#even though we only get introduced to them briefly i really like them

[klausysworld]

A prompt I had for a while: reader is a single widowed mother. Klaus and her become close but she’s reluctant as she’s scared to start anything with Klaus as she’s worried her daughter may get attached. Klaus is adamant he loves reader and her daughter.

Just fluff and stuff!

Bonus: smut? And even a lil addition to the family that’s a mix of Klaus and reader 👶

Life goes on

I had only dated a couple of guys since losing my husband.

It had taken a while to allow myself to feel okay with being someone else, especially because of Luna; my daughter. She's only young, barely 6 and I didn't want her to think I was replacing her father, not that she really remembers him much now. Years had passed now and sometimes she would ask where her daddy was and why he couldn't visit.

I had only let her meet one other guy before and she was more heartbroken than I was when it didn't work out so I knew I needed to keep her away from that aspect of my life, especially while she was so young.

But that didn't mean that I didn't date.

It wasn't a frequent thing, just when I found someone I really liked and well, I really liked Nik.

We met at Luna's school actually. He also has a daughter who's a few years older and we had just dropped them off. I accidentally caught his eye when I took a glance round the playground and we smiled at each other politely.

He was a sight for sore eyes: good hair, nice eyes, charming smile, lean body and a nice sense of fashion. An annoying sense of guilt always filled me when I found another man attractive so I looked away and headed to work.

Still though, I couldn't help look for him and his smile every morning when I dropped Luna off and every afternoon when I picked her back up. He would always be looking back at me as his own daughter would run on over to him and he would take her backpack from her and give me a look as if to say "Kids, am I right?" and I would always smile a little wider and gesture to my own who would always be pulling on my sleeve telling me she wanted to go home or to a friends house.

It made me jump a little the first time he actually spoke to me, he had appeared behind me as though out of thin air and quickly apologised when I flinched away at the sound of his voice and placed my hand over my chest.

He chuckled as he spoke, "Forgive me, I didn't mean to frighten you"

His voice had a beautiful accent that made my cheeks blush pink and my attention to focus on him completely.

"That's okay, I just wasn't paying attention" I dismissed and he smiled

"I'm Nik" he introduced and I felt my heart flutter a little bit in a way that I knew I would feel bad about later.

"Y/n" I whispered and he hummed as he took my hand and kissed that back of it, I couldn't help but laugh at the outdated gesture and he rolled his eyes playfully.

I glanced over to the doors where I was waiting for Luna to come out briefly before turning back to him. He had a curious sort of look in his eye that made me ask if something was wrong but he shook his head.

"I just don't understand why you're single" he murmured and I felt my eyes go to the floor as I hesitated because there was no right way to every tell somebody that my husband had died and since then my life was a mess. So I turned away from him and tried to swallow the memory of my husbands death away but then I felt his Nik's on my arm and the gentle act reminded me of him. "I don't mean to offend you" he told me, his tone soft and it made me feel worse.

"You didn't, I'm sorry my daughters here now so I have to go" I whispered, walking forward to meet Luna as she already had her hand outstretched to hold onto mine.

I tried not to look at him the next day.

Dating was complicated enough, dating a man who's child went to the same school as mine was too much.

However, for better or worse, no matter how much I tried to ignore him, our eyes always seemed to meet and as the days passed we ended up stood closer and closer together. Once we were so close, it felt rude to ignore him so we would talk. Not really about anything important or deep, mostly parent things and what sorts of things the girls were up to. It was a conversation topic that was easy and didn't open up too many personal questions.

I started to like him, more than I wanted to. But so did other moms and teachers for that matter even though most of them were married. Woman were cruel sometimes, often I wondered if they just never evolved from highschool.

For whatever reason, they didn't like that I was a single mother, despite it not being my fault or choice. Luna and I had moved here after my husband died but I only had to tell one person for the whole town to know that I was widowed and struggling.

Klaus wasn't aware for a while, not until one of the other moms filled him in.

I had gotten to school a little late because work and ran over, I was never late but unfortunately I had been that day but I rang the school to let them know even though it was only a few minutes so that Luna wasn't stood waiting.

When I got there Luna was running toward me crying and I quickly lifted her up asking what was wrong.

"They're talking about Daddy" she whimpered and I quickly looked over. Two woman were talking to eachother, loudly. Nik was looking right at me and I felt my face heating up as the moms spoke about how felt for someone like me and they wondered how I managed to even get out of bed each morning let alone flirt with other men after losing my husband.

I kissed Luna's head gently and whispered for her to ignore it before walking briskly to my car and strapping her in. I wiped away the tears that threatened to spill and went round to my side of the car.

Fast paced footsteps approached me before I heard his voice. "Y/n, love, are you alright?" he asked, his hand going to my upper back in an act of comfort and it made my eyes water again.

"I'm fine" I whispered but it came out as weak and unconvincing as I felt.

I didn't have it in me to push myself away from him when he pulled me into a hug, his hand stroked the back of my hair and I cried into his shoulder. I knew Luna could see me hugging a man from her carseat and it made me cry harder at the thought.

"It's alright" he mumbled while his arms seemed to circle me tighter. I tried to apologise but he shushed my sorrys away and helped wipe my tears away. I glanced over to where his daughter, Hope, was stood. She gave me a sympathetic smile and waved a little, Klaus handed Hope the keys to his car and asked he to wait for a moment before turning back to me. "Hope lost her mother due to childbirth" he told me and I softened all that more.

"I'd say I'm sorry but... I know that's not really something you want to hear again" I whispered and he smiled a little.

"You'd be correct" he muttered and I glanced back at Luna who held a worried but curious expression. I looked back at him and nodded before letting go of me and opening my car door for me. I sniffed and thanked him before getting into my seat and watching him walk over to his own car before driving home.

Luna asked who he was and I told her he was just another dad from school, but I knew she wasn't as clueless as she acted.

Thankfully it was a Friday so I didn't have to see Nik for a couple of days, or any of the moms. Just Luna and I.

Once Monday came back around I didn't feel like facing the stuck up bitches of the community so watched Luna go in from my car and waved to her teacher at the door so they knew how Luna got there. I went to get back into my car when Nik's voice called out for me and captured my attention once more.

"I do hope you aren't avoiding me, love" he called as he grew nearer and I quickly shook my head.

"No, not you" I replied and his brows pulled together briefly before a look of realisation and sympathy washed over his face.

"They don't know what they're saying. Nobody knows how it feels until they've gone through it, not that I want any of them to but it would help a little if they understood at least a fraction of the pain" he expressed and I couldn't have worded it better myself.

"I just don't know how people can be so unempathetic" I mumbled and he nodded solemnly.

"The world" he muttered "is a cruel place. It always has been." somehow he sounded as if he truly knew that and I found myself questioning it.

"Will it always be?" I whispered and he shook his head.

"Not for everyone. Not for you, I won't allow it." he told me, honesty shining in his eyes that made a blush spread to my ears and a smile to creep across my face.

"I won't hold you to it" I breathed but he shook his head and took my hand, kissing the back of it making my eyes roll.

"I don't tend to break promises" he uttered before squeezing my hand and letting me go to work for the day.

Later we both got to school early to see the other though neither of us outwardly confirmed it, we both knew. That was when he asked if I was ever free to go out for lunch or dinner or anything. I was reluctant and he could see that,

"It doesn't have to be a date" he offered, "just friends getting something to eat or drink or going on a walk..."

After a moment I agreed and told him that one of my neighbours would be happy to babysit Luna for a couple hours after work or on the weekend. The elderly lady next door was lovely and welcoming, she gave sympathy immediately and loved Luna from day one and had watched over her a couple times throughout the last couple years.

We just went and got some coffee and went for a walk to begin with. It was nice to ease into it. The last guy I went out with expected way too much on the first date while Nik kissed my cheek and knew that was enough for that day. Somehow he seemed to know everything, when to make a move and when to slow down. He could read me like a book and under different circumstanced that would scare me but I didn't feel afraid with him.

So I started to see him more frequently, more romantically.

He would take me to fancy restaurants and refuse to let me even see the check which to begin with was cute but started to make me feel guilty which he picked up on and explained that he didn't want me to ever think about money when I was with him. He said that he had more than he knew what to do with and spoiling me made him happy. I wasn't completely settled with this answer but I accepted it a bit.

We ended up making it into a little game. We would see which one of us could grab the check the fastest, he almost always won but every now and then I would manage to snatch it up, he would be trying to get it off of me but I would threaten to scream so he had to stop tickling. On occasion, if he had to go to the bathroom, I would manage to pay the bill before he was able to intervene and he would strop over it and end up buying me something worth much more that the date.

Everything about it was heavenly, accept for the comments and opinions of others. However it seemed that people only seemed to step out of line once before they never spoke ill of me again, it was strange but somehow I knew that Klaus had something to do with it.

This was confirmed when he dropped be home and my neighbour: Dorothy, or Dot was stood outside with a hard expression on her face as she held a sleeping Luna. I approached with a confused frown.

"What's wrong?" I asked worried and her eyes snapped to mine.

"That's the man you're seeing?" she asked, her tone judgemental and I didn't understand the switch up. I nodded, confused and she tightened her hold on Luna making my eyes narrow in concern. "You stop talking to that man right now. He is no good and never will be. A monster is that man and I will not allow him to be in Luna's life nor yours." she argued and I frowned.

"Dot- what on earth are you on about?" I asked, alarmed.

"He is the devil reincarnated. You stay away." she warned as she handed me Luna. "You don't understand now but you will if you stay near him. He'll ruin whatever good you have."

I didn't know what she was on about, or why or how she knew Nik but Dorothy was not a liar and she was not a hateful person so to see her voice such a harsh opinion spoke volumes.

I was a little more skeptical around Nik, but I also didn't really know what I was looking for. He just seemed upset and stressed when I turned down the third date in a row.

It made me feel awful so I went to Dot and started to demand answers.

Now, I'll be honest, I thought she was losing it when she started talking about vampires and werewolves and witches. But when I tried to leave the door slammed shut without her touching it and the fireplace flames roared.

"You have to listen to me dear, and you have to really hear me to be able to understand" she whispered, leading me back to the sitting room where she went into depth regarding her own witch heritage and then the originals and Nik or rather Niklaus.

Luna knew something was wrong when I let her have a couple days off school and she asked if it was because of Nik. She wasn't naive and she knew that I liked him more than others.

Eventually she asked to go back to school, being at home for so many days was boring so I took her in.

There was no way of avoiding Niklaus when he was waiting beside my car with a look of hurt throughout him. I tried to ignore him and just open the door but his hand touched my arm and I pulled away quickly. He caged me against the car and I could feel fear consuming me.

"Y/n" he murmured, his tone so soft that it confused me again. "Love, if I've done something to upset to upset you or scare you..." He trailed, his hands cupping both sides of my face and I couldn't help but enjoy the warmth he always had. I didn't want to look at him, I didn't know how to get out of the situation I was in and it was making me panic further.

"I need to go to work" I whispered quietly, weakly.

"I know..." he mumbled, "but...I need you and... you won't even look at me"

"You don't need me Nik" I told him, "It was only a few dates-"

"It's not" he argued

"We haven't slept together so it's not a big deal-"

"That's a lie and you know it" he whispered, exasperated.

I glanced up at him, and then I wasn't able to look away. He was right, it was a much bigger deal than I wanted to admit. We had connected on a much more emotional level than anyone I had before, other than my husband those years ago.

"We can't be together" I whispered and his frown deepened

"Did I kiss you too soon? I never meant to rush you" he muttered, concern displayed across his face

"It's not that-"

"Then what-"

"You're a vampire!" I whisper-yelled and his mouth snapped shut. "Or a hybrid or something...I don't...I can't..."

He stayed silent and stepped back, allowing me to open my car door and get in. I didn't hesitate in driving away.

I didn't see him when I picked up Luna however I did receive a message later that evening.

Hello, my love I do hope you'll one day forgive me for keeping my true identity a secret. I never meant to frighten you or make you feel uncomfortable, however I suppose that's why I didn't tell you. I like you very much, more than I have liked someone in many years and I love that you're such a lovely mother. I've thoroughly enjoyed our dates and I had hoped that we would progress our relationship however I understand that you are afraid for yourself and for Luna. Know that I would never, ever harm your daughter. I have one of my own and I know what it's like to love and worry for a child. I would never hurt either of you. Still, I know you will probably feel alarmed by my presence so I'll leave you be is that's would you want, all I ask is that you please don't tell others of my species as it puts Hope's life endanger and all I want is for her and you to be safe. I don't expect a reply but know that I will always have a space for you in my heart.

I could feel my heart aching as I read down to the bottom line.

I didn't see him anywhere for the next too weeks and I found myself missing him terribly.

Eventually I couldn't take it. I found that I didn't see him as anything other than a man. Not a monster or a threat. Just someone I cared for deeply and knowing that I had hurt him made me feel terribly guilty.

So I ended up messaging for him to meet me outside a little cafe. I had already ordered and paid for our drinks and was sat at a table waiting for him to arrive anxiously.

He got there exactly on time like always and sat opposite me with a singular flower for in his hand which he held out for me and I accepted with a small smile.

"Thank you" I whispered and his lips curled up as his hand moved to hold my hand and I let him, holding his back.

We spoke for a while, discussed who he was and how he got here, his intentions and any of my other questions before talking about our relationship again. I told him about my neighbour and he said he knew her last name and that decades ago her family had been involved with his brother, Kol, which resulted in a rather brutal and tragic even.

He admitted to being apart of the massacre and didn't attempt to justify his actions but just apologised for them and offered to formally apologise to Dorothy.

So, I brought him to her home and she instantly attacked him. It was only when I got in the way and she accidentally hurt me instead that she stopped. I was holding onto my head and crying while Klaus held me to his chest and tried to have me drink his blood which I now knew would heal me but the idea of it made me gag. Eventually I let the metallic taste fill my mouth and swallowed it down, the pain went away in a matter of seconds and Dot was hysterically sorry.

Klaus wouldn't let her near me and instead lifted me up and took me home. Dot begged me not to invite him in but I did so anyway.

He sat me down on the couch and kept asking if I was still hurt no matter how many times I told him that I was okay. He seemed more sorry than Dorothy and wouldn't stop checking me over.

It made me see just how much he cared and how honest he was being when he said he didn't want any harm to come to me. I could also see him resisting the urge to go back over to Dot after her causing me pain.

Eventually we had to go get Hope and Luna. No other parents so much as glanced our way when we both arrived in my car and I glanced to Klaus with the sneaking suspicion that he had compelled some of the women there but I didn't ask.

I let him officially meet Luna and although she was shy, she told me that she liked him once we got home.

Hope and Luna had a couple of play dates and everyone was getting along.

Luna started to ask for Nik sometimes, and once or twice she had accidentally called him 'dad' or 'daddy' though she would deny it afterwards and cry because she didn't want her father to think she was replacing him which would break my heart without fail.

Hope was a little older than Luna so more mature, Klaus didn't have the same issues I was having.

It had been months, over a year since our first date and Klaus told me that he loved me. It was a reality check of sorts. It scared me a little.

I had to start really thinking. Klaus was immortal and hope had powers. Luna and I would never be anything more than human. We would never be powerful and one day I would get old and Klaus wouldn't love me the way he does now, for all I know another woman could catch his eye and he would leave Luna and I right back where we were. Alone.

It worried me more when Luna asked if Nik and Hope could live with us. It was something I know Nik had considered, he had spoken about it a couple times but we never really came to a final decision. However I had to think about that now.

Klaus was already adamant that I shouldn't have to work so much but the fear of him leaving, or worse...dying, made me cling onto my job for stability. I couldn't ever risk not having a roof over Luna's head and that meant never relying on anybody. I know Nik doesn't really understand that fear. He promises that, even though it won't ever happen, if we did break up then he would never let myself or Luna to be struggling.

"I could never do that to you" he promised after I told him of the thoughts that haunted my head.

"Not now maybe...but I don't know...what if something really bad happened?" I asked quietly and he frowned, cupping my jaw and kissing my forehead as we lay in my bed for the third night in a row while Luna and Hope had another sleepover a couple doors over.

"Nothing could ever be bad enough for me to do that" he whispered and I looked down as i traced meaningless shapes onto his bare chest.

"What if...what if you were killed or something?" I mumbled, wincing at the thought and memories.

"Then I would leave everything to you and you and Luna and Hope would be living like royalty" he murmured and I game him an unconvincing half-smile.

"Well...what if something happened to me?" I questioned and he went quiet, just looking at me for a moment before replying.

"Then I would raise Luna as well as I could, and we would think of you and love you always" he finally answered and I lay my head down against his shoulder, staring at nothing in particular.

“You have to promise…that even if you hate me, you can’t ever hate Luna” I whisper. His hold tightened on me and I was pulled as close as physically possible.

“I promise” he agreed as I closed my eyes as I tried to relax as much as I could.

I won’t lie, I had to be reassured more than I thought. I just couldn’t stop the worries.

But Klaus always had the perfect thing to say, he always made me feel safe and comfortable. He made Luna happy and he was a new beginning for both of us. Him and Hope were our family now, Always and Forever.

(I’m so sorry I didn’t add any smut or another addition…maybe I could make a part two and involve their family growing?? I think I got too invested in the emotional side when writing)

#klaus mikaelson #the originals #the vampire diaries #klaus mikaelson x reader #klaus mikealson fanfiction #klaus mikaelson one shot #klaus mikaleson imagine #elijah mikaelson #rebekah mikaelson #the vampire diares imagine #kol mikaelson #niklaus imagines #niklaus mikaelson #tvd klaus #klaus m #klaus mikaelson x y/n #klaus michaelson #tvd universe #hope mikaelson #klaus mikaelson headcanon #klaus mikaelson fluff #klaus mikaelson yandere #klaus mikealson smut #klaus mikaelson x yn #klaus mikealson x reader #tvd fluff #tvdu fluff #soft!klaus mikaelson #child hope mikaelson #klaus and hope

[xxchumanixx]

Okay, Tim Bradford x reader, but the reader is a police captain and becomes the captain of the mid-wilshire division after Zoë and that one dude. They are married, and the reader is expecting?

It's Captain, baby

Tim Bradford x wife!reader

Warnings/Tags: fluff, Tim being a little grumpy Word count: 879 Authors note: Hello love, thanks for the request! I hope you like it. It was very fun to write and I really like the idea!

Enjoy!

It was meant as a surprise - really.

He knew you wanted to become a captain one day, so when the LAPD asked if you wanted to become the captain of mid wilshire, you instantly said yes.

That you'd be the captain of your own husband, slipped your mind in said moment, though.

You decided not to tell him 'for now', pushing the matter further and further away, until there was no further anymore - until the day you were supposed to start as captain.

Maybe it wasn't the best idea, risking that he'd have a heart attack or get mad, when he saw you - especially considering that you were six months pregnant, and your new position meant stress and pressure - something you weren't supposed to have until in at least about three months, when you were in labor.

Biting your lip and rocking on your heels, you nervously waited for Sergeant Grey to announce you.

The moment he'd say your name, Tim would find out - and he wouldn't like that you refrained from telling him beforehand.

But he was a professional - he wouldn't let you see any emotion on his face during roll call - no, he would tell you how he felt in detail afterwards, giving you an even more guilty conscience.

"And now, I'm happy to introduce our new captain: Y/N Bradford! Please give her a warm welcome." Grey announced, causing your heart to miss a beat, as your hands doubled their sweating.

Taking a deep breath, you entered the room, trying to avoid Tim's face - which, despite your supposition, showed the slightest bit of shock and anger - as you made your way to the pult.

Forcing yourself to smile at the numerous people applauding you, you braced yourself for the speech you had prepared.

"Hello, for those who don't know me yet, my name's Y/N Bradford - yes, I'm sergeant Bradford's wife, and yes, I am pregnant." you started nervously.

A fit of quiet laughter echoed through the crowd, lifting some of the weight off your shoulders.

"I'm proud to call myself captain of the mid Wilshire department." you continued, nodding slightly. "I started here as a rookie, thinking that I knew everything and could do everything. But I didn't - which is an important thing to realize. We're all here for one goal: the safety of our city."

Your eyes briefly found Tim's, his jaw clenched. He looked straight back at you, not even blinking.

"But that means, that we have to learn a lot, especially about ourselves. I know how hard you work for this goal, and I know what it takes to do so. I once was where you are now, and I will have your backs, no matter what. If there's something you wanna talk about - let me know. I'm here to support you, and it's an honor to be your captain. That's it."

They applauded again, causing your cheeks to turn pinkish. Your heart beat fastened in your chest, hands trembling a little, as you smiled at them.

They were your people now, they counted on you, and you'd do everything in your power, to never let them down.

When the room cleared, Tim was the only one still sitting with his arms crossed over his chest.

He was clearly angry.

Taking a shaky breath, you walked over to him, preparing yourself for his speech.

He stayed silent for a couple more moments, just staring at you, before he stood, hands on the table as he leaned towards you.

"Did you even plan to tell me at all?" he wanted to know, brows furrowed. It took all his might not to get too loud, trying to look calmer than he was as well.

His colleagues didn't need to know that he was angry - fuming even.

"Did you think about our baby? What if it's too dangerous - not to mention the stress! Why didn't you tell me beforehand?"

"I did want to tell you." you stated, biting your lip. "But I didn't know how to. I wanted to surprise you, but I pushed it further and further away. I thought it all through, and I'm gonna take it slow - no harm for the baby. Imagine my surprise when they asked me to become their captain - me of all people!"

He bit his lip as well, the corners of his mouth twitching treacherously. At least he wouldn't stay angry at you for long.

"Are you happy?" he wanted to know, glancing at your belly. It was getting harder each day to find something that covered it up at least a little.

Nodding, you pressed out a dry laugh. "I am, but I'm scared as shit." you admitted, causing the crinkles around his eyes to deepen.

"I mean, I wanted to become a captain for so long, but - how to captain? How does this work? It's like my mind suddenly just went blank."

He chuckled, keeping himself from kissing you in front of the curious eyes watching you - didn't they have any work to do?

"I'm glad you like it, baby." he said honestly, his lips wide in a proud smile, as you huffed, cocking a brow.

"It's Captain, baby."

#the rookie #the rookie imagine #the rookie x reader #the rookie x u #tim bradford #tim bradford x reader #tim bradford x you #tim bradford imagine #imagine

[kieiswrite]

i've been writing a few short ficlets relating to the possession au - scar, cub and a bunch of other hermits hunting ghost and getting possessed. horror themes but lighthearted! this one is about Scar and Cub getting into ghost hunting business. the next parts centering on Cleo here and Ren here —

Introducing: Scar & Cub Apparition Removal Agency

“‘SCARA’?” Cub’s tone is completely neutral, but the corner of his mouth twitches. He’s not convinced.

“Yeah! Pretty clever, right?” Scar grins at him. “We could make a logo with a scary monster eating the ghosts.”

“I see your name is in there,” Cub says, “while mine is not.”

“It’s in there! You’re the C, Cub! It’s only a coincidence that it spells out my name.” Scar stretches his arms. The chair creaks. “A happy accident, though—a lucky one, even, some would say, since I will be the head of the operation!”

“I see.” Cub lets the bottle swing slowly back and forth, holding the neck between his thumb and middle finger. Then he takes a sip. He doesn’t particularly like beer, but it’s a rare occasion Scar buys him a drink—even if it’s in the shabbiest bar of the block—so he does his best to enjoy it. “Mmh. And what did you say my role in all of this was going to be?”

“Now, I’m glad you asked, Cub! I’m so very glad you asked me that question.” Scar is drinking water. He’s broke again. “I thought of this plan, and then I immediately thought of you! And do you know why, Cubby? Let me explain what we’re going to do, but first, you need to cast your mind back, all the way back to—high school. Do you remember that night we played with the ouija board in the cellar?”

Cub considers. “I think so.” He takes another, deeper sip. “Yeah, I remember.”

Somebody stumbles past their table, leans briefly on the back of Cub’s chair for balance. The place is filling up. The cover of chatter and loud music gives them some privacy, but Scar edges closer nonetheless. “You had me with that,” he whispers, theatrical, holding up a finger. “You had me for years. No, don’t give me that look, it was a good performance, Cub! I never knew you could act like that. I thought—I really thought you were possessed by the Janitor Jack. The thing you did with your eyes was so creepy, and then you changed your voice and made the—I still have nightmares about the growl. I have nightmares, Cub! Just thinking about it now gives me the heebie-jeebies.” He laughs. “It really was something.”

“Yeah.” Cub’s expression doesn’t change at all, but he squeezes the bottle with both hands. “It was something.”

“So here’s what I thought: I’ll get the clients. I’ll speak to them, persuade them… We go to where they say the ghost is, and you get possessed by it. Just like you were possessed by Janitor Jack!” Scar’s grin widens. “And then we just figure out what we want the ghost to say. I can—I can film it, if the client is not with us, and—look here, Cub. Look what I’ve got!”

Scar lifts up the tattered gym bag he’s been dragging along. He opens the zipper and presents the items to Cub one after another: A couple of white candles, a box of chalk, a crucifix (“This one cost me nothing, got it from the lady across the street!” he says, beaming. “She likes me!”) and even a pack of salt with a discount sticker slapped on the top. He has also bought a new flashlight that against the odds looks relatively sturdy. He asks if Cub can lend him batteries.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Cub says, “but these look like the tools for the world’s cheapest and the most low effort exorcism. Think you have what it takes to kick out a ghost, Scar?”

“Of course! How hard could it be?” Scar makes a mock-ghostly sound and waves the crucifix in front of Cub’s face. “Begone, evil spirit! So—what do you say? Is app—apparel—ap-a-ah— help me out here, Cub!”

“Apparition.”

“Thank you! Is Apparition Removal Agency a go? Will you be my partner?” He drops the cross on the table and holds out a hand.

Cub thinks about it.

Him and Scar are old friends. Cub has been here before—being asked to take part in a questionable enterprise—and it has happened enough times that he can say with confidence: A good nine out of ten of Scar’s schemes are bound to fail.

Nine out of ten. As a business idea, this is ridiculous. Potentially dangerous too.

And it doesn’t matter. The grand success may ever be just around the next corner, but anything Scar has pulled him into he has never regretted, because the failures, as trivial or tragic as they may be, never fail to entertain. 

“Sure thing,” he says. He shakes Scar’s hand. “You can count me in.”

—

The room has a musty smell. Time has given the once-white crocheted bedspread a dirty yellow tint. The curtains are drawn but thin enough to let through light. There’s still a glass on the nightstand, and a picture of some young people, likely relatives, maybe children. The atmosphere in the place is, granted, a little gloomy, considering somebody died here a few days prior, but all in all there’s nothing making the room seem particularly haunted.

Surely ghost hunters would be able to sense if there is a phantasmal presence nearby, even if it’s their first job.

Even if the pay is barely enough to cover their lunches and the gas for Cub’s car. They’ll get experience! And the word of the mouth will have the more lucrative work rolling in in no time!  

“Let’s sit on the bed for this!” Scar is balancing his phone on the corner of the table, to capture the encounter with the ghost. “We will call for her, like, ‘Mary, Mary! Show yourself, Mary! Tell us what keeps you on this earthly plane!’ We’ll light the candles, and then—”

He turns around and cuts his sentence short. Cub has slumped on the bed, and his head hangs down. Dark hair over his eyes and he’s making a low, breathy noise—a snore?

“Cub!” Scar is  at once amused and affronted. “You can’t sleep on a mission!”

Cub’s shoulders jerk. Slowly, he raises his head.

His mouth hangs slack. His eyes are cloudy, hazy, white.

Scar draws in a sharp breath. “Wh—Cub! I didn’t know you already started—I mean, is this—is this Mary? Is Mary here?”

Cub’s voice is a mumble. He sways from side to side. “Who are you?”

Okay. Okay! Cub is veering from the script, but that’s alright! Scar is a quick thinker. Good at improvisation. “We are from SCARA,” he says. Cub’s demeanor is unsettling, but Scar can’t get distracted by his acting chops. He sits down on the side of the bed. “I’m Scar, and we’re here to help you pass on, Mary. Just—talk to us. Tell us everything.”

“Everything?” Cub wheezes. His eyes search for Scar’s face, but don’t fully focus. “What is happening? Why am I so cold?”

It goes pretty much like they rehearsed from there. The ghost doesn’t know she’s dead. She takes it relatively well. She wants little things—she asks if she won the lottery (the ticket is in the drawer. Cub must have checked it while Scar wasn’t looking). She didn’t. She wants to send a letter to her granddaughter, and Scar writes down what Cub tells him to. It’s very sweet, some life advice, some family secrets.

Then, as Scar puts the paper down, he sees there’s blood trickling down from Cub’s nose.

“Cub—Mary,” he says, pointing. “You’ve got a nosebleed.”

The ghost does not react. 

“Right there!” He leans closer. “There. Can you—right under your nose.” 

Cub’s mouth is hanging open again. Blood drips down his lips, his chin. His throat moves, his head jerks—and Scar yelps, startling back.

His poor heart! Scar clutches his chest, but nothing more sinister is happening than just Cub tossing his head in jerky motions from one side to the other. It looks bad but it’s just an act! Cub is trying to freak him out, but he’s not falling for it. The air in the room is thick and the weather must have changed outside, because it’s getting darker.

“Okay, I think we’re done here!” He declares, voice only slightly high pitched. He takes out the crucifix and holds it directly in front of Cub’s restless head. “You got what you wanted, Mary! You can let go now. Go—begone! You’re dead and you should move on, so let go of Cub, and—”

Cub slumps again. He topples a bit to the side—and falls to the floor.

A thud, and then everything is quiet for a long moment. And then Cub sits up, rubbing his head, and his eyes are normal, and he says, pointedly, “Ouch.”

Scar dares breathe again. He’s still gripping the crucifix ever so tightly. “What in the world, Cub? You didn’t have to go that far! You’ll end up getting a tension neck and that’s not a fun time, I can tell you that right now. I’m—wait, I’ll cut the recording off—oh. Oh no, Cub, no, this is not good, I was sitting in the wrong spot! It’s just—oh no. You can see nothing but my back most of the time, look at this!”

He shoves the phone to Cub, who—still on the floor—scrubs quickly through the video. He shakes his head. “Can’t believe this, man.” His tone is appropriately emphatic, near wounded. “Can’t believe this. It really is just your back. Geeze." A pause. "I must have knocked myself out, did you encounter the ghost all by yourself, Scar? What happened?”

He passes the phone back to Scar, touches his own lips and then looks at the blood on his fingertip, quizzical.

Scar is not quite sure how to answer that. He had been about to suggest that they do the bit again, because the recording really is that terrible and all Cub’s effort wasted, but— “You know,” he says, “I’m not sure. Did you really get possessed?”

Cub turns to look at him. He’s paler than usual. After a short pause he says, “Nah, man. That sounds unlikely.”

“So you were acting?”

Cub shrugs. "I've never acted in my life, Scar." He finally takes a tissue from his pocket and wipes his face. "Never acted. But I doubt it was possession. I repel ghosts. Fun fact, ghosts don't attack people with glasses. They get spooked by their own reflection."

Scar cocks his head. "I've never heard that."

"It’s facts. Look it up." Cub stands up. “What’s this?”

“Why, it’s the letter that the ghost wanted me to write! Pack it up, Cub, pack it up! We can give it to the family as proof. I’ll tell them how we banished the ghost and they’ll have to pay us.”

"Oh baby. Easy money."

“Yeah.” Scar gives one more long, thoughtful look to Cub, but he seems to be pretty much his normal self so everything is probably fine. “Yeah! For a first gig, this went great.” He pockets the phone, picks up the bag and his crutches. “Not perfect, I’m not saying we did perfect, but we learned a lot! And the next time—”

They exit the room. The curtains move, like a hand was pushing them to the side. It has to be the draft.

“—next time, you won’t be able to scare me, mister. I’m wise to your tricks now! But we did good. And! I already have the next customer lined up. I told you, Cub, we’ll make profit. I’ve got a feeling. This is going to go so well.”

#the possession au #cubfan135 #goodtimeswithscar #hermitcraft fanfic #kiescribbles #cw possession #cw drinking #also questionable business morals #only a bit of blood and very light drinking and everything is lighthearted but nonetheless

[rubyblue2005]

Au where when Saiki was younger, he sometimes ran into Aren's mom injured and helped her out, and he became something like an unofficial medic to her and her little group. Sometimes when Saiki was patching her up, she would vaguely talk about her kid around his age and stuff. Well, she wouldn't mention Aren by name or talk about him out loud but Saiki just reads her thoughts and so he vaguely knows about her little Hoodlum but then she and her gang moved and Saiki being a little too good at Rock Paper Scissors happened and so they got separated and drifted apart.

Only for some odd years later (Like, four or five) and Aren transfers into Saiki's class with his whole trying to be a normie spiel and how he is totally not gonna be a punk anymore. Aren doesn't really look like his parents (In the same way of how Kusuo and Kusuke don't really look like Kurumi) so Saiki doesn't really suspect anything- and neither does Aren, and they carry on. Imagine a similar situation as the street magician Chouno Uryoku and how his ex-wife did not look anything like how the dude thought of her.

Saiki never really got out of his Street Medic habits and Aren sometimes coming to school with some scrapes from gangsters either trying to pick a fight or drag him back into his past only exacerbates Saiki's medic habits. Like, he always used to carry bandages and alcohol wipes and antibiotic ointment, but had talked to just carrying bandages because a whole medkit had been annoying to carry and needless for an esper like him. Though, he had started carrying a bit more for Kaidou and Hairo when they become closer. (Saiki adds the antibiotic ointment back into his repertoire for Aren)

When they gets close enough and Aren invites them to his house is when the fun really starts. Kaidou and Nendo find Aren's baby album and look through it and everything. But Saiki spots a smaller album on the book shelf and is thinking "Better not show too many of these family albums to those two, who knows what we might see" trying not to think about the album collections documenting his parent's dates and stuff.

And when Aren comes back into the room the four are just vibing and hanging out, Aren even bought out some Coffee jelly as an offering thank you for coming ya introverted bean. So, even Saiki is in a pretty good mood. And then they hear the front door open and close with shuffling and stuff with a 'We're home, Hoodlum!' and Aren going to greet his parents like the totally good kid he is, and Saiki is like "??? That voice sounds kinda familar."

And whadduya know!

When Aren's mom turns around from putting stuff in the fridge, Saiki instanting recognizes her and its the same lady he helped all those years ago! I imagine its not a big dramatic moment but there is a "What a surprise" moment. And she's just like "Haha! Little Medic, you're friends with my brat, what a small world! I hope he's treating you and his other friends right."

And Aren is standing there after trying to introduce his friends like "What." Kaidou says "You know Saiki???? But he never leaves his house!" But Nendou is the one to be like "Wow, Aren's Mom, how do you know my buddy?"'

To which Aren's Mom says briefly that Saiki used to get discounts from the stores near her hangouts (Rough part of town, but great prices for stingy child espers) and how he used to help her and some of her girls. Aren is over here dumbfounded, and Kaidou is just like, "wouldn't he have been like, six, a decade ago??" That Saiki pointedly does not confirm.

But Saiki and Aren's mom are over here just casually talking while all the other teenagers are standing there, bewildered. Like, Aren is over here being like "Hold on, I thought Saiki was a goody-goody, He knows my mom?!?" Meanwhile:

Aren's Mom: How's that brother of yours?

Saiki: Moved to Britain and is still a sore loser.

Aren's Mom: Haha, good to know he's not bothering ya! So, how's my little hoodlum doing in class? Not being a brat is he?

Saiki in a true show of open candidness: If he was a bother, he wouldn't still be in my class.

And Kaidou and Aren are nearly shitting their pants from this being like "SAIKI?????" with it just completely flying over Nendo's head.

Then, the rest of the hang out is Aren's Mom sharing stories of tiny Aren while Saiki is eating more Coffee Jelly

#saiki no psi nan #Saiki K #the disaster of psi kusuo saiki #saiki kusuo #aren kuboyasu #saiki k au #Little Medic Saiki Au #could be seen as #kubosai

[le-92vi]

It's You and Me (Part 1)

Geto Suguru x Reader

Genres/Warnings: nothing really, reader is Suguru's junior. fem!reader, academic weapon!reader (bc i'm not^^) hs!geto. Mostly fluff and banter. Not proofread.

Word Count: 1.5k

Notes: hello again! I'm still unsure if i should make a whole series out of this or just drabbles, or maybe... nothing more, even though i kinda have a story line in mind. Please let me know if you liked this one and would like more parts to this fic. im also sorry for not making regular updates. (Reviews, critics anything<3) I hope you like and enjoy this one!!<33

---

"Yeah, Mom, I'm getting off from school. Just text me whatever you need." You end the call with your mother.

Maki, who stood a couple of lockers away from you and happened to be listening to the conversation, cocked her eyebrow at you. "More housewarming parties?"

You chuckled at how well she knew your mom as you gathered your belongings from your locker and shoved them in your backpack. "I guess. She loves being a good host. Would you mind a little detour to the market?"

"Not at all." She closes your locker for you. "We can get the décor stuff for the presentation too."

"Nice!"

***

"Mom," you called out as you and Maki hauled all the groceries to the kitchen counters. 

"In here," she called out from the living room. 

"Maybe the guests are over already," Maki shrugged.

"But we just got here with the food? Aren't they supposed to be here for dinner?" You asked sheepishly. 

Maki gave you a sarcastic upturned smile. "How am I supposed to know that?"

"You're back! And Maki's here too!" Your mom appeared from the hallways, greeting Maki with a hug the first thing.

It didn't even faze you at this point just how smitten your mom had become with her. And it was endearing too, not that you'd ever admit it out loud. 

You clear your throat to get your mom's attention, "Excuse me, you two..." only to earn laughs from both of them. 

"You're such a silly girl." She took the other bag from your hand, plopping it on the counter. "Anyways, you should go greet our new neighbors. You too, Maki. They have a son around you guys' age. Take him upstairs with you. Poor kid's bored out of his mind sitting there." 

Immediately, Maki's eyes met with yours as you shrugged.

"Go on, now."  Your mom motioned towards the door as the two of you made a beeline outside. 

"New neighbor, huh? Finally, some action in your life, Miss Prude." Maki nudged you, fake-wiping a tear from her eye. "Guess you won't need me around anymore."

"God, Maki! You're so overdramatic," was all you could manage to say, as all your words died in your mouth.

THIS HAD TO BE SOME SICK JOKE.

Suguru Geto. The smartest and most popular guy in your senior school. The Suguru Geto was hunched over the love seat in your living room, visibly bored out of his mind.

You decided that it was for the best for you to ignore his presence in the room for the time being and greet his parents first. You bowed in greeting as you wished them, and so did Maki. That seemed to have grabbed Suguru's attention: "Hey, I've seen you guys in school. I think..." His voice trailed out as he tried to remember where he'd seen you from.

His eyes fixed on both you and Maki, hoping that your presence would gratify his curiosity.

Maki did, as you mentally facepalmed yourself for going blank. Briefly introducing the both of you, she elbowed you in the side to join in on the conversation. But you didn't know what to say, especially to him.

"I have a lot of books. Do you want to check them out?" you blurted. He liked to read, right? You've seen him practically living in the school library. You were supposed to hang out with him after all, right?

"Sure," he says, seeing it as his only chance to escape from the room of boring adult talks, as he follows you and Maki to your room. It was almost as if your body had gone into auto-pilot mode; you were moving without having to think—or rather, your brain was clouded with Suguru's presence, and you couldn't think.

All of it felt wrong. He wasn't supposed to be in your home, let alone your room. And, even though Maki was there too, it didn't help the blaring alarms going off in your brain.

"This is it," your hand gestured at the book shelf filled with books, top to bottom. 

Suguru let out a small chuckle. "I think we have very different ideas of 'a lot of books'." He plopped down on your study chair, while Maki snickered and made herself comfortable on your bed. 

"What do you mean?" You sat beside Maki, turning your head from her to Suguru, trying to find out the object of their amusement. "What is it?" You looked at her sheepishly. 

Maki turns your head towards her, squishing your face in her palms with a look of jest and something motherly. "He likes reading novels, not text books, honey."

"Oh!" you exclaimed, feeling very stupid. How were you supposed to know that he liked fiction? It's not like you ever crept up on him to get a peek at his paperback. "I'm sure I can find some novels for you too! You could've just said so." You sprung up from your place and walked towards your book shelf to find one. You were determined to find a book for him now.

"What genre do you like?" You said, knowing full well you might not even have something close to it.

"Nevermind. I don't feel like reading in the first place; I just wanted to get away from the parents. No  offense." He swung around in your chair. "What else have you got?" 

And something in your brain shifted. He looked so comfortable in your house. It was astonishing. Truly. While you racked your brain trying to adjust to his presence, he looked like he had always belonged there, swinging so freely in your chair. As if you had known each other for a very long time.

For a moment, you forgot about Maki's presence, drowning in his beauty. His eyes, lips. his hair, falling perfectly into place. His voice. It was like he was hand-sculpted with so much care. Until you were brought back to your reality by an elbow to your side. "You should give that a rest unless you want to puncture a hole in me," you pouted at her, rubbing your side to ease the pain.

She, in turn, snickered at you, "What are you so lost in thought about?"

Suguru Geto!

Wasn't it obvious? But, you were kinda thankful that neither of them noticed. "Dinner should be ready by now, right? I'm starving!" You exclaimed, trying to change the topic as fast as you could, dragging Maki by her hand and cocking your head at Suguru, "Let's go."

"You can't just ignore my question like that, you-" her words were cut short by your hand on her ringing phone, "Someone's calling," You swung it near her face in haste.

"Just you and your luck." She whispered to you and gave you her signature scowl before answering her phone.

"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!" You tried making small talk while Maki was busy on the phone, trying your best to not have Suguru notice your tiny, little crush on him. That had to be why you had been acting so strange since you got home, completely zoned out and clueless.

"Bad news, I gotta go" She stuffed her phone back in her jeans.

"No! Why?" You frowned. "Dinner's just ready."

"I know, but I think it's urgent." She rushed back upstairs to grab her bag. "I'll have to call a rain check on the project today, sorry."

"Don't worry about the project. Is everything okay?" You call after her, but she'd already disappeared out of your sight, "I'll ask Mom to pack her some food."

You rush to your mom to explain everything to her, while she packs Maki's portion of the dinner for her. "It's going to get cold by the time she'll eat it" She sighed.

"Go safely!" You hand Maki her dinner, seeing her off like a military wife. "I wish you could stay longer."

"Who's being dramatic now, huh?" She shook her head with laughter at your antics.

You were just glad you could make her laugh. "I'll call you later!" You called after her as you watched her leave, to which she turned around to wave at you.

***

Soon enough dinner was over too and the guests were beginning to leave.

You were now much more comfortable in Suguru's presence. More than you'd like to admit. And, you didn't completely hate the thought of it. He could be a good guy, after all.

You wondered how the rest of your school year would be, now that you'd practically befriended the School's ace, the most sought after guy, as you and your family walked the Geto's to the driveway.

While the parents bid good nights to each other, Suguru quietly popped up beside you, "I'm looking forward to seeing you more often, neighbor." Before running ahead to catch up with his parents, turning back slightly to get a final glimpse of you.

It's going to be a long year.

Tags: @mandysfanfics

#suguru geto x reader #jujutsu kaisen imagines #jjk x you #jjk imagines #jjk x reader #getou suguru x reader #jujutsu geto #geto x reader #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk geto #geto suguru #jujutsu kaisen shoko

[colealexart]

Can you tell us the story of you meeting Ashley and Sam?

sure!

we waited in ashley's queue after seeing laura but it was taking a while and they had to leave for lunch, then photo ops. when we did see her, we had been in the queue for a while because she likes to spend time with people, so the nerves that i was feeling at the beginning kind of dissipated. i was still super nervous to meet her, because she's ashley johnson, but my back and legs were hurting from standing in the queue for so long, so that kind of took my mind off of it a little.

my friend went before me in the queue and got my fearne print signed by her, and i was getting the same print signed too. so when it was my turn, she was like "ohh, that person had this print too" and i was like "yeah i drew it" and she looked so shocked(?) lmao. she was like "you did?! oh my god, it's beautiful!"

i mentioned how much i loved ellie and how much the last of us means to me, and she looked so touched. she stopped signing for a moment to listen to me, with the softest smile on her face. she is very good at keeping you in conversation, so much so that i completely forgot to gift her the extra fearne print that i brought for her.

i did give her the dice that i brought for her though, and she looked so excited. i started saying “i’m sure you receive so many dice but-“ and before i could finish, she interrupted me and said "NO, LAURA GETS ALL THE DICE!" which i thought was hilarious. we played rollies and i got a nat 1 and she got a 4. i also got to hear the signature ashley johnson quote “its caaacked” in person because my dice was slightly tilted off the paper.

i also completely forgot to ask for a selfie, because... well. she's ashley johnson. i was lowkey ascending into another dimension.

as for sam, i had met him before a couple times, during our group and single photo op, but for the autograph he came immediately after ashley. during our photo op, i wore the cursed sam mask that was given out during the live show prank, and he laughed and called it horrifying. i didn't realize, but during our photo he was pulling a face at me because i wore the mask, and it makes me laugh every time. (also, as we were waiting, he introduced himself to every single person taking a photo with him, which i find very funny. sir, we are literally here for you. we paid for this.)

for the sam autograph, on all the other tables i went to, they had you talk to someone beforehand to tell them your name and any autograph personalizations you wanted, so they could write it down on a post-it to make it easier for the talent. however, with sam's, it was a little different. the person helping him out asked for my name, and instead of writing it down he personally introduced me to sam himself. it immediately relaxed me, for some reason. it didn't feel like i was meeting a celebrity (even though i had already met him briefly during the photo ops.) he shook my hand and said, jokingly, "wow, i've never seen this before" about my fcg print. (i had tweeted at him a couple months ago with the print i was going to get signed at mcm, and he responded "cant wait".)

we made conversation about the live show. sam is very soft-spoken irl. he took his time with my autograph and we chatted about the flat white with vanilla please prank on marisha. he said it's very fun to bully her lol. he then took a second to look at the fcg print, and said that it's really cool and he loves the design. i had a spare in my bag, so i offered it to him. he said "oh, i don't want to take it from you, so only if you're sure" which was just. the sweetest. i gave him the print and he was very gracious and shook my hand again.

sorry, this got long lol. i had so much fun meeting them and they truly made everyone feel so welcome and loved. i could talk about my experience at mcm and the live show until the end of time.

#ask

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for ignoring my mom's bf?

Okay so this happened a while ago and my mom has since broken up with the guy so it's super low stakes but it was brought up recently and I was rethinking how I behaved in the situation.

To clarify, my father had been dead for over five years at the time of this story. Ages are at the time of this all happening, I'm now in my 20s.

My mom (46F) met her bf (probably around 46M) when I (16F) was just about 14. I met him, found him to be kind of quiet, and did not have an opinion of him besides being happy to see my mom happy. Two years later, it was decided that he would stay with us in the US long-term. Again, I had only met him once briefly. My sister (18F) was the same, but I think had a slightly worse first impression. She's always been a better judge of character than me.

It immediately didn't go great, my mom was on some trip when he arrived, and so my sister and I were hosting him for about a week before mom came home. We tried to introduce ourselves, give him a tour of the house, etc, but he didn't really interact with us at all. My friend, who is much more charismatic and outgoing than I am, couldn't even get an introduction out of him. All one word responses. Okay, so he doesn't want to be bothered. We lived in a big house, we didn't need to cross paths all that much. It was fine.

Then, my mom came home. And suddenly my sister was the devil's spawn -- it was ridiculous how late she was out, that she was drinking, that she was wearing shorts. My mom and sister didn't have the best relationship, but it had never gotten to the point where they could barely be in a room together before this. (In my mom's home country drinking from a young age is very normal, and my sister was never stupid about her drinking or let her partying affect her school work, if that seems relevant.)

It was obvious that the bf was the one complaining to my mom, who was then going to my sister about it -- he had even yelled at my sister for "dressing inappropriately" directly (it was summer and about 90 degrees, and in the comfort of our own home. She was wearing shorts and a tee shirt that wouldn't even get her dress coded at school. He thought she was "too seductive"). Whenever they fought, he would sleep with my mom. Loudly. My sister's room was right below them, so it was not fun for her.

I was on my sister's side in all this, and my opinion was known but really didn't help much. Most of the arguments seemed to be over normal "rebellious teenage behavior".

(To defend my mom though, she never actually saw her bf treating either of us badly -- besides once and she physically pushed him away from me and seemed ready to hurt him if he didn't leave -- and my sister did have a habit of making shit up to start drama. When she did break up with him later down the line it was for trying to keep her from comforting my sister through a rough patch. It was apparently all very loud and dramatic and she abandoned him in a foreign country in the middle of the night. I already had my own place by then, so I unfortunately missed it.)

Come the end of summer, my sister went off to college and the house was quiet. My mom and I have always gotten along quite well, and in highschool I was always very diligent in informing my mom where I was and when I'd be home, etc. This isn't to say I was a perfect child and my sister was the demon in the house, just that it would be fairly in character for my sister to go out of her way to piss off my moms bf and straight up out of character for me.

So I didn't. I didn't interact or acknowledge him at all. I didn't make eye contact, I "looked through" him if I happened to look in his direction. It was obvious that he didn't like anything my sister did and so I would do nothing. At all.

He started complaining to my mom that I was treating him like a ghost. I reminded my mom that I was not like my sister, and I wouldn't hold a grudge or anything like that. I was just treating him as he treated me. (He also tried the "sleeping loudly" trick on me, as I moved into my sister's room after she moved out. After I also complained, my mom realized that my sister had not been lying about being able to hear it and stopped letting him get away with that. They were still sleeping together, just not Loudly Right Above Me.)

It obviously stressed him out. I don't know the psychology behind it or anything, but I think living in a house with someone who seemingly can't see or hear you must be really awful, because he started to yell at me about anything. (Since I literally wasn't doing anything, he did not manage to get my mom to turn against me like he did to my sister.) I was childish for making food in the kitchen, apparently*. If I needed to use the bathroom at night I was waking him up on purpose (he didn't have a job or any reason to wake up early, like I did with school and my hour walk bc he didn't think my mom should have to wake up to drive me). My panic attacks, obviously, were a direct insult to him specifically.

*I know this seems like I'm not including context, but I literally just made myself a quesadilla, cleaned up, sat down to eat, and he came in to yell at me for being childish. My best guess is I woke him up with the noise? But it was lunch time, so.

I just would continue to ignore him, even while he yelled. Admittedly, if he went on long enough, I would eventually just stare at him, which is what I usually do if someone is angry at me and I don't know what to say.

He eventually left our house because he "felt unwelcome". Good riddance. He did continue to date my mom, but he never visited again while I was there.

I still think that he was "the asshole", and that my mom wasn't great either for staying with him so long despite my sister and I complaining. However, my ignoring him stressed him out in a way that I've never seen someone stressed before or since. I think I was probably escalating it, at least. Tbf though, he never once tried to actually sit down and have a conversation with me. I wouldn't have ignored him if he had.

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

[hangmanssunnies]

All Bets Are Off

Summary: When Jake "Hangman" Seresin starts coming onto you in a club, you are convinced it is too good to be true. Your past experiences have taught you that there is only one possible reason this man might be interested. The question exactly is just how much money does he have riding on this bet?

Pairings: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x Fem!Civilian!Reader, Minor Javy "Coyote" Machado x OC

Fandom: Top Gun: Maverick 

Word count: 7.6k

Warnings: Fluff, shameless flirting, slight angst, drinking, minor cursing, Reader had been hurt in the past, Sweetheart Hangman, besties Hangman and Coyote, bets but none that are actually hurtful.

A/N: Some of this stuff has happened to me, I'm sorry if you relate. I never explicitly say it, but it's implied the reader is plus-sized. We all deserve genuine love from someone, Jake knows that. I love you, so does he. <3 Also, I do love me Javy, I wish I had included him more. I hope you enjoy!

The truth was, in your experience, men considered you a joke. It had been something that happened to you more than a few times. You could normally prevent it, but sometimes it snuck up on you. You wondered why guys thought it was so funny to ask you out on a date. Was it because the idea that they would be interested was so absurd, or was it the embarrassment that they were being made to talk to you? Or maybe it was the satisfaction they got when they rejected you and laughed that you thought it might have been serious interest from them. 

Whatever it was, it was cruel and never got easier to deal with. The feeling it left you with was hollowing. You had enough bad experiences when it came to men that you were always on guard. That was why when the attractive man you accidentally made eye contact with on the other side of the bar winked at you, you instantly averted your gaze, turning your attention back to the bar. 

Later that night, you were weary when you saw the same man and one of his buddies start to approach you and your girlfriends. It was most likely that they were coming over to chat up your friends and potentially ignore you. It didn't really bother you anymore; that was just part of having conventionally attractive friends. You loved your friends; you wouldn't trade them for the world. It was like guys wouldn't even see you when you went out with your friends. The times' men did notice you, it never went over well. So, at this point, you preferred when you were ignored. 

This wasn't the case tonight, though, when the two strangers approached y'all. They were both tall and well built, though not in the overly buff way like bodybuilders were. One of them was wearing a white shirt that stood out against his black skin. The other one, whom you had made eye contact with earlier, was wearing a dark grey button-down. One of your friends engaged them in conversation, and a few others made their way to the dance floor. You, however, dropped your eyes to your drink, swirling it and turning to angle your body slightly away. 

You didn't want to ruin any of your friends' chances with the attractive men, but it was also the girl code to stick together and watch each other's backs. You were half listening to their conversation and keeping an eye on the dancefloor, checking for your friends there. All this while patiently waiting for the bartender to come over and take your drink order. Your friend Lala wasted no time starting to flirt with the one who introduced himself as Javy. Just as you were getting ready to turn back to the bar and make yet another attempt to catch a bar tender's eye, you heard a loud voice over the music directed toward you. 

"What's your name, sweetheart?" You looked up, startled to see the blond man speaking to you. You briefly glanced over your shoulder to see if he was talking to anyone else, but you found there wasn't anyone there. You contained the grimace that threatened to take over your features, instead giving the guy a tight smile. 

"I'm Y/N. What's yours?"

"My name's Jake." He flashed you a bright smile, and part of you wanted to swoon. However, the suspicion in you shut that down quickly. You managed to give him a smile and nod. Lala was still on your other side, heavily flirting with Javy. 

"I saw you from the other side of the bar. I didn't know that they let angels in this club, but I'm sure not complaining." 

The cheesy line did not help you feel more at ease. Instead, you let out a dry laugh and drummed your fingers against the top of the bar. "That's a really funny joke." 

"It wasn't a joke, angel."

You opened your mouth, getting ready to shut down the unbelievably handsome man, who was no doubt out of your league. But, before you could, a hand on your wrist interrupted you. 

"I'm going to go dance with Javy," Lala was telling you now, grinning from ear to ear and wiggling her eyebrows so aggressively you couldn't contain your laugh. 

"Do you still want a drink?" You asked her, but she was already walking to the dance floor, her hand gripped tightly with the stranger she had just met. You shook your head at your friend and turned back to the bar. 

"I would love a drink. Thank you for asking," Jake's voice cut into you, disrupting your thoughts. You were shocked to see him still standing next to you. His job of playing wingman had clearly been successful, not that it seemed a man like Javy needed one in the first place. 

"I wasn't really asking you."

"Well, how about the drinks are on me then?"

"No. Thank you for the offer, though." 

"I insist." This made you sigh.

"Listen, buddy-" You were cut off, though.

"Jake," he resupplied his name like you would have forgotten it in the last minute or so. 

"Right, listen, Jake. Your work here is done. You succeed as a great wingman. Your friend got mine to go dance. So, you don't have to keep talking to me as a distraction or whatever."

The smile he had been wearing while he talked to you fell off his face for a moment. Then briefly, there was an adorable crease that appeared in between his eyebrows. 

"I actually am a great wingman, but what I wanted was —." 

Now it was your turn to interrupt him. "I have some other friends on the dance floor that I am sure would be more than interested. You probably saw them over here earlier. I can even tell you which ones are single."

"Thanks for the tip, angel, but are you interested in dancing?" 

The bartender had finally made their way over to both of you. You smiled kindly at them and started to put in your order for a red dragon. Jake jumped onto your order asking for an old fashioned and requested that the drinks go on his tab.

You narrowed your eyes at the man, shaking your head. You clenched your jaw at the forwardness of this stranger. Before the bartender went to make your drinks, you also asked for three shots of Jägermeister. You glanced a look at Jake, who raised his eyebrows but didn't protest to you adding more drinks to his tab.

The bartender poured out your shots before starting the mix drinks. You threw each shot back one by one, enjoying the caramel herby flavor of the liquor sliding down your throat. Jake didn't take his eyes off of you or the bob of your throat, swallowing, once during the whole process. 

"I will say I am impressed," he told you when you set the last one back down on the bar top. When his old fashioned was set down on the bar followed quickly by your red dragon, he still hadn't left your side yet.

"Do you want to dance?" He asked you for the second time, taking a quick sip of his drink. The two of you drifting away from the bar side. You concede that he definitely was a good actor, or maybe just a smart enough guy to be kind to you. Your friends didn't take it well when men weren't nice to you. 

"I promise you don't need me to take you over there. The single ones are Lala. Which, sorry, it looks like your friend snapped her up. Then there is Kana," you pointed at your friend who was wearing a bright neon pink form-fitting jumpsuit, "and Jamie is too." The finger you were pointing shifted to point at the blonde with long curly hair, who had decided to wear tiny short shorts and a bandana top to the club. 

"I have to warn you, though, you wouldn't really be Jamie's regular type." You took a sip from your drink, feeling proud of yourself. You were also a pretty great wingwoman; just by looks alone, either of your friends would be scoring with this man. When you looked at him again, though, his eyes were only on you. 

"That's nice and all, but you are the one I wanted to dance with, Y/N." Jake had stepped closer to you so that you could hear him over the club's noise now that you two had drifted closer to the dance floor. 

The shots you had taken made it so you weren't able to contain your laugh. "You want to dance with me?" You asked him in-between laughs and lightly hit his arm, shaking your head. That adorable eyebrow crease returned again, making you laugh more. 

"Yeah, I do," he told you seriously. 

"What is it?" You asked, swirling the drink in your hands. "Is it a bet? Or just a joke? Or is your friend Javy really that terrible you need to keep me completely distracted from Lala?" 

"I'm sorry, angel. I don't think I understand."

"I'm not stupid, men like you," you pointed at him, gently pushing your finger into the grey shirt of his chest, not shocked at all to feel firm muscle there. "Don't pretend they are interested in women like me without some alternative motive." You retracted your finger to point it back at yourself.

His mouth dropped open, and for the first time that night in your conversation, you were left with the impression that he wasn't sure what to say. 

"So, if it's a really good bet. I could be convinced to participate, but I really don't feel like being the butt of anyone's jokes tonight." He snapped his mouth shut and licked his lips. His eyes narrowed slightly. You raised your chin a little bit, feeling bold from the liquor with no intention to back down. 

"What kinds of bets have there been in the past?"

"Oh, all kinds of stuff, usually the stakes are money, but it varies what the bets are. One guy, the bet was to take me home and then leave me on the doorstep." You took another long pull from your drink at the memory of that. "Other times, it's to see if they can get my number, and then they sign me up for weight watchers or some plastic surgeons email list. Or they flirt with me all night and then see if they can get away with pawning their tab off on me. There is lots of variation. Not always bad, I guess. One guy was just dared to kiss me for $20 bucks. We split it and called it a night." You were careful to watch the tone of your voice, making sure that you didn't betray how much hurt you had endured before.  

"That is fucked up. I am so sorry." The line of his jaw tightened, and you could tell that he was clenching his teeth. 

"I don't need you to be sorry for me," You snapped back at him. "So if it's not something terrible, I'll play along. But if you just want to get a laugh out of humiliating me, I'll have to say pass and ask you to leave me alone."

"Well, I'm not known to disappoint, but there isn't a bet."

You stared up at his handsome face trying to figure out what sort of game he was playing. He simply gave you a kind and confident smile, not shying away from your prying eyes. Looking at this man, you didn't think it was possible for him to be shy. 

You sigh and shake your head. "Well then, I don't think there is anything I can help you out with, Jake."

"Well, angel, all I really wanted was to talk to you. Dancing was just going to be an added bonus. So if you aren't interested in dancing, at least tell me it's because you are taken."

You shook your head at him, lips turning up at the edges in a small smile. "I'm not seeing anyone at the moment."

"That's definitely a blow to my ego, angel. Single, beautiful, can take shots like a champ, and still doesn't want to dance with me." He clutched a hand to his chest as if he had just been shot and shifted backward on his heels before leaning in close to you again. 

"I find it hard to believe you have trouble picking up girls."

He shrugs and takes another long drink until his glass is empty. "I think I would surprise you."

"Are you trying to tell me that women don't flaunt to your side, vying for your attention, and shower you in affection?" Of course, you were joking, but in the flashing lights of the club, beyond the loud music and the alcohol coursing through your veins, a dark look borderline vulnerable shadowed his face, and it stuck. The side of his cheek indented, and you could see that he was biting it, shifting his weight like he was suddenly uncomfortable. Then the music shifted, and Jake changed with it, falling back into that pleasant neutral look. 

"I think the general consensus is that I'm too much of an asshole," Jake told you, adapting that flirty teasing tone again. You took a moment to tear your eyes off of him and check on your friends on the dance floor, ensuring they were all fine before trying to come up with something to say. 

"What's a hidden talent of yours?" 

"Pardon?" He asked you and leaned in closer like he suddenly couldn't hear you, which made you narrow your eyes but let the action slide. 

"Tell me something you are good at that I wouldn't know from just looking at you."

"I'm pretty good at darts."

"I think I could have guessed that by looking at you." 

"I think you might have a stereotyping problem, angel." 

That startled a genuine laugh out of you, which to your horror, started to drift into the giggle category. Those shots were catching up with you fast. "I'm sorry. You're right. I'll try and make sure to keep my implicit bias under better check. I'll try not to apply any of the stereotypes I have for hot, tall, blonde, funny men to you."

That made him laugh too, and he gently tapped his empty glass against the one you had in hand. "Thanks, Darlin. I was worried we were going to have to send you to sensitivity training."

You bit your bottom lip, trying to keep the giggle in this time. "Well, maybe I just need to be more educated. What kind of things should I assume?"

"Well, I can't speak for all tall, blonde, funny men named Jake," He starts, the grin on his face almost too bright. His eyes, which you couldn't quite make out the actual color of in this club, clearly had a sparkle. "But you could assume that they actually are good at darts, like to read, a quite talented cook, and sometimes they also like to go out on the town with their friends." 

"A few of those things certainly are unexpected."

"What about you? What kind of things should I assume about angels?" 

"If I ever meet any, I will let you know." 

He huffed at you, and his lips turned into a frown that you could almost categorize as a pout. "Oh, come on. I guess I will have to let my implicit bias run rampant then."

"And what would are your biases telling you about me?" You asked, raising an eyebrow. 

He stared at you for a long moment but didn't say anything. His eyes were scanning your face and then briefly flashed over your body, examining the outfit you had picked to go out in that night. You wondered if this was the moment that the shoe fell, that there really was a bet or a joke. That he was about to make some mean joke or assumption about you. Jake surprised you by grabbing your now empty drink glass from your hand. 

"I don't believe in forming opinions based on how people look. Even beautiful angels like you. Would you like another drink?" He wasn't smiling when he said it, but he sounded genuine enough.  

You stared at him wide-eyed and eventually shook your head no.

"Well, if you decide you want another one or do actually want to dance. Don't hesitate to come find me, Darlin." He winked at you, and with both your empty glasses, he made his way back to the bar side. 

You couldn't tear your eyes off of him. You watched Jake give the empty glasses to the bar back and then get a handful of water bottles. You still didn't manage to look away until he made his way back to his group of friends by a pool table on the other side of the bar. There Jake started to generously hand out the water bottles. One of your friends coming back over from the dance floor was what finally got you to refocus on the girls' night you were supposed to be having. 

You didn't talk to Jake again, never working up the courage to go over and take up his offer even though you stole glances at him the rest of the night. For the next month, you would occasionally hear about him because your friend Lala, and Jake's friend, Javy, had started to see each other. She swore it was just casual, but you didn't see it staying that way for long with how much they texted each other or considering that they now wanted all their friends to be friends. 

That is how you found yourself running into Jake again, at a happy hour in a Texmex bar. Lala and Javy deciding to mix the friend groups and introduce everyone over drinks and food while also displaying a ridiculous amount of PDA. He approached you first, sliding next to you at the table you were situated at. The table was on the outside patio while waiting for everyone else to grab their drinks from the bar. 

"Hey Y/N, you are a sight for sore eyes. How have you been?" You were honestly surprised that he remembered you, let alone your name.

"Oh, hey. Hi," you said, giving him a small smile. 

"It's Jake. We met the same night Lala and Javy did."

"No, yeah. I remember you."

"Oh good," Jake says with a pleased chuckle. Then he took a sip from his drink. You were shocked to see that instead of a beer bottle, it was actually a Jarritos. 

"Are you really drinking a soda?" You laughed. 

"What's wrong with soda?" He asked you, quirking an eyebrow and looking at the bottle in his hand. 

"There isn't anything wrong with it. I'm just surprised that is what you ordered at the bar, and not a beer or an old fashioned or something."

Jake tsked his tongue at you and shook his head. "I really am going to have to find a sensitivity and diversity class for you to take. These expectations you have are going to be a problem between us."

You couldn't help laughing at him and rolling your eyes at the joke. "Well, if you see any good ones, make sure to send me a link." That made him laugh. You admired the way his eyes crinkled a little at the edges. 

"I can't say you are completely wrong. As much as I would love a beer, I'll be wheels up in less than twelve hours, so no drinking for me tonight. Plus Jarritos is my favorite soda, I drank it all the time growing up."

You took a sip of your own drink, considering his words. "What kind of wheels?"

His face lit up at the question, and in this light, you could finally see his eyes in the evening sunlight deciding they were green. It was a tough call from blue, but green won over. "Plane wheels."

"Oh, so you are a pilot?" 

"Yeah, officially a naval aviator, but yeah. Javy is too, and a few of the other guys here." He tipped his bottle towards the group making their way out towards y'all on the patio. 

"Wow, that sounds like a pretty amazing job. Tell me more about that."

"Angel, I could talk about flying all night. But I still don't really know anything about you. How about we flip the script, and you tell me a bit about yourself?"

You opened and closed your mouth twice, trying to come up with a response. You couldn't remember the last time a man wanted to learn about you so much that he even set aside the opportunity to talk about himself. 

So this time, you didn't resist answering the questions Jake asked you. You also couldn't control the flutter in your stomach when Jake kept giving you his attention, even after the entire group had joined you on the patio. Finding lulls in the group conversation to ask you something, and more often than not, when you let your eyes drift over to him, he was already looking at you. 

Jake was the first to leave. He stood up and stretched just as it was actually getting dark. "Y'all, I've got to get going, but it's been great. I hope we all get together again soon."

Some of his friends booed him, but it was all playful. He shot you one more look but didn't say anything before making his way out of the patio. Feeling bold, you quickly finished the drink you had and got up as well. You half-heartedly said goodbye, not even really giving anyone an explanation, before hustling out of the door. You caught him walking through the parking lot.

"Jake," you called after him. 

He turned around to face you looking surprised. "Did I forget something, angel?" 

"Yes," you confirmed, drumming your hands against your side. You took a few steps closer so that you were only a few feet apart. His eyebrows creased, and his hands patted some of his pockets, confirming where his phone and wallet were.

"What did I forget?" 

"You forgot my number." It only took him a second to process your words before he was grinning and puffing out his chest a little bit. 

"You are right. I don't know how I could have forgotten that. I'm sorry." Then he is holding out his open phone for you. You quickly type in your number and hand it back to him. Locking the screen, you saw a picture of him with a group of people wearing flight suits, all posed in front of some planes. 

"So, now you have that," you trailed off, not sure what to say now.

"I'll text you, angel." 

You nodded your head, actually believing him, and headed back into the restaurant. Your phone vibrated, receiving a new text message before you had even sat down again.

Talking to Jake was easy. He was a great texter and really funny. He did work long, weird hours, but it was something you were able to live with. It took a week and a half of texting before he finally asked if you wanted to go on a date with him. 

It was supposed to be on another girls' night, so you text the group chat, letting them know you wouldn't be making it that night. Telling them that you had a date. Within a few minutes, you got a call from Lala, a picture of you two stupid drunk from freshman year of college showing up. 

"Hey, Las."

"Omg Y/N, do you have a date with Hangman tonight?"

"Who?" you asked, pulling the makeup brush away from your face and looking at the phone, confused. 

"Sorry, Jake."

"Who the hell is Hangman?"

"Oh, it's just the nickname that Javy calls Jake all the time."

You hummed in acknowledgment. "I'll have to ask him about it. He hasn't mentioned anything to me. He doesn't really like to tell me anything about his work," You trailed off. 

"Well, I don't really think their jobs are like ours."

"No, definitely not."

"So, what are you guys doing? Where are you going?"

"We are going to the Shakespeare festival!" You couldn't fully contain your excitement. 

"Oh my gosh, that is going to be so fun," Lala gasped.

"Yes, I am excited. They are doing Little Shop of Horrors." 

"I'm so excited for you. It's been a while since you've dated."

"It's just a first date, Lala."

"I know, but you're a catch, and Jake is too. I don't want you to get too in your head about it."

"I don't get too in my head about dating," you sigh. 

"Yes, you do. You are always suspicious."

"I'm suspicious because, in the past, I had the right to be. I don't want to be a joke. I can't put myself in that position, again or anymore."

"I know, but Javy says Jake is a good dude."

"You and Javy have only been dating a month," you deadpanned. This made Lala laugh. 

"Yeah, I guess that's true, but it feels different with him. I know it's been fast. It just feels real and right. You know?" She asked you, and the worst part was you thought you might understand precisely what she was talking about. 

"Javy might be a sweetheart, but Jake admitted he was an asshole the very first time we met. So, I'm going to be cautious."

"Okay, girlie, I get it. I love you. Have fun. The girls and I will miss you tonight. I want pictures and text updates on how it goes." 

"Love you too, Lala." 

You hung up the phone and finished getting ready, knowing Jake would be stopping by your apartment any minute to pick you up. When he got there, he had flowers, just a plain bouquet of sunflowers. You grinned at the gift. 

"Thank you so much! These are beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you, angel." 

You clicked your tongue at him but you didn't actually mind the cheesy line. As you go to put the flowers away, Jake stops you with a hand on your arm. "Can I have a picture of you with the flowers?" He asked. 

"Sure," you tell him, a little hesitant but end up posing and letting him take a picture. 

After that, you head to the Shakespeare festival and watch the play. Jake tells you how much his mom and grandma loved the theater. It was something that had rubbed off on him growing up and going with them to all different kinds of productions. He also packed some snacks for you two, as well as a cold lemon orzo salad with feta cheese that made your mouth water. He admitted he made it himself. It was a great date, better than you have had in a long time. Maybe the best one you have ever had. 

At the end of the night, Jake walks you back to your door, acting as a gentleman the entire way. You invited him inside, but he politely declined. Then he leaned in and kissed you. It is everything a first kiss should be, kind, sweet, and a bit too chaste. The moment you tried to initiate more, he pulled away and kissed your forehead before telling you goodnight and leaving. 

You go on more dates with Jake and learn more and more about him. He is funny, generous, and too smart for his own good. He also can be a bit of an asshole, but at least immediately apologizes for it. You made the mistake of taking him on a date where you were mini golfing. That was when you found out he was extremely competitive and very cocky. It was the first time he referred to you as sweetheart in a condescending way, ruining the pet name for you. Before you had even the chance to call him out on it, though, he beat you to it. He told you after that he was sorry and got carried away with the game. He gave you fifteen more apologies than you needed until you finally had to tell him if he apologized to you again you were going to break up with him. 

Another time you go on a double date with Javy and Lala. It isn't a disaster, but you and Lala definitely saw sides to them that you assume are mostly reserved for work. The two might call each other best friend but the smack talk that they were saying while bowling would never give off that impression. That's also when you learn that when Jake has mentioned Coyote, the person he was actually talking about was Javy. 

You finally make an excuse and leave the lane y'all were using and drag Lala with you to get away from the two guys. You two probably take too long using the restroom and grabbing more drinks and food before coming back. Both were sitting, heads pressed close together, having a quiet conversation.

Javy is the first to apologize, "Sorry we got so into bowling. We should have left our competition in the sky." 

"Yes, we didn't mean to be assholes," Jake added. 

You frowned at him, not ready to let him off the hook so easily. However, after him pouting and a few sweet kisses, you let it go. Just telling him that he should be nicer to his friends. He agreed readily enough and was back to being the sweet happy Jake you were used to. Y'all had another round of bowling, much friendlier this time, before calling it a night. 

You and Jake just fit together, and before you know it, you had been dating for nearly three months. There were no major issues, and you were more than a little on your way to falling in love with him if you hadn't already passed over that precipice. The issue was Jake wanted to take things slow. 

It was something that shocked you when the two of you first talked about it. Jake had accused you once again of stereotyping him. He claimed that he was a fine southern gentleman who treated women right. This, of course, led to you squabbling with him that he had just stereotyped himself. It led to another round of discussing what stereotypes you were allowed to apply to him and which ones you weren't. 

The two of you had just spent the whole day at the beach, and Jake was driving home with the windows down and music blasting. He had given you his phone to pick the music. You hadn't been able to shake the grin on your face seeing that his phone background had now changed to the picture of you he took on your first date. 

"Jakers look at the phone," you requested while holding the phone up, trying to get the face ID to activate. 

"The passwords 1969, angel." He told you, pushing the phone away from him so he could focus on driving. Your smile only widened at how easily he gave you the password. 

"Why?" You asked him, opening up Spotify to start queuing music. 

"Founding year of Top Gun."

"You are such a nerd," You accuse him playfully. 

"I might be, but that's a secret you can't go telling people, angel."

"It's too late. I already told the girls about your Kindle and Audible accounts."

"There isn't anything wrong with reading. It's good for your brain," he defended himself. 

"I also told them how you own every single Nicholas Sparks book." He gasped hearing you told that secret and shot a glare over at you. How offended he looked, made you cackle with laughter. 

"It's official. I can never see a single one of your friends again." 

You rolled your eyes but didn't say anything. You continued to look through Spotify and decide on music for the drive. A text message appeared on the screen from "Coyote," and you quickly swiped up on it, in dismissal, not wanting to invade Jake's privacy. However, another one instantly popped up, and you couldn't help but let your eyes drift over the preview. And then Coyote just kept texting. You never actually opened up the messages, but you didn't need to. 

Times up.

You lost the bet big time. 

I expect payment ASAP...

It was like your blood turned to ice in your veins. You had to resist the urge to throw Jake's phone out the window. You took a few deep breaths trying to calm down. You didn't know what the bet was. It could be about anything. You couldn't just assume that it was about you. However, it felt like a switch was flipped in you, and suddenly you weren't sure. Was it possible that Jake had been playing with you all this time?

Logic said no, it had been months. Jake was always honest with you, sometimes to a fault. He texts you good night and good morning every day. You were his phone's lock screen background. If Jake had something to hide, why would he just give you his phone and password? You saw another text appear from Coyote, a small preview showing it was a picture of some kind. That was when you locked Jake's phone, setting it back in the cup holder. 

"Did you queue Renegade?" He asked, none the wiser to the panic sloshing in your veins. You had, actually, knowing it was one of his favorite songs. So you nodded to his question, not trusting your voice. 

You felt the need to get out of the truck and to get away from him, desperate for the chance to recenter yourself.  All your plans for the night now meant nothing, including the plad of coaxing him into your apartment and then the shower. You originally had the intention of washing the sea salt and sand off him, insisting you take a shower together to save water, of course. The dinner cooking in the crock pot and the fresh sheets on your bed were also forgotten. All of it went flying out the window as the word bet was on repeat in your head. 

Three songs passed, and you barely moved, just pressing your hands tightly into your knees and trying to strategize the fastest possible way to escape the truck and send Jake on his way when you got back to the apartment. 

"Angel, what's wrong?" You distantly heard him ask, and your eyes snapped from the road in front of you to his side profile. 

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"Woah, now, don't lie to me." He tossed a concerned glance your way. The two of you were stuck in traffic, and you were silently praying for it to clear up. 

"It's not a lie."

"Are you tired or hungry? Been drinking water? I know we were out in the sun for a long time." His concern was a step too far. You felt the bubble that was building in you snap as you slumped back against the seat. 

"I've been drinking water, and like I said, I'm fine, Jake." He frowned. You saw his brow furrow, clearly indicating that he didn't believe you. 

"You got a text from Coyote," You told him, watching his face carefully to see if you would see any trace of guilt there. 

"Oh really, what did he have to say?" Jake asked, his face not betraying anything to you. 

"I didn't want to read your texts."

"You can read them, angel. It doesn't bother me. If he wants to get drinks tonight, tell him to fuck off. He knows I was spending today with you."

You picked up his phone again and fiddled with it for a moment before typing in his password. You wanted to trust him. You thought you could trust him. However, even after three months, some part of you found Jake too good to be true. In the back of your mind, you were still looking for the explanation of why he would choose to be with you when he could have any girl he wanted. 

"Will you throw Cruise into the queue?" He asked you when you picked up his phone again. You hummed and quickly went to Spotify, adding the song before opening his texts again. You saw a squadron group chat, a few text messages shot off to the contact Rooster B^2 and then at the top of the list, Coyote. A picture of the two of them smiling in the little corner. The chat told you there were five unread messages:

Get absolutely wrecked Hangman. It's the 13th. That's three months! 

Times up.

You lost the bet big time. 

I expect payment ASAP. I'll accept cash only. 

Below that was a picture of some professional basketball player dunking a ball. You started to read the texts out loud, your eyes quickly going back and forth between the phone and Jake's face, not wanting to miss even a micro-movement of his reaction. Right as you finished reading them, another text showed up. You sucked in a rapid breath, feeling your whole chest squeeze tight. 

Better luck with the next girl you think you know the standards for. 

"What's this bet, Jake?" You asked. You tried to have a consistent voice but didn't accomplish that. You couldn't stop your voice from breaking on his name. 

"Fucking Coyote," he hissed, tightening his grip on the wheel, making your heart plummet even further.

You couldn't manage to find words. Instead, you locked Jake's phone again but gripped it so tight you were shocked the screen didn't crack from the pressure. 

"Y/N, it's not what you think," Jake quickly added on, but it was too late. You were already shutting down, starting to feel parts of you splintering inside. 

"I don't understand. I was honest with you. I was upfront that I couldn't be a joke again, that I wouldn't be a bet. That I've been too many bets," You whispered to him. You were questioning every date and interaction now. Questioning every time Jake called you beautiful or his angel. Had he actually meant any of it? Was this the reason he refused to sleep with you? 

Before he could even defend himself, you were talking again. "I don't understand why you dragged this out so long, but I guess I get why you don't want to sleep with me now." You chuckled, but it was a hollow sound. "I would have played along too. You are so charming; that first night, if you had been honest, I would have gone along with it. You didn't have to put in so much effort." 

"Y/N," He said, his voice gentle and deadly serious. You shook your head at your own foolishness, refusing to look at Jake now, preferring to stare at the picture of you on his phone again. You cut him off before he could keep talking. 

"I mean, this was overkill. Spending so much time with me, making me your fucking phone background, hanging out with my friends, double dates. What was the bet, Hangman?" You spat out. You had never once used his call sign since you had learned it. It was always Jake, he had even asked Javy and some of their other friends not to call him that around you. 

"Don't call me that," he immediately responded, his tone hard. Then he softened it and tried again to say your name. You were on a roll, though. 

"Fuck, I knew too, and I ignored it. But, like I always said, guys like you aren't into girls like me."

"No," Jake said. His voice was so cold and hard that there could have been ice on the windshield. You tried to start talking again, but Jake wasn't having it. "Shut up, Angel. It's my turn to talk." He was leaving absolutely no room for negotiation. 

"You were not the bet. You aren't a bet or a joke. And I hate when you say shit like that. You are a million times better than me. You are my dream girl. If I meet one of the fuckers who made you the butt of their stupid jokes, I'll kill them myself. Guys like me are into girls like you. If they aren't, they're fools because I am so into you. 

"I have been into you since the first moment I saw you across the bar, and the lights on the dance floor made it look like you were a literal angel. And there hasn't been a single moment where I stopped being into you. Not even when you tried to pawn me off to one of your friends. Who, by the way, aren't even remotely my type because you are my type. I've been dreaming about meeting someone like you for years. Do you understand?"

You didn't understand, not really. Jake had never been this serious with you before. However, you managed to give him a shaky nod trying to process his words. 

"You put up with me even when I'm an asshole, and somehow I haven't scared you away with my job or my friends. Which is already a goddamn miracle. I haven't wanted to rush our relationship because I've seen guys who rush things just to crush and burn. I'm not going to risk that with you because you are the one for me. I know it."

"What about this bet, and three months and…" You trailed off, still trying to piece together how he was practically telling you he was in love with you and the texts that you read. 

He sighed heavily then, "you weren't a bet, but Lala was."

"What?" you asked. Your own voice hardening hearing your friend's name.

"It's not how you are thinking. It wasn't a bad bet or anything."

"Women should never be the object of a fucking bet Jake. Is that hard for you to understand?"

"No. I just never thought they would make it. That first night when they decided to get breakfast after meeting and hooking up, I bet Coyote that he wouldn't ever make it past three months with Lala. He has commitment issues, and I could tell he really liked her. So, it was more of a push than anything. I knew I was going to lose the bet weeks ago."

"How much?"

"What?"

"How much was the bet?"

"Just $250."

"That's a lot of money. Is Javy just going to drop Lala now that he won?"

"No, absolutely not. Javy is in love with Lala. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to propose here sooner rather than later. Also, that's not that much money. That's like one nice dinner." 

You bit your lip and felt at war with yourself and the situation, trying to decide if Jake had actually done anything wrong. "He needs to tell Lala about the bet."

"Does it really matter?"

"Of course, it matters," you hiss. 

"Okay, I'll tell him he needs to."

"If he doesn't tell her, I will," you warn him. 

"I understand," he confirmed. Then he ran his hand through his hair, which was wild from being on the beach and in the water all day. You wanted to reach over and help pull it back into place but resisted. Silence filled the space between you, filled only by the music playing.

"I'm sorry I keep doubting you," you finally said, breaking the silence between you. He sighed heavily and then held out his hand. You grabbed it, fitting your fingers together and squeezing them tightly. 

"I know you have been hurt in the past. I'm so sorry, you didn't deserve that. No one does, but please don't make me pay for the sins of those men, angel."

You felt tears prickle in your eyes, and you sniffed, holding them back. "You shouldn't have to. I'm sorry if it seems like I want that from you. You are amazing, Jake. I'll try and do better."

"You just have to trust me. I don't think you need to apologize. I don't want apologies. I just want you." 

"I want you too. I've never wanted someone the way I want you. Even when you are an asshole."

This made him chuckle, squeezing your hand in his again. "Well, you've got me." 

Neither of you said anything for the rest of the drive. When you got back to your apartment, Jake did come inside this time. He didn't stop whispering his affections for you or kissing you, not in the hallway, the kitchen, in the shower, or in bed. He made you feel like the only thing in the world that mattered and worshiped you, like you really were divine. Under Jake's hands and lips, you really felt like an angel. Mouthing into your skin that god had sent you to be his salvation in this world. 

Before you knew it, six months later, you were at Javy and Lala's wedding staring at Jake, who looked too ravishing in the tux he was wearing. He was standing in front of the crowd holding a microphone, his million-watt smile in place.  

"Now, I need to preface this story by saying women should never be the object of a bet. That being said, we wouldn't be here today if I hadn't been prepared to lose $250 dollars, or if I wasn't the world's best wingman," Jake started his speech. It made the crowd laugh. It made you laugh. You sipped the drink in your hand, and god, you knew you loved this man. So maybe bets weren't always so bad. 

#jake seresin x reader #hangman x reader #hangman imagine

[sushiwriterhere]

one: description & objectives

flight path

summary: "It’s then that it occurs to you that he might be doing a sort of calculus that means that even though you might win this battle, you’re going to lose the war."  rating: teen+ (eventually explicit, 18+ mdni) pairing: jake 'hangman' seresin x f!reader word count: ~3.3k warnings: enemies to lovers!, college au!, eventual smut, hangman being hangman, no use of y/n.  notes: dedicated to @waklman this ones for u bestie. i have the rest of the fic planned, just gotta write :) pls pls pls let me know what you think! masterlist here tagging: @roosterbruiser @gretagerwigsmuse @joaquinwhorres @sometimesanalice @seresinsweetie @bobfloyds @theharddeck @sebsxphia @jupitercomet @dempy @gigisimsonmars @sunsetsimpsblog @shanimallina87 @djs8891

“Your project partners are as listed in the PowerPoint, please do not come crying to me about who you’ve been selected to work with, I will not be changing it. Your project ideas are due two weeks from today.” You can feel the dread filling your body as you scan the list of names on the slide in front of you.

The further along you get, the sicker you feel. Each person you know who could at least be somewhat trusted to pull their weight, is partnered. Anyone who’s even slightly normal, is also partnered. And not with you. 

The room fills with chatter as people stand to leave class and seek out their project partners, but all you can do is sit and stare at the name next to yours. Lifting your head to scan the lecture hall, you watch in abject horror as Jake Seresin, toothpick ever present between his perfect teeth, lifts a hand ever so slightly and wiggles his fingers at you.

You turn to the TA who always sits next to you, and put on your most flattering smile in hopes of a miracle, “Grace, I know Professor Simmons just said we couldn’t, but is there any chance—”

She laughs lightly, cutting you off, “Sorry kid, nothing we can do. Strict orders. But it shouldn’t be so bad, Jake’s second in the class y’know. I’m sure you two will come out on top.” 

Gritting your teeth together, you barely manage to keep yourself from explaining to her that that’s precisely the problem. 

You and Jake had met in freshman year intro to mechanical engineering—ENGR-M 101 to be exact. It was a larger lecture hall, but you’d ended up sitting next to the boy and his group of frat brothers. They were joking around, calling each other ridiculous nicknames, and you hoped you’d be able to avoid them throughout the rest of your time. 

You were an unassuming kid when you started college, far away from friends and family, and really only focused on becoming the top of your class so you could get into the best PhD programs possible. If MIT and Stanford weren’t an option for undergrad, they’d certainly take you with a perfect GPA and stellar recommendations. Becoming the best aerospace engineer, the best engineer overall, in your class wasn’t just a goal, it was your destiny. You realized that focusing so hard on academics really meant that, well, social life would be lacking. But besides, the STEM dudes were usually an odd bunch—you briefly considered joining some sort of campus club before the options overwhelmed you and you decided to try and volunteer in a research lab. It could be turned into a paid position. And, grad students could be your friends.

But in that moment, you met your nemesis. Really, it felt childish to say it like that, but Jake Seresin seemed to derive a special sense of pleasure from tormenting you. 

He’d introduced himself on that bright August morning with a winning smile, an extended hand, and a gentle Texan twang, “Jake Seresin. Nice to meet ‘ya.”

You shook his hand firmly, remembering the importance of men taking you seriously, and responded with your name. 

His response made clear exactly what his personality was, “Think you’ll survive the weed out? I’ve heard this professor’s a real hard ass, and I’m planning to be top of our class.”

“He’s perfectly reasonable in the lab; and I’m sure he will be here too.” You had sniffed, not exactly trying to sound haughty but not trying to be subtle about the fact that you’d already gotten a head start on the resume work already.

The smile that spread across his lips was poisonous, as if he’d figured you out just in that instance, “I see my competition has my work cut out for me.”

And with that, he turned back to his friends, ignoring the way your face seemed to warm a thousand degrees. You weren’t his competition, you were sure you were leagues ahead of him. The stereotypes about hot-headed, ignorant, frat boys traveled, and you weren’t a fool.

That light tension in your initial interaction had, frankly, spiraled into something drastically out of proportion and lightly legendary. Every class you had with him, you fought for who was going to set the curve, whose in-class answers were better. And at some point, the details of the first interaction faded and were replaced simply by how he had made you feel: like a bug under a microscope, but also like he was pulling your pigtails and taunting you.

So that was the beginning of a long saga in which you now find yourself facing the cruel reality of an entire semester where your grade depends on the very person whose entire life mission seems to be to take you down a peg. Which, frankly, you consider to be ironic because if there is anyone with an ego the size of the planet, that is Jake.

You keep your eyes trained to the front of the room as you shut your laptop and slowly begin packing up. You can’t really afford to avoid him, because this professor’s whole schtick is ensuring that all engineering students aren't terrified of social interaction. Hence, a semester-long project of ‘intimate’ work with a peer. 

It would be fine, except Jake isn’t moving either. He continues to sit and chat with his friends (somehow also engineering majors and frat bros?) while occasionally glancing up at you to see if you’ve moved. His smirk never wavers.

You steel your nerves, and decide that this won’t be the time he gets to you. You have to work with him? Fine. But you’ll take the lead, make sure it’s on your terms. No military themed projects, that’s for sure.

“Well look who it is, part two of the dream team.” Jake’s voice carries through the emptying lecture hall and you distantly hear some snickers, but his face remains almost impassive. 

You can read the mocking undertone, you aren’t stupid. So you stand slightly awkwardly off to the side as his friends disperse slowly around the two of you. The only friend of his that you know by name, much less respect, Bradley Bradshaw, sends him a warning look and says hi softly as he passes you. Despite the fact that Jake’s standing in a lower row, he’s still slightly taller than you when he stands to his full height, backpack over one shoulder.

“Jake.” You grit out, trying to mask your displeasure. You’re sure it isn’t working. 

“Sweets, it is a joy to see you.” His easygoing smile does nothing to make you feel at ease, in fact, you think it might be giving you high blood pressure.

“I will choose to ignore the fact that you seem to not know my name, and ask that we meet as soon as possible to start on this.” You cross your arms and turn around to start up the stairs, and you hear him hit himself on a desk in his rush to catch up to you. Serves him right.

He seems only slightly deterred by the fact that he just did the adult equivalent of smacking your shin with a scooter, and he keeps his stride even with yours. It’s your luck that you two actually have your next class together as well, something about senior requirements. 

“You’re being unusually nice to me. Scared that your grade’s on the line?” He teases, only slightly distracted by his phone which he’s typing furiously into. 

You round on him, and he grinds to a halt while you brandish your metal water bottle at him, “I take my grades very seriously, Jake Seresin, and I will not have you goofing around and sabotaging us just because you find glee in my suffering.”

Very cautiously, like he’s actually afraid you might hit him, he grabs the bottom of your water bottle and lowers it so it isn’t at his eye level. Then, he has the audacity to salute you. Not a corny one, but one that looks like he’s spent hours practicing it in the mirror when he’s doing his military nonsense. At the very least, he doesn’t snap his feet together, so he manages to save himself from looking like the world’s biggest dork. 

“I pinky promise that I will not sabotage our project because I find it funny. I do also care about my grades y'know.” You exhale just slightly, and you turn back around to start walking again. 

“Good to know you at least take something seriously,” You mutter under your breath, recalling all the times he’s breezed into lecture rooms right as the second hand indicates it’s the start of class.

He manages to catch your muttering, despite your best efforts, “I’m basically first in every engineering class we have, you cannot actually be questioning my academic prowess.”

Something curls in your chest, as you snap back, “Basically first?”

His laugh carries as you two finally exit the building and march through the quad. You can feel everyone’s eyes on you. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that despite the size of your university, people know about your rivalry. 

When you get to your next lecture, Jake plops himself down right next to you, trapping you in the aisle unless you take the long way out. You bristle at the proximity and glare at him, trying to mentally will him into leaving you alone. He seems not to get the message as he fully unpacks and manages to irk you even further by using the shared arm rest.

You almost completely lose your mind when you finally decide to change seats despite the one next to Jake being your unofficial-official seat, and your professor chooses that exact moment to start class. 

Ignoring Jake through the lecture isn’t actually the hardest thing in the world. He wasn’t lying when he said that he took classes seriously–you notice that he takes diligent notes, keeps his online shopping and texting to minimum (that’s nothing to say for his frat brothers who seem to be intent on keeping their groupchat on fire), and doesn’t bother you. He keeps his elbow on the arm rest between you two, though. 

When there’s only a few minutes left and the professor notices that he’s losing everyone, you feel a poke. You ignore it and grit your teeth as you attempt to maintain your composure. Jake pokes you again. 

It takes all of your mental strength not to straight up just yell at him in the middle of a lecture hall, and you turn your head slowly to make eye contact with him. He’s wearing a shit-eating grin and it makes you even more annoyed. 

“Can I help you?” You whisper quietly, “I’m trying to focus here.”

Jake just keeps smiling and responds, “Library after this? We can have lunch.”

Then he has the audacity to wiggle his eyebrows in a way that makes you raise yours at him. He seriously bothered you for this? The same man who insisted he would take the project seriously is trying to distract you from paying attention in one of your most difficult lectures. 

In an instant, you remember that pissing him off completely probably isn’t the brightest idea, and even though you can already tell you’re going to spend most of this semester completely and constantly ticked off with him, you know you’re capable and you don’t want to have him drag you down completely. So, instead, you nod somberly at him, and turn back to the front. 

He seems surprised by your reaction but doesn’t push it, thankfully. 

Once the professor dismisses everyone, Jake once again takes his time putting everything on his desk away and finally standing to leave. You think you could’ve done a hundred physics problems before you two are leaving the lecture hall. Nearly everyone else has already left, and you just find that to be another reason to be irritated with him. This semester is going to be a million years long.

-

“Oh please, Jake, spare me the hyper nationalist histrionics.” You think this might be the fourth time you’ve rolled your eyes in the last two minutes as you and Jake argue about your project topic.

The two of you have claimed a table in the far corner of the second floor and spread textbooks, notebooks, and various supplies over it. Thankfully, there aren’t that many witnesses to the absolute hurricane of materials and the arguing that’s been varying in pitch for the countless minutes since you got here. You’re considering strangling him.

(Yes, you had argued about where to sit. You insisted on a study room on the fourth floor where it was quiet and you usually studied. Jake had won out only because of the fact that the fourth floor was a silent floor and “we’re probably going to yell at each other and I really don’t feel like getting on the librarians’ bad sides this early into the semester.” Five minutes after he said that, you’d raised your voice loud enough to make several people turn their heads– “Urban sustainability shows our versatility as engineers, asshole!”)

You only have two weeks to decide, and even that’s a stretch. These deadlines are fake in your mind–topic should be decided within three days to ensure maximum time for research, analysis, and polishing of the final product. You’d perfected your timeline second semester of freshman year and you were not about to deviate because Jake couldn’t understand that not everyone had their head so far up the Navy’s ass all they could see was its intestines.

So far, the only ‘work’ you and Jake have managed to get done is to argue about the ethics of the military industrial complex as well as, in his words, why you are not in fact a hippie just because you don’t approve of a bloated military budget. (“How much does one pilot’s helmet cost?”) Lunch is abandoned in front of you, a few containers of the sort-of-decent cafeteria food from the basement. 

Jake seems determined to ensure the two of you spend the next sixteen weeks turning yourselves into cadets, or whatever the hell they’re called, and you could not care less. In fact, you absolutely cannot care less because you are not going to do research on the military and a deep dive into urban sustainability projects is the only option. Navy or Army or whoever be damned. You’ve already told him as much at least three times.

“You just said the word histrionics. Who even says that.”

At the very least, you can take comfort in the fact that he looks just as annoyed as you probably do. His usually unshakeable, smiley demeanor is gone, replaced by a look on his face that says he’s probably regretting being so cheerful about calling the two of you a “dream team”. He leans back in his chair so he’s only on the back two legs and you bite your tongue at the urge to chastise him for the extremely juvenile behavior. Someone’s mother clearly never terrified them at age five about putting their head through the windows behind the kitchen table. 

“I say that, Jake, because I’m an adult with an adult vocabulary. And as an adult, as the adult, I’m deciding that we’re not doing some stupid shit about the Navy.” He narrows his eyes at you and you can see the gears turning. 

“Okay, well, I’m also an adult and I don’t say histrionics.” It’s a weak comeback and you both know it, but he seems more preoccupied by whatever plan he seems to be thinking through. 

It’s then that it occurs to you that he might be doing a sort of calculus that means that even though you might win this battle, you’re going to lose the war. You open your mouth to start arguing again, but this time about the project topic, when he holds up a palm to stop you. Now you’re not just considering throttling him, but wondering how aggravated assault can be explained away on graduate school applications.

“Okay, how about we compromise. We can do our project on fuel efficiency of a few types of Navy aircraft. That way I get to do the military and we can talk about the environment. It’s not exactly urban planning but,” He waves his hand around, gesturing wildly, “It’s some sort of planning.” 

For a moment, you think he actually might be trying to compromise. But instead, you narrow your eyes. Jake Seresin isn’t nice, least of all to you. And he certainly doesn’t believe in compromises. 

You stand firm, “I am not doing any project that involves the Navy. Or the Army.”

“National Guard?”

You almost leap across the table at the laughter that shakes his entire body. Instead, you sit and you seethe, considering how much clout you have in the department to get someone to convince your professor to let you switch partners. Or help you get away with murder.

Once he stops laughing, he settles easily back into his chair and then folds his hands together so he can rest his chin on them, a serious expression coming over his face, “How about a deal, sweets?”

Sirens immediately start going off in your head. Bad, bad, bad. You are not making a deal with the devil. But, some part of you is curious, what will he ask from you to let you take the lead on this?

“Go on.” You narrow your eyes at him, and gesture for him to continue.

“You have to come to at least five parties this semester at my invite, and stay for at least three hours, I’ll know if you don’t, and we will do the project the way you want it. I ask for three thousand words to talk about the military, give or take.” The twinkle in his eyes is mischievous in the worst way and it sets you on edge. 

“What’s the catch?” 

“What do you mean what’s the catch? An offer’s an offer, sweets.” He holds a hand out for you to shake but you shake your head at him.

“I wanna negotiate.” Jake raises an eyebrow at you (does he do his eyebrows?), but gestures for you to continue anyways, “I will come to exactly four of your stupid parties, and stay for two hours, no more. We do the project my way and you get two thousand words.”

You can tell he wants to say yes when he sits up in his chair, but then you realize that he’s getting too good of a deal so you cut him off, “Actually, no military or flight deviations. I hate parties.” You wrinkle your nose in displeasure.

“Zero is a hell of a lot smaller than three thousand, sweets.” A crooked grin spreads over Jake’s face and you make a mocking face at him. “And I know, but it’ll be good for you. Socializing with normal humans is good for the soul.”

“Okay well, our page limit is thirty, and that’s 7,500 words double spaced. Not including diagrams and footnotes, so I don’t want you eating up all my research space with military crap,” Jake scoffs when you say “my” but holds out his hand anyway.

“Fine. Four parties, two hours, project your way, one thousand words?” He wiggles the fingers of his outstretched hand like he had earlier in the day and you stare at it for a moment before deciding, what the hell. 

Shaking Jake’s hand makes you realize that’s the first time you’ve ever touched him.

#jake seresin x you #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake seresin fic #jake seresin #jake seresin x reader #top gun: maverick fanfic #top gun: maverick fanfiction #top gun: maverick fic #top gun: maverick #jake 'hangman' seresin #hangman x you #hangman x reader #no use of y/n #flight path universe

[lunar-years]

Okay because it was briefly mentioned in this post speculating on Roy's parents I really want to hear people's thoughts on Keeley's parents/childhood and why she had no prior family obligations on (Sexy) Christmas!

Similarly to Roy we only get very brief mentions of their existence in canon (and they're notably just about her mum, never her dad):

"I did used to worry I was gonna end up like my mum. She spent years tirelessly working at the same company just for a man to take all the credit. She wasn't brave enough to dream big. So I decided to do things very differently" - Keeley "We didn't open [the champagne] when your mum moved back up North" - Roy

The headcanons I've got are:

Keeley's parents are divorced and she isn't particularly close with either of them. Her mum irritates her literally every time they see one another. Her dad has a new wife and (step)kids he treats as his "real family," and Keeley is always the afterthought; she rarely sees him.

Her mum is extremely conventional and thinks Keeley needs to fit into that same box. She was appalled by Keeley's choice to do nude modeling, refused to talk to her because of it (which Keeley was thrilled by, and once her mum realized that she got even more upset and immediately started calling Keeley up again) and has never treated Keeley's modeling career as a real career.

Keeley moved out of her childhood home asap, like age 17/18 after taking her first modeling gigs. She rented a cheap flat with a bunch of other girls.

Keeley has made some of her choices in part just to spite her, whether its subconscious or not. For instance, if her mum was complaining about her first topless photoshoot, where her nipples were strategically covered by liquor bottles, Keeley made sure the next shoot she signed on for was tits out, no coverage. When her mum complained about that she did full nudes, etc.

When Keeley started working for AFC Richmond it was a backhanded "finally you have a REAL job, thank goodness" instead of "congratulations, I'm so proud of you." everything with her mother is like this

It is even worse with relationships. Her mum thinks Keeley needs to settle down, get married and have kids in that order - none of which are things Keeley has ever intended to do with her life.

her mum was thrilled when Keeley introduced her to Roy because "finally my daughter is in a serious relationship and they will give me grandkids soon" she completely dotes over Roy because of this while asking increasingly intrusive, prodding questions about the status of their relationship. Roy of course sees right through this but is trying his best to stay polite because this is Keeley's mother. The whole thing slowly infuriates Keeley until she's had enough and abruptly informs them they're leaving. this is how roykeeley have the "I never want kids" conversation very early on in their relationship

with holidays like Christmas, at first Keeley would use the other parent as the ~reason~ she couldn't be at theirs for the holiday. Like, she'd tell her mum "sorry, i told dad I'd go to his" and she'd tell her dad the opposite. of course this only works a few times before it's "why do you spend every holiday with the other parent instead of me," and which point Keeley remembered that wait, actually she doesn't give a fuck! and straight up told her mother she isn't coming because she doesn't want to and already has plans with her boyfriend/girlfriend (whoever it was at the time) 🤷‍♀️ slay queen

Keeley is out and proud and always has been, but her mum treats her being bi as another lie she's telling for attention, even though Keeley has literally brought girlfriends home to introduce to her mother before. No matter what she does, her mum maintains that Keeley is only doing it to piss her off and basically doesn't believe her or acknowledge her sexuality, which is understandably very upsetting to Keeley

Bonus ot3: Not to make everything about ot3 but I have a very distinct scene in my head where Keeley introduces Jamie and Roy as her boyfriends and her mum is forcibly polite to Jamie (whom she is meeting for the first time) but then pulls Keeley aside to be like "enough with your stunts, Keeley, how could you put Roy through this nonsense, after he took you back and all, this is how you repay him, by dating someone else?" (because 1. she's adamantly ignoring the part where Keeley told her all three of them were dating, royxjamie included and 2. she acts like Keeley obviously did something to "cause" Roy breaking up with her). Keeley for once is totally speechless and all the retorts she wants to and would usually say die in her throat and she just wants to cry because she's tired of this. Roy and Jamie overhear the conversation and Roy steps in like "okay, that's enough, we're leaving." Keeley has a breakdown in the car before they've even gotten out of the driveway and after that she basically cuts off contact for a long while with her mother, with Roy & Jamie's full support.

#Keeley Jones #ted lasso #ted lasso headcanons #can you tell i've thought about this at great length? lol #anyway PLEASE drop your thoughts into the tags/reblogs I NEED MORE KEELEY BACKSTORY #it's criminal that we know so little #luckily in the ot3 canon in my head georgie and simon literally adore roy and keeley and they get to spend christmas with them forever afte #it is very lovely and healing for all involved

[littlebitsmile]

in flames [C.L.] | Chapter V

This is it, finally. With this chapter, we kick off the 2024 season and Emma takes part in her first official F1 race in Bahrain. I'm really excited about going forward with this, hopefully you are too.

Enjoy this chapter, breathe it in, feel it in your heart xx

story: in flames driver: Charles Leclerc [C.L.] trope: #haterstolovers summary: Always working three times as hard as everyone else, Emma does not intend to blow her chance of driving among the best of the best in her very first season in Formula 1. Concentrating on first and foremost getting ahead of her brother, she does not even notice that there are some people even in her own team who think she does not deserve this spot and would rather see her fail. And one driver in particular seems to have a need of always reminding her of that.

────ʚ C H A P T E R V ɞ────

"How exactly does this work here?" I ask, while two screens of light shine directly into my face and three or four cameras are pointed at me. A makeup artist is just powdering the last of the anxious sweat on my forehead dry, and a young man is sitting opposite me with a script in his hand. Probably the same one that was sent to me two weeks ago.

"You introduce yourself with your name, which team you drive for, and then I'll ask you a few questions. Easy cheesy lemon squeezy," he replies without looking up from his script.

I can't deny that I'm afraid of messing something up. I still regularly attend the social media training sessions run by Aston Martin's PR department, but Netflix's Drive to Survive team is probably in a whole different league. At least most of the drivers have already warned me about it.

Someone shouts "30 seconds," and suddenly the room empties. The lights are still blinding, and apart from the camera lenses and three-quarters of the interviewer's face, I can't really see much. Just a dark room, almost as if I were the suspect in a murder case and was being questioned - creepy.

I'm handed a film flap with my name, my team, and "Take 1" written on it. I hold it up in front of me and wait for the interviewer's hand signal.

"Hi!" I wave at the camera. "My name is Emma Verstappen, I'm turning 21 this year, and I'm driving for Aston Martin as a rookie in my first Formula 1 season."

"Cut!" A little bit of shuffling around echoes through the room. "That's great, Emma. You're doing good!"

"Thanks, I'm trying my best. Do you need that again or...?" My voice goes up half an octave towards the end of the sentence, unintentionally.

"Ah, no, thanks! But you can answer a question for me directly! How does it feel to sit in this chair?"

"Honestly, like I've been accused." I laugh nervously into the camera. A montage of the last six seasons of the show plays in my mind's eye - almost as if my brain is warning me not to say the wrong thing or get emotional.

"Don't worry, the jury found not guilty. For now, at least." A brief pause as he flicks through his question pad and finally stops at a page. "Emma, when you think about the coming year, what do you feel?"

"You're not the first to ask me that, what do you think my answer will be?" I raise my eyebrows. After his interview, Max gave me the advice to be as detached as possible. Don't stir up drama. Don't take shots at other drivers. Then I take two breaths and continue: "This is a huge year, not only for me, but also for my team. Aston Martin has made a huge bet by putting me in one of their cockpits. But I have no intention of making them regret it."

"Completely understandable! Do you feel comfortable in your team? It was actually very surprising that you didn't end up with your brother's team, Oracle Red Bull Racing! Would you like to tell us briefly how that came about?"

"Well, you probably all know Max, and you don't know me, but let me tell you, even though I love him and he's my brother... we would need some more time to get acquainted with the feeling of being stuck in a team together. Our mom could tell you that as well - everywhere Max and I are involved, there is trouble to follow." I answer honestly. What I don't say is that Max didn't speak to me for a week and a half after I turned down Red Bull's offer to be a test driver for this season. That I had to explain to him almost every hour why the match with Fernando Alonso works better for me at the moment and that later, after I've proven myself, we can drive together until we're old and gray.

"Emma? Are you still there?" The interviewer waves his hand vigorously in front of my face. I apologize and ask him to repeat the question.

"As you know, some contracts are coming to an end this year, and that's why there are a few places with big teams that have been in high demand for years. With Lewis moving from Mercedes to Ferrari and some contracts expiring, for example, Sergio Perez at Red Bull - are you speculating on one of them?"

I have to think for a moment, do some soul-searching. Do I even want to join a big team? Is "Formula 1 World Champion" at the top of my list of dreams? Then I answer: "As a driver, every week you're fighting for your seat, especially this season. It's no longer about where I stand in the world rankings, but rather about the potential I bring with me. I am convinced that I will find my way - regardless of my brother, Red Bull, or anyone else. Where this path will ultimately take me... I don't think anyone really knows."

-

"Two more laps, Emma," Sarah orders over the team radio. She still doesn't speak much, but at least the radio communication works well. Will I ever have as much fun with her as I did with Enzo? Probably not.

"Copy."

I say copy, but what I really mean is I hate you. Forty-five laps under the desert sun of Bahrain, drops of sweat evaporating in my racesuit and making the fabric stick to my skin. I've been trying to suppress my thirst for half an eternity. At least the heat is now my only problem. During the first few test laps, I had to mentally remind myself several times that throwing up in a new car doesn't make a good impression - especially not on the official first day of work. That moment when you're standing at the end of the pit lane waiting to get the final go. In the first corners while hitting the brakes for the first time, my head got put back against the headrest, body compressed. It felt like my heart was going to give up at any moment.

Pre-season testing is the first chance to see if what my team spent the whole year designing is actually going to work. So far, the car feels great - a few comments here and there about oversteer, the right braking behavior, and the optimal line, but at least I'm not a total failure. At least, I hope I'm not.

Fernando has already completed laps in the three-digit range yesterday and this morning combined. I happen to be put in the same test window as Max. I didn't think long about whether this was perhaps intentional, so that we could compare ourselves better, but after the first few laps, the thought crept into my head and wouldn't let go.

As I return to the pit lane faster than expected and the engineering team pushes the car and me back into the garage, I realize that I'm still holding my breath. I take off the steering wheel, release the headrest, and squeeze out of the tight seat. A few mechanics murmur "Good job!" or pat me on the back, but no one says a word. I exhale. Then I look at the car again. Standing right in front of it while the green of the bodywork hits me - an indescribable feeling.

"You know I'm your biggest critic, but that was a good performance today. We can work with that," says Sarah as she comes to a halt next to me and compares graphs on her clipboard. She looks at me from the side, then glances at the car and back at me. "This is your car, you better believe it."

I laugh and nod. "Thank you, Sarah. I don't think that was such a bad practice. There's still plenty to do." As I start to speak, I take off my helmet, finally remove the hearing protection from my other ear, and walk towards my cabin in the back of the garage. Sarah is hot on my heels. "I feel like I have to turn the steering wheel a bit more on the right-hand bends... but maybe it's just because the right-hand bends are a bit faster than I originally thought. I don't feel the headwind as much as I did in the wind tunnel, you can really feel the aerodynamic adjustments on the sides straight away. Do you think I can do one or two laps, just running around the track tomorrow before the start of training? I feel like I don't have every corner completely under control yet and..."

"Emma," Sarah tries to interrupt me, but I keep talking. Unlike me, she is at a loss for words and never let me finish my thoughts during our first few weeks. But this is about our car, about the points, about moving forward and not standing still. I carry on talking impartially.

"...maybe I can have a quick word with Fernando tomorrow? I'd like the front end to be a little sharper, at the moment we still have a lot of leeway - only if it's okay with him."

"Emma."

"Hm?" Now I'm paying attention.

"You're in fifth place at the moment."

"Wow, I didn't think so. That's good news, isn't it?"

"Max is in P6," she says slowly, smiles and then leaves me standing alone in the corridor. My water bottle almost falls out of my hand. I turn around quickly and call after her.

"Hey! You can't just say something like that and then disappear," but she's already around the corner and isn't paying any more attention to me. Has she just smiled for the first time since I met her? And that makes me almost more nervous than the fact that I have beaten my brother for the first time.

-

I'm not that lucky over the next few days of pre-season testing. But the high from my first day of practice on the track carries me through the week like clouds, before we even get to the first three free practices. I stay in the top 10 during the practice sessions that are part of the race weekend, but I seem to have completely lost my groove in qualifying. Starting from 12th on the grid, neither I nor my team are particularly enthusiastic about my performance, and this contributes to the fact that I don't get much sleep the night before the actual race.

I also have to attend several photo shoots in between - not just from my own team but also the official ones. For the first time, I get placed in an all-male field of riders, which is why I am allowed to stand in the middle of the so-called "class of 2024"-picture this year. That is more than awkward for me, but in that respect I will probably have to get used to not being allowed to have a say. On this occasion, I also try to spend more time with my brother, firstly to get some first hand insider advice and secondly to get to know the people he gets on well with.

Carlos Sainz, who tried to persuade me at all costs to go and celebrate with the group before my first race - as a season opener – immediately melts my heart. When I thankfully declined, he laughed and told me not to worry so much - after all, the Verstappen gene is in me too. I didn't mention that I wasn't so sure about that. At the same time, I wish him all the luck in the world - after all, he is currently without a seat for 2025. Secretly, I hope that he achieves better results than Charles, but of course I'm not allowed to say that out loud.

I also have time for a game of paddle tennis with Max, Fernando, Lando Norris, and Daniel Ricciardo - none of them seem to care that I've never held a tennis racket in my life, let alone a paddle tennis racket. On the contrary, each of them patiently explains their way of playing to me, until at some point I'm sure that each of them has at least slipped me some false information so that I don't turn out to be a sudden natural talent.

Unfortunately, all these distractions have not helped to reduce the pressure. The pressure from my father, who follows every Instagram post with excitement and then asks me whether I can really afford to play paddle tennis with Max and whether he missed the fact that I already have a World Drivers' Champions title in my pocket, which would explain why I would think that some free time is something I am allowed to have. The pressure from my team, whose hopes are mainly pinned on Fernando, but a driver duo consists of two people and not everyone is convinced that this is the right place for me. So I continue to sleep uneasily.

-

Before the race starts, I march up and down in the garage with a pulse of just under 130. Outside, I see fans running past, taking their seats, while the structure of the course burns in a continuous loop in my mind. It feels like I remind myself every five minutes that I shouldn't pick at my fingernails and instead find my focus. Max wished me good luck as I left the hotel, and he meant it, but that's easy to say when you start from pole position and have literally nothing to loose.

I overhear Sarah being interviewed somewhere, but unfortunately, I can't quite make out who it is from the voice. The walls here are so thin that I can hear every little movement of the technicians on the car, so I'm not surprised that I overhear conversations that aren't really meant for my ears. Only the interviewer's question burns itself into my head: Do you think you put too much faith in someone who is still so young?

I immediately shake my head, grab my helmet and water bottle, and make my way to my car. There I high-five one or two mechanics and then squeeze into the seat of my car. The cable for the radio connection on my left shoulder is connected to the car, someone plugs in my steering wheel, and the crew slowly removes the heaters from the tires. I wrap my fingers around the steering wheel, squeeze harder, and then let go again. Sitting here feels right, just like the pedals under the soles of my feet and the muffled sounds that can’t quite reach my ears. I try to find my focus and go over the route again in my head. Too much faith in someone who is still so young. The colleague in front of my car gives me the signal to rev the engine and drive out of the garage. Then I'm pushed to the starting grid.

The next few minutes fly by. The impressions of the last few days, the ups and downs, the conversations with other drivers, but also the phone calls with my father and his criticism - everything is buzzing around in my head without having an outlet for it. My body is tense at every turn and I'm literally clutching the piece of metal between my hands. I keep counting to ten in my head and tell myself that everything will be fine, no matter where I end up today - at least that's what I try to tell myself.

The signal is given for the last call to leave the start area. I get some last looks before my team makes its way towards the pit lane.

"Let's go, Emma," says Sarah through the microphone. I nod, even though I'm aware that she can't see me. My brain empties completely during the warm-up lap. Quicker than I'd like, I'm back in my starting position and looking towards the traffic lights. I feel nothing, think nothing. This is the first race of the season and nothing has been won or lost yet. All the cards have been reshuffled and we can only really say how the cars will actually perform afterward. The first lights turn red. Red. Red. Red. Red. And then the lights go out, and my foot presses down on the gas pedal. This is the official start of the 2024 season.

────ʚ [Masterlist] [Chapter IV] [Chapter VI (in progress)] ɞ────

Tags: @cmleitora @alliwantisadonut

#f1 #f1 fanfic #formula 1 #charles leclerc #slow burn #f1 imagine #haters to lovers

[genericpuff]

To be fair, a country can have more than one head of state. Political systems aren't as consistent as we might think them to be and even absolute monarchies like Spain have a prime minister. Then you have things like elective monarchies and hereditary republics. From what I remember, the idea of an election isn't even really treated as that big of a deal... but that right there is the problem. The first and I think only time it actually gets brought up is when it's introduced for a single panel, and even then, it's only in relation to Persephone's trauma. No one really comments on it afterwards. Even in Apollo's own episode, he very briefly comments how he could do a lot as king—not president, but king! Ergo, overthrowing Zeus. So either the whole president thing was a dropped plot point or Rachel couldn't think of any other reason for Apollo to be on a giant poster.

Regarding Eros' comment, Apollo is the god of medicine and the literal god of doctors is his son. Even if Asclepius himself doesn't have a bad record, he'd have reason to be wary. It's why I don't blame Hebe for automatically believing Apollo that nothing can be done about the poison after he simply touches Zeus, given what one of his domains is.

And speaking of Hebe, again, to be fair, a lot of people don't notice their surroundings when they're grieving and her back was clearly turned anyway, so I don't think this should necessarily be a strike against her. I honestly didn't find anything off about Apollo gaslighting her either (I mean, besides the obvious; gaslighting is horrendous) and he'd also just threatened her, so I don't blame her for running away either. Plus, the episode just ends with her noticing the snow soon after, so it's not like we get her thoughts on this one way or another. I don't have fastpass, though, so does it show her actually believing she'd somehow poisoned Zeus in a future chapter, or...?

Hebe poisoning Zeus also wouldn't necessarily be outside the realm of possibility either if Apollo were to argue she did it for Hera's sake or something and then she just snapped. That said, it is still ridiculous she's the first deity he would frame, rather than someone alot more believable, like Ares. Didn't Zeus sleep with Aphrodite that one time? And we know how protective he is of Hera. Or hell, if he wanted to topple the current monarchy entirely, he could've just framed Hera herself! Maybe even Hades!

And if this were any other comic, I'd say Apollo returning to the scene of the crime and then calling the media is just him being a narcissist, because some narcissists can be really, really dumb. But the chances of it being framed that way are practically at the bottom of the Aegean Sea. Even a single panel of someone asking why Apollo called a journalist first is doubtful.

But yeah, not trying to slam you or anything and sorry if it comes off that way. I really like your analyses and I love Rekindled, I'm just trying to offer a few explanations here. I do agree with you overall, though! Rachel has alot of great ideas, but the executions of said ideas are just terrible.

Okay so, while I really appreciate the amount of effort you put into defending these points and I can totally get the points you're trying to make in many of them (and yes this is the part where I respond with my own points, as we do) I think the fact that you presented all of these "well to be fair" talking points is just highlighting and further proving LO's biggest problems in its writing, one that I've talked about before on here but I think bears repeating.

And that's the fact that we (the readers) have to make massive assumptions just to make the plot make sense.

Yes, to be fair, there are government systems that run with a dual-system of monarchy + diplomatic government, but there was never any implication of this being a thing in LO until all of a sudden Rachel dropped the "Apollo for President!" plotline in S3.

Yes, to be fair, Apollo is the god of medicine, but we've never seen him actually fulfill a single duty regarding that, Asclepius is far more qualified as an actual doctor than Apollo (*from what we've been shown), who we've only ever seen apply a bandaid to Persephone's hand five years ago.

Yes, to be fair, people in shock may not take in their surroundings fully, but it seems really silly to have Hebe positioned in front of a window that has a FULL VIEW of what's going on outside and still have her just freeze in time when she's offscreen so she doesn't see or hear anything that's going on just several feet away through a sheet of glass. Just get rid of the window and find another way to force Eros and Psyche into confrontation with Apollo.

Yes, to be fair, Hebe could have a motive, if she were written as someone with some vendetta against Zeus. But she wasn't. That version of Hebe does not exist and, as you said yourself, there are way more gods who would have reasonable motive to poison him. We've only ever seen her dote on him and love him unconditionally as her father, and we've even seen scenes of them in S1 where they have a functional father-daughter relationship (if anything I'd be more inclined to believe she'd have a vendetta against Hera for being an alcoholic mom during her childhood but I digress).

Through all of these "to be fair's" when do we actually stop and ask ourselves why we have to constantly have the benefit of the doubt and jump through all these logical hoops to make sense of the plot to begin with? Again, all this just lends to how poorly structured and written the comic is, and all of these 'to be fair''s you've presented cannot reasonably apply to LO because LO never wrote those things. They never showed Apollo being an actual god of medicine, they never showed Hebe having ill will towards her father, and they never showed Olympus running with a monarchy + presidential government system. So to fill in those blanks ourselves is to do the legwork for Rachel who's only managed to write half a plot. It's why it's so jarring for random plot points like this to happen because it's just like "wtf do you mean Apollo is running for president? He can just do that??" That's not something that should be established five years in, it makes it really hard to just give benefit of the doubt because if that was something that actually existed in this world, it should have been established ages ago when the foundation for the story was still being built. We're in the endgame now, this is NOT the time to be throwing in new random plot threads pulled out of thin air.

This is what I mean from my essay post earlier that Rachel constantly fails to provide context for things she's trying to say, while overexplaining things that are already being shown onscreen. It's completely imbalanced between what we have to know and what could have stayed on the cutting room floor, and it makes for a messy story where people have to make gracious assumptions and do all the thinking for a plot that was never fleshed out to begin with. Why should we as readers have to do all the thinking for Rachel's lack of storytelling ability, when she clearly couldn't be bothered to put any thought into the narrative or the worldbuilding or the characterizations to begin with? It's lazy low-effort writing.

#lore olympus critical #lo critical #anti lore olympus #ask me anything #anon ama #ama #anon ask me anything

[tonyboneysblog]

A Fleeting Memory

synopsis: you and keigo meet at a party and play hide and seek, plus almost kiss

note: hawks thoughts are put in italic!

Word count: 1.5k

“Hawks do you have any friends, at all?”

this was an out of the blue question and kinda offensive coming from a worker of the P.S.C.

“Why do you ask..?”

the worker sighed softly, “Well you see, my daughter is throwing this house party but apparently she ‘doesn’t have enough people’. So I was wondering if you wanted to spread your wings a little?”

keigo faltered for a minute, thinking it over.

“oh…I’d like that a lot.”

replied Keigo Takami, the boy with no friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

why was Keigo doing this?

he was never really interested in the party life so what’s the point of going to some random girls party just cause?

because he was terribly lonely that’s why.

“Alright hawks were here!”

the worker named “Akari” said

“Let’s hope you have fun yeah? I have to go back to the work place so don’t do anything stupid while I’m not here!”

shutting the car door then walking up to the door, his nerves on fire, then knocking.

before he could even get to the next knock, a good looking girl threw open the door.

“Aha! Takada your here!” the girl yelled.

the only thing going through hawks mind right about now is “who the hell is takada??”

the girl grabbed his hand a dragged him into a nice a warm living room.

“Everyone, this is Takada! my dads co-worker.”

oh so Takada is a fake name? could’ve been a little more creative.

the group excitedly starts cheering, very nice of them to do to a stranger….

“Okay so, Takada, let me introduce you to everyone.” The girl then starts pointing at everyone one at a time, “The brown haired one is Aoi, that’s Ayaka, this is Hiroto, keiko, akimitsu, and-“

holy mackerel who the hell is that…

“This is y/n, and I’m Habiki!”

careless whispers must be playing right about now because that is the most jaw dropping mouth watering- oh god their coming towards me.

“Hey there, come around her often?”

the girl named y/n joked.

What do I say? holy wow she’s so cute…what if she thinks a look stupid?? Do my wings look goo-

“Earth to Takada?” She laughed.

Takada? Oh wait that’s me.

“A-Ah y-yea I come here all the time!”

okay now what the hell was that keigo.

“How old are you? If you don’t mind me asking of course…” she spoke softly towards the end.

“15.” Keigo barked back immediately.

“That means I’m one year older than you!” She said cheerfully.

“So you’re 16?”

of course she’s 16 she literally just implied that.

“Yep! I’ll be 17 in (birth month), when’s your birthday?”

god I love her voice.

“It’s uh…December…”

“That means you’re a Capricorn! Ever been interested in astrology?” She asked.

“I…uhm..”

Before keigo could respond suddenly the girls name was called.

“Y/n! Come write these names!” The girl named…Aoi? yelled across the room.

“Eh? But why I’m talking to Takada!?”

“Because your hand writing is the prettiest!” The girl yelled angrily.

Everything about her is pretty, of course her hand writing would be too…and what the hell is astrology…?

“darn…I’ll be right back Takada!” She bounced off towards the kitchen to help with something, while hawks sat on the couch, patiently waiting for her to come back.

during this period multiple people came up to hawks speaking to him briefly, not as interesting as y/n though…

Habiki suddenly came out of nowhere shoving a hat filled with paper in hawks face…”Draw!” She barked.

Hawks took out a piece and then slowly unraveled it. It said…hider?

what the hell does that mean.

“Okay everyone has drawn from the hat of the wolves and sheep!” Habiki said.

what the hell does that have to do with hiding..?

“We…shall be playing… HIDE AND SEEK!!” Habiki said full of energy.

what’s the hell is a hide and seek?!

Then softly a hand tapped hawks shoulder… y/n did.

“You know how to play right? Just find a hiding place until someone finds you.” She said quietly as if not to embarrass him about the fact he didn’t know what hide and seek was.

your a damn angel I swear.

“Now our seekers are Aoi and Hiroto shall be seeking, So go and hide quickly!” Habiki said loud.

They suddenly start a timer and everyone separates to hide while hawks is left in shock.

wait how the hell am I supposed to hide with thews big wings?!

Hawks quickly leapt from the couch booking it towards the stairs.

Maybe I could hide under some bed covers? But that’d only work if they were messed up.

Hawks quickly peeked into a room and..the bed sheets were a mess!

“Bingo.”

Hawks dives into the covers like a kitten playing with a cat toys, throwing himself under only to met with..you.

“shit! You scared me Takada…” y/n said quietly.

shit…should I leave? No there’s no more time left to hide what do I d-

“No worries you can hide with me.” She smiled sheepishly.

god i wanna marry you.

“T-thanks…I would’ve been a cooked bird if you pushed me out.” Hawks said in a whisper level.

“We never got to continue talking..”

“y-yea?”

“Mhm…”

Awkward.

Suddenly there was loud running up the stairs, “FOUND YOU HABIKI!”

“…”

“…”

“I suppose habiki got caught…”

“And we’ll get caught if you keep speaking so loud, Takada.”

won’t lie that was kinda hot.

“m’sorry..”

“…”

at this point your staring into hawks soul, what are you thinking? hawks definitely doesn’t know.

“Can you feel anything that touches your wings? Kinda like an extra arm?”

random but okay.

“uhm…I don’t know..”

“Can I touch them?”

HOLY MARCELLO SHE WANTS TO TOUCH ME. not like that hawks. Chillax go with the flo-

“They look so soft..n’pretty..”

is it getting hot under these sheets or is it just me…

“y-yea I’m okay with that…”

“Really?” She lights up.

She slowly moves the caress the top joint of his wings.

“Fuck, that feels nice.”

“They’re so soft..” she stops, “thanks for letting me touch them..”

Wait that was it? Cmon touch a little more…!

“It felt good..kinda like when someone massages your temple?” Hawks says.

“Your name isn’t actually Takada is it?”

okay now what the holy hel, how in the world did she know-

“You’re too pretty to be just a Takada…”

She says softly.

oh thank the lord she’s just trying to flirt with me.

“N-nah that’s my real name! I think…”

He mumbles off into a sentence that can’t be heard.

“What was that?”

“I said that your….” He mumbles off again.

“One more time?”

“Isaidthatyourprettytoo….” He says far too quickly with a red face.

“I-I..well thank you…” she blushes brightly.

Her face is so red. I wanna kiss her. She so pretty, so nervous, so nice, please kiss me, please kiss me, please kiss me.

“please kiss me.”

KEIGO WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU SAY THAT ALOUD??

“O-oh gosh..your quite forward aren’t you??” you whisper yell.

“M’sorry! I-i didn’t mean to say that aloud!”

Hawks rambles trying to save himself.

“H-hey it’s okay! I mean I definitely wouldn’t mind b-but..!” She says quickly, and loud.

Hawks tries to hide his red face in his wing, unable to face the situation at hand.

“M’really sorry..”

“you don’t have to be sorry…” she softly touches the side of his face.

uh oh.

“I-I wouldn’t mind..”

Hawks faces you with a bright red face and slightly teary eyes from the embarrassment.

“would this be your first kiss, Takada?”

AHHHHHHHHHHHH-

“y-yes ma’am…” hawks says softly then turning his face back to his wing.

“Ma’am?” You say confused, “m’only a year older than you..”

you never know I might like older women, I mean I definitely like you.

“Takada?”

“Y-yes?” Hawks says.

“how bad do you want to kiss me out of ten?” You say quietly.

“so bad…” hawks says softly.

you slowly part your lips aiming towards his

fuck she’s so close, she smells so good, her breath smells..minty? oh god she’s gonna kiss me.

Hawks face gets redder and redder, parting his lips until-

“TAKADA I SEE YOUR WING!”

shit, did it bust out of the covers? Damn this guy for real ruined the whole moment.

“looks like you got caught, pretty bird” you says quietly, So, so close to the place hawks wanted you the most.

If hawks died right now- actually he feels like he just did. You so close calling him these names-

“TAKADA GET OUT OF THE BED WE FOUND YOU!” Aoi screamed.

Hawks jumps out of the covers, still hiding you.

“Fine, fine, you caught me…” he said jokingly

“You okay Takada? Your face is really red..” Aoi said with concern.

“Just being under the covers for so long…no need to worry.” Hawks said quickly.

Then after the game the two of you didn’t even speak of the cover situation, the hawks had to leave. Waving off everyone then getting into Akari’s car, his eyes lingering on you while they drives off.

“So, hawks, how did spreading your wings go?” Akira said.

wonderful, I thank you for me meeting my future wife. Next time I see that amazing beautiful angel I’ll give her a million kisses and then call her-

“SHIT!” hawks screamed.

“WHAT, WHAT HAPPENED?” Akira yelled.

Hawks pouted sadly.

“I forgot to ask for her number.”

At least keigo could live with the memory of your beauty.

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p2 when yall😉

#keigo takami #mha #mha x reader #mha fanfiction #mha hawks #mha takami keigo #bnha keigo #keigo x reader #keigo x you #anime #fanfics #takami keigo #my hero academia #houseparty #party #public safety #bnha hawks #hawks x reader #my hero academy fanfiction #fanfic #Spotify

[mamawasatesttube]

Do you have thoughts on how kon would be as a big brother to Chris and Jon? I've read Chris and Jon's comics and I'm writing a thing with them but I want to have their big brother be part of their character/internal problem solving even if he doesn't (as of yet) appear. But I've only read yj and superboy is unfinished/on my tbr so I'm going to the Expert

(If you have any thoughts opinions on Kara's familial relationships you can include those as well)

OOH OOH YES DO I EVER!!!!!

every time i think about kon as a big brother i immediately think of sb94 annual #2, which opens on kon taking a kid flying for his birthday and joking about him being superboy jr., kind of like his little brother. then we move to cadmus, where it turns out the prototypical experiment #1 (whereas kon was #13) has awoken and escaped his containment pod. he fights kon briefly, believing himself to be/wanting to be the "real" superboy, but is injured and collapses in kon's arms afterwards. it turns out he's not stable outside the pod and is dying; despite kon's best efforts to get the cadmus doctors to save him, he only lasts another few minutes. i'm personally never ever getting over kon's face when it happens (right after they both find out their dna donor was paul westfield):

SO!! with that being established backstory: i think kon would be soooo excited to be a big brother. he'd talk a big game and want the kids to think he's cool, and of course, he's a mega dork (he'd try to get them both into wendy, and if they didn't like it, he'd be offended). but imo, he's also gonna be so protective of them right off the bat, in large part because of poor clone #1. he's got a lot of feelings about people he's gotta protect, and little siblings are sooo high on that list.

one thing is that i don't think kon really thinks of clark as his dad. of course, it depends on the point in the timeline where you're really introducing chris and jon (because like kon was dead by the point of last son introducing chris, and fitting jon into new earth is always a fun puzzle), but (to be clear this is to an extent my hc also) by the time he's living with the kents, kon no longer wants superman to be his dad. i do think he does at first ("i wish i had parents" in sb94 #85 paired with how reactive he is about shooting down superman being his dad in sb94 #94), but when he moves in with the kents that dies down pretty fast. but he'd way rather the kids call him their big brother than, like, their uncle. that's so uncool (haha see, 'cuz uncle sounds kind of like uncool--aw, whatever)!!! it makes him sound so OLD!!!! he's not an uncle!!!

so overall i think it's like. he's a fun-loving and protective figure. they probably think he's So cool for a while, then get a little older and go oh wait. that's a dorklord. i do think jon throws one hell of a tantrum the day he finds out he's never gonna get ttk even if he grows into all the other kryptonian powers, though.

(i also hc that chris can get some weird funky powers other than ttk, not ttk itself, bc its like... kon is THE ttk guy, and thats a metagene designed to emulate kryptonian powers, so it feels a little weird to take something that specific and give it to another character who doesn't have any of the narrative reasons to need it. someone who knows more abt editorial please do correct me if i'm wrong, but i'm pretty sure they only gave chris ttk because prior to infinite crisis, the nightwing in new krypton shown to be using ttk was supposed to be kon, and was changed last-minute into chris.)

so like, he'd be a figure they can count on, someone they regard as always in their corner if they yell for him. he'll take the heat if they get in trouble (he spoils them. lois however has a very uncanny ability to tell if kon's taking the blame for something they did). i think as they grow older they might be like ...why's kon our brother but he doesn't live with us? and doesn't call our parents mom and dad? because kon stays with the kents but just hangs out with them all the time, and he calls clark and lois "clark and lois", and understanding that their family isn't nuclear might be a learning curve for them.

as for kara, i'll try and keep it brief bc this is already long i'm so sorry sdkhj but i generally operate in the realm of postcrisis kara, aka linda lang. she's roughly the same age as kon and she's got a Lot of feelings re: new krypton and her own guilt and her duty to her family, as well as whether she as supergirl can really measure up to superman. i love her. i think she would Adore having baby cousins because they mean her family is growing, after all the people she's lost. that said i think it's very possible she's a little awkward with kids because she just doesn't have that much experience with them. but i think she'd teach them to draw, and she'd really earnestly try with both of them. she'd LOVE to teach them about krypton, too.

#answers #noon-shadows #kon #kara #chris #jon #superfam

[digi-lov]

We talked about the Twin Digimon last week. This week, I wanna take a closer look at their (standard) evolution lines.

As you can see, they each have a "regular" and a "dark" evolution line. In Lopmon's case, the "dark" evolution line specifically has a corruption theme. This is, of course, because Lopmon and its entire "dark" line were designed for the movie Hurricane Touchdown, which had its corruption as the main plot point. As a result, Lopmon's lines are very different from each other, while Terriermon only gets simple classic recolors.

Possibly the most corrupted among them is Wendimon.

Wendimon first gets introduced in the movie, and it posesses a chilling presence throughout all of it. However, not just Hurricane Touchdown, but all iterations of Wendimon, across the franchise's media, depict it as somehow corrupted beyond reason, usually not even being able to talk in cohesive sentences.

I wanna take a short moment to talk about its name origin. I'll not delve into too much detail, as I'm sure there are more educated people on this topic, but Wendimon is named after an evil spirit from Anishinaabe cultures, which name you are not supposed to say, as to not draw the spirit to you. I just wanted to share, in case some of you weren't aware.

But, moving on

The "regular" adult levels Gargomon and Turuiemon. Comparing the two, I really like how Gargomon has a long-range armed combat theme and Turuiemon a close-range combat theme. Gargomon, as mentioned before, appeared in Hurricane Touchdown and appeared plenty in Tamers as Jian's partner. Turuiemon, unfortunately, didn't have any big appearances until recent years. It had its debut in December 2001 as a card in Hyper Coloseum, in a Tamers themed booster.

Next up are Lopmon's perfect Level evolutions, Antylamon and Antylamon (Deva). The original Antylamon from Hurricane Touchdown is a Virus type. For Tamers, they decided to have Antylamon as the Deva representing the Hare, and so a Data type variant was created. It had its debut in Hyper Coloseum, in a booster featuring all Deva, a month before first seen in the anime at the end of 2001. The biggest visual difference is the purple scarf of Antylamon (Deva), but it also has a crest, like all Deva, on its chestplate (more on that maybe at some point?). Video games predominantly feature Antylamon (Deva) over Antylamon (Virus).

Now, if you remember, Terriermon and Lopmon were specifically designed for the movie Hurricane Touchdown. With Terriermon first showing up in its child form and Lopmon in its adult form, Wendimon, Gargomon and Antylamon are each twins' first evolution we get to see them actually evolve into during the movie. Because of this, it's interesting to me that these two share a distinct symbol, Antylamon on its arms and Gargomon on its face.

Another evolution we get introduced to in the Hurricane Touchdown movie is Rapidmon (Armor). Most people are probably more familiar with the green Perfect level Rapidmon as we see it in Tamers. Looking at the Digimental of Fate, you can see the classic Armor Digimon - Digimental resemblance. Rapidmon's abdomen comes from the sphere part of the Digimental, the base below that resembles its boots, and the wing on top resembles the ear-wings. Because the Perfect level Rapidmon uses essentially the same design, the jump from Gargomon to Rapidmon seems a lot bigger than the one from Terriermon to Gargomon. On a little side note, the official Bandai artwork of Rapidmon (Perfect) has an open helmet, even though the anime uses a closed helmet like the Rapidmon (Armor). BlackRapidmon, despite being a recolor, has a closed helmet as well.

Lastly, a short look at Cherubimon (Virtue) and Cherubimon (Vice). Both of them, again, debuted in the movie Hurricane Touchdown, which influenced their design. We get to see the corrupted, mad Cherubimon (Vice) first and only briefly see it in its Cherubimon (Virtue) form.

I believe the simple but effective changes between their designs were in part to allow this nice transition at the end of the movie.

The Lopmon line, especially, gets used in a lot of media for the sake of corruption/dark evolution story lines. Most noteworthy, Cherubimon (Vice) is the (first) main villain in the Digimon Frontier Anime season.

#digimon #digimon card game #digimon tcg #デジカ #digica #digisafe #lov rambles #Terriermon #Lopmon #Gargomon #Turuiemon #Rapidmon #Antylamon #SaintGargomon #MegaGargomon #Cherubimon #long post

[drvirgus]

My Girl

??? X G!P Reader X Ryujin

Description: You were always satisfied. A single Woman that occasionally sleeps around Campus since your Heart already belongs to someone without your knowledge. But what happens when Ryujin asks something of you? Will you forget your first Love and start loving Ryujin?

Warnings: Smut, Reader G!P

Chapter 1:

Ji-hyo looked at me. Her eyes visibly narrowed. "So? What about tomorrow? Are you coming?" she asked as she sucked on her straw. I looked at her and sighed, "I don't know. The tutor gave me until the week after. But yeah, I think I'll come tomorrow and submit it," I replied, nodding my head.

The older woman also smiled. Her head turned briefly to a crowd of people who started shouting loudly in the store, probably playing a drinking game. Some were already drunk, while others were happy as they forced someone to drink.

Here at the JYP Bar, near the university, there were many students relieving stress, especially those who were about to submit their term papers, which was the case for most of the people here. My eyes also looked at the familiar ladies. I had several courses with them, but somehow I could only remember their names halfway.

Lia, Yuna, and Ryujin. I couldn't seem to remember the other two. One of them looked really enchanting, though. Those eyes... I could never look away whenever our gazes met.

Ji-hyo looked at me. Her eyes fell on my phone, which lit up. Almost immediately, she grinned, "Rosé is back in town?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows. I chuckled as I gently nudged her. My lips formed a small grin as I picked up my phone and read the message.

Roseanne (21:16): Hey, Y/N. I'm back in town, and I'm all alone at home. I really don't want to be alone right now. How about we meet at your place? I really want to see you right now.

A smile appeared on my lips. I stood up and grabbed my cardigan from the chair. Ji-hyo understood immediately and chuckled amusedly, "Have fun. Don't be too hard on her," she said as she watched me put on the cardigan and head towards the door.

Unfortunately, I was bumped into right away, "Oh. I'm sorry, Y/N," I heard the beautiful woman with those cat-like eyes say. I smiled politely, placing my hands on her upper arms to steady her. The taller woman looked at me as she almost grinned, "I never introduced myself... I'm Yeji," she said with a smile.

I nodded my head, "Hello, Yeji. I'm sorry, but I really have to go. I have something important to do," I said as I gently released the taller woman. My eyes briefly glanced at all the empty bottles of alcohol and then at the group of girls and boys.

Apparently, they were hosting a mixer here. An event where an equal number of men and women go out for drinks, like a date.

I smiled as I looked back at Yeji, "Have a nice evening," I said politely. Yeji opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by one of her friends. I smiled and left the JYP Bar right away. I immediately made my way back home.

Me (21:20): I'm heading home right now. Looking forward to it.

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My eyes opened once again as I heard the toilet flush. I looked over at the woman who had just come out of my bathroom and was fixing her hair. I sat up, observing the beautiful blonde as she tied her hair up in a messy bun. A slight smile on my face.

Rosé sat back on my bed, slowly getting dressed. My arms, however, wrapped around her hips as my lips brushed against her neck, giving her tender kisses. I felt the slightly older woman sigh and lean against me. "It's okay if you sleep here... It's late," I whispered softly as my lips now trailed over her shoulders, leaving feather-light kisses.

"I can't. I have an important term paper to submit early tomorrow," the blonde woman said as she put on her bra again. I helped her fasten it with a smirk on my face and then stood up, getting dressed as well. "Then let me accompany you," I said as I closed the button of my jeans.

Rosé looked at me, shaking her head amusedly as she watched me getting dressed. I immediately grabbed my phone from the bedside table and put it in my pocket. I patiently waited for the older woman. "How is your mom?" I asked, interested, as my eyes wandered over the blonde's body.

She sighed softly, "She's doing better. She's just a drama queen. She used it as an excuse to get me to go home and visit her. She only had a little fever," she replied, visibly amused. A smile on her face. She then turned to face me.

"But what about you? When I was gone, you surely weren't abstemious, right?" she asked, chuckling lightly. She came over with a slight grin and sat on my lap. I held her firmly at the hips so she wouldn't fall. My eyes locked onto hers.

She laughed a bit, "Oh, come on, Y/N. I'm just teasing you. I don't care who you sleep with... This thing between us is just lust. We still agree on that, right?" she asked, smiling. I immediately grinned and turned both of us around. I supported my hand beside her head and brushed my lips against hers. "I think we've never agreed on something so much," I replied as I connected our lips.

My knee between her legs as she started to gasp. Her hands ran through my shoulder-length hair. "But I think I should take you home, hm?" I asked, grinning slightly as I pulled away from the older woman. I stood up and extended my hand to help her up.

Smiling, we left my apartment. We chatted as we strolled through the streets at a slow and comfortable pace. Occasionally, we stopped at a few red lights, but luckily, we didn't live too far from each other.

I said goodbye with a hug to the older blonde and watched her enter her own apartment. Now, I made my way back home. I even walked slower than before, enjoying the quiet of the night and the fresh spring air.

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

As I passed by a pub, the JYP Bar, I recognized a familiar student outside. She was crouched down between two trash bins. My forehead wrinkled in confusion, and I approached the woman. I could hear her vomiting between the bins. My nose wrinkled, but I was also concerned.

I knew her. We had attended several lectures together and occasionally chatted. Admittedly, she wasn't the most pleasant person, but she clearly needed help. Sighing, I grabbed the visibly drunk woman's arm just as she was about to fall into her own vomit.

I helped her stand and looked at her. Her eyes were only half open as she looked back at me. I examined her face. It was Shin Ryujin... the woman I always seemed to compete with, or rather, the woman who competed with me. I didn't do anything special, but I could feel her staring at me from a distance, likely because I had better grades.

"Where do you live?" I asked as calmly as possible. Ryujin looked at me, swaying visibly, so I tightened my grip on her. I swallowed as I felt her body against mine when she stumbled over her own feet. My hands wrapped around her hips to steady her. Thoughtfully, I bit my lip.

Ryujin didn't answer. She seemed... completely out of it. Too drunk to even realize anything...

But should I really take a stranger home with me? Could I somehow find out where she lived? Could I just leave her here?

My mind was racing. "Hey, Ryujin. Are you feeling better?" I heard someone say. My eyes narrowed as I inspected the somewhat sober man. He also seemed to sway slightly and had a rather unpleasant grin on his face. I looked him over.

"Do you two know each other?" I asked, and the man looked surprised. He saw how Ryujin's head hung from the alcohol and chuckled a bit. He nodded his head, "Yeah. The sweet one here is coming with me," he said, laughing lightly as he tried to grab her wrist. However, I stopped him, placing my hand on his wrist as I looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Where does she live?" I asked, nodding my head towards the drunken woman in my arms. He shrugged nonchalantly, "No idea. She'll be crashing at my place anyway," he said as he pulled away from my grip. His eyes narrowed as he looked at me, now a bit angry, "What do you want anyway? Is she your friend?" he asked, now sounding slightly irritated. "Whatever. I bought her too many drinks. I deserve it," he said, trying once again to take hold of her arm.

My suspicion had been confirmed. He wasn't a friend. He was just a stranger in a bar. My eyes narrowed even more. Ryujin was in no condition to respond or even understand the current situation. With my free hand, I reached for my wallet and took out a few bills, "Here. This should be enough," I said, almost disgusted, as I threw the Money at his feet.

Like a greedy pig, he started crawling. I observed him from above, but I decided to take advantage of the current situation and leave. Ryujin securely in my arms.

However, it was becoming increasingly difficult to walk with a drunk woman, so I decided to carry her on my back. Getting her up there wasn't an easy task either. But after several attempts, I finally managed to position her on my back.

The only sounds I heard from her were her constant groans and moans. But she didn't move an inch. Not even when I climbed the stairs to my apartment and opened my front door.

What could have happened if I hadn't taken Rosé home?

I laid the drunken woman on my bed. She groaned again, but said nothing. I took off her shoes and placed them by the front door. My eyes fell on her clothes. I sighed slightly annoyed.

She was wearing a crop top that was already riding up and very short shorts. My eyes narrowed. Should I change her clothes?

I sighed again and decided against it. I would never undress someone without their consent... I covered the practically unknown woman and went straight to the living room. There, I took off my jeans and thin sweater, lying down on the couch. I always slept in my tank top and boxers.

With a sigh, I closed my eyes. Now, I was sleeping on my couch only because someone couldn't control themselves

#itzy ryujin #itzy yeji #ryujin #twice #x yn #newjeans minji #yn #x reader #smut #kpop gg #g!p