#and THEN a couple months later she got promoted to store manager which was… shocking | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

luminari-mc · 3 years

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(Mammon x MC/Reader)

Prompt: "She doesn't compare to you. No one does.”

Genre: Angst, hurt(emotional)/comfort.

Pairing: GN!MC/Reader x Mammon

Summary: You and Mammon finally get to enjoy a well-deserving shopping trip just between the two of you. Just as you are about to hit the next shop, your attention is caught by an image advertised in the street.

Warnings: N/A

A/N: I wanted to try my hands at a prompt that is tagged as "fluff", but of course I ended up turning it into something angsty instead. But I like sad stuff, so that still works for me.

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It wasn't often that you got to spend time with Mammon without having any of his brothers around to bother you. But you had made it very clear to them that these few hours after school would be spent with Mammon, and only him. And for today's trip, you two had decided to go shopping in one of the busiest streets in the Devildom.

Clothes and jewelry stores, malls- you had done them all. When most of this time had been spent doing window shopping, Mammon had still insisted on getting at least a few bags of purchased goods for each of you by the end of the day. After all, what was the point of going on a shopping trip, if you didn't end up emptying your bank account only to regret it later?

And so, thanks to the demon's wonderful influence, your arms had now several bags hanging off of them. There was a certain guilt still looming over your head as you realized way overboard you might have gotten with your purchases, but Mammon promised he would take care of any financial problems you could encounter in the near future because of that. You still wondered how he was going to manage it, him being Mammon and all...

"Damn, now THAT'S what I call a good haul! Look at ya!" The white-haired demon grinned as he watch you hop out of the store, the glass doors opening automatically at your presence to let you out. He placed his wrists on his hips as his own bags dangled in his hands. "What'cha got for yourself this time?"

"They actually had that jacket I saw in a magazine the other day!" The doors closed behind you as you showed the white bag which contained the jacket. "You were right, that store was amazing. I can't believe you never showed it to me before."

"Ha! Told ya the Great Mammon knew where the best treasures were! Consider it an exclusive info, because I ain't gonna share more if any of my brothers are around next time." Mammon turned around before flipping a few of his bags over his shoulder, as you instantly began to trot to get to his level.

"What? So all this time you knew about it and you didn't tell me? Just because Asmo comes with us sometimes?" You expressed shock, right before your eyebrows joined together. "Really, as if you couldn't have told me over text or something."

"And have you go without me?! Nah, ain't gonna happen- you'd just get lost and end up in the worst store possible." Mammon glanced your way, and you could only smirk at his poor excuse.

"Sure, you're right. I forgot that humans don't have the same flawless sense of orientation as demons do." Despite your obviously sarcastic tone, Mammon didn't seem to register it as he nodded at your words.

"Exactly! Even if I gave you the full address, who knows where you'd end up? I don't want ya to come and complain to me afterwards, so it's gotta be with me or nothin'."

Even as you rolled your eyes, you noticed Mammon's face slightly turning away from yours, probably to hide the extra shade of color that had appeared on his cheeks ever so discreetly. Even when he was in his usual tsundere mood, it was endearing to see how concerned he was for your safety. And just how badly he wanted to be alone with you.

"So, where to next?" You asked without really thinking, surprising yourself that even after your extensive purchasing, you still wanted to do more. Or maybe it was that you didn't want this date to end right away. The past few weeks had been nothing but the brothers interrupting each other when any of them found themselves alone with you, so getting to spend some alone time with one of them, especially with Mammon, deserved to be extended a bit more.

"Glad ya asked!" As if a battery had been plugged into him, the demon brandished his arm into the air, the bags swinging by his face and missing him by a few inches. "I got this whole place where they're sellin' tons of stuff for pretty cheap, but it's actually authentic branded things. See, they're actually sold to that one guy who then has to sell them to another guy, and..."

As you listened to Mammon explain how he was able to find "authentic stuff" (probably not that authentic, you were pretty sure about that) for less than a quarter of its original price, your eyes found themselves drifting to an impressive ad plastered on a building the two of you were walking by. Recognizing the habit of Majolish to put their models on display for everyone to see was pretty easy, but that wasn't what caught your eye in the moment.

What tuned Mammon down completely in your ears, were the models themselves. The second born, sitting on a stool with a ripped shirt and pants, a few accessories hanging off his neck and barely covering anything of his exposed chest. He looked serious, staring straight at the objective- and at you, while the light shined on him to completely capture his frame for the picture.

And sitting down in the middle of the shot, between his legs, was a female demon wearing a red leather dress, her head resting on top of Mammon's leg. The clawed hand dangling off his knee- covered in golden rings, seemed to taunt you, as well as the piercing yellow eyes she had. Saying she wasn't beautiful would be lying. In fact, she was absolutely stunning. A perfect model for a perfect shot. Just looking at her made you feel small, like a prey that was about to be devoured by a hungry beast, the longer you were looking at her.

But that's what demons were supposed to make you feel like, right?

"Hey!" Mammon called out from the distance he had put between the two of you since you had stopped walking beside him. "Yo, MC!"

Watching as you kept staring into nothing, Mammon rolled his shoulders with a furrowed brow before walking back toward you, his head tilting to the side as he noticed your dead expression.

"Huuh hello, Devildom to MC? In which realm did ya get lost this time?"

"They replaced it." The words that left your mouth were weak, almost too silent for him to hear. It's as if all of the energy you had had evaporated from your body in an instant.

"Huh?" Mammon grew a bit concerned at this sudden change. His eyes perked up at the ad you were looking at, as you continued.

"The shoot we did together." Finally, you spared yourself from the sight, your gaze dropping to the ground. "They already replaced it with another one."

As soon as Mammon understood why *this* ad in particular seemed to be upsetting you so much, his jaw was already clenching. He remembered the stars he had seen in your eyes the previous week when you saw yourself on the Majolish ad, posing beside him- a shoot opportunity you had gotten while accompanying him after RAD a few days prior. In the middle of his shoot, he practically didn't leave any choice to his agent and had insisted that you be included in the shots to promote one of the new pieces of jewelry the brand was planning to release in the upcoming months. Asmo, who was there to witness your reaction on that day the three of you went out, had even taken a hundred pictures or so of you posing in front of the ad.

Except that, the jewelry you had posed with, was now present on the new model posing alongside Mammon.

He had made sure to engrave that smile of yours in his head at the time, even going so far as to snap a picture of your face while you were too focused on Asmo to notice him. But now, there was absolutely no trace of that same happiness anymore.

"The fuck?" The snarl that left him shook the walls of his throat. "That wasn't supposed to be advertised before another month! Why'd they have to take ours so soon?!"

"It's okay, Mammon." The demon stopped growling as his eyes lowered on the hand that was clutching his arm. "I mean... I'm not a model. Figures they wouldn't put it up for long... I-I mean, look at me. Seriously, who would want to see my face being exposed for longer than they can bare? It's hard to imagine. I wouldn't probably have sold their product anyway, so... it's okay."

The look on your face was devastating. Despite trying your best to smile, the tears pricking in your eyes were threatening to roll down your cheeks at any second. Mammon felt his heart being stabbed with a thousand invisible daggers, he couldn't bear to watch you feeling insulted in such a way.

His bags were immediately dropped onto the floor, the demon no longer caring for any of the fragile items he may have bought. His hands swung forward to cup your cheeks, forcing your face up to look at him straight in the eyes.

"Hey hey, MC. C'mon, look at me."

You did your best not to let your vision turn blurry because of the upcoming tears, and stared back at Mammon, your bottom lip trembling weakly.

"I don't care what anyone, model agents or not, can say- you'd sell a thousand more times than any fuckin' models out there, okay? In fact, you're worth even more than their stupid jewelry!"

His thumb quickly brushed away a tear from the corner of your eye as his other hand came to rest on your temple.

"They just put that one up there because that model is famous. They don't care about what's really beautiful, they just want to boast their popularity to the rest of the world." The blue of his eyes seemed to radiate the closer he moved towards you. "But I know what's beautiful. And her? She doesn't compare to you. No one does."

You could only look down in shame as his hands never left you, closing your eyes shut to let a couple tears out before Mammon grabbed a tissue from his pocket to dry your face. He patiently waited a few seconds for you to calm down, soothing you with slow caresses of your hair until your shoulders stopped shaking.

"I'm sorry..." you muttered, sniffling as you passed a wrist over your eyes. "I don't know why that upset me so much..."

"Ya got nothing to be sorry about." Mammon retrieved his hands from your head, only to grab the bags that were hanging off of your arms. He somehow manages to hold them alongside his own behind him, before wrapping the other arm around your shoulder.

"Hey, I'd call this a day. How about I prepare ya a bath when we're home? Courtesy of the Great Mammon."

You nodded, your lips arching into a smile as you grabbed the hand hanging off your shoulder. The day was cut too short for your liking, but you didn't feel up for any additional purchases, or to properly enjoy your outing anymore.

"Will you wash my hair?" You entertwined your fingers with his as he gave them a gentle squeeze.

"Pah, of course! Who else but me could do that?" He huffed through his nose, shaking his head at such an obvious question. Your laugh ringing in his ears gave him a brief moment of respite.

But the demon furrowed his brows as he lead you into your walk back home, keeping you snuggled at his side. Holding the bags in his left hand, his white nails sharply digged into his palm the more steps he took alongside you.

Making them cry? Such a big, big mistake. One thing was sure, Mammon wasn't about to let that one pass.

"But before that..." The hiss that escaped his throat went unnoticed by the two of you as your head rested against his shoulder.

"I'll have a few calls to make."

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fiction-in-my-blood · 3 years

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Switching Sides: Part 10 (HLITF)

if anyone possibly wants to get on a tag list I’d be happy to make one

👉 @theshove 👈

If you wanna catch up, Part 9 is right here! Happy reading :)

Premise: Growing up in a life of crime in a Japanese mafia, Atsuko Motomori has seen enough injustice to last her a lifetime. To try and give back to the universe her family has taken so much from, she dreams of being a detective from a young age. Her twin, sharing her disgust for her father and many uncles, just wants an ordinary life away from the crime, paing and suffering. Instead, she wants to be in the spotlight with the soft notes she makes with her cello. In their escape of 2015, on their coming of age birthday, they must split ways, never to be together ever again. If one was found, they didn’t want the other dragged down with them. Atsuko, having changed her name and appearance as best she can without a scalpel, sets off to start her life of car chases and arrests.

Four years in a seemingly dead-end police station in the middle of nowhere, being passed over time after time for promotion, Atsuko finally gets a shot at her dream, having been sent to an academy for the best candidates in the country by her boss who had always kept an eye out for her. After discovering her boss may have made her bite off more than she could chew, Atsuko must become the slave of a dominating instructor!? Who so just happens to be the captain of the most famous police unit in Japan? Not to mention a total knockout! Will Atsuko finally achieve her dream? Or will her new instructor put her through the wringer?

Warnings: Language, Reference to sexual activity, Forceful nature.

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Several weeks had passed since I'd retaken my birth name. By then, I had dyed my hair a greyish white. Flashy, I know, but I needed something completely different from the black it was before so that I could be less recognisable. I managed to get a job at a bar as an indoor bouncer. It basically means I acted as a club-goer, surveying the floor for anything illegal going on, and escorted people out when I did catch something. The club was owned by a friend of Kanto's and he pretty much got me the job. I also worked mornings at a rock-climbing centre as an instructor of sorts. Having never really done it before, I mainly just watched over climbers and could go up to talk first-timers down if they got too scared.

The collective jobs helped me keep up with my share of the rent, even though Juna didn't want me to pay it. Although, I would have been mortified if I stayed at my sister's apartment for free when she was starting to invest in her baby furniture.

Because I worked most nights and most mornings, I mainly slept for a few hours in the afternoon. It was definitely a culture shock from the strict regiment the academy had us on that made us get up early in the morning and worked us into the night. Luckily, I had been able to keep up my own daily exercise.

Today was the day I decided to try and get the evidence of my father's crimes to someone in the Public Safety Division. My runs took me to the station where I tried to gather someone's daily lunchtime routine. It seemed, being the youngest, Shinonome was sent out to get coffee for the team. Which, honestly, surprised me. ‘I never expected him to serve anyone, but I guess if you're technically the rookie...’

"Juna! I'm leaving now!" I shouted from the entrance, slipping on my trainers. Soon, I heard my twin waddling toward me and I looked up.

"Why do you always leave me alone in the afternoon?" Her eyes were full of tears due to the severe mood swings she'd been getting lately. She had gotten... pretty big over the last few weeks, which did make me nervous. If she had twins, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to keep living there.

"I won't be gone long, you don't have to worry." I stepped forward with a calm smile, hugging her as my irritation skyrocketed. It felt like all she had been doing lately was cry. Kanto was at his orchestra practice in the afternoons, so I would be leaving her in her lonesome.

"I'm handing in the evidence today. Wish me luck!" I pulled back, holding her shoulders and rubbing them to try and put her at ease. She pouted but said the words to bid me luck and I left, running in the direction of the Police Station.

With my baseball cap on, too cloudy to be wearing sunglasses inconspicuously, I jogged along with the thick envelope rattling in my jacket pocket. It was good that I didn't have any fingerprints, it made sliding something into a detective's pocket much easier, seeing as I didn't need to worry about being identified by prints.

Taking this time to recollect on the past month I'd been living my new life with my sister and her boyfriend, a small sigh escaped my mouth; and it wasn’t because of the panting caused by my exercise. Luckily, they didn't make me feel like a third wheel- I felt like one of the family- but my life was so boring compared to what it once was. At least the first time I started my life over, I had the excitement of living a normal life for the first time.

However, like the novelty had worn off, I found my current life... dull. I spent my nights watching couples drunkenly make out, catching shady drug deals in the club bathroom, and stopping creeps from taking girls home without their consent. Sure, it was the same petty crimes I had been dealing with before the academy, but since I was invited to play with the big guys, I grew a taste for debunking major organisations and corrupt politicians. It felt like I was really making a difference in the world when I worked with Kaga.

That was another thing I couldn't stop thinking about. I missed the constant complaining of my intelligence and how easy I was able to bounce back from his insults. I felt like we left things sour after I had ruined their case and essentially let Takada run free for a little longer than he should have. Because I had caused so much trouble for him in the end, I wondered if he had actually felt anything when he found out I didn't come out of that hotel. Did he care that I was dead? Was he sad? Regretful? I knew that when I believed he had died, I was heartbroken. But, maybe that was the respect I felt towards such a competent detective, and not for any underlying emotions I felt to the man I had grown to somewhat understand?

Turning the corner to the busy city street, I peered up at the massive building across the road. It was cloudy: autumn turning to winter, some stores even had Christmas decorations, and a slightly chilled breeze blew through the air. Lots of people wore masks to shield their faces from the city air and the cold that tried to nip at their nose.

Taking a quick deep breath to calm my racing heart, I continued to cross the street, waiting near the Station's entrance for the youngest detective to ever make it into the Public Safety Division.

Minutes passed and I worried today might be one of the days Shinonome was at the academy or out on a mission. I looked down at my watch as the seconds ticked by, hoping he would emerge soon.

When I looked up again, I froze at what I saw. Materialising from the doors of the Police Department was Captain Hyogo Kaga.

Quickly, I diverted my gaze, worried he would be able to sense my surprise. Hopefully, the rim of my cap would block my most noticeable features.

‘Snap out of it, Katsumi. You don't need to be worrying about that now.’ I sighed to myself, shaking my nerves out of my head and stepping forward to intercept the detective as he walked in my direction.

"'Cuse me," I muttered as I bumped into him, slipping the thick beige letter out of my pocket and into his suit one. I kept my gaze down and quickly moved on, not wanting to give him a chance to shout at me.

Escaping around the corner of the building, I took in a deep breath that I didn't realise I was holding in. ‘I did it. It's all in their hands now.’

Trying to calm my racing heart, I allowed myself to take a peek around the corner to see if he had noticed what I had delivered to him. In the middle of the pathway, Detective Kaga looked at the object in his hand, having taken it out of his inner pocket. I cringed slightly; I had hoped to have a little more time to get away before he realised.

‘At least he has it. Hopefully, he'll take it seriously.’ Biting the tip of my thumb, I continued down the alleyway between the station and the next building, disappearing before Kaga could think to follow me.

~~~~~~

That night, I'm sitting at the bar of the club I worked at, a glass of water in my hand as I let my gaze fall around the room.

"Tonight seems pretty quiet. You haven't moved from that seat since you got here." The bartender, who I had grown to befriend, laughed from across the counter.

"Noburu, don't say that word! Do you know how unlucky that is?" I instantly freaked out, standing up on the foot rest of the minimalist stool to get my urgent point across.

"What word..? Quiet?" He leaned in to whisper it to me and I hastily covered his mouth.

"You'll jinx me!" I frowned, not wanting to have to get up much tonight. It being the middle of the week, the room was pretty calm, but I wasn't going to ignore superstition.

"You're so cute when you pout, Katsumi." Once I had uncovered the man's mouth, he pressed a finger into my cheek and I scowled at him. Even though my white hair was in pigtails, something Juna had been obsessing over at the time, I didn't appreciate that compliment.

"I'm a grown woman!" I narrowed my eyes at him before turning back to the room behind me.

~~~~~~

Later on in the evening, the door to the club opened again and I glanced at the new entrants...

‘This can't be happening.’ My mouth opened agape when I saw three of the special instructor's enter the club in suits like they had just come from the office.

"I told you you would jinx me," I muttered under my breath, blaming my friend for the detectives being here. Luckily, he was at the other end of the bar taking orders from a group of bachelorette party girls.

‘Okay, hopefully, they won't recognise me as the name I came up with? What was it again?’ I quizzed my memory, trying to think back to a month ago.

Trying to calm my racing heart by taking a long, deep breath, my gaze fell to the other end of the bar. I noticed a man, standing suspiciously close to one of the party-goers. His back was to me, but I could see his hand reach for one of the women's drinks and drop something into it when he thought no one was looking. I sighed, hopping off my stool and walking up to him before he could move away from the scene.

"Please come with me, sir." I smiled so he wouldn't panic, but didn't ease the grip I had on his arm that was thicker than I could wrap around.

"Sorry, I'm not looking for a hookup tonight." He smirked down at me and I felt myself gag slightly.

"I need you to come with me, sir." I moved my other hand to the drink left on the counter and placed it on Noburu's side so someone didn't drink it while I was trying to deal with this creep.

"I said no." He frowned, trying to yank his arm out of my grip.

Quickly, I grabbed the back of his neck and slammed his face into the counter while holding his arm behind his back, taking him by surprise while the thudding noise drew minimal attention.

"I just watched you try and drug that girl. So, if you want me to call the cops, I dare you to fight back." I whispered into his ear. Luckily, the music was too distracting and loud for our customers to realise. It was only Noburu looking at us from the corner of his eye. I watched the predator's face turn worried and he shook his head.

"Great, come with me then." I smiled, pulling him up by the neck, and guiding him towards the door.

"Noburu, can you get that girl another drink? I'll pay." Not wanting to ruin their night, I called out to my friend as we walked through the door. My boss paid me to be as discreet as possible. I would get paid extra if I caught a crime before we needed to call the police.

~~~~~~

After throwing the man on the dirty street and warning him to never come back to this club, I reentered the room.

"Another creep?" Noburu leaned over the counter to talk in a low tone. I nodded, retaking my seat and ordering another water. Although, it wasn’t like I had to pay for it.

"I don't see how it can be so easy to buy that stuff?" My bartending friend frowned, pouring my drink and placing it on a napkin.

"Depends. Some stuff is prescription medicine. I think the ingredients for others can be easily bought and then made into drugs?" I thought back to when I found my father's organisation and all the illegal substances they were able to mass distribute.

Suddenly, a man stood beside me at the bar, ordering drinks for three people. My eyes widened when I heard the voice, recognising it anywhere. We sat in silence while the bartender fixed his drinks.

"That was a pretty smooth takedown. Looks like you've done it a few times." Suddenly, Lieutenant Ayumu Shinonome started conversing with me, leaning on the counter as he looked right in my eyes. I gulped my water, praying he hadn't noticed me and continued looking at the array of bottles on the back wall.

"It's my job, so I get pretty good at it." Sounding a little more sarcastic than seemed polite, I questioned why I was being so rude. I would never have spoken to any of the instructors like this in the academy.

‘Well... I guess I'm not in the academy anymore.’ I could feel myself becoming more depressed as I thought back to my old life, looking down at the contents of my glass.

"What do you do for a living?" Not sensing my negative emotions, the detective kept talking. Well, he probably did, but didn’t care.

"I'm a bouncer. Like a bar cop, am I right?" I laughed self-depressingly as I took another sip of my non-alcoholic drink. I didn't drink much, I didn't like it and I didn't have time for it, but even this felt depressing, drinking water when everyone else was getting off their heads drunk. "Nothing to your cases, though, I'm sure."

"How do you..?"

"There's a type." I suddenly cut him off bluntly, embarrassed I had started a conversation when I was meant to be under the radar.

‘You're not meant to know who he is, Katsu. Don't get comfortable just because you know this place.’ Clutching the glass with both hands now, I ended the conversation with a dismissive sigh, not wanting him to have an excuse to keep talking to me when Noburu finished making his drinks.

Which seemed to be taking much longer than he usually did. I looked down the length of the counter to find the bachelorette party had called him away again. As I peered, Ayumu being in that direction, I tried to look down at his body as inconspicuously as possible. I wanted to know if he was wearing a badge. Which he wasn't.

‘Are they on a case? This is a nice neighbourhood, there isn't a lot of major crime here. Unless they've set up a meeting?’ My brows furrowed as I thought of a reason for them to be here. The club itself wasn't anywhere near the station or the academy, I made sure of it when I took the job.

"Sorry about that, man..." Noburu came running back, but led off when he realised the intensity between us. I‘m sure it was either because I dismissed him as a woman or he distrusted me. When Shinonome asked for the drinks again, the silence was almost suffocating. I was pulled out of my thoughts when he finally left and turned back to the room to do a quick sweep of anyone suspicious.

"Hey, Noburu. How long has that guy been here for?" Standing on the foot stand of my stool again, I leant over the counter to keep our conversation private. Following where I had gestured with my head, Noburu found the suspicious man I had been watching for most of the night. He had been here since opening, circling the floor like he was looking for a target. He seemed a little on-edge to me, but I wanted to make sure before I acted on anything. Truthfully, I just wanted to get away from talking about the confrontation he had just walked into. I knew he would ask, that's how Noburu was. Pried because he cared.

"Anyone wearing a hat indoors is suspicious." The bartender laughed as he started shining some glasses. "Make a move on him. If he's here for anything else, he'll turn you down." Resting on his crossed arms in front of me, he got very close to my face as we talked. I was a little stunned by the sudden close proximity.

Working at a bar, Noburu was good at flirting with our female customers to keep them drinking. He was good looking and funny. It made for an easy friendship to bloom. But, having his face so close to mine, I blushed and quickly leaned back.

"I-I'll go do that then," Noburu smirked at my fluster, resting his chin on his hand as I moved towards the dance floor.

Working somewhat undercover, I was wearing a rather short, tight dress, as asked by my boss as a form of uniform. At first, it was embarrassing to wear something that cupped my body so much, but now I was somewhat comfortable with it. I'm just glad I had a good physique.

Also, since working here, I had to get good at sweet-talking people. Mostly drunks that were more than happy to follow anyone, but I had my fair share of flirty conversations to try and get people out of the club. Fortunately, I was a fast learner.

Approaching the man with the hat, I smiled.

"Hey, you wanna dance with me?" I put my hand on his chest and grabbed his hand with my other, trying to get him to feel like he couldn't say no.

"I-I'm meeting someone." I peered up at his young face, previously hidden by the brim of his cap, and noticed a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Aw, come on! I've been watching you all evening and you haven't talked to anyone! It doesn't have to be a long dance?" I pulled on his hand to bring him to the dance floor. Maybe he was just waiting for a girl, which would explain his hesitance. But... Something was off about him, and it wasn't just the hat.

Luckily, he followed me and we started moving our bodies close together.

"So, are you gonna tell me your name?" I shout near his ear due to the volume of the music. He bit his lip but told me anyway.

"Are you the one I'm meant to meet?" Suddenly, he put his hands on my hips, whispering in my ear. As his gaze wasn't on me, I let my eyes slightly widen.

‘Is this the guy they're meeting?’

"Did a psychic tell you to meet a girl here tonight?" I laughed back, playing dumb to see if he freaked out. He ripped his hands from my body, face flushed as he stared at me.

"I don't mind the pickup line, but you don't have to be so embarrassed." Knowing he was going to scurry off out of embarrassment or fear of not meeting the person he was here to see, I tried to lighten the atmosphere. Panicking, he quickly excused himself and I watched him leave the club completely. Frowning my brows, I returned to the bar, reporting to Noburu what I had just seen.

~~~~~~

At the end of the night, which was the morning, I'm helping Noburu clean up the bar.

"Hey, are you doing alright? You seemed kind of on edge when that guy ordered. The one that stood next to you?" Noburu called from the other side of the room as I wiped down a table. I froze for a moment, not realising I had been that obviously affronted, and thought about how to respond.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine! It's just not usually the guys that come up to me." I laughed off my unease by making a self-deprecating joke and returned to the bar, where my handbag laid.

"I can't imagine that's true. Look at you." He smirked down at my body and I tried my hardest to hide my blush.

"Oh, would you look at the time! I've gotta get going." I grabbed my bag as he approached me, getting nervous about the teasing that I knew was to come. He would usually offer a flirty comment as we cleaned up together, it was probably the only way he could talk to women. I should have been used to it by that point, but I still got flustered.

As he followed me out of the building, I waved my goodbye.

"Hold on!" He called back after locking the doors. I turned around to find him scrambling to get the keys in his pocket and I laughed at how eager he was. "How about we meet up outside of work sometime? I can buy you breakfast?" His request threw me off a little, I wasn't used to making friends this quickly, or being asked out to eat with a dude.

"I-I have a job I have to get to in the morning. I'm always free for lunch though!" At the chance of having someone to hang out with other than third-wheeling my sister, I smiled brightly. He chuckled at my reaction.

"Great. Can I pick you up today?" He put his hand on the back of his neck as he asked. He almost seemed... nervous?

"S-Sure. I would like that." I also grew shy as our conversation grew to a close.

Suddenly, he moved towards me and planted a kiss on my cheek.

"You should probably get going." He raised a teasing eyebrow at my childish, extremely bashful reaction and I jumped to attention.

"R-Right! I'll see you later! I'll text you the address!" Having gotten his number in the first few days I started working at the club, I ran in the opposite direction of the club and towards the rock climbing establishment I worked at in the mornings. I was so excited, I didn't notice the car full of men parked across the road from us.

~~~~~~

My shift was short, thanks to my lightened heart and the busy work of teaching people how to put on their harnesses. I didn't have to actually climb much, thankfully, because I wasn't so fond of getting sweaty before my... meeting?

As I changed out of my gym wear, a female coworker announced that my sister was at the front desk.

‘Oh, she did not come for lunch!’ I cried to myself, annoyed I would probably have to pass on my date for a pregnant woman. I changed quickly so that I could encourage her to leave before Noburu got here and was shocked by what I heard before I turned the corner to the reception.

"How dare you talk of her that way?" My sister shrieked at the top of her lungs, rage making her voice sound rougher than usual.

"It's not my fault she made a moronic mistake," Kaga responded spitefully. Juna was screaming at my ex-instructor.

"She saved your life and that's how you treat her? You should be ashamed to call yourself a detective!" I wouldn't have been surprised if Juna started attacking the man. Soon I heard Soma trying to calm her down, but it didn't help much.

"Oh, Katsumi! These men are here to see you." The receptionist who had witnessed the whole affair spotted me hiding behind the wall and hurriedly encouraged me over and I sneered when she made me apparent. The memory of biting Shinonome's head off floated through my mind and I prayed he didn't tell the two detectives that hadn't been in the club last night.

I sighed and walked around to see my sister standing in front of two of my old instructors. Soma's eyes went wide as his gaze passed between me and my sister. I bit my lip, wondering why they were standing in front of me in that moment, hoping they didn't approach Juna like they had met. Because, technically, they had. Well, they've met the woman that held her legal name, Mikara Harada- which wasn't Kento's last name so I didn't know why he insisted on acting like we were married. I wasn't even sure if she knew their faces or names.

"Can I help you, gentleman?" Trying to act unaware, I approached them, letting my gaze drop to see if they had their badges on. This time, the Public Safety Detectives did.

"We'd like to take you in for questioning," Kaga explained sharply and Juna was about to retort. ‘What are they thinking?’

"Mikara, go take a seat. You don't want to mess up the baby." I pat her shoulder and showed her a smile even though I was freaking out on the inside, ensuring she heard me use her fake name so she understood the situation. I gestured to the seating area and spotted an open newspaper with the story of the hotel bombing inside. From what I could assume, she was probably talking to the receptionist when the detectives arrived. Kaga probably mentioned how stupid I was to go in after him and Juna blew a fuze.

Reluctantly, Juna went to sit down.

"Please, come with us." Soma smiled, placing a hand on my back to guide me out of the building.

"Why can't we do it here?" I panicked, not wanting to be brought in for questioning by PSD Detectives. There was no way they could track me from the security cameras at the station. Had I thwarted their investigation last night and now they were trying to get back at me?

"Would you rather get arrested for impeding an investigation?" Kaga pulled out his handcuffs and my eyes grew wide.

"No! No, thank you. I'll come with you." Allowing myself to be guided to their car, I threw my sister a look to say I would be fine- her face screwed up in worry and confusion.

~~~~~~

After being placed into the back of their car and escorted to the questioning booths in the station, my hands were beyond clammy. My gaze darted around the silent room, having been left alone, probably just to intimidate me. They had taken my bag to search through it, which had my clothes from last night and my gym clothes. It didn't take me long to get impatient.

Suddenly, the door burst open and I saw Kaga come in. I sat up, trying to look eager to answer any questions they had. I didn't want to seem suspicious.

"Katsumi Hoshino." He sat across from me and I nodded, too afraid to stumble over my words. They had either seen the passport in my bag or had called my employer. Because I didn't have a driver's licence, my passport was the only way I could be identified. I brought it with me everywhere in case something happened to me. The last time I was stuck in an interrogation room with the Captain flashed through my mind and I tried not to blush.

"I want to apologise for my friend. She can get a little too righteous sometimes." I flashed a smile, but he didn't seem impressed at all. It would be way too strange that we were triplets with the same face. I just hoped her makeup made it seem like there was some sort of differentiation in our features. Hopefully Kaga would buy that we were friends.

We sat in silence for a little longer.

"Can I get some water?" Feeling my throat dry up, I tried to get him out of the room. He was making me so nervous with the way he was evaluating me with his gaze, I thought I was back in the academy.

At my question, the captain got up and walked around the table. Before I could react, he pushed the back of my chair against the wall so the two front legs were in the air. I yelp in surprise as he closed the distance between us. I gulped, not wanting to say anything more in case it was incriminating.

"You have something of mine." His finger hooked the neck of my shirt, but his gaze was too piercing to look away from. I showed him a confused expression to show I had no idea what he was talking about.

"You work at that club. You met that man. And he gave you something that belongs to me." His voice was low so that only I could hear it. I forced myself not to sigh in relief when I discovered I wasn’t here for alternative reasons.

"I-I thought you looked familiar." I smiled despite myself and he frowned. "U-Um, well, the guy left before I could find out why he was there. I thought he was suspicious, but he bolted the second I approached him." I explained in a whisper, worrying about the distance between us and my suspended chair. If he relaxed his grip in any way, I would go flying into his face.

Suddenly, his other hand reached around my body and crawled up under my top to the clasp of my bra.

"H-Hang on! What're you doing?" I panicked, my face flushing red as he fiddled with my clothes. When he had satisfied whatever need he had, he pulled his hand out again. There, he held a USB drive. My brows frowned in confusion and my hand darts to where he had pulled it out of. Had it really been there all this time?

"How much of a moron do you have to be to not notice this?" Kaga chuckled at the minuscule device in between his fingertips. It was one of those high-tech ones that are about the size of a fingernail. Honestly, it wasn’t a surprise to me that I didn't realise it at first because I had been so busy.

"I-Is that all you need from me?" I stuttered out, now with all of my chair's legs back on the ground.

"What are you talking about? You assisted in stealing millions of dollars worth of online currency." Kaga turned to me, his face stern. My expression dropped and my face turned pale.

"What? I had no idea what that was, or who that guy was! There's no way I can get arrested for being in the wrong place at the wrong time!" I roared at him, truly afraid he would arrest me for something like this. Who knows what'll be uncovered if I got put in jail? Juna would be alone. The amount of my father's guys that could get to me? I'd be dead in days.

The next thing I know, he's laughing. My enraged expression fell as to one of understanding. He was teasing me. I huffed, crossing my arms as I was embarrassed I had been duped.

"We'll have to take your fingerprints to log the evidence. Then you can leave." His expression froze over again and I jumped up at the opportunity to leave.

"Lead the way!" I cheered out, maybe too loud, and he scowled. I quickly apologised for being too excitable and followed him up to the Public Safety offices.

~~~~~~

Inside, I let my eyes wander around the room. It was exactly how I remembered it. Files placed carelessly on some desks and stacked neatly on others. Every man in there wore stern expressions, faces withered by stress and or smoking. Soon enough, I spotted a pile of paper on the desk not far from me.

‘The pictures!’ I gasped as I spotted the gruesome images of murders and tortures I had taken during my youth spread all over each desk, replicas made for reference. I watched as some of the detectives analyse the faces within them, possibly trying to identify who they were from the refined images.

"Miss, please put your fingers on here." Soma approached me with a pad of ink and a file with my birth name on it.

"I... Um, I can't do that." I smiled anxiously as I rubbed the back of my neck. Soma furrowed his brows, asking me why. I could tell even he was a little annoyed with me.

"I don't have fingerprints. They, er... I had a cooking incident a few years ago." I quickly thought up a lie, not wanting to disclose the true reason, for obvious reasons. Soma looked down at my hands, contemplating what to do.

"We still need a record." Ayumu appeared out of nowhere beside me and I jumped, clamping my mouth shut so I didn't yell out at him as I sometimes had in the past.

Surprisingly, the two seemed astonished when my fingerprints came up as big black dots. There were no clear lines or lighter edges. Just ten black splodges on the page. Ayumu asked me again how I had no fingerprints.

"I was a kid. I... dropped my toy in a bat of hot oil and burned my hands." I shrugged while explaining some part of the truth. I was a child when it happened. I did dip my hands in boiling oil. Just not voluntarily.

Soon after, I was allowed to leave without many other questions. Before I was kicked out, I stole another glance at the evidence on the tables. My shoddy excuse for a reverse pickpocket had been successful and they had what they needed to arrest the men in my father's gang, whether he was still alive or not. A small smile crossed my face as I thought that.

~~~~~~

As I emerged from the spinning doors, I spotted Juna and Kanto standing by a taxi. Running over, I quickly asked what they thought they were doing here.

"We came to free you! With the way that guy spoke about you, I thought you'd never get out!" Juna frowned as she hugged me, her largening belly pushing into mine.

"Luckily it was an entirely different matter. But, we should go. Who knows what their security cams can do." I looked up at the ball of black on the station walls, worried about what being here without a disguise could mean for my safety.

#HLITF #hlitf kaga #hlitf soma #hlitf goto #hlitf ishigami #hlitf ayumu #hlitf shinonome #hlitf fanfic #voltage games #voltage fanfic #oc #ooc #her love in the force #crime #mafia #mob #police #detectives

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hazelandglasz · 4 years

Text

Buns Buns Buns - Klaine AU

Inspired by this post

On AO3

At first, it felt like a good idea. After all, Blaine and Santana had met during their apprenticeships at Maison Kayser, and they had immediately felt a connection.

A connection based on good-hearted (most of the time) teasing, sure, but also on queer kinship and boundless support.

On the night after their graduation, the pair got completely hammered on Cranberry Vodka.

Blaine laid down on the couch while Santana sat on the floor by his head.

“I loved working--meep--working with you,” Blaine hiccuped, tipping the bottle toward her. “You com-complete me.”

“Same,” Santana bawled out. “You’re the only one I’ve been partnered with who didn’t try to sex me up and who understands what I need without me saying iiiiiiiit!”

Blaine tentatively patted her head before sitting up like a Jack-in-The-Box. “I got it!”

“Got what? Chlamydia? I told you that Roger wasn’t worth it.”

“Wha--No! Not Chlamydia. And nothing happened with Roger.”

“Not for lack of trying, Mini Twix.”

Blaine rolled his eyes at her. “Can you shush one second so I can tell you my amazing idea?”

Santana swigged the bottle to get another mouthful of vodka. “Go ahead.”

“We should open our own bakery.”

Santana almost choked on the vodka but she was a pro and swallowed without sputtering it everywhere. “Have you gone mad? Has the yeast turned your brain to mush? We cannot open a bakery!”

“Why not? We have an excellent resume, with our apprenticeship and Mr Kayser’s recommendation letter. We are young, sure, but motivated. The apprenticeship paid off our student loans, so we could potentially get a loan to rent a place.”

As he talked, Blaine got on his knees while Santana sat on the coffee table.

She scratched her hair and hummed.

Which, in Santanese, meant that she was at least considering it.

Which, in Blainese, meant that she was on board.

Which, a month later, lead to the opening of “Buns Buns Buns” in the heart of Brooklyn, serving brioches, empanadas, and mookies.

Which, really, felt like a good idea--except when Santana gets an idea.

Particularly when said-idea is to combine two of her favorite hobbies: make fun of Blaine and try to find him a date.

The thing is, Blaine doesn’t exactly mind the teasing. After all, he’s more than able to reply to any of them, and as previously stated, it’s one of the bases of their relationship. Anyone who knows Santana Lopez knows that teasing is her way of showing her love.

But the constant nagging about his singledom hits a little bit closer to home, is more painful too.

Blaine hasn’t chosen to be single, okay. He believes in love and romance, he knows that somewhere, there is someone for him, waiting for him, someone who will love him for everything Blaine has to offer.

He is young, though, and he knows he has time to find the proverbial Mr. Right.

And the subject would be a lot easier to set aside if Santana wasn’t constantly singing under her breath whenever they pass each other songs about being alone forever.

Her 21st cover of “Lonely” makes him explode in the kitchen and slam the door to walk his anger away.

(She managed to find some helium to sing it in the highest pitch ever heard by a human ear.)

When he came back, Santana had the decency to be apologetic, telling him that he should take a week off work to chill, have fun, just … be, for a little while.

“And what Buns Buns Buns?”

“Oh, I can manage. It’s a slow week anyway, a lot of people are leaving the city anyway. I’ll just experiment a bit.”

“No x-rated experiment, Santana.”

“I still think we should have Muff Muffins for a Ladies Night type of promotion--”

“No. And no ‘dick-clairs’ either.”

“I didn’t think about it, but that is an excellent name.”

“No.”

“But--”

“Santana, please, no. Promise me.”

Santana rolls her eyes but agrees to promise not to do anything that could shock the kids from the school next door.

“I can do some redecorating, though. We should remove the December decorations anyway.”

“Hm, okay. Nothing extravagant, okay, we need to get ready for Easter.”

“Yessir.”

Blaine smiles at her. “All right. I do need a break.”

“And when you come back, I will take a couple of days off,” she adds, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

That was so sweet.

Blaine should have seen it coming.

Because now, he’s back, a notebook full of ideas and concepts of baked goods they could add to their menu, a spring in his step, and he nearly faints at the sight of his beloved window.

Which has been defaced, somehow, in his absence.

Well, defaced. That may be an over-exaggeration. The drawing is good, he can admit that, and it looks like a sticker so it won’t be permanent or anything.

But still.

Not exactly the aesthetic he envisioned for their shop.

He’s going to kill Santana whenever she comes back from her couple of days off--no, you know what, he’s going to go to her place tonight and kill her then.

Except, she may be spending her days off with Brittany, or Dany, or both, and does he really want to inflict this on his sight? On his brain?

Nah, it can wait. But she’s going to suffer, oh, she’s going to suffer.

Now, quick side-note about Blaine: when left alone, he has a tendency to … fill the silence.

Most of the time, by singing or humming to himself, but right this instant in time, he is talking to himself.

Counting the ways he will have his vengeance while baking and preparing new batches for the menu while considering when there will be a lull in the clients’ visits to experiment on his Easter cakes.

He’s so deep in his thoughts while putting the last batch of cookies in the lower oven, he doesn’t even hear the bell over the door ringing.

“Oh, um. Hello?”

Blaine straightens up quickly, dusting his hands over his apron and already all smiles as he turns to face the new client.

Oh boy.

“Hi?”

The man standing in the store’s entrance (with Santana’s ridiculous drawing creating a shadow over his tan jacket) is, truth be told, without a doubt the most beautiful man Blaine has ever seen.

“I work at the school around the corner, and I just started,” the man says, clutching the strap of his messenger bag, “and I, um, I kinda wanted something sweet to end this day.”

“Sure,” Blaine replies, walking to the window case. “Cakes are the answer for pretty much any trouble, in my opinion.”

Cute Client Looking for Consolation Cake smiles at Blaine, cocking his head to the side. “I like that. What do you recommend?”

Blaine happily goes over the different options, until CCLCC settles on a box of Cheesecake cookies.

“I hope this will improve your day,” he tells him after ringing his order.

“Oh, your shop has already greatly improved it,” CCLCC replies, his eyes darting to the sign. “And for what it’s worth, I personally think it doesn’t do you any justice.”

Blaine frowns. Glances at the sign. Glances back at CCLCC. Puts two and two together.

And turns a bright shade of red.

“Oh.”

CCLCC’s face matches the strawberry and basilic pies.

“Oh, gosh, I’m sorry.”

“No, no it’s--”

“No, it was crass, and we don’t even--”

“I promise, I mean, I get easily embarrassed--”

“--know each other, oh my God, everything looks delicious but I’ll never be able to come--”

“--but I am flattered.”

That seems to put a cork on CCLCC’s embarrassment. “... Oh.”

They smile at each other like a pair of … well, like a pair of shy twenty-something years olds who have a crush and are embarrassed about being too obvious.

“Madre de Dios.”

Blaine nearly jumps out of his skin at the sudden appearance of Santana’s voice in the shop.

“San’!” he exclaims, and even to his ears, it comes out far too loud. “What--what are you doing here?”

“I came to ask you what you thought of my artistry,” Santana says, expertly flicking her hair over her shoulders as she steps out of the shadows, “and here I am, in the most awkward episode of Gay Bachelors in Bushwick.”

“Santana.”

“I don’t think I know you, though. Santana Lopez, co-owner of this magical place. And you are?”

“Kurt Hummel,” CCLCC replies and Blaine feels better about having a proper name to call his customer. “Choir teacher at the block’s school.”

“How nice.”

“It is a school focusing on the arts, after all, and--”

“I said nice, not interesting. What do you think of our new décor?”

Kurt blushes again. “Well, like I told, um, the gentleman--”

“Blaine. It’s only fair you know his name, since you’ll be screaming--”

“Santana, no.”

“Spoilsport. Anyway, neighbor, you were saying?”

“Like I told Blaine, I think it is a bit unfair to him.”

“Oh?”

Kurt’s flush intensifies. “Oh.”

“You won’t say more than that?” Santana approaches the window. “I thought I captured the bubbliness of his hmph!”

Blaine grabs a discarded brioche from the basket and sliding under the counter, pushes it in Santana’s mouth. “If you shut up I won’t kill you for putting that monstrosity on our window,” he whispers angrily, before turning to Kurt, pushing Santana behind him. “I’m sorry about that, Kurt. I hope we will see you again. Have a nice day!”

Kurt looks at them, his mouth stretched into a disbelieving smile before nodding. “Thank you. You too … Blaine.”

The moment the door is closed, Blaine sighs in relief. Santana is happily nibbling on the brioche. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

Blaine looks up at the ceiling, waiting for some deity to come to his help. “What on Earth for?”

“I know you, Anderson,” Santana points the remaining of the brioche in his face, “you’d have waited months and months before even attempting a proper conversation with Sweet Lips over there. Now, at least, you know he likes what you have to offer.”

Blaine drops his head to his chest. “I think I would have preferred to come back to sexual cakes.”

“Easily corrected.”

“Santana, no.”

“You’re not really angry, though.”

“Angry, grumph. Embarrassed and on the verge of ashamed? For sure.”

“Aw.” Santana wraps her arms around Blaine, her chest to his back. “I didn’t want you to be ashamed.”

“Embarrassed, though?”

“Oh, for sure.”

Blaine lets her hug him for a couple more minutes before stepping away, arms crossed over his chest. “This,” he says, pointing at his cartoony double, “has to go.”

“Oh, another couple of days!”

“Begone.”

“Pleaaaase?”

“No. You take it off.”

“But I’m on holiday!”

“Santana. Take. It. Off.”

Santana sighs. “You should be careful, Blainey,” she tells him as she walks out of the shop, “some people could misinterpret your words.”

“I really doubt that. Remove that obscenity from our window!”

“When I come baaa-aaack. Byyyeee!”

“Santan--oh, fuck it.”

Kurt expected a lot of things from his new job.

For it to be challenging, for the neighborhood to be surprising, for New York to be everything he hoped for and more.

So far, his expectations have been met: the students are challenging to say the least, the neighborhood of Bushwick is nothing he expected, and New York is a dream and a nightmare all rolled into one.

But of all the things he has to get used to, Blaine the Baker hasn’t left his mind for the past couple of days.

Sure, the window sticker made him laugh, at first, but when he saw Blaine’s butt as the baker was busy with the oven, his heart stopped before starting back at twice the speed.

And then he saw his face, and his heart made a valiant attempt to jump out of his chest to land on Blaine.

The fact that the cheesecake cookies were absolutely to die for doesn’t help in chasing the baker from his daydreams.

“Mr. Hummel.”

Why, yes, they could hyphenate their names, or Blaine could be Mr. Hummel.

“Mr. Hummel? Sir?”

Oh, Blaine would feed him pieces of brioche in bed before kissing him tenderly, that would be so romantic and delicious …

“Mr. Hummel!”

“Hm? Yes? Wha?”

His students snicker, and it’s 100% deserved. “What song do you want us to perform for the Open House Day?”

Oh the Open House Day. Perfect! The whole neighborhood is invited.

So, Blaine will come.

So, Kurt can be at his best and win him over.

“Open House. Right! I know just the song.”

Santana and Blaine arrive at the school carrying baskets of goodies, and Santana can’t help but tease her friend all the way from the bakery.

“Remember, Blaine, this is a school. No hanky panky with your hot teacher.”

“Santana, may I remind you that I’m not you.”

“Shame. Your life would be funnier.”

Blaine laughs at that. “That much is true.”

The headmistress welcomes them in, smiling at the mini chocolate buns. “All the parents are talking about your shop,” she tells them as she guides them to the seats. “I must confess, I am a big fan of your concoctions too,” she adds, smiling like a naughty schoolgirl.

When she walks away to welcome more visitors, Blaine and Santana smother their laughter.

“I feel like a rockstar,” Blaine whispers to Santana when they spot people pointing at them and murmuring.

“That’s because we are,” Santana replies, flipping her hair around her.

Everybody sits in the gymnasium and the headmistress taps on the microphone.

“And now, before we guide you in groups through the complex, please welcome our choir, guided by our very own Kurt Hummel.”

Blaine doesn’t even try to contain his smile at the sight of Kurt. He looks particularly handsome, dressed in black as he bows to the applause coming from the room.

The choir launches into a medley of Beatles and Rolling Stones songs, immediately winning over the crowd of parents and teachers.

The kids may be very good, but Blaine only has eyes for Kurt, who is playing the piano to accompany the songs, and often singing along with them. Kurt is passionate, he smiles at all his young students, even the ones awfully off-key.

He’s mesmerizing.

Blaine had a medium-sized crush on Kurt, but to see him like this, it’s …

Blaine has no words.

It’s like all of his life, all of his decisions, everything lead to this moment in order to make sense.

“Oh, wow.”

“Earth to Blaine?”

Santana looks down at him, standing up from her seat like everyone else--when did that happened?--and she is smiling like the cat that got the cream. “Ah, now, you’re back with all of us. Care to walk around the school now, or do you need to be left alone a moment?”

“No,” Blaine replies grumpily, following her.

“Oh, Blaine, look who our guide is,” Santana singsongs.

Of fucking course.

“Oh, hi, Blaine,” Kurt welcomes him. “Did you enjoy the songs?”

“Immensely. The kids were great, thanks to you.”

Kurt’s cheeks turn pink and he has a pleased smile on his face. “Thank you.”

Blaine doesn’t pay attention to a lot of things during the tour, besides Kurt and his voice and his everything.

(Okay, he may be a gentleman, but Blaine is honest enough to admit that he lets his eyes drag down Kurt’s back and focus on his ass. It’s a nice ass. Given the way they met, it’s only fair.

Shut up.)

Santana stays with a group of parents who are apparently asking about “Buns Buns Buns” capacity to prepare a birthday spread, which leaves Blaine to stand close to Kurt.

“Aren’t you going to help her?”

“Oh, no. She is very good at selling our stuff.”

Kurt shakes his head. “Your friendship is an odd one.”

Blaine smiles. “She’s a good cookie.”

“If you say so.”

“Oh, you’d know so too, if you could get to know her.”

“I’d rather get to know you.”

That sentence was said softly, barely above a whisper, just for the two of them.

Blaine looks back at Kurt and smiles. “I’d really, really love that.”

“Good.”

“You know where to find me.”

“That I do. I have tomorrow afternoon free …?”

“That’s a date.”

Kurt beams at him. “That’s a date.”

As he walks back to Santana, Blaine almost feels like he’s walking on a cloud or on a meringue.

Almost.

Because Santana is never going to let go of the fact that she managed to bring them together.

(She never lets go of it. Blaine and Kurt’s grandchildren hear the story of how her artistic talent brought them together. Kurt doesn’t tell them, but really, it was their grandfather’s buns who won him over.)

#sometimes i write #kline au #baker!blaine #baker!santana #teacher!kurt #fluff #slightly cracky i'm afraid #food porn too

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fourangers · 5 years

Text

Perhaps, in the end, it’s fate

Summary: With one different tilt of the destiny, many other paths can be unfolded. However between them, there would be always an automatic pull since they share an interchangeable fate.

It's ninjaverse AU, completely different timeline. Teacher!Naruto, father!Sasuke, lil!Sarada with a harmless crush on Nardo. No prior pairings with Sasuke (and Naruto btw) because babies can be created through power of SCIENCE! (or in this case, Orochimaru’s experiments).

Based on February prompt from Sun and Moon Challenge, check it out once you can! SNS, T-rated. Comedy and Romance.

AO3 link | FFnet link

⏤.⏤

Squinting his eyes, he swallowed dryly with fingers crossed. He hoped his future mentor would be wise and kind, his teammates nice and welcoming. If he could stretch a little bit more in this wishing department, maybe Sakura will be part of his team. Well, anything, anyone but Sasuke. It was already humiliating enough losing his first kiss to that bastard, going on missions with him would be. The. Worst.

Iruka cleared his throat, staring the list. "Well, Team 7 will be Haruno Sakura..."

Naruto inhaled sharply, tightening his fists.

"Uchiha Sasuke..." He could hear Sakura's jubilant scream all across the classroom, in midst of other feminine complaints and whining. Naruto groaned too.

"...and Hyuuga Neji."

Huh.

That was...sort of unexpected. Really unexpected.

Naruto frowned, wondering why it felt so out of place that he wouldn't be part of this team.

Iruka continued to recite. "That means that the last team will be Rock Lee, Tenten and Uzumaki Naruto."

He threw a tentative glance towards his future teammates, trying not to get freaked out towards the most humongous eyebrows he had ever met in his life. This boy was also wearing a spandex, a bowl cut haircut style and a goofy smile. His female teammate, on the other hand, simply smiled once she noticed him, waving her hand.

Naruto awkwardly waved back, butterflies squirming in his stomach. A brand new life lied ahead of him and he couldn’t wait to get into his first ninja mission.

His new teacher was a bigger weirdo named Maito Gai. He wore Lee’s same spandex and had even thicker brows, but every qualm was instant quelled once he showed impressive taijutsu skills. He was also unbelievably patient and kind with his protegées, taking notes of their strengths and deficiencies, even teaching basic ninjutsus skills to Naruto that he didn’t manage to learn back in ninja Academy.

Gai had auto-proclaimed rival to Team 7’s leader, some shady guy named Kakashi. They stumbled towards that team on a rather frequent basis while watching Gai’s bravados and weird contests with Kakashi laidback responses. That also meant that Naruto and Lee were busy wooing (or at least trying to) Sakura. Noticing Lee’s unsuccessful attempts to ask her out made him shift for another strategy; concentrating on the other rival ergo Uchiha Sasuke.

(though frankly, while sprawled on the bed after another grueling day of training, Naruto had to admit that what he wanted the most was to check if Sasuke, who is another orphan like him, was doing ok on his own)

Sasuke egged him on, honestly. Calling him a total dumbass, smirking while they bickered, it was refreshing someone acknowledge him aside his teammates.

Sakura was treating him better in comparison to the Academy days, much to his positive surprise. She muttered something about Sasuke giving her a blistering lecture, defending Naruto out, which broke his wall for a second.

Chuunin exams arrived, Lee and Tenten losing in the preliminaries, fueling Naruto to get a victory for the team. His fight against Hyuuga Neji ended with some broken bones, painful conversations, a promise and a new friend. He was looking forward to see Sasuke defeat Gaara to honor Konoha, however, as life was full of unexpected changes, that innocuous exam ended with the Sandaime Hokage murdered and the village being attacked.

The village council convinced Kakashi be a temporary Hokage, everyone gathering around to fix the destruction. Soon they returned to their old routine with the usual genin missions while they went back to train. Naruto kept helping Tenten to conjure better weapons as well as sparring with Lee. He had to admit that while Gai was a good teacher, he wished he could expand even further his skills to something other than taijutsu…

Before he could get back to the idyllic days, out of nowhere, Sasuke disappeared. Rumors spread seeing Sakura’s swollen eyes and Kakashi handling a mission to retrieve him. All genins he knew assembled a team with Shikamaru as the leader and Neji to talk him through.

The mission was a complete utter failure.

“He just didn’t listen to me. I even mentioned you Naruto-kun, how it’s possible for anyone to get out from our personal darkness and conquer fate but still…” Neji shook his head, swallowing a soldier pill to replenish his depleted chakra.

Words of disagreement lodged on his throat but he couldn’t voice it out. Naruto knew, somehow, that if it were him, instead of Neji, maybe…Maybe he’d be able to convince Sasuke, or…

After this incident, he noticed Sakura’s grim expression when she started her medic nin training, as well as Neji’s renewed determination to change the Hyuuga clan. Naruto questioned himself, why he wanted with almost the same intensity to bring Sasuke back to Konoha, despite wondering if he’d make a difference. He’s not even his teammate…

And yet he pondered; was this the reason why he accepted Jiraiya’s tutelage, when Gai mentioned about him when they went to retrieve Tsunade?

But as painful that experience was for everyone involved in, life moved on. Even shadows casting on Team 7’s eyes were blurring out, Sakura mentioning her ex-teammate with a somewhat nostalgia instead of bitterness, and Neji found a closer friendship with Naruto as years passed by.

Naruto questioned himself then, the irrational need to work to the bone 24/7, red iris plaguing his dreams sometimes. He was evolving, he was becoming a stronger ninja and yet he always felt that he didn’t reach his full potential. As if his body was waiting for a worthy rival to inspire him.

Team 7 and Team Gai were celebrating together for gaining their chuunin title, as well as Neji’s jounin promotion. Lee and Sakura used this opportunity to reveal that they were dating, shocking them all. They were a cute couple; Naruto figured, so he approached her to drop a quiet confession.

“You know, it’s funny but I used to have a crush on you.” He muttered, sipping his tea.

Sakura stared with wide eyes, before letting out a short chuckle.

“What!” Naruto yowled. “I mean, don’t sell yourself short, you are cute so a lot of boys liked you and I used to be one of them so⏤”

Sakura shook her head, giggling. "No, no, no, I mean...I thought you used to have a crush on Sasuke.”

His jaw dropped to the ground. “What?!”

“Yes, whenever our teams met, you were busier staring at him and trying to get him to fight you than trying to talk with me. So I thought maybe you were into him? Like the typical boy who pull the girl’s pigtails because he likes her. Well, though you two were boys. Was I wrong?”

Naruto was scarlet red to the tip of his hair, mouth still slack, unable to formulate any complete sentence. Sakura’s smile grew more mischievous so he settled to avoid looking at her, wolfing down his plate.

Sakura pursed her lips, sagging on her seat. “Sasuke huh...he’s coming back, you know.”

For a second, the world stood stock still. “What?”

She shrugged, fingers twirling strands of hair. “You heard that right. He wants to go back to Konoha, claiming that he saw the errors of his way. So he traded important information about Sound Village and Orochimaru to regain his citizenship and ninja status in Konoha.”

A silence fell between them as they both took their time to absorb this bout of information. Sakura cheered up once her boyfriend was back with fresh food, but Naruto was lost thinking about all possibilities.

Few days later, Sasuke arrived at the gates, battered and tired, cradling a cloth wrapping with his arms. He was already the main gossip of the town, then the whispers grew exponentially once they confirmed that he was, indeed, holding a little child.

At a tender age of 18, this young man was already a father.

Naruto hid in some corner of a store, glancing surreptitiously as Sasuke strolled through the streets, uncaring to people gawking and muttering around him. The toddler began shuffling, hiccuping. Those small noises soon turned to loud wails that made him stop at once, cradling her close as he made little bounces though this wasn’t enough to calm her down. People made annoyed faces and had quicken their paces, everyone refused to help him out.

Listening to the cries that increased in volume, he bit his lip, taking a deep breath. He emerged from his spot, walking closer to Sasuke who appeared a little frantic.

“Um.” Naruto scratched the back of his head when Sasuke turned to face him with a glare, hands busy while his daughter kept crying. “Maybe you can try putting her body resting over your upper arm, like a tiger resting on a branch.”

Sasuke stared skeptical, despite obeying his suggestion. Her short yowls decreased, breathing becoming more even till she slept in his arms. Needless to say, Sasuke was rather impressed.

“Uh yeah⏤Iruka-toosan sometimes asks me to help him out taking care of children in the daycare center. I got some of those tips.”

Sasuke grunted back, gazing upon his baby.

“So…” Naruto smacked his lips. “Welcome back? Uh, what’s her name?”

Sasuke huffed, placing her head on his left shoulder. “Sarada.”

Naruto held her tiny hand, smiling with a whisper. “Sarada-chan~welcome to Konoha. You’re gonna love living here, meeting auntie Sakura, uncle Neji, Kakashi, me...how old is she?”

Sasuke scrunched up his face, staring downwards. “9 months. I thought...I’d be fine on my own but in the end, we needed⏤” He thinned his lips. “I said too much.” Before Naruto would ask any further question, Sasuke said. “I should get going. Thank you, Naruto.”

Naruto nodded back, watching the brisk steps moving away from him.

Once Sasuke had settled in the old Uchiha compound, Sakura, Neji and Kakashi visited him. They were welcoming, but absent. After all, Sakura was busy in Konoha’s hospital, Kakashi was going to be officially appointed as Konoha’s Hokage, Neji was helping his cousin changing Hyuuga clan’s laws.

There was a significant chasm between Sasuke and other ninjas of his generation, since he was now a father between young adults, and left Konoha while the Rookie Nine nurtured their relationship over the years. He made no effort to draw the bridge too, cooped in his house taking care of his daughter most of the time. And even when the gang would reunite, he was always the last one to arrive, the first to go.

On some occasions Sakura would succeed in convincing him to bring his daughter whenever team Gai and team 7 would gather in her house. Sasuke however, maintained his distance with the crew, aside some quiet conversation with Neji.

It was almost like living in an old film reel, rolling all over again. Watching Sasuke as a child from afar, craving to reach his hand and talk to him but never building enough courage to do so. They became mere acquaintances, the occasional nod of recognition when they crossed paths, making small talks while Sasuke was nursing Sarada. Soon Naruto became jounin when Sasuke managed the chuunin title, Lee mentioning he and Sakura took care of Sarada while he was doing the exams.

He stared down the porcelain mask while the townspeople cheered the end of Kakashi’s appointed ceremony. Gai stood next to him, and Naruto smiled from his teacher’s happiness emanating from afar. Long time ago, he remembered desiring conquering such coveted position, but nowadays he was content knowing that Kakashi would make a decent Hokage.

(why did he lose so easily his determination to follow his ambitions?)

Kakashi didn’t waste much time in celebration, throwing mission after mission on him, one longer than the other and in some faraway sketchy places. Most those times Naruto could only hear the faint echoes of their sprinting, casting long shadows on the cavernous walls. He was responsible exploding laboratories while Tenten gathered reports, weird shapes submerged in purpleish water.

How bizarre. Sometimes he could swear some of those shapes had some resemblance with Sasuke.

⏤.⏤

Iruka was like a father to him and he deserved this long vacation after years of tireless tutelage. But still.

Screams. Collisions. Little imps running around all over the place. Those squirmy little brats slithering out of his grasp and making a racket.

Naruto really needed to work in refusing Iruka’s requests, but the older nin was just this damn persuasive.

He spread his clones in every corner of the daycare center, however, it didn’t seem to be enough. The moment the kids understood that his bunshins could pop out with some harder shove, they made their newest game dispelling as many clones as possible.

Yet those kids were old enough to learn basics of ninja skills, so other teachers threw such responsibility on Naruto’s shoulders, considering he had a higher rank. He had a hard time tampering down his strength, why are children such squiggly delicate beings that cried with the littlest wound?

Naruto spent only one day with them and he was already wondering if he would leave this experience unscathed. Nevertheless he summoned every bit of his patience and taught the fundamentals of aiming, giving them the chance to train too.

He heard collective praises and some gasps coming from afar, approaching and noticing the dark haired girl concentrated on her task. Whoa...time surely flies by pretty damn fast. He had forgotten that Sarada was already 5 years old. Naruto snorted when he saw that most shurikens she threw hit the bullseye.

But that wasn’t enough to satisfy her, since she picked all the paper shurikens and threw with renewed zeal. The rest of the kids went away playing on their own, but Sarada remained in training. Heaving tired breaths, she flung another shuriken but this time it flew past the target.

She made a frustrated growl, running to dislodge the weapon that dug deep in the bark of a tree. Naruto heard a concealed hiccup, as Sarada rubbed her eyes with her arm.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, I got this.” Naruto appeared in a blink, quirking a mollifying smile and removed the shuriken with ease. He offered to the young Uchiha, she accepted the weapon with contemplative eyes.

“You’re Lee-san’s friend right?” She realized.

“Sure am! I’m Uzumaki Naruto, it’s nice to see you again Sarada-chan.” Naruto patted her head. “You know, it’s really important to train your skills, but taking a break is also equally as important. Letting your body rest when it’s so tired, so it can grow stronger the next time.”

Sarada pouted, then muttered. “Auntie Sakura told me stories about back when my father was my age. He was a genius, always great with whatever he did, but I’m…”

“Ah yeah your dad...I also remember that he used to train all day and night over and over again. You’ll get as good as him in no time, don’t worry about it.”

“But…” Sarada bit her lower lip, shuffling her feet. “Father once talked to me about the Uchiha clan and how it used to be a very respectable clan and I have to follow their footsteps so⏤”

“Ugh, who cares!” Naruto rolled his eyes. “I think it’s too much that this bastard⏤”

She gasped. “You said a bad word!”

“S-sorry.” He scratched his head. “Anyways, I think it’s unfair to put such heavy duties on your shoulders. Your dad suffered back he was your age, I don’t want you to suffer the same. You should be only Sarada-chan after all right! You’ll make your father proud in your own pace.”

“You think so?”

“I know so! After all, I’m already proud of you and I’m your teacher, right.” He messed her hair, patting on it.

Sarada stared down her shuriken, thumbs sliding over it. She peeked through her fringes, a rosy blush dusting her cheeks. “Thank you Uzumaki-sensei.”

“Oh, you can call me Naruto.” He grinned.

Her voice pumped with more excitement as she said. “Naruto-sensei!”

On the following days Naruto continued with his ninja classes, juggling between paying attention to all students, focusing on the rowdy ones, teaching those lessons and avoid any kind of catastrophe might ensue. He had found another mounting respect towards Iruka, those kids just can’t be real.

In every class Sarada was the first to complete it with pristine score, dashing next to him with eyes silently asking for his praise.

And praise he did, with words of encouragement and approval, injecting an impressed tone as he ruffled her hair. Every single time this gave her renewed motivation to improve herself. Naruto gazed fondly from afar as Sarada hopped between trees with ease. His entire childhood was consumed by hatred and neglect from adults until he met Iruka, he’d never subject any other kid to such trauma once again.

“Naruto-sensei!” Sarada exclaimed, hugging his arm with a tight grip.

Naruto beamed, patting her hair. He was starting to see the perks of this profession, was this the reason why Iruka continued to be a teacher despite having to take care of these little brats everyday?

A baritone voice chimed from behind. “Ah, I see. Expected nothing less I guess.”

They turned around, facing the familiar piercing dark eyes. Sasuke gazed back in fond amusement.

“So you’re really the Naruto-sensei my daughter kept gushing about all last week.”

Sarada pale cheeks reddened at once. “Father!”

“Alright little one, it’s time to go home.” Sasuke hushed by patting on her back. “Go grab our things ok.” After Sarada obeyed him with a pronounced pout, Sasuke muttered once she was out of the picture. “Long time no see.”

“Yeah…” Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. “You look well I guess.”

“Hn. When Lee told me you’re subbing for Iruka-sensei, I didn’t quite believe at first. I thought you’re a jounin?”

“I am, but Iruka-toosan made me promise that I’d take care of them while he’s on vacation. I thought, well, kids right. I took care of ‘em sometimes, one whole month would be nothing and⏤”

“It’s hell isn’t it?” Sasuke smirked.

Naruto dropped his shoulders at once, a long groan vibrating on his throat. “Totally. I was already dead on the first day.”

Sasuke nodded in agreement. “Sarada thankfully is more helpful than most children. But still, where do they get all this energy?”

“I know right??” Naruto laughed. “They look so small I thought they wouldn’t be much trouble but whoa, did I misjudge on this one.”

Sarada arrived with backpack ready. “I’m back father!”

“Good. Maybe we’ll go eat outside for a change.”

“Oh! You should eat Ichiraku Ramen then, it’s perfect for cold day like today!” Naruto said.

Sasuke shook his head. “You and your Ichiraku Ramen, I remember you used to drag Lee and Tenten to eat at that place.”

“Ichiraku Ramen is the greatest, I was just doing them a favor to acknowledge such fact. There’s no other restaurant that would have such delicious braised pork, a tender yet firm noodles coupled with the rich texture and savory miso broth. It’s the best.”

“If Naruto-sensei said so, maybe we should try it!” Sarada chirped. A lightbulb went off and she added. “Maybe he could go with us!”

Both young men crossed their eyes before deflecting in haste, Naruto cleared his throat as Sasuke thinned his lips. “Naruto-sensei looks pretty tired, maybe we shouldn’t bother him too much Sarada.”

“Oh, she’s not bothering me for sure.” Naruto retorted. “But maybe you want to have some quiet time together with your father, right, Sarada-chan?”

“Father wouldn’t mind if you tag along Naruto-sensei, right?” Sarada pulled out the most pitiful expression she could ever muster, jutting her lower lip. “Right?”

Glancing in between her frantic daughter and the bewildered blue eyes, Sasuke exhaled tiredly. He mumbled under his breath. “Is it ok for you to go with us Naruto?”

“Um, ok. Sure!” He messed with Sarada’s hair when she jumped in joy. “I’m going to ask my favorite Ramen flavor for you Sarada-chan, I’m sure you’re going to love it.”

Despite initial reservations, they maintained a cheerful conversation peppered with Naruto’s booming voice and Sarada’s exclaims while they were walking on the way to the restaurant. This time though, Sasuke appeared to be a more sociable mood, chatting back with occasional grunts, which Naruto didn’t mind with his easy-going nature.

Sasuke insisted paying the bill despite all his protests, explaining that this was a small gesture of gratitude for taking care of his daughter. After waving goodbyes, they went on separate ways, smile playing on both their lips.

“Naruto-sensei is like the sun right!”

Sasuke blinked, head tilted to one side to gawk at her. Sarada linked her fingers together, placing to one side of her cheek as she whispered with a dreamy voice.

“He’s so nice and friendly, full of energy and bright. And when he smiles you just feel happier too, it’s wide and sincere, he makes your mood so much better. I love his hair, it’s golden exactly like the sun and his eyes have such a beautiful shade of blue, I’d never get tired looking at his eyes and⏤” She stopped her diatribe once she noticed her father’s peering eyes. “What?”

Sasuke studied his daughter, before settling with a long sigh.

She wrinkled her nose. “Anyways, as I was saying…”

⏤.⏤

2nd chapter here

⏤.⏤

AN: at first I thought that it’d be a one-shot but it got too much material for only a one-shot. So...lol. It’s gonna be a two-shot.

#SunAndMoonChallenge2019 #NaruSasu #SasuNaru #drabble #two-shot #snstext #sn fic

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thisloveforyourmom · 6 years

Text

Sudden Silence, Ch.1

Hey guys! I’ve recently been collaborating with @the-cockbite-syndicate and a bunch of other content creators to make content for a BRAND NEW cow chop au, so here’s my chapter one! If you read/liked Sygyzy, be prepared for another wild ride. Here it is!

Sudden Silence

Chapter 1: Noise

There are a lot of things that James Wilson was prepared for. Tattoos, for one thing. Calligraphy. Stray marks. Paint. Sharpie. Even scars, honesty.

But here he is, sixteen years old, watching black ink blossom across his skin for the first time, and he realizes he wasn’t prepared for Japanese.

He thinks it’s Japanese, after googling “asian languages” and clicking ‘images’. The characters seem to line up the way they should, not quite as complex looking as Mandarin and not as spaced out as Korean, but without a Japanese keyboard or the ability to understand pictographic characters he can’t tell what it says. He writes ‘what?’ on his own skin with a ballpoint pen, and the only reply he gets is to see the characters smudge like they were wiped and then wash away.

***

James is twenty-two, and Los Angeles is a bigger city than he ever could have imagined or, really, even wanted. His apartment isn’t bad, but it isn’t exactly good either, and the traffic is terrible in a way that no traffic should ever have to be. Even six months in, he’s still unsure about the decision to move, but he’d assured his mom that LA would have plenty of opportunities and that she shouldn’t worry about him all the way in Pennsylvania, and damned if he was about to come running home across the country just so that she could tell him that she was right. She’d done it enough over the phone, the first month or so when he’d been missing her the most, and then James had remembered that he thrives on spite and he’d made it his goal to succeed.

He has a job at a “gourmet starbucks”, which is just a starbucks that serves special ice cream lattes and pays an hourly rate with two digits, and it’s not the job he plans to keep but it pays the bills on his apartment with enough left over that he can start an internship sometime soon. The first couple months, he works with Aleks, and as his most frequent coworker he quickly becomes James’ first and only friend.

Aleks then exposes him to Brett, who’s all dry wit and seems to know how to get under Aleks’ skin even better than James does, and they very quickly form a mutual respect once Brett stun guns himself in the leg and James drinks--well, drinks is a strong word--a blend of protein milk and mealworms.

Then Aleks gets a better job, one that pays him more and doesn’t require him to smell like coffee 24/7, and when he leaves Trevor and Aron take his place. It’s shocking, really, how every new employee at this liquid sugar store seems to fit seamlessly into the group they’re forming, but within a couple weeks Aron moves away and Trevor springs for amateur photography and Jakob and Asher take their place on the morning shift.

And then, two months later, Jakob swaps to the night shift, Asher joins Trevor, and James gets promoted to manager before he finds himself leaning against the counter at 5:30 AM, staring at a Japanese man with a headband and and a nametag that says ‘Sasuke Uchiha’.

He’s got pin straight black hair, cut choppily as if he’s done it himself, and he stands just a little shorter than James. Giving him the onceover, the first things James notices are the wristbands, and the second is the way he stands, as if he’s ready to move in any direction at any time. He’s skinny, but muscular, and he’s got to be around James’ age but there’s a certain maturity about him that makes him seem much older.

They stare for a while, and part of it is the fact that James got up at five in the morning to open, and part of it is the fact that past a a basic greeting this new guy hasn’t spoken once.

“So how do you say that?” James asks eventually, and maybe he’s just not a morning person, but ‘Sasuke’ only stares for a moment or so.

“Sa-su-ke,” he eventually says, sounding it out with something that’s almost contempt, and James was going to sigh but he’s caught off guard by the way that this new guy’s voice sounds. Not what he’s putting into it, probably, but...it rings a bell, of some kind, only James can’t tell what. “Welcome to hell,” he says, instead of thinking about that, and he whips a washcloth off the counter and at Sasuke. He catches it, unfazed, and James doesn’t know why Sasuke’s composure annoys him, but it does. “You’re new, you scrub the tables. When that’s done, work the register until the hospital crowd stops coming in, and then I’ll show you how to use the machines. Until then…” James yawns. “Don’t fucking bother me.”

***

Sasuke’s only been working there for a few hours, but James can’t stop stealing glances at him. Sasuke is definitely attractive, but 5’9” with a permanent bored look has never exactly been James’ type, and he can’t figure out why he’s so interested. But he is, and he keeps noticing things that he’d never care about in anyone else. Sasuke moves almost a little too smoothly, like a dancer, and he’s got abnormally fast reflexes. He always keeps his wrists covered. He hasn’t spilled any coffee on anyone yet, and James gets the feeling that if he did spill it, he wouldn’t care all that much. Everything only adds to the weird air of mystery surrounding him.

God, ‘air of mystery’, he sounds like a fucking author with a crush and that’s not what this is. He’s curious, is all. That’s it. This person is new, and he does things a little weirdly, and James hasn’t seen it before so he’s curious and if he’s going to dissect that it won’t be now.

James tells himself that until he’s distracted by Aleks coming in before work. He ushers Sasuke away from the register, because Aleks is a hassle to deal with on his best days, and if James is there Aleks isn’t going to let him hear the end of ignoring him at the register anyway. Sasuke doesn’t say anything, just nods and goes to make a latte or something--and James was kind of shocked at how quickly he picked up that particular skill, he’d said he hadn’t done it before, but he’d learned pretty fast how to foam milk without getting it everywhere and how not to overtamp the espresso machine--and maybe James was just an idiot but it had definitely taken him a couple days to master the production of caffeine.

“Are you going to take my order, or are you too busy staring at that new guy?” Aleks asks, and James snaps his attention to the bottle blonde standing at the counter.

“I wasn’t--” he starts, but the look on Aleks’ face tells him that he’s either explaining himself, getting relentlessly teased, or both, so he just sighs. “He just looks kinda familiar, is all, stop giving me that look, you fucker.”

Aleks pauses for a moment, and the slow smile on his face is all James needs to see.

“That’s fucked up--”

“Not Aron familiar, you asshole, what the fuck do you want from this stupid hipster fucking Starbucks,” James groans, and Aleks only laughs. He doesn’t order, just offers his card, but that’s okay because if James didn’t know what he wanted by now he’d be a really pathetic friend.

He writes russian asshole on the cup, and then gets back to actually making coffee while Sasuke takes his spot at the register. It’s a hard battle not to yell cocksucker instead of grande white chocolate mocha, but he manages, and if he gets back to stealing glimpses of the new guy once he’s gone then there’s no one around who cares enough to notice.

***

Sasuke sticks around, and James shouldn’t be surprised because this is his job, but it still seems strange for whatever reason. Like ‘coworker’ isn’t the word he should be using to describe him. Either way, within the week, he’s working more efficiently than Jakob ever did, and probably poisoning less customers, and James can’t deny the efficiency he’s brought. His role in the store is already growing, and with it for some stupid reason, James’ interest in him.

There’s a lot he didn’t notice on the first day. Sasuke takes care with each individual order, as if he thinks they’re important beyond the scope of the job, and at one point James catches him looking around after he messes up a name and James quickly looks away. When he peeks again, there’s a small smirk on Sasuke’s face, and James can’t fight the smile coming to his own.

James’ initial fascination just...doesn’t wear off. It’s stupid, and Aleks notices it every time, and because he has no morals he points it out to Brett, and while he sternly denies their suspicions that it’s a crush, it’s like he sees something new every time he looks over. By Friday, he’s almost disappointed for his days off, and he doesn’t get it. He hadn’t cared half as much about Trevor or Jakob or even Aleks, but something about this guy just...draws him closer. Pulls his eyes away from whatever he’s doing and into some bullshit people-watching session where there’s only one person being watched.

He can’t help it. He wants to, but he can’t. He finds himself noticing the little things, even if they’re the same little things he’s noticed time and time again. How he moves, the way his bangs are cut. The way he asks for someone’s name. But this is not a crush, so he’s resigned himself to finding out as much as he can just by watching his new coworker and hopefully whatever this is--not a crush--will stop.

***

“Taste my wrath, James,” Brett calls, laughing in that little, stupid, infuriating way of his, and James almost throws his controller across the room.

“Fuck off,” he yells as he falls off the level for the fifth fucking time, and the moment the race ends he drops the controller in favor of leaning back with his head in his hands. “I don’t wanna play this game anymore.”

“You’re just a sore fucking loser,” Brett laughs, and fuck Brett because he’s got first in the Prix. “Wasn’t me. That was Trevor.” James still hasn’t moved, but he’s more than happy to move the blame.

“Dude, what?” Trevor asks, but before he can get an answer James stands up and stretches, going to the kitchen and opening the fridge. “Oh, dude, get me a Sprite,” Aleks calls, and he’s second in the prix so fuck him too, actually.

“No. I’m done with your games.” He comes back with a shitty ten ounce can of Sprite anyway, but immediately regrets it when he sees the look on Aleks’ face.

“If you’re done with the game, we could just talk about your fuckin’ boner for that new guy--” James doesn’t let him get far. “It’s not a boner, you fucker, first of all, and his name is Sasuke.” It’s too immediate, and there’s just a little too much aggression in it, and Aleks only leans back with his eyebrows raised. Trevor, from across the room, does the opposite, and James can feel the attention in the room shift entirely to him god damn it. “I mean, I’m not, uh, well versed in these subjects, but--”

“Shut the fuck up, Trevor, you can’t listen to this conversation,” James says, throwing a throw pillow at him and then using the other one to cover his face when Brett starts in. “You’ve been talking about him in the groupchat for like, a week, dude,” he says, and James only groans. “Shut up, you baby. It’s a crush.”

“He’s interesting,” James moans, and Brett just laughs.

“I know a lot of interesting people. You didn’t stare at any of them for 8 hours a day.”

“If I had to stare at you for 8 hours a day I’d kill myself.” “So you like staring at him.” God, Brett’s an asshole sometimes. James pulls away the pillow and starts to tell him that, but something on his face must give something away because Brett throws his hands up before he can. “Jesus, okay, calm down,” he laughs, and James just stares for a moment before pulling the pillow back over his face and groaning again.

***

They drop it, and James thinks it’s because they can tell they’re pushing something and he doesn’t like that there’s something there to push. At the same time, his whatever-this-is with Sasuke isn’t going away, and might even be getting worse, and judging by the look Aleks gave him Monday morning, if he doesn’t acknowledge it soon his friends are going to kill him.

Nothing comes to a head until Wednesday morning, where one of them is greeted by a platinum blonde and for the first time in two weeks it isn’t James. “Sasuke!” Someone calls, and both their heads turn at the sound. James quickly looks back to his customer at the register, but his ears are open to the conversation going on beside him. “Why did you come?” Sasuke says, and that one sentence holds more emotion than James has ever heard from him.

“Because you’re my friend, idiot,” the blonde replies, and then there’s a scoff and a laugh. “I’m an adult--” “I wanted to see how you were doing,” the blonde says, and it sounds...more subdued. Serious. There’s a moment where they don’t speak, and it’s filled by the sound of Sasuke turning on the ice machine. Then it goes off, and one of them sighs.

“I’m fine, Naruto.” Sasuke sounds tired, but not...ungrateful, and when James sneaks a look over he can see ‘Naruto’ smiling slightly. “Good.” Apparently that’s all he needed to hear, because he then starts in on a coffee order, and the look of pure exasperation on Sasuke’s face is enough to make James stifle a laugh. “Go to the register and order like a normal person, you loser,” he says, and Naruto makes a thoughtful sound for a moment.

“Fine,” he says, and James can see a flurry of motion out of the corner of his eye. “Naruto--” “This is payment, what kind of a friend won’t even make his friend a coffee, it’s a ransom headband--”

James doesn’t know what’s going on, but it’s getting closer and closer to him, and he turns to look just in time--

For Sasuke to spill hot coffee on him while trying to reach over at whatever Naruto’s got in his hand and time seems to stop.

He should be angry, probably, but really it isn’t hot enough to bu--okay, yeah, it’s hot enough to burn, but for some reason he doesn’t care. The sliver of skin where their arms brushed against each other feel electrified, as if they’re burning with black flames, and James doesn’t know why he chose black ones but it just seems to fit.

Sasuke’s eyes widen, and then meet his, and then for one long, slow moment, the world around them fades away, and all James can really focus on is the fact that Sasuke is pressed against him, burning and electric, and that he doesn’t ever want this moment to end.

And then it ends, and the seconds fade from minutes back to seconds again, and when Sasuke pulls away James is left holding the cloth away from his skin so that his torso doesn’t get burned too badly.

Sasuke just stands there, with his eyes wide and a mostly empty coffee cup in his hands, and for a moment everything is silent. And then Naruto jumps in with an obscene amount of concern for someone that he’s never met. “Are you okay?” He asks, reaching across the counter with some napkins and dropping Sasuke’s headband next to the register. Sasuke doesn’t reach for it, still just standing there, and James is still dazed enough that it takes him a moment to reply. “Wh--oh, no, yeah, yeah, I’m fine, I guess, I’ll just…” He stops. “I’ll just need a new shirt or something, yeah,” and he can tell from the way Sasuke relaxes slightly that he was expected a whole lot more anger. Well, James can’t really blame him, considering how he is normally, but it’s really hard to be angry when...well, when it’s Sasuke.

It’s only hard for James, though. “Sasuke!” Naruto practically yells, and Sasuke jumps some, finally blinking away that deer-in-the-headlights look. “You have to take him to get a new shirt.”

“Woah, wait a minute, it’s really fine--” James tries, but neither of them are listening. They seem to be having a silent conversation, and it looks like Naruto’s winning.

“Fine,” Sasuke finally concedes, and then turns to James. “After work?” He asks, and he’s not meeting James’ eyes, but he’s not sounding as...sullen as James had expected him to. Sasuke looks almost shy, and it’s...really cute. James realizes that he’d been staring for a moment, and shakes it away. “I--yeah, after work, that’s...fine…” He says, and then he has to turn away to help the next customer because the line is getting longer and also if he lingers in that moment any longer he’ll combust and fuck, fuck, fuck it’s definitely a crush.

(“I have a date”, he texts in the groupchat next time he gets a break, and then, “I’m fucked.”

He looks at his arms, and the rest of his body. Bare as they’ve always been.

Fuck.) @naruto-chop

#james wilson #cow chop #aleks marchant

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nneoculture · 7 years

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hidden relationship w/ idol!yuta (requested)

request: Hii can you pls do Hidden relationship with idol!Yuta? Thanks :)

a/n so i’m guessing you guys really enjoy my hidden relationship scenarios bc i have a johnny and a doyoung one coming up as requested!!! other than that i still have a lot of other stuff in my requests but still feel free to send some here! i probably won’t post another one of these till next week since its project week so i’m gonna be focusing on school :( but please do support my other recent scenario for mark! thank you very much! (this got really long im so sorry)

genre: slight angst, fluff

ok so you're ncts stylist

so you're always on the go with them and shit and you've actually grown pretty close to them

especially yuta

so yuta ,,,, he's a flirt everyone is aware of this ,,, at first he tried to flirt with you whenever you do his hair

but then after a while, he'd actually talk about pretty interesting things which made u think like ??? oh he's not just some stuck up flirty idol

then yeah you two eventually grew closer which led to him asking you out on a date

by date he means ,,, sneak out at 2 am and eat ramen at a convenience store

but that was fine with you. you understand his situation

so you've pretty much only been dating for a month and since cherry bomb promotions have been going on, you can't really risk getting him in trouble so you both agree to tell everyone about your relationship after promotions end

so yeah yuta's actually such a good bf

he treats you like a goddess, he literally praises the ground you walk on

you, on the other hand, manage to sneak lil cheek pinches while doing his makeup

you're always like "i don't even have to do your hair it looks good no matter what"

you're just a hidden power couple ya know

yeah ok so one day you're just styling ncts hair and stuff and fixing their clothes for a music video

and johnny's about to do his take and the other stylist is like "hey y/n can u do some final checks on johnny" and ur like yeah sure

so johnny's sitting in the chair next to yuta's and so yeah you're doing final touch ups on johnny

and then he's like "y/n ur really pretty"

and you're like "oh thanks dude"

he's like "are you free after the shoot we should go for some lunch or something"

you glance at yuta and he's staring and u already know hes jealous bc hes so protective of u

you're like "sorry johnny but ill pass i kinda have something going on later"

and he's like "aw are u sure you can't cancel that? its just lunch"

then he turns to yuta and he goes "bro don't you think she should go out for lunch with me?"

yuta's like "idk bro i mean she did say she already has plans tho" and he looks MAD

johnny's like "aye do you have a boyfriend y/n"

you're like "uhhhh yeah"

yuta's like :333 dat me on the inside

johnny's like "oh crap who's the lucky guy!!!!!!"

you're like "oh just some guy you don't know him"

johnny's like "oh well sorry for trying to get at you then man i didn't know"

ur like "nah its fine jaehyun tried to ask me out once too anyway"

then he goes off to film his take and thats when u realize YUTA DOESNT KNOW ABOUT THE JAEHYUN THING

yuta's like "so jaehyun tried asking you out??"

you're like "yyyyyyeeeeaaaaah"

"and you didn't tell me?"

"yeaaaahhhhhh"

"was it before or after we started dating"

"after"

yuta's like "if it was before would you have said yes"

and you're like "wtf kind of question is that ofcourse not,,,, i had a thing for you"

and he's still kinda insecure but he has to film so he leaves before he can say anything else

and you're like no bby don't feel that way :(:(:(

so they're taking a 10 minute break and you sneak yuta out back of the warehouse where theres no people

you're like "yo you're probably feeling insecure bc u think i would've dated your other members if you didn't ask first aren't you"

he's just silent and looking at u

you're like "well i wouldn't have dated your other members anyway i always had a special thing for you bc you're an amazing guy and the only one who can make my heart go like 💖💟💗💕💘💓💕💞💜💞💕 this and i only love you"

yuta grins and goes "you love me?"

you're like "i said all that and thats all you got from it?"

he's like "thats the only thing that really matters"

then he pulls you into a really tight hug

like he's literally squeezing your soul out

then he whispers "i love you too by the way"

and you're like UGHHHDHDHH I LOVE ONE PRECIOUS BOY

and you pull him into a kiss

its cute bitch listen he smiles into the kiss isnt that fucking cute

then when you pull away you see something in your peripheral vision

you both turn to see the members staring at yall in shock

they're faces are literally like :O

then doyoungs like "did i just watch a scene from a fucking drama or was that real life"

donghyucks like "HYUNG YOU'RE DATING Y/N??!?!??!!!!!?"

and while they're all in shock their manager follows and goes like "you two. we need to talk"

you're like "aw crap we're so screwed"

so yeah the manager talks about how your relationship is gonna have to be lowkey. like really lowkey. and you both agree bc its better than being split up RIGHT

so after that scary talk yuta's like "that was unexpected"

you're like "that was really unexpected. and its only 2 pm."

then yuta's like "true. so can i get a kiss again"

you're like "fuck off" but you pull him closer anyway and as you're leaning in THE MEMBERS COME IN

THEY JUST COME IN AT THE WRONG TIMES

taeyongs like "are we interrupting something"

jaehyuns like "oh damn i remember i asked you out once y/n im so sorry"

johnny's like "I ASKED YOU OUT THIS MORNING"

and the members are laughing at this and so is yuta

you're like "its okay really johnny"

he's like "NO ITS NOT I EVEN ASKED YUTA FOR HIS OPINION"

AND THE MEMBERS ARE CRACKING TF UP

"AND YOU SAID I DIDNT KNOW WHOEVER YOUR BF WAS. HE WAS SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO US"

and everyones just laughing while you're reassuring johnny that it isnt a big deal

yuta puts his arm around you and he's like "well atleast you guys know now. keep your hands off my lady."

and donghyucks like "thats so gross and cheesy get out"

you're getting shy so yuta pinches your cheek using the hand thats resting on your shoulder

everyone cringes on the outside but they actually find it REALLY cute

so everyone goes back to minding their own business

then yuta whispers "so how about a date after filming? or do you actually have plans?"

you grin and go like "only with you" :)

the end

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redflannelgal-blog · 5 years

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Email Advertising Lesson (3 )

Email Advertising and marketing LessonI relocated into a brand-new workplace just recently and also was unpacking when I realized I was fading fast and also required a caffeine repair. Seems my Starbucks coffee maker had gotten lost with the movers. I stressed."Currently what?" I believed. I had never gone a complete afternoon without a cappucino. I knew something would occur if I didn't obtain one, and also it would possibly be the kind of thing that would create my therapist, so skipping my caffeine fix was not an alternative. I currently had two web pages of concerns we were covering. I think the unboxing would certainly have to be placed on hold.I set my Starbucks radar on full sharp as well as followed the path of laid-back organisation outfit. Certainly, 2 blocks later on I found a Starbucks on the corner. As I pulled unlock, a little gent whisked in under my arm. Which is just how I met Mr. Pibs.Mr. Pibs had been involving that particular Starbucks given that it opened. Every mid-day regarding the very same time as my present 'mind fade,' he as well required a solution. We got our coffees as well as made our means to the comfy chairs.Mr. Pibs told me he was in wholesale family pet products and also had his own manufacturing center. He began up 25 years ago with a small shop in his garage and also now rented a 200,000 square foot facility as well as used over fifty workers. We drank our coffees and also chatted about company. I asked him just how he marketed his items to prospective retail outlets."We have a subscriber-based mailing checklist," he claimed. "About 2500 high quality family pet shops throughout the United States."I was amazed! 2500 leads does not seem like much but these stores had asked to be spoken to. The stores were real, prospective buyers searching for item. "So do you keep in touch month-to-month or do you locate seasonal jobs better?" I casually asked."Month-to-month!" Mr. Pibs exclaimed in horror. "That would be $50,000 of shipping a year! No, we send our complete shade brochure on a yearly basis, costs us about $4000 in mailing fees. I draw a couple of ladies off the production line and get them licking stamps as well as packing envelopes. We've been doing our advertising like this because the 2nd year we started. Certain is fantastic that printing is a lot more affordable these days. Saves us a package!"I gagged on the foam in my cup and felt a familiar feeling come me. Before I knew it I was standing as well as swing my arms around my head in large circles."Mr.Pibs, are you outrageous?" I chewed out the top of my lungs, and started to rant, arms swing. "What advertising cavern did you simply crawl out of? Why not put your brochure online? Why not use a regular Email Advertising and marketing campaign to stay connected with the pet shops often? Are you anti-technology? Why are on earth are you sending out all that things by mail?." And after that I recognized I hardly recognized this guy and also was primarily telling him he was a buffoon. But I really did not have time to compose myself because at that really moment, when I remained in mid-sentence of my Email Advertising rant, in strolled my grandmother.Crap! I had forgotten Grammy was going to fulfill me at my brand-new office! She quickly spotted me as well as made a beeline in my direction. As she got better I discovered she had a really strange looking hat on her head. It was all bumpy as well as type of resembled a bag. I observed an acquainted looking tag: Victoria's Secret.Since when did Victoria's Secret make hats?But I did not have time to ask, I needed to make Grandmother assume we were supposed to fulfill at the Starbucks and also I likewise needed to make up fast with Mr. Pibs prior to my new good friend thought I was a lunatic.I relied on Mr.Pibs, as well as saw he was iced up, mouth hanging open in shock at my Email Advertising, arm swing, soapbox speech.Grandma ordered the uninhabited seat alongside Mr. Pibs as well as plunked herself down, scooching her behind, desperately trying to get it past the arm rests.Mr. Pibs thawed and whispered in scary, "That ladies has a pair of underclothing-- on her head."As well as certainly my Grandma did indeed have a pair of Victoria's Secret underclothing on her head, covering a mass of curlers.I wheezed."Kid," my grandmother said, "I have actually been looking all over for you!" Seeing Mr. Pibs, and also unaware he and also I had actually been having a discussion, Grandma looked a little alarmed at my tiny icy friend. No surprise; the lack of color in his face was difficult to miss out on. "Tiny guy," she said, "You look ill, is the coffee also solid for your little belly?""Grandmother," I talked gradually, turning towards Mr. Pibs. "This is my new pal, Mr. Pibs." Then: "Mr. Pibs, I excuse my Email Marketing tirade, this is my Grammy. We had a coffee date this mid-day."My grandma extended her hand in a gesture of welcome. Mr.Pibs rested still, looking at my granny's hair curler cover."Lady, why is there undergarments on your head?""Oh this?" she claimed, as she whipped off the over-stretched skivvies, discovering an array of pink and also white curling irons. "These are old and also all extended of shape from also numerous years on the rear. This set works great to maintains my curlers in place. I updated to natural cotton underwear years ago."And with that we, or instead Granny and Mr. Pibs, chuckled and chatted away the mid-day. Those two struck it off so well I found myself a little bored. Just as well, I might not obtain Mr. Pibs"advertising and marketing approach' out of my mind. Well, at garage doors service gold coast weatherford ok United States postal service would not go out of service anytime quickly with Mr. Pibs around. I rested there watching those 2 laugh it up, and also drank my head in shock at my granny's Victoria's Secret curler coverer. Mr. Pibs' advertising approach was a whole lot like those underwear. Old, unhealthy, as well as all drooped out.I met Mr. Pibs again for coffee (without the interruption of Grammy as well as her head gitch) and stated to him that any type of firm that was not active online and making use of Email Advertising could wish to retire. He concurred that his whole technique ought to be put in a rest residence. It was sort of hard clarifying all that Email Marketing things to Mr.Pibs; he was a real Email Advertising newbie.I struggled awhile with analogies and understood the photo of those droopy underwear on my Grandmother's head was a perfect area to begin. I maintained choosing the gonch style as well as Mr. Pibs gradually began to comprehend the distinction in each kind of Email Advertising method. We chatted Email Advertising and marketing strategy and how a drawer filled with a range of underclothing styles was truly the ideal alternative for overall advertising and marketing support.If you are having a challenging time discussing Email Advertising and marketing to your antique manager or your customers, feel totally free to try out some of these. They collaborated with Mr. Pibs so I make certain they will certainly work for you.Broadcast Messages are like Bands: These little numbers work excellent at introducing, "Hey consider me, look at all the things I have to provide ... right now!" You do desire to work out some restraint. Similar to you do not desire to be wearing a thong everyday, neither would certainly you send out a program message everyday.Auto-Responders are like Full Figured Women's Petty Pants: If you are not up on full-figured petty trousers, they look much more like a pair of long limited shorts. Huge figured females put on petty trousers to stop the thighs from massaging with each other. Likewise, auto-responders protect against the chafing away of your time as well as sources due to responding to the very same questions over as well as over and also over. Female's petty trousers make all figures, no matter size, resemble a million bucks.

youtube

Auto-Responders make you resemble a hero with timely valuable feedbacks despite if it is simply you running the program or an entire workplace filled with client service reps.Regularly Delivered E-Newsletters are like 100% Cotton Briefs: For routine wear you can not beat a pair of 100% cotton briefs and for consumer retention you can't beat an on a regular basis supplied e-newsletter. Every person likes a different cut of short relying on the quantity of preferred protection, as well as it's no different in the e-mail globe. Every firm has a various idea of what their routine e-zine will cover as well as what sort of promotion it will certainly give their items as well as services.Mr. Pibs and I still meet at the Starbucks as soon as a week approximately for our mid-day caffeine fix. His company has actually truly removed since he jumped on board with Email Advertising. I assume he will possibly be moving right into a bigger storehouse in the New Year just to stay up to date with orders. He also released a new item line (using email, obviously)to celebrate - Pudgy Young puppy Petty Pants.And the infamous curling iron cover? We did not understand it until later on that day however Grandma's saggy undergarments got left on the table at Starbucks in addition to a calling card I had actually whipped out throughout my Email Advertising tirade. I question who uncovered the droopy gonch? Would I ever before discover? Would certainly the originator of those skivvies end up being a future client? I'll maintain you uploaded if anything materializes.And me? My Starbucks cappuccino equipment appeared after 3 months of traveling around the western states but I still find my means down the block most afternoons. I have actually also been reworking my own normal e-mail advertising and marketing project because of my choice to attempt a reduced cut short for regular wear. Revealing even more product details is verifying to be extremely effective. My conversion price shows my customers are truly appreciating the raised exposure I'm providing my items and services.Is your marketing method a little drooped, over stretched as well as worn out? Try Email Marketing on for dimension. It comes in all kind of cuts and designs ensured to boost your lower line.

I discovered a familiar looking label: Victoria's Secret.Since when did Victoria's Secret make hats?But I did not have time to ask, I had to make Granny assume we were intended to satisfy at the Starbucks as well as I also had to make up quick with Mr. Pibs before my brand-new good friend believed I was a lunatic.I transformed to Mr.Pibs, as well as observed he was iced up, mouth hanging open in shock at my Email Advertising and marketing, arm swing, soapbox speech.Grandma got hold of the uninhabited seat next to Mr. Pibs as well as plunked herself down, scooching her behind, desperately trying to obtain it past the arm rests.Mr. Old, out of shape, as well as all sagged out.I fulfilled Mr. Pibs once more for coffee (without the disturbance of Grammy and her head gitch) as well as stated to him that any kind of firm that was not active online and making use of Email Advertising and marketing might want to retire. It was kind of difficult describing all that Email Marketing stuff to Mr.Pibs; he was a genuine Email Advertising and marketing newbie.I had a hard time for a bit with examples as well as realized the photo of those droopy underclothing on my Grandma's head was a best place to start. I maintained going with the gonch style and Mr. Pibs slowly started to comprehend the distinction in each kind of Email Marketing technique. We spoke Email Advertising and marketing technique as well as how a cabinet full of a variety of underwear designs was genuinely the ideal alternative for complete marketing support.If you are having a tough time explaining Email Advertising and marketing to your antique boss or your customers, feel free to attempt on some of these.

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deborahaphillips54303 · 4 years

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Teenage Ice Cream Shop Employees Are Getting Harassed By Anti-Maskers

The conversation has raged on for months as to whether or not we should be covering our faces, which materials are the most effective at preventing the spread of COVID-19, whether the masks that medical professionals were already wearing for hours a day will randomly suffocate you, and what wildly misinterpreted Constitutional excerpts are "at stake" every time you're asked to wear a mask to buy peanut butter at a Trader Joe's. (To reiterate, experts and medical professionals pretty much unanimously agree that we should all be wearing masks in public in the middle of a deadly global pandemic.)

Many of those debates stay on social media (Twitter was already a hellhole for years), but more and more of those arguments seem to be manifested as screaming at a 16-year-old with a stack of waffle cones.

Ice cream shops have become ground zero for mask debates, with troubling regularity and particularly harrowing experiences for their young employees. On Saturday, the teenage staff at the Front Porch in Springlake, Michigan were verbally abused by four groups of customers who didn't want to wear masks in the store, and a fifth group was so awful that the shop's owner had to call the police.

Kelly Larson told MLive that she thought that people wouldn't be surprised by the Front Porch's mask requirements at this point, and she also hoped that everyone would be slightly nicer to her teenage workers.

“I’ve got to speak up not only for my kids but all of these kids, that’s who our frontline workers are in Grand Haven," she said. "They need a lot more respect and love from us than they’ve been getting.”

In a followup Facebook post, she wrote that she doesn't see masks as a political statement; she sees them as a way to help her business, her employees, and her community "see the other side" of the pandemic. "These aren't our rules but we are mandated by the health department to follow them," she continued. "If you want to make a statement, call our elected officials or better yet call the governor's office. Start a peaceful protest. But to yell at teenagers in an ice cream store and make them cry is not a way to promote change."

And again, this isn't an isolated event. Here are several other incidents that involved maladjusted adults taking out their frustrations on teenage ice cream shop employees. Here's just a sampling:

May 8: Polar Cave Ice Cream Parlour (Mashpee, Massachusetts)

On the day that Mark Lawrence reopened his ice cream shop for the season, he said his "A-Team" of workers—all between the ages of 15 and 20—had clocked in and were ready to go. Six of them were inside the shop and seven were outside, split between stations so they could take orders from parked cars, scoop ice cream, and field online orders. By the end of the night, the staff had been subjected to so much abuse that one 18-year-old girl quit. Lawrence told the Boston Globe that after "hours of F-bombs and slurs" she didn't even want to be paid or take her tips, she just wanted to dip out. In a heartbreaking Facebook post, Lawrence called that night "the lowest feeling I have ever felt" in almost two decades of running the shop.

June 29: Little Man Ice Cream (Denver, Colorado)

Owner Paul Tamburello told 9News that he was "shocked" by the reactions that he'd seen from customers when they were told about the shop's mask policy. He said that one customer coughed all over the counter and toward others who were waiting to order, while another actually spat on one of his teenage workers. “I understand people’s choice not to wear a mask," he said. "I don’t understand them taking it up with a 16-year-old scooping ice cream. I just feel like that’s not the place to do that.”

June 29: Twist Ice Cream (Swartz Creek, Michigan)

In a Facebook post, the shop warned that if customers continued to cause problems and harass its workers over its mask requirement, it would be forced to close its lobby for the rest of the season. "We cannot let our employees continue to be treated in this manner," the owners wrote. It repeated that request in an attached graphic that explained its assorted pandemic related policies. "We ask that you do not take your frustrations out on our employees," it explained. "These are kids and young adults trying to earn money for school, and in many cases, working to help out their families who have also been affected by job loss during these times."

June 30: Mootown Creamery (Berea, Ohio)

Owner Angela Brooks is clear: customers either have to wear a mask inside the store, or they have to wait outside for a (masked) staffer to take their order. You might've picked up on a theme here, so no, that approach hasn't been received well in Ohio, either. “We’ve had everything from customers stomping their feet, slamming the doors, screaming and yelling, cussing at the girls, calling them names, it’s been awful,” Brooks told WOIO. ("Does it feel good to make a 16-year-old girl cry in the bathroom? Or sob on her way home from work?" she wrote on Facebook. "Knock it off!!!!!!")

"No one’s enjoying it, like no one thinks this is fun or anything," Mootown worker Eva Mihelich said. "Like, [COVID-19] ruined my senior year of high school and everything, so like the last thing I want is for someone to come in and yell at me and that I’m the problem."

July 2: Coldstone Creamery (Leavenworth, Washington)

When the Coldstone staffers told a teenage girl that state law said they couldn't serve her unless she wore a face mask, she angrily left the store. Two hours later, her mother went back to screech at everyone behind the counter for enforcing the policy. A 21-year-old Coldstone employee defended her coworkers and was ultimately fired for it (although Coldstone later offered to re-hire her). The 'adult' in the scenario told KING5 that "leftists" had created a "hostile environment in Leavenworth" and that's why her kid didn't get a cup of Mud Pie Mojo or whatever.

July 7: The North Pole (Chittenango, New York)

A maskless woman and man were stopped at the counter by The North Pole's two teenage employees and told that they needed to cover their faces in order to be served. Instead of complying, the couple yelled at the girls before going on a lengthy rant about how they didn't need to wear masks or "need to believe" the World Health Organization. The workers closed the window to the ice cream stand, but the woman physically wrestled it back open so she could keep screaming at them. "It was honestly very scary for us," 18-year-old Tori Broniszewski told Syracuse.com.

Two days later, another female customer berated the employees so aggressively that the police had to be called. "If you DON'T WANT TO WEAR A MASK, please just stay home, don’t purposely drive to my parlor to harass my girls," The North Pole's owner, Alexandria Ciotti, wrote on Facebook. "I don’t want to lose my staff because they are afraid to come to work. They mean so much to me."

July 15: Brickley's Ice Cream (Wakefield, Rhode Island)

The owners of Brickley's Ice Cream made the decision to close their Wakefield location for the rest of the year after two men “argued with, swore at and verbal [sic] abused both our staff" after being told that they couldn't eat their ice cream inside the shop. When another customer stepped in, the two men started to threaten that person, too. "[T]hings almost came to blows," Brickley's wrote on Facebook. "This is unacceptable and is becoming unsafe for both our staff and customers. We have a limited and young staff at our Wakefield store and must keep them safe.”

July 20: Uhlman's Ice Cream (Westborough, Massachusetts)

Kelly Donley, the manager at Uhlman's, told the MetroWest Daily News that she has had to call the shop's owner at least six times this summer to help de-escalate situations involving customers who have gotten aggressive over its mask policy. "The sad part is that these people are yelling and screaming at 16 and 17-year-old employees," she said. Last month, an Ohio family of five—including their young kids—all took turns shouting at the Ulhman's workers about "constitutional liberties." They eventually left after the owner threatened to call the cops.

It should go without saying, but for the love of god, don't do this. If you want ice cream but don't want to wear a mask, it's probably best for everyone if you just stay at home and place a GoPuff order.

via VICE US - undefined US VICE US - undefined US via Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network

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cyberpoetryballoon · 4 years

Text

Teenage Ice Cream Shop Employees Are Getting Harassed By Anti-Maskers

And again, this isn't an isolated event. Here are several other incidents that involved maladjusted adults taking out their frustrations on teenage ice cream shop employees. Here's just a sampling:

May 8: Polar Cave Ice Cream Parlour (Mashpee, Massachusetts)

June 29: Little Man Ice Cream (Denver, Colorado)

June 29: Twist Ice Cream (Swartz Creek, Michigan)

June 30: Mootown Creamery (Berea, Ohio)

July 2: Coldstone Creamery (Leavenworth, Washington)

July 7: The North Pole (Chittenango, New York)

July 15: Brickley's Ice Cream (Wakefield, Rhode Island)

July 20: Uhlman's Ice Cream (Westborough, Massachusetts)

via VICE US - undefined US VICE US - undefined US via Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network

0 notes

carolrhackett85282 · 4 years

Text

Teenage Ice Cream Shop Employees Are Getting Harassed By Anti-Maskers

And again, this isn't an isolated event. Here are several other incidents that involved maladjusted adults taking out their frustrations on teenage ice cream shop employees. Here's just a sampling:

May 8: Polar Cave Ice Cream Parlour (Mashpee, Massachusetts)

June 29: Little Man Ice Cream (Denver, Colorado)

June 29: Twist Ice Cream (Swartz Creek, Michigan)

June 30: Mootown Creamery (Berea, Ohio)

July 2: Coldstone Creamery (Leavenworth, Washington)

July 7: The North Pole (Chittenango, New York)

July 15: Brickley's Ice Cream (Wakefield, Rhode Island)

July 20: Uhlman's Ice Cream (Westborough, Massachusetts)

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melodymgill49801 · 4 years

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Teenage Ice Cream Shop Employees Are Getting Harassed By Anti-Maskers

And again, this isn't an isolated event. Here are several other incidents that involved maladjusted adults taking out their frustrations on teenage ice cream shop employees. Here's just a sampling:

May 8: Polar Cave Ice Cream Parlour (Mashpee, Massachusetts)

June 29: Little Man Ice Cream (Denver, Colorado)

June 29: Twist Ice Cream (Swartz Creek, Michigan)

June 30: Mootown Creamery (Berea, Ohio)

July 2: Coldstone Creamery (Leavenworth, Washington)

July 7: The North Pole (Chittenango, New York)

July 15: Brickley's Ice Cream (Wakefield, Rhode Island)

July 20: Uhlman's Ice Cream (Westborough, Massachusetts)

via VICE US - undefined US VICE US - undefined US via Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network

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carolinechanson97838 · 4 years

Text

Teenage Ice Cream Shop Employees Are Getting Harassed By Anti-Maskers

And again, this isn't an isolated event. Here are several other incidents that involved maladjusted adults taking out their frustrations on teenage ice cream shop employees. Here's just a sampling:

May 8: Polar Cave Ice Cream Parlour (Mashpee, Massachusetts)

June 29: Little Man Ice Cream (Denver, Colorado)

June 29: Twist Ice Cream (Swartz Creek, Michigan)

June 30: Mootown Creamery (Berea, Ohio)

July 2: Coldstone Creamery (Leavenworth, Washington)

July 7: The North Pole (Chittenango, New York)

July 15: Brickley's Ice Cream (Wakefield, Rhode Island)

July 20: Uhlman's Ice Cream (Westborough, Massachusetts)

via VICE US - undefined US VICE US - undefined US via Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network

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latoyajkelson70506 · 4 years

Text

Teenage Ice Cream Shop Employees Are Getting Harassed By Anti-Maskers

And again, this isn't an isolated event. Here are several other incidents that involved maladjusted adults taking out their frustrations on teenage ice cream shop employees. Here's just a sampling:

May 8: Polar Cave Ice Cream Parlour (Mashpee, Massachusetts)

June 29: Little Man Ice Cream (Denver, Colorado)

June 29: Twist Ice Cream (Swartz Creek, Michigan)

June 30: Mootown Creamery (Berea, Ohio)

July 2: Coldstone Creamery (Leavenworth, Washington)

July 7: The North Pole (Chittenango, New York)

July 15: Brickley's Ice Cream (Wakefield, Rhode Island)

July 20: Uhlman's Ice Cream (Westborough, Massachusetts)

via VICE US - undefined US VICE US - undefined US via Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network Mom's Kitchen Recipe Network

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kartiavelino · 5 years

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This East Village barbershop is also a cutting-edge comedy club

On Friday nights, after all of the hair’s been swept off the ground and the final comb dropped into the jar of Barbicide, folks type a line exterior the Unique Barbershop within the East Village. And so they’re not ready round for a haircut. By 8:45, the largely millennial crowd settles in among the many swivel stools, wood benches and folding chairs as comic Ronnie Lordi switches on a mike to open “Dwell on the Barbershop” — one of many metropolis’s extra offbeat comedy golf equipment. “Phrase is getting round,” says Carl Anthony, 40, of Astoria, who’s been coming to the barbershop no less than a few times a month for the final three years, however not for a trim. A comedy devotee who sees some 20 to 30 comedy exhibits a yr, the tv stage supervisor tells The Publish, “This lineup might rival many comedy golf equipment.” Credit score Lordi for dreaming it up. In 2016, he was getting a trim in a kind of barber chairs on the Unique (174 E. Second St.), when he seen the store — spiffy, however customary, so far as barbershops go — had all of the makings of a good comedy venue. “That would really be a stage,” Lordi thought, referring to a shallow black platform upon which the vainness mirrors sit. “And there’s the stereotypical brick wall behind it.” He informed store proprietor Greg Sysoyev that he was a comic, and Sysoyev requested him if he and a few comedian-friends might carry out at a store get together on quick discover. Completely happy to oblige, Lordi stated: “Wherever I can get onstage.” With that, a grass-roots comedy present started. “We requested eating places and companies across the neighborhood [to donate] chairs,” says Lordi. The 2 males introduced in a mike and amp, and arrange a desk of mixers and cups for many who deliver their very own booze. “You are able to do comedy wherever. All you want is a microphone and seats.” Barbershop fixtures are reconfigured to create a non permanent stage.Stefano Giovannini Lordi, who’s produced and hosted “Dwell on the Barbershop” each Friday at 8:30 p.m. for the final three years, manages to squeeze some 25 to 40 company and comedians into the shop, generally squeezing two units into a night time. He says he has no concept how phrase bought round. “There’s been little or no advertising and marketing,” he says. “I simply put a signal within the window.” (There’s also a Site: GreatestShowEver.com.) “I run a basement present at a wine bar,” says comic Hanna Dickinson, whose exhibits are sometimes listed in magazines and on-line, “however we don’t have the traction this barbershop does.” Admission charges decrease than these of the established comedy golf equipment might assist: Entry is $7 for those who RSVP forward of time, and $10 on the door, if there’s room. On a latest night time, Lordi asks the viewers how they heard in regards to the present. A couple of shout again “Instagram.” Web searches are also worthwhile promoters. Kyra, 22, who declined to present her final identify, says she got here with a pal who merely “Googled ‘B.Y.O.B. comedy present.’ ” Lordi normally performs a fast opening set earlier than introducing the primary of some 5 – 6 comics a night time. To this point, the shock company have included Judah Friedlander (“30 Rock”), Roy Wooden Jr. (“The Every day Present”) and Dante Nero (“The Blacklist”). Barbershop proprietor Greg Sysoyev works on buyer Chase Desmond’s hair.Stefano Giovannini It’s a coveted gig amongst comics, too. “I’ve had established comics ask me who to speak to about getting up [onstage],” says comic Justin Smith, 32. In contrast to conventional comedy golf equipment, the Unique Barbershop doesn’t have desk service, which could be distracting for comedians, whereas dear drinks and tab minimums are a buzzkill for company. Right here, comedy lovers deliver their very own bottles, and the small room lets them sit mere ft from the motion. “Since laughing is contagious, comedy is simply higher in an intimate setting,” says comic Ian Lara, 28. “It simply makes the laughter explosive.” The laid-back setting also lends itself to workshopping. “It’s a nice gauge,” says comic Dean Delray, 52. “If [a joke] is working in there, it’s most likely going to work throughout America,” he provides. “It’s like a dojo.” The demographic is primarily 20-somethings, what Delray refers to as “the longer term” of stand-up followers. However, the uber-hip crowd could be intimidating. “I by no means know if it’s a comedy present or a Vice firm get together,” says comic Usama Siddiquee. “I get nervous performing there as a result of there’s a lot of sizzling, younger individuals who I really feel like would have been imply to me in center faculty,” says Dickinson, 26, who believes the present resonates with faculty college students and millennials due to the “speakeasy” vibe. “It’s a ‘scene.’ ” Lordi, who performs at different golf equipment six or seven nights a week, says he and Sysoyev see no finish in sight for the barbershop collection. “My clients, the entire neighborhood, they adore it,” says Sysoyev, 32. “We’ve got room for everybody!” Lordi says he hopes to sooner or later hand off the present to a youthful technology of comics. Proper now, he and his mates are having too good a time to stroll away.“Should you’re onstage having enjoyable, it sort of units the tone for the present. That’s been the concept from the start. On the finish of the day, it’s a cling.” The Unique Barbershop’s low-key exterior hides a blossoming comedy club.Stefano Giovannini Outsider nyuks: different offbeat comedy spots Anybody Comics This Brooklyn bookstore hosts Sizzling Fuss, a new month-to-month comedy present that takes place Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. The BYOB occasion sells out, so purchase tickets on-line upfront. $10. 1216 Union St., Crown Heights; AnyoneComics.com Vspot Natural This East Village wholesome eatery is also house to Brickspot Comedy, which works down in a renovated again room on the restaurant. They’ve a common collection, Late Evening Romp, Fridays at 9 p.m., plus one-off exhibits all through the month. Free entry; one-item-order minimal. 12 St. Marks Place; BrickspotComedy.com Work Heights Crown Heights’ personal membership-based co-working enterprise Work Heights presents Electrical Laughs at 7:30 p.m. each first Saturday of the month. The 21-and-up present also guarantees loads of free “Magic Punch Shock.” No official phrase on what the “shock” entails. Free; RSVP required. 650 Franklin Ave., Crown Heights; ElectricLaughs.Tumblr.com Don’t Inform Comedy This roving collection of secret exhibits is produced in main cities everywhere in the nation. New York’s version has placed on stand-up in backyards, rooftops and even a Brooklyn motorbike store. $20 and up. DontTellComedy.com/NYC Share this: https://nypost.com/2019/01/18/this-east-village-barbershop-is-also-a-cutting-edge-comedy-club/ The post This East Village barbershop is also a cutting-edge comedy club appeared first on My style by Kartia. https://www.kartiavelino.com/2019/01/this-east-village-barbershop-is-also-a-cutting-edge-comedy-club.html

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movietvtechgeeks · 7 years

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Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/brangelina-coming-back-together-plus-billion-dollar-kylie-jenner/

Is Brangelina coming back together, plus billion dollar Kylie Jenner

When it comes to the past decade or so, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s divorce announcement was arguably one of the most shocking celebrity-related stories. When it comes to A-list Hollywood couples, Angelina and Brad have long reigned supreme. However, in 2016, the duo announced they were parting ways after experiencing some notable marital problems, some of which stemmed from Brad’s struggle with substance abuse. Now, as nearly a year has gone by since the news of their divorce hit the tabloids, sources close to the two actors claim that they are looking to try and save their faltered marriage. According to an insider, Brad and Angelina have made no progress in finalizing their divorce, as they both believe there is hope in keeping their family together. In this week’s issue of US Weekly, one insider told the magazine, “The divorce is off. They haven’t done anything to move it forward for several months, and no one thinks they are ever going to.” The same insider went on to explain that there are still very strong feelings between the two celebrities, noting, “[Angelina’s] still so in love with [Brad]…He got sober to try and win her back. He knew he had a problem that he had to take care of. And that’s all she ever wanted…. Everyone thinks they are going to get back together. It wouldn’t be surprising if they announced that they’re calling it off and trying to work things out.” It is no secret that anything Kylie Jenner slaps her name onto sells like crazy. From her fashion line to her makeup products, the young starlet is undeniably a successful businesswoman. This week, publication Women’s Wear Daily published some more detailed information about just how successful Kylie really is…and the numbers may shock you! According to Kylie’s mother Kris Jenner, Kylie has made roughly $420 million in the past 18 months through her makeup brand Kylie Cosmetics. While this is an astronomical number, it makes sense as the 19-year-old mogul continues to sell out countless of her products and puts out new lines nearly every month. In the recent issue of Women’s Wear Daily, the publication put Kylie’s cosmetic brand’s successes into perspective. In an article which pointed out the young reality star’s incredible riches, WWD also noted, “The Estee Lauder Cos Inc.-owned Tom Ford Beauty was said to have reached revenues of $500 million after a decade, and the brand is considered to be one of the two fastest growing in Lauder’s portfolio, along with Jo Malone. Bobbi Brown also part of the Lauder stable, took 25 years to reach the billion-dollar mark in 2016, with L’Oreal’s Lancôme finally hitting the milestone in 2015 after 80 years.” If Kylie continues on this path, she is set to hit the coveted billion-dollar mark (with her cosmetic line) by the year 2022. Assuming she hits this mark, this would mean that she only took 6 years to get to the same milestone that many major makeup brands have taken from 25 to 80 years to reach. Now, this might be great news, but it’s also got Kylie a little concerned about those around here. In her mind, the glam squad might be getting a little too comfortable for comfort. In a clip from an upcoming episode of Life of Kylie, Jenner particularly worries she’s starting to get taken advantage of her hair stylist Tokyo Stylez after he continues to bring his boyfriend Chris along during her glam sessions. In the clip, Stylez approaches Jenner’s assistant Villarroel after finding out that his boyfriend no longer would be welcome to hang out during styling sessions. Villarroel said, “So we’re trying this new thing where whenever she needs glam, only the people that need to be there have to come. Kylie said, ‘If I request Tokyo, I just want Tokyo. I don’t need someone else to come.'” After her older sister, Kim Kardashian was held at gunpoint last October during a traumatic Paris robbery in her hotel room, Jenner says during a confessional interview that she’s trying to be more aware of who she lets into her inner circle. “I do have limits as a boss. I hate conflict, but I also learned you can’t really let people working around you get too comfortable because that’s when you get taken advantage of,” the star said to the camera. “It’s happened way too many times with my family.” Life of Kylie airs Sundays (9 p.m. ET) on E!. The women of "American Horror Story: Cult" came to Fox Studios promote the new season for an audience of television critics Wednesday, but they couldn't actually say anything about the show. Stars Sarah Paulson, Alison Pill, Leslie Grossman, Adina Porter and Billie Lourd gave vague answers to critics' questions and apologized for saying so little. The actresses appeared alongside makeup artist Eryn Krueger Mekash, costume designer Lou Eyrich and executive producer Alexis Martin Woodall. Here's what they could reveal: "Cult" involves a lesbian marriage, a broadcast journalist and what Woodall described as "an exciting trip to the grocery store." "As with all good horror and suspense, knowing less is actually so much more because it's going to unfold for you," she said. Though show creator Ryan Murphy has said "Cult" was inspired by the election of President Donald Trump, Woodall said the seventh self-contained installment in the "American Horror Story" anthology "is more about the world around us." "This particular season has a streak of paranoia that I think is infectious," said Pill. And it's scary like past seasons. Pill said that about two weeks into filming, she started checking behind her shower curtain at night to "make sure there's nobody in the shower, hiding, with a knife." Grossman also confessed that she's typically had to record "American Horror Story" episodes so she can watch them during the day. "If I watch it before bed, there are terrible sleeping issues," she said. The show returns to FX on Sept. 5 for 10 episodes. Jennifer Lawrence has opened up about her relationship with director Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky directed Lawrence in "mother!" which was shot last year and comes to theaters next month. Lawrence tells Vogue magazine she and Aronofsky began dating after filming wrapped up. She says she likes Aronofsky's directness, saying she's "never confused with him." One point of contention in the relationship is the Oscar-winning actress' reality television obsession, which she says Aronofsky finds "vastly disappointing." Lawrence appears in four different cover shots for the magazine. One is of an oil painting of her, done by artist John Currin. Channing Tatum has hosted an impromptu dance party in a convenience store at a North Carolina gas station. The "Magic Mike" star stopped by the Sunoco in the town of Statesville on Tuesday night for some coffee and a candy bar. He bantered with the cashier and later danced with her to the tune of Nas' "If I Ruled The World." Tatum joked with some puzzled customers that he was the store manager. He took time to snap a photo with a fan. The episode was streamed to Tatum's fans via Facebook Live. Tatum is promoting his upcoming film, "Logan Lucky," which centers on a heist at a North Carolina NASCAR race. Taylor Swift took the stand in Denver federal court Thursday and recounted how a former radio DJ groped her at a 2013 meet-and-greet, calling it a “devious and sneaky act.” “It was a definite grab,” the pop star told the eight-member jury at her civil trial. “It was a very long grab. He stayed latched on to my bare as s ch eek as I moved away from him visibly uncomfortable.” Swift said former KYGO radio host David Mueller “grabbed my ass underneath my skirt” as she was posing for a photo with him at Denver’s Pepsi Center before a concert on June 2, 2013. “It was a very shocking thing that I have never dealt with before,” she said. “After this happened, it was like a light switched off my personality.” Mueller sued Swift in 2015, claiming she’d falsely accused him of groping her and got him fired from his job. Swift, who is only seeking $1, countersued for assault and battery. After the photo op, Swift said she thanked Mueller and his girlfriend, Shannon Melcher, in a “monotone voice” and continued meeting with fans. When Mueller’s lawyer, M. Gabriel McFarland, suggested she could’ve taken a break from the meet-and-greet after the alleged grope, Swift shot back: “And your client could have taken a normal photo with me.” Anna Faris and Chris Pratt, who announced on Sunday that they’re splitting after eight years of marriage, have been having problems for at least a year and a half, we’re told. “They’re very competitive with each other,” says a source. “At parties they compete over who’s funniest and get insecure if they’re not.” The discord also has to do with Pratt’s soaring career, with leads in “Jurassic Park” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.” “When he started getting big roles and losing weight, she wasn’t the big star anymore,” the source said. “He’s also very, very religious, and she’s not religious.” Reps are keeping quiet as to questions pertaining to this. Rihanna has been accused of a photoshop fail in a saucy snap from her carnival outing – after fans pointed out she has an “extra thumb” in the pic. The superstar posed wearing a barely-there showgirl get-up for the Instagram snap, but if you look closely she has an alien-like left hand, with two blue thumbnails, apparently due to an editing glitch. One observant fan commented “Why does her thumb got two nails,” with another adding “am i the only one seeing two nails coming from her thumb.” The beautiful portrait blue-haired Rihanna posted on Instagram was captured by photographer Dennis Leupold who is yet to comment on the accusations. It was taken at the Crop Over Festival’s Kadoonment Parade in Barbados, an event which 29-year-old Rihanna attends every year. The photoshop scandal follows Rihanna’s recent battle with online body-shamers, including a journalist who called her fat. The We Found Love singer’s mutant hand did not put her ex Chris Brown, 28, off the picture, however. He posted a flirty, ogling emoji in the Instagram comments which riled RiRi’s fans. Many told him to stay away from the star after he was charged with assaulting her back in 2009, with one blasting: “Please keep your negative energy away from Rihanna @ChrisBrownOfficial.” Meanwhile, Rihanna has been called a pop hero once again after a hilarious story about her dissing DJ Diplo’s music emerged. In an interview with GQ, Diplo revealed that Rihanna not only turned down the chance to sing on Major Lazer’s “Lean On,” snapping “I don’t do house music,” but also smacked down one of Diplo’s recordings. The star, who’d already listened to hundreds of songs, deadpanned: “This sounds like a reggae song at an airport.” Rihanna responded to the “airport” diss report by posting her own Instagram reaction, writing: “#DutyFree My bad @diplo.” NBC News is sparing no expense on its new star, Megyn Kelly, and the lavish spending is ticking off some of her new colleagues at the Peacock Network. Kelly is on a five-day nationwide tour to visit affiliates in major markets, and she is traveling on a charter jet with a support staff of five or six people, including a hairstylist, a makeup artist, a publicist and a security detail. “People are outraged over her divalike ways,” one network source told media outlets. “They wonder, ‘When does NBC stop throwing money at her?’ ” Kelly left Fox News in January to take over the 9 a.m. hour of “Today,” which launches on Sept. 25 as “Megyn Kelly Today.” Her salary is said to be $18 million a year. NBC hired new staff, built a new set and will be spending extra on a live audience for the show, which Kelly’s been touting in Dallas, Houston, and Denver. “She’s working sunup to sundown every day — some days, two cities a day,” an NBC insider said, and shooting multiple promos and pieces for the new show. “It’s a standard affiliates tour, which many new NBC News anchors have done before her. There’s huge excitement for ‘Megyn Kelly Today’ in these markets, and it’s a great thing that the show is covering people and places outside of New York City.” The insider said most staffers for the morning show were already working for “Today,” and that the expenses for the show’s launch were all budgeted long in advance. Kelly’s newsmagazine show “Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly” debuted in June to much fanfare, but had mediocre ratings and ended after eight episodes. It is expected to return after the NFL season and the Winter Olympics. Kylie Jenner’s new TV show has been slammed by critics and fans as “fake” and “boring” – and now the Kardashians are desperately trying to rescue the show. The Life Of Kylie only managed to draw in half the viewers that brother Rob Kardashian’s reality series Rob & Chyna managed to on it’s debut – and The Sun Online can exclusively reveal that the second episode is being re-cut to make it more exciting. “The show was a disaster – no one liked it,” says an LA TV source. “The whole family is panicking, and the rest of the series is now being recut to make it more exciting.” “The ending of the second episode needed more ‘bang’ – like Keeping Up With The Kardashians, you need something that viewers want to come back for.” “Everyone’s worried that Kylie’s life isn’t exciting enough for viewers who want drama and fighting.” “They want to include more footage of her sister, Kim, as they think people will tune in to watch then.” “They’re also telling Kylie to get out there and promote it,” says the insider. Fans have dismissed Kylie’s reality show about her life – in which she admits to being jealous of model sister Kendall and wanting to “run away” from fame – as “unrelatable”, with one saying “a lot of pressure to post a selfie, oh god” and another calling her “a superficial idiot.” TV reviewers weren’t much kinder. CNN said that the show saw Kylie “combine self-pity with a lack of self-awareness.” “It makes Kylie look shallow,” said Business Insider, while Complex called it “the fakest reality show ever.” “She’s so rich she can’t even invent a convincing obstacle to surmount on her reality TV show — when Jenner and her gang get devastating news that the private jet they’re supposed to take to Sacramento has broken down, they just call and ask for a different private jet,” said The Daily Beast. Before the show started, Kim Kardashian posted a sweet Instagram saying she was “so proud” of her little sister. The criticism doesn’t seem to have affected Kylie much – she’s been back on Instagram posting a series of seriously hot selfies. And last night, Kylie’s family – including sisters Khloé and Kim and mum Kris – threw her a surprise 20th birthday party. We think she’s going to be alright, guys. There’s no love lost between Josh Brolin and James Cameron. Speaking with Esquire, the “Deadpool 2” villain recalled a tense encounter with the “Avatar” director, after Brolin turned down a role in the franchise’s upcoming sequel. “If I don’t want to do ‘Avatar,’ I’m not going to do ‘Avatar,'” Brolin explained. “James Cameron’s f–king calling me this name and that name. Whatever.” Cameron’s anticipated follow-up to 2009’s blockbuster has long been delayed. In March, the Academy Award-winner confirmed the second installment would not hit theaters next year. “Well, 2018 is not happening. We haven’t announced a firm release date,” Cameron, 62, told The Toronto Star. “What people have to understand is that this is a cadence of releases. So, we’re not making ‘Avatar 2,’ we’re making ‘Avatar 2,’ ‘3,’ ‘4,’ and ‘5.’ It’s an epic undertaking. It’s not unlike building the Three Gorges Dam.” It sounds like Brolin, 49, is prepared for a possible confrontation with Cameron. “If James Cameron came to me and said, ‘Hey, man,’ why’d do you say?’ I’d go, ‘Because it happened,'” he said. In addition to “Deadpool 2” with Ryan Reynolds, Brolin is also slated to take on Robert Downey Jr. and company as Marvel foe Thanos in 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War.” Taylor Swift’s team wants to make sure that her court battle with a DJ who allegedly groped her isn’t turned into a laughing matter. Insiders told media outlets that Swift’s camp has been frantically calling late-night talk shows to ask if hosts are planning to make jokes about her case against Denver DJ David Mueller, who denies Swift’s claim that he grabbed her buttocks during a 2013 meet-and-greet. “[Swift] doesn’t really want to be in the media cycle unless it’s on her own terms. She loves to control her narrative,” a music insider said. “I’m sure she doesn’t want to have this moment right before she’s gearing up for an album release.” Another insider told outlets Swift’s releasing new music this year and will go on tour in 2018. Her rep didn’t comment.

Movie TV Tech Geeks News

#Angelina Jolie #Brad Pitt #Channing Tatum #Chris Pratt #Featured #Jennifer Lawrence #Kylie Jenner #Rihanna #Taylor Swift

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