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l4long-winded · 2 months

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mad carmy with sassy reader that doesn’t take his shit!!! (smut!)

ask and you shall receive (happy valentine's day, love)

o.s. fire in the freezer

summary: it's opening night and you're stuck inside the walk-in with your boss, carmen. can the night get any worse? (carmen berzatto x afab!reader)

reflection: this took me embarrassingly long. i had a lot to get through these past weeks. i still have a busy schedule with college and life, but i want to do more of these. i have about 3 or 4 prompts i need to get to, but i think i'll be able to manage. also, this might be ooc for some people? idk, it's fiction. please enjoy and feedback is always appreciated!

warnings: cursing, longwinded descriptions, angry!carmy, angry!reader, takes place during the season 2 finale (pretending claire doesn't exist), implied enemies to lovers, reader's pov, reader is a line cook(?), arguing, surprise kissing, walk-in shenanigans, dirty talk, mention of fridge guy, use of the word "slutty," walk-in p in v, unprotected (please let me know if there are other warnings i need to add)

word count: 2,140

( this work has been cross-posted to ao3 )

“What the fuck did you just say?”

It’s alarming how crimson his face appears considering the walk-in’s cold air biting at both your limbs, how you imagine the rising heat of his breath combats the freezer’s chill, puffs relaying the steam building within him. It’s a miracle it doesn’t fume from his ears. Fifteen minutes have passed, fifteen minutes of remaining silent as Carmen mouthed off about the unfairness of the situation, how his cell phone doesn’t have service, how he doesn’t know what the fuck is going on out there when your coworkers have seemingly abandoned the both of you to fend for yourselves. You don’t blame him. You don’t want to be in here any more than he does, but there’s this wretched thing about Carmen that he does when tensions are high and his temper flies off the handle. He gets mean. He becomes hurtful. You’ve worked with him long enough to see it occur, the venomous speech he mutters at a high volume as a tendon in his neck protrudes and the person being yelled at flinches in shock. Though such poison’s never been doused over your head, he’s never directed that anger towards you.

Until now. He inadvertently called you an idiot along with the coworkers busying themselves outside the walk-in. There’s not much they can do about the freezer’s handle breaking, and you both know that, but he’s not calming himself down, nor is he making this easier on you when you’re stuck in the same situation as him. You two are prideful and confident in your actions in the kitchen. Sure, you’ve butted heads a few times and stared each other down from afar, but your relationship’s been tame for the most part.

“I said, ‘Stop acting like a fucking cunt.’” You bark back. So much for being tame. You couldn’t stop the words from spilling from your mouth. Everyone has the grace and privilege of being able to ignore him since he’s locked away here with you, but unfortunately, you’re not as lucky. You don’t appreciate being talked down to and you won’t take it from your boss just because he’s irate and the world is crumbling beneath your feet. You want to head out there and contribute to the restaurant as he does, but you’re also not spewing hateful soliloquies to the one person who could possibly understand what you’re going through. That, and it’s fucking cold in here, you’re irritated by the temperature frosting over your skin. It’s opening night and you’re stuck with your least favorite person in the kitchen—your least favorite person possibly in Chicago. The last thing you’re going to do is sulk near the stored ingredients while he shouts and pounds away at the freezer’s door.

This is his fucking fault. How fucking dare he? Why are you paying for his sin?

Just as it did the first time, the second time renders him, miraculously, speechless. It’s not because he doesn’t have anything to reply back, this is evident in how he purses his lips together and clenches his jaw. You notice it flex as he swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing, previously hidden by the collar he’s now unbuttoned. He stares at you with a pointed gaze, eyebrows ever so slightly knitted inwards. Neither of you has to utter a single word to understand how much you can’t fucking stand each other, how Carmen is purposely holding back since you’ve caught his petulant tantrum and condescended him for it. The absence of sound between you two is grim as if he’s waiting for the apology, but fuck him, you’re not apologizing for shit. Instead, you mimic his facial expression like he’s staring into a mirror, crossing your arms against your chest for good measure to illustrate the guard he won’t be breaking through anytime soon.

Carmen steps forward. It’s a singular step. There’s only backwards to go before you end up meeting the shelves, so you remain where you are. His body heat radiates, prominent not because you’re that close, but because the freezer’s becoming more unforgiving the longer you’re both in here.

“Say it again,” he breathes.

You blink rapidly as if he’s a mirage, as if he’ll disappear, and as if he’s grown two other heads. He wants you to say it again? Is this some kind of a test? It has to be. There aren’t many other options, besides how he steps even closer within your vicinity and away from the locked palisade ahead. The temperature rises, and the fucked part about it is that your body’s instinctual need to survive urges you to collide into his frame to share feverish flames instead of standing in the chilled atmosphere on your lonesome. Carmen’s mandibles buckle, a sign of his bottled intentions, of what he really wants to say. You wish he’d just spit it out rather than goad you into the unemployment line.

“Call me a cunt again,” he dares and confirms your previous thoughts. He’s standing so close, proximity lacking to the point where his hot breath ghosts your nose and cheeks. Again, your instincts urge, and again, you will them to shut the fuck up and let me handle this. How convoluted and capricious you are. Arguing with innate impulses on the inside while arguing with your superior on the outside, fastened to him inside an icy cage as your coworkers take advantage of the kitchen’s liberating space without you. Fuck them too, they haven’t told either of you shit in what feels like forever and Carmen’s acting out of character. He’s not supposed to be with you like this. He’s not supposed to be gazing at you like he’s about to blow up. He’s not supposed to be challenging you into an impossible situation. You’ve called him a cunt twice. Twice. Three times symbolize the three strikes before you’re out.

Well, if you’re going out, you’re going down swinging your bat as hard as you can, spins and all, dirt flying and wind ricocheting. He’s thrown his virulence. Now, it’s your turn.

“Cun—nnnmph,” is not what you expected to utter, but before you could punctuate that final phoneme, Carmen’s mouth swallowed it greedily, and transitioned it into an astonished noise muffled by his lips. Your eyes flutter, searching his face for a way to explain why the hell this is happening, but suddenly, Carmen shifts his head, the kiss he’s sprung on you deepening, and an accidental swipe of his tongue shuts your eyes. All in a matter of two conflicted seconds.

“Thought you,” you murmur between his stifling, repeated connections, “wanted me to,” he’s practically shoving his tongue against yours, “call you a–”

He grunts in frustration. Seemingly towards you. His hands grasp your biceps, forcing your eyes onto his as his breathing shallows out. “Believe me, it won’t be the only time you put a cunt in my mouth tonight,” he says sharply. You don’t know why your thighs tremor. You fault the near-hypothermia.

“Shit, you’re cold,” he states the obvious as his attention turns to his palms on your arms, as if he didn’t just plant such a filthy image in your mind’s eye. His thumbs stroke over your goosebumps, examining your skin with careful scrutiny. If you didn’t know any better, you swear you see worry cross his visage for a moment. His hands aren’t any better, but they’re warmer than your flesh, and skin-to-skin makes this situation a little more bearable. You won’t tell him that, but he seems to have an idea of how you’re not flinching away from his touch. In fact… you’re leaning into it.

“Of course I am. It’s the walk-in,” you say sarcastically. “Wouldn’t be here if you had just called Tommy,” you add, but he exhales a heavy breath through his nose. He shrugs off his jacket to his Chef’s Whites, rolling his eyes, muttering something to himself about Tony, Terry, and Tommy, fucking fuck it all.

“Shut the fuck up, put this on, and turn around,” he hands you the jacket. He had the prerogative of wearing sleeves in here, so he’s not as frigid as you are (temperature-wise, anyway).

“It’ll keep you warm while I fuck you,” he promises, hard gaze on your eyes. You gulp, a desire within you to tell him off for being so presumptive of what’s happening here. Yet, that desire is viciously censored in favor of the desire to do as he says, or more so, the idea of being railed to distract you from how cold you are.

You slip his jacket on, pivoting on your heel, biting your tongue as you lean forward and grasp the metal belonging to the shelves ahead. The inside of his sleeves are already snug and cozy on your arms because of how long he wore it. You hate it. The smug bastard’s not supposed to be right.

You gulp as Carmen’s knuckles graze your lower back, lifting his jacket out of his way for a moment to tug at the waistband of your pants. You hear his breathing stutter, his hand skimming down the sensitive flesh of your ass as his eyes trace over the thin fabric of the panties you chose today.

“Is your underwear always this slutty?” He asks, his voice lower than you’ve ever heard it. To be fair, you didn’t know this would be happening today.

“Find out tomorrow,” you settle for. It seems to be the appropriate response because he groans and kneads at the flesh gathered at your hip as an appreciative gesture. This won’t be the last time this happens. It can’t be.

There’s rustling behind you. You hear the sound of Carmen’s belt before you feel the cold metal prod at the meat of your posterior, sent forward since he’s not fully tugging the leather material from the loops of his pants. It’s just enough for him to get at his zipper, the noise causing your hands to grip the shelves ahead of you even tighter. Carmen’s thumbnail slides along your skin as he tucks his thumb under your panties to position them to the side. The blunt head of him strokes at your entrance, his opposite hand pushing between your shoulder blades to exacerbate the bend at your hips and the pretty dip in your spine.

“You’re really hard for a man who’s surrounded by this much cold,” you mutter smugly. It’s all your doing, revving up his engine through simply challenging him amid his grizzly attack.

However, the smugness dies on your tongue once Carmen pushes in. He didn’t offer you a smartass response, instead offering you the breach of his length, the swollen head of him prying at your soaked walls up until his hips are flush with yours. Your trembling returns and it’s no longer because of the cool air, but because Carmen begins to thrust the second your cunt gives to him. Wrath fades from your mouth, and a moan replaces it, indicating your lust and enjoyment from this, much to your own dismay.

“M’this hard because I was thinking about how fucking warm you’d be around me,” he grunts, leaning over you and jostling you with his strong movements. His pace isn’t brutal, but the pressure of each of his thrusts is. He pulls back and then buries himself as deep as he could go, the sounds of his effort being in the way his hips collide with the flesh of your ass, a smack every time he hits it just right. And fuck, does he hit it just right. The horrible thing is it’ll stroke his massive ego. The great, amazing, toe-curling thing is that it feels like nirvana. The tip of his cock becomes acquainted with a pivotal point within you that has your vision blurred, unable to make out a single label of the cans and containers in front of your face.

“H-how warm is it?” You manage. Somehow. Conversation isn’t your prerogative while you’re bent over and being receptive, gasping for air every time you attempt to shift your hips back into him and he surpasses another inch inside of you. But you’re curious.

“Like a damn furnace,” he answers quickly, increasing his pace just as fast as the sentence leaves his mouth. “Tighter than I imagined,” he confesses, his forehead pressing into your shoulder. Your feet shuffle apart, legs spreading further for him as you pant and do your best not to whine. You can’t give him that satisfaction.

But it’s no use. His name shoots off your tongue like a prayer, a Freudian slip, his middle finger stroking along your clit in time with his bruising plunges.

“Wet, so, so fucking wet,” he continues, “drenching me and setting me on fire at the same fucking time.”

Fuck, you hope they never open that door.

#l4l.writes #carmen berzatto #carmen berzatto imagine #carmy the bear #carmen berzatto x reader #jeremy allen white #the bear fic #the bear #fire in the freezer #l4l.oneshot

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darlingshane · 4 months

Text

Salt of the Earth ~ Part 1

Pairing: Michael Berzatto x OFC

Summary: She was Carmy's best friend growing up, and Michael never looked at her as anything other than that until years later when she comes back to Chicago to start over. In the process, she turns his sorry excuse of a life upside down.

Content/Warnings: Friends to lovers, Fluff, Angst, Family Drama, Dysfunctional relationships, Implied/referenced drug addiction, Alcohol mention, Divorce, Pets, Pet names, Dialogue heavy. Undisclosed age gap (in my mind Michael is late 30s and OC is late 20s, but it's really up to your interpretation).

Word Count: 6.8k // 4 chapters // AO3 link.

A/N: This is set in the year of the Fishes episode on season 2. It starts in summer and slowly builds up to that Christmas.

— This was an anon request that I got a few months ago, I hope you're still around. I tried to fit all the ideas you sent as best I could. There's a bit of info dump on the first chapter, but I hope it isn't too off-putting.

Chapter 1: Best thing since sliced bread

Seconds stretch into minutes, minutes elongate into long hours on slow days like this at The Beef. Especially in summer when the air conditioner stops working for the second time in the middle of August. Any living soul that crosses that door must have a dying wish or be the devil themselves to adventure themselves to what has become Michael's personal hell.

It's been a testing year, and there's so much he can do to fix this place right now. While he waits for Fak to come check the damn AC unit, Michael tends the front while Ebra takes his lunch break.

Turning the paper's pages on the counter, he comes across an article about the extensive fires eating different parts of the country. A wretched thought crosses his mind as he reads – maybe it'd be better to burn this place to the ground and start over. He entertains the idea for a second until the door swings open, inviting more heat into the boiling pot.

He lifts his eyes from the words to find a familiar face approaching the counter. It's not Fak, but a much better vision of someone he used to know.

“Mayhem Maya.”

“Magic Mikey.”

That former thought of burning down this place disappears somewhere in the midst of that beautiful aura that saunters with her big brown eyes, long raven hair, nervous smile, and firm steps.

“It's been a while, Maybird.” Almost ten years since she set foot in this establishment. “What brings you to this hole in the wall?”

“Came to collect that meatball sub you promised at uncle Teddy's funeral, remember?”

“Oh, right.”

Ever since she moved to a different state, he only had seen her a handful of times when she came back for the holidays. Last time he saw her was at the beginning of spring, when her uncle, Ted Silva, passed away.

“I also had an interview at the new vet clinic on the next block.” She places her cross-body bag on an empty stool while she perches her ass on the one next to it.

“How's that going? Did you get tired of California already?”

“No, I love California. But I needed a change of scenery. It's been rough after… you know…” the divorce. She wasn't married for long, but she still can't bring herself to say the word.

“I’ve heard some of it.” He’s pretty much aware of how everything went down. Well, he’s got grapevine’s juicy version of the story, but he never heard her side directly.

Though Michael and Maya know each other as if they were related, they were never close confidants. She always thought he was the coolest guy in Chicago. And he always thought fondly of her, given their families association, and Maya’s close friendship with his brother.

Michael places an order for her sandwich and grabs a soda for her, while she explains she has two more job interviews later.

“Does your mother know you're back?” He folds the paper and props his elbows on the counter.

“She probably does.”

“Still not talking, huh?”

“It's not my fault she made me the black sheep of the family. She’s like vitriol on steroids.”

“Yeah? What happened at the wake? You left before I could say goodbye.”

Michael recalls the tension at the funeral, particularly at the wake when Angela Silva grabbed Maya by the elbow and took her youngest daughter outside the house as if she was still a child that needed to be scolded.

“Nothing. I barely said a word that day. Guess everything I do feels like a personal attack to her. I can admit that I'm not perfect, and that sometimes I've acted up just to get a reaction out of her, but that day she just went off again…” She pauses without finishing that thought to take a refreshing sip of her coke. “And that wasn't nearly as bad as the day I told her I was getting…”

“Divorced? Why can't you say the word? It's not Voldemort.”

“What the hell do you know about Voldemort?”

“How do I… Who took you and Carmy to buy those damn books? Have you forgotten?” Maya shakes her head. “You even tried many times invoking his name, so I was haunted by eaters or something like that. You two were real potterheads.”

“And you were just a pothead,” she laughs, stirring the ice cubes in her drink with a straw. “I totally blocked that out. We were just a couple of nerds.”

“I’d say!”

“Meatball sub!” Richie calls from the pass-through window and takes a second look when catching Maya in the joint. “Maya Papaya?!”

“Please, don’t call me that.” She scoffs while Richie promptly abandons the kitchen and goes around the counter to give her a welcoming hug.

“Did you know she was coming?” He asks Michael, as he props his ass on the bar.

“Had no idea. She just showed up.”

“Did you tell her about Carmy?”

“What about him?”

“He’s in Copenhagen.”

“Oh, I knew about that.”

“You two talk often?”

“Sometimes, I guess.” Barely more likely. They don't even text anymore. She's tried but there's been nothing but crickets at his end for months.

While Richie grills her about Carmy and what she’s been up to, Michael can’t help but look around the shop to notice, from every corner and wall, memories bouncing all at once in his direction. It takes him back in time to those days when she and Carmy were as thick as thieves.

Their shared history goes back to that same street their families have lived on for over thirty years… It’s still clear in his mind, like it was yesterday, when he was forced to babysit them when they wanted to go to the movies or trick-or-treating or the bookstore. That was a little annoying back then, now he fondly remembers all those times in summer, when they’d go to the convenience store to get ice pops on their bikes. Then they’d ride back and sit in the middle of the swanky rug in their living room and watch TV for hours. More than once they were yelled at by Mama Berzatto when she would come home to find melted colorful stains in the fabric. She would lose her shit. Carmy was used to it. Maya wasn’t, but the girl never flinched once cause Donna and her own mother were cut from the same unstable piece of cloth.

Maya and Carmy were really close up until they went separate ways for college. Their bond was something to admire. They had something so special that inevitably, Carmy fell in love with her. She was his best friend and confident. They kept each other's secrets, and Carmy thought she'd feel the same in return. It wasn't a crazy notion. They spent so much time together, everyone thought it'd lead to something more, but that never happened.

Mikey and Richie used to tease the youngest cub relentlessly. They tried multiple times to encourage him to ask her out, but he never found the guts to do it. Especially if it could potentially end their friendship. Carmy didn't want to lose that. Though he never confessed his feelings, Maya always knew. Even in her teens, call it a woman’s intuition, part of her already knew. Maya wished she'd felt the same toward him, but the heart wants what it wants, and she couldn't change that.

What was really fucked up was that she had the most ridiculous crush on the older Berzatto when she was a teen. While she knew he'd never look at her as anything other than Carmy's annoying little friend, that didn't stop her from daydreaming about it for years. It was a secret that no one ever knew and that was placed in a drawer at the back of her mind after she left Chicago.

After graduating, Maya and Carmy stayed in touch for a long time, until their calls and texts became less frequent. They followed different dreams that required a lot of attention and sadly their friendship got hurt in the process.

While she attended Vet School on the west coast, he became a chef on the east.

Maya thrived at school and work. She really went out on her own, and became the woman she always wanted to be. Unsheltered, confident, outspoken. She outgrew her shell and opened herself to new experiences and people. She loved it all. It wasn’t smooth sailing, but for the most part she was pretty happy with her choices.

And now she's back in Chicago, set on a new path and awaiting to see where it takes her.

She’s living in a house in Oak Park with her dog, Coco; Richie fishes out of her. Apparently, she got some money from uncle Teddy, and she’s invested it in a home for her and her beloved staffy.

“Does Carmy know you’re here?” Richie circles back.

“No, I haven't talked to him in months.”

“Why? Did you two have a fall-out or something?”

“There's no why. We're just busy.”

“Mike, help me out here. Weren’t these two fools supposed to get married?”

“Yeah, everyone thought you'd ended up together.”

“Man, I don't know what to tell you, we just didn't,” her head sinks between her shoulders.

“Just get over yourself and hit him up. The kid has been hung up on you since forever. It looks like things didn’t go so well with your marriage and all. You should take that as a sign, you’d never find anyone better than Carmy. The boy could really use some excitement in his life. And so could you.”

“C’mon, leave her alone. Go back to work, Cousin.”

Michael throws her a lifeline, noticing how miserable she looks every time Richie opens his unfiltered mouth.

“He’s not wrong, you know? You and Carmy… it looked like you two had something special.” Michael offers once Richie is back in the kitchen.

“It’s called friendship. You should look it up.” She points out.

“I have Richie.”

“Exactly. You have Richie. Why don't you two marry the other and leave me alone? If you think about it, you were as close to Richie as I was with Carmy. Even more. Should everyone assume you are in love with him? Cause that's what you're implying.”

“Touché. I'll drop it.”

“Look, as hard as it is to believe, there was nothing else between us. I was aware he felt something for me, but I didn’t feel the same.”

“You should give him a chance sometime. He might surprise you.”

It’s not the first time these two have been trying to play matchmaker between Maya and Carmy, and it’s bizarre to see they still do at any given opportunity.

“Okay, if I give Carmy a chance, you have to give Richie a chance. Those are the rules, Berzatto.”

“Oh, I've tried. He's not into me,” he remarks, amused, and leans closer to confess something in a lower voice. “Do you wanna know a secret?”

“Uh, sure.”

“He and Tiffany are having a baby. He just told me a few days ago.”

“What? You let him reproduce? I'll pray for Tiff.”

Chapter 2: Cool as a cucumber

Everything falls slowly into place as Maya settles back in Chicago. She secures the job at the clinic near The Beef, which is a huge relief after her rushed decision of moving back to her hometown without securing a job first. It was part of the plan all along to practice what she loves but never thought this would be the year. As much as she loved California, once her divorce was finalized she felt like something was trapping her there. And the money she got from her uncle gave her some leeway to improvise, get away from all that, and start over.

Maya is spending her morning going through the stack of unpacked boxes, finding a good place for everything, making it feel more homey. It's not a big house, but spacious enough for the two of them. The big selling point was the backyard for Coco to zoom around and cool down in her wading pool, which she loves. It didn't take long for the five-year-old pup to get used to her new neighborhood. They've even made a couple of friends at the park nearby.

A moment before the doorbell rings, Coco whines from her spot by the window, where she often sits to watch passers in the street.

“Who is it?” Maya playfully asks her dog as she makes her way to the front door.

Through the peephole, she sees Michael's profile as he inspects the porch.

“Hi,” her eyes widen as she opens the door. “Didn't know you were coming.”

“Yeah, I would've called, but I didn't get your number the other day.” But he got her address from Richie's intense questioning when she visited the shop.

“I knocked on two different houses until I got the right one,” he explains as Coco curiously circles around his feet, sniffing his pants, hitting his crotch with her nose in the process.

“No, Coco. Sit. How many times have we talked about no nut-tapping?” Maya glances at her with amusement as the dog sits on her haunches.

“It’s fine,” he snorts. “All dogs do that.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. But she’s not any other dog. I thought I had taught her better. So what brings you here?”

“This.” He offers the paper bag hanging in his hand. “It's just a little house-warming gift.”

“You didn't have to.” As she takes the bag from his hand she ushers him inside before closing the door.

“It's nothing, really.”

He glances around as Maya takes out the box from the bag.

“Wow, a set of knives? That's not nothing.”

“Everyone needs one good set of knives. But you can exchange them for something else if you want.”

“No. I like these. But I gotta warn you that I'm not much of a cook, and I'll probably use the same one for everything.”

“That's fine I can show you sometime though. Is she friendly? ” He points at the dog that keeps staring at him. “Can I pet her?”

“Yeah, she loves everyone. Go ahead.”

Michael cautiously pets the brown coat of her head as her floppy ears lower at the passing of his hand.

“Never pictured you with a pit bull.”

“Me neither. I always thought I'd be a cat lady. But I met her at this adoption drive when she was one, and she stole my heart.”

“I can see why.” Michael crouches down, and pets Coco with both hands. “She's really sweet.”

He lets her lick his chin a couple of times before standing back on his feet. Then they go on a tour around the house.

“It's still a work in progress. I'm thinking of painting a few walls, but we like it so far.”

“Yeah, it has good bones.”

“So you don't have to work today?” Asks Maya.

“No, we've had some trouble with the gas line, and we've been shut down for a couple of days.”

“That sucks. Now where am I going to get my sandwiches and coffee on my way to work?”

“Heard Starbucks is pretty good.”

“Shut up. Don't even joke about that.” She playfully shoves his shoulder as they go back to the living room.

“Are you doing something later?”

She shakes her head. “Why?”

“I don't know, thought you were having a comeback party or something.”

“I don't really have any friends here. And I don't feel like inviting my family yet. As you can see, I still have a lot to unpack.”

“Physically or mentally speaking?”

“Both,” she scoffs.

“Let's do something then? Just you and me. We could grab some pizza, or go out for a drink for old times’ sake?”

“Old times’ sake?” It's amusing, surprising and confusing his sudden interest in her. Maybe he can see how pathetic she thinks she is, and he's taking pity on her. Although, that was never Michael style.

“Yeah, c'mon, Mayhem. You look like you could use some fun.” He picks up a book that's sitting on top from the box opened by the couch that's titled — Dating Again with Courage and Confidence: The Five-Step Plan to Revitalize Your Love Life after Heartbreak, Breakup, or Divorce. “And maybe a rebound or something. You don't need a fucking help book. You only need me to show where to get the best guys, or girls. Whatever you're into.”

“Give me that. I don't need a rebound, a help book, or you for all matter finding me a date.”

“No? Then why do you have that?”

“My friend Paige thought I should give it a try.”

“Maybe she was onto something there.”

“I'm perfectly fine. Just want to finish organizing everything, focus on work and this handful I have right here.” Her hand gestures at Coco. “What are you so interested in my love life anyway? First you try to play matchmaker with Carmy, and now you want me to do what, exactly? Hook up with the first guy I see?”

“No, I'm just asking you to go out and have some fun. I know Carmy was the only friend you had here. And if I was in your shoes, I'd feel pretty lonely.”

“I'm not lonely, Michael. Do I miss my friends in Sacramento? Sure,” she admits. “But I don't wanna force anything. I'm just taking it slow. When the time comes I'll jump right in but for now, this is all I need. Really. Stop pitying me.”

“I'm not pitying you, sweetheart.”

“No? Then what is it? Where is this coming from?”

“I don't know… I've always thought you were the salt of the earth. And though we never really hung out together, I thought you could use… But I can see now that you're different, and that you know what you need right now, so I'll just shut up and back off. Let you do your thing.”

“Thank you. I do know what I'm doing, by the way. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine. But I appreciate you coming here anyway.”

“Yeah, of course. And I can help you unpack if you need.”

“Hm, if you don't have anything better to do, be my guest. We could grab a pizza later, if the offer still stands. Or just order some food.”

“Sure.”

Michael helps Maya unpack all the boxes and put everything in place in half the time it'd have taken her alone. They order some food for lunch and spend half the day talking and laughing until late in the afternoon when they decide to go out for some drinks to keep the good vibes going.

At the end of the night, she offers to drive Michael back to his apartment as a thank you for inviting her.

“Did you have fun?” Michael asks from the passenger seat as she pulls up in front of his building.

“Yeah, I did. I'm glad I changed my mind.”

“Me too. I didn't know you were this fun. You're nothing like I remember.”

“Yeah, I was kind of weird growing up. You guys probably thought there was something wrong with me. ”

“Nah, don't be so hard on yourself. We were all weird in our own way.”

“Uh-uh. No Michael Berzatto. You were the coolest guy back in the day, and you still are.”

“I don’t know about that,” he scoffs. “For the record… I never thought there was anything wrong with you.”

“You were probably the only one… Anyway, thank you for today. I know I said I didn't need this, but I guess I did.”

“You're welcome, Maybird. I'm glad you’re back.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Thanks for bringing me home,” he softly squeezes her arm before reaching for the handle to open the door.

“No problem.”

“You know you can call me if you ever miss your friends, y’know?” he throws casually.

“I uh…sure. I will.”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” she echoes back as he pulls the handle and the door opens.

“Have a good night, Michael,” she says as he gets one foot on the pavement.

“You, too, sweetheart.”

He closes the door and vaguely waves as she sets the car in motion and watches her drive away.

Chapter 3: Don't cry over spilled milk

In the few weeks he's been spending time with Maya, Michael has found himself enjoying her company more than he'd like to admit. Being with her grounds him. She makes him forget for a little while all that's wrong in his life. She's like a beacon in that immerse darkness that his sorry existence has become. Despite having her own set of problems, he's watched her rise above all that with poise. He wonders what it's her secret to her steadfast determination, even when her own family has disavowed her.

After closing shop, he dives into his stash to tame that brewing headache before driving to Oak Park to pay her a visit. She told him earlier via text that she was at Home Depot buying some paint to update the color of her bedroom and asked him to come over to hang out after work.

For some reason, he couldn't say no. Not even the storm in his head is strong enough to deny her request. He has a pull on him, tugging him hard like a dog tied to a leash in her hand, he can’t help but follow her lead.

When he arrives at her house, she's halfway done. Two of the walls shine bright new in a lavender tone as she starts working on the next one.

After having beer and playing a tug of war game with his new friend, Coco, Michael offers his help to finish painting the walls. He uses a brush to paint the corners, while she gracefully uses a roller like a pro with her denim overalls over a tank top, and her raven hair pulled up in a ponytail sprinkled with lavender paint beads. When she lifts one of her arms, he catches a glimpse of a tattoo on the side of her rib cage, leveled to the roundness of her chest that looks like the outline of a dog paw.

“What are you looking at?” She asks after catching him staring.

“You have paint on your chin.”

“Oh.” She wipes it with the back of her hand, but she just spreads the stain along her jaw. “I made it worse, didn't I?”

“Yeah.”

She shrugs it off and continues with the task ahead until the whole wall is covered.

“Is everything okay, Bear?” Maya puts down the paint roller. “You're quieter than usual.”

“Yeah, everything's alright.” It sounds so honest, he almost believes it. “It's just been a long day.”

“I'm sorry that I put you to work.”

“Don't be. This is relaxing.”

“Yeah?” She takes a step back and surveys how much brighter her bedroom looks already after covering most of the former downcast grey. “Is the color right? Do you think it's too girlish?”

Giving the room a once over he says, “it's a good shade. I dig it. It doesn't matter what I think or if it's too girlish, as long as you like it. Do you like it?”

“Yeah. I do.”

She dips the roller on the tray to cover another section of the wall.

“You never told me what happened at the funeral with your mom,” Michael leans on the stepladder, taking a short break.

“Do you really wanna know?” She glances over her shoulder.

“Yeah. Everyone does. I’ve heard some crazy stories about it. Thought I should get it straight from the source.”

“I never pegged you for a gossip girl.”

“I’m not. I’m just making conversation.”

She mockingly narrows her eyes, drawing a lopsided smirk, “liar.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t wanna. But yeah, can’t help being a little curious about it.”

“I don’t mind telling you, but it won’t be as entertaining as those crazy stories people have made up.”

“I’m not here for entertainment. I just wanna hear your side of the story, Maybird.”

Maya lets out a heavy sigh and while keeping her focus on the wall she shares with him what really happened. She’s right to say that is not the best story she’s ever told, though when it comes to her mother, all her stories tend to have a surreal element even she can’t fathom sometimes.

That day at the funeral, she was taken outside during the wake by Angela Silva to get scolded about her imminent divorce. It wasn’t finalized by then, and her mom invoked one last Hail Mary to convince her to stay with her husband, who was also currently dating someone else. It was a messy situation that Maya couldn't wait to get out of, and the fact that her mother never offered an ounce of support wasn’t surprising, but still devastating. Somehow, Angela found that the reason for her separation from her husband was that Maya didn’t want to have kids, and that really vexed Angela. All she wanted for her three kids was to follow the same traditional path Angela was forced into, no matter how miserable she was. Her two older sisters followed her mother’s narrowed traditional values. But Maya, ever-the-nonconformist, swore she would never follow anyone’s drum beat but her own. Her husband thought she’d change her mind eventually. He was wrong. She knew that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, which led her here, to this moment.

“Is your mom ever happy?” Michael has always wondered.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her happy, except when she’s drunk. That’s why she has to make everyone else miserable.”

“Yeah, but she’s always had a fixation on making you miserable.”

“Like I said, every family needs a black sheep, and I’m it.”

“Is that why you became a vet?”

“Yeah, probably.”

“So, it's true, you don’t wanna have kids? I’m not judging. I’m just curious.”

“I honestly don't know. I just knew that when he told me he wanted to have a baby right away, it didn’t feel right. I said that maybe in six or seven years I’d be okay with it. Told him I wanted to travel and just be us for a while, and he said that was too long to wait. I don’t know… he stopped talking to me, and it was clear that he wasn’t changing his mind, and I wasn’t changing my mind, so. At some point I got tired of trying… He got a girlfriend as soon as I filed for divorce and I got a text from Paige the other day that said he got her already pregnant, like… that was never me. I guess it served me right… I married him on a whim, an impulse without really talking about what we wanted…”

“Hey, don’t feel sorry for yourself. You dodged a bullet there.”

“You really think that?.”

“Yeah, I do. You stood up for yourself and knew when to step back when it didn’t feel right. Not everyone has the balls to do that. Think how miserable you’d be by now if you had tried to please him or your mom. You seem happy now. That's what matters.” He means that with all his heart, and wishes he had the same drive to follow those same steps. As much as he loved the restaurant, he chose to run it to please people within his family. And that love turned into a nightmare he couldn't escape.

“You know… I liked you better when you were quiet,” she quips.

Michael huffs a soft laugh, picking up his brush to resume painting.

When the room is finished, she plugs a couple of fans and closes the door to keep Coco away.

Maya washes her hands and face in the bathroom sink. When she comes out, she catches the motion of Michael's arm as he shoves what looks like a pill into his mouth before taking a gulp of water from one of her glasses.

“What was that? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. It's just a headache,” looking down, he runs a palm over his short growing beard.

“Is it the fumes?”

“No, I had it before coming here.”

“Michael,” she sighs softly at his name. “You should've told me. I wouldn't have let you help if I knew.”

“Would you stop that? I wanted to help.”

“Okay, c'mere. Let's sit down.”

“No, I think I should get going.”

“Nonsense. I'm not going to let you drive until you feel better.”

He yields with a long exhale, and follows Maya into the living room, where her bed is settled askew in the middle of the space.

She takes a seat on the edge of the mattress and waits for him to sit next to her.

“Give me your hand,” she shows her palm up, as his eyes narrow. “C'mon, don't be a baby, give me your hand, Berzatto.”

“When did you become so bossy?” He slowly lifts his hand and as he lays it on top of her palm, his fingers tremble upon contact with her skin. Maya then uses her opposite hand to clip the webbing between his thumb and pointer fingers with her own and begins massaging that spot.

“My friend Sierra is really into acupressure. She says this is a pressure point that helps with headaches.” She explains while slowly increasing the force. “Does it hurt?”

“Not one bit. Is that like acupuncture?” His voice comes as a whisper as he focuses on her diligent fingers.

“Kinda. I think. I’m not really sure.”

“You don't have to fix me, you know?”

“I'm not trying to fix you, Bear. I just wanna make you feel better.”

“Admit it. You just love a good wounded animal.”

She smiles softly, placing his hand down on his knee and picking up the other. “Does it feel any different?”

He’s not really sure, it wasn’t truly a headache that led them to take that pill but the annoying rambling of his thoughts. She shouldn’t have seen that. And he shouldn’t have lied. But having her hands on his like this is straight up lovely. Inside of him, it truly feels like something is broken, wounded, and missing, and this is giving him a sliver of relief as he waits for the pill to kick in. If he was a better man, he’d tell her the truth. But he’s too far gone for saving. All he can do is keep that facade up.

“Does it?” She insists after not getting an answer.

“A little.”

“Do you wanna lay down?”

Swallowing, he responds with a nod, and they both lean back on the mattress at the same time. Looking at the ceiling, she keeps kneading that pressure point, unsure if she’s even doing it right.

They stay in comfortable silence for a good five minutes and when she finally places his hand down, Maya glances to the side and sees that his eyes have closed, and his chest gently rising and falling. She calls his name softly, but she can see that behind the sharp edges of his face and the ever-growing shade of his beard, he’s truly exhausted, so she doesn’t insist. She extends her hand to turn off the lamp, and curls on the other side of the bed without disturbing his sleep.

“Good night,” she says softly and closes her eyes.

From a dusty corner of her mind comes crawling that little forgotten part that used to harbor a lot of feelings for Michael. Though a few weeks ago he seemed practically the same Michael she knew, over the past month she’s keenly noticed little changes here and there. His eyes sometimes cast a dark shade tainted in nothing but sadness, it’s barely noticeable for other people. It comes and goes, but it tells her he’s not truly as happy as he pretends to be.

Michael wakes up disoriented at the crack of dawn.

It takes him a few seconds to remember he’s still in Mayas’ bed in the middle of her living room and that the weight that has his arm pinned is her body pressed against his. She’s warmly snuggled on his side, with her arms tucked between his chest and hers, and a peaceful expression on her beautiful face. She’s so awfully close, he can smell the scent of her hair, and feel the heat of her breath every time she exhales.

It's such an odd moment for him to have her that close. He's unsure of whether it would be better to slip out of bed unnoticed before she wakes up, or just stay there and watch her sleep for a bit longer. Either option would make him look like a creep, he thinks. So he opts to gently wake her up. His free hand reaches to his forehead to move a stand of hair away. Her brow scrunches as his light-feather touch grazes her skin. His lips curve up as he traces the shell of her ear to see her stir awake. She blinks slowly a couple of times until her focus shifts onto him.

“Hey, Maybird.”

“Hey.” Her lips move, it's barely audible.

“Sorry, I fell asleep.” His fingers absentmindedly massage her earlobe.

She's so stunned by waking up to that level of intimacy, she simply nods, as her mouth softly draws a smile.

“It's fine. Does your head feel better?”

“Much better. That pressure thing really worked.”

“I'm glad.”

“Listen, I gotta go open. Maybe we could do something later?”

“Okay,” she swallows nervously, hoping that waking up with him like this isn't just a dream. “Can you do me a favor first?”

“Sure.”

“Can you stay five more minutes?”

“I uh… I think I can,” against his better judgment, he decides he can stay for a few minutes more holding her.

The way her lips pull up timidly at the corners, revealing the dimples framing her mouth, completely disarms him. He’s always felt a certain affinity towards her, but being this close to her awakes a longing within that feels dangerous. He can’t bring someone new into his life. Not while everything around him is falling apart. It’s already hard enough having to pretend around other people.

He couldn’t do that to her. He won’t.

Michael will have to fight harder because when her arm tucks around his waist he can’t help but press his lips against her forehead.

Chapter 4: Hard nut to crack

Four months later…

After that initial moment of weakness when he fell asleep on her bed, he fought hard to elude that odd longing that has only grown into a big mass of love toward Maya. To anyone else in the world, a feeling as big as that would be a blessing, especially when it's reciprocated. To Michael, it's a weakness he can't afford right now.

Spending all that time with Maya has been like discovering a whole new planet Michael never thought existed. She's all vast, uncharted territory that fazes him more than it should. Despite his best efforts, he’s fallen into her alluring orbit and can’t find the way out into his own universe.

Far gone is that moody teenager that would mumble a few words here and there. And now there's this tragically stunning woman that looks you directly in the eye, says anything that crosses her mind, and laughs without a care in the world.

Though falling in love with her wouldn’t be completely wrong, it's not quite right either. It fills him with guilt to think about her in that manner. Moreover, it feels like a betrayal to Carmy, who’s far away in a different continent, prospering in his craft.

Michael tries to fool himself into believing that this is just temporary infatuation. He’s even attempted several times to convince her to get in touch with Carmy but hasn’t succeeded. It’d be easier for him if she were to put her focus on someone else instead of him. He has nothing to offer to her and has deemed himself unworthy of her, or anyone for that matter. If she only knew what’s really going on with him, she wouldn’t want Michael nearly as she believes she does.

Layer by layer, she’s tearing all his walls and defenses down. And after all the back and forth, he's absolutely sure she wants more than he can offer her. She’s been giving him the right signals. She doesn't shy away from it. Maya is direct and impulsive, and everything about her is fascinating and intimidating.

It’s time to either cut her loose, or accept that he’s madly in love with her and do something about it.

Amidst coming to terms with a final decision, he's lured into a surprise party she's organized for his birthday.

Michael is left speechless by her determination. And a little annoyed too for reasons he can't explain. To be honest, he’s never been a fan of surprise parties, but the main problem is that this would make things much harder for him to let her down easily. She’s carved herself into his life and the longer he drags this out, the worse this is going to hurt.

He’s aware that it’s selfish and obtuse of him for being that ungrateful that someone who cares that profoundly about him, that they would go all out to prove that. He feels like an asshole, but the train has already left the station.

Using the same tiring self-defense mechanism, he draws his best smile and brings out the Michael everyone seems to love. Not without help. There's always that crutch tucked in his wallet in the form of a pill. Being high numbs him enough to deal with the situation.

The cherry on top comes at the end of the night, when he walks her up to her car and asks if he's had a good time. He lies through his teeth and for the first time, he can tell Maya is not buying it. Perhaps she never did, but he's well-versed on her tells by now, and he can clearly see she's fed up with all the bullshit that comes out of his mouth.

“Look, it's not that I didn't like the party. It's just that I hate surprises, and I was exhausted today. But it was a nice thought, sweetheart. I just… I wasn't in the right mood.” It's seemingly convincing the second time around, but her face shows nothing but regret. “I love the jacket you bought me, though.”

Michael has never been interested in fashion, but he's always loved vintage jackets, and the one she picked it's a perfect addition to his collection. It's a bomber jacket, aviator style, in brown leather with a couple of patches and fur collar.

As they reach Maya's car, they come to a stop. She turns to him, “I know I can be a little too much sometimes. But I promise no more surprises from now on.”

“You and I both know, you won’t be able to keep that promise even if your life depended on it. That's part of what makes you– you, sweetheart. Don’t let my bad mood ruin that.”

“I’ll try.”

After a beat, without hesitation she leans in to leave a goodnight kiss on his bearded cheek and on a whim, she decides to press a second one on his lips.

It takes him completely aback. He wants to dive so badly into her mouth, but he freezes on the spot. And when Maya attempts to deepen the kiss, he finally reacts by placing a placating hand on her shoulder as he pulls his head back.

“I'm… I'm sorry we can't do this, Maya.”

“Wait, I thought… Did I misread something?”

“No, you didn’t misread anything. I just can’t do this.”

“Why?”

“I can't.”

“You can't or don’t want to?”

“Guess I don’t want to.”

“Can you at least tell me why? Did I do something wrong?”

“You did nothing wrong, sweetheart.” He wants to spill out the old – it's not you, it's me – excuse, but he refrains. Every thought and action go against every good instinct he's ever had. He hates himself for making her feel insecure. And yet, he can't backtrack now.

“Stop calling me sweetheart. You see how misleading that is?”

“Sorry. I think I gave you the wrong impression.”

Her eyes narrow, and he can see the gears turning for a long moment before opening her mouth.

“I don't think you gave me the wrong impression, Michael. I think you're too chickenshit to admit that there's something between us and, for whatever reason, you're just taking the coward's way out. You've been weird the whole night, especially with me. I just threw a party just for you, the least you can do is tell me why.”

“I didn't ask you to do that. And I don't owe telling you shit! I was trying to let you go easy, but nothing is ever easy with you. So I'll just say it. This, you and me, is never going to happen.”

It sounds ridiculous as it comes out of his mouth, but he stands firm on that statement as her heart breaks in front of him.

In the end, it'd be better for her, he believes.

#michael berzatto x ofc #michael berzatto #the bear #the bear fanfiction #jon bernthal fanfiction #jon bernthal #original character #michael berzatto x reader #angst #fluff #darlingwrites #sorry i used the reader tag #it's the only way to get my fic seen #salt of the earth

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jubileemon · 22 days

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Why Adam Wilkins is the most hated character on Invincible?

He has a very rocky relationship with his daughter and is generally unsupportive of her decisions and aspirations to be a superheroine.

He's a misogynist who holds outdated views on gender roles and chastises his daughter for not having traditionally feminine aspirations as a way to cover his insecurities and fragile masculinity. He states that the only reason he ever let Eve become a superhero was because he assumed her then boyfriend, Rex was going to "protect her", even though Eve is extremely powerful herself.

While it's shown that he does care about Eve and most of his disdain for his daughter's career choices come from a place of worry about her welbeing and the welbeing of those around her, that is simply too weak of an excuse to justify his actions, as he damaged his relationship with his daughter because of his own choices, to the point Eve started to actively dislike him. Even though he sometimes brings up good points, such as calling out Eve for using her powers in an inconsequential manner, the way he goes off about them doesn't help and only further cements him as a bad father.

While it's shown he had a good relationship with Eve when she was a kid, ever since the day he learned she had a special ability to identify atoms and molecules, Adam began forming a disdain for his daughter and started acting rude and abrasive towards her.

He was also rude to her babysitter after he started praising his daughter's advanced intelligence. He initially refuses to send her to a school for gifted children, calling her a freak. When Eve didn’t show up to her birthday, he ate a part of the cake and when called out by her, he furiously yelled at his daughter.

When she runs to her room he rudely yells at her that that he and his wife are the only family she has.

While it's implied that he does genuinely love his wife (especially in the flashbacks seen in the Invincible: Atom Eve special), it's rarely ever shown onscreen, and it's stated that they frequently fight a lot. It's also implied that he might even be psychologically abusive towards her as well, to the point she's completely submissive to him and enables his behavior.

Season 1

After finding out that Eve had broken up with Rex after she found out he was cheating on her with Dupli-Kate, Adam lashes out at his daughter, telling her to forgive him, saying that "everyone makes mistakes".

When Eve tells him that she's considering quitting the superhero career, Adam rudely tells her that it was "about time".

When Eve decides to leave her family home in order to become a full-time superhero away from them, Adam doesn't respect her choices and further insists that she quits her dreams in order to live a "normal life". He even told Eve to her face that the worst day of his life was when she got superpowers, something that really hurt Eve emotionally.

Season 2

While he does take a job at Burger-Mart in order to provide for his family after being fired from his previous job at the furniture store, Adam is shown to have been very reluctant to do so and puts the blame on the superheroes for having destroyed their corporate office, essentially blaming his daughter for getting fired.

He stubbornly refuses to get his daughter's help for income, purely out of a place of insecurity, and still persists on lashing out on Eve, despite her being very understanding towards him.

After Eve uses her powers to turn an apple into gold and gives them to sell it, Adam angrily refuses to do so and, later on, even throws the apple in the trash.

During their argument in Eve's second visit to their house, he blames her for an accident in Chicago, where Eve had used her powers to build on an abandoned lot, not knowing it was actually unstable. While Adam tries to rightfully talk some sense into Eve to not use her powers irresponsibly, he's still overly harsh to her, telling her that her powers don't make her a hero, they make her dangerous.

Overall, Adam is generally an unpleasant and rude person who is unreasonable to his daughter for no good reason, and is by far one of the most hated characters in the series.

#invincible #invincible atom eve #atom eve

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ytsunodabrainrotbaybee · 10 months

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Hey. Could I request Zhou dating a paramedic student. Anything you can come up at for that please. Only when you get some free time though 😊🫶🏻

Thank you thank you, first request! Anon you hold a special place in my heart. 💕

I went ahead with a paramedic candidate, I have a second idea for this as well, so it may end up being a two for the price of one type thing, stand by.

I apologize for the hold Chicago Fire has on me.

Fc: Hanako Greensmith, who plays Violet in Chicago Fire, please watch it. 😐

Also, Chicago gp early in the season instead of the Vegas gp later, using the Chicago street track.

ynbaybee • Private account

Liked by lilymhe, zhouguanyu24 and others

Ynbaybee Shout out to the man’s for the shots 🫡🫡

Tagged: zhouguanyu24

yourbestieee I tried for three years. A man did it in a week.

zhouguanyu24 I work fast

yourbestieee not fast enough mr. barely p10

ynbaybee That’s too far yourbestieee

lilymhe So been looking forward to catching up 😭😭

ynbaybee Me too bb. You still in town?

zhouguanyu24 🤌🤌

ynbaybee You have such a way with words

Tuesday Morning rolled around. A hectic shift change later and you were on the road back to your apartment. Your PIC’s voice steady through your speakers, detailing every high and low in your performance throughout the past 24 hours.

“Really, you did great,” she said, her soft voice full of the kind of confidence you could draw from.

“Thanks Burkhart,” You said, focused a little more on pulling in to your parking spot, right next to a dark green Aston Martin.

A sore thumb next to your cute little baby blue Hyundai.

The two of you said your goodbyes before hanging up and leaving you to hurry on into your apartment.

“Zhou”

“L/N”

Guanyu had made himself at home, a still warm breakfast on the stove and coffee brewing. It filled your home with a kind of sweet and comfy scent that you would miss once Guanyu hit the road again.

“I have a flight at four tomorrow morning,” he organized two plates as he spoke. Low, but energized. “I wanted to spend some more time with you before I left.”

The two of you settled in to your couch, tucked off into a corner adjacent to your TV, ready with Netflix pulled up.

zhouguanyu24

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zhouguanyu24 points in Chicago, off to Barcelona 🙏🙏

ynbaybee gg brah

zhouguanyu24 you got to watch??

ynbaybee life it uhhh finds a way

f1fannn Zhou soft launch???

Liked by ynbaybee

formulawhat Ayo????

valtteribotas When are you bringing her to a race?

ynbaybee Once I’m not a probie anymore I’m making time 🫡🫡

You woke up with Guanyu, 2:30 in the morning. Too early for breakfast, plenty early for a Redbull.

“I love you, but next time maybe don’t.”

Guanyu rolled his eyes, ever the morning person to your slow moving night owl.

His hand found your waist as the two of you left the apartment, checking pockets for his belongings. You ran through his checklist again before waving your hand for him to get moving again.

The drive to the airport was quiet. While you could never fall asleep too easy in a car, it was still too early to be too talkative. You shifted your attention from the road ahead, to Guanyu. One hand in yours, the other steering.

He stayed just as quiet, not taking his eyes off of the road. Even after full minutes passed I’d you staring as him.

You held his hand in both of yours, running your thumb along his wrist.

“What are you thinking about?” He asked, shooting you a glance.

“Next shift we’re having a meeting to determine wether or not I’m staying at the firehouse,” you said, “I’m pretty confident, but still nervous.”

Guanyu had pulled into a parking spot, next to where his team had just arrived moments earlier. He pulled your hands into his.

“They love you,” he squeezed your hands, “Chief Gonzales wouldn’t let you go if he wanted to.”

“Sometimes I think they like you more.”

“They like anyone who will feed them”

The two of you had drifted closer together, everything outside of the car drifted further away. Your hand found itself rested on his cheek, his on your arm.

“I love you,” his voice barely hit a whisper before his lips were on yours. The kind of soft, tame kiss that would never hold you over until his next visit, but it would have to do.

The next kiss just a quick peck, followed by an exchange of “good luck” and Guanyu jumping out of the car and running to catch up with his team. Leaving you alone to make your way back to your apartment. Hopefully to recover some sleep.

zhouguanyu24

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zhouguanyu24 my love made it out of her probationary period, definitely Chicago’s finest. 😌😌

formulawhat A Y O??

f1fann Zhou can you fight?

ynbaybee I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am.

fyrefyghter Always knew you were what’s missing zhouguanyu24

zhouguanyu24 what do you want me to bring next time?

fyrefyghter Just your handsome self 🫡

ynbaybee Cruz. Don’t make me get the hose

logansargeant We love our first responders

ynbaybee of course we do. Yee yee lookin

logansargeant cmon I’m being nice

lilymhe For once.

valtteribotas Time for you to start on making that race

ynbaybee Yessir 🫡

#zhou guanyu #f1 x reader #f1blr #zg24 #zhou guanyu x reader #paramedic reader #Zhou x paramedic! reader #Chicago Fire has me in a chokehold

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jademickian · 3 months

Text

I think it’s pretty neat that stargazing was a Gallavich thing.

In season 2, Mickey says “you want us to put a blanket out and look for shooting stars next?” There is that—once again—an inner desire hidden behind the veil of a witty rhetoric. The dawn is popularly the symbol of new hope, the sun coming up shining its light, enveloping the ground with a potential of joy and rebirth. But with stargazing, the darkness in which it transpires precedes the coming of dawn. It is the hoping itself, the wishing, the tilting of head towards the sky, like the heart whispering a prayer to the universe. The sun is a very bright star that illuminates all. It’s overwhelming with its promise of renewal and warmth of love. That's why it’s much easier to look at tinier, less brighter stars at night. The multitude of them enough to give light—not too much—but just enough to stare at, so it doesn’t hit you all at once. The dawn would tell him he deserves to love and be loved, and that contrary to his belief, he’s not fucked for life. It’s a crazy jump, and the blaze of it might even burn. Meanwhile, the twinkle of the stars would tell him that a boy likes him enough to hang out with him, and that it is okay to long for something so far out of reach, for now.

In season 5, Ian is having some grass time (he’s lying on the grass), stargazing. Earlier than this, he mentions you can never see this many stars from Chicago because of light pollution. Mickey calls, and he holds it up to stare at his ringing phone. Contemplating whether he should or should not. He stares at the stars—weaver of fates, guider of travels. Desire, once again, for answers. A confirmation. Some direction. There must be something because here, they’re clearer, unlike back home where it’s hindered by stray city lights. Maybe this could help clear his clouded mind. Maybe he could draw constellations by connecting the dots and it’ll show him what to keep, what to lose. A glint. A flicker. “That’s the most important thing, to find somebody to love, right? Who loves you back for who you are.” But the thing about the stars’ divine message is that it could often be misunderstood. Misinterpreted. Maybe the stars will sigh, oh well. Guess you could take detours. Because another thing about stars is that, although enigmatic to a fault, they know where everything must go. They are close to the language of the gods. Perhaps for now, the answer is to be apart because in the grand scheme of things, it will all play out as planned.

In season 7, together, under the very same stars. It is hope and desire realized. Who would’ve thought? It was inexplicable, almost alien, that this is how their story is going now. But to the stars, it’s an old song. This is exactly where they should be. It’s the same narrative back then under the bleachers, when they didn’t know better. When voicing your feelings seems a futile and gargantuan feat. It’s the same story now, when they reconvene after, celestial forces refusing to cut these ties. When feelings are all you could voice out, as you’ve learned that if they swim inside you long enough, you’ll drown. “God I missed you.” The stars have known since the beginning. Its plans, slowly unfolding themselves. The wisdom they hold seem nearer now that if reached by the fingertips could be cold to the touch—not yet, not yet.

But even stars could grow impatient.

Even stargazer lilies—observer of heavenly bodies, predictor of futures—bloom facing the sky. Upwards, toward the stars, the flower looks upon. Maybe they’re ready for the dawn. The sun, the bigger and brighter star. The ball of fire catapulting itself, yet it doesn’t burn. It caresses, warm to the touch, and over the land gives life. It is here before them, and it will be here after.

“Now?” Now.

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gentlebeardsbarngrill · 9 days

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04/09/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Rachel House; Jes Tom; Kat Buchanan; GypsyTaylor; Big Gay Energy Podcast; Unicorn Day; Uproar; Watch Party Reminders; Fan Spotlights: OurDragMeansSlay; Cast Cards; TealOrange & Garlic Soup Prompt Week! Love Notes; Daily Darby/Today's Taika

== Rachel House ==

Rachel House's new directorial movie topped the charts in Taranaki!

== Jes Tom ==

Gonna be in New York in May? Well Jes Tom and lot's over other asian comics will be performing at the 2024 Asian Comedy Fest! For tickets visit: asiancomedyfest.com. 2024 Asian Comedy Fest IG

== Kay Buchanan ==

Kay Buchanan, one of the prop designers for OFMD s2 dumped a bunch of prop pics today for Izzy's leg! Src: Kay Buchanan IG

== Unicorn Day! ==

Yesterday was National Unicorn! Some of our lovely crew put out some dedications For Our New Unicorn! Img Src: @blueberreads

== More Uproar News! ==

Uproar is coming to digital on April 30 so those of you who couldnt get in to a theatre to see it can purchase and download it at home!

For those still interested in theatres-- if you happen to be nearby, @elby3000 was kind enough to note that theUproar opening date at Salem Cinema (Oregon) of April 12 at Blue Fox Entertainment may be in error. The theatre's website lists opening as April 19 (subject to change). Just in case you happy to be looking for one there!

== Watch Party Reminders! ==

== Flight Of the Conchords ==

Today we're on Season 1 Ep 5 and 6. Join OFMD Crew, and @iamadequate1 this week for Flight of the Conchords watch parties! You can watch each day at 4pm PT, 7 pm ET, 11pm BST! If you don't have access, feel free to join us on the #RhysDarbyFaction Discord server, you can hit me up for an invite.

Hashtags:

#FlagOfTheConchords

#OurFlagMeansDeath

== Taskmaster NZ ==

*Please Note*: @ineffablecollision was kind enough to let us know of some desyncing issues! Thanks friend!

"During the TMNZ watch party, depending on where you watch, you *will* get desynced! I don't know if TVNZ kept the ad break bumpers, but Ch4 has one missing (TMNZ has four ad breaks compared to TMUK's three, so they cut to fit), and YT has them cut altogether!"

Series 1 continues Weds at 11am PT / 2 pm ET / 7 pm BST on any of the @saveofmdcrewmates socials.

#Quartermaster

#OurFlagMeansDeath

Taskmaster

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Big Gay Energy Podcast =

Our Big Gay Energy Podcast interviewed Gypsy Taylor and we learned some pretty amazing things. Some highlights:

Stede's cravat was fabric left over from his old couch

Ed kept the teal robe (the one he wears the morning after calypso) as a memory of Stede and then Taika kept the robe after the show.

Please check out the whole episode below!

Where to Watch Where to Listen

= Our Drag Means Slay =

Hey all! Are you in the Chicago area? Why not checkout Our Drag Means Slay on April 27! It's $25/ticket and doors open at 5:55pm! For Tickets

= Teal Oranges & Garlic Soup Week! =

A new celebration week is coming up in June for all things Jim/Oluwande and Archie/Jim/Oluwande/Zheng (or any combo in between!) Prompts will be released on April 15th!

When: Sunday June 23 - Saturday June 29th! How: Create or Share - Fic, art, and other fan creations!

Please follow them on Tumblr! @garlicsoupweek You can visit: Linktr.ee Or follow them on Twitter!

= Cast Cards =

Today's cast card is Jennifer Onyeiwu, one of the lovely pirates that asked Stede out for a drink in "Man On Fire". If we ever get a s3 I hope she comes back-- thanks @melvisik!

== Love Notes ==

Hey lovelies. This weeks turning out to be a bit of a doozy. I hope you all are practicing some self care. It's been a lot lately. I have seen a lot of you mentioning re-watching the show, which I love. It feels like we are getting past the raw part of our grief into being able to celebrate it as a group again.

Be kind to yourselves lovelies, be kind to yourself and others. There's enough hate in this world that we don't need to add undo stress to others or especially ourselves.

Love you crew.

Img Src: @BethDrawsThings IG

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==

The theme today is, there are two wolves inside of me, both of these gifs represent them

Darby Gif Courtesy of @ofmd-ann

Taika Gif Courtesy of @gentlepanpirate

#daily ofmd recap #daily ofmd recaps #ofmd daily recap #ofmd daily recaps #ofmd #our flag means death #rhys darby #taika waititi #big gay energy podcasts #kay buchanon #jes tom #rachel house #uproar #long live ofmd #save ofmd #adopt our crew #teal oranges and garlic soup week #our drag means slay

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myocsfanfictions · 5 months

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South Side Story

Shameless Fanfiction Season 1

Desna Hills has come living in the Southside of Chicago four years before. Taken in by Kev and V, Desna is close friends with the Gallaghers. Let's see how this Southside story unfolds.

Masterlist

<< Previous - Next >>

Chapter 2

Fucking Lip Gallagher!

That was all Desna could think about that day. He had even promised her he would have helped her with math, that asshole.

She was trying to study, but her fight with Lip kept repeating in her mind. She was used to it. It wasn't the first time it happened. For as much chemestry there was during sex, and how close they seemed to get everytime they did it, as they spoke there was always some distance.

Lip was like that: sassy and intelligent, but he was also a smartass and closed off. For Lip everything could be risolved with quick remarcs and everytime Desna felt like they were going somewhere in their relationship he put off acts like the one of few hours prior.

"Fuck..." she muttered as she closed her book.

"You're here, babe?" Veronica's voice came from the living room.

She liked to be called V and she was beautiful. That how Desna would describe her, beautiful inside and out. She had a great heart and she was strong, Desna hoped that one day she would have become just like V.

"In the kitchen!" Desna said. V's steps could be hear clearly, since she was wearing high heels, as always.

"I saw the lights," she said putting the keys on the table before walking towards Desna, "You're not sick, right? I thought you were going to be at the Alibi this evening," Desna smiled at her worried tone, but she shook her head.

"I just..." the girl said, flipping the pages of her notebook, "I had to study, and my head hurt, so I decided to stay home."

V's eyes were on her as she set down next to Desna.

"You sure it's the only reason?" V asked waiting for her answer.

Desna shrugged her shoulders, "I may have had a fight with Lip," she admitted.

"Again?" V asked with a frown as she stood up to fill a glasses of water, before moving to the medicines drawer, "Seriously what's going on between the two of you, lately?"

Only Ian knew about Lip and Desna situasionship. They were just having fun, nothing to say to the world about, that's what they had said at first, even because it was thrilling, the thought of sneaking away to have sex together. But since they started it, they had started to fight more, and that really affected Desna. She liked Lip, a lot, and she wanted to lose him as a friend, but she didn't want to lose what they had now.

"Just stressed... I think..." Desna muttered sipping the water V had given to her, to swollow a pill.

"Babe," V said sitting again next to her, "I see how you look at Lip."

"I don't look him in anyway," she said trying to hid the blush on her cheeks.

"Oh you look at him alright," she fired back making Desna cover her face with her hand.

"V," she begged, but the woman kept talking.

"Why don't you tell him?"

Desna turned towards her with wide eyes, "Tell him what?"

"That you like him," she said nugging the girl, who shook her head.

"It wouldn't make any difference," Desna said shrugging her shoulders, "I like what... we have now, I don't want to ruin it," V took a breath but she kept listening, "That does not mean that I like fight with him, or what we said to each other."

"Why? What Gallagher said?" V asked, ready to defend Desna. And she really appreciated her reaction, but that was something between her and Lip only.

"Nothing that I didn't say to him as well," Desna said, "It's that, I don't know... today is more difficoult than other times," she finished getting a deep breath.

Lip was so involved with her during sex. He said that he wanted her, just few hours ago, that he loved fucking her, why could he not say those things even in other situations?

"Hey, babe" V said making Desna look in her direction, "Boys will be boys, too stupid for us," that made Desna laugh, a laugh followed by on of V's, that moved her hair from her shoulder, "What about going out with me and Fi, tonight?"

"What? Really?" Desna asked happily, "Can I really come?"

"Of course!" V exclaimed, "Now run up, get washed up, do make up and put on a pretty dress, and we are going to have lots of fun tonight. Only us girls, no boys."

"I like the sound of that," Desna said nodding her head. And V smiled brightly at her.

"Then go on!" She said, "Go get ready!"

Desna liked to go out with V, but she didn't do it frequently. V and Fiona were best friend and Desna was only sixteen now, so it made sense that most of the time the two of them wanted to spend time together alone. But when they asked her to join, she was truly happy. It made her feel like an adoult, and even beautiful, powerful.

She looked at her dresses, but she already knew what she wanted to put on. It was a simple black short dress, but she liked how it fit on her. It had simple strapes, and the skirt was short, but it hugged her body perfectly. She had bought it with V for her sixteenth birthday and V had told her that it seemed like it had been created for her.

Desna was quick to put it on, running to her wordrobe once again to take black high heels. Then she put on some make up and fixed her hair, deciding that she would gave left it loose. She looked at her reflection for some more, before heading out the stairs where V was waiting her, ready to go.

"Are you reade, pretty lady?" She asked opening the door. The two of them though had to go to the Gallaghers first, waiting for Fiona. Desna wasn't exactly happy to had to see Lip, but there wasn't much she could do, so she followed V into the house right next to theirs.

The two of them entered from the kitchen door, the one at the back of the house and V immediately ran up the stairs, calling for Fiona. Desna decided to stay there, everybody seemed to be upstairs, so that seemed tge safest place.

"Wow!" Carl's voice made her turn to the living room, where the boy was looking at her with wide eyes "You're hot..."

Desna chuckled, "You're drooling, buddy" then she set on one of the stools in the kitchen. The boy walked towards the fridge, glancing at where she was as he was taking something to eat, then suddenly he turned towards Desna.

"So, I really have to be eighteen before asking you out?" He said curiously.

And she nodded, "You really have to be eighteen before asking me out," she confirmed. Carl scoffed.

"It's too far away," he said before giving her a smirk, "I can make you happy."

Desna couldn't help but chuckle, he was so young and already a flirt. Carl Gallagher would have had many girls crushing on him as he got older.

"I'm sure you can," she said nodding her head, "But not now."

Carl looked at the sandwich in his hand nodding his head, then his gaze went on her.

"Just wait and see," then he want into the living room.

He was so persistent. Desna looked at him fondly as he watched the TV, such a little troublemaker. Carl was probably her favorite Gallagher.

Then suddenly she heard some steps coming from the stairs next to her, and as she turned, Desna saw Lip stopping midway, looking at her.

"Oh..." he muttered and Desna didn't miss the way his eyes observed her body, but she decided to ignore the blush coming to her cheeks because of that stare.

"Hey..." she said quietly.

"Hey..." he muttered, before taking those last few steps that kept him from the kitchen, "You are..." Desna looked at him, waiting for what he wanted to say, but he just coughed shaking his head, "You are going out."

Desna could not help but feel disappointed, why was he looking at her like that if he could not even give her a complimenti?

"What give me away?" She said standing up.

He shrugged his shoulders, "You either going out or you are here to seduce me," but she just shook her head.

"I think I'll pass, thank you," Desna answered turning her back to him. And he gave out a chuckle that only pissed her off.

"Are you still angry?" He asked.

"I don't know," she answered with fake calmness, "Are you still an asshole?"

At her words he make few step to get close to her, "Look whose talking," he said as she gripped her own arms, giving a glance in Carl's direction to make sure he wasn't looking at them.

"I'm not an asshole," she answered turning to look Lip in the eyes.

"And what makes me one?" She could feel his breath against her face beacuse of how close he had gotten.

"Let's check, did you fuck Karen?" Lip gave out a mocking chuckle.

Desna could not stand him anymore so she walked out the door. But she could hear Lip's footstep behind from behind following her outside "So, you're acting crazy because you're jealous?"

"No, because you are a jackass!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, a jackass too?" He asked the mocking tone never leaving his voice.

"And I've got many more, don't tempt me," she said trying to walk faster feeling him close behind.

"You always find a way to get pissed at me and I am the jackass?" He said before gripping Desna to make her turn stopping her from leaving, by taking her arms in his hands, "What's wrong with you?"

She was doing her best to not let anything slip from her lips; she didn't want to tell him that him going to Karen Jackson only to hurt her actually did, she didn't because they weren't a couple and they were not exclusive and she liked to have him close, she didn't want for he to not be there. She didn't want to ruin shit, but Karen's presense really pissed her off.

"Hey," he said moving a strand of black hair from before her eyes, to behind her ear, "What's wrong?"

Desna bit her lips, she really didn't want to cry in front of him, she didn't want to seem desperate for his touch, even if she was. And she didn't want to lose him.

"I..." she muttered "I might be jealous of Karen Jackson," he smiled at her words but she shook her head, "But because you always bring her up when we fight, and it feels like..."

"Like?" He asked as his hands moved to her hips.

"Like you want to hurt me," she admitted, finally looking him in the eyes. He was intensingly staring at her, as he brought her closer to him. He leaned forward his head so that his forehead touched hers.

"I don't wanna hurt you," he whispered, his arms sneaking around her waist, "Not on porpuse," then he chuckled, "I guess I am an asshole after all," he then looked at her again, she could not look away from his eyes, and before she knew it, she whispered "I want to kiss you," and in a moment his lips clashed on hers, the hold around her waist was thighter as her hands moved to his face, so to pull him more into the kiss. Desna closed her eyes as she savored every second of that moment. Soon her hands move to his hair as the kiss got more passionate.

"I have to tell you something," Lip said when they broke off to take hair, his hold still secured around her hips as he got ready to talk, "I didn't have sex with Karen," he said looking in her eyes, then he took a breath, "But she blow me."

"Fuck, Lip," she said trying to get away from him, he didn't let her move.

"Hey, hey" he kept say to get her attention.

"I really don't want to know!" She protested still trying to break free from his arms, but he didn't let her go, "Let me go, please!"

"I am sorry," he said making her stop her movements, "I am sorry, but I..." he continued before taking a deep breath, then he leaned forward to put his forehead against hers, that didn't move. Still wondering why he was apologizing, they weren't exclusive. They had decided it.

"Please, don't..." Lip took another deep breath, "I want you" he said, and she didn't know the reason why those words had such a strong impact on her, but she found herself bringing her hands in the back of his head once again.

"I want you too," she said before leaning forward to capture his lips with her gor another kiss. He immediately responded eagerly, briging her even closer, so that in between their bodies there was no space. His arms hugged her, as she deepened the kiss more. They felt so great in the arms of the other, it was so beautiful and addictive. It didn't matter what they said they would always found each other like that.

"I don't want to hurt you," Lip said, not letting her go, those words made her smile, as he put his forehead against hers, "I just got angry because I wanted your support with Ian."

She observed his blue eyes got clouded with nervousness once again, "You know what I think about it Lip."

But he shook his head, "No, he would have tell me," he said finally, "If he really was he would tell me, he would trust me," Now she understood what has gotten him so worked up.

Desna put a hand on his cheek so the he could look at her, "Maybe he is just scared, this things aren't easy to figure out."

But he shook his head, "He would have told me."

"Alright, alright," she said caressing his cheek to calm him down, he seemed to enjoy her touch, "Why don't you try to talk to him? Maybe he wanted to tell you."

Lip seemed to think about what she had said before nodding his head, "Yeah, yeah, maybe I'll talk to him," he muttered. Desna looked at him for a moment before leaning forward to give him a kiss on the forehead.

"So, we good?" He asked, rubbing his nose against hers, who smiled.

"Yeah we're good," at her answer he pecked her lips again.

"Des!" V's voice made Desna looked at the house, then she turned to Lip.

"I have to go," she said, not that she really wanted to leave his arms.

"Yeah," he answered nodding his head, "Are you planning on having sex with someone tonight?"

His question made her smile, and she shook her head, "No, no sex tonight," she said and for some reason he let out a breath, before giving her a kiss on the cheek, "Have fun."

"Thanks," she said ready to walk away, but before doing so, she leaned closer to him to whisper in his ear, "But tomorrow I could use some help finding my phone," Lip chuckled.

"Really?" He asked with a grin, before pulling her close by the back of her neck, "Tomorrow morning at 7.00 in the van?"

Desna pecked his lips "Tomorrow, at 7.00 in the van."

#shameless #shameless imagine #shameless fanfiction #shameless smut #lip gallagher smut #lip gallagher x oc #lip gallagher x reader #lip gallagher imagine #lip gallagher fanfiction #lip gallagher #fiona gallagher #ian gallagher #carl gallagher #debbie gallagher #liam gallagher #frank gallagher #smut

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