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turkisherlockian · 3 years

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A Touch From The Past - The Rainbow 🌈 - Request [Benedict Cumberbatch AU - Teacher x Soulmate Student Reader] (Part Two)

The professor could not wait for the drama class to start. To see her again. To remember where he saw her. His mind was forcing him to remember, he knew when he had someting on his mind he would have trouble focusing on one another. He had to know.

There were some students who took the class because they loved theatre, but it was compulsory for the rest. They seperated into opposite-sex couples as they were asked, Professor Cumberbatch was going to decide which one of them could play Richard Plantagenet and Anne Neville from Shakespeare's "Richard III".

He was on the stage with the playscript in his hands. The students were seated with their partners and his eyes found Y/N's quickly, but his stare only lasted for 3 seconds as he warned himself. He was there to teach.

Being a professional, he managed to focus on educating without any distraction, however he couldn't wait to go home because his head started to ache.

"As you all must know, we're going to perform Anne Neville's story by Shakespeare's Richard III. I believe all of you read the book and not only the script before memorising your lines," he said sarcastically and made his students smile, as always. "But I would like to remind you about her story before we get started."

He took a deep breath, "She is the widow of Prince Edward of Lancaster, whom Richard helped kill."

One of the students raised her hand and asked, "How could she love him after all he's done?"

The professor smiled, "She is the only person to follow her father-in-law Henry VI’s coffin to burial and to mourn him. Suddenly courted by Richard at the height of her grief, she is taken off her guard but finds herself unable to resist his performance as a lover. Despite her quite genuine hatred and mourning, she ends up completely seduced by him. Though this ends up making her Queen, it does not bring her happiness, which she blames on her having cursed Richard’s future wife before taking on that role. Richard’s bad dreams keep her awake at night, and she does not sleep well. She is soon perfectly aware that Richard does not care for her, and grows certain that he will kill her. She grows ill and dies, very likely poisoned by him. Anne is a weak and passive woman, though she attempts to be a good aunt to the various children of her husband’s brothers. Her ghost comes to haunt Richard the night before the battle of Bosworth and to bless Richard’s opponent Richmond."

Y/N felt blessed, he was so enthusiastic! She fell for him once again.

A boy raised his hand now, "But that's not what actually happened, right? I've read that he loved her and she died due to the plague of the time. Can we say that Shakespeare didn't really like the royalties at all?"

"This is where poetry and the benefits of technology takes place. We're lucky to be able to judge his work and compare it to the history." He was happy that some of the students were actually interested in this class.

"Kings are the slaves of history," he quoted Tolstoy with a smile and continued, "Let's get started."

He watched them all and helped them with their lines, but none of them was good enough. He knew they needed to practise but they didn't have much time. While watching them, his mind was also pondering if it would be Y/N's turn before the class ended. He shaked his head slightly and didn't notice that he was tapping his foot.

And it was her turn, now. There were 5 minutes left and he stood up when she came on the stage with her partner.

Y/N was actually good, but his partner was terrible. He just wasn't her match, and it seemed like they didn't even know each other much.

He clapped his hands to draw attention to himself, "You are talking as if someone's forcing you to say it. You're a wicked man, with your own reasons; and you try to seduce her. And you don't need a stage-kiss if you both are okay with it..?" It sounded like a question and Y/N would never say no to anything he suggests. They both nodded and he stepped aside to let them play again.

It was obvious that Y/N studied the character very well and he could see tears forming in her eyes. The young man did try to do better, but it just wasn't his thing. Professor Cumberbatch had this desire to show his students how to do it and he turned to them. "I need you all to watch, now. I'm afraid I'll ask those who want to take part to perform again tomorrow. We're running out of time and we need to be quick. Now..." He turned to Y/N, and blinked a few times when he realized that he had to kiss her. It could cause him to get distracted again, but he had to do it.

He knelt in front of her after taking the knife from the young man, and Y/N could swear that the look in his eyes changed. He raised one of his shoulders because Richard III was misshapen, his eyes were darker now and he tilted his head to the side. "Take up the knife, or take up me."

Y/N who played Lady Anne didn't say anything, and managed to tear up. He was going to kiss her. He was going to kiss her. He was going to kiss her. That was the only thing on her mind now.

He stood up slowly and kissed her. It only lasted for 5 seconds but it felt like forever to them. They didn't see blurry images or memories now, they saw each other. Benedict saw her smiling, crying, laughing, glancing at him, looking at her ring, in a wedding dress, in a rush, in his bed, naked...

Y/N saw him holding her hand at the beach, driving with his sunglasses on, coming home with grocery bags in his hands, holding her, dancing with her, touching her, hugging her, kissing her..

A rush,

A glance,

A touch,

A dance...

It was like thunderstorms at first, but they both knew that after a thunderstorm, comes a rainbow.

She was supposed to pull back and leave him there, but before she could - not that she could at that moment - the bell ringed and the professor forced himself to stop kissing her and she walked away from him.

He kept stuttering while saying his final words to the students who were jealous and muttering to each other about how real that kiss looked. Thankfully, they left quickly.

They were alone on the stage, now. None of them spoke, and Y/N just knew it was her mind toying with her. She went too far, she shouldn't have loved him that much. As tears formed in her eyes for real now, she tried not to look at him and leave the stage but his velvet voice stopped her. "You were pretty good, actually."

She couldn't dare to look at him as she thanked him quietly, and attempted to leave but he spoke once again. "You had them too, didn't you? Did you feel it?" She looked up at him. He couldn't be talking about what she saw, could he?

He walked towards her and turned her to himself by holding her arms gently, "The electricity when our hands touched, a flood of memories that were brought back to our minds-- please tell me you had them too."

He sounded like he was begging her, because otherwise, he would lose her mind. What was it, did he fall in love with her? He knew he could have considering that she was the only thing in his mind all day, which was very unprofessional...

"I did," she spoke excitedly, "I saw you but I thought it was because I lo--"

He kept quiet, waiting for her to finish her sentence but she couldn't. Tears were rolling down her reddened cheeks. "We were married." He spoke quietly and held her face in his hands. "I never thought I would believe in things like that, but I think we are soulmates." He looked into her eyes and felt an overwhelmingly nice feeling in his chest. She seemed like a fairy to him and he suddenly needed to kiss her again. So badly.

"We were together in another life..." Y/N spoke in amazement, "I can say it then."

The professor wiped her tears off her red, hot cheeks, she closed her eyes and finally said it.

"I love you."

He kissed her passionately and all he saw was darkness now. He knew she was the one. They were under each other's spell now... She loved him, and he loved her back. Once again, and forever.

They were smiling when they pulled back, and they spent the rest of the day with getting to know each other.

---

Info source: https://www.playshakespeare.com/richard-iii/characters/lady-anne

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! ❤️ @inner-thoughtsofnelia

#benedict cumberbatch #benedict cumberbatch fanfiction #benedict cumberbatch x reader #benedict cucumber #sherlock #marvel #dr strange #fanfiction #bye

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shall-we-imagine · 6 years

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The odd one out. (Goldstein Brothers)

No, this isn't a foursome. Sorry to disappoint?

Requested: 32. "You didn't get in trouble for lying. You got in trouble for lying badly." + 52. "You're going to burn in a very special level of hell. A level they reserve for child molesters, animal abusers, and people who talk at the theatre." From the prompt list.

Genre: comedy mostly? I swear I wasn't high when I wrote this just read till the end before you come at me 😂

(Third Person Point of View)

"He's actually got a big heart; you just don't realize until you really know him." The eldest Goldstein chuckles.

"I don't know. For now, he just seems really loud." The youngest shakes his head.

The two had been walking around aimlessly, just enjoying each other's company. The topic had somehow switched to a discussion of a certain night class prefect. Anything they could talk about was good enough for them, though.

"Aye, my favourite bros!" A familiar voice beams, unnecessarily extending the first and last words. The intruder inserts himself between the two brothers, putting an arm on each one's shoulder.

"We're..you're only bros." Elias stares at the taller blond in the middle. Why Klaus was acting this way, Elias wasn't sure, but he didn't feel the need to point it out. Yet.

Klaus rolls his eyes, "Well, metaphorically, I have a lot of bros."

"Since when do you even use the word bros?" Alfonse questions with a raised brow.

Klaus groans, "Why are all Goldsteins so uptight?"

The eldest and youngest share a confused look. "Excuse me?" Elias raises an eyebrow.

"You're forgiven!" The older man cheers. "Now let's go have a guys' night out; we don't have much time to waste here!" Klaus ignores the but it's daytime?s and why do we not have time?s his brothers were throwing at him and proceeds to drag them into town with no explanation whatsoever.

"Klaus, where are we going?" Alfonse prays for a single, meaningful answer.

Klaus pauses to look around the stores, "I'm sure it was somewhere around here.." he mumbles to himself, paying no mind to his older brother.

"What is?" Elias didn't enjoy being dragged around, unaware of where they're headed to; he was slowly losing his patience.

"Chill; it's a nice place, I've heard." Klaus dismisses the question again and proceeds forward.

#####

"A strip club?!" Elias shrieks in horror at their destination.

"Dude, you're gonna get us kicked out before we even get inside." Klaus brings his index finger to his lips, motioning for Elias to keep quiet.

"Klaus, what are you thinking?! Are you feeling okay?" Alfonse eyes his younger brother.

Klaus sighs. "Okay, yes, it's weird to go to a strip club in broad daylight, but this place offers a 24-hour service! And you don't even have to worry about Elias being a little younger than the age required to enter; if we're smooth enough, he'll be fine!"

"Out of all these explanations, nothing was even related to our actual issue!" Elias flings his arms upwards in a mixture of disbelief and frustration.

"You're a Goldstein; that's how you're planning to spend your evening?!" The eldest begins scolding Klaus.

Klaus raises his hands in defence. "I've never been here before; I just thought we could try it out together. Come on." It didn't seem like he was taking his brothers seriously for their outbursts, which in turn pissed them off even more.

"I'm not stepping foot into this place!" Elias crosses his arms, looking away in disgust.

"Is it because you're scared your boyfriend will figure it out?" Klaus wiggles his eyebrow at his younger brother.

Elias's cheeks heat up at the unexpected question. "What boyfriend?! You know I don't have a boyfriend!"

"Oh, come on!" Klaus whines, in a not-so-Klaus-like-manner. "I know you're in love with Luca; it's so obvious in the way you stare at him! You don't need to hide anything from me!" He places his arms around Elias and hugs him tightly. (Actually, scratch that. He suffocates him.)

"You know you can tell me anything!" He squeezes Elias even more, if that was even possible. "I'm your owder bwother that woves you!" Klaus uses what could best be described as the voice you use when talking to a baby; he even begins to make kissy faces at Elias, in an attempt to kiss his cheek.

By now, Elias didn't know if he was more embarrassed or scared. He felt awfully mortified, but he also knew that this was not the usual Klaus. At all. Maybe his brother had been possessed, replaced by a clone, or under a spell, but there was no way this was the normal Klaus he knew. And one glance at an (almost) equally horrified Alfonse assured Elias he wasn't crazy for thinking that.

Elias pushes his older brother away. "I'm not in love with Luca, and I certainly don't need you to baby me!" Out of habit, the blond spoke the name with disgust, like he'd just seen the troublemaker cause a mess in the classroom.

"Well, why else would you not agree to join me and Alfonse?" Klaus raises an eyebrow.

"I actually never said I was-"

"Alfonse! You can't just interrupt Elias because he's the youngest!"

"He wasn't even-"

"You're doing it again, Alfonse!" Overshadowed by confusion, the eldest Goldstein stopped protesting, as Klaus interrogates their younger brother. "So? Elias? We're still waiting for an answer, you know."

"It has nothing to do with Luca!"

"Prove it, then." Eyes glinting with mischief, Klaus smirks at his younger sibling.

"What do you mean?" Elias wasn't a coward. However, when your older brother who's normally so stern and composed just took you to a strip club and started babying you, yeah, you might get a bit nervous about having to do what he suggests next.

"I just want you to enter the place on your own, spend 10 minutes inside, then come out, and we'll do whatever you want for the rest of the day." Klaus shrugs, "Bonus points if you get one of the dancers' number."

"Klaus, what in the world-" Was it interrupt Alfonse day? Cuz he sure felt like it was.

"It's okay, Al. I'll do it; at least then we'll be able to put an end to this strange trip." Elias states with determination.

"Ah, yeah, that look in your eyes! Love it!" Klaus rewards him with an applause, as if he'd just watched a scene out of a play.

Elias gives him a look but stays silent. He'd given up on understanding what was up with his brother; he just wanted to go back to his dorm and rest.

An excited Klaus and a worried Alfonse stood out of sight while Elias approaches the buff man guarding the entrance.

It couldn't have been longer than 2 minutes when they saw Elias come back to them sheepishly.

"Hey, the deal was 10 minutes." Klaus states.

"I didn't even get in! When I lied about my age, he asked where I worked. I panicked and blurted out the name of the academy.." Elias drifts off.

"So?" Klaus raises an eyebrow.

"Turns out he's friends with Vincent, and he knows the teaching staff there.." Elias hides his face in embarrassment.

"You got him in trouble for lying, and it's your fault!" Alfonse points an accusing finger at Klaus, who was trying not to burst into laughter.

"Well, technically, you didn't get in trouble for lying. You got in trouble for lying badly." Shrugging, Klaus blames Elias for the incident, and in turn, earning more looks of disbelief from his siblings.

"Okay, I'm done. I'm just gonna go back to the dorms." Elias shakes his head, unable to keep up with Klaus's madness. That was enough for today; the humiliation and irritation were eating him alive.

However, before any of them could say anything, an angry Luca ran up to them, which was a rare, terrifying view. Elias was sure nobody had seen Luca so angry. Or seen Luca angry at all for that matter. Yet there he was, pissed.

"I've been searching all over for you!" He yells at Klaus.

Elias waited for Klaus to scare the crap out of Luca and everyone within a 5 mile radius of this scene, but instead, Klaus just laughed. Ironically, that scared Elias more than anything Klaus could've done.

"Come on, Emperor; it wasn't so bad!" Klaus teases.

Wait, why was Klaus calling Luca that?

Alfonse's head was spinning in circles; he wasn't sure what was happening or when it happened, but he assumed magic was involved.

"The only thing that wouldn't make this so bad is if murder was legal!" Luca grabs Klaus's collar.

They seemed to both zone out for a few seconds before Klaus pushes Luca's hand away in anger. Klaus's previously calm expression was replaced with a furious one while Luca was back to his playful, carefree self.

"Um..what is happening?" Elias finally asked. He certainly wasn't in the mood for solving riddles today, especially not after everything that happened.

"This is what happened." Klaus reaches into Luca's pocket, pulling out a small, green orb.

Elias thought it looked strangely familiar. Then, it hit him. Alfonse took the words right out of his mouth, though.

"You switched bodies." He whispered.

Elias remembered learning about that green orb, yet it hadn't occurred to him that this could be the case here. He felt slightly dumb for it, but he threw the blame on Luca, considering it was his fault to begin with.

"You're going to burn in a very special level of hell. A level they reserve for child molesters, animal abusers, and people who talk at the theatre." Elias glares at the green-haired male.

"Elias snapped." Klaus chuckles, as if the fact that Elias was trying to be intimidating was enough to amuse him and make him forget about Luca's actions. As if.

"Well, it was fun hanging out with you guys! Now, I gotta go!" Luca attempts to escape, but Klaus knew better.

"Not so fast." The prefect grabs Luca by the back of his collar. "You're not going anywhere. You're coming with me." Klaus drags Luca along with him as he walks towards the academy, leaving both Elias and Alfonse fairly overwhelmed.

"That was...weird." Alfonse heaves a sigh.

"I mean, at least Klaus hadn't decided to suddenly change and become this weird person, I guess?"

"True." Alfonse agrees, letting out a little laugh.

It's worth mentioning that only later that day that Elias realized Luca was the one to hug him and baby him, not Klaus, and he wasn't sure which was worse. It made him wish there was some other type of orb that could make them all forget that specific moment ever happened.

Alas, for now, all he could do is bury his red face into his pillow, as Yukiya wonders what's wrong with him.

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jiveammunition · 7 years

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Title: I’ve Got You in My Slice - Chapter 5 - The Reaper Comes for Your Rolls!! Pairing: Reaper76 Rating: Teen Tags: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - Police, Bad Puns, Fluff, Slow Build, Slow Burn Chapter: 5/? Summary:

“Reaper?” he asked.

After 6 months of waiting, here’s an update for you all. Thank you guys for your patience! <3

Surprisingly, despite the impending barrage of holidays, not much had changed in Gabriel's day-to-day life. As usual, he made sure to go back visit his family the day after Halloween to celebrate Dia de los Muertos — bringing abuelo’s favorite brand of mezcal to drink and leave at the family altar, which he also helped with, and staying the night — as well as on Thanksgiving, when the only particular thing of interest that happened was the turkey exploding in the fryer because his brother-in-law — the husband of his oldest sister, Isabela — hadn't thawed it as completely as he originally thought. Thankfully no one had been injured, nothing had burned down, and his second-oldest sister, Carmen, had the forethought of making another turkey ‘just in case’. But nevertheless, the story was interesting and amusing enough to get a few laughs out of Jack when he told it, which made the Thanksgiving migraine worth it in the end, at least.

“What did you do for Thanksgiving? You spend it with your family too?” Gabriel asked when Jack returned to his table with a refill of coffee in his travel mug.

“Oh, no, it's too expensive and too much of a hassle for me to fly back to Indiana for Thanksgiving. Especially when I'm going to be flying back for Christmas anyway,” Jack replied, shaking his head. “I spent most of Thanksgiving at home with Reaper, before I came here to prep for the Black Friday rush.”

It made sense that Jack had the sense to prep and open the bakery to take advantage of Black Friday and all the people that were out getting their shopping on. If Gabriel remembered properly, Jack even had a sign outside the entire week before, announcing the bakery’s special hours on Thanksgiving and the day after. A part of him wondered how well it went, given the nightmare stories he'd heard from some of his fellow officers about needing to assist certain stores with crowd control — Gabriel himself was on patrol that night — and Jack had to change the store's hours to accommodate his morning rushes and allow for midday baking and restocking. How on earth did Jack manage to handle the floods of people no doubt prowling for early-morning munchies and coffee?

But as Jack hadn't looked all that much worse for the wear, and the store opened without incident the next day, Gabriel decided not to ask. He also wondered when Jack would finally get some help with the store, but also kept his mouth shut, knowing it was a rather touchy subject. As open-minded and keen experimenting with things — baking recipes and the like — Jack was surprisingly stubborn.

Instead, he raised an eyebrow and looked at Jack curiously. “Reaper?” he asked.

“Yeah! Reaper!” Jack got up to fetch his phone from behind the counter, and fiddled with it briefly before sitting back down and showing it to Gabriel. There, on the small screen, was a picture — a bathroom selfie, no less — of Jack with a rather peculiar-looking cat, all black save for white markings on its face that made Gabriel think of a bird’s skull. It was kind of spooky looking, to say the least, and though it certainly fit with Gabriel's aesthetics, for some reason the hairs on his neck stood on end and a shiver of something both strange and familiar ran up his spine.

He didn’t dwell on it for too long, and shook it off as much as he could before handing Jack back his phone. “It certainly looks the part, at least. And I should've known you'd name your cat something punny too, given how much you love your jokes. Don't tell me, it's spelled R-E-A-P-U-R-R?”

Jack merely laughed and shook his head. “As amazing as that spelling would be, no, it's not. I wasn't the one that named him.”

“Oh, you adopted him, then?”

“Something like that. You know how there are a lot of strays that like to hang out in the alley behind the store? Reaper showed up in the bunch one night — the day after Halloween, if I remember right — and just kinda… attached himself to me?” Jack shrugged. “I checked his collar to see if he had an owner, but he only had a nametag on him. I checked for a chip too, but he didn't have one of those, either.”

“Still... You sure it's such a good idea to just take in some random stray like that?” Gabriel asked, recalling some horror stories several years back about someone taking in a stray only to learn the hard way after it died suddenly that it also had rabies.

“Yeah! I took him to the vet to get a quick look at him and got him all up-to-date on shots,” Jack nodded, “Plus, Reaper is a really smart — if a little clingy — cat, he follows me to and from the store every day. Even knows how to use the toilet!”

Just as Gabriel was about to comment about how bizarre that last tidbit was, both his and Jack’s attention were drawn to the front door.

As if on cue, a loud but muffled meow was heard from outside, followed by a light scratching at one of the glass panels. Sure enough, there sat the spitting image of the cat from Jack’s picture, staring into the store as if demanding entrance. Its gaze settled onto Gabriel, and after several moments of staring without blinking — Gabriel could swear the cat was glaring at him or sizing him up — it meowed again and slapped a paw onto the glass. It turned its head towards Jack, and gave one last meow before dropping its paw and sat patiently waiting.

“Oh shit, Reaper!” Jack cursed slightly as he got up from his chair, “You’re not supposed to be out front like that!” He opened the door enough for himself to slip outside and not let the cat in, and picked it up when it appeared to meow at him again. It seemed to settle down in Jack’s arms, at least, and if the look on its face and swishing tail were any indication, it was likely purring like a motor as well.

As amusing as it was to watch from inside as Jack bounced slightly in place while petting the cat in his arms, and apparently scolding it, Gabriel couldn’t say no when Jack nodded at him from outside, beckoning him to go outside. Sighing, Gabriel stood up, taking his mug with him and hiding a few bills underneath the empty plate as payment for the food plus a small tip — something he resorted to doing after Jack kept refusing to accept more than half the normal price of his food due to his ‘guinea pig’ status — before going out to meet Jack’s new kinda-sorta-pet-slash-stalker.

“Reaper, say hi to my friend, Gabriel,” Jack said, turning slightly so the cat was facing him. Reaper gave Gabriel the same kind of soul-piercing stare as it did before, watching him silently until Jack gave it a nudging scratch behind the ear. It purred lowly until Jack’s coddling stopped. Almost reluctantly, it meowed in greeting at Gabriel. When Gabriel reached over to give it a pet, however, Reaper lept out of Jack’s arms and darted away, turning the corner to no doubt disappear into the alleyway.

“Guess he’s not a fan of me,” Gabriel shrugged.

“I wouldn't take it personally. He might just be a little catty around strangers,” Jack ribbed.

“You said he follows you around though, right?” Gabriel asked, pretending like Jack hadn't made any pun at all.

“Are you trying to say I'm strange?” Jack huffed, holding a hand to his chest as if Gabriel had hurt his feelings.

“I didn't say anything,” Gabriel snorted, smirking as he took a sip from his travel mug.

“You're hilarious,” Jack replied, crossing his arms. The look of amusement on his face did nothing to help sell how horribly Gabriel's barb had injured him.

“Anyway,” Gabriel began, looking at his watch, “My shift’s about to start. I'll see you tomorrow.”

He took a few steps forward before he felt a tugging on the back of his jacket.

“Sorry. Hold on a sec,” Jack said. He let go of Gabriel and began rummaging in his apron pocket before fishing out a worn, brown leather wallet and holding it out. “This belongs to Officer McCree. He left it here last night. I texted him to ask for his address so I could drop it off, but he told me to just hand it to you. He's on duty today too, right?”

“Yeah, he is,” Gabriel replied, taking the wallet, and opening it up. Sure enough, there was Jesse's ID, the grin on his portrait even goofier than how Gabriel remembered his last ID picture looked. He tucked the wallet in his breast pocket and began to walk off again before he stopped in his tracks. “Wait. Texted ? Why does McCree have your number?”

“He asked me for it?” Jack shrugged, “I told him I wasn't interested, and he's not my type, but he insisted. Said something about wanting it anyway in case I wanted another friend to hang out with that wasn't — and I quote — ‘a grump with a stick-up-his-ass.”

Gabriel tried to school his expression and keep it as neutral as possible, and surprised even himself when he somehow managed it. He let out a short, “Huh,” and took another sip of coffee to gather his thoughts. “I'll have a word with him later, then.”

Jack laughed, and waved his hand dismissively, “Don't tell him I told you he said that!”

“Oh, I'm not gonna talk to him about that,” Gabriel muttered under his breath. When Jack tilted his head in confusion, Gabriel simply shook his head. “Don't worry about it,” he said, giving Jack a quick wave before heading off to the station.

“Oh, okay…” Jack replied, still looking slightly confused as he waved back, “Have a nice day, then!”

Sure enough, when Gabriel got to the station, Jesse was at his desk, typing up something or another on his computer. Gabriel took the wallet from his pocket and tossed onto the desk in front of him, drawing Jesse's attention away from the screen when it thudded gently on the wooden surface between his forearms.

“Oh, hey! You got it! Thanks, boss!” Jesse laughed happily as he tucked the wallet back into his pocket. “Mornin’, by the way!”

“Morning,” Gabriel grunted. He folded his arms and frowned slightly. Unable to help himself, he went on to ask, “Mind telling me why you have Jack's number?”

The grin on Jesse's face grew even wider. “No reason! Just thought the guy could use another friend around these parts, what with him still being new-ish to the neighborhood and all!”

Gabriel tilted his head, expression still unimpressed and looking doubtful.

Jesse laughed, and held his hands up in surrender. “Honest ta god, boss. I was just bein’ friendly! You got nothin’ to worry ‘bout, anyhow. Said he wasn't interested when I first asked.”

Gabriel let out a quiet ‘harrumph’ before he went to his desk. Shrugging off his jacket, he draped it over the back of his chair before he sat down, still clearly displeased. He'd known Jack for several months now and he still didn't have his number. Granted, he stopped by the bakery at least three times a week — down from the four originally; didn't want to come off as a creep, after all — and there was no real need to have Jack's number when they met in person so often, but still...

He was briefly torn out of his foul mood when Lena walked over with a bridal magazine in hand, asking him what he thought about her fiancée’s, Emily’s, choice in wedding gown.

“Oxton, why the hell are you asking me?” Gabriel asked, after realizing he had spent the last several minutes looking over pictures of dresses.

“I figured you'd be able to help us narrow down what would look best with my dress, since you know fabrics and drapings and all,” Lena replied, looking at Gabriel with wide eyes as if the answer were obvious.

“Oxton, I make costumes as a hobby. I don't design dresses or work as a wedding planner! Didn't Emily hire someone to help you guys for this reason?” Gabriel frowned, gathering the various pictures strewn across his desk into a neat pile and handing it back to Lena.

“Yeah, but I also figured since you're the one that's gonna be actin’ as my dad durin’ the ceremony, it'd be nice to get your opinion, at least…” Lena answered in a quiet voice, looking slightly like a kicked puppy. Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He never could stand up against that look.

Still frowning, he flipped through the stack of pictures in his hands again, reorganizing the pile after a bit of quiet deliberation, and holding it back out once again. “The top three would be the ones that flatter Emily's figure and complement your dress the best. Now get back to work before Amari catches me helping you pick out your wedding cake and yells at me for ‘slacking off’,” Gabriel turned to his computer and waved Lena off.

“Thank you!” she chirped happily. “And you don't need to worry about that! Emily and I already narrowed down what kind of cake we want.” She smiled, taking the stack of pictures, and turned to start heading back to her desk when she suddenly jolting in place.

“Oh! That reminds me! I need to text Jack and let him know what time Emily and I will be there for the taste-testing!” she exclaimed in realization, mostly to herself. With a renewed cheer, she quickly zipped off back to her desk, fishing out her phone and tapping away at it with a smile plastered to her face.

Gabriel's bad mood quickly sunk back in. Lena had Jack's number too? That was-!

He took a deep breath and shook his head. It would make sense that the Lena would have Jack’s number if he was to be the one making their wedding cake. Jack wasn't giving out his number to just anyone and everyone.

...everyone but Gabriel, that was.

Things came to a head near the end of his shift when Liao, of all people, offered to text Jack and see if he would be able to make a cake in time for the station's holiday party in two weeks. Why the heck did Liao have Jack's number?! If he recalled correctly, Liao had only ever been to Jack's bakery once, and that was with Gabriel after they had coincidentally run into each other on their day off and during their morning jog. Unless he went there again sometime after, and asked Jack for his number… which dredged up even more questions in Gabriel's already-preoccupied mind.

He left the station that night with the same contemplative frown he had that morning, internally grumbling at how it seemed everyone but him had Jack's number and struggling to figure out the best way to ask without seeming too desperate or forward. He enjoyed Jack's company, and didn't want to ruin their casual friendship just yet. Plus, if Jack were to reject him like he did with Jesse, Gabriel wasn't sure if he'd be able to set foot into For Goodness’ Cake ever again.

Surprisingly, his opportunity to get Jack's number came in a way he never would have expected. When he got home to his apartment, he was met with the sight of an all-too-familiar black-and-white cat lurking outside his window.

“Reaper?! What the heck?!” he scrambled to open the window, quickly and carefully as to not startle the cat to the point where it would fall of the rather small ledge and injure itself. With a tiny huff through its nose, the cat jumped from the opened window into his apartment and skittered off to curl up on his couch.

“Hey, Reaper, this isn't your home. Why are you even here? Why aren't you with Jack? He's gonna be worried sick about you,” Gabriel scolded, and tried to pick Reaper up. He got a hiss and furry slap across the face for his trouble — thankfully Reaper had the courtesy not to let out its claws — and quickly reeled back in shock.

“Shit!” he yelped, “What the hell, Reaper?! Did you come here just to make my day even worse?”

Reaper ignored him, and curled up the same way as it did before, closing its eyes and sleeping. Or pretending to sleep. Gabriel couldn't tell, and to be frank, he couldn't be bothered. He growled under his breath and let the cat be, huffing as he left the living room to shower, make a quick dinner, and head to bed.

To his knowledge, Reaper stayed curled up and asleep on the couch until the very next morning, when it jolted right up at the sound of the apartment door unlocking. Without any sort of prompting, it darted out of the apartment as Gabriel held the door open, and even waited at the bottom of the stairs for him to catch up.

Jack was right, Reaper was a very smart cat. It was almost unsettling how smart it was. As if keenly aware of Gabriel's usual route, it led the way to the bakery, with Gabriel trailing behind it the entire time.

When they finally reached the bakery, sure enough, Jack was outside, as usual, setting up the sign of the day's special bakes. The expression on his face was more contemplative than usual, his brows furrowed and forming a rather obvious line on his forehead. Reaper meowed loudly as it approached Jack, and almost immediately, Jack seemed to cheer up at the sight of Reaper. His expression brightened up even more when his gaze landed on Gabriel, causing Gabriel's heart to skip a beat as it usually did whenever Jack looked at him like that.

Crouching down, Jack held out his arms for Reaper to leap into, catching the clever cat, and spoiling it with affectionate pets and scratches.

“How did this happen?” Jack asked, utterly bewildered. “Reaper didn't follow me home last night or to the bakery this morning, so I was worried sick something might have happened to him!” The way Jack's hands unconsciously continued to spoil the cat with affection didn't escape Gabriel's notice, and he couldn't help the small smile that crept its way onto his face at the look of contentment on Reaper’s face.

“I don't know why or how he even got there, but I found him hanging outside my window last night. Reaper didn't want to seem to want to budge from my couch at all, and I figured since it was so late and you'd already closed and I didn't have your number, I may as well let him stay the night and bring him back here in the morning,” Gabriel shrugged. Reaper opened its eyes to stare at him, as if fully aware of his white lie, and judging him, but Gabriel ignored it in favor of maintaining eye contact with Jack.

“Thank you for doing that. I really appreciate it,” Jack said appreciatively, relief written across his face as clear as day. “Like I said, I was really worried about this little guy. My apartment felt kinda empty without him around.”

“No problem,” Gabriel replied, feeling nervous about what he wanted to say next.

After a few moments, he swallowed the lump in his throat and gathered enough nerves to finally ask, “Um, in case this happens again, do you have any way for me to contact you? Like a phone number or something?” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, terrified that Jack might jump to the conclusion he catnapped Reaper just to get the chance to ask for Jack’s number.

“Oh, yeah, sure!” Jack beamed. “Let's head inside so I can get yours too!” He crouched back down to let Reaper down, and with a quiet meow, the cat dropped from his arms and scampered away, slapping Gabriel's leg with its tail as it passed. ‘ You owe me for this,’ it almost seemed to say, and Gabriel inwardly thanked the cat for the setup.

“Sure,” Gabriel replied, trying to control the grin beginning to form on his face, and fighting the urge to pump his fist in triumph. He was going to get Jack's number, and he managed to ask without making things awkward or a fool out of himself! The urge did overtake him before he was able to make it through the front door, and with a quiet, “Yes!”, Gabriel did a small fist pump when Jack disappeared into the bathroom to wash his hands and likely dust off whatever cat hair Reaper shed on his clothes. Gabriel would later attempt to do the same to his couch when he returned home that night, only to be utterly surprised to find not a single cat hair anywhere in his apartment.

“Did you say something?” Jack asked as he exited the bathroom, tossing away the paper towel in his hands before the door swung closed behind him.

“No, nothing,” Gabriel replied, shaking his head.

Jack shot him a quick look of confused amusement before fetching his phone. He unlocked it and set it on the counter.

“I can never remember what my number is, so could you punch in yours and call yourself while I get this bread out of the oven? They're the prosciutto, cheese, and balsamic onion ones you tasted the last week and said you really liked. I figured I'd roll them out this week and see how popular they are.”

“Sure,” Gabriel answered, ignoring the pun completely. He focused his attention onto Jack’s phone, doing exactly what was asked of him as Jack disappeared behind the swinging steel door. He could almost feel his heart racing slightly when entering in his number, and when his own phone rang, it figuratively soared into the stratosphere.

Finally getting Jack's number put his spirit in such a good mood that day that he couldn't even find it in himself to get angry when he got to his desk and he discovered Jack snuck two extra rolls into his bag. Nor did he even bat an eye when Jesse approached him at his desk, and handed Gabriel $5. “Jack said you dropped this in his store yesterday. It's not like you to be so clumsy, boss,” Jesse scolded playfully before walking off.

Gabriel would just get Jack again next time.

#reaper76 #jack morrison #gabriel reyes #soldier 76 #reaper #jive writes stuff #jive fic: i've got you in my slice

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