#honestly having this type of day today in all aspects | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fallingdownhell · 1 year

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https://at.tumblr.com/fallingdownhell/sumeru-men-when-your-sisterbest-friend-tries-to/nwf4h3unm1ah

Could I request this ⬆️ but with Ayato, Kaeya, Diluc, Childe, Zhongli? Also, reader actually steps up and nearly goes apeshit with the "friend".

No angst, please!

Alright, alright, I heard you loud and clear. I'm trying my best for readers part, but I can't promise anything.

Also, this escalated quite a bit... hope none of you mind the length of this thing. I just don't know how to keep things short and simple

Characters included: Ayato, Kaeya, Diluc, Childe, Zhongli

Content: Gender neutral reader; she/her pronouns for your best friend; she tries to convince them to dump reader; some cursing; slightly suggestive on Ayato's part; not proof read yet!

Word count: 7.9k words

As always, thank you for requesting and hope you enjoy!

Ayato

I feel like Ayato is a man who would get into a relationship for one of two reasons

Number one would be it being a political type of thing, where the relationship and potential marriage would greatly benefit the Yashiro commission

Or he would not even consider the commission and just date you purely because he fell instantly in love with you and really just wants to court you

but regardless of what the reason might be, he would be loyal to you under any circumstances

he knows that there are many people out there who want to be on his good side, some of them even after his wealth and status

and yet, he would fight off anyone who would dare court him while being in a relationship with you

in that aspect, he learned a great deal from Thoma, so you better be grateful to him

It was a typical slow, mentally draining day for Ayato as the Yashiro commissioner yet again. Many people come to him with their problems, expecting him to magically have the solutions for them at the ready. It's not like he is some kind of know-it-all magician, capable of solving every little issue in this world. Yet people obviously believe him to be exactly that.

Honestly, it's exhausting most of the time. It was quite common for him to work late into the night, like it happened today again. When he finally leaned back a bit to stretch his sore back, he heard a soft knock on his office door. Knowing who would await him at the other side, he mumbled a soft "come in".

You slid the door open, revealing the form of your boyfriend to you. Instantly noticing his tired expression, you went to his side, gently holding his face in your hands.

"You have been working too much", you say after a long while of each of you staring into the others eyes.

You hear a low chuckle from him as he closes his eyes, and leans more into your touch. Having yearned for it the entire day and now finally being able to enjoy it again was one of the best feelings in the world to Ayato.

"You're right, my dear. As you are so often. How about we retreat for today?"

You were inclined to accept his offer, but just as you were about to do so, you remembered one other crucial detail.

"We can, after you eat something. You haven't done that today, have you?"

And as if to betray him, his stomach made a low rumbling sound just as Ayato was about to tell you a little white lie, that it wasn't so bad. Instead, he looked away from you as you giggled at the perfect timing.

"See? Now, you clean up here while I go and get you some light snack. Let's meet in our room, okay?"

He agrees and you gave him a quick kiss to the tip of his nose as a parting gift, before you made your way out of the room, silently, as to not disturb the other servants and residents from their slumber.

Ayato looks after you and as you're out the door, begins to make quick work of his tasks. It's not much to do anyways. Just pack away his writing utensils, stack and organize a few stray documents that he will worry about the next day.

While in the middle of doing this, he heard a soft knock on the door again. Ayato wonderd to himself why you would need to knock when you agreed to meet back at your room. And also, you two should be the only ones awake at this hour anyways.

Still, he answeres the knock with a simple "Yes?". Instead of an answer, the door to his office slid open again, but this time revealing a different figure to him.

He recognized her, a servant of the Yashiro Commission and also a dear friend to you. Though, he did wonder why she was awake at this hour as well.

"Do you need something?", he asked her as she just stood there, not saying a word.

"I... saw that the light was still on and just wanted to check on you, Lord Kamisato. It's getting quite late. Are you alright?"

"I see. I appreciate your concern, but I am quite alright. I'll be retiring for the night shortly."

After he said that, her eyes seemed to light up, but she quickly tried to hide it.

"O-oh, is that so?", she quielty mumbled as she took a few steps into the room, towards Ayato. He eyed her suspiciously, but refrained from saying or doing anything. She stopped in her tracks when she was standing only a few inches away from him.

"Do you want me to keep you company for the night?", she whispered, trying to sound seductive while she put one of her hands on Ayato's chest and looked up at him through her lashes.

In response to that, Ayato quickly snatched her wrist, holding her in a tight grip. Although, she seemed to interpret that gesture the wrong way, as a smile krept up her lips.

"Oh? That eager, Lord Kamisato?"

"You do know that I have a spouse, right?", he said firmly, still holding her wrist tightly.

"Oh please. As if someone as boring as (name) could ever please a man like you. You can admit it, you know. I can see that they are not enough for you. You can have so much more fun with me.", she purred at him, now putting her other hand on his chest.

It made Ayato want to throw up. Every fiber of his body was repulsed by this woman, her words and her actions. He just wanted to deal with this situation as quickly as possible, to get away from her and return to the comfort of your arms. He didn't care if he came across as rude, he did not care for her feelings. After all, she did just insult you in front of him, and he would not stand for that.

So, Ayato finally let go of her hand and took a step back to gain some distance between them. However, that didn't seem to appease her, as she was quick to follow him, that wicked smile still present on her lips. In that case, he had to resort to words as his weapon of choice against this woman.

"Stop this nonsense right now. I have no idea where you got the impression that I am the slightest bit interested in you, but that assumption is just wrong. Plus, I am not the type of man to just go behind my partners back like that."

"Aww, come on. Don't be such a killjoy. Plus, they don't have to know. I won't say anything if you don't~"

"Well, I already know. How about that?", you suddenly chime in, both Ayato and the woman jumping a bit at the sudden sound of your voice behind them. You were leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed in front of you and a dark expression on your face, directed at the person you thought to be a friend of yours.

"I was wondering what took you so long, dear. If I had known you were trying to fend off some filthy pest, I would have come to your rescue sooner.", you continued as neither of them said anything at your entrance. Your words and expression briefly becoming warmer as they were directed towards your lover, but quickly turning dark again when you turned back to the woman in front of you.

You waited a few more seconds, waiting for her to come up with some kind of excuse or something, but nothing came. So, you sighed, pushing yourself off the doorframe and slowly approaching the two of them.

"Glad that I finally got to see your true character. I always thought something was off about you, but still, I never would have taken you for one of those people." Your tone was low and dark, as you came to a halt in front of her.

"Now, you better screw off before I loose the last bit of my temper. And you better never approach any of us again, you hear me, bitch?"

You spat the last few words at her and she quickly ran out of the room, leaving you and Ayato behind. You looked after her for a few more seconds, before a deep sigh finally left your lungs and you turned around to your boyfriend, who was looking at you with a smirk on his lips.

"What?"

"Oh nothing... But, I have to admit, you're cute when you're jealous, (name)."

"Pffft, please. Me? Jealous? Of her? When I'm the one already dating you and having you all to myself?", you laughed, slowly beginning to relax again.

And Ayato still smirked as he began to lean down towards you. "True, I do belong to you. But maybe, it's time you lay claim on me again for everyone else to see as well.", he mumbled before he pulled you into a passionate kiss, a promise for the night in front of you..

Kaeya

Kaeya is a flirt, you and everyone else is very much aware of that fact

though when in a relationship, he would tone down that side of his personality. It's not completely gone, but compared to before it's like you're looking at an entirely different person

but you don't dislike this teasing and flirty side of him. It's part of his charm after all. So long as it's always directed at you and no one else..

Most people would believe Kaeya is more the type to play around than to actually bind himself to another. They also don't believe him to be a loyal person

Well, those people couldn't be farther from the truth. Because of his past, Kaeya is afraid of letting people close to him again. So if you were to manage to do just that and gain his trust.. you best believe that he will never let you go again, no matter what might be thrown his way

The music that was playing in the background of the tavern was as loud as usual. Kaeya was used to it at this point, the comfort of the Angel's Share being as trusted of a companion as the sword by his side.

It was a routine by now that he would swing by the tavern after his duties as a knight had been dealt with for the day. Usually, he would sit at the counter with either Venti or Rosaria to keep him company, sometimes even both at the same time. Those instances were always sure to escalate, so he was kinda glad it didn't happen too often.

Today however, neither of his usual companions were available, so he was doomed to sit at the counter all by himself. But that was quite alright, since he didn't plan on drinking that much anyways. After all, he was merely here to pass time waiting on you to finish your work, so he could take you on the date he promised to take you on today after you both were free.

But since he was done much sooner than you were, he had some time to kill, and the tavern was the first thing that came to his mind. So, he went to your place of work, to let you know that he would meet you there once you were done.

As Kaeya downed his second drink of the evening, he pointed for Charles, the barkeeper, to get him another one, while listening to the music some bard was playing. He was standing next to the entrance and Kaeya had to admit, that his music was rather good. It was a cheery, easygoing melody that went well with the laughter all across the tavern.

It seemed to be one of the bussier nights for the staff of the Angel's Share, seeing as the tavern was packed full of people, some of them already quite intoxicated even though it was still a fairly early evening.

Still, the loud atmosphere was relaxing to Kaeya and he only stopped looking around himself when his next drink was handed to him. Thanking Charles with a nod, Kaeya grabbed the mug and downed a few more sips, when he suddenly got a well-known feeling..

The feeling of being watched.

He tried scanning around the interior of the tavern again without looking conspicuous, but couldn't detect anyone who seemed to be watchful of him.

When the feeling subsided again, Kaeya also began to relax again. He hadn't realized how on edge he became just from that, so he let out a deep exhale. It did make him feel a bit better, but only for a few seconds, before he felt a presence now occupying the free stool next to him.

He turned his head towards that person, cautious of he he might find, when he recognized the figure to be your best friend.

Now, normally, any other person would relax upon seeing a familiar face, but not Kaeya. Not in this situation.

He always had a suspicion, that she was into him. She never made any advances towards him, but that could have been because you were always there with him. Kaeya had never been alone with her until now. And with the way she was eyeing him up and down while smirking at him, he was inclined to think that his suspicion was, indeed, correct.

"Well, would you look at that. What's the cavalry captain of the knights doing here, in this tavern, all by himself?", she began to speak. It was easy for Kaeya to detect the slight slur in her voice, indicating that she already had quite a few drinks already.

Still, he decided to play nice with her and entertain the both of them for the time being. Maybe some company wouldn't be so bad and he did still harber some hope that his assumption could be wrong after all.

"Enjoying a drink, obviously. What else would one be doing at a tavern?", he answered, the usual polite smile returning to his face. To everyone else, it might come across as sincere, but you now know that there was a difference. For a real, sincere smile coming from Kaeya was quite a rarity. But, the woman across him didn't know that, so she happily induldged in the conversation.

"Obviously, I know that. But, why all alone? I never see you without a certain someone accompanying you." Her words carried a distinct amount of poison in them when mentioning you. It didn't sit right with Kaeya at all.

"Oh, I'm actually waiting on them to finish their work. I promised them a date so that't where I'm taking them."

At the mention, her smile dropped and the look on her face changed to an annoyed one. "Seriously? God, Kaeya! When are you finally gonna dump her?!", she snapped at him, standing up from her stool so she could stand in front of him, mere inches away from him.

"Excuse me?", was all Kaeya was able to say, trying to lean back as much as possible to create space between them, but she didn't care for that. Instead, she got even closer, dangerously so, and Kaeya was beyond uncomfortable with the situation.

"You heard me. I wanted you since I first laid my eyes on you, but you never acknowledged me. And as soon as (name) comes along, you're all over them and completely ignore me!

I hate them so much! When are you finally gonna realize that I would be so much better for you? Just dump their lazy ass, they're never gonna be something big anyway. Come to my side, Kaeya!" As she said all that, she simultaneously began to claw on his clothes. Kaeya tried to push her away, but it seems that people were right when they said that drunk people seem to gain some kind of unexplainable strength.

"Are you out of your mind? NO! Now get off of me!", he yelled instead, still trying to get himself free. But she ignored it, instead reaching behind his neck and pushing his head down, trying to force a kiss onto him.

"AHH!", she yelled not even a second later, both in surprise and pain as her head got pulled back by her hair suddenly. She managed to pull herself free and both her and Kaeya were surprised to see you standing there, now putting yourself between the woman and your boyfriend. A furious look on your face, you seemed like you were about to loose your temper.

"He already said no, you bitch. You're really going so far as to assault someone because you don't get it your way? That's a new low, even for you." Your voice was ice cold and Kaeya shivered a bit from it, but he also had to admit that he did like this protective side of you. It was something he didn't get to see very often.

"I was just trying to safe him from your pityful grasp. He deserves someone better!"

"You mean, someone better like you? Come on, don't make me laugh. Who in their right mind would want a dirty street rat like you?", you lauged at her as she looked at you with shock. "Now fuck off before I completely loose myself."

That last sentence from you came out completely serious and cold, both her and Kaeya knew that you would not hesitate another second to fight her off if you had to. With one last, longing look at the man behind you, she grabbed her stuff and ran out the tavern door, leaving the two of you behind.

You let out a loud sigh as she was finally gone, turning around to Kaeya. "Are you okay?", you asked him, worry now written all over your face.

He smirked a bit, slipping out of his stool so he now stood in front of you, leaning down so he could put a hand to your cheek. "I am.", he whispered, leaning down to plant a soft kiss to your forehead. "Thanks for fending her off. That was really sexy."

You rolled your eyes at that, but didn't say anything against it. Instead, you pulled Kaeya in for a soft, sweet kiss. Both of you smiled before you finally made your way out of the tavern and to where Kaeya promised to take you.

Diluc

Oh boy.. I really love Diluc, but let's be honest here.. he has a lot of issues, that would directly pass over to the relationship, if he ever were to enter one

abandonment issues, trust issues, self worth.. Diluc has a lot of struggles

he makes sure to let you know beforehand, so you can back out of it if it's too much for you to handle. He won't go into any details, but he gets his point across

Now, if you decide to stay with him and help him work through all this, he would be head over heels in love with you. For someone to know everything about him, including his bad sides, and still deciding to stay with him?

He honestly never thought this would happen to him. Which is why he's all the more glad that you stayed and proved him wrong

It was the late afternoon and Diluc was still in the process of getting himself ready and presentable.

Today was the day of your one year anniversary and he had promised to take you on a cute little stargazing picnic. He had been looking forward to this day the entire week, trying to finish as much of his work as early as possible, so that nothing would come in the way today.

He checked his outfit over one more time in the mirror, looking for any holes or other form of dirt, but couldn't find anything. Then, he moved on to his hair, trying to tie it into a high ponytail. He knew that you loved it when he wore his hair like that, and he didn't mind it either way, so why not.

After all, Diluc wanted to spoil you today. Although technically this day is for the both of you, he just couldn't help but want to make it all about you. Because, after all, you were the one who chose to stay with him. To love him and show him that it was okay for him to love you as well.

It took some time, and he is still nowhere near a perfect partner for you, but he is trying. And you always tell him that him trying is more than enough for you and that you couldn't and would never ask anything more than that from him.

Diluc was so glad that you stumbled your way into his life. It may sound cliché, but he truly has no idea where he would be in life if you weren't there by his side to help guide him in the right direction.

Dare he even say, it was also thanks to you and your effort, that he is now slowly starting to reconcile with Kaeya. Their relationship was still rocky after years and years of miscommunication and suppressed feelings, but it was slowly starting to pick up and move into a... better direction, for lack of a better word.

He had so much to thank you for, and he swore to pay you back for it every day of his life that he got to spend with you. You would forever be the best thing to happen in his life, and he didn't care how down bad that sounded.

As he was finally done with preparations, and giving himself one last glance through the mirror, a soft knock on the door brought him out of his head and back into reality. Confusion written over his face even more, as Adelinde opened the door and walked a few steps into the room.

"My apologies, Master Diluc, but it would seem that you have a visitor. I informed her of the bad timing and to come back another time, but she insisted. I directed her towards your study room, she is waiting for you in there.", she informed him, her head lightly bowed down.

"Thank you, Adelinde. I will deal with them shortly.", Diluc answered, though obviously annoyed at the situation.

Why today? And why now?

All he wanted was for you and him to spend a nice evening together. And now someone wasn't even going to allow him that? Not if he had a say in it. He would just go in there and deal with the visitor swiftly, then make his way to Mondstadt, where he promised to pick you up.

Once he made sure that he was presentable so he wouldn't have to return to his room again, he went out and closed the door behind him. He walked quickly, having a goal already in his mind, so he wanted this situation to be over as soon as possible.

He gave to quick knocks to the door of his study room, to inform the person inside of his arrival, before opening the door and stepping inside.

Upon his entry, a woman who until now had been sitting in one of the comfortable armchairs stood up, facing his way. It took Diluc a moment, but he soon recognized the figure as a close friend of yours. He saw her from time to time, but he never had much to do with her, they never had an extended talk or conversation, so Diluc had no idea why she was here now and what she could want from him.

"You came..", she said, like she couldn't actually believe it.

"It would be quite rude of me to just leave a guest and not greet them, wouldn't it? So, please, state your business with me. And, not to sound rude, but please make it quick. I have somewhere important to be in a bit."

"That's why I'm here..", she mumbled quietly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!", she exclaimed, a little startled. Trying to mask her nervousness with a chuckle, she began to play with her hair while looking everywhere else but at the man standing in front of her.

A good minute passed without her saying anything else and Diluc was growing more and more annoyed with her. Was she just here to waste his time?

"Look, if you have nothing to discuss with me, then-!"

"No! I- I mean, I do have something to discuss. I just.. don't know where to start..", she got quiet near the end again, making it hard for Diluc to understand her, but he did.

"If this will require more time, I have to ask you to move it to another day. I really don't have the time right now.", Diluc simply replied, already kind of mad at her that he wasted more time here than he had to. He turned around and was about to leave, when the woman behind him spoke up again.

"I like you!", she yelled, which caused Diluc to halt in his steps and turn to look at her, a bewildered look on his face.

"What did you say?"

"I like you, Diluc. I have for a long time. But I never had the courage to tell you and then (name) got in the picture. Honestly, I hated them the moment you and them got together.

They took you from me! It should be me by your side, not them! I deserve you so much more than some pesky lowlife like them!", she still yelled, but was now slowly moving towards Diluc.

The man, still surprised by what was happening right now, didn't move away, and she apparently took that as a sign to continue on her little rant.

"I know you think that you love them, but trust me, you don't. You may feel like that now, but I am the one meant for you. I can make you so much happier than you could ever think. Just give me a chance, Diluc.", she pleaded as she arrived in front of him.

She extended an arm, about to lay her hand on his shoulder, when he suddenly caught her wrist mid air. His grip was tight, and the look he threw at her full of disgust. She flinched a bit as she saw that, but still tried to stand her ground.

"Listen closely", Diluc said, his tone hard and cold, as he looked into her eyes, unforgiving. "(Name) will forever be the only one for me. No one else could ever hope to come close to what they mean to me. Especially not you. The fact that you came here, to berate and talk bad about someone who thinks of you as their friend, trying to steal their lover away. And for what? Some silly illusion you created in your head?

My top priority will always be (name). No one will ever come inbetween me and them, no matter what you might say or come up with."

He quickly let go of her wrist now, like her skin was suddenly made out of some kind of acid and it burned him on the touch. The look of disgust still evident on Diluc's face, as he took a step back towards the door.

"Now, please excuse me but I have a date to go on with my lovely parnter. And just to be perfectly clear, I would advise you to stay away from them and me from now on. And if I were to catch wind of you putting out rumors about them, I will not hesitate to act against you."

With that being his parting words, Diluc left the study room and made his way down to the main hall, where Adelinde was waiting down by the stairs.

"Please escort our guest out of the mansion as soon as possible. And make sure to let the other staff know that she is not welcome back here anymore.", Diluc informed Adelinde, who bowed her head in understanding.

"As you wish, Master Diluc. I wish you a pleasant night.", she said, before making her way up the stairs.

After that, Diluc left the mansion and made his way back to the city of Mondstadt. He appreciated the walk, as he was able to clear his head a bit before he would see you again, which was just what he needed after that encounter.

Once he arrived and saw you waiting for him by the fountain, all the negative emotions within him washed away again, his heart feeling at peace.

He greeted you with a soft kiss, which you reciprocated. He took you with him to Windrise, where the two of you would have your picnic. On the way there, he told you all about what had happened just about a few hours prior to your reunion.

It was fair to say that you considered the friendship with her to be over and you thanked Diluc over and over again for defending you, while also apologizing to him that he had to deal with that in the first place. But not to worry, because you made it more than up with the cuddles he got from you afterwards.

Childe

Childe is a family person through and through

Like, they have the final say wether his relationship whit you would last or not. Not in the sense of approval, more like if you get along with his parents and siblings

If they like you and you also get along with them well, he would be over the moon

also has a pretty high rank thanks to his position as a fatui harbinger, so people know not to mess with either of you, unless they want to be punished

Childe, I think, is actually one of the most loyal Genshin boys

He would stop at absolutely nothing to ensure your safety and to make you feel loved. The only way he would allow this relationship to end, is if either one of you would be to fall out of love with the other. But, at least for his part, that probably won't ever happen

Since his return to Snezshnaya a few days ago, Childe has been stuck in his office at the fatui headquarters. It was required of him to finalize his reports on his latest missions, which meant for him to sit in his office the entire day, write paper after paper, then return home in the evening, only to resume the process the next day.

It has been tiring for him. He never would have thought that dealing with paperwork could be this tiring. No wonder the higher ranking harbingers all have some kind of sectretary who do that work for them.

In fact, Childe has been so tired out from writing these reports, that he didn't get any proper training in these days. Instead, he always returned right back home to your side, almost always falling on top of you on the couch. If it weren't for you keeping him somewhat coherent, he would instantly pass out on the couch, not to be woken up until the next morning. You gently kept him awake long enough for him to take a shower and eat dinner with you, before you both went to bed together, where Childe hugged you even closer to him.

It has become some kind of new routine at this point and although you didn't mind it all that much, you clearly saw how exhausted your boyfriend was from all this. Even more so since he wasn't able to pursue his usual stress relief with the training.

You could clearly see how tired he still was, sitting next to you eating his breakfast, his eyes looking almost blank and lifeless. It made your heart ache at the sight.

"So.. do you know how much longer it'll take until you've finished all the reports?", you cautiously asked, not wanting to stress him out even more in the early morning hours.

"At least a few more days..", Childe quietly answered, the weariness clearly evident.

You thought about what you could do to make him feel a little better, at least, when an idea sparked in your head.

"Well, I can't really help you with your work, but, if you want to, I could bring you lunch today. Your mom taught me how to make your favourite."

At that, his eyes visibly brightened up as he looked at you. "Really? When did that happen?"

"While you were out on your mission in Liyue. I had some time on my hand and I thought it would be a nice surprise but I didn't get around to making it yet.", you answered, glad that such a simple thing was able to cheer your boyfriend right back up.

He got up and engulfed you in a big hug, placing little kisses all over your face. "Thank you, (name). I love you so much."

You giggled as you guys spend the rest of your morning together before it was time for Childe to leave again.

...

His mood this day was by far better than the days before, and his underlings had no idea wether that was a good thing or if their impending doom was approaching them.

But as more hours went by and nothing drastic had happened yet, they decided that it had to be something good.

Childe was constantly humming in his office, the writing part was getting much easier now that he got a hang of it. The occaissonal troop came into his office every now and then, awaiting for new orders from him.

He dealt with them every time before resuming his reports until one particular group came to him. He knew one of the members better than the others, namely because it just so happened that she was a friend of yours, who joined the ranks of the fatui a few weeks ago.

She got assigned under Childe, but they haven't really been working together yet, as shortly after he was sent out to his mission on Liyue, which took him a few weeks to finally complete. And since then, he had been locked up here.

Anyway, back to the present. The leader of that small group gave a quick report to Childe, informing him of their accomplishments. The harbinger only nodded, listening to them.

"Alright, sounds good. For now, I want you guys to go to the training grounds. Improve on your strenghts and get rid of your weaknesses. This will be your task for the following week. After that time, you will face me in battle again, to assess your progress.

That would be all.", he said to dismiss them. They all hurriedly made their way out of the room, except for one member of the group. The woman stood still in front of Childe, and it took him a moment to realize that she was still standing there.

"Hmm? Was there something else you needed?"

"Well.. I have a bit of a personal question, if you would allow it, Lord Harbinger.", she answered respectfully, bowing her head at him a bit.

Childe thought it over for a second, but didn't think anything bad of her request, so he allowed her to ask her question.

"Thank you. It's about (name)", she said and the mention of your name both set him on edge and also brought a small smile to his face. You just had that effect on him every time, even after months of dating already.

"What is it that you see in them? Why are you with them? I just don't understand it."

"What about it don't you understand?", Childe asked, bewildered as he sensed the obvious hostility she seemed to harbour when talking about you.

"I mean, they're just so boring and bland. I don't get what you see in them. Surely they can't be enough to satisfy you. You could have anyone else, you have so many better options. Why them?"

After her little rant was over, Childe stood up from his place behind his desk, walked around in front of it, and leaned against the table, crossing his arms in front of him.

"And let me guess.. you think you would be better suited for me than them, am I right?"

She nodded as she took a step forward, towards him, but one ice cold glare from Childe let her freeze in place. But she got her composure back quickly, returning his gaze.

"I do.", she stated, holding her chin up high, trying to look more confident than she currently felt.

Childe continued to look at her a few more seconds, before averting his eyes and sighing in disappointment.

"I think I've heard enough. Just so you know, you could never be enough for me. (Name) is more than enough, they are the perfect match for me. And I'm most definitely not about to give up on that for some random chick that decides to throw herself at me.

Anything you want to add, (name)?"

The last sentence was said a bit louder by Childe, knowing that you had been standing outside the door and listening in on the conversation. Upon mentioning you, you entered the room and by the surprised look on the womans face, she didn't realize that you were actually present.

"Not really, I think you already made yourself perfectly clear.", you said, your look at her as cold as Childe's was.

"We're over. Can't believe I ever was friends with someone like you.", was the only thing you felt like adding to the situation, before the woman ran out of the room without another word, feeling utterly humiliated.

You and Childe both looked after her, before looking at each other. Then you guys burst out into laughter at how ridiculous this entire situation was.

After you had calmed down again, you guys shared the food that you made for him in his office, you sitting on his lap since he wouldn't allow you to sit anywhere else. It was safe to say that Childe acted a bit more clingy with you for the next few days.

Zhongli

It has been quite some time since Zhongli's last relationship and even though he has an understanding of the principles, the more intimate details of it are kind of lost on him

have some patience with him and teach him the ropes of it again and you will be rewarded with one of the most loving and caring partners one could ever wish for

he also tends to be a little bit on the jealous side, but he means no harm in it. He knows you're more than capable of standing up for yourself, but he can't help it. He is your partner after all, it's only natural he wants to protect you

Also a very loyal man. If he chooses a partner, he stays with them through all the good and bad times until the bitter end. Whatever form that end will take..

Zhongli let out a heavy sigh as he was finally done with his work for the day. Who knew that the work of a consultant could be this demanding?

Hu Tao had him staying late for the past two weeks, since, as she said, work had been piling up and she needed all the help she could get.

While you were understanding of the situation, not minding him coming home later to help out his boss, Zhongli did mind it very much.

Because now, work kept getting in the way of his quality time with you. While he was stuck here, he could be home with you, snuggling up on the couch, or out on a date with you.

Come to think of it, it had been quite some time since you two last went on one. Perhaps he should take you out to Wanwen Bookhouse again, with a nice dinner afterwards at Liuli Pavilion. That sounded like a good idea.

Still thinking about this, and possible other locations where he could take you to, he continued to tidy up his workplace, so that he could finally leave as soon as he was done with that.

Hu Tao had already left earlier today, claiming she would be gone for some type of commission and left him the keys to lock the place up after he was done for the day.

Once he was done cleaning up, he went outside and locked the door, putting the keys into his pocket to keep them safe. He would return them to Hu Tao again once his well deserved weekend would be over. Oh, how he longed to spend those blessed days enveloped in your arms, hoping you would never let go of him again.

Gazing up at the sky, he noticed that it was still quite early. He still did some overtime, but he did get off earlier today than the days prior. So, Zhongli decided on the spot to surprise you with some of your favourite food.

He went over to Wanmin Restaurant, which coincidentaly was also on the way to your shared house, to pick up something to eat for the both of you.

Upon approaching the vendor, Chef Mao immediatly recogniced the man.

"Ah, Mister Zhongli! Good evening! The usual?", he asked in a cheery tone, to which Zhongli agreed to.

While waiting for his food to be done, he took place on one of the stools outside the building, looking around the streets. It wasn't quite as busy as it was during the day, but there were still fairly many people out and about, doing their business.

"Hey! Zhongli!", a voice greeted behind him, so the man turned around to see a dear friend of yours approaching him and taking place next to him on an empty stool.

Zhongli gave her a gentle smile, not minding her presence at all. Maybe some company would be good for the time he had to keep waiting for the food to be done.

"Good evening. What brings you here on this fine day?", he asks her, trying to engage in some small talk with her.

"Oh, nothing much. I was just out for a walk when I saw you sitting here all alone.", she smiled, leaning a bit closer to him. Zhongli noticed this, but didn't think anything of it, which is also why he didn't say anything about it.

"Ah, yes. I am merely waiting for it to be done cooking, so that I can surprise (name) with it at home. I have been working late for the past two weeks so I hope she will accept this small piece of apology."

Upon mentioning your name, he noticed how her expression turned a bit sour, but it was gone so quickly the next second that he thought he just imagined it.

"Is that so..", she mused, seeming to be lost deep in thought.

After that, the conversation died out and a sort of uncomfortable silence fell between Zhongli and your friend. Not knowing what to best do in this kind of situation, he just remained silent, still patiently waiting.

A few more minutes passed and finally, Chef Mao came to Zhongli again, this time with two containers of food in his hands.

"Here you go. Sorry it took so long, busy day today."

"Not a problem.", Zhongli reassured him as he handed the man his money. He was about to say his goodbyes to your friend, when she suddenly grabbed him by the arm.

"Wait!", she said, suddenly having a form of urgency to her voice that made him halt.

"Yes? What is it?"

"I... I want you to break up with (name)!", she exclaimed, shocking Zhongli with her words. Why would he say such a thing.

The confusion obviously written all over his face, the woman sighed as she got even closer to him.

"I am in love with you, Zhongli. And I want to be with you. I don't care if I start out as just a side chick for you, so long as you break up with them and choose me in the long run.

Trust me, you'll see for yourself just how inferior (name) is to me in every aspect of life. Bet they aren't even any good in bed. I know you're not satisfied with them, so why not enjoy yourself with a little fun on the side?"

Zhongli couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew how much you trusted her, so for her to betray that trust you put in her so easily, it made his heart ache for you. But it also made him furious. How dare she talk about you like that in front of him? You were everything to him, and you were definitely more than enough.

Anger slowly krept its way up inside him, being more and more evident in the way his gaze turned cold and his hands tightly gripped the containers he was holding.

But before he could let his anger out on that woman, he heard an all too familiar voice call his name. "Zhongli!"

There you were standind, a few feet away from them and slowly walking over to your boyfriend.

"Hey (name)!", the woman cheerfully said, putting on a seemingly perfect act in front of you, being all nice and friendly again, like she wasn't just trying to steal Zhongli away from you.

"What a surprise to see you here. We were just talking about-!"

"About how you want to be the side piece of my boyfriend? Yeah, I heard that.", you said in a very matter-of-fact way, it caught her completely off guard.

"Huh?", was all she was able to get out, a look of bewilderment present on her face. You, however, have heard enough and you were done with her.

So, you only rolled your eyes at her, before lowering your voice, trying to sound as intimidating as you could. "Listen here, you bitch. He is taken. You had all the time and chances before I met him, and now, he is mine.

So back the fuck off before I go off on your fake ass face."

Panic now written all over her face, she took a few steps back. "You wouldn't.. You're crazy!"

"Oh, but I would.", you growled, taking a step forward, which finally caused her to turn around and run away from the two of you.

Relieved, you let out a sigh and turned around to your boyfriend, who had witnessed the entire scene.

"Sorry you had to deal with that.", you apologized sheepishly, gaze now turned to the ground.

"Don't apologize, my dear. After all, I should be the one apologizing to you, since you just lost a friend because of me. But, I do want to say, I hope you know that I would never choose someone else over you."

"I know that.", you nodded as you looked up at him, offering him a warm and loving smile. Ahh, how he had missed that smile the entire day. He just had to lean down and give you a soft kiss, which you very gladly reciprocated.

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strawberrystepmom · 6 months

Text

pokemon trainer au! gojo x f!reader. reader is a fairy gym leader and satoru is league champion and a flying type trainer. fluffy fluffy. couldn’t have done this without my beloved @moondust-lore so thank you as always nesi 😚 wc 1.5k

part one (you are here), part two, part three

divider by @/cafekitsune

All good adventures start with two rivals.

At least that’s what you’ve been told your entire life, your own mother regaling you with tales of her rival for as long as you can remember, long before your now full grown Lapras was even developed enough to sing her song.

Your Lapras was a gift to you from her rival and your first Pokemon, gifted to you by a man she grew up several houses away from that was once a wide eyed boy with big dreams of opening a Pokémon academy to encourage the study of these creatures in their natural habitats. He successfully opened said academy, you even attended it for several years of your life, but your rival never came along through the years that passed.

The children in your neighborhood paired off quickly, setting their own parameters for their journeys and leaving you on the outside. Your schoolmates paired off and most of them have opened their own gyms, just like you, or settled into other aspects of their lives with or without their rival.

You never really minded and still don’t, though, pleased to enjoy life flat on your back in the grass of the surprisingly large meadow that backs up to your gym, gazing at the clouds floating overhead. A rival isn’t a necessity and you’re glad, honestly, that the stress of having to keep up with someone else is something you have been able to dodge for the most part.

“Hey!”

Until today.

You sit up, brows furrowed, and that’s when you see the man who may very well be the rival you’ve been looking for.

Satoru Gojo, current Pokémon League Champion.

His starlight colored hair flops over his eyes that are covered by glasses but you know what they look like behind the dark frames because they’ve been plastered on every magazine for several months. You know his name, everyone does, and it’s hard to truly imagine why he has come back after your many declinations of his requests to battle.

“Satoru,” you huff, his name leaving your lips with a tinge of amusement as he approaches with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He grins at you and it’s cheeky as it ever has been, glistening teeth tucked between pretty mauve lips and topped with dimples.

Infuriatingly charming and handsome, as always. It isn’t enough to be powerful, he hit the lottery in more ways than one.

“Ah, is that any way to speak to an old friend?”

Snorting, you slowly rise from your spot on the ground to your feet, your beloved Espeon bounding to your side to look up at you quizzically. You shoot a wordless glance in her direction and she wraps her twin tail around your legs, looking between you and the man.

She wonders if today will be the day you give in and finally say yes to his requests for an actual battle. It has been a long time since you’ve utilized her in any sense beyond as a companion and while she doesn’t ache for battle, there are times she wishes you’d push yourself and the rest of your Pokemon a little bit harder. Less leisure, less tenderness, less lazing around.

But she also knows you, her trainer and friend, and knows this is the life you’ve chosen for all of them out of compassion so her eyes flit expectantly in Satoru’s direction while you stroke between her ears.

“We’d be friends if you would learn to take no for an answer but until then we’re just acquaintances.”

You smile and it’s sweet, no bite despite your sassy words, and the man shakes his head. He finds you equal parts fascinating and amusing, the tales of how fiercely you and your team used to battle on your own journey to become a gym leader spurring him in your direction two years ago.

“I didn’t come to ask you to battle today.”

Despite your firm no’s, he keeps coming back for no other reason than being around you. You are refreshing, unaffected by his power and status, something he has longed for since becoming Champion. It’s just you and your companions and he can never shake just how happy all of you look when he stops by impromptu.

“Then what can I do for you?”

He shuffles closer to you and reaches down to run his finger over the velvety ear of your Espeon who remains still as ever, her eyes shutting. You scoff and roll your eyes.

“Don’t mind her, she’s shameless.”

Chuckling, he shrugs and looks around the meadow to spot who else you are spending time with out here. Your Lapras floats on the small pond, blinking slowly in Satoru’s direction. A Grookey ruffles the grass a few feet away from you, ears poking out between pastel colored flowers and your Skitty shakes her tail in his direction, an invitation to play.

It’s so unlike his own former gyms which confirms he made the right decision. The decision? Well, he already anticipates watching your jaw drop before he speaks the words aloud for the first time.

“I’ve decided to vacate my spot as Champion to go and travel.” Your jaw does drop, eyes widening in shock.

“Can you even do that?”

He nods, thumb still pressed to the Espeon’s velvety ear.

“Not without a lot of argument but yes and I’ve already done it so there’s no changing my mind.”

You understand, approaching and placing a hand on his shoulder. The touch isn’t unwelcome and he plays off the pink on the tips of his ears, glancing down at you through white lashes.

“I wouldn’t ever try to change your mind but will you tell me why?”

Gojo sighs and it’s almost concerningly heavy for a man who is so light as air he even partners with Flying type Pokémon specifically. You feel for him, certain the pressures of being Champion can be enough to get even the strongest of them all down, and you keep your hand pressed to his shoulder.

“When I was working toward becoming Champion my focus was so singular I missed out on everything. I only did what had to be done to get here and now I’ve realized I haven’t experienced, well, anything. I want to enjoy the journey and not simply the destination.”

Your heart beats hard in your chest, moved by his honesty. You’ve always been friendly with the man and it’s not a wonder that he’s Champion, he is the strongest, but you do wonder why he came here to tell you this.

“I want you to come with me.”

Breath catching in your throat, you are shocked by the words.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. If anyone can show me how to slow down and enjoy it, it has to be little miss on her back watching the clouds roll by.”

The nickname is a bit of a mouthful but you smile anyway, looking up at him and twisting your mouth to the side.

“Let me ask the council,” you shoot and he nods understandingly, watching you sink to a squat beside your Espeon.

“What do you think?”

She chirps excitedly and you sigh, hoping she’d be on your side for once, but her thirst for adventure is bigger than her loyalty to you by some strange miracle. It has been too long since you and her and your friends have been out on the routes and she hungers to roll around in new grass. You pet her again and nod, rising to standing.

“Okay. I’m sure I’m the last person you asked and the only one to say yes and I’d hate to leave you lonely.” He chuckles and shakes his head. “You were the first and the only one I wanted to ask.”

Espeon chirps again at your feet and you toss her another glance, forgetting how astute your partner truly is despite the separation of Pokemon and human between the two of you.

“I’ll be back in three days to pick you up so make sure you have everything you need.”

Your traitorous heart pounds even harder knowing what’s to come. Traveling, alone, with Gojo sounds undeniably thrilling and you will ponder later when you’re alone what’s to come.

For now, you smile and nod.

“Okay, champ. But know I won’t make the journey easy on you.”

He grins once again, pearly whites gleaming while Grookey hops out of the grass a few feet away from him and clings to his leg, the large man kneeling slightly to pet the creature.

“Which is exactly why I invited you.”

The words are so loaded even you catch the weight and you shuffle from foot to foot, Espeon still wound around your calves. The sun blazes overhead and clouds continue to pass and in an instant you realize that you may not have gained that rival you’ve been dodging but perhaps you’ll yet gain a friend.

“I won’t keep you for any longer but be ready for me, okay?”

You nod and try to hide your grin by tucking your chin against your chest and glancing at the ground below.

Perhaps you’ve gained something more than a friend, even.

#gojo x reader #gojo satoru x reader #kendall writes #pokemon au #I DELETED THE OP LMFAOOOOOOO

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atinystraynstay · 2 months

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One Day At A Time - Choi San

Synopsis: Work is a major source of anxiety for you. You try your best to leave the stressors of your job at work, but sometimes, the little voices in your head get louder the moment you walk in the front door. Luckily for you, your boyfriend San is there to rid of every worry you might have.

Pairing: Idol!Choi San x Teacher!Reader

Genre: established relationship, fluffy comfort

Warnings: contains descriptions of anxiety.

Always remember to take care of yourself, whether you have anxiety or experience any other type of mental health decline. You are stronger than your toughest days. My DMs are always open if you need to talk/vent!

Word Count: 1.7k

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Your shoulders were slumped as you trudged up the steps to your apartment. All you wanted to do was curl up underneath the covers of your bed and hide from the rest of the world.

This was an ongoing feeling when you came home from your job. Often, you give all your energy in the classroom so it is easy to disassociate because of the low energy level you had once you exited the classroom. You would give your 100% to your students.

Today, you began to question if it was worth it. Not when your principal viewed you as falling short of expectations. You always found yourself working on lesson plans, on PowerPoints, and on other deliverables. All you wanted was to give your students everything but it still seemed like it wasn't enough.

Slowly, you slipped your shoes off by the door and placed your pink backpack on the floor. Not even shrugging off your jacket made the weight you feel lighter.

"Baby? Are you home?"

Your heart fluttered at the sound of your boyfriend. San. Your wonderful, amazing San. He was the ideal boyfriend, almost too perfect. He was there to let you rehearse lesson plans with you, letting you practice your delivery over and over again. You always heard the first year of teaching was the hardest, but this felt impossible. Yet, San was not going to let you give up on your craft.

He was constantly cheering you on. When you came home tired from a long day at work, he was there with a glass of wine ready to help you decompress. Often, he slipped little notes of encouragement either in your backpack or in the lunch. It was as if he knew those notes were your encouragement to get through the hard days.

When you decided to become a teacher, you thought that your toughest obstacle would be connecting with your students and handling uncomfortable parent-teacher conversations. What you didn't consider was having passive-aggressive school leadership that made it difficult to approach.

Honestly, most of your anxiety from your principal. Every single time you saw her, you felt your chest tighten. She was just unpredictable. You felt like you were walking on egg shells around her.

"Yeah, it's me," you called out.

Immediately, footsteps began to descend from the bedroom into the main part of the apartment. His footsteps sounded urgent as the padding of his feet hit the wooden floor.

All you could do was stand there. You didn't like being this type of person, not when San dropped everything for you. There was a part of you deep down that felt guilty because you know how crazy his schedule is. Yet, he still makes sure you know and never doubt not only his intentions with you but that he was constantly going to be here for you.

His heart broke at the sight. You looked so defeated, so burnt out. San knew your passion for education and making a difference. It was one of the reasons why San fell for you.

Yet, what he didn't like was that his angel was clearly upset.

"Bad day?" "The worst day."

If only he could absorb all your sadness. Honestly, he adored watching you on the day-to-day prepping for your students. You genuinely enjoyed that aspect of the job, learning the material and discovering the best methods of presenting it to your students. He always saw the passion and drive you held.

It was like you were center stage when you stood in front of the TV in the living room and presented the lesson to him as if he was one of your students.

Yet, right now, it looked like you were completely drained. And hated that.

Words didn't need to be exchanged. He knew what you needed, especially as you stood in front of him with tears in your eyes. The moment he saw a few were threatening to fall, he jumped into action.

His arms wrapped around you, holding you close. One of your favorite things about San was his hugs. It was as if he tried to squeeze all the sadness out of you. He made sure to keep one arm wrapped around you, so his fingertips could run up and down your spine. Your head nuzzled into his shoulders where your tears immediately began to soak the black t-shirt he had slipped on.

"I've got you. You can let it out. Whatever you need, sweet girl. I'm ready to give it all to you," he murmured to you.

Tiny kisses to your head were placed. His free hand moved to let the hair fall from the scrunch that had your hair pulled back into a low bun. He slipped the scrunch around his own wrist, ready for duty if needed. However, he knew one of the things you looked forward to doing when you stepped through the door was letting your hair down.

And it worked almost every time. Tonight, you needed something a bit extra.

"It was awful," you murmured into his clothed shoulder.

San knew immediately what you were talking about. You've been anxious over the past week and a half about your mid-year review at work. The anxiety only got worse when you received the Google Calendar invite.

Nothing could have prepared you for the shit show you walked into. It seemed as if everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. And San hated knowing all the hard work you put in was not getting acknowledged. You've been warned about coworkers how the first mid-year review tends to go. She tends to lean in hard, almost showing no remorse.

It felt like you had gone to a squaring match with a grizzly bear with no protection. You felt like you were beaten down to a pulp.

"What can I do for you?"

Once again, San proved that he was the best guy. Even after a long day of rehearsals for Coachella next month, he was in boyfriend mode. You tried your best to pour just as much love as possible back into him. Often, you wonder what you did to get so lucky to get such a considerate guy.

Not to mention he was attractive. He was honestly a dream come true. But to San, he was the one living the dream come true. You were his world, his princess. He would move mountains for you if you asked. You pulled your head back, so he could hear you better. "Just be here. Please. I don't want to talk about it."

That's all San needed to hear. With ease, he lifted you up and kept his hands underneath you to support you. Your arms wrapped around San's neck with your fingers running through the hair at the back of his head. This was what you always did as a comfort, and it also benefitted San because he loved the feeling of your hands on him.

He walked the two of you over to the couch. He knew in the moments you got emotional, you either wanted to be close like this or sprawl out. The couch offered the opportunity to switch if you desired, or he would be willing to carry you to your shared bedroom. You had San wrapped around your finger, but you didn't even know.

Everyone always commented on how he looked at you. His gaze always got compared to a Disney prince. You never doubted his love for you, but you almost couldn't believe it. San has never been happier, even when his members might tease him a bit about being whipped.

San had got himself situated on the couch. His hands left from beneath you to wrap fully around you. His arms pulled you in close, which caused you to sigh in relief. Both to be wrapped up in his arms but also feel his body heat against your body. The sigh was a good sign that you were on the road to recovery from your harsh day.

"You are such a hard worker, doll," he whispered into your ear. He kissed your cheek lingeringly. Your eyes fluttered shut to just soak in the moment of being this close with him.

"Watching everything you've done for your kids, your classroom, your school community. They are foolish for not recognizing what an outstanding teacher you are. But I see it, your coworkers see it. Your kiddos are so lucky to have such a caring, amazing teacher as you."

You sniffled as the tears began to fall again. The ache in your soul was being replaced with the love San had for you. Your heart was swelling with the amount of gratitude and love you had for him.

He was convinced each day that he fell harder in love with you. Everything he did was to make you happy in this shared life together.

"I don't wanna go back there," you sighed. "Just want to stay in your arms. You don't think the guys would mind?"

There's the woman he knew well. San wasn't afraid to conquer the hard days with you. He adored experiencing life with you. Yet, he never liked seeing you upset. When you were joking around, that was the woman he knew. You were starting to feel better, and he took pride that he was responsible for that.

"No, the guys won't mind. They know you're my everything. Do you think you can learn the choreography quick enough though?" "You know, I wanted to be a professional dancer when I was little."

His eyes widened slightly and a smile was on his lips. Even with your slightly puffy eyes and your red, runny nose, - he still viewed you as the most gorgeous woman in the world. And you were all his.

"Full of surprises, y/n. Always keeping me on my toes." "Me? What about you? You come home from a hard day of dancing, of probably jumping," you giggled.

He also shared that laughter with you. San definitely had gained quite the reputation for his wild dance moves and impressive but dangerous jumping ability. Hey, whatever happened in the KQ practice room, stays in the KQ practice room.

"But regardless. You always show up as the man I need, the partner I need." "It's not a surprise, pretty girl. You're mine and I'm yours. You allow me to live out my dreams and I'm here to support you in your dreams. I will do whatever it takes to make you smile and ensure your happiness."

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Selfishly wrote this for myself hahaha I had my mid-year review and let's just say, it was not the best 😅

But it's ok! I quit my job and have a new BETTER job starting this weekend.

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normal-internet-user · 1 year

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Sup! Can you do a rottmnt turtles x male reader (seprately ) where the reader is a natural flirt but when they flirt back he absolutely Loses his shit and becomes super flustered?

Yes! yes omg yes! I can totally do this! tysm for the request Anon!

Rise Boy's With A Flirty Male!Reader

Raph:

Raph isn't the flirty type.

Most of the time he just says cute shit that makes you all happy inside.

You however,

Are one flirtatious son a batch.

You're usually carrying the relashonship in that aspect.

So one day, while the two of you are spending time together,

When you make an offhanded flirty comment,

You expected the usual stuttering and mumbling,

However,

You were not expecting him to flirt back.

You literally did a spit take and whipped your head around like,

Hello?

Excuse me?

What did my baby boy just say?

And why did I kinda like it?

Raph immediatly goes into panic mode at your reaction,

He legit thinks he did something wrong.

He calms down after you explain to him he didn't,

And that you were just surprised.

He starts flirting back alittle more after that,

But his most common response is his usual flustered state.

Leo:

It's no secret that Leo is the flirting KING.

So your guys' relashonship is pretty much a challange to fluster the other.

And you have zero clue who's winning.

But you guys will go back and forth with flirty comments for hours.

Much to the utter dismay of literally everyone around you.

You are positive you have the upper hand in your latest battle of flirtatious comments.

Leo proves you incredibly wrong however,

When he renders you completely speechless.

And this mf is cocky as hell about it too.

"Who's winning now, huh, hottie?"

You are literally hiding your face so he doesn't get the satisfaction of seeing your blush.

That doesn't last long,

Since he literally pulls you face up for a smooch.

Donnie:

Donnie is the stoic bad-boy.

He likes to think that nothing gets to him.

But as his boyfriend you know that's not true.

He's not as good at hiding his flustered state as he thinks,

But he's never attempted to flirt back.

He mostly just complements you if he feels like it,

But never straight up flirts.

Well, until today.

It was the usual day hanging out in his lab,

Him tinkering away while you talked,

With a flirty comment thrown in here or there.

You honestly thought he wasn't paying attention.

That's why when this smooth mf responded to your flirting with some of his own.

You literally short circut.

You just freeze and stare at him,

Your face is so red you might as well have stolen one of Raph's masks.

And this asshole just smirks at you, before returning to his work.

You have no idea how to react,

It takes like ten minutes for you to process that event.

Mikey:

Mikey is your ray of sunshine.

You would do anything for him to be happy,

Which is why you flirt with him so often,

Because his face lights up everytime.

He never really flirts back though,

Poor boy doesn't really know how.

So he doesn't really try.

That's why you practically passed out when he delivered the smoothest line you had ever heard.

Even you didn't have that rizz.

Mikey straight up thought you had somehow died when you just kinda stood there,

Blushing like an idiot.

He went and got his brothers for help,

Leo literally doubled over laughing when he heard what happened.

Donnie mumbled something about time waster's,

Raph just kinda chuckled and pat Mikey on the shell.

Mikey had no idea what to do to snap you out of it,

So he just waved a cookie under your nose.

You snapped out of it pretty quick.

.........................................

Your ask is served Anon! I hope this is written to your liking, and have a wonderful day!

#tmnt #x reader #tmnt x reader #rottmnt #leonardo x reader #leonardo x reader tmnt #donnie x reader #raphael x reader #rise!donnie x reader #save rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise!mikey x reader #rottmnt x reader #rise headcanons #rise!raph x reader #rise!leo x reader #rise of the turtles #tmnt x male reader #normie writes

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drdemonprince · 2 months

Note

ive seen you talk about FIRE/mr money moustache and i am interested in how you balance that with your politics. i ask because i am also interested in FIRE but struggle with the idea of saving 2mil+ to retire early when people need money NOW to survive. not just broadly but even loved ones and community members in my immediate vicinity. i dont mean this in an EXPLAIN YOURSELF sort of way, just so many of the FIRE etc people i find writing about it dont really address this aspect and its something i struggle with internally myself.

Sure, I don't mind speaking about this at all. I wish I more frequently had the occasion to because it's a major special interest of mine.

First, I'm not interested in the saving 2 million dollars (if that were even feasible) school of financial independence/ retire early. I'm more of an adherent to the r/LeanFire, r/BaristaFire type approach of maintaining a consistently very frugal standard of living that is sustainable for me, on a relatively smaller savings, and pursuing a life of relatively little consumption.

I also think that MMM, despite his many flaws, is broadly accurate in stating that when people continuing working all their lives, they also create more ecological devastation by consuming a whole of a hell lot more resources on convenience and burning more fuel, while chasing after a steadily rising living standard set by the norms of their profession. By taking myself out of the workforce sooner rather than later, I will be contributing less to climate change and waste because I'll need fewer convenience meals, fewer car rides, fewer flights, fewer hotel rooms, fewer fancy professional clothes, and so on and so on.

I also spend a lot of time on the Socially Conscious Mustachians group on Facebook, which focuses on investing one's savings in ways that are less ethically problematic. The easy mode version of this is simply putting one's money into index funds that exclude oil companies, gun manufacturers, etc. But honestly, today, with interest rates being as high as they are? It's pretty easy to just sock one's money into a CD or a bond, collect the cool 5.4% interest, and avoid having to contribute to the stock market directly at all. There are even high-yield savings accounts at credit unions that pay out about that much interest these days, and those entities typically do not invest in oil pipelines, BDS targets, or anything all that objectionable.

As for the hoading money while others are in need piece: Well. yeah. that's a difficult ethical challenge that we all must consider. how much can i hold onto for my own wellbeing in the spirit of "putting on one's oxygen mask first" without it being wealth hoarding? how much should i give to other people when i see that they are in need --someone could easily make the case that I have the moral obligation to give away what i have to my very last cent, and I couldn't really argue with them on that. maybe a person should do that. but i'm not going to do it. and of course the effective altruism freakos would counter that if i invest my money and grow it now, i will have more to give to others in the long run than if i cash out now.

realistically, i won't be able to continue working for much longer without having another health episode or worse. i will not qualify for disability benefits because high maskers who have had careers usually do not. and social security's coffers will be entirely drained long before i reach the age to qualify for it. if i enter my non-working years without any resources, someone else will have to worry about me staying housed and medicated and fed.

i tend to think of my retire early stash as my own little private disability benefits fund that will allow me to live safely and will hopefully allow me to take care of other people that i love as we age, and that will give me the freedom from having to do any morally compromising capitalist labor ever again, and only put my energies towards causes that either fulfill me or benefit others.

but it's still rooted in a highly individualistic capitalist system, this holding onto money under my own name and investing it thing. im sure a lot of people would choose instead to sock all of their money into some kind of cooperatively owned communist farm or something, and you know, some day down the line i would love to put money toward a big multi unit building that lots of people i am in community with could live in, with no financial obligations for them. but i dont have anywhere near that kind of scratch. as hannibal buress (that landlord piece of shit) said, "i don't have fuck you money, i have strongly worded email money." and you know, being able to write a strongly worded email to people who would otherwise be exploiting me into another huge burnout does feel good.

thinking that one day i might not work anymore is one of the only things that keeps me going. i am always on the razor's edge of not functioning, i dont think people really realize that, how could they, the mask is there to prevent them seeing it. im beyond privileged to even get to CONSIDER the dream of getting by on my savings for however long human society continues to exist. and it sure would be better if i could extend that kind of freedom and peace of mind to others. my life still feels very precarious and it always has and ive had to be stable for the sake of others for a long time, ive had to be financially responsible for others for a long time. i cling to the idea of FI/RE because it offers me a way to finally break down and be weak. but something more community oriented and interdependent would sure as fuck be better. in the meantime i guess im saving for something like that i could trust enough to give myself over to.

i also have a really strong fetishistic desire to be someone's completely brainwashed sex pet for the entire rest of my life, and having an early retirement account would really help me facilitate that

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ilovemilfsthings · 1 year

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could you do a haaland imagine like celebrating after a game or something like doing those gq type of interviews? it doesnt have to be haaland tho

good luck w your writing!!

IMAGINE ; erling haaland x fem! reader

plot: celebrating after another Man City’s win.

trigger warning: none, just fluff

──── ✰࿒࿎྇ ༃࿐

TODAY WAS another man city match, this time against chelsea. you knew how your presence was important for erling, but he also knew about your rough time on studies. so he was never angry or upset, when you couldn’t go to his matches. but today was your free day, which erling didn’t know about. you wanted to surprise him and also show that you care about his football career.

you put on his jersey, that he gave you on your first date. to be completely honest, you never knew who this famous haaland was, when you met him you treated him like a non-famous person at all. you always preferred private life, than life with paparazzi in every corner. but you tried to forget about negative aspects in your relationship, even if it was hard at first. you checked the time realising that the match is about to start. you took all the stuff from the table, leaving house, you texted your boyfriend, as you usually do before the game.

«you would win today, keeping my fingers crossed. love you:*»

«thank you love, wish that you were here»

you just smiled at the phone screen, but didn’t reply to his last message. the stadium was close to your house, so you knew you wouldn’t miss any moment of the game. after you got to the right place, you rested your arms on the barrier, waiting for the players. when you saw your boyfriend on the field, a smile grew on your face.

man city beat chelsea again, honestly you were not surprised. but you knew, your throat would be dead tomorrow, after you screamed erling’s name all game. you were absolutely proud of him, always knew he was great at this sport, to you he would always be a goat, so you don’t think independently in this case.

you texted foden that you were here because you obviously wanted to go to your boyfriend. when he led you to the locker room, you immediately ran into erling’s arms, not giving him time to realise what was going on. but after a few seconds, he smiled at himself and hugged you tightly.

“what are you doing here? i thought you had lectures today.” he kissed your forehead, what makes you blush.

“actually i have day off, so i came to see how my handsome boyfriend beat chelsea team” he chuckled at your response, you did the same. “you played perfectly today, i am so proud of you” your words always motivated him, when he was losing, he could find comfort in your arms. but he preferred when he was winning and had moments like these.

“like always my goal was dedicated for you, even if i didn’t know you were here” he said, placed his big hands on your waist and squeezed it lightly. “i love you so much, y/n”

“i love you too erling, but i will shower you how i am proud of you in home but now let’s celebrate your win” she winked at him and took his hand, already knowing what plans has erling in his head, for that night.

──── ✰࿒࿎྇ ༃࿐

hope you like it!

sorry for any mistakes

#erling haaland #erling haaland x reader #man city #football imagine #imagines #x reader #football #premiere league

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catchyhuh · 7 months

Text

breakfast facts

WARNING!!!! DO NOT EMULATE THE MADE UP EATING PATTERNS I JUST MADE UP FOR THESE MADE UP PEOPLE IT WOULD PROBABLY BE BAD FOR YOU. ESPECIALLY ZENIGATA REALLY REALLY DO NOT EMULATE ANY OF TH

lupin:

must eat as soon as he wakes up or he’s fucked. not even like fully a physical stomach thing its just mentally he Must start his day with food

kellogs commercial table. the cereal, two slices of toast, one butter, one jam, apple, like bacon and eggs n shit

scarfs it down in two seconds. as a result no one else will make his breakfast for him becuase its kind of annoying spending 2 hours cooking at 7am so the princess can inhale his perfectly crisp bacon like the poltergust 3000

yes he complains when he has to do it himself. so every day yes. it just wasn't practical to do the whole shebang every day so he whittled it down to his toast and eggs. but you know if he could,

the king must feast. he gives himself a stomach ache damn near every day he gets his food the way he actually wants it

jigen:

eats what’s provided honestly. you could say that about every meal but he just doesn’t care too much esp with his breakfast

he’ll complain (he’s particular about waffles and pancakes needing to be a certain amount of savory to justify them existing in a MEAL meal and not just as a dessert) but not too a huge extent. honestly he’ll eat whatever

doesn't have a huge appetite early in the morning, usually balances it out with a big lunch and even BIGGER dinner. he's gotta ease into those heavy hitters man he's delicate bro

cawfee. cuppa joe. He hates it. jigen doesn’t like it despite dressing like a keurig machine gijinka and having the symphonic cadence of a coffee grinder. it just doesn’t taste good to him (it's that deceptive scent dude) that said {sleep hcs incoming soon} sometimes he needs some to jumpstart him like an old car. again, complains, but goes through with it

fujiko:

special k commercial table. the cereal. the side bowl with random dollops of peanut butter and mixed other nuts and oats (?) i guess it’s oats, the GRAPEFRUIT oh i know she’s a grapefruit bitch!! pb honey spread on an English Muffin too. like some. idk there’s a cinnamon stick involved YOU GET THE VISUAL

funny thing is she doesn’t even eat half of it. she just goes with the muffin, bowl of mini wheats, maybe two pieces of grapefruit ingested as she leaves the table. whoever passes the table next is expected to handle leftovers. breakfast leftovers. that's an insane concept now that i type it out

cawfee. she either drinks it with a thousand disgusting artificially flavored creams or she chews the beans raw. presentation vs functionality is a key aspect of ms mine's internal struggle

complex relationship with fast food coffee shop chains as a result

goemon:

another guy who loves the Big Breakfast by tom cardy but unlike lupin (who loves his beauty sleep too much to wake up early) and fujiko (who usually gets her non-lupin boytoy of the month to make it for her) goemon actually gets up asscrack of dawn early to prepare a meal fit for a king

perfectly fluffy rice. hand squeezed juice. absolutely decadent vegetables. impossibly picturesque omelette. but just normal ass sara lee bread though he doesn’t have THAT much time on his hands

funny thing is he's definitely the most normal about it. goemon just. eats his breakfast. he might raise his eyebrows in slight surprise at how good the eggs taste today or something but really its just. food. all these other weirdos either take 10 years to eat a piece of toast or just inhale their food but the guy who dresses and talks like its the 18th century wins the normal award here

has emphasized the importance of eating breakfast to others before despite easily functioning without it. wake him up at 4 say “no time for brekkie dude we gotta go steal the fire hydrant of the louvre” and he’ll be like Done no problems

zenigata: i know i mentioned it before but NOT HEALTHY BEHAVIOR DO NOT FUCKING EMULATE

haha.

he’s very bad about it VERY bad about it always getting yelled at by third parties. they go “what’d you have for breakfast” and he shrugs and they go "oh god did you even eat" "ONE BOILED EGG HAS PROTEIN IN IT!!"

its amazing the stature you can get while still being the guy who eats half a protein bar for breakfast and doesn’t actually sit down for a meal again until like 1 am. really i cannot emphasize enough don’t try this at home

HES JUST SO DAMN BUSY! but if he could he’d take anything. unlike jigen, who just doesn't wanna start a fight THAT early in the morning, zeni just loves every breakfast food! muffins eggs potatoes pancakes cereal the random ass fruit he LOVES it

god help the hotel with a free breakfast when this guy comes in. or that is, if he didn’t sleep until 11 AM because he was up lupin-ing all night.

in conclusion: they would all love a trip to the mcdonalds breakfast menu drivethru. they all get a hashbrown. would you believe me if i said i only remembered the mcdonald’s commercials after typing that

#lupin iii #lupin the third #i don't wanna overtag because really this is just. so i can put this out into the world and get it OUT OF MY HEAD so yeah ^w^#ACTUALLY I NEED TO TAG THIS FOR MY OWN ORGANIZATION LATER DON'T I. OOPS ok we'll just keep it on a one name basis #lupin #jigen #goemon #fujiko #zenigata #done.

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chiefbeifongcanrailme · 1 month

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Director's cut for Laws of Physics pls??

*Cracks knuckles* I'm finally getting to this. Every time I started typing this, I'd get overwhelmed but just how much I have to say and by this point, I've been putting it off for way too long.

It all started because of the Avatar Sunken Ships Week 2021 event that prompted me to write a modern AU. Before this, I had honestly never considered it mostly because I'd grown tired of the amount of modernization we see in books and media today. There's always a text conversation or internet stalking and somewhere, the appeal of the Avatar universe had to be the absence of these things. So when a modern AU was kinda thrust on me, I decided to have fun with it, until I realized, it was thoroughly self-indulgent and it way more fun than I imagined.

At the time, I was in grad school, in love with one of my professors- but obviously, nothing could happen there. As a kid, when in school, I was sooo nosy about my teachers' personal lives. Taking both those two aspect of me together, I decided to go with a university setup- that way I'm only writing adults- I don't think I care to write kids- no offense to anyone.

So, coming to Laws of Physics I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. Clearly, I had a lot more to write and establish in the very first chapter, but I ended up speeding through the foundation and gave it my best. Most of the comments I received implored me to consider writing another chapter to it. And while I often get comments like that, I learnt that not all fics should get a second chapter (wink, wink, nudge, nudge- if you know which one), however, some, like It's Time to Make Time did so well.

And then, one day I was in lab during a 10hr experiment and I had no music or anything to keep me occupied, so my brain travelled to Linumi land- more specifically, the outline to Laws of Physics. So, while I sat there, isolating cells from the very tissues I harvested, I decided Hiroshi Sato should be a part of this as Lin's ex and manifestation of daddy issues. That Asami and Mako could make a great background pair.

That I could have each and every single character from canon "play" whatever character I wanted them too- a fictionalized version of sorts of themselves.

The rest pretty much wrote itself. I wanted to spend more time on Bumi and Lin's relationship because that's where the fun is- the sneaking around and the drama. And because of this, I ended up writing Physical Laws too, a little prequel to my modern AU.

Without spoiling too much, so far, we have learnt some about both their pasts. Bumi used to be married, and Lin used to be in a relationship (another secret relationship) with a much older man with whom she almost had a baby with. Bumi has a very loving family and an adorable pet bunny, Bumju, while Lin, doesn't have a great relationship with her family. If I have Mako in the fic, he obviously has a big crush on Lin- it's not something I can help. Asami kinda joined the fic by herself, I never asked her to and then obviously Hiroshi's her dad so I was like omg DRAMA, get in here girlie. Would you like a Mako on the side?

Since it's Lin x Bumi, the fic often takes goofy turns and cooky romantics but that helps balance out the drama which as of now, isn't heavy, but may dip in that territory soon.

I look forward to getting out the whole story soon.

Thank you for the ask!

Fanfic Writer: Director's Cut

#lin beifong #chief beifong #merkittty answers #linumi #bumi ii #ask games

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idkanymoretbf · 16 days

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I need to know your prediction for todays game bebs!!! I think barca can do it, i’d say 4:2

¡visca barca!

i'm honestly nervous. i have some serious traumas from the ucl since the roma game and all those teams that did the 'remontada' on us, lmfao, so the nerves are kicking in. i'm not gonna give my prediction because i'm always AWFUL at that (i usually predict the winner but i can't really predict the score lol) but i'm gonna do some analysis for sure:

1. one of our cms needs to step up and be a dm since we don't have andreas (most likely fdj or gundo or both of them as double pivots while pedri will have the most attacking space probably).

2. i don't think that mbappe necessarily 'ghosted' last time i just think that our defenders did a good job. as much as i hate to admit it mbappe is a world class and our defenders need to step up again (i believe that they will). mbappe has a motive ngl, he got trolled on internet a lot and he probably wanna prove himself tonight, but trying to prove yourself can be a bad thing too (it can results to taking some unnecessary shots and moves just to prove yourself).

3. apart from mbappe, nuno mendes and barcola are the biggest threats AND add hakimi to all that, they wouldn't hesitate to play a really offensive football tonight. xavi made a great thing and did NOT put araujo on rb, just because mbappe is playing there. he realized that he can't have only one player marking him so putting jules on rb and ronald on rcb was the best thing he had done. in paris we didn't played high with our defense which is a good thing and we need to play like that tonight too.

4. BUT they have a big problem too and it's their defense. they have fast and dangerous wingers but i think our defense and midfield is way better. their defense is shit ngl and they make tons of mistakes. let's mention donnarumma too. they are awful at set pieces (corners especially) and we can an NEED to take advantage of that.

5. they are so good at pressing and that can be a problem for them too. one long pass from our defense or mats to the front and that's where their defenders collapse. also we need to press too because donnarumma is bad in that aspect too.

6. the best thing about last game is that we have the advantage. we're in the best situation among all the clubs that are in the qfs because only we won an away game. we have one goal advantage and we need to use that in our favor. we can't just defend the result tonight because if we score the goal first, there won't be any bigger problems for us if you ask me.

7. our players seem really happy and excited about this game and i think that's a good thing.

8. fans there, would help us a lot. more passion, more chants, more anything, we can't be quiet tonight, it's one of our most important games in years literally!!!

9. if xavi does everything tactically perfect tonight we would definitely win, and of course, if our players do their best!!!

10. also forgot to mention that we shouldn't really care about possession, because possession doesn't win you games, psg also plays that 'possession type of football' under lucho so we shouldn't really care about that! (i saw few fans on twitter roasting our players because of that but we literally won a game lol).

11. we can't lose concentration tonight because we saw what happened when we did in those 5 to 10 minutes. we controlled a game and they scored because we controlled it badly in the start of the second half.

long ass analysis, i know, but i had to write it out to make it clear for others that it's not gonna be that easy tonight. BUT i do believe that we can win this.

at the end of the day i stand with the boys always, no matter what happens, so:

Visca el Barça y Visca Catalunya, always! 💙❤️

#fc barcelona #barca #barça

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gemsofgreece · 10 months

Text

Today something happened that I would like to talk about, because it reminded me how meaningless stereotypes are and how you don’t have to believe people with a self-placed badge of honour on their shirt.

We had a car crash. The responsibility was of the other car, rented by a family of seemingly put together tourists from a rich small Western European country that is considered like the heart of civilised West Europe (being vague but not really).

While we were waiting, a woman and a man ran to all of us, and because we were all a bit lost, they called the police for us and offered again and again to call an ambulance. They also offered to buy us water but we all refused, except we thanked them and told them to go home without worries. The others said nothing.

A little later a motorcyclist passed by, he gave us some advice and asked if we wanted water. This time my mother admitted she needed some and he left. He returned soon with bottles of water for us and the tourists. He tried to offer water bottles to the tourist kids but they were too distrustful. The adults took them. We all thanked him except I tried to give him the money and they did not. He did not accept it and said he just did the bare minimum.

The tourists “politely” tried to question that their responsibility was theirs. They did not look at us once, except maybe stealing some glances, and they did not bother apologising of course.

They, the notoriously environmentally conscious Europeans, drank the water that good man gave them and littered some poor person’s house by leaving the empty bottles on the window! I was about to tell them “they forgot their bottles” but they were quickly getting back into the rented car. The insurance representative, a super positive and pleasant man, commented that he had lived in big very disciplined Central European country next to that of the tourists, and these types of people there would straight out call the police on you for leaving your trash in a random place, but when they go on a foreign country or one they deem “inferior” like Greece, they are the first to unapologetically dump their trash anywhere they want like literally in other people’s properties.

A man who is an acquaintance passed by and was insisting to go back to his place and make us fresh juice as we were waiting for the insurance to be done with the report under this sizzling afternoon sun. We convinced him we were okay and we would soon be done.

Once we were done, the tourists took their kids from an internet cafe nearby, where I am willing to bet the cafe did not ask for a fee and they did not offer anything as a thanks. They took the kids, they left the bottles in the poor person’s house, they said no other word to the insurance guy and they did not near as looked at us of course. The car was rented, so the insurance company will pay for everything and they will go about their vacation without any repercussion whatsoever and without as much as an apologetic smile.

A relative learnt about it and came join us as we were waiting for the insurance report to be done. Then my relative chased the insurance guy to give him a tip, for being a pleasant and patient man working under this ruthless sun. The man refused, saying he was doing his job, but my relative put the money on his hand anyway.

I am saying all this, not to trash on anyone as a whole, but to show you how stereotypes mean nothing. I met a lot of lovely Greeks today and a bunch of civilised west European assholes. Honestly it’s like there was no emotion inside them except for suppressed anger or maybe, hopefully, a bit of concealed embarrassment. They did not even ask us if we were okay. Anyway faith in my country a little restored. Even before the accident, I just so happened to stumble onto many super helpful and caring people today. At least on that aspect, it was a day that made you feel you can hope.

#personal #thoughts #stereotypes #Greece #tw car crash

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clownrecess · 11 months

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Hi! (Pfft, can't even type, "hi," without almost screwing everything up. My brain is laggy today. 💀) I have a quick question:

You are very openly an AAC user and I find that super cool. Based on posts I've seen from your blog, you know a lot of different AAC apps for both Apple and Android. Do you know any websites that I could use on a laptop, though?

Personally, I'm semiverbal/semispeaking and have sorta-frequent verbal shutdowns. They typically happen outside of home when I'm not around unsupportive family, so I can feel free to use paper and pencil to write or use my phone for texting. I'm in the process of setting up and personalizing a few different AAC apps on my tablet, but it's slow-going and I'm not allowed to bring my tablet with me everywhere. So a website that I could customize and use on my laptop would be fantastic since I bring it to many places, even when I know that I won't need it.

Oh! One more thing because writing this made me remember: do you have any tips for customizing AAC apps? I'm currently trying to customize three: I Can Communicate!, Cboard (or whatever it's called, I can never remember), and Speech Assistant. So do you have any tips for customizing them? Like, figuring out what sort of layout and design works best for you?

That's all! Feel free to ignore or take a long time to answer my questions if you don't want to answer, are too burnt out/stressed to answer, or have any other reason. (Any reason is valid---I was just giving examples.)

Also, a quick note before I go: from the photos I've seen you post here, you have such a beautiful fashion style! You seem to always account for your AAC dev to match your outfit, whether its strap matches your outfit, the device itself, or both aspects. It's super cool, and you have such an amazing style, in general.

Anyway, that's all---for real, this time! Hope you have a good rest of your day/night!

First, thank you so so much for the compliments, second, I used to use ICanCommunicate a few years ago!!

I haven't personally used it before but I've seen people use Coughdrop on a laptop website!!

As for figuring out what design/layout works best, honestly just practicing and finding references you like is the best, at least it was for me.

/gen

#aac

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mazikomo · 2 years

Text

In Too Deep — Chapter 2, Testing the Waters

You hadn't even wanted the job in the first place, but after being tossed into the deep end, you found yourself searching for just how far it's depths reached. Modern AU, Silco has a massive aquatic collection and it's your job to take care of it.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

AO3 link

Silco/fem!reader, eventual NSFW 4.6k words Modern day AU, slow burn, full tags on AO3

After going through formatting hell, the sharks have arrived! Oh, and there's Silco too, but more importantly, sharks! 🦈

Open mouth kiss to @sherwood-forests for her pharmaceutical knowledge and @steponmesilco for the marine guidance. Don't put sharks on the floor kids.

[DISCORD: The Playground → #general]

TheBoySavior Today at 6:47 PM yo @SharkWhisperer how was the first day?

Vi(olence) Today at 7:03 PM first day? you get a new job???

TheBoySavior Today at 7:05 PM she got assigned out to manage a private collection abandoned me 😭

Vi(olence) Today at 7:06 PM private collection? who tf has enough fish to need a full time aquarist?

TheBoySavior Today at 7:07 PM @SharkWhisperer I’m going to let you tell her

Vi(olence) Today at 7:07 PM TELL ME WHAT? 👀👀 HELLO??

[The Playground→ #fishbowl 🐟]

sharkwhisperer Today at 8:54 PM @TheBoySavior sent you the address and instructions for tomorrow morning, gimme a call if you need anything TheBoySavior reacted with 👍

Vi(olence) Today at 8:55 PM oh I see how it is you come online and go to your special little aquarists channel and ignore my questions I expect a full rundown when you get home

[The Playground → #general]

sharkwhisperer Today at 8:55 PM @Vi(olence) seeing as this is the first chance I’ve had to check discord since this morning, I’VE BEEN BUSY

Vi(olence) Today at 8:56 PM yeah yeah, you still haven’t told me what this new super secret assignment is

sharkwhisperer Today at 8:57 PM too lazy to type home in 15 can I have your leftover pizza?

Vi(olence) Today at 8:58 PM replying to @SharkWhisperer it has pineapple

sharkwhisperer Today at 8:58 PM im too hungry to care

You put away your phone after that and closed your eyes to take advantage of not having to focus on driving. The bus stop was only a block or so from your shared condo with Vi, so you had opted to take it instead of having to figure out parking on your first day. Honestly, you might make it a habit. Some people said driving was a good way to sort out their thoughts and decompress. Those people had obviously never driven in Florida.

With your backpack hugged to your chest, you got as comfortable as one could be in a metal bus seat. You hadn’t been exaggerating when you said your day had been ‘BUSY.’

Even with your methodical approach, you had been on your feet the entire day. Grayson had done a phenomenal job at getting everything ready, but you still had to acclimate yourself. And there was a lot to acclimate to: six tanks, all the life support systems attached to them, the dietary needs of dozens of animals, and the extra care and monitoring of those with medical conditions. Not to mention the usual aspects of starting any new job, like figuring out where the hell everything was.

Oh, and the sharks are coming tomorrow morning.

Needlessly to say, you had gotten your steps in for the day and then some. Checking the equipment was a matter of recording settings and what all the gauges read. It was simple but tedious. Thankfully, besides the piranhas, you were familiar with all the other animals. Even more thankfully, you had brought what you called your ‘slop top’ apron to wear while you did food prep. In between all of that, you had also played phone tag with Ekko to coordinate the transportation of the sharks.

By the time the sun had set, you had established a nice baseline of operations for yourself.

While everyone else had already left, you only had one thing remaining. A task you had been looking forward to all day: enter the main tank and have a look around. The new scuba suit in the locker room was a nice gesture, but you preferred to wear your own. Plus, red just wasn’t your color.

You moved methodically, pulling the material taught as you went and only continuing to the next section when the current one was perfectly situated. Starting with pulling on the legs like stockings, then over hips, behind, and stomach. Your arms went through the sleeves like you would put on a jacket from behind until you were able to work it up over your shoulders. From there, all you had to do was zip up the front and fasten the velcro around the collar. Gloves, flippers, and goggles completed the ensemble.

The suit had a weighted blanket effect, tight enough that you felt grounded despite quite literally floating, but there was no hindrance to your movements. However, navigating the long tube attached to an oxygen tank on the surface, instead of carrying one on your back, proved to be a bit cumbersome, but you adjusted well enough.

Almost immediately after you lowered yourself in, Enoch nudged your side.

He was one of the two green sea turtles who had come from a local rehabilitation center for marine wildlife. Their injuries had been cared for and healed, but the damage done meant they could not be returned to the open ocean. They were quite the characters.

For Enoch, the general assumption was that he had been attacked by a shark as a decent portion of his front flippers were missing. However, that didn’t slow him down in the slightest. He loved attention and was known to follow his caretakers and bump into them whenever possible.

Clarence, on the other hand, reminded you of a grumpy old man in a cartoon. He could have quite the temper and mostly kept to himself, but he still proved to be a sweetheart. He had been struck by a boat propeller which caused an air pocket to form under his shell—bubble butt as the condition was called. The air pocket was unremovable and did not allow him to dive to the depths needed, an unfortunately common occurrence for wild sea turtles. Weights had been attached to his shell to help counteract the pocket’s buoyancy effects.

Like many turtles with bubble butt, Clarence was not a fan of his weights. With everything being brand new, it wasn’t hard to spot where he had already been rubbing against a filtration pipe in an attempt to knock them off his shell. He wasn't doing any real damage, but it was something you’d need to keep an eye on.

The jerk of the bus’ brakes alerted you to your stop. Even at night, the heat and humidity was strong and you were already sweating by the time you reached your place.

You heard yelling from inside before you even had the key in the lock. Yelling meant Vi was gaming, maybe you could slip past her without having to explain your new assignment. Vi was generally easy going, but there were a few opinions of hers that she would fight tooth and nail to defend: cereal went into the bowl before the milk, pirating media was a victimless crime and more people should do it, and Zaun Inc. was evil.

The rumbling of your stomach, however, killed that idea.

It was dark when you stepped inside, save for the color changing LED lights that lined the living room. Sometimes you regretted agreeing to Vi having her gaming setup in the living room, but you weren’t home enough to justify moving it elsewhere. Besides, she made a surprisingly decent amount of money streaming. You dropped your backpack by the door and went straight to the fridge.

A cold slice went directly from the box to your clenched teeth so your hands were free to crack open a sports drink. You flopped onto the couch in the spot that was outside Vi’s camera range. A burst of pineapple made you grimace as you chewed but it felt good to get something in your stomach after a long day.

“Alright guys, I’m going to take a quick break. Back in ten.”

Vi’s chair, a second hand gaming chair the two of you had picked out of the trash and pushed each other down the sidewalk on, creaked as she turned towards you.

She looked at you with big eyes and folded her hands under her chin. “Soooo, where’s this exciting new assignment that’s so secret?”

You carefully kept your eyes on the ceiling. “Zaun Incorporated.”

For the second time that day, you felt the air in the room shift.

“...You’re joking.”

Eyes still on the ceiling. “Nope.”

Vi shot out of the chair and paced the small room. “Why would you work for a company like that!?”

Your head lolled to the side as your eyes followed her movements. “You seriously think I would choose a job like this? You know me better than that.” Pizza laying on your chest, your hand pinched between your eyes, “Look, I don’t work directly for them, it’s a contract through my actual employer. I didn’t have a choice, I was the lucky duck that was picked.”

Back and forth. Back and forth she paced. Like a tiger on the prowl until she finally snapped. “Do you know how many kids come in hooked on shimmer?”

Your throat tightened. It was something you had decidedly not been thinking about since Grayson told you where the assignment was.

Vi’s day job was working with at-risk youth. She was a boxing coach and mentor for a lot of kids. The program she was a part of, Children of the Lanes, had been founded by her father and was held in high regard in the city. Ever since shimmer hit the streets years ago they’ve had their hands more than full. The substance was still very much a mystery, but everyone knew its base ingredient was the same as that of Riowave, a pharmaceutical drug invented by Zaun Inc. It was the first parent drug of its kind, and as soon as it hit the market, Shimmer flowed out onto the streets shortly after.

From what you understood, the drug was groundbreaking due to its purported lack of side effects and ability to treat chronic pain where other drugs have failed. Unfortunately, the notoriety of shimmer quickly overtook the magnitude of such a discovery and the reputation of Zaun Inc. became tarnished.

But you also knew that wasn’t the entire reason for Vi’s hatred of the company. No, there was something personal there. Something you had never picked at out of respect for your friendship.

You sat up and rested your elbows on your knees, the cold pizza forgotten. “Look, I know their reputation isn’t the greatest, but I’m not going to be anywhere near that stuff. My job is to take care of the aquariums and animals. That’s it.”

“Why does a company like that even have large scale aquariums?”

“Apparently the CEO’s a shark nut or something, I don’t know. He hardly said anything to me when we ran into each other.”

Vi rounded on you, “You met Silco?”

“I think? Is that his name? It was really—”

“Stay away from him.”

You blinked. “Why?”

“Just stay away from him, okay? He’s not a good guy.” She sat down and put her headphones back on signaling the end of the conversation.

You finished the pizza, not even tasting it as you turned the conversation over in your head and got ready for bed. In the living room, Vi was a bit louder than usual, but better she worked out her frustrations on a video game than you. She’d probably simmer for a few days before cooling off, and if today was any indication of your new schedule, you wouldn’t be around much for it anyways.

Honestly, you had been so busy today you had forgotten about your brief interaction with the boss—er, Silco. You didn’t know much about him besides what you saw in passing while scrolling social media. He was a rare case of a genuine self-made man in the pharmaceutical industry but many theorized it wasn’t entirely achieved by honest means. If the glimpse you experienced of him today was any indication, you were inclined to agree.

His authority had been unmistakable in the room. An invisible weight—that eye, the Eye of Zaun nickname from the tabloids finally made sense—held you in place, and yet you were still intrigued. Your eyes had tracked over him. Everyone you had met that day had been in more casual clothes meant for labor, but Silco’s were impeccable. At a glance you could tell the attire had been tailored to his lean form. Dress slacks, button up, waistcoat, and tie certainly gave you pause.

As you would with a new animal in your care, you kept your actions more reserved. Do and say what would appease them. Make them feel comfortable so you could eventually approach for a closer look.

He scanned your form as you mirrored his position: firm stance, shoulders back, and hands loosely held behind your back.

“You’re the aquarist Grayson sent?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“What time will the sharks be here tomorrow?” Right to the point then, best to do the same.

“What time do you want them here?”

The minuscule raise of an eyebrow told you that was not the response he was expecting. “Nine will be sufficient.”

“Nine it is then.”

–

By 8:55 the next morning, you had already suited up and were in the process of double checking everything you had set up yesterday. The sharks would be going into an isolated area of the main tank that was about the size of a large backyard swimming pool. They would stay there until they were acclimated and trained enough to have full access to the main tank.

The doors to the freight elevator opened.

“Five more minutes and I would have had free delivery.”

Ekko rolled his eyes. “And you have the audacity to call other people’s jokes bad.”

“You said you’d miss me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” He pushed the large wheeled crate towards you. “I’ll be back in a minute with the other.”

You worked on unclasping the plexiglass lid and checked the water flow inside. Ekko returned with the second crate moments later as you adjusted the speed of the small pump.

He jerked a thumb behind him. “I don’t know what’s crazier, that guy’s hair or his eyes.”

You looked up. “Oh, Dustin? Yeah, he’s a bit of an oddball but apparently a whiz with heavy machinery.”

“Wish I had known that while he was unloading them off the truck. I was white knuckling my phone the entire time.”

“How’d you get them loaded up?”

Ekko grimaced. “I had to ask Marcus to help.”

“Ew.”

“I know. He bitched the entire time about how he should have gotten your position.”

You snorted. “Ironic since he never applied for it.”

“Yeah, he didn’t like when I pointed that out.”

“Marcus can suck a dick.”

Ekko grinned, “That’s exactly what I told him.”

Ekko and you fell into a comfortable rhythm after that. You gingerly rotated the sharks onto their backs, causing them to enter a sleep-like state, and checked them over to see if anything had happened during the transport. Ekko had already done a full examination with measurements, weight, and blood drawn this morning.

You had only been away from them for about a week, but you were once again struck by the beauty of the sharks. The moment they had arrived at Buhru Aquatics weeks ago you knew they were special. Little did you know just how special, being the prized feature of Zaun Inc.’s new building and all.

There were a few reasons why sand tiger sharks were the ideal pick for aquariums. On the practical side, they adapt and survive well in captivity. Unless provoked, they’re not aggressive and therefore safe to mix with various other animals. If fed on a regular basis, they wouldn’t seek out a snack in their tank mates.

Most importantly, however, they encapsulated the ferocious shark look people wanted to see. Three rows of jagged teeth were visible even when their mouths are closed, and long pectoral and tail fins not only allow for stealthy movement, but an impressive and daunting silhouette.

For being wild caught, it was surprising how quickly these two had adjusted and began to interact with you more and more each day. It was why you loved your job so much; each animal had their own personality and it was never lost on you how fortunate you were to have a front row seat to observe them. Hell, not even front row, you were right on stage with them.

Zaun Inc. never was a stage you thought you’d be on, but nevertheless, along with these two sharks, you had been thrust into the spotlight. Hopefully the audience wouldn’t throw you overboard.

“So, how’d Vi take the news?” Ekko asked.

“She was upset but understood I’m not actually part of the shimmer pipeline. Though, she seems to have a personal grudge against this place I have yet to uncover.”

“That's why I let you tell her. All I know is there some sort of beef between her dad and—”

The metal door clicked as it unlocked and caused the both of you to look up. Speak of the devil, Silco entered and smoothly approached, not even glancing at either of you as he strode right up to the transportation tanks to look inside.

You cleared your throat. “Good morning, Sir. This is Ekko. He brought the sharks here and will be helping with checking them over and getting them into the isolation area.”

To your surprise, Ekko offered his hand. “Nice to meet you, Sir.”

Silco seemed to act on autopilot as he gave a firm handshake, responded with a clipped, “Pleasure,” then immediately focused back on the sharks.

He tilted his head. “Two females?”

That surprised you even more.

You nodded in confirmation. “You know your sharks.”

“Based on their size, I was going to say male, but since you have them upside down I can see they’re lacking that anatomy.”

“These two are still juvenile, I’d estimate about three to four years old for both, so they still have quite a ways to grow.

“Do they have names?”

You gestured to the one closest to you, “This is Gabriella. She’s quite social for having only been in captivity for a short time. The other is Sandy. She displays more typical behavior and likes to keep close to the bottom of the tank. You can tell the difference by Sandy's more prominent spots and slightly larger size”

Silco hummed. “She has yet to come out of her shell.”

“Well, luckily she has the sea turtles to show her the way.”

You received two very different looks in response: Ekko, an incredulous, are you really telling dad jokes with the Eye of Zaun?? stare and a nonchalant glance from Silco. It was almost expressionless, save for the slightest raise of his brow. He was either amused by your cheekiness, or drafting your employment termination memo in his head. You decided it was the former—he had started it after all.

“How long until they can enter the main tank?”

You shrugged. “Depends on how they adjust to yet another new environment. Ekko and I got them onto a pretty good schedule after a few weeks, but I want to make sure—”

“The building opens in a month. I want them in the main tank by then.”

His tone prickled underneath your skin.

“That should be doable.” your response was clipped.

Silco looked up and suddenly that casual gaze was cutting. “It will be done.” There was no room for argument in his tone.

That, however, did deter you. All your life you had a tendency to shoot from the hip and deal with the results afterwards. It had bitten you in the ass on more than one occasion but you chose not to regret things. Your gut may override your brain sometimes but there was always a reason for it. You were here to do a job and you’d be damned if anyone interfered with what you knew was the best course of action.

The same authoritative tone from yesterday was summoned once more and you reflected Silco’s challenging stare. “With all due respect, Sir, my job here is to care for all of the animals. The sharks won’t be integrated into the main tank until I am absolutely confident there won’t be any issues. One of the turtles in there has already suffered extreme injury from a shark. I will not allow anything like that to happen under my care.” You gestured to the sharks without breaking eye contact. “My expertise tells me a month should be enough time to release them, but I am not someone who makes fruitless guarantees.”

You held his stare, not even allowing your eyes to flicker between his own duo-colored ones. Perhaps an overkill explanation, but if he wanted to play hard ball you were more than prepared to swing back.

Silco’s seafoam eye narrowed. “You would do best to watch your tone,” he paused for a moment as if he could see your insides bristle. Then, to your surprise once more, his shoulders eased. “However, I concede my order. I was unaware of the reason for that turtle's wounds.”

Your own posture relaxed as well. “Thank you, Sir. I appreciate the understanding.”

“Just be sure everything is done to facilitate the transition in a prompt timeframe.” With that, he turned towards the exit.

You bent over the sharks and stage whispered, “Hear that ladies? Dad wants you in the big kids playground as soon as possible. So be good for him.”

The only response was the echo of Silco’s shoes and the click of the latch as the door automatically locked behind him.

Ekko broke the silence. “I know our job involves swimming in shark infested waters, but that doesn’t mean you have to piss them off while you’re in there.”

“Where’s the fun in that? Help me get the sling under Gabby.”

Ekko held Gabby in her upside down position while you maneuvered a large nylon blanket under her. After a final quick check over, he rotated her back upright. Together, you then pushed the transportation tank as close to the edge of the isolated area as you could.

“Just try not to get in over your head here okay? This job is already a lot without you stirring things up with your mouth.”

You each grabbed an end of the sling on either side of the shark.

“Tell that to my mouth, it runs on a separate operating system. Okay, lift on three: one, two, three!”

Both of you hefted upwards. Gabby may only be a juvenile but she still weighed enough that there really should be more than two people to help move her.

As soon as she was out of the water she began to thrash. Quickly, you stepped down into the isolation area where the water came up to your calves. She fought against the confines of the sling as she was eased in. You each lowered your sides of the sling and she smoothly swam out, happy to finally be back in open water.

You repeated the process with Sandy who was much more agreeable to being moved. From there, you helped Ekko drain the transport tanks and pack up.

“You want me to come down and help load the truck?”

“Nah, I’ll let crazy hair play with the forklift again,” he clapped you on the shoulder, “Behave and keep me updated on the girls. I’ll see ya when I see ya.”

You waved as the elevator doors closed and then you were alone. Well, not completely alone. You had your favorite girls with you now and you were sure you’d be having plenty of conversations with Enoch.

As you approached the edge of the isolation area you replayed your interaction with Silco in your head. You could have handled it more tactfully, but what’s done is done. Not ideal, but you had gotten your point across. Working with (for?) Silco was certainly going to be a learning curve.

Admittedly though, you gave credit where credit was due. To reassess and change your stance when presented with new information instead of digging your heels in was admirable. The man was a natural born leader. He had the power of a river cutting through mountains but was still adaptable to the landscape.

You laughed to yourself, training Silco was probably going to be more of a challenge than training the sharks. Sharks were simple; keep them well fed on a strict schedule, and they wouldn’t cause any trouble. Silco, on the other hand, probably couldn’t be regimented as easily.

He didn’t even need to be tamed that much though. Like the sharks living in a tank with their natural prey, you needed to find a balance with him. It was his building and his animals, but it was your job to take care of them. You didn’t mind if he came and observed. Hell, you hoped he would. You wanted him to know that his animals were in the best of hands and perhaps even see how deep his shark knowledge went, but he needed to respect that you knew what you were doing. There needed to be a, a… boundary!

You dashed off to the supply closets not even caring about the wet footprints you left behind.

–

Towards the end of the day, you were observing the sharks when the click of the door made you jump and almost fall into the water.

Silco’s voice was smooth while you floundered to recompose yourself.

“Yesterday, when you told me so succinctly to leave, you didn’t have any idea who I was, did you?”

“No, Sir.”

“Silco is fine.”

“Okay, Silco,” the name felt odd on your tongue, an interesting flavor but not one you were opposed to trying more. “No, I did not know who you were. Ran told me the marina was my domain. All I knew at the time was no one should have been here besides me.”

“And yet earlier today, you put your foot in your mouth again despite knowing my position.”

You barely stopped your shoulders from shrugging and instead nodded. Mirror him; if he was formal then you were formal. “I apologize for how I spoke, but I don’t regret speaking up.”

“Standing your ground, a respectable trait.” Silco hummed, “Just remember your domain is but a small part of my kingdom.”

He seemed to enjoy putting you in your place, but you were never good at staying still.

“Speaking of, I actually need to stand my ground again right now.” Your voice raised in pitch and you bit the edge of your lip.

Silco’s eyes tracked the quick movement before flicking back to yours. “And how’s that?”

You pointed to his sleek dress shoes. “If you continue to come up here, which I encourage you to do, I am going to have to ask you to wear non-slip shoes past the line.” You moved your finger to the yellow duct tape line that you had artfully run across the floor after your earlier encounter. It allotted a few feet in front of the main entrance and freight elevator as well as encased your office and the locker room. “You may be authorized to go wherever you please, but OSHA applies to everyone,” you paused, deciding to further test the waters with your best customer service smile, “even the king.”

An eyebrow arched. “You really don’t have strong self preservation instincts do you?”

“Why cling to a life preserver when there’s so much to explore below?”

“An interesting way of phrasing it.”

You gave a sweeping bow. “Is there anything else His Majesty requires of his aquarist?”

Almost as if he was playing along—and he might be, you couldn’t yet read him entirely—his voice adopted the slightest hint of a haughty tone. “That will be all.”

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