipping through the magazines she’d found, trying to decide which to take with her on her trip. She accidentally lost herself in her reading and didn’t realize it until it was already the middle of the night.

Sherlock- he was in the middle of a long ship voyage when Christmas night came. His mind on his partner in a far-off country, he made a toast alone on deck, when suddenly the crew began shooting off fireworks with a cry of “Merry Christmas!” Sherlock had to dart back and forth across the deck to prevent the fireworks from hitting him and setting off the explosive chemicals he carries with him.

Main series edition

[hoes4dylanobrien]

Mets Dylan (AU miniseries) 3/?

a/n: so being in New England myself I may have made Dylan a dunkin donuts kinda guy? Idk if he is tho, but I like the idea of it. LMK if you wanna be on my new taglist for this fic, friends :3

tw: Dylan being cute hungover, swearing

taglist: @roxic93​

You idled in the office parking lot, debating whether or not to go in.

You were fairly sure what this was about. The picture that girl posted online that was quickly making headlines everywhere after being taken up by TMZ. You, a nobody, caught in a compromising position with your client, Mets star baseball player Dylan O’Brien. 

It was not the best situation to find yourself in, especially after what you’d been trying to do went up in flames. You were more angry with yourself than Dylan, though. He was who he was, which was a womanizing dick most of the time. It was his M.O. He was predictable, in a sense. And that was why you were angry: you should have known better. He was doing what he was always doing, but for you to have gotten caught up in it, in those stupid mesmerizing eyes... It was only a moment, but it may have cost you everything. You knew it didn’t look good (even though NOTHING happened...) but your employer wouldn’t see it that way, and so you felt it was the calm before the storm. The dreadful thought that you may just leave here without a job crossed your mind. 

Your phone lit up with several texts then.

A few from friends wanting to know the tea, one from Ray, your boss, that said I know you’re out there, y/n, I can SEE you from my desk... stop picking around and get your ass in here (yeah, your boss was pretty casual with you) and one from He Shall Not Be Named (childish on your part, you recognized).

Can you stop at dunks on the way there, i’m feelin munchkin today 

You rolled your eyes so hard they went back in your head. The audacity of the asshole. 

He saw you read it, and sent one text after the other:

hello????

answer me

y/nnnnnn

y/n, I can literally see you reading my texts. this is important. need to know my Dunkin's will be there. and ask for extra caramel drip on the macchiato, you know the one

You’d had it up to here with him, and couldn’t help shooting off a quick text.

I’m not your fucking maid or your executive assistant, Dylan. Ask them to get it, or, here’s a concept, get your grown ass your own Mighty Macchiato. You can certainly afford it. 

The dot, dot, dots appeared. Then:

see now I'm worried you didnt say iced. You know I don’t drink hot coffee y/n 

:(((( 

You looked up, muted your phone, and may or may not have screamed out loud. 

Putting on your big girl panties after a good pep talk to yourself, you approached the front door and step inside. The doorman, Chris, greeted you with a smile. ‘Hey y/n, good to see you. How was the weekend?”

“Oh, you know...same old same old.” You didn’t elaborate. He nodded understandingly, and, judging by the look on his face you could tell he saw the story but thankfully didn’t ask about it. “Yours?” 

“My grand baby was home. My daughter and her husband were visiting, so we got some good family time. Had us a good barbecue. DIdn’t want to leave ‘em to come in today.” 

“Oh, wow, good for you! How old is she now? Lizzie?”

“Seven,” he said proudly. “That’s wild, I remember seeing her around the office back when she was only three, I can’t believe how fast she’s growing!”

“You’re tellin’ me!” He snorted.

“Well, I’m sure they had a wonderful time with you. Did they leave already?” 

"Yeah, Eric - my son-in-law - was needed back at work so they packed up and left early this morning.” 

Your phone buzzed again. There were an embarrassingly long stream of texts from Dylan, who apparently thought you were still talking to him, and the boss, who was now calling. He must really be steamed.

“Business calls?” 

“Shit, yeah. Sorry, gotta jet. It was nice catching up though!” 

“You take care now, Miss y/n.” He winked at your retreating form. 

"I’m on my way,” you said by way of greeting as the elevator doors closed behind you.“Good. Because we’ve got a pile of shit on our hands.” 

I sighed. “I know.” 

“You really screwed up.” 

“I know,” you repeated.

He just gave a long sigh, ending the call abruptly. 

Out of habit you checked your social media, surprised to see several hundred new followers, and an inbox full of messages from both bots and real people wanting to know the scoop. Well, that didnt take long to identify you. Huffing, you almost put your phone away when you saw another text flash across the screen, figuring it was probably Dylan again harassing you with his Dunkin Donuts order that was really not happening. But it was somebody else:

I saw you in the news, so sorry that happened to you! I’m here if you’d like to talk, or not. I know I’m supposed to wait 3 days before asking for another date but life's short and I really enjoyed your company. 

So James didn't see the picture and assume the worst. You were so thankful, and realized you were smiling as you prepared to text him back when the elevator doors opened. 

Your coworkers all turned toward you as you walked by them, whispering. Your work bestie, Annika, was waiting by your cubicle, heels tapping, practically twitching at the prospect of getting the dish. 

“Girl, you gotta tell me-

But before you could answer her, before you even had a chance to place your things on your desk, your boss was calling your name. 

Everyone seemed to quiet then, not used to hearing the laid-back man so angry. 

Annika mimed a drink, and you nodded subtly as you walked backwards toward Ray’s office. You’d be catching up with her after work, or if your luck turned, at a long boozy lunch after you were laid off.

[helnjk]

A Change of Scenery - C.W.

Charlie Weasley x fem!reader

Requested: yes!

omg hi! I just saw the fanart of the oldest Weasley brothers(🥵🥵🥵) and was hoping you could do a Charlie x reader thing? Maybe the reader is a healer at the sanctuary and Charlie doesn't mind getting hurt because he gets to see her but she literally has no idea he adores her till he spells it out. With promt 42 of your list maybe? Totally cool if you want to leave it out 😁 love you and your work! -🍄

“what the hell were you thinking?”

Word count: 3.1k 

Summary: moving to romania for your absolute dream job, you did not expect to meet a cheeky, flirty redhead along the way. 

Warnings: mentions of injuries, food, & drinks. charlie is a dragon tamer, reader is a healer, of course he’s going to end up with a few cuts and bruises. 

A/N: god i love charlie weasley with all of my heart. that is all. 

prompt is in bold

-

Being connected to and living somewhere very in tune with the earth had always been a dream of yours. It just so happened that your new job had you transferred to the perfect place: Romania. 

Sure, it was quite far from England and had quite a different culture, but the beauty of the mountains and the picturesque scenery made up for it. The fact that you were also working in one of the best medical wings in the country, on a dragon reserve on top of that, was basically your dream come true. 

“Alright, and this right here is your station,” announced the head healer, who insisted you call him Gerry, gesturing to a decently sized office space. “You can decorate it anyway you like, as long as it’s appropriate. Most of the folks around here aren’t locals either, so we’ve got loads of photos up and lots of owls coming in and out everyday.” 

“It’s perfect,” you grinned. 

Gerry left you alone to get settled, and you didn’t want to admit it to anyone, but the first thing you did once he was out of earshot was to squeal excitedly and do a little happy dance. 

It was just all too exciting, really. Dream job, dream location, dream view even. After your burst of excitement, you spent a bit of time just staring out of the window, taking in everything. In the distance, you could even see the silhouette of a dragon peeking over the canopy of trees. The fact that this was going to be a regular occurrence just spurred even more delight in your heart. 

Later in the day, after most of the introductions were made and tours were finished, you could be found familiarizing yourself with the medical wing of the sanctuary. 

“C’mon Gerry, I’m completely fine!” you heard a gruff voice complain. It was coming from the hallway outside, but the accompanying footsteps sounded as if they were on the way to the wing. 

“You know it’s protocol, Weasley,” a very amused Gerry replied as they rounded the corner. 

Beside your boss was one of the most gorgeous men you had ever laid eyes on. With wind ruffled hair the color of sunsets and lightly tanned skin, you almost didn’t notice the small, almost inconspicuous limp he was sporting. It also took you a few seconds to realize that he was probably one of the dragon tamers of the reserve, the first one you were going to meet and treat, it seemed. 

“Ah, Healer L/N, perfect!” Gerry called out to you, “This is Charlie Weasley, one of our on-site dragon tamers.”

“Nice to meet you,” he smiled, holding out his hand for you to shake. 

“You too,” you said in reply, trying not to think about how warm and calloused his hand was in yours. 

“His leg got swiped by the tail of a Chinese Fireball,” Gerry explained as he motioned to the leg that Charlie wasn’t putting much of his weight on.

You could see the redhead roll his eyes, “Honestly, I’ll be fine! This has happened more times than you know.” 

Despite his best efforts, both you and Gerry managed to get Charlie to take a seat on one of the beds that lined the wall. With a sigh, he rolled up his trousers just enough for you to see the area of the wound. 

“Lucky for you, treating this doesn’t take much time,” you smiled. Swiftly, you took your wand out and muttered the correct incantation, “There. Good as new!” 

“If I get to be under the care of Ms. L/N here, I wouldn’t mind getting injured more often,” he flirted, sending you a cheeky wink. 

Gerry just guffawed a loud belly laugh, patting Charlie on the shoulder fondly, “Don’t you go running off with one of my best healers now, Weasley. We just got her!” 

“Don’t worry, Gerry,” you smiled, “I think this one’s too injury-prone to run anywhere.” 

–

As the last work day of your first week at the reserve was coming to an end, you were surprised to see Charlie Weasley knocking on the open door to your office. 

“Hey,” you said, sending him a small smile.

“Hey,” he parroted, stepping inside. 

“Anything I can help you with?” you asked over your shoulder while putting away the last of your files and slipping out of your healer robes, “You’re not injured again are you?” 

Behind you, Charlie gulped as he saw the little sundress you wore underneath. His head spun at the sight of your exposed legs and he nearly forgot what he was about to say. 

“Nah I’ve got a better track record than that, thankfully,” he chuckled. Doing his best to keep the calm facade he had going on, he leant against the doorframe as he asked, “Got any plans tonight? I was wondering if you’d fancy getting a bite to eat.” 

You were caught off guard by how nonchalant and straightforward his invitation was.

“Is this your way of asking me on a date?” you asked, finally turning around to face him once again. 

He raised an eyebrow, “Do you want it to be? Because I just wanted to be a nice person and show you around Romania, but if you’re looking for a date…” 

“Oh shut it, Weasley,” you groaned, “The tab is on you tonight, then.” 

Charlie sent you a grin as you strode out of your office. Despite your faux-annoyance, you were happy to have someone show you around. Being a healer was your dream job, but it did have some setbacks. Obviously, you were needed at the medical wing of the reserve for the majority of the week and that didn’t give you much time to familiarize yourself with the town and the people. 

Because of how remote the reserve was, most staff and employees lived on site. There was a designated area for the many different cabins and living quarters. To give you more of a tour of the little Romanian town nearest the reserve, Charlie offered to side-along apparate you. 

You could feel heat creep up your neck and spread along your cheeks as you gripped firmly on to his muscular arm. 

The sun was just about to set and cast gorgeous hues of orange and pink across the sky as the two of you landed just outside the town. Charlie led you along, showing you where the most important areas were; you saw the town square, the little street bazaars, and the most popular eating places. 

By the time the pair of you got to one of his favorite restaurants, a quaint little place in one of the sidestreets, your cheeks were sore from laughing too much. After the initial awkwardness as you tried to navigate topics that interested the both of you, you found yourselves chatting away animatedly. 

“Yeah, Fred and George were an absolute nightmare when they were little,” he chuckled, fondly recalling the many times he and his older brother Bill were left to babysit their younger siblings, “But they’re great. They’ve got a shop in Diagon Alley now, selling prank products of all things. It’s wild.”

“Your family sounds absolutely lovely,” you said. It warmed your heart seeing how his eyes lit up talking about them. “It must be so hard being so far away from everyone.” 

He nodded slightly before taking a sip of his drink, “Definitely. My first year here was such a big transition. I’m lucky I get to go home every so often.” 

There was a lull in the conversation as you dug into your food, but it was far from the awkward silence you were expecting. 

Maybe working in Romania wasn’t going to be so bad after all. 

–

“Why is it that when you get hurt, I’m always the healer on call?” you sighed playfully as Charlie walked through the door of the medical wing. 

It was the fourth week in a row he had to come and get something patched up. They weren’t major injuries, thankfully, but you had come to learn that the dragon tamers were required to know how to perform the basic healing spells. The things Charlie would come in for were almost always resolved with a quick episkey. 

“You know me,” he joked, taking a seat on one of the empty beds, “Always so accident prone.” 

“Sure.” You rolled your eyes. 

Still, with your wand in hand, you gestured for him to show you where the injury was. 

“I’ve got two things today,” he began. You raised your eyebrows in response. “This is the first.” 

 Charlie quickly rolled the sleeve of his top, his toned arm flexing at the movement. In all the time you had worked at the reserve, which wasn’t that long at all, you still hadn’t gotten used to how fit he was. A quick intake of breath had you re-centering and focusing on the task at hand. There was a small burn on his forearm, not enough to cause too much concern. 

You cast the charm quickly so as not to be distracted further, “There, all done.” 

“There’s still one more place that’s hurt Y/N.” 

By the way Charlie spoke, you knew he was up to something. Inwardly you sighed, “Alright, let’s get to it then.” 

Your heart seemed to stop as he began to unbutton the first few buttons of his top. 

“What’re you doing, Weasley?” you asked, trying your hardest to keep your composure as you got a peek of his very toned chest. 

With a dramatic sigh, Charlie leant back and pointed to an area above his chest, “My heart hurts, Y/N.” 

For a moment you just stared at him, looking absolutely ridiculous in the position he chose to don, eyes blinking owlishly. Truthfully, you didn’t know whether to laugh or to send the strongest stinging hex in his direction. 

“Charlie Weasley, you thank Merlin and Morgana right now that I’m not hexing your balls off,” you said, rolling your eyes. 

“I’m being serious, Y/N!” he continued, “I don’t know if I’ll survive this!” 

“Pity, does that mean I’m losing my ticket to free weekly meals?” she joked, already turning on her heel to get back to what she had been doing before he entered the wing. 

There were sounds of shuffling as if Charlie had gotten back up on his feet again and then, “Definitely not! I’m banking on those meals, one of these days you’re going to be begging me for an actual date. You’ll see.”

“Keep dreaming, Weasley.” 

You sent the redheaded dragon tamer a sarcastic smile, but he just sent you a flirty wink in reply. 

–

“Code white. Need extra hands in the medical wing ASAP.” 

The shimmering white bloodhound soon dissolved into nothing as it delivered its message to you, early one morning. You had just gotten to work, not even in your healer's robes yet, when Gerry’s patronus appeared. 

As you rushed to the medical wing, another patronus made an appearance and rattled off what had happened and who was hurt. Your heart dropped the moment you heard who you were going to be treating. 

“Oh Merlin,” you whispered to yourself the moment you saw the state Charlie was in, “What did you get yourself into?”

In all the time you had been working at the reserve and as a healer in general, it was not unusual for you to treat severe injuries. In fact, you liked to think that when you were faced with someone’s life or quality of life in your hands, you worked even harder and smarter. However, seeing Charlie more battered and bruised than you had ever seen him made your heart pound loudly in your chest. 

“Healer L/N, you’re right on time,” Gerry spoke to you clearly, rapidly explaining the situation and what you needed to do. 

In a flash, you had your wand out and were muttering all the healing spells that came to mind alongside your head healer. You didn’t notice how you were holding your breath and clenching your wandless hand until you let out a sigh of relief when Charlie began to stir. 

“He’s stable,” Gerry announced and released a breath. 

You felt a soft pat on your shoulder as he left you to deal with the patient, deeming it alright for him to step out and get back to his other responsibilities. Carefully, you walked towards the redhead whose eyes were fluttering open. 

“What the hell were you thinking, Weasley?” you murmured softly, your wand sweeping over him one last time to check is vitals. A soft hand reached out to push the stray strands of hair that had fallen in front of his face and you felt him lean into your touch. 

“Y/N?” Charlie mumbled, his eyes still half-closed. 

“I’m right here,” you said in reply. 

“What happened?” he asked, trying to prop himself up but groaning in pain. 

“What happened,” you began, going to help him get to the seated position he wanted to be in. He smiled up at you and you could barely remember what you were trying to say. With a small shake of your head and clearing of your throat you continued, “What happened was that you were being an absolute idiot who absolutely did not call for backup when a nesting mother was going on a rampage.” 

Despite his obvious discomfort, Charlie had the audacity to chuckle slightly, “Sounds about right.” 

“Don’t you dare do that to me again, Weasley,” you admonished, pulling back and shooting him the dirtiest stare you could muster. “You nearly gave me a heart attack. When I got Gerry’s patronus, all I could think about was–” 

As if an electric jolt shocked you, you cut yourself off before anything else escaped your lips. 

“Was what, Y/N?” he asked softly. 

His eyes were shining with something you couldn’t quite name, but the sincerity in his face gave you pause. 

You shook your head, “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” 

Instead of continuing to reprimand him for his foolishness, you busied yourself making sure he was comfortable and that everything was alright. The potions he needed to take later in the day and the different salves to be applied to his skin were placed on the bedside table. Pillows were summoned, fluffed, and placed behind him. 

As you shuffled around the room, purposely ignoring the redhead, his eyes were trained on you. 

The moment his eyes opened and he felt your hand brush gently across his face, he thought he had to have been dreaming. If it weren’t for the ache in his muscles and the sting of his burns, he would’ve believed that he was in some alternate reality wherein he woke up next to you every morning. 

He was tired of waiting for his fantasies to come true, he decided. 

“Y/N.” 

The way he said your name sent shivers down your spine. Your whole body froze for a microsecond before you turned to face him. 

“Yeah, Charlie?” 

“Look at me please,” he begged. 

With a deep breath, your eyes locked with his and you were almost blown away with the look on his face. 

Sincerity pooled in his eyes as they scanned your face, trying to see if your own expression gave anything away. You felt like a deer caught in the headlights, unable to move or look away from him. 

“Tell me what you were thinking,” he whispered gently. 

It was now or never.

“All I could think about was how,” you gulped, taking a steadying breath, “How you could’ve died or gotten so hurt, when I hadn’t even had the chance to tell you how I felt about you.” 

You could hear Charlie’s sharp intake of breath and you had to look away, unable to face the rejection you were ultimately going to hear. 

“Y/N–” 

“And, and I know that you don’t feel the same–”

“Y/N–”

“But, just seeing you lying there–”

“Y/N!”

Charlie’s voice rang through the whole wing, a sharp contrast to the otherwise silent space. You sucked in a deep breath, surprised. 

“Y/N you have to know I’m absolutely mad for you,” he said clearly. 

You blinked furiously at him. 

“You-I, what?” 

Charlie tried to reposition himself so that he could face you properly, but you could see that he was still in a bit of pain. Instead of letting him maneuver himself uncomfortably, you placed a soft hand on his shoulder before taking a seat by his legs. 

Immediately, he went to take your hand in his. “I think you’re absolutely breathtaking, and talented, and passionate. I just haven’t had the balls to ask you out on a real date.” 

“Then what are you waiting for, Weasley?” You offered him a small smile, glancing back down at your intertwined hands. 

The smile he sent you left you breathless. 

–

“You ready to go?” Charlie asked, leaning against the doorframe with his legs crossed just like when he had visited your office that first week. 

A small grin inched its way on to your face at the sight of your boyfriend. His hair was just a tad bit windswept, adding to the rugged look he insisted he could pull off (and he definitely did, you just didn’t like feeding his ego too much). 

“Just about,” you smiled. “Let me get out of these stuffy robes first.” 

And, just like the first time he had knocked on the door to your office, you turned to shrug off your uniform and hang it up in one of the hooks beside your desk. Instead of keeping his thoughts to himself, Charlie grinned widely and whistled at the sight of you in your dress. 

Just as you were about to chide him for being inappropriate, strong arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you backwards. A small ‘oof’ escaped your lips as your back made contact with Charlie’s strong chest. 

“Charlie!” you slapped his arm lightly, “C’mon, I’m still at work!” 

“What so I can’t show my girlfriend some appreciation for being absolutely drop dead gorgeous?” he mumbled, pressing soft kisses on the joint where your neck met your shoulders. 

You rolled your eyes, “You know I love a good compliment. I would just rather you do it outside my place of work.” 

With a chuckle, Charlie released his grip on your waist. “Alright, alright.” 

“Just for that, the tab’s on you tonight, Weasley.” 

“Ah so the usual, love?” 

“Of course.” 

Charlie held his hand out for you to take, and unlike the first time he took you out, you allowed yourself to blush, take his calloused hand in yours, and press a soft kiss on his lips. 

–

General taglist: @expectoevans @george-fabian-weasley @gxthsanrio @slytherinscribbles @harpyloon @nuttytani @mesmerisedangel @amourtentiaa @sarcasticallywitty15 @lumos-barnes @cruciostyles @writingsomewrongs

Charlie taglist: @pinkypurplemagic @lifeofkaze @oldschoolkiddo

[stephspurs]

A Family Affair | Euro 2020 Football Fanfiction

Life is beautiful and life is cruel. A window into the souls of the victorious and the vanquished. In a way, football did come home during the summer of 2021. Follow along Amelia’s journey, navigating the football world as a tactical analyst for the italian football team, with a brother and father part of the three lions. Will Amelia leave Italy and come back to England? Will she leave the Serie A for the Prem? Will she set aside the bianconeri stripes for new colours, leaving behind friendship for love? Maybe she can have both...

Hello my lovelies!! Part 3 sees a whole lot Amelia's beautiful brain & you get your first slice of interaction with the british boys - leading up to an all important Mykonos adventure (part 4 - out friday). As usual, please let me know your thoughts and feelings, and let me know what you want to see happen with Amelia and her story! Updates have increased to 3/week! I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am!

Love always,

Steph xx

UPDATE as of 31/07: I've made some additional editing changes due to some feedback about the confusion between ben white (her brother) and ben chilwell (not her brother LOL). Nothing has been added to the story, just the addition of either surname has been added where i think it could be more straightforward - for future readers!

Part 3. | parte terza

warnings; none - just a whole lot of feels.

word count; 2081

writing tools; third person until dashed line, first person thereafter.

next update; Friday 30/07 5pm AEST. Updates are three times/week (Monday, Wednesday & Friday)!

Tags (as requested by users); @footballffbarbiex @obsesseds-world @abysshaven

link to fic masterlist here

It was the day after the final match and Amelia should be nursing a hangover due to the large amount of red wine she consumed with her Italian counterparts the night before. However, she finds herself at St. George’s Park before 9am, meeting one of her father’s colleagues who directs her to the recreation room that she remembers from a few days prior.

Standing outside the door, she assumed she was just waiting for her dad as agreed on the phone an hour earlier. As she was waiting, she could hear Gareth Southgate give a team talk to the players, praising them for their ability and pleading for them to bounce back from this defeat and use it to push on. The next voice she could hear was that of her father, giving them the tactical run through of the game. She listened to the points her father made, and both agreed and disagreed with some. Unexpectedly, the man sent to collect her opened the door and ushered her inside.

She stood at the back of the room, facing her dad and Gareth, whilst the team and other management staff had their backs to her. Making eye contact with her dad, he smiled slightly.

“Whilst I can offer you my opinion on the match last night, to better prepare you for the next time, there is no better opinion to learn from at this moment than that of your opponent. Amelia, would you please come up here” Dean really threw her into this situation, that again, she was not prepared for nor did she want to participate in. However, the 30+ sets of eyes that had currently turned around to stare at her didn’t exactly inspire a choice to be made here.

_____________________________________________________________

“Lads, this is my daughter. I taught her everything she knows, which was probably too much considering I can now recognise that it was her signature plays that the italian side used to their advantage last night. Treat her with respect, or I will let her at you. Which i’m sure you all saw a few nights ago in this very room” My dad spoke as I walked up to the front area, weaving in and around beanbags with players occupying them.

Standing in front of the Three Lions was more nerve wracking now than it had been when she was confronting her brother, maybe Fede did offer her protection as his bodyguard. Either way, she put her big girl pants on (figuratively speaking, literally she was wearing her official puma tights and Italian polo) and got on with it as if she was speaking to her team.

“Thanks Dad. Hey guys, I think the first thing I would like to say is that you’re allowed to feel exactly how you feel right now. There is no rush to ‘get over it’ or ‘push on and learn’. You need to feel this now, feel it throughout your body, understand the pain and then turn it into motivation.” I speak to the group, trying to accurately express how sincere I am to this group of heartbroken men.

“As for tactics, I can stand here and praise you for how good you really are but that's not how you are going to learn. You came into the game hard and fast.” I paused, understanding the innuendo just as it was flying out of my mouth. I pursed my lips and tried to hold my giggle in, however some of the boys seem to have the same sense of humour as I do. My brother, face of steel and eyes that burn into any man that tries to joke with me.

“Sorry, can’t help myself. So yeah, you took charge of the game from kick off and we were not ready. You had the aggression and desire to push from the start and that's what you did, Shaw, you really surprised me with that goal. Not because I didn't think you could do it but because I wasn’t anticipating you being someone we had to watch so closely.”

“Again, something you guys need to keep in mind is that it is literally my job to know everything about you and how you play the game, what foot you prefer, who you pass to, how long you hold the ball before you pass, do you like to assist or score...all of these things make a massive difference in each play we make.”

“The error you made came around the 25th minute of the game, we had settled into the game and did what we do best - we slowed you down. In Italy, in the Serie A, which is where most of my team play, the game is a lot slower. There is more skill and tactic used to ensure a favourable outcome. Again, i'm not saying you all don’t have skill, but the Prem favours pace over tactics and strategy. The only way we were going to be able to win was by making you play our game, but in your half of the pitch.”

At this point, all of their eyes are trained to me and the more senior players of the team, like Henderson, Walker, Coady, Kane, they understand what i’m trying to say. Gareth, my dad and other members of staff are sitting to one side, arms folded and a slight smile on their face at the simplicity of my approach to such an important game. I direct my next question to them.

“Can I ask - have you already selected your man of the match?”

“Off record, yes we have. Before I announce to the team who it is, can I direct the question back to you and find out who you would award it to?” Gareth poses back to me, interested to hear my opinion.

“While the obvious choices would be Kane, Sterling, Maguire - your players who perform week in week out and are consistent and no doubt deserve an award as such. I would recommend Declan Rice. Personally, he was the most instrumental in the match last night. Every time we turned to attack, he was there to stop it. He was a player I was confident that I knew the extent of his ability, when it was obvious that I didn't.”

The boys around him, Mason Mount & Ben Chilwell, offered him a gentle shove and ruffle of the hair, to show their encouragement to the bashful boy who seemed surprised at the praise he was receiving.

“The other player that I think deserves a bit of a shoutout, and not because of his hair, is Jack Grealish.” I spoke, looking around the room until we locked eyes. I wanted him to understand how serious i was about my next words.

“You are so dangerous on the ball, you are an asset as a team mate, you aren’t guilty with the ball, but you have the power behind you to score when the opportunity presents itself. The moment you were subbed on I pulled Jorginho to the side and told him to treat you like Chiellini and Bonnucci were handling Sterling and Kane. You were one of my players to watch, and for good reason”

At the end of the little session, I said thanks to the boys for listening and that I hope to see them again in a tournament. The only way to be the best is to beat the best. After a quick round of applause that made me feel more special than I am, I walked past my brother, gave him a quick ruffle of his hair and met my dad at the back. Gareth dismissed the boys and they all stood up, breaking away and grabbing some breakfast that was set up to the side of the room, for one last team meal.

“Mills!! I’ll get you an almond croissant and a coffee, come sit with me!” Walker shouted from across the room.

“Oi mate, she’s my sister not yours” Ben counters from the back of the line.

“Yeah she's your sister by blood, mine by choice.” Kyle firmly states and begins his way to one of the tables.

“I suppose i better join Kyle before he drowns everyone in his tears” i joked with the england officials i was standing with before walking over to Kyle and a few of his team mates.

“Sooo am I supposed to pretend I don’t know who you all are so you can introduce yourselves? Or do we just mutually agree that I know too much about each of you and not bring it up?” I question the boys, jokingly. They all laugh and I sit down in the space Kyle left between himself and John Stones. I sat there and got to know some of the boys on a less competitive level, working out who was a leader both on the pitch and off it. After listening to the boys joke around and just be mates, rather than teammates, I leaned over to Kyle.

“Hey, before I go, do you think you can introduce me to Bukayo? I want to speak with him for a moment.”

“Yeah sure, I'll take you over there. Why are you nervous? You've never been shy before” Kyle questioned back at me.

“I’m not nervous, I'm just hyper aware of the sensitivity of the moment. Last night would have been tough”

Saying goodbye to the boys, Kyle directed me over to a table that was sitting my brother Ben White, Kalvin, Ben Chilwell, Grealish, Saka, Sancho & Rashford.

“Hey boys, Ben, I just wanted to come say goodbye before I head off.” I directed towards my brother. He pulled up a chair and asked me to sit for 5 more minutes, claiming he deserved it after months of no contact.

“Ben here didn’t let us know he had a sister as smart as you...what happened to you Ben? Did you miss that gene?” Jack Grealish poked at my brother. With his signature scowl on his face, Ben White let his mates laugh at his expense.

“Oh don’t make fun of my brother Benny, that’s my job!” I joked back, setting the boys off again with my brother’s childhood nickname. It was nice to hear some laughter again from a side that looked so solemn the night before.

“No in all seriousness boys, I especially came over because I wanted to talk to you Bukayo - what you did was so impressive. In a final, as the last penalty taker, to take on the responsibility of the nation at the age of 19! Not many players would dare to do that. You have earned a lot of respect, particularly from the Italian camp.” I spoke with a smile on my face, directed at the young boy.

“The same goes for you two” Now looking at Sancho & Rashford.

Bukayo looked down at his hands & smiled, before getting up and walking to my side of the table. Anticipating what he was going to do next, I stood up and welcomed him with open arms. Grateful that he understood my message and was beginning to accept the praise he so deserved. Stepping back from the hug, I turned to address the group of lads one more time.

“If any of you fancy a change of pace and want to come over to the Serie A, just give me a call - Benny can give you my number!” I start to speak, before I'm cut off but my brother.

“Stop poaching my mates! I’ve already lost you to another country. I don't need to lose anyone else” He jokingly says while standing to walk me out of St. George’s Park. I know it was a joke but I can't help but think there was some truth to that.

It had been more than 3 years since I moved out of our family home to start my life in Turin, and not one moment had i regretted it or thought i made the wrong decision. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when I wished I was closer to my family, but I know I had to make that move to prove to myself I am just as successful as I hoped I would be. Not saying I have learnt everything there is to learn with the Serie A giants, Juventus, but maybe it's time for a new challenge? Maybe I can bring the strategic spin on the game to the fast paced action of the premier league?

Part 4. | quarta parte

[omgrachwrites]

Our Souls Crave This Magic- Chapter Three

Pairing: Prince Caspian x Reader

Summary: All you want is a quiet year of university as you and your best friend, Edmund move to New York City. Though, that all changes when you meet the spoiled trust fund brat, Caspian. College au.

Warnings: fluff, slow burn romance, enemies to lovers

Words: 2463

Disclaimer: This gif doesn’t belong to me,all characters are 18+

A/N: Literally just realised how many side characters I’ll have to put in this bc Narnia characters don’t work hahaha! Also, I know that Caspian’s parents are dead, omg Nathaniel Parker is his dad but in this they’re alive and well! Hope you guys enjoy and let me know what you think, please let me know if you would like to be tagged! I love you all! xxx

previous chapter   masterlist   next part

Chapter Three - An Odd Companionship 

You were in heaven, or at least you were as close to heaven as you were ever likely to get as your eyes roamed over all the Halloween themed snacks. There were things that you’d hardly even heard of such as, pumpkin spiced m&ms and chocolate with candy corn in the middle. You loved Halloween, when you were in university in London; you loved to decorate your dorm room, even though 9 times out of 10 you’d be going out to a party. It seemed that Halloween was an even bigger thing over here in America so you knew that you had to decorate your loft apartment.

Glancing behind you, you laughed at the bored look on Edmund’s face; he looked over at you and scowled as he pulled a tongue at you. Lucy, on the other hand looked as excited as you felt, “ooh, marshmallow Oreos,” she grinned and her face lit up, “I should send some over to Susan,” she took a packet off the shelf and threw it into the cart.

Edmund groaned in frustration as he covered his eyes as he trailed behind, “I get why we’re decorating the loft, it’s a tradition and the both of you are obsessed. But, do we really need to buy all of the snacks?”

Ed wasn’t a fan of Halloween. Lucy gasped in horror as she placed her hand over her heart, she was so dramatic, “how can you even say that? These snacks trump the ones in England!” she scoffed at him before wandering down the aisle, intent on grabbing more snacks.

Ed carelessly flung an arm around your shoulders and you smiled up at him, resting your head on his shoulder. Then, your best friend dropped a major bombshell, “Caspian is coming over to help us decorate,” you groaned in frustration, receiving stares from strangers but you didn’t care.

You pinched your temples as annoyance shot through every inch of your body. It was the worst news that you’d heard all day, “jesus, Ed! Why does he have to come over?”

Ed smirked as he looked at you without sympathy, “I think that you’re forgetting, Y/N, just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean I can’t be his friend.”

“He called me a slut,” you pouted as you both caught up with Lucy, you were still sore about that fact.

Ed huffed out a deep laugh, “actually, he didn’t.”

“He didn’t have to, Ed! It was implied.”

Edmund rolled his eyes and lowered his voice so Lucy wouldn’t hear the conversation you were both having, “okay, maybe it was implied but trust me, he didn’t mean it. I think he feels awful about it actually.”

You scoffed as you looked away, wrapping your arms around yourself, he should feel bad, Ed stopped you by placing his hands on your shoulders, worry etched into every corner of his freckled face, “Y/N,” he sighed, biting his lip and you knew that he was trying to find the right words, “please don’t lie to yourself and don’t pretend that you liked Caspian before all that happened. Don’t bring what your dad did into this, Caspian is not the same.”

Edmund’s eyes were so intense and worried that you had to look away, all of the Pevensie siblings were there for you when your dad betrayed your family. And for that, you felt eternally grateful. But, you didn’t want to talk about your dad.

“I can see that you really care about Caspian but I just don’t share your judgement but I suppose for you, I can tolerate him,” you smiled, “even though he is the most insufferable person that I’ve ever met, I hope you know that I would never ask you to choose between Caspian and I,” you would never make your best friend do that.

Edmund laughed as he cupped your cheek, “well that’s a good thing because I really like Caspian,” he smiled when you frowned at him and tilted your head, “you’re my best friend, Y/N, if I had to choose between you and Caspian, I would always choose you.”

You laughed bashfully as you rubbed the back of your neck; you weren’t used to people putting you first. Before you burst into tears like a total loser, you pulled Ed into a hug, inhaling the fresh scent of his aftershave.

Later on that day, you and Lucy entertained yourselves by working your way through some of the Halloween chocolate as you decorated the loft. It had been a long time coming but New York was finally beginning to feel like home. Presumably, Edmund was off somewhere sulking, he wasn’t getting involved with the whole decorating thing but you wanted to go all out. You knew that you’d probably be working on Halloween, but the beauty of college parties was the fact that they seemed to go on all night.

As you were adding fake cobwebs to the corners of the kitchen, there came a quiet knock on the door. Your blood ran cold and you scowled to yourself when Ed answered the door and you heard Caspian’s soft melodic voice. Despite yourself, you peered over your shoulder to look at the handsome man as he grinned at Ed and ran his hands through his thick hair. You were surprised when you noticed that he was wearing a simple white shirt and jeans. You were almost fooled into believing that he was just like everyone else, but you knew the truth.

“Hi, Caspian,” Lucy shouted joyfully and you narrowed your eyes at her as she pulled him into a hug. What a traitor.

“Hey, Lucy,” you could hear the smile in Caspian’s voice and you rolled your eyes, “how are you?”

“I’m good thank you, I’m going to go and decorate the bedrooms, are you alright, Y/N?” you glanced back at Lucy who shot you a meaningful glance as she walked away.

Caspian bit his lip and looked at you from beneath his thick eyelashes, and you noticed that he had the decency to look guilty, “want any help, Y/N?” he muttered and you sighed, remembering the promise that you’d made to Ed.

“Sure, Caspian. You’re on skeleton duty,” you gestured to the plastic bones by the door, “don’t mess it up,” you teased.

Caspian smirked and you had to look away, he was so blindingly handsome in that moment, not that you’d ever admit it, “I’ll try not to.”

The both of you somehow managed to work in harmony for a little while until Caspian halted his movements and out of the corner of your eye, you saw him glance at you. You almost felt the burn of his eyes on your skin.

“Y/N,” he started and when you looked over at him you were surprised to see that his deep brown eyes were soft and a crease was forming in the middle of his forehead, “I owe you an apology; I didn’t mean what I implied the other week. I was in a bad mood, lack of sleep you know.”

You grimaced, it was your fault that he hadn’t got any sleep that night, “right,” you flushed as he walked behind you to grab some tape, the warm spicy scent of his aftershave washing over you, “I’m sorry about that.”

Caspian shrugged, “I think I was jealous too.”

His confession shocked you so much that you gasped and almost toppled off the chair that you were standing on. How was he jealous? “Jealous?” you squeaked.

Caspian’s eyes widened as he realised how it sounded and you  could tell that he was trying to backtrack, “I swear, not in the way you think, it’s just, it’s been a while,” he flushed and you found that it was pretty endearing.

A frown graced your features as surprise wracked through your body, you hated Caspian but you weren’t blind to his attractive looks and mild mannerisms. Most girls would fantasise about him, “seriously?” you raised an eyebrow, “no park avenue princesses’ have won you over?”

Caspian let out a deep laugh that would reduce most people to a puddle, “nope,” he smiled as he picked up a can of silly string, “although I’m flattered that you’re surprised, even if you don’t think much of me.”

Caspian’s voice was teasing but you still kind of felt guilty, if you were being truthful, it wasn’t all that personal because you hated everyone like him, it didn’t matter who they were. People who had too much money and not enough sense got on your nerves.

“Trust me, Caspian I have my reasons for not liking you.”

Caspian touched your elbow gently as he walked past you, “I wish you would tell me what they are, because I know that you’re hiding something, Y/N.”

You wouldn’t open yourself up to Caspian, no matter how many sweet smiles that he shot your way. There was no way that you were going to be allying with your enemy; Hell would have to freeze over first.

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

A couple of weeks later, Caspian was sitting in the living room of Edmund’s loft apartment with his text book open on the coffee table. The words in the text book in front of Caspian seemed to swim before his tired eyes, the young man groaned as he rubbed his hands over his face as his head began to throb. He glanced over at Edmund who was fast asleep with his cheek sticking to the paper of his essay with his mouth agape. Caspian chuckled and looked over at the clock; it was a little past 2 in the morning.

Caspian was glad that Ed had suggested that they studied at his apartment, Caspian had had a row with his housemates, they were some of his closest friends but lately, they were pissing him off. Caspian stretched his tired muscles, he needed to finish this essay but they had run out of coffee a little over an hour ago. He stood from the couch, fully intent on grabbing some more coffee when he saw that Y/N’s bedroom light was still on and the door was slightly ajar.

Biting his lip, Caspian decided to ask her if she wanted anything, he’d feel bad if he didn’t at least ask. He swallowed and peeked his head through her open door and he was awe struck with what he saw. Y/N had her back to him and she was painting a beautiful landscape of a castle in ruins, surrounded by mountains and an ocean. It was so hauntingly beautiful.

“Y/N?” he called out softly and she jumped as she was startled and she whipped around to look at him.

“Caspian?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you, I was going to go and grab some coffee, do you want anything?”

Her lips parted slightly, like she was surprised that he’d even ask, her eyes were downcast for a second as she fiddled with her fingers. Caspian had never seen such a look on her face before, it seemed that she was in fact, human, “would you mind it if I came with you?”

“Oh!” Caspian exclaimed, gobsmacked that she wanted to go with him but she looked a little upset, maybe she needed a break, “sure, Y/N. Of course.

Y/N smiled tightly at him as she grabbed her distressed leather jacket before following Caspian into the main part of the loft. As soon as she saw the state that Ed was in she giggled, shaking her head. Her laugh was a pretty sound when it wasn’t directed at Caspian’s expense, “someone couldn’t cut it, huh?”

Caspian laughed at the smirk on her pretty face as they walked out into the cold night together, it was an odd companionship, “did you need a break or something? That’s the only reason I can think of as to why you would actually spend time with me willingly,” he teased and Y/N laughed as she bumped her shoulder against his.

“I sure did need a break; my art assignment is really kicking my arse.”

Caspian bit his lip and decided to try his luck, “is that what you were painting. From where I was standing, it looked beautiful.”

Almost at once, Y/N tensed up and her face grew stoic which was a shame, “thank you but um, no that’s something else,” she ran a hand through her messy hair but she didn’t elaborate.

“What was it?” Caspian asked with interest, they were actually having an adult conversation and he didn’t want to stop now.

Y/N scoffed as she gave him the side eye, “nice try, keep dreaming, pretty boy.”

Caspian chuckled as he held up his hands in defence, “can’t blame a guy for trying.”

As they were walking down the dark high street, Caspian internally groaned they ran into a family friend who was leaving a bar, he was completely insufferable. Why the hell was he in a bar in Brooklyn? Michael smirked as he looked from Caspian to Y/N, if Y/N thought that Caspian was an arrogant trust fund baby then he was nothing compared to this guy.

“Hello, Caspian, you’re out late, it definitely looks like you’re slumming it but I never would have believed it,” his lip curled when he noticed Caspian’s NYU jumper and Caspian’s blood boiled in anger. Michael raised an eyebrow as he looked over at Y/N, “at least you’re slumming it with a pretty girl.”

Y/N let out an angry breath as she glared at Michael, “watch it, wanker.”

Michael grimaced, his blue eyes cold and lifeless, “interesting, a mouthy British girl,” he let out a nasty laugh as he patted Caspian’s shoulder. Caspian clenched his jaw, he so wanted to punch Michael in his smarmy face, “make sure you call your mom.”

“Are you alright, Y/N?” Caspian lowered his voice as Michael pushed past them.

She nodded but she looked angry, angrier than Caspian had ever seen here, “what an arsehole. How do you know him?” she gritted her teeth as she glared at Michael’s retreating back.

“Family friend unfortunately, I have to put up with him,” Caspian muttered, distracted when his phone vibrated in his pocket, he sighed in frustration when she saw it was a text from his mum. What the hell was she doing up at this time? Did she have eyes everywhere or something?

‘Just because you haven’t been in touch with me sweetie, doesn’t mean you can get out of the wedding at the end of November, I hope you haven’t forgotten. Evelyn says that she hasn’t heard from you in a while, sort it out, Caspian x’

Caspian scowled as he angrily shoved his phone back into his pocket, talking to Evelyn hadn’t been a part of the deal. Not yet anyway.

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

@smiithys @elayneblack @amelie-black​ @generalblizzarddreamer​ @blackbirddaredevil23​ @whiskeywinter89​ @graciehams​ 

[in-tua-deep]

Hey, hope you don't mind me asking, I don't want to pressure you, but I was wondering about your narnia au, love your writing, and hope your having a good time

narnia au is something that I ever so occasionally add to whenever I’m in a sentimental and wistful mood - which I have been watching an unreasonable amount of call the midwife lately lmao

so here’s a snippet - 

--- “We all have ghosts, Five.”

“Klaus can literally see ghosts. I think if Dad was hanging around, the whole house and half the city would know about it by now.”

Susan gives him a disappointed look that makes him look away, out the window. “You know that isn’t what I meant, and you know it.”

“If anyone has a monopoly on ghosts, it’s my brother.”

Susan sighs, reaching up to cup Five’s cheek in her hand. Her skin is soft, it doesn’t feel like tissue paper against his cheek but it feels delicate, fragile. He can feel the way her fingers shake ever so slightly, stabilizing against his jawbone. “Oh, love. We don’t choose the ghosts that haunt us, and how we live with them until we can put them to rest.”

“My ghosts are my own fault. I was the one that killed people. I was the one who said that my siblings were more important than anyone else, than anyone else’s siblings.”

Susan taps her fingers against his cheek, “Oh? You killed your father? You hadn’t told me that one yet. Good, bastard deserved it.”

It’s enough to draw a startled laugh from his throat, “No! I mean, maybe I should’ve, but Dad died thanks to his own stupidity not mine, thank you. That’s one thing I won’t take the blame for.”

Susan hums, leaning back and taking her hand from his cheek to reach down and grasp his hands between them again.

Fire hesitates, looking down at their entwined hands so that he doesn’t have to look at Susan in the eye. “Sometimes I wake up and I forget, just for a minute. I wake up thinking that I have to get up, because Dad hated us being late for breakfast. He’d give us a swat with a ruler for every minute we were tardy. Allison always teased me about being late even though I could jump, but he was always twice as mad when I did that.”

“It must be a relief to realize you can lie in.” Susan smiles, but Five can’t smile back.

“No. There’s a moment in the morning when I think Dad is still alive, and that’s terrible, but in the same moment I think I’m going to go downstairs and my siblings are going to be standing at attention around the table. I think that I’ll see Klaus trying to kick the back of Ben’s knees without Dad noticing, that I’ll see Vanya hiding a book in her cardigan, I’ll see Luther’s stupid judgemental face even though Allison was late more times than me and she never got his stupid faces. And then I remember all over again, and I lose them all over again.”

Susan looks at him with sad eyes. 

“Is that why you moved to America?” Five asks, shaking his head to try and ignore the stinging between his eyes, “So you wouldn’t get stuck in memories so much?”

“Sometimes.” Susan says slowly, “I won’t say that it wasn’t a factor, that I didn’t think about it. That I don’t think about the English countryside and think of Lucy with mud on her face and Edmund trying to put tadpoles down the back of Peter’s shirt.”

“Klaus put spiders in our beds when he was mad at us. It only ever scared Luther, though. I think Vanya just cried because she thought she squished one by accident.” Five whispers, and Susan graces him with a smile. “I thought about that, in the apocalypse. I ate spiders, sometimes, when I could find them. I always thought of Vanya crying when I did it.”

“Lucy scolded Edmund something fierce over it as well.” Susan shakes her head at the memory, “She was in tears when Edmund pointed out that people ate frogs, but I think they were more angry than anything else. He had a bruise for weeks where she thumped him, yelling about how we didn’t live in France.”

They spend a little while in silence, taking a moment for themselves to remember their respective siblings. 

Susan pats Five’s hands gently, “I was a bit like you, you know, when I came back the first time. Not right away, when we were at the professor’s house, but when we went back home. I hadn’t realized how much I’d forgotten.”

“Forgotten?”

“About home! I went back up to my room, and there were all the things I’d forgotten. My collection of hair ribbons was still on the dresser. My favorite ones were a royal blue, I’d thought I looked so distinguished with them in. I’d forgotten all about them, until I saw them on that dresser.” Susan pats his hand, looking faintly wistful.

“My room looks the same as well.” Five admits, “Exactly the same. It threw me off, at first. It was all rubble in the apocalypse, I didn’t even think about it until I had to go upstairs to get my uniform. My books were still on the nightstand.”

Susan nods sagely.

“At least, I think it’s exactly the same. I don’t remember, is the problem. If - if my siblings moved stuff around, or took anything away, or - or anything like that, I don’t think I’d know. I think it bothers me, that I don’t remember.” Five shakes his head, “It’s been so many years. There’s so much I might have forgotten, but how will I know I’ve forgotten it?”

Five can’t help the affronted look that settles on his face when Susan just shrugs. His mulish expression must be terribly amusing, because it makes Susan’s eyes twinkle with laughter.

“It’s important to remember the past.” Susan tells him gently, the twinkle never fading, “But I think it’s equally important to forge the future, to make new memories. I left England because it was painful, yes. But I also left because America was new, and brilliant, and exciting. Because I wanted to.”

Susan squeezes his hands gently, he isn’t sure if she can squeeze much harder anyway. Her strength seems to come and go like the tides these days.

“Change isn’t a betrayal of what came before, love. Sometimes change is necessary.” Susan hums, “I threw out those hair ribbons, when I came home. Edmund and Lucy swapped rooms entirely. I learned how to put on makeup - they didn’t have red lipstick in Narnia, I can tell you that. It was different, but different was good. Less painful.”

“Allison’s been talking about painting.” Five offers. “She wants to set up a room for when Claire comes to visit. I can’t imagine her in the mansion though. She always sounds so happy, on the phone. Claire, I mean. So carefree. I don’t think we were ever that carefree.”

“If your home isn’t one you can imagine happiness in, perhaps you should ask yourself how you can change that.”

Five snorts, “Doing away with the wall art would be a start. Daily reminders on exactly where to stab each other with our silverware.”

“How ferocious.”

[scuttling]

Disclosure

Fandom: Criminal Minds Pairing: Aaron Hotchner/Latina OFC Sophie Cortes Word Count: 3,436 Tags: Flirting, Kissing, Fluff, Established relationship, The team finds out Summary: Sophie and Aaron take the next step in their relationship, and that means it’s time to tell the team. Collection: Sophie Cortes timeline, 1 year-1 year 3 Months at the BAU (See Masterlist for reading order) Link to A03 or read below! The team is in the briefing room, going over a grisly triple homicide in Maine, when Sophie hears the four words she’s been dreading: “Wheels up in 30.” Aaron stands and buttons his jacket, and she looks at her watch.

It’s 3:45, which just plain sucks; in one hour and fifteen minutes and she would have been free to go home, throw on some comfy clothes, have dinner with her boyfriend and cuddle up with a movie, but now they’re heading to New England, which means at least two days of secrecy instead.

The rest of the team files out of the room, and she’s practically out the door too when she hears Aaron murmur, “Raincheck?” He’s right behind her, his body a solid line of heat she can feel, and she smiles, turns to walk backward out the door. It's not the first time their plans have been ruined, and it certainly won't be the last.

“Absolutely. In the meantime, we have work to do.”

When they land, Sophie and Aaron are the lucky pair who get to hang back to work on the board, and they are pinning up crime scene photos and witness statements when she turns to look at him, just because. He’s been unfairly handsome today, probably because their plans were ruined and she can’t just kiss him whenever she wants to.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you how good you look in that gray suit,” she murmurs, even though the nearest cop is well over ten feet away.

He looks over at her with a mostly blank face, but she can read him well enough, knows he isn’t opposed to hearing more; it’s definitely not his indulgent, ‘don’t you ever behave?’ face, or his stern ‘now is not the time’ face, which is good. They’re not in the field, not discussing theories, just tacking pages to the cork board, alone, so a little sexy talk is harmless, right?

“Of course, you look good in everything, from suits to running shorts to pajamas to just the sheets,” she tells him, low, purposefully returning her eyes to the board, “but there’s something about the gray suit that really does it for me. Makes your hair look darker, your eyes pop, something.”

“Thank you.” She does glance over then, loves to see him when he’s processing a compliment, and his brow is furrowed as expected. God, what a good look. She’s literally stupid for this man. “I thought I noticed you looking at me more than usual today.”

“I wasn’t even sure that was possible,” she teases, and when he meets her eyes they share a soft smile. “You’re my favorite thing in any room; it's hard not to look.”

“You’re my favorite thing in any room, too. I’m just a little more discreet.” He’s sweet, so unbelievably sweet… but they can’t do sweet right now, will have to save it for later, so she opts for spicy instead.

“Hmm, discreet?” She steps closer to him just to see what he’ll do; when his spine goes rigid and he pauses, breathing in the scent of her shampoo, she grins. “Meet me in the janitor's closet in five minutes and I’ll show you discreet, Agent.” He wets his lips, and she thinks he might actually be thinking about doing it when Prentiss pops her head into the conference room.

“Hey, do you guys have a copy of the coroner’s report for Shelley Smith? I can’t find mine.” Sophie sighs lightly and Aaron smirks just for her before grabbing a copy and handing it over.

Foiled again.

Over a working dinner of Chinese takeout, the team is poring through archived files, trying to make a connection between the most recent case and some crimes that happened in the 90s, and Sophie notices that Aaron is unfocused. He’s been reading the same page for the last four minutes, he took far too long to respond to a question Reid asked, and he called an officer by the wrong name, which is almost a mortal sin in the Hotchner handbook. She can’t figure out why he’s unfocused, though, and when she tries, the only possibility she comes up with is that maybe he wasn’t as alright with her previous flirting as he’d seemed. Sure, he was smiling, sweet, but maybe that was just to cover up his discomfort?

She knows how important rules are to him, and they set boundaries about work for a reason. If she broke a boundary of his, however innocently, she won’t forgive herself easily. She makes a plan to go to his room when they get back to the hotel, to ask if what she said bothered him; she really hopes that’s not the case, because she’s never seen him so preoccupied, would hate to be the reason he’s upset. At just past midnight, there is a soft knock on Aaron’s door, and he is more than happy to see Sophie on the other side of it, brandishing two minibar bottles of whisky and a vending machine bag of salt and vinegar chips. “You up for a late night snack?” she asks, and he smiles, enamored, swings the door open wide so she can enter the room. She curls up in one of the chairs around the table, legs folded underneath her, and tears the foil packet so it’s like a makeshift plate; he grabs two plastic cups and the little bucket of ice he went after earlier, plus a Coke from the fridge, and takes the chair across from her with a sigh.

“This is just what I needed,” he tells her, plucking a few ice cubes and dropping them into her cup, then doing the same for his. He twists open the bottles and dumps them in, and she tops them off with a bit of fizzy Coke, and it feels very right, almost homey, in a way hotel rooms never are. He takes her hand when she sets down the can, and her eyes soften as she looks up at him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. No better way to end a long day than salt, fat, and booze.” She crunches on a chip, pushing the pile toward him, and he kisses her knuckles.

“You were just what I needed,” he clarifies, though he does take a sip of his drink, and she mirrors him. “Snacks much appreciated, but not required.”

“Maybe I’m wrong, but I got the vibe you were a little off today, and being off always requires snacks.” They take turns munching on the chips, silent for a couple minutes but for their crunching, and eventually she squeezes his hand. “You want to talk about what’s had you in your head all evening?”

“It’s nothing, really, I’ve just been… thinking.” She licks her lips a little nervously, dusts the salt off of her fingertips, and covers their hands with hers, leaning forward a little.

“Aaron, if you’re having second thoughts about us because of how I was flirting with you at the precinct, I’m sorry. We were working a case, and even if we were alone, and we weren’t actively working, I know that not following the rules could get you into trouble. I really am sorry.” He studies her for a moment, goes back over her words, and then stands from his chair, walking over to her side, never letting go of her hands. He kneels in front of her, and he knows his eyes are soft, because his heart is soft, too.

“I’m not having second thoughts about anything. That was harmless, at the precinct, I…” He sighs softly, not used to being at a loss for words, but if anyone could do this to him, it’s her. “I’m in love with you.”

She inhales sharply, like she can’t believe it, leans closer to him like she heard wrong. Her voice is a little shaky. “What?”

“I’ve been in my head today thinking about how badly I wanted to make dinner with you tonight, to curl up and watch a movie, and how I hate that our plans were ruined, even though I clearly know that this case is important, that this is our job. I know that, but I couldn’t help feeling for the first time in a long time that I was truly missing out on something by hopping on a plane in the middle of the afternoon.” He drops her hands only to cradle her face, and he shifts to press a soft, slow kiss to her lips. “I love you, Sophie.”

She responds by wrapping her arms around him and kissing him equally as soft, as sweet, several delicious presses of her mouth against his; when they break apart minutes later, she hugs him tightly, soft fingers in his hair. “I love you. I want to grin like an idiot every time you talk, and I love looking at your very similar facial expressions to try to decipher what’s going on in your mind, and I’m just… so in love with you.” They kiss again, a little less sweet, and they separate panting. “I wish I could stay with you tonight.”

“I know, I’m sorry it happened this way. I would have planned a more romantic evening, if I’d known I was going to say that,” he admits, nodding at the half-eaten chips and empty liquor bottles. She huffs a laugh.

“I don’t know about you, but this feels pretty romantic to me already.” She kisses him softly, smiles at the end of it. “Everything is special when it’s you.”

His heart is just… melted, and he feels so much tenderness, affection, for her that he doesn’t want her to leave, never wants the night to end. They both know it has to, though, and they finish their snack, and he walks her to the door, kissing her soft and slow.

“Something to think about,” he murmurs, hesitant to break the spell of happiness it feels like they’re under. “We should probably tell the team. I know we had agreed to wait until we got to know each other better, spend time as a couple, and I think we’ve done that. Do you?” She nods, smiling softly.

“Yeah, I think it’s time.” She pulls him close for a hug, wraps her arms around him. “I’m nervous. Are you nervous?”

“I try to always prepare for the unknown, but I have a good feeling about our team. I think that, once they hear what we’ve done to give ourselves some separation, they’ll be okay with it.” The corners of her lips turn up, and she looks to him like there is nowhere she’d rather be than in his arms.

“Have I told you lately how happy I am that we got together? I feel like I haven’t. But I am so, so happy, Aaron.” They meet for a kiss, and he has half a mind to keep her in his room all night, propriety be damned.

“I’m so happy, too. And I’ll be even happier when we’re back in Virginia, and we’re laying on your couch watching tv, and you touch me with your frankly freezing cold feet…”

“I can’t help it! My body gets hot but my feet get cold. It’s something you’re going to have to get used to,” she says with a grin, “now that you’re in love with me.”

He grins back, because he really, really is. “Sorry to call this meeting so abruptly; it shouldn’t take long,” Aaron says a few days later, standing with his hands on the back of his usual chair. The team is gathered in the briefing room, with the exception of Garcia, and Sophie focuses on her breathing, resolutely does not think of everything that could go wrong here today. This is their team, these are their friends. They’ll understand.

“Is everything okay?” Prentiss asks, face concerned, and he relaxes his posture, looks to the door.

“Everything’s okay, it’s not bad news. We just have to wait for Garcia.”

“Sorry guys,” the tech murmurs a moment later as she bustles in, and everyone greets her warmly. When she’s seated, Aaron straightens up, prepares to address the room. She wonders if he’s as nervous as she is; he doesn’t look it, but then again, he never does.

“Okay. As you know, the bureau’s policy on fraternization is that a supervisory agent cannot be in a relationship with a subordinate unless they are in different units, or unless the subordinate reports to another supervisory agent.”

“That's Section C, Line 5 under Fraternization in the Code of Conduct,” Reid supplies, and Sophie shoots him a smile, can’t help it.

“Is there a reason we’re going over this? Has someone done something wrong?” JJ asks, leaning forward in her chair, and Morgan does the opposite, leaning back and crossing his arms.

“Last time I checked, none of us were dating you or Rossi.” She can see Reid turn his head in her direction out of the corner of her eye, is instantly curious about what that means—but there’s plenty of time to interrogate him later. For now, she focuses on Aaron.

“That’s why we’re here. Sophie and I would like to inform you that we are in a relationship. She had been reporting to Gideon for a short period of time before he left, and then to Strauss in the interim. She will be reporting to Rossi starting today. Things in the field won’t change.” The team remains altogether silent, and Sophie feels her heart rate pick up, stomach a ball of nerves. “I’m sure you all have questions, concerns, and I’m happy to address them at this time. If you’d feel better discussing this privately, we can do that too, with Rossi or Strauss present as well, if preferred.”

More silence, and she's officially a nervous wreck. If someone is uncomfortable with their relationship, she’ll have to transfer out of the BAU. She would do it, to be with Aaron, but she really hopes she doesn’t have to.

“How long have you been together?” Prentiss asks, and she can’t help but wonder if they noticed something, some way he might have favored her that they didn’t realize, that could ruin everything.

“We’ve been seeing each other for about two months.”

“I knew it!” JJ says, and Garcia looks over at her in surprise.

“You did? How?”

“I had a feeling. It was never anything glaringly obvious, just little things here and there. He’d touch her, casually, in a way he doesn’t do with other people. Or she’d say something when he was around, and it seemed like it had another meaning.”

“Okay, Miss Not-a-Profiler,” Prentiss teases, and Reid leans forward to address JJ.

“You didn’t know,” Reid says, and his conviction surprises Sophie. “If you knew, everyone would have known. I knew.”

“How did you know?” Morgan asks, and Reid shrugs.

“I saw them kissing.”

That’s news to her. She looks at Aaron, then Reid, and Garcia looks shocked.

“You saw them kissing? When?”

“When we went to Virginia Beach. The second day, when they both wore blue? We were at that bar, and they were out on the balcony kissing.” Damn. They’re really bad at hiding things. She’s honestly surprised they made it two months without being found out—but then, she guesses, they didn’t, really.

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It was obviously a private moment between them. I figured when they were ready for us to know, they would tell us. And they did.” Sophie stands, keeping a few feet of distance between herself and Aaron.

“So... you guys are all okay with this? No one wants me to transfer, or anything?”

“Transfer? No, you can’t transfer,” Reid says in alarm, and JJ pats him on the shoulder.

“She’s not going anywhere. We’re absolutely fine with it, right guys?” Prentiss and Garcia share their agreement, but Morgan looks like he’s working on a tough math problem, eyes squinting.

“Wait, so—Hotch is the guy? The… the glow guy?” Sophie is confused for a moment, and then she remembers their earlier conversation, grins.

“Yes, Hotch is the guy.” Morgan looks between them like he’s seeing a whole new side of Aaron, and Sophie scoffs lightly. “You’re the one who was trying to get me to admit my feelings for him on vacation, you can’t be that surprised.”

“I thought you moved on. I never would have guessed that you two were seeing each other.”

That makes her smile, like maybe they weren’t completely obvious about everything.

“Does this mean you’re going to start sharing a room when we travel?” Reid asks, and Aaron crosses his arms, thoughtful.

“I think that would still be frowned upon by the bureau.”

“Well I only speak for myself, but if you happened to end up in the same room, I wouldn’t care. As long as I don’t have to hear it,” Morgan adds, and Sophie could hug him, really.

“I wouldn’t care either,” Prentiss agrees easily, and JJ nods.

“I wear headphones to bed,” Reid adds, perky, and Sophie laughs, shakes her head.

“Great. Well if that’s your way of giving us your blessing, guys, thank you. It means a lot.”

There are a few more questions, and then Aaron dismisses them. Sophie is very happy with how well it went, and judging by the look on his face, he is too.

“Can I talk to you?” JJ asks in an aside when they file out of the briefing room, and Sophie nods, afraid that maybe their good luck really wasn’t so good after all. The two women walk into JJ’s office, and she closes the door.

“If you’re uncomfortable at all, JJ—”

She all but tackles Sophie in a crushing hug, forcing the breath out of her lungs for more than one reason.

“I really did have a feeling you two were together,” she says when she pulls away. “You were always teasing him, and he started smiling more.” Her face softens, and she grins, bounces on the balls of her feet. “You’re in love with Hotch!”

“Yes I am,” she replies with a grin of her own. “It feels good that you know. We wanted you guys to know, but it was important to us that we spend some time getting to know each other better first, and then when Gideon left the timing wasn’t right.”

“No, of course. I know we can be all up in each other’s business, and you two deserved some time without that. I’m glad you waited.” She exhales, leans back against her desk, and looks up with a thoughtful smirk. “So what is it like?”

“Oh no, I'm not getting into that,” she answers, palms up. “We’re just any two people dating, don’t make it weird.”

“But it’s Hotch. I feel like he has one setting, and it’s… impassive.”

“He has many settings, they just belong to me now. Sorry,” she says, teasing, and they head for the door. A couple hours later, Sophie and Aaron are on their lunch break, together, because that’s something they can do now; they sat and ate and laughed at his desk, and with the extra few minutes, they’re kissing on his couch.

There have to be some perks to being the boss, after all.

Sophie hums into the kiss, taking his face in her hands to deepen it. When she pulls back, just slightly, she’s panting, warm breath on his lips. “If I’d known disclosing our relationship to the team was going to make you this affectionate, I would have done it much sooner.”

“I’m always affectionate. When I can be,” he murmurs, leaning in for a quick kiss.

“This is different, though. We’re still at work. It’s naughty.” He pulls her in for another kiss, softer, slower, and she hums. “Your lips feel even better now that everyone knows you’re mine,” she whispers, and his next kiss is harder, passionate; nothing drives him quite as crazy as when they call each other mine.

The timer on her phone goes off, signaling the end of their lunch hour, and she sighs. “Well that was wonderful. I guess it will hold me over until tonight,” she teases, and he presses his lips to her forehead before they stand.

“It was wonderful. Good luck down there,” he says as he opens the door, can see the team standing around the bullpen awkwardly like they’re waiting for her. “Oh wait, one more thing.” He takes her chin between his fingers and tilts it up for a featherlight brush of lips, fully aware that their team can see them, too. “I love you.” She smiles, beautiful, brilliant.

“I love you too.”

[pod95]

Pairing: Finn Balor X OFC (Ciara)

Word Count: 1135

Warnings: Mature to explicit as the story goes on.

Description: After moving to the USA from England to start her career as an NXT superstar, Ciara gets to meet her long time crush, NXT champion Finn Balor. It's clear the pair have chemistry, but when tensions start to rise, will they find they want more than a no strings attached relationship?

So this is the first piece of fanfic I have written literally ever. I will be posting them here periodically, but I already have 6 chapters out on my Wattpad, AO3 and FanFiction pages.

This series will involve romance, drama and (although it will take a little while) some smutt too. Hope you enjoy it! 😊

Chapter 3: Teasing the Prince

My taxi pulled up outside the hotel the orientation party was being held at, and I made my way inside. The hotel was beautifully decorated, definitely out of my price range but WWE has money to spare I guess.

Upon entering the bar, I immediately recognised most of the people there. Superstars from Raw, Smackdown and NXT, as well as coaches and backstage crew sat in their own groups, engaged in various conversations. It was incredibly intimidating to an outsider. After trying and failing to insert myself into different crowds, I ordered a glass of water from the bar and took a seat at an inconspicuous table in the corner of the room.

I tried several times to abandon my comfort spot and introduce myself to my colleagues, but lost my nerve everytime. After half an hour of sheepishly sipping my water, I was startled out of my haze by the sound of a glass being placed on my table.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare ya," came a smooth, Irish accent.

I knew Finn would be here of course, but I'd specifically avoided seeking him out. I certainly didn't expect him to approach me after I made such a mess of our first interaction. And yet...

"It's fine," I chuckled, nervously. "I was just in a world of my own. Sorry"

"No offense meant, but you look like you're shittin' yourself."

"Well everyone is already in their own groups. It's like high school all over again"

Chuckling, Finn slid the glass over to me, "This should help. It's vodka."

I hadn't intended to drink tonight, but that intoxicating smile was hard to resist, and it would be rude to turn down a gift after all.

"I'm Fergal. Your name was Ciara, right?"

Hearing him use his real name made this conversation feel much more personal somehow. The way he said mine sent tingles down my spine. Speechless, I nodded.

"That's an Irish name. Do you have any Irish in ya?"

"I don't," I confessed.

"Well, would you like some?"

At this I choked slightly. Not daring to look at his smirking face, I tried to regain my composure.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself," he giggled, mischievously.

"Has that line ever worked?"

"No, never. Usually I just flash the abs and the rest is history."

"Right, right, because you're just SO irresistible," I teased, rolling my eyes slightly.

"Well... You couldn't seem to take your eyes off of me earlier today, so I guess I must be doing something right." He'd stopped laughing and leaned in closer, now staring intensely into my eyes. Every instinct in my body was telling me to break eye contact, but at this point the alcohol was starting to kick in and my nerves were unusually steeled.

"The only way you could possibly know that is if you were watching me too," I smiled sweetly, feeling proud of my retort, though internally my heart was racing.

To my delight, he seemed surprised by my new, unabashed attitude. Looking down at the table, he smiled coyly. I swear I detected the hint of a blush as he bit his lower lip and leaned back in his chair.

"So how long have you been wrestling?" he asked, clearly wanting to change the subject.

"About 6 years. Started in the indies before I worked for Progress."

"So did you try out or get scouted?"

"Scouted. I thought they'd got the wrong girl at first. There were so many other more talented women there. I don't really know why I stood out and they didn't."

Noticing my dejected tone of voice and my eyes glassing over, Fergal placed a kind hand over mine and softened his tone.

"Those scouts have a real eye for talent. You really should believe in yourself more. Even Paul seems impressed with you. That's not something to take lightly love."

He had this peculiar way of being able to make me feel so anxious and unsure of myself one minute, yet completely calm the next. My heart was doing backflips from the warm, tender touch of his fingers, which were currently tracing pleasant patterns on the back of my hand.

We sat like that in silence for a moment, before he cleared his throat and left to get us more drinks.

I wasn't waiting long before I heard a voice I recognised calling my name.

"Ciara? When did you get here?"

"Saraya!" I screamed, excitedly standing to give her a hug.

"Did they FINALLY sign you?" she asked. I nodded in response, and she playfully slapped my arm. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I guess I didn't wanna jinx it until I got here."

"Oh my god I'm so happy for you! It's gonna be like old times!"

Fergal returned with our drinks and nodded politely at Saraya.

There was something about the way she looked at him, or rather, the way she glared at him. I sensed some animosity there. As Saraya and I had a catch-up, she would break eye contact with me now and then to throw a scowl towards Fergal, and whenever she did, he'd respond with a smug grin, clearly amused at how much his presence was bothering her.

"So Fergal," Saraya started, "how are things going with Elayna. Oh wait, Ashley wasn't it. Or was it Steffanie... Aw damn, I can never keep track of who you're seeing..."

Fergal smiled wickedly and took a sip of his beer before responding.

"You know damn well who I'm seeing, and you also know how it's going. So why don't you cut the crap and tell me why you're still here."

"Hey, I'm just looking out for my girl here," she placed an arm around my shoulder, "wouldn't want her getting hurt."

Satisfied that she had pissed him off, Saraya grabbed her purse. She gave me a goodbye hug and flashed one last death stare at Fergal before making her leave.

I left Fergal to stew in his own frustrations for a few minutes, taking the opportunity to buy us both a drink.

"Are you OK?" I asked, setting the beer down in front of him. Upon my return, he quickly removed the scowl on his face, returning to the cocky smile he had on earlier in the evening. It was as simple to him as putting on a mask.

"I'm marvelous love," he winked, continuing the conversation as if nothing had happened, "so whereabouts in England are ya from?"

* * * *

A/N - Hey guys! I found this chapter really hard to write, because it's the first proper interaction you get with Finn and I wanted to do him justice. I hope I managed to. Anyway I'm back at work now so will update when I can. Really enjoying writing this and hope you enjoy reading! 😊

[icaruspendragon]

Hey friends! After months of therapy/new meds, I’ve finally found the motivation and inspiration to not only start reading again, but start writing! I’m pretty excited, so here’s a snippet of my newest project.

Not a lot of her stuff had made it with her from California to New York. But that was okay she kept telling herself. A fresh start and whatnot. No one knows her here. No one knows what happened to her. She can just go to class and go home and focus on graduating and getting a job and maybe moving out of the country. Maybe to Italy or to Greece or England. That was her plan at least. And everyone knew that Annabeth was big on plans. Naturally, this plan seemed to go awry almost instantly while she was trying to move into her brand new one bedroom apartment. She had thought about trying to find a roommate, but the thought of being in close quarters with a stranger made her chest feel tight and her palms sweaty, so she had decided that this would be a solo adventure.

She had told her dad and stepmom over and over again that she could make the move by herself, that she wouldn’t need them to help her move, they didn’t need to spend the money to travel and to take time off of work and who would watch her brothers? Even though she didn’t have that much stuff she was starting to get overwhelmed at the boxes the movers were bringing up in what seemed like an endless stream and setting just inside her front door. The apartment had come pre-furnished, so that was good at least. She didn’t think that she would have been able to bring most of that stuff with her, anyway. She had been sleeping on her couch for months and didn’t think she’d be able to keep that up for much longer. She was trying to make a mental list of everything that she would need to go out and get tonight. New pillows, blankets, sheets, curtains, etc. She would need to find a place to get that stuff, hopefully somewhere that also sold groceries. She didn’t want to have to spend all day running around a new city and trying to unpack and trying to keep herself from having a panic attack.

She was trying to keep her mental list running and keep an eye on the movers and keep inventory of what was in the boxes and what she would need to unpack first and where they were putting the boxes that she would need to unpack first while standing out in her new hallway, trying to stay out of the movers way when she heard laughter. She looked over and saw two girls. One tall with olive skin and dark choppy hair and the other a whole head shorter with wild curls and tawny skin, both chatting animatedly about something. Annabeth was trying to tune them out and hoping that they wouldn’t notice her, and if they did, that they would just keep on walking. She wasn’t in the mood to be social. She hadn’t been in the mood to be social in quite some time. She wasn’t sure she remembered how to be social anymore.

“Hi! Are you moving in?” The shorter one asked. Of course they noticed her and of course they stopped. Annabeth swallowed and turned to face her, trying her hardest to plaster what she hoped was the approximation of a friendly smile on her face.

“Yeah.” She responded, hoping that the conversation would stop there.

“Oh, cool!” The girl responded. “Looks like we’re going to be neighbors. I’m Hazel, this is Piper, my roommate.” Hazel, apparently, gestured towards the girl standing next to her.

“Annabeth.” She introduces, nodding at them, hoping no one wants to shake hands.

“Nice to meet you.” Piper offers, a small smile on her face.

“Likewise.” Annabeth responds even though she doesn’t feel the same. Now that they’re closer she can see just how beautiful the two girls are and sense the ease with which they’re navigating this new situation. Annabeth feels a pang of jealousy. It doesn’t matter, she tells herself. She’s just here to go to class and get out of her. Not to make friends.

“What’s your roommate’s name?” Piper asks, one beautifully sculpted eyebrow raised.

“Oh, it’s uh, it’s just me.” Annabeth tells them, resisting the urge to avert her eyes to the floor. She knows deep down that these girls are just trying to be nice and warm and welcoming and whatever, but she really doesn’t want the reminder of just how alone she is. Not right now. Not right here.

“Where’d you move from?” Hazel asks, eyes following the mover bringing more boxes in.

“San Francisco.” Annabeth tells her, trying her hardest not to be short with this girl who is trying her hardest to be nice to a stranger, it’s not Hazel’s fault that Annabeth’s stomach drops at the mention of it.

“That’s cool. I’m from Malibu. Are you here for school?” This time it’s Piper who speaks.

“Yeah.” Annabeth responds. She knows that she should be giving them more than one word responses, but she wants nothing more than to hide in her new apartment and not come out for the rest of the night. She didn’t think that interacting with other people would have this kind of toll on her.

“I’m from New Orleans, so Piper and I both know what it’s like to be far from home.” Hazel tells her sympathetically. Annabeth offers her a tightlipped smile in return.

“Pipes, are the boys doing anything tonight?” Hazel asks, turning to her roommate.

“Are they ever doing anything?” Piper responds, laughing.

“Be right back.” Hazel tells her and then sets off down the hall.

They both watch her walk down a few doors, stop at one, and then enter without knocking.

Annabeth finds herself looking at the floor, trying not to feel too awkward in the silence and trying not to get overwhelmed. She’s never been that great at small talk and she hadn’t really planned for all of this to happen. She’d been going and going since yesterday, thinking about the next task ahead, not stopping to think about anything else. If she starts to think about literally everything else going on she’ll start to spiral.

Piper speaks up before Annabeth can get too in her head, “What are you studying?”

“Architecture.” She responds and then a moment passes before Annabeth remembers that it’s the polite thing to do to ask Piper the same. “What about you?”

“Communication and environmental studies.” She tells her.

“Interesting combination.” Annabeth responds, because she really thinks that it is but then she’s afraid that it came out snarky and even though she doesn’t want to be in this situation, she doesn’t want to be seen as rude.

“Oh yeah,” Piper tells her, smiling, “I couldn’t make up my mind and I wanted to do something that would end up helping people one way or the other so I decided to do both.”

Annabeth just nods because she can’t think of a way to respond. She’s saved from having to try and come up with something else to talk about or standing in awkward silence when she hears a door open and sees Hazel come out with four boys in tow.

“Ah. Reinforcements” Piper says but Annabeth has no idea what that means and the prospect of meeting even more strangers makes her want to vomit.

“What?” She asks, but before Piper can answer her, Hazel is calling down the hall.

“Annabeth, this is Jason, Leo, and Frank. Boys, this is our new neighbor, Annabeth.” Hazel states, pointing at each boy is turn. Jason is tall and stocky, Leo is wiry and thin, Frank is just big.

She is assaulted by a chorus of hellos and heys and smiles from all directions. Annabeth has no idea why her new neighbor has brought out what seems like half the building, but she really doesn’t want to stay to find out. Thankfully, one of the movers calls her over to inform her that all of her boxes are now in her apartment. She signs a sheet of paper and thanks the man for his work. She turns back around and sees five pairs of eyes on her.

“Did they bring everything up?” Hazel asks her.

“Uh, yeah.” Annabeth responds, wondering why they’re all still standing there. She really just wants to get inside and sit in silence for a few minutes before getting to work on her next plan.

“Where’s Percy?” Piper asks, turning to the boys.

“He’s at his mom’s watching Estelle.” One of the boys, Jason, tells Piper.

“Well then, I guess he’s excused.” Piper says.

Annabeth notices the playful banter between the two, between all of them, really. The ease with which they are all interacting. She’s never had a big group of friends like what they have. It had always been just her and Thalia. And she had always thought that she was okay with that, but now she and Thalia were separated by thousands of miles and one impenetrable secret, as she observes the five strangers in front of her, she feels the snarls of jealousy growing in the pit of her chest again.

“Percy can make it up to us later, we need to get started.” Hazel tells the group.

“Started?” Annabeth asks.

“Yeah. We’re gonna help you unpack. It’ll take you forever by yourself!” Hazel responds, the excitement in her voice palpable.

Panic instantly rushes through her veins. This was not on the list of things that could potentially happen today. Annabeth didn’t have a plan for this. She had one for if her stuff got lost, if the movers were late, if all of her stuff arrived broken, she even had a plan for if something happened at the leasing office and she wasn’t able to pick up her keys for her apartment. She had made zero plans that factored in overly polite neighbors and their squadron of male helpers.

“Oh, you really, I mean, it’s fine. You don’t need to. I can, I can handle this.” Annabeth tells her, floundering. Trying to find a way out of this.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Hazel responds. “I saw how much stuff they were bringing up, and it’s already pretty late in the day, between the six of us, we’ll all be able to get it knocked out in no time.” And dammit, she’s still smiling. Annabeth doesn’t think she’ll be able to get out of this one. Not without being considered a huge bitch. And she knows that she should be grateful, she really does, and she’s trying very hard to be, to be grateful and thankful and a whole host of other nice feelings and words that these five perfect strangers would be so willing to give up their evening to help one imperfect stranger unpack the boxes that have weighed her down all across the country. She is trying very hard.

“It’s really no big deal. I had planned on doing it all by myself, anyway.” Annabeth tells them.

“Well, now you can plan on having some help.” Piper tells her, gentle smile resting on the corner of her mouth. “You can try and fight Hazel all you want, but once she makes her mind up about something, it gets done.”

The big guy, Frank, laughs and Hazel shoots him a look.

“What?” He says, raising his hands in defense, “You and everyone else knows that Piper is right.”

“Whatever.” Hazel responds, rolling her eyes, but there’s no malice in the word or the gesture.

“Welcome to the building, Annabeth.” Leo tells her as he opens her door and just walks into her apartment.

[anxiouslyfred]

Calm Down Stories

Summary: Remus wishes his telepathic link with his soulmate helped him calm Virgil down in ways beyond telling stories, but it works. Today he tries helping a stranger in a music shop at the same time by talking about a CD cover to them, and sending his words over the telepathic link.

/\/\

'Can't do this. Too loud, too busy. Can't, can't can't' Remus wished that he knew how to help, really help Virgil, especially when these repetitions began to echo through their connection. He'd tried looking up what helps anxiety, methods soulmates had used before meeting in the past.

Virgil had only panicked more when he'd tried using them, terrified that he was harming or annoying Remus with his fears, worries, everything.

Later they had spoken about it, covered that Remus had only wanted to help, support him since he couldn't take the anxiety away but also that he hadn't sounded like himself to Virgil while following those methods. Besides as soon as he knew it wasn't helping Virgil, he'd returned to his usual method of trying to help with his soulmates panic, imagining stories, and adventures he'd gone on, or thought sounded fun.

Remus knew that was all just distractions though, nothing that actually helped long term. Their telepathy thankfully hid his wishes to do more, even just talk through the struggles Virgil had when overwhelmed so he projected stories about his day, and compliments, so many compliments about the things Virgil let slip through in his thoughts.

'You somewhere safe to calm down in? Or still stuck among the madding crowd?' Remus asked, already heading into the nearest shop. It was always easier to come up with a story if he didn't have to worry about walking into strangers constantly. Their yelling could filter through to Virgil and make things worse if he did walk into them.

'Music Shop. Can't move, can't hide, can't can't can't cope, all too much, going to have people staring at me.' On one hand Remus could start trying to come up with some distraction story, on the other, if Virgil was already worrying about getting stares that usually meant he needed someone actually with him to calm down alongside the thoughts Remus could send to him. They'd already mentioned this morning that they were both out picking up some new accessories and clothes alone today.

He glanced around the shop hoping for something he could twist into a bizarre story, more confusing than a surrealism painting and realised that he was in a music shop too, with plenty of CD cases to take inspiration from and a guy in a hoodie clinging to one of the shelves as though the world was ending...

A guy looking like the world was ending could probably use a distraction just as much as Virgil needed on too so Remus had a focus and a way to start chattering away. The display the man had stopped at had some weird album art on it.

“Hey Fella, can I get to those CD's in front of ya?” He asked, trying to pantomime reaching around him without breaching any personal space the man might need.

He got a panicked look and a stumble out of the way for that, but picked up on of the cases anyway, raising an eyebrow. “Are you breathing there, Honey? I would help more but have been told I suck at leading breathing patterns. Or rather that I'm too impatient to count slowly in whatever way they need.” Remus just let any thoughts that crossed his mind and would be okay for Virgil to hear while panicking be said. He knew that quite often if he spoke things they'd get sent over their bond as thoughts too, and really didn't want to make either his soulmate or this stranger worse.

The man did attempt to take a deep breath at his words though, so Remus classed that as a win and waved the CD case up. “You know, Fella, I always wonder what the story could be behind album art like this. Seriously half of music nowadays is all love, sex, money, or escaping to nature. I bet none of the songs even mention a bat, let alone an octopus so why put them on a cover.” Really he could have found a worse cover to talk about, but this would do.

Virgil was quiet, no repetitions of 'Can't' to be heard for the moment and the panicking man was just nodding, clearly still upset, but definitely trying to breathe to some pattern Remus couldn't fathom.

“Then again, why would a bat even be flying over the ocean? It doesn't seem like something they'd do. I mean sure, birds migrate, and there's gotta be some bats that live in seaside town. Literally enough books and films set in England mention bats that it has to be like a given some are near the sea. That island is tiny.” Remus now had to get the CD if only so he'd remember to look up ocean bats later on. If they existed he wanted to know everything, including the weirdest things they eat. Can bats prey on fish?

“Some in Mexico migrate and hunt at sea.” The man breathed out, sounding shaky and half terrified of actually joining in with Remus's conversation.

He nodded in thanks, now frowning at the other animal on the screen. “Still, pretty unrealistic for an octopus to be that vibrantly yellow in the middle of the night. Practically all cephalopods have some ability to change their colour and that bright near the surface. It's basically putting up a sign saying ' I'm here, hunt me' to any predators near the surface. Although maybe it's more trying to get the gift delivered to it and would go to darker shade as soon as that box is actually in its grasp.”

“Why would a bat be taking presents to an octopus anyway?” Remus blinked at the question. It was one he'd expected to have thought at him, if Virgil was starting to calm down at least, but instead the stranger had asked it.

Mentally he thought threw bringing the bat bombs he'd read about once up, but shook the thought away, shrugging and carrying on wriggling. “Could be any reason. Perhaps bats are the animal worlds equivalent to Santa, only instead of one man in a sleigh you have hundreds or millions of these fluffy little friends flying around trying to give presents on like midsummer or something. Can't have a winter celebration for the animals when tons of them are hibernating.”

“Would be more animals on the picture if that was the case. Could just be the octopus and bat are friends.” Remus looked at the man again, staring for a moment as he spoke. There was still a shake to his breaths but they were slow again, and his hands weren't tensing for something to grip onto.

“Well now I just want to know how a bat and an octopus would become friends. It can't be easy given one lives literally under the sea and the other in caves or treetops and flies everywhere.” He exclaimed, getting a snort, before focusing on his thoughts. 'Hey Virge, You've gone quiet there. Are you calming down or has something happened?'

The man he'd been helping to calm down at the same time smirked, “Who are humans to limit what friendships animals can make? I'm more curious over what gift they would share.”

“Well that's easy, things the octopus couldn't get normally but might like to eat. Some other types of insects or whatever.” Remus suggested, now frowning as he still got no response.

“Is something wrong? I thought your story from this CD cover was going really well. Have I upset you trying to join in with it?” The man asked, worried again as he watched Remus.

He shook his head, “No, your ideas are brilliant, awesome actually. I just, well my soulmate was upset too so part of the story was for you, partly for him, but now I'm not getting any response.” Remus tried to wave away the concern, already thinking again 'Virgil, please just a random I've been knocked out and thoughts aren't awake response would be wonderful right now.'

The man frowned too, “That could just mean you've... Give me a moment to try contacting my soulmate cause you're right. He'd normally have been telling me some weird story but instead you were here talking and I don't think I've heard from him for a bit.” Remus didn't need to ask what the broken off sentence meant. He'd have lost the telepathy if he had met his soulmate, and the only person that would qualify for that was this man.

He waited for a moment, watching as the man closed his eyes, before staring at him again. “So is your soulmate called Virgil?”

“Is your soulmate called Remus?” He countered, beginning to bounce in place again.

“Yes, oh bloody hell, you accidentally managed to find me, mid panic attack and still decided to help me calm down? You're insane, what if I was dangerous or something?” Virgil exclaimed, shoving at Remus's chest lightly.

Remus just started laughing, grabbing the arm that shoved him to pull Virgil into a hug. “Somehow I don't think anyone dangerous would be frozen clinging to a display in a music shop. Come on, You need food and hot chocolate after that freak out, and I need as much sugar as I can fit into a drink. There's a cafe a few shops down.”

He didn't release the hug while making that decision, and only snickered when Virgil half heartedly attempted to pull away. “If we're going there you need to let me go, and pay for that CD.”

“Hmm, maybe in a bit. I've wanted to wrap you up in hugs when you're upset for all our lives so you can enjoy the longest hug ever before we move.” Remus declared, tightening one arm while the other came up to pet Virgil's hair.

Perhaps he wouldn't normally have helped a stranger calm down but he couldn't be more please that he had today.