#i'd say i've got something going on.... like back when i had that promotion offered to me at work and i literally cried in my room stressed | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

crinkled-emotions · 1 year

Note

Oh I LOVE the sick prompts. I've loved the Jake and Bob ones you've posted here and on AO3, but im a Rooster girl through and through so if you could do 8 34 38 from the sick prompts list for Rooster with Maverick to the rescue please I'd love that xx

Okay I think my wifi is fixed so I am BACK! Here we goooooo!

8. "Weren't you sick just last month?", 34. "Let me just swim through this ocean of tissues first" and 38. "When were you planning to tell me you were this sick?"

We took a different direction on this one! Maverick comes in toward the end.

Now that he’d survived nearly dying at least twice in a matter of hours, Rooster was ruthless in the air. The uranium missing alone would have earned him his promotion in rank to Lieutenant Commander but the way he flew afterward really cemented it for Cyclone and Warlock. With the offer of a promotion came the offer of a teaching position at TOPGUN; he’d taken it without hesitating, very on-brand for post-mission Rooster. The other Daggers had formed a new squadron, Phoenix at the head. Rooster would never admit it but he knew he wasn’t going to fly in combat ever again if he had anything to do with it. Instead, he was going to share everything he’d learned from the last fifteen years with a bunch of snot-nosed, over-confident, stupidly-cocky TOPGUN students.

When he’d revealed the plan to the Daggers, Hangman (who had actually already taught at TOPGUN years ago) had burst out laughing with a good luck.

Thanks, Bagman.

His first class had been awful, and he felt like every afternoon he spent in Cyclone’s office explaining himself. He knew that now that the connection between himself and Maverick had been made there would be all eyes on him but he hadn’t expected to be pulled into Cyclone’s office after the first day and reamed over the coals for his lesson plan. Day two hadn’t gone much better, and by the time day three rolled around he was wondering if the Navy was still the best place for him. That afternoon, Cyclone had looked over his lesson plan and simply nodded. Good. That was all he said; like that was enough to satisfy Rooster’s need for approval (he would talk about that with his therapist about six months later).

His current group were... look, all of them were shitheads, and when I say all I mean all, but they had a good sense of humour and they occasionally listened to him if he asked nicely (threatened them with pushups). The group of seven were still playing as though they were individuals; Mac would yell at Paws, then Buddy’s wizzo Horse would yell back, and then-

Listen. It’s complicated.

Rooster was not feeling it that morning. He’d gone out for dinner the night before with Penny, Mav (who’s still refusing to admit he’s retired) and Amelia and he got home later than he usually tucked himself in. He dragged himself out of bed eventually, huffing and puffing and trying not to think about how shitty he felt the whole time. The first coffee he downed tasted like ass; the second one he’d shoved in a travel mug to drink on his way to base. His breakfast bar wasn’t particularly appetising either but he had to have something in his stomach to settle the Tylenol he’d taken before running out the door.

“Sir-“

“-Mac, it’s Rooster. What do you need?”

The Lieutenant straightened his back in front of Rooster’s desk and Rooster silently begged he wasn’t about to say what he was going to-

“-Rooster, I respectfully request that I get an individual session today.”

“Kid, we’ve talked about this. TOPGUN isn’t for individual sessions; it’s about improving your dogfight skills and honing your teamwork skills which should already be razor sharp.”

“Lieutenant Seresin would give me individual sessions,” Mac said and his eyes widened when he realised what he’d done. Not his smartest move, yet Rooster couldn’t even be bothered scolding him. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Mac, the answer is no. I’m very aware Lieutenant Seresin is some kind of god among new students, but I’m not him.”

“Rooster-“

“-Mac.”

Rooster glanced up from his paperwork, eyes heavy as he rubbed at his temples to ease the ache, and Mac furrowed his brows.

“Weren’t you sick just last month?”

“What kind of- I swear to god- you’re still here?”

Rooster ushered him out of his office, pausing when he realised one of the quieter aviators, Jelly, was standing near the doorway.

“Please don’t tell me you want private lessons too, Jelly,” he huffed. She kept her eyes firmly on the floor.

“Can we talk in your office a moment, sir?”

Rooster opened his mouth to protest; he had a lot to do and he still had to see Cyclone at some point before his hop in about an hour, but the way she held herself concerned him. He stifled a yawn into the back of his hand, stepping back into his office.

“Of course.”

She was pregnant. She’d cried the entire hour Rooster had available and then some more, hysterical about how she’d messed up her career. Rooster had been firm when he reassured her that if he had anything to do with it, it wouldn’t detriment her career, and then gently congratulated her. She’d confided that she didn’t feel comfortable flying; not even at TOPGUN, not until after the baby was born, and Rooster had understood.

It did mean he was down a single seater but that could wait until he got to Cyclone later that afternoon. His phone had been buzzing on his desk the entire time but he was more focused on making sure Jelly was okay.

After getting her off to the infirmary to make sure they could sign her off he jogged back to his office only to find Cyclone waiting for him.

“Lieutenant Commander Bradshaw-“

“-sir, I’m sorry, I-“

“-are we going to make this a habit?”

“I had some team politics to fix; one of my aviators is having a meltdown about private lessons like he’s an eight year old wanting his piano teacher to hang around a little later, and another has some personal issues to sort out. What did you want to see me about, Cyclone?”

“Rooster. You came highly recommended, both for your promotion and for this teaching role. Might I remind you that paperwork is just as important as team politics?”

Rooster met Cyclone eye-for-eye. With anyone else this could be considered insubordination, but Rooster was feeling particularly brave (fed up).

“I’m aware, sir. The paperwork will be on your desk by the end of today.”

The pair stared for a moment. Rooster’s nose twitched and he pulled away at the last minute to sneeze. Cyclone snorted.

“Paperwork, lunch time, Rooster. Last chance.”

He’d opted out of the hop in the end, preferring to instruct from the ground, simply because his headache hadn’t subsided at all and his sinuses felt like they were backed up into his brain. Watching his team in the tower, he used the radio to call out and make minor instructions, but then blared a horn when they were behaving like they were all out for each other.

“Racket, what would you tell Tickle’s family if he died because you pulled a stunt like that?” Rooster warned through the comms.

“Sir, I-“

“-Mac, go anywhere near the Hard Deck again and I will put your ass in front of Cyclone, I’m not playin’. Adhere to the rules for once and I’d consider using more of my time to help you out of hours.”

“Are you talking about the bar or the- oh, damn.”

“Mac, you’re out. You can answer to Cyclone, I’ve had enough of your bullshit.”

He rubbed a hand against his chest, grimacing as he pulled away to cough. Warlock appeared right as Rooster reached for the box of tissues and Warlock cleared his throat.

“Well, I was going to- let me just swim through this ocean of tissues first...”

“There’s not that many,” Rooster frowned but Warlock pointed to the bin on his right side which was indeed overflowing and there were a couple on the floor. Now that Rooster thought about it, his nose hurt. Had he been blowing it too hard? Hm. Ooh, and he felt a little warmer than he remembered feeling earlier... had the Tylenol worn off?

“Rooster, son, I think you ought to get yourself home,” Warlock suggested gently, “you let me deal with these monkeys.”

“Sir-“

“-you’re not in trouble, you’re learning just as much as they are and quite frankly I think it’s time they understand the consequences of their actions aren’t always push ups or apologising to the class for getting them killed.”

“Am I fired?” Rooster asked, grimacing at the way he knew he had to find another tissue. Warlock shook his head.

“No, Rooster, you’re not fired. Take the rest of today off, it sounds like you’ve been burning the candle at both ends for a while.”

He gestured to the jets preparing to land.

“As I said; those monkeys can answer to Cyclone and I, really put the fear of God in them.”

Rooster chuckled.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Go, I don’t want to see you before oh-eight hundred hours tomorrow morning.”

Arriving back at his place, Rooster paused before he got out of his Bronco to rest his head on the steering wheel. A part of him was humiliated, couldn’t believe he’d been dismissed for being unwell by Warlock, but another part of him was glad because he was just starting to get dizzy as he pulled into his street. He took a deep breath, pulling away from the wheel to stifle a sneeze. He knew it was a man-flu, most likely something that would knock him out for 24 hours and he’d be fine, but another part of him kind of wished he had a significant other right about now to crawl into bed with.

He had one, a long time ago, but that’s a story for another time. Reaching into his pocket he knew he had to get groceries but he wanted to take a covid test just in case before he went back into public, especially because he was dizzy. He managed to get out of the Bronco eventually, using the hood to guide himself around and to the steps. He fumbled with his house keys for a solid thirty seconds before managing to get the key into the lock and open the door.

“Honey, I’m home,” he called to the empty house. Sighing, he dumped his duffel bag on the floor and stripped his uniform off, leaving it on the armchair of the couch. The best part of living alone? He could walk around in his boxers and no one was there to comment on it. The beauty of being single. The bathroom didn’t offer anything different to the medication he’d already taken so he collapsed on his couch and closed his eyes. Just for a moment, he told himself. He’d get up and do the washing or something... in a minute...

The next time he woke it was because he was coughing so hard he was gasping for air and it was pitch black. Goosebumps had risen on his arms and his entire body shook as he got up to get to the bathroom. Rooster doubled over the toilet, the coughing non-stop and he put a hand on his stomach when it felt like he was going to throw up. Spitting phlegm out, he moved to the shower and flicked the hot tap all the way on, letting the water heat to steam the room. He glanced at his watch, realising it was almost midnight, and then decided he couldn’t bother anyone at this time of night. Granted, the Daggers were all out and about at the moment, on some mission in god knows where, but they were all stationed primarily out of North Island. Maverick was five minutes away, he could text him, but Rooster didn’t want to disrupt his sleep. He’d always had trouble sleeping, Rooster knew that.

Huffing, he stepped into his double shower but stayed away from the hot water, allowing the steam to work it’s magic.

The coughing eventually subsided. His chest finally expanded properly and he felt like he could breathe again. Rooster hauled himself off the shower floor with a grimace, making his way down the hallway to his room. He managed to find a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that wouldn’t make his skin itch, pulling it over his head and curling up on his bed despite the way he was still mildly sweaty from the intense heat of the shower. Rooster buried his head into his pillow- he knew he was going to need more than just yesterday afternoon off with the way he was going.

Maverick woke to his phone vibrating on the edge of his bedside table, about to vibrate so hard it fell off the top. He reached over and grabbed it, frowning firstly at the time but then at the caller ID.

“Who is it?” Penny yawned, rolling over to glance at her partner. Maverick frowned.

“It’s Bradley.”

“You better answer it,” she suggested, resting her head back on her pillow. Maverick held the phone to his ear.

“Bradley? You good kid?”

Maverick frowned immediately after.

“Slow down, what? When did this- yeah, okay. Hold tight, I’m on my way. Do you- mmhmm. Yeah, I’ll grab it. Stay there, Roos, I’ll be there in a minute.”

Maverick got out of bed and searched for his jeans, hanging over the back of the chair in the corner of the room. He wriggled into them, Penny finally glancing up.

“He okay? He’s not still having those attacks is he?”

“No, nothing like that. He’s sick; the way he coughed on the phone told me all I needed to know. I’m going to check on him; I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

“Okay, honey. Let me know if you need anything.”

Maverick paused, leaning over the bed to press a kiss to her cheek.

“Love you.”

“Love you too, drive safe and don’t get whatever he’s got.”

“Yes ma’am,” Maverick replied with a grin. He headed out of the loft and carefully made his way downstairs, sneaking past Amelia’s room with practised expertise. He grabbed his Jeep’s keys and locked the front door behind him, just in time to see Amelia’s bedroom light flick on from her bedroom window.

By the time he got to Bradley’s place he’d decided he regretted leaving his leather jacket at home, it was fucking cold, but also that he was going to kick his ass if it was just a man-flu and he only wanted someone to notice him. Maverick knew the rest of the Daggers were gone, they were due to be back on base in a couple of weeks, but for the time being Rooster did sometimes get lonely. It made sense; he was sociable, and having none of his friends around made it a little more difficult. Using the key Bradley had taped under a windowsill at the front of the house, Maverick let himself in. Immediately he could hear the harsh sound of coughing and went straight into the kitchen to grab water before he went to see the damage. He paused at the kitchen counter, recognising the test in front of him.

I’m not talking about a pregnancy test either.

“Bradley!”

The coughing increased and Maverick filled a glass with water before jogging down the hallway. He hesitantly opened the bedroom door, wincing.

“Congratulations kid, it’s not covid. On the other hand, I do think you’re pretty sick...”

“Thank god, I didn’t even think to check,” Bradley said between coughs. Maverick frowned, carefully making his way over to feel his forehead.

“When were you planning on telling me you were this sick?”

“Honestly, Mav? I wasn’t.”

Maverick snorted, shrugging slightly as he passed over the glass of water. “Fair enough. Get this down and we can see what I can do.”

#Top Gun Maverick #Top Gun: Maverick #TGM #Bradley Rooster Bradshaw #Rooster #Bradley Bradshaw #Callsign: Rooster #Pete Maverick Mitchell #Pete Mitchell #Maverick #Callsign: Maverick #sickfic #hurt/comfort

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mysticalmayhem1930 · 2 years

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Just Living the Dream

So I had to get my feelings out as I was hyped up for getting a promotion at work by the people who interviewed me, only to find out they were just stringing me along…. It’s a little choppy, but I hope it’s ok…

This is a one shot where your husband Ben tries to make you feel better after finding out you didn’t get a promotion.

Warnings: none, just fluff and anger about not getting the position.

Benedict x F! Reader

"Aasrrrggghhh" you screamed walking away from the building. It had not been an ideal morning, to say the least. You had been waiting to hear about your promotion for a week now. You had been so psyched as everyone involved said you did great during the interview. One of the people from the interview had shown up to discuss the outcome. You kept a brave face and voice steady while you talked even though they were telling you, you would not be going to the next round of interviews. The reason left you with total shock. Apparently others were already training for the position, something you had never been offered. You felt slighted and not at all valued for your time and experience in your position. You thanked them for their time and went back to your desk, dejected and hurt. You picked up your phone and texted your husband.

'Hey, I just got fucked 😡🤬🤯'

'’Babe, what does that even mean?'

'I called it last night, I'm not getting the job'

'Love, I'm sorry, they don't know what they're passing up, you are amazing. Did they tell you why?'

'Because others were already being trained on how to do the job, I didn't even show as a blip on their radar when they offered, totally overlooking me, it's like everything I've given to this place, it means nothing. I'm so pissed I'm going to cry.'

'Assholes... keep your chin up, know that I love you, and their opinion means nothing.'

'Thanks, I'm just disappointed, I'll see you later at home.'

'If you need me text, I'm in rehearsal for the next few hours. Love you.'

'Thanks, love you too Ben.'

You went back to work knowing that you had to get through the day and when you got home you could let your feelings out.

{Ben's POV}

"Hey everything ok, you look like someone shot your dog." Said the director, Sam

"I'll be fine, I'm just worried about Y/N... she just found out she didn't get the promotion, she's rather upset."

"So long as no one’s at the hospital..."

"Yeah, thanks...."

He had said his lines so many times and done the hand movements he was on autopilot. His mind kept filling with how to put a smile back on your face. He moved easily from one scene to the next thankful he wasn't in full costume, god it was heavy. While rehearsing his mind fast forwarded to the following scene.

"Huh?" Lizzie looked at him

Repeating the same line Ben looked at her dumbfounded. Letting his accent creep back in "What?? Why are you all looking at me….oh, shit, that's the next scene, isn’t it? Sorry all, I've just got something on my mind."

"Is Y/N ok? When something's up with her is the only time you lose focus." Smiled Xochil.

"She just got told she's not getting the promotion. Im just worried for her, she seemed pretty upset."

"Ben, you want to table the rest of this for now, and call it a day? We only had this scene to block out this scene?" Asked Sam.

"Yes, let's just finish this and then if it's ok, I'd like to cut out and go see her."

They all agreed. Ben was so lost in thought that he forgot to change his accent back to ‘Posh New York arrogant Neurosurgeon’, as he called it. Xochil started everyone giggling as Ben's accent somehow made Stephen more arrogant. Slipping back into work mode they finished for the day and Ben apologized for abruptly leaving, they all told him to go and take care of you. He hopped in his car and made a few stops on the way home.

You parked your car in the garage, pounded in the steering wheel, and let out another anguished scream. You knew you shouldn't be taking it that hard, but it still hurt that they had overlooked you when grooming people for the position. Hoping you got it out of your system as you didn't want to bring Ben down into your crappy mood. As you walked through the house it was dark and quiet. This concerned you as you parked next to the Jag Ben drove today. You started calling his name.

"Upstairs, Darling." He called.

Making your way upstairs you walked into the bedroom he walked up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist pulling you to his chest. "I'm sorry you had a bad day, but let me see if I can make it better for you." He turned you to face him, and that's when you finally noticed.

"Doctor Strange? To what do I owe the honor?" You giggled. Ben stood infront of you in his full Doctor Strange costume, complete with cloak of levitation and eye of Agamotto, with a small smile on his face.

His voice shifted to lose his accent, "Ben said you had a rough day, and that you'd probably prefer me to him tonight, is that ok? If not I'm sure I can find him."

"No, no this is good, as a matter of fact I think you're perfect for tonight. Thank you."

"We'll, let's start with you getting comfortable, I brought I set of robes for you to wear, if that's ok with you." Nodding you took the clothes and got changed.

"Can you help me with this belt thingie?" Kneeling infront of you he adjusted the belt and your robes. Your hands resting on his shoulders. He looked at you with such love in his eyes, standing up he held you to his chest. “Do you need to scream or hit something? I know you’re frustrated.” He stood behind you with his arms around your middle as he pointed you to the mirror. A small smile lit your face as you stood in front of the Sorcerer Supreme in red novice robes, quite the contrast.

“Nah, just want to be in your arms, it’s nice and safe.”

"Can I get dinner for you, did you want something to drink?"

"Yes please." You realized you haven’t eaten much today.

After serving your favorite dinner and cleaning up afterwards he took your hands and led you to the couch. He turned on some music he sat on the couch pulling you onto his lap. You set your glass of whiskey on the table and nuzzled into his chest. "Thank you, Doctor Strange." You said against his chest.

"I told you during dinner, call me Stephen." He kissed the top of your head. "And any time Love, that's what I'm here for, you have a bad day, and I get to figure out how to bring you out of it." His hands brought your face to his so he could properly kiss you. As he held you he asked for all the details. After you fished venting, you looked at him "so tell me Stephen, how long have you had this idea in your head?"

"I'd say since you saw the cloak and wanted to wear it. And considering I was doing this I grabbed a set of student robes for you. I figured you'd enjoy joining in."

"I don't deserve you Stephen, you think of every thing, do you think Ben would mind if we took this upstairs?"

"I think Ben would want us to dance first."

As he slid you from his lap he smiled as he held out his hand. Accepting it he pulled you into his chest, and swayed to the music with you. Through all the layers of clothing you could still feel his cock coming to life. Sweeping you into his arms he carried you to your bedroom, sitting you on the end of the bed. He removed the cloak with a flourish and wrapped it around you. He began the task of taking off the tunic, once his chest was bare you said "no, keep the pants on Doctor."

"You want to change?"

"Hell no, I'm finally wearing the cloak." You nuzzled further into your maroon cocoon, sticking your tongue out.

"I love you very much, but you're not sleeping in the cloak." Rolling you out of it he threw it in the floor and pulled you to his chest. "So you know you may fall asleep tonight with me, but I'll guarantee you'll wake up with Ben."

"Ok, and thank you for tonight it's just what I needed to take my mind off everything. I love you so much, and I'm lucky to have you."

"Stephen" held you til he felt you fall into a peaceful sleep. "I promise I'll always be there for you my love, weather you want solutions or just someone to vent to." He fell asleep knowing that you'd be feeling a little better in the morning, and he would be there to catch you again if you needed him.

#benedict cumberbatch #MCU #doctor strange #doctor stephen strange #fluff #Benedictfanfiction

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smartycvnt · 2 years

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The Opportunity

pairing: Charlotte Flair x Reader

summary: Your WWE call-up comes with an unforeseen opportunity.

Y/n was a name that everybody in the independent wrestling scene knew. You had jumped from promotion to promotion gathering momentum and catching eyes. For months and months, there had been speculation that you were going to sign with a bigger company. Some people wanted to see you at AEW fighting among the likes of Hiraku Shida, Penelope Ford, and Britt Baker. Others talked about the dream matchups of you going against women like Rhea Ripley, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte Flair. All of it sounded amazing, but nobody seemed to want to reach out and offer you a contract. However, when it finally came, you were quick to negotiate a good one with WWE and your debut to Smackdown made waves.

"Who is interrupting me?" Coming out in the middle of Charlotte Flair's promo was a ballsy first move. "Who the hell are you?"

"Y/n-," you extended your hand for a shake, '-Indie Scene Queen. They say that you're the one to go to for an opportunity here, but don't worry I don't want your title. Not yet, anyways."

"Then what do you want?" Charlotte asked. She turned towards you and stared down at you. You didn't crumble under her gaze though.

"I want you to mentor me. You must be getting bored around here, so why not train the perfect opponent? Opportunity of a lifetime if you ask me." Charlotte stared at you in that ring for what felt like eternity before smiling at you. She took a couple steps forward and held her hand out in front of you for you to shake.

"Let's just hope you can keep up."

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

"For someone who's such a natural babyface, you're doing the heel turn extremely well," Charlotte commented as she sat down next to you. Nearly two months had passed since Charlotte had agreed to take you under her wing. Both of you knew that this was a possibility, and you were happy to get to play the other side of the coin. Being a face was fun, but there was something you loved about getting to be a dick.

"Learned from one of the best," you said with a wink. Charlotte looked away, blushing slightly under her makeup. It was impossible for you to tell though, especially with the flush from the match still on her skin. The two of you fell into an easy silence, something that'd been happening more and more often lately. You didn't mind it, just being around Charlotte made you kind of happy.

"I've got a match this weekend," Charlotte said, breaking the silence. You nodded, having known about the match card for a couple weeks now. "I'd like for you to come to the ring with me. Walk me there, maybe hold open the rope for me?"

"Yeah, I can do that," you agreed. Charlotte smiled at you, almost like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. The implication of Charlotte being nervous to ask you something so simple flew right over your head as you turned your attention back to the monitors in front of you. Sighing quietly, Charlotte forced herself to look away from you and pay attention to the main event match of the show.

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

You cried out in pain as your back hit the ring apron. Charlotte flinched as she watched you roll onto the ground. She wanted to get up and save you, but she was stuck backstage. The triple threat match to determine who got the #1 contender's spot for the Smackdown Women's Championship Title was absolutely brutal. A part of you wanted to lose the match on purpose, but you had worked too hard to throw it away. Besides, you could see yourself enjoying a feud with Charlotte when you were announced to be the #1 contender for her belt.

"And it looks like Y/n might be out of the competition after that one," Byron announced. Charlotte rolled her eyes, not believing it. You'd been making great progress, both with your in-ring ability and your crowd skills. Despite being a heel, you had skyrocketed in popularity. The crowd would boo you whenever you said something that reminded them of Charlotte's arrogance, but overall, they were behind you.

"Come on baby," Charlotte muttered under her breath as she watched you pull yourself onto your feet. You climbed up onto the top rope and turned around, preparing to moonsault into your opponents. They were preoccupied with each other, so they didn't notice that you had made your way back into things.

Charlotte clenched her fists tightly as she watched you do the move. It looked rough, but you had made great strides with the flashier moves in practice with her. You hit both women and moved so that both of them were technically pinned under you. Even if one kicked out, you were sure to get one pinfall. You didn't need both of them, but it was a bold statement to the champion that you weren't just fucking around.

"One!" A slap against the canvas. "Two! Three!" You exhaled as you rolled away from your opponents. Your chest heaved as you tried to catch your breath, everything you had just endured having taken it away. Between your music playing and the crowd chanting for you, you'd gotten lost in the experience. Your opponents rested in the corners of the ring, gathering themselves. Charlotte's music hit, and you turned to the ramp where she was walking and clapping for you.

"Y/n, honey, darling, baby, congratulations. That was an impressive win, but don't think that because you're my protege that I'll just roll over and let you have the belt," Charlotte said as she made her way to the ring. You lifted the rope for her to get in as you took the mic offered to you. "But don't think that just because I trained you, that you can beat me."

"There's always a time when the student becomes the master," you said with a cocky grin. Charlotte laughed at that, head thrown back dramatically. "I guess this is the end, now isn't it?"

"We'll see," Charlotte said with a soft smile. It wasn't the kind that she normally displayed for the crowd. That one was for you, as was the hand she offered. You took it, allowing her to lead you out of the ring. It'd be the last time the two of you walked out together. This championship fight was the catalyst for your feud, which would hopefully go down as one of the greatest rivalries in the company's history.

"Could you see my legs shake before I hit the moonsault?" you asked as the two of you made your way back to the locker room.

"Not this time, you looked confident. It's a shame you're not fonder of the top rope." The compliment made your cheeks burn a little with heat. Lately, it'd been getting harder to control those little responses to Charlotte. "I'm really proud of you Y/n, I mean it. Whatever happens with our match, I want you to know that I am so proud of you and I've enjoyed spending this time with you. It's been too long since they've let me have someone in my corner."

"Whatever happens, I'm gonna be in your corner and I mean it," you told her. Charlotte tugged her bottom lip in between her teeth as she contemplated something. You turned your back to her to finish changing out of your gear when you felt a hand on your back. "Hmm?"

Once you were facing her again, Charlotte wasted no time in kissing you. You kissed her back, weeks of wanting to do that pushing forward. There was no telling how far things would have gone with eager hands on an overdue exploration if not for Charlotte accidentally tripping over a bench. The two of you laughed as you laid on the floor, immediately feeling ridiculous.

"Oops," you muttered as you buried your head in Charlotte's shoulder. She tugged your head back a little and pressed a kiss to your lip. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, but we should get out of here. I'm sure there are safer places we can kiss each other," Charlotte suggested. You pulled both yourself and her off of the floor before turning to finish getting your things packed up. True to her word, Charlotte did find the two of you a place to kiss where neither of you would trip or fall over each other.

#charlotte flair x reader #charlotte flair imagine #charlotte flair imagines #charlotte flair #wwe imagines #wwe imagine #wwe #wwe x reader

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king-xineohp · 2 years

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iPod

Another repost but like 👉👈 I love this one

Main Masterlist Naruto Masterlist

Naruto Naruto Uzumaki x fem!reader Modern AU

"Are you cold?"

"Yeah... My heater's out."

"Again, Naruto?"

"Yeah..."

"Can't you just get Sasuke to fix it again?"

"I asked him already, he was..."

"Oh, don't tell me he picked up the phone during sex again," I sighed. Naruto grimaced, face flushing red. He'd never gotten naughty and it was a weird topic with him, but Sasuke was absolutely shameless, and he'd just pick up the phone and talk casually with 'Oh, Sasuke! Harder!' in the background. "Jeez. Well, I'd fix it for you, but I don't know how. Just take my hoodie, I've got two, anyway."

"Really?" He asked, grinning at me. He was always excited about being offered stuff, no matter what it was. I always thought it was cute.

"Sure," I said, unzipping my hoodie and taking it off. I slipped it off of my arms and tossed it at his face playfully, both of us laughing.

Sometimes, having date night in his apartment was better than going out. I glanced at the TV just as the commercial break started and got up. Naruto whined as his pillow (me) started moving and suddenly left the couch.

"I'm just making dinner! Do you want beef or pork ramen? ...If you even have any left," I mumbled.

"Just whatever's in the cupboard," Naruto said. I could hear the grin in his voice. "It's always good when you make it, so I don't really care."

I rolled my eyes, smiling to myself, opening his cupboard and seeing a few packets of ramen left.

The secret of making really good ramen is to make it when he's distracted. Only use half the flavor packet that it comes with, and add some of one of those miso blocks you get at the store- I always bring one in my pocket when I come over. He's always got stuff in his fridge for ramen, so I never have to worry about stuff like fishcakes or egg. It's healthier when I make it, so I'm glad he likes it better.

"Alright, c'mon, Naruto," I said. "Last time you ate on the couch, you spilled all over yourself. We're eating at the table tonight."

"You're not my mom," Naruto teased, getting off the couch lazily.

"No, I'm your girlfriend," I scolded. "Now eat."

As per usual, I was only about halfway done when he finished eating. Of course, he went right back to the couch to watch our show, but he took a pillow and put it in my spot before snuggling into my hoodie. Without him noticing, I pulled out my phone and took a quick picture.

He really was the cutest sometimes.

Rather than finish my food quickly and get back to watching TV, I ate slowly, just admiring my cute boyfriend and all his reactions to the show, but then I checked my phone again.

"Ew, gross, it's already ten," I said. I got up, leaving my bowl on the table, and walked over to the couch. Naruto looked up at me sadly, trying to get me to stay with big sad puppy dog eyes. "I gotta go, hun, I have work tomorrow."

I leaned down and kissed him sweetly before running a hand through his hair.

"Can't you stay the night?" He pleaded.

"All my work stuff is at my place," I told him. "I'll be back tomorrow, I promise. I'm not leaving forever, y'know."

I chuckled a little as I waved, leaving his apartment.

Y/n waved as she left my apartment and I sighed once the door was closed.

She hadn't spent the night in a while, and it made me feel like I was doing something wrong, but everything else was the same as ever, and just as perfect. It was just work stuff, I guess. Ever since her promotion, most of our shifts didn't line up, and the rare times that they did, we just had other stuff that needed to get done, or we left our stuff at the wrong apartment.

I made what was probably a risky move and called Sasuke. Luckily, when he answered, he and Sakura weren't going at it.

"What is it, dweeb?" He asked, clearly annoyed that it was late.

"How do I make Y/n want to spend the night?"

"Say you wanna fuck her, idiot."

"What? No!"

I hung up on him quickly and thought about who else might be up. I thought about calling Shikamaru, since he was in a relationship too, but there was no way in hell he was awake. I called Temari instead.

"Hey, Naruto. What's up, why are you calling so late?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to Shikamaru, but he's... Definitely asleep. Do you know how I could get Y/n to want to spend the night at my place? She hasn't in a while."

"Just ask her to," Temari suggested. "Tell her that you feel like she hasn't been spending the night as much lately, and ask if she could spend the night with you because you're feeling lonely. But ask in person, when you have your shirt off, so that she'll say yes."

I sighed.

"Thanks, Temari."

I hung up. What if I don't want to be so sexual? Or brash?

Oh, perfect idea!

I scrolled through my contacts.

"Why are you calling me at this hour? What could you possibly want?"

"How do I get Y/n to want to spend the night?"

"You're asking me for advice?"

"You're my last resort, but yeah," I said. "Everyone else gave me pretty sexual advice, but I mean... I just want her to spend the night since she hasn't in a while and I just... Feel kinda lonely."

"Hmm. When she tries to leave your apartment, take her hand and turn her around. Pull her close, put a hand on her waist and look her right in the eyes- I know she loves how blue your eyes are. Ask if she's sure she wants to leave and kiss her on the cheek, then the other cheek, and then all over until she's laughing."

"You're... That's actually kinda good advice," I said slowly. "Neji, how and why are you single if you're that good at understanding women?"

"I want to be."

I pressed end call and set my phone down. As I shifted on the couch to grab the remote and turn off the TV, I realized that one of the pockets of Y/n's hoodie was heavier than the other.

I ended up pulling out her iPod. I turned the TV off and took it to my bedroom, just to see what kind of music she liked.

Maybe we were into the same kind of thing, we'd never really talked about our music taste before. My earbuds were laying on my pillow, so I plugged them in after shrugging off her hoodie. The first couple songs in the first playlist were pretty good, I guess, then one of my favorites played, then one that I ended up skipping because I didn't really like it.

I scrolled through her stuff until I found a Naruto playlist. Definitely something I wanted to hear, so I decided to listen to all the songs all the way through, even if I didn't like them, but I liked the first several well enough that I decided I liked the whole playlist. A lot of songs about how much she loved me.

There was one called Spicy Boyfriend that I thought was a pretty funny little joke, but the last song kind of got to me. It started with wedding vows, and it was all about these two characters joining together as one forever, even in death, and it really made me wonder if Y/n wanted to marry me one day.

A knock at my door made me jump out my skin and almost scream. I unplugged my earbuds and shoved the iPod back in Y/n's pocket in a panic.

"Just me, Naruto!"

Just Y/n, thank god- Oh, fuck.

I answered the door quickly, thinking maybe something was up.

"Hey, Y/n!" I said, grinning. She gave me her signature worried face and reached out, swiping a thumb across my cheek.

"Have you been crying?" She asked.

"Have I?" I asked. I reached up and touched my face. Yeah, there were tears. She laughed a little.

"You didn't even know you were crying? What is up with you?" She gave me a hug before stepping into my apartment and closing the door behind her. "What's up, hun? What made you cry?"

"I don't know," I said. "Also, I thought you had work tomorrow, don't you need to go home and sleep?"

"I can just call in and be late," she said, walking over to the table and clearing up the mess from dinner.

"I can do that-"

"Naruto, I've got it, don't worry," she said sweetly. "I'm more worried about why you were crying without noticing. I just came back because I realized I left my iPod in that hoodie."

Oh, it was that whole marriage song, wasn't it? That's totally what made me cry!

"Oh, but if I know you at all, it's on your bed," she said with a giggle. She started to walk my room, but I got up and walked after her.

I mean, close enough, right, Neji?

I grabbed Y/n's hand before she could get to my room and I turned her around, pulling her close. She just stared straight ahead blankly, clearly a little nervous, which made me a little nervous, and I had to gently tilt her face up before I could put my hand on her waist. We were both burning up, faces red.

"I might've listened to your Naruto playlist," I said.

"Well, did you like it?" She asked, her voice sounding oddly casual. Slowly, she cracked a grin and gently pushed me away as we both started laughing. "And where the hell did that come from, dork?"

"Neji tried to teach me to be romantic!" I said, taking her hand again and dragging her over to the couch. She fell into my lap pretty comfortably, which was a nice change since I was usually in her lap, despite her being the smaller one.

"You're too much of a dork to be romantic," she said. "I mean... You have your moments already, but it's the whole catching popcorn in your mouth and movie night and mismatching socks thing that has me goin'. But did you like the playlist?"

"I think it was the last song that made me cry," I said. "I... I really don't know why I was crying. I mean, it was, like, wedding vows and stuff. Do you wanna marry me or something?"

"I mean, someday," she said casually, taking my arms and wrapping them around her waist comfortably. "I think it's gonna be you and me forever. Two dorks, a lot of junk food, worn out DVDs of of our favorite movies, and some nerd kid who keeps rereading the same damn book at the dinner table instead of doing their homework. You think that's good?"

"Uh, give me a moment."

I pulled my phone from my pocket and called Neji.

"What do you want this time?" He asked exasperatedly.

"She said she wants a kid, how am I supposed to react?"

"Well, that escalated quickly."

#xineohp's fics #king xineohp #naruto uzumaki #naruto #naruto x reader #x reader #x female reader #naruto fanfiction #x reader fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #anime #modern au #music

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pars-ley · 3 years

Text

Bare yourself (part three)

Pairing: CEO Jimin x female reader

Summary: After a serious hack from your office building, fingers start being pointed but in which direction is the right one and where will that leave you and your boss, Jimin?

Genre: CEO au / smut / angst / series / workplace au / strangers to lovers au / boss/employee au

Rating: 18+ (NSFW)

Warnings: Phone sex / Masturbation m and f / Police interrogation / Explicit language / CEO Jimin

Word count: 3.5k

Beta: @erotikkook thank you!

Notes: Ok, so this took me a ridiculously long time to finish, life is manic but here's the next chapter. Thank you for being patient. Hope you all enjoy!

Taglist: @jungkooksbroski @unoriginal-username15432 @yoobikook @vonvi-blog @itsohhonney @kpopnoobsstuff @namyoongles @btsmosphere @autumnbear @ownthesunshine @btstista

"Miss l/n, we know the hack came from inside the building. All I want to do is find out who's responsible. Which means I need your cooperation." Detective Kim Namjoon peers at you over the frames of his dark glasses.

"And like I've said, you have my full cooperation. I cannot tell you anything more than I already have." You respond leaning forward on the table, desperate for him to believe you.

He slumps back in his seat and sighs. "Miss l/n, we can't keep doing this back and forth routine. I-"

"Sir, I love my job and I love this company," you interrupt. "I also think very highly of my boss, I. Would. Not. Do. This."

"How high?"

You freeze at his sudden change of questioning. "What?"

"How high?" He repeats. "Is something going on between you two?"

You straighten your back, looking at him through narrowed eyes, feeling the rock of a lie settle in your stomach and weigh you down. "Mr. Kim, I am a professional."

He puts both his hands up in surrender. "No offense intended ma'am. It's just that some of your other coworkers seem quite smitten with him."

You almost roll your eyes, knowing you were probably just as dreamy eyed as your co-workers but too proud to admit it.

"Oh, and they did mention the two of you cosying up at a recent work party."

You resist the urge to swallow as your heart pounds violently inside you, panic squeezing your pumping organ in a vice grip. You thought no one had noticed your exchange or your absence when you both left.

"We were talking, yes. He offered me a promotion and wanted to discuss it."

He looks impressed. "Wow, what a good opportunity, he must trust you a lot."

"He did."

"Until this?" He scrubs a hand over his smooth face and you nod.

"Um-hm. What would you say you could hack into?"

You frown, not understanding the question. "Sorry?"

"Could you hack just about anything?"

Thinking about it you shrug, "Most things I'd say."

"Even something as impenetrable as this program?"

You laugh. "Sir, I designed the security portion of this program, I wouldn't need to hack into it." You lean forward again. "Let me explain something to you, if I were to do something like this, I would have been in and out without anyone knowing. I would know how to cover my tracks without being detected."

You pause rubbing your temples, "If you ask me, this was done by someone with a limited knowledge of hacking and computers. Either that or this person is trying to frame someone in the company. They're your two options."

He smiles at you, two dimples forming an endearing crevice in his cheeks.

"They told me you were smart."

You rub your face ignoring his remark. "I have been here for hours. Am I free to go or are you going to charge me with something?"

"Just one more question. What were you doing last night?"

Your heart stutters before pounding guiltily against your ribcage, with every beat you're almost sure you can hear Jimin's name. Ji-min. Ji-min.

Folding your hands in your lap to disguise you pinching your wrist under the table, trying to do anything to keep your hectic mind calm as you know you have to lie.

"I was at home."

"Alone?"

The smirk he gives you makes your stomach churn, as if he can see right through you and your lies, as if he can see everything that transpired last night flashing behind your eyes.

"Yes." Your voice comes out raspy, a sudden dry patch in your throat makes you swallow involuntarily.

"Run me through your evening." He sinks lower into his seat, you're almost waiting for him to pull out a footstool and put his feet up.

"We set up the project, waited for it to go live-"

"Who's we?"

"My team, myself and Mr. Park."

He nods and gestures a hand for you to continue.

"Once it was live, we monitored it for a few hours, checked everything was in working order and most of my team went home for the night. It was pretty late by then."

He jots your account down on his laptop, the keys clicking furiously as you speak.

"What time is 'late'?"

"Around 10ish."

He raises his brows. "Is that a typical work day for you?"

You shake your head. "No, it was only because we wanted to make sure everything went ok with the go live, a few tweaks and adjustments had to be made, nothing major."

He nods, eyes focused on his screen. "Is that usual at the end of a project, tweaks and adjustments?"

You shrug. "Sometimes yes, on big projects, sometimes you can't see certain errors until a go live."

"Ok, so it's 10 o'clock and your team have gone home, leaving you and Mr. Park. What happened next?"

You massage your temples. "We spoke in his office."

"About what?"

Your hand slams down on the table, an action you didn't intend. "Is that relevant?"

He looks up startled, then smiles. "Why? Have I touched a nerve?"

You resist the urge to lean across the table and pound your fist into his smug face and instead lean back in your seat with your arms folded, an attempt at shielding yourself. "We spoke about the project and the result. It seemed to be successful, at the time, so we had a celebratory night cap."

He shoves his laptop aside, leaning forward on his elbows, ears pricked and ready. "Let me get this straight. You and the - forgive me - handsome Mr. Park are alone in the building, in his office and having a night cap, late at night?"

"Yes." You reply bluntly, the arrogance of him, so sure he'll find your lie, flaming your veins with rage.

"Does Mr. Park regularly have his colleagues in his office for a night cap?"

"I wouldn't know sir, I'm not his secretary."

"Even if you were, she'd have gone home hours ago, according to you." He pauses watching you, his eyes so intense they feel smothering-suffocating.

His stare eases, releasing you from its hold. "Ok continue, what happened after your night cap?" He relaxes and goes back to typing.

You breathe a sigh of relief, air feeling light and free again.

"We talked, I finished my drink, then I went home."

"How did you get home?"

You pause. If you lie, they're bound to see the footage of you and Jimin leaving the building together, with you getting into his car.

"Miss l/n? How did you get home?"

Here he goes looking expectantly over the rim of his glasses again.

"Mr. Park gave me a ride home."

And there was that infuriating smirk again. "Is that so? Was his driver there or did Mr. Park do the driving?"

You feel the heat on the back of your neck as you're reminded of how Jimin's hands felt on your skin, hot and eager in the back of the car. "His driver took me."

"With Mr. Park."

You nod slowly.

"And I suppose he just said goodnight and off you went?"

"You're correct, sir."

"And Mr. Park will vouch for this story of yours?" He taps his bottom lip with the pen he just pulled out of his pocket.

You nod. "He will because it's the truth." You're both praying and hoping you'd have a chance to speak to Jimin before he got interviewed...if he hasn't been already. God, if they found out you were lying about this, it would make you look so guilty.

"Uh-huh. One other thing…"

Fighting the frustrated growl boiling up inside you, you give him a false smile.

"Do you have any idea why someone would want to hack this software?"

You mull it over briefly, "I would imagine, seeing as it's a security breach for information, that it's to steal. Most of our clients are..." you struggle to find the appropriate wording.

"Rich." He intejects.

You nod agreeing.

"Ummm." He adds watching you, before sitting up and closing his laptop abruptly. "Ok, miss l/n, you're free to go. But we'll be in touch, I assure you."

He stands up and you quickly follow him out of the room. When he shows you the direction the exit is in he turns to face you and holds out a hand.

"It's been a pleasure, miss l/n, I know you probably won't be able to say the same, nevertheless." He shakes your hand with a half smile causing the dimple to return, somehow completely softening his face.

You nod and leave as quickly as your tired body will let you.

The cool, night air hitting your face immediately calms your panicked mind. You need to speak to Jimin but it might not be safe to do so.

"Are you ok, y/n?" A deep voice sounds from beside you, silencing all your other chaotic thoughts.

You spin and see Taehyung leaning casually against the pillar of the building smoking.

You relax at the sight of a familiar face. Jimin's personal assistant has always been friendly and kind towards you. You weren't sure but rumours in your company suggested that the two of them were even brothers, although you doubted it as they didn't resemble each other in the slightest.

"Yeah, glad to be out of there though." You reply, massaging the back of your neck.

"I bet, you've been in there a long time. I saw you leave to go to the station with them hours ago."

You nod. "It's been a long and very trying day. Are you waiting to be interviewed?"

He nods, taking a long drag, you watch as the end illuminates orange.

"Well, I hope they don't keep you in there too long."

"They shouldn't. I've been away, only got back last night. Don't see how much use I can be to them."

He flicks his cigarette into the road and closes the distance between you.

"Listen, if there's anything you need or if you just want to talk or rant, anything. Don't hesitate to give me a call." He hands you his card. "This is a tough situation for everyone, we all need someone every now and then."

His bright, boxy grin has your mouth upturning before you know it. You thank him and hail and cab. Glancing at him, you see him watching you as the car drives away, unsure as to whether he's flirting or you're reading too much into it and he's being his usual cheerful self.

You shrug it off. All you can think of is getting home, running a nice, hot bath and forgetting this day ever happened.

*****

Back to reality as you sit with your silk robe wrapped around you, your laptop positioned neatly on your thighs, going through every possible way someone could have hacked into this, looking for how they got in.

But nothing made sense, this was definitely not a hack done by someone with limited knowledge as you originally thought.

There was no trace of anything left behind, no mark that anyone had even been in. Which only means, the hack had to be someone with inside knowledge of the project already, it definitely wasn't an outside hacker.

A more alarming finding was discovering the computer used for the hack was actually yours.

But why make it so obvious where the hack took place and which computer...unless...someone is trying to frame you. This wasn't something you had realistically considered.

If you were honest, no one was even jumping out at you as a suspect. You trusted everyone in your team and everyone who helped on this project.

You sigh, massaging your temples as you try to clear your mind.

A harsh knock on the door makes you jump and you glance at your phone.

02.31.

Who on earth would be knocking at this hour?

You head over, opening the door slightly with the chain still pulled tight across, to see a man; hat pulled down covering his eyes, standing there handing you a small, brown package through the gap.

"It's from Jimin." He says quietly. You watch his mouth - the only part of his face you can see - stretch into a gummy smile, before turning and exiting the building.

Bewildered, you close the door and rip open the box. Staring at its contents and searching for some kind of note explaining what on earth this is for.

A phone.

What are you supposed to do with it?

You take it out, examining it and noticing the mistletoe background. Just like the mistletoe you first kissed Jimin under.

You jump out of your skin, fear firing an ice bolt right through you as it lights up and starts ringing.

Hesitantly, you answer. "Hello?"

"Y/n," Jimin's breathy voice sounds in your ear and sends a scattering of goosebumps across your skin. "I'm sorry for the cloak and dagger but I'm unsure if I'm being watched."

"By the police?" You ask, worried at the urgency in his voice.

"Not just them. Listen," he starts before you can interject. "I want you to know that no matter how it seems or what I say in front of other people, I do believe that you had nothing to do with this hack."

The relief that floods you has your shoulders relaxing instantly, not even aware they were tense. "I am glad to hear you say that, thank you."

"I also want to apologise, I did not mean for your involvement with me to put you at risk of any trouble."

You frown, trying to make sense of his words. "I really don't see how the two are connected."

He sighs and the urge you have to comfort him, to wrap your arms around him until his stress is eased, almost has you putting on your shoes and coat. "It doesn't matter. Things are complicated with me and it wasn't fair for me to drag you into that."

"Hey, hey," you sit down on the edge of your bed. "You didn't drag me anywhere. I'm a big girl Jimin, I can make my own decisions, last night being one of them and I definitely do not have any regrets about that."

You're met with silence as you find yourself fiddling with the bedsheets, reminiscing his touch.

"I most definitely do not regret it either." He finally says. You think you can hear a slight smile in his voice. "That was a moment I had wanted for longer than I care to admit."

His unexpected confession causes a furious blush to creep up your chest.

"I wish I could see you." The desperation in his voice makes you hot underneath your robe.

"Why don't you come over?" You ask, hesitantly biting your lower lip.

"I wish I could, lord knows I do, but I can't risk it, for your sake."

You collapse back on the bed in frustration, his scent jumps up and captures you, pulling your mind into filthy places. "My bed sheets still smell like you." You say the words before thinking them through.

"Do they?" His voice is suddenly husky and full of want. "And what is going through that impressive mind of yours?"

"You are. Your touch, your taste, how I wish to feel your perfect lips on me again." Your hand makes its way down to open your robe, cool air hitting your skin and puckering your nipples.

"Hmm-mm, and what are you doing while you're thinking about me?" He asks.

"What do you want me to do, Jimin?" You accentuate his name, knowing how much he loves it when you say it.

"Touch yourself." He whispers.

You waste no time in obeying, as your fingers travel quickly down to your throbbing clitorous. The feel of your fingertips massaging your sweet bud makes you moan.

"Oh god, this makes me want to see you even more." He groans.

You use the phone to snap a quick photo of your actions and send it to the number you're on the line too. "Incoming message, sir." You say teasingly.

"Oh, fuck," he says in the distance and instantly followed by the sound of his trouser zipper being undone. "You make me crazy." His voice is right back at your ear.

"Jimin, I wish it was my mouth around your rock hard cock."

"Me too, angel. God, what I wouldn't give to feel you around me. Tell me, what would you want me to do to you?" He grunts, the sound of him pleasuring himself causes a gush of arousal to spill from your eager hole and you spread it over yourself.

"I'd want your mouth on me...everywhere, tasting just how wet I am for you." You pant.

"Just for me?"

"Yes, all for you." You lightly trace circles over your swollen sweet spot, toes curling when he breathes your name down the phone.

"I want to be inside you, again."

"Anytime, anywhere, just tell me." You whisper, that undeniable build up already at peak point. "I'm going to cum."

"That's it angel, cum with me."

You unravel, back arching off the bed and burying your face into the sheets, relishing his scent. You hear him orgasm, repeating your name continuously. It makes you smile inside and it makes you feel powerful knowing how much he wants you.

"I have to say," he says, after you both get your breath back. "That was not the reason for me sending the phone."

You can't help but laugh at that. "What was the reason?"

He sighs again. "Mostly, to apologise and to have a way to speak to you that I know is safe. We have to be careful, now."

"Why, what are you so worried about?"

A long pause. "I can't," you can almost hear his inner turmoil, the fight with himself. "I'm just trying to protect you. You don't need to be involved."

You're about to argue but something inside you stills. If you push someone like Jimin too much, he'll only clam up further, he'll open up when he's ready...you hope.

"Keep this phone on, ok?" He pleads.

"More late night phone sex?" You tease, chewing your lip.

"I wouldn't say no," he laughs. "I do, however, just want to be able to talk to you, if that's ok?"

You nod and realise he can't see that. "Of course, anytime."

"I wouldn't say that, you'll never get me off the phone."

You feel yourself smiling like a cheshire cat, feeling like a lovesick school girl again. What has this man reduced you to?

"Goodnight y/n. Sleep well, angel." He hangs up the phone, leaving your heart stuttering and your stomach flipping with excitement. The prospect of something new on the horizon, even with all the current problems you're facing, something still seeming positive might come out of this. All you can do is hope.

******

Getting ready for work the next morning you felt conflicted, part of you was on cloud nine, drifting blissfully along on nothing but hope and dreams. The other part was dreading the work day and what it could bring, plus you still had your own discreet investigating to do.

A harsh, yet cheerful rap on your door, startled you.

Rushing to the door to see who it is, a small part clinging onto a chance it could be Jimin, only to be disappointed when you open the door and find detective Kim Namjoon staring back at you.

"Ah Miss l/n, I'm so glad I caught you before work, could I come in?" The same smug smile stretching his full lips as he leans casually against your door frame, his laptop hooked under his arm.

"Really? Right now, I'll be late for work." You reply, feeling a bit like a deer caught in headlights.

"That's ok, I've already informed your boss of your late arrival." He assures you cockily. "So, can I …?"

You grit your teeth and step out of the way, gesturing for him to enter.

You watch as he studies every inch of your living area, peering into your bedroom.

"What is it I can help you with, detective?"

He turns to you, "Ah, yes of course."

Setting his laptop down on your dining room table, hitting a few keys and spinning it round towards you. "You might want to sit down for this." He says, as he hits the play button.

You ignore him and watch.

Video footage of your office building, of you walking to your office partition specifically. You watch yourself sit in the empty building, at your computer and leave again. You look up at the detective, confusion marring your brow and he simply taps the screen where the date and time stamp are.

You follow it, and re-read it at least three times, eyes open wider than ever, as if that'll somehow help you see different numbers.

The frown creases deeper into your forehead as your brain catches up with the fact that the video shows you, alone in the building, at the exact time and date of the hack.

119 notes · View notes

lovemesomesurveys · 2 years

Text

When was the last time you stayed home from school/work? Sometime back when I was still in school, so it's been at least 7 years.

Do you write “yes” or “no” answers to surveys or do you explain more? I mean, depends on the question but I like to elaborate as much as I can.

Is there any type of medicine you can’t take? For what reason? I can't take pills unless they're crushed, soo if they can't be crushed for whatever reason then I can't take them.

Do you have a favorite pair of pajamas? What do they look like? I love my t-shirt dresses, they're so comfortable.

Would you rather have potato or chicken noodle soup if you had to? I've never had potato soup and I don't care for chicken noodle soup to be honest, so perhaps I'd give potato a try.

What foreign languages did your high school offer? Spanish, Italian, Japanese... I don't remember what else.

What’s your opinion on ivy league universities?

Do you have any interesting pillow cases? I wouldn't say any of them are interesting, but they're cute... like my Baby Yoda and giraffe pillow cases.

Do you agree with Freud on anything? I see what he was getting at with some things, but a lot of it is too far out there for me. Like no, dude.

Do you know anyone you would consider racist? No.

If something on your body is hurting what part is it usually? My back or stomach. There's many days I wake up feeling like I was hit by a truck and everything hurts.

Do you try to avoid things probably made by slave labor, like Forever21 or Walmart? Admittedly, I am not the best at that or stay up to current info on that. :/

Are you more afraid of spiders or bees? I'm afraid of ALL bugs.

What does your alarm sound like? It's one that comes with this alarm app I use. I don't know how to explain it.

What’s the last way your cell phone malfunctioned? Not charging correctly.

What’s the longest you’ve stood in line at a store’s cash register? Half an hour or so.

Does your local library have very good selection, or do you not go to the library? I haven't been to the library in a very, very long time.

Would you rather drink coffee or cocoa? Coffee.

Would you rather go to school an hour earlier and leave an hour earlier, or go an hour later and leave an hour later? Later.

Have you ever worn fake nails? If so, what did the last pair you wore look like? For my 8th grade promotion I got fake nails put on and I've worn store bought ones for Halloween costumes.

Do you like designer bags with the logo stamped all over them? Meh, there's some I like, but overall I don't really care for stuff like that. It's not my style.

Do you like highlighted hair? Yeah. I had blonde highlights for many years.

Would you ever spell a name like “Katie” or “Mandy” with an “i,” no “e” or “y”? I like the "Katie" and "Mandy" spellings.

#personal #text #survey #surveys

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somersetmummy · 3 years

Text

(A/N) This chapter takes place right at the beginning of the story, prior to TNA Chapter 1. Some characters property of Pixelberry.

Original characters: Katie Hide (MC), Jenny Blake

New characters: Lucinda Hansen

Rating/Content Warning: Mild adult language

Word count: 2005

Summary: MC Katie Hide is an English rose, living in New York. She’s down on her luck and desperately needs a job before her visa expires and she’s sent back to London. A chance conversation with a friend leads to an unlikely opportunity. Little did she know that one little interview would change the course of her life forever.

- Bonus social edits at the end -

Just like any other Thursday morning of recent weeks, Katie and Jenny were killing time together in their favourite coffee shop just down the street from their shared apartment. It had become Katie's haven and her go-to place when she wanted to lose herself for a few hours people watching, letting the stories of their lives unfold around her.

She'd always had a knack for paying attention to the details, noticing things which passed by most others. It was a skill she'd relied on heavily in her work, always giving her the edge, at least it had until the time it led to her downfall at Panacea Labs.

Katie had recently walked out of her job after piecing together a scheme under the radar to roll out a costly new drug for treating MS, despite there being multiple warning signs that it was ultimately ineffective but instead just masked the symptoms. Anyone else would've just glossed over the signs, not even noticing, but to Katie, the anomalies jumped off the page unmistakably. It was when she tried to escalate her concerns that she was shut down and her life in the lab made a misery by the VP, Declan Nash.

It hadn't taken long for her to realise that the company was more concerned about profits than actually helping people and she knew that the battle to fall in line and keep her job wasn't worth it. After calmly and quietly sending a company wide report on her findings, she gathered her things and walked out before she could be accosted by security. Little did she know that Nash had already been keeping tabs on her communications, in his eyes she was a trouble maker, and the report never saw the light of day.

Unfortunately for Katie, the current opportunities for young women in the biotech and pharmaceutical world just weren't what they should have been and she spent the next few weeks furiously searching for something else to avoid her work visa being revoked.

Having moved from London to attend the New York Institute of Technology and graduating with a Masters in Chemistry & Bio Engineering three years ago, she'd fallen in love with the city and the life she'd built. She didn't know exactly what the future held and couldn't put her finger on why, but she had a very strong feeling that she needed to stay in New York.

Today, Katie had planned to work through all the job adverts remotely relating to her experience and qualifications, with Jenny on hand to offer moral support. Tiring quickly of hitting one brick wall after another, they'd long forgotten the laptop and instead had spent the last 30 minutes idly chatting about Jenny’s upcoming gallery event when Lucinda arrived, phone to her ear, her body tense and voice sharp as she wrapped up a call with her boss.

"Of course I've got someone Angela, I wouldn't put my name in the mix if I didn't. My candidate is going to blow the others out of the water, I just know Mr Dalton will be impressed....no not just impressed, he'll be awestruck..."

While waiting for her to wrap up her call, Katie heads to the counter to order Lucinda a much needed coffee and returns to place it down in front of her just as she hangs up. She tosses her phone onto the table and slumps back in her chair, defeated.

Jenny stares her down waiting for an explanation which she and Katie both know Lucinda desperately wants to give but is holding off for dramatic effect.

After a long sip of coffee and a moment of holding her head in her hands she finally exhales.

"I am so SO SCREWED."

Katie and Jenny share a look before returning their attention to Lucinda.

"I've just promised my boss that I have the perfect candidate for some billionaire business man's nanny position....." She glares at them both as if they should understand why that's a problem. "I never touch these sorts of jobs, I only ever look for candidates in finance, nannying isn't worth my time."

Katie chooses her words carefully, knowing how Lucinda can bite back pretty quickly when she's stressed. Speaking softly, cautious not to poke the bear, she looks Lucinda in the eye and internally braces herself for whatever might come next.

"So what made this one so different?"

Fortunately Lucinda seems to finally be relaxing, she replies more quietly.

"Filling this position will put me on the map, nobody in the firm has been able to secure someone for this guy, they only seem to last a few weeks before they quit so the sign on bonus never kicks in. If I could find the perfect person I wouldn't only get a great bonus, I'd be next in line for promotion to Senior Head-hunter."

Her demanding demeanour melts away and she's left looking almost vulnerable. Something Katie knows Lucinda doesn't find at all comfortable.

"Anyway, I'll figure it out, I always do."

She gives Katie and Jenny a soft smile, allowing herself to momentarily forget about her woes so she can refocus the attention back to them.

"So what were you guys talking about before I came in?"

As Katie opens her mouth to speak Jenny cuts in on her behalf.

"Oh Katie's just been trying to work out how to get a job before her visa renewal date comes up in a couple of weeks."

Katie lets out a sigh of her own, suddenly remembering how dire her employment prospects are and feeling equally as defeated as Lucinda.

"I can't believe I've worked so hard for my degree, I found the perfect job in the perfect city but now it's all gone down the drain and I'm going to have to go back home and never see you all again."

Jenny wraps her arm around Katie's shoulders, pulling her close. "Oh come on, like you'd be able to shake us off. Even if you are in another country!"

As suddenly as Lucinda dramatically entered the coffee shop she slams her hand onto the table making the others jump.

"THAT'S IT!" She cries, her idea almost exploding out of her. "This is just too perfect...."

Katie and Jenny share a confused look before turning back to Lucinda who is practically foaming at the mouth, clearly onto something, though they're not quite sure what.

"You need a job, I need a candidate." She says in her signature matter of fact style.

Katie still has no idea where Lucinda's going with this.

"It's win win. I'll put you forward for the nanny position, you'll get a great job which means you get to stay in New York, I'll get my bonus. Not to mention I'll look like a damn superhero at work!"

The cogs start to turn in Katie's brain as she begins to digest what Lucinda is proposing.

"But I'm not a nanny....and what about my visa, it's only valid for work in relation to my degree."

Lucinda waves her hand at her, dismissing her concerns. "No problem there then. This guy's family owns one of the biggest Biotech companies in the country, surely that's related to your degree? He's so desperate for a successful match I'll make sure the visa thing is part of the contract."

She cuts back in quickly just as Katie opens her mouth to object.

"And as for you not being a nanny, what about all those times in the lab when you had to pull rank and sort out the shit that went down between your useless colleagues? You've done more nannying of adults in the last two years than most actual nanny's do in their whole career with children."

Jenny suddenly chimes in "OH MY GOD, this is genius!"

Defeated, Katie turns to look at Jenny in disbelief. She may have had a chance saying no to just Lucinda but with Jenny on board with this idea as well she may as well give up now.

"This will solve both your problems, I mean come on, who wouldn't want to work for this guy..."

Jenny turns her phone to Katie, clearly having been searching while she and Lucinda were talking. On the screen Katie sees the most devastatingly handsome man she's ever come across. He's nothing like the guys she'd known before, this person, was a real man and the sight of him caused her stomach to flip.

While undeniably handsome, it's not just the physical attraction that she's drawn to. Her eyes move to the company bio underneath his headshot and in true Katie style, she scans all of the accolades and achievements the company has to boast about. Her mind races at the possibilities. There's no mistaking that working for this man could open the door to so many opportunities and experiences in the future.

With a sigh she resigns herself to the fact that Lucinda might actually be on to something, this could be the break Katie had been waiting for and would certainly solve her imminent visa problems if she could get it taken care of as part of the contract negotiations.

With a silent nod and slight shrug of the shoulders, she begrudgingly agrees, much to the delight of her friends who squeal at each other in delight. Lucinda immediately pushes her shoulders back, standing to attention, furiously beginning to type on her phone.

"You TA'd for your old professor right?"

"Yes, I did a year as their assistant after graduating. Mainly doing research and going to conferences with her."

Lucinda's eyes never leave her phone as she works her magic, spinning Katie's words into an impressive resume. After a moment she raises her eyebrows and flits her eyes over to Katie, a small gesture which Katie realises is an invitation to elaborate.

"Oh, yeah so that's actually how I got into Panacea Labs, I met a rep at one of those conferences."

Jenny rolls her eyes at the mention of Katie's old company, now affectionately known by them both as Pariah Labs. Despite what she felt about Katie's previous employer, she was immensely proud of Katie's achievements and wanted to make sure they were included.

"Weren't you the youngest lab boss thingy they'd ever had?"

"Senior lab technician." Katie corrects, knowing full well that Jenny hasn't got a clue about the finer details of her work. "Well, yeah eventually, after two years of working my butt off. But I hardly think they'd rave about that in any reference they give me. If they even give one to begin with..."

Lucinda waves a dismissive hand at her.

"With this resume, you won't need any reference from those bastards. Trust me."

Katie had no idea what Lucinda had written or how she'd managed to spin her experience to be more favourable for a nanny position but it must've worked because half an hour later Lucinda slammed her hand down on the table once again, causing everyone around them to jump out of their skin.

"YES! It worked...he wants to see you, you've got an interview tomorrow at the Dalton Enterprises headquarters".

She turns her phone to Jenny to show off the email and they fall into an animated conversation, no doubt planning how they're all going to celebrate once Katie inevitably gets offered the job. As they fall into a blur in the background, Katie looks back over the picture of Sam Dalton on Jenny's phone, not quite sure how she can be so hypnotised by someone through a photograph.

There's something about him which feels familiar, something drawing her in. It's almost as if they're viewing each other through a looking glass and she wonders whether in this exact moment he is feeling the same magnetic pull towards her, a stranger whom he hasn't even met yet. Tearing her eyes away from the phone, Katie's tries to steady the stream of unanswered questions flooding her mind and focus on how she's going to win this man over.

"Here goes nothing."

TAG List: @shewillreadyou @chemist-ana @txemrn @silma-words @thefrenchiemama @secretaryunpaid @sfb123

- Bonus - pre-interview pep talk with the girls -

#the nanny affair #fanfic #tna #choices

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xiyao-feels · 3 years

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Nie//yao (MDZS)

So NMJ/JGY is actually getting two versions, because my read on them is wildly different for MDZS vs CQL.

In MDZS I...don't ship it? I mean, there just doesn't seem to be to be anything there at all of a romantic or sexual nature. It's not that they don't care about each other, they clearly do, but it's in a way that is...NMJ as substitute father, JGY as substitute brother, and heavily, heavily inflected by their (current and then former) relationship as superior and subordinate.

Putting this behind a cut because a) it's me explaining at breath length with quotes why I don't think they have a romantic or sexual relationship and I don't want people to have to see that unless they want and b) accordingly it is REALLY LONG and I also don't want to clutter people's dashes, so.

Actually backing up a step, I don't see MDZS NMJ as being attracted to anyone, that's not really specific to JGY. I tend to read him as aspec, tbh. So theoretically he could have romantic feelings about JGY without being attracted to him—I think he may have some quasi-romantic feelings for LXC, though I don't think he conceptualizes it that way—but... honestly, it's not really clear to me that he even likes JGY as a person.

I'm not saying he doesn't like JGY! He clearly does, at least before MY tricks him and flees. But it doesn't seem to have anything to do with MY's personality, as opposed to like—MY being really competent and conducting himself well.

Some quotes about what exactly NMJ values about JGY:

'Nie MingJue interrupted him, “I promoted you not because I wanted you to give back anything out of gratitude. I simply thought that you should stay in this position, since you are capable enough and your conduct is to my liking. If you really want to pay me back, just kill a few more of those Wen-dogs on the battlefield!”'

'After [Meng Yao] left [for Langya], Nie MingJue switched to another deputy. Wei WuXian, however, felt that the new one was always a few beats slower. Meng Yao was an unusually clever talent. He could understand what wasn’t said, and perform to the best with the simplest orders. He was efficient and never slacked. Anyone used to him wouldn’t be able to refrain from comparing him with others.'

'Nie MingJue was never close to people. He rarely opened up to anyone. Though he finally managed to obtain a competent, trustworthy subordinate, whose character and capabilities he approved, he found that the subordinate’s true colors were nothing like what he had thought they were. It was only natural that his reaction was so extreme.'

'Wei WuXian had once found it strange as well. Ever since Meng Yao betrayed the QingheNie Sect, the relationship between Nie MingJue and him hadn’t been the same as before. Then why did they later become sworn brothers? From his observations, aside from how Lan XiChen brought it up, having always hoped that the two would reconcile, the most important factor was probably the gratitude of saving his life and writing the letters. To be precise, in his past battles, he had more-or-less depended on the information that Meng Yao sent over through Lan XiChen. He still thought that Jin GuangYao was a talented person whom one would rarely come upon, and intended on leading him back onto the right path. However, Jin GuangYao wasn’t his subordinate anymore. Only after they became sworn brothers would he have the status and the position to urge Jin GuangYao, like how he disciplined his younger brother, Nie HuaiSang.'

Jin GuangYao spoke with dejection, “But, Brother, didn’t you hear what he said in the oath? Every sentence meant something more. ‘Face a thousand accusing fingers, be torn from limb to limb’—this was clearly a warning for me. I… I’ve never heard of such an oath before.”

Lan XiChen replied in a gentle voice, “He said ‘if one were to think otherwise’. Do you think otherwise? If not, then why should you worry over it so much?"

Jin GuangYao, “I don’t, but Brother has already decided that I do, so what can I do?”

Lan XiChen, “He has always cherished your talent, hoping that you would choose the right path.”

You might notice a recurring theme here: there's a lot of focus JGY's competence and conduct. But anything about who JGY is as a person? Not so much.

They clearly had a good superior/subordinate relationship going on, albeit one in which NMJ was missing a lot of context (see just behave well and show people up, plus the you're missing a solid foundation thing). But it does seem to be basically professional. WWX describes them as conversing "peaceably, even impressively" in contrast to "his future self, always being scolded by Nie MingJue" and "those jokes of how 'LianFang-Zun fled whenever he heard that ChiFeng-Zun arrived,'" and.... that's kind of it. The closest we get to them as friends is them talking together with LXC after NMJ tells MY he will give him a letter of recommendation and send him to his father; as WWX describes it, "The three chatted back and forth, at times serious, yet at times light. The conversation was much more relaxed than when they had been in the living room. Listening to their chatter, Wei WuXian often wanted to get a word in as well, yet he was unable to do so."

That's definitely not nothing! But it's also the most we ever get, only shows up the once, and is explicitly contrasted with their conversation from earlier. Moreover, I'm pretty sure LXC's presence is a necessary part of things; NMJ tends to respond differently to LXC than to other people (even just earlier in this chapter, we're told that while "Nie MingJue had never been one for humour," "in front of Lan XiChen his expression eased"), and WWX explicitly notes LXC's conversation skills in the context of this conversation: "At this point in time, their relationship really isn't bad. Zewu-Jun is actually quite good at holding conversations, so why is Lan Zhan so bad at it?"

In addition, I'd say that looking at the early part of that conversation is quite telling; while LXC and MY are sitting together as equals, MY stand up at once the moment NMJ interrupts, and doesn't sit even after NMJ tells him to do so (I think he probably does take a seat at some point, but the narrative doesn't actually tell us when). Moreover, MY seems to be worried that NMJ will be offended by a possible lack of gratitude on MY's part ("Sect Leader Nie, if you heard everything, then you should've also heard me say that..."), and the only objection he expresses to leaving is precisely that he owes NMJ a debt of gratitude, not anything to do with, like, missing him. To me all the evidence suggests that while they had a close relationship, it was not a /personal/ relationship, but fundamentally one of superior and subordinate.

(For a close read of the scene where NMJ, LXC and MY are talking together, I highly recommend @confusion-and-more's post here)

Moving on, let's look at after JGY becomes JGY. They don't seem to particularly spend time together with each other, certainly not for the sake of it. There's a brief moment at the Flower Banquet where NMJ asks JGY why he's wasting his time with XY (who has not at this point in time committed his crime, he just has a reputation), but after JGY makes his excuse and scurries away, NMJ turns away and doesn't seem to seek him out or even pay him any particular attention for the rest of the scene; he only shows up once more, and that's following WWX. (And although JGY-as-replacement-NHS would be a post all on its own, I do think it's interesting to note that the exchange about XY is immediately followed by LXC and LWJ coming over, described in a way that highlights both their impressiveness and their status at brothers—their Twin Jade-ness, one might say.) During the guqin scene, NMJ only speaks once, and it's to address LXC—to protest the inappropriateness of LXC leaking exclusive Lan techniques. When JGY shows up to play the guqin for him the first time, NMJ asks JGY "what did you come here for," which suggests that NMJ is not generally expecting JGY to come by without a specific, concrete reason. The closest they ever seem to get after JGY becomes JGY is during these guqin-playing sessions, and as WWX describes it, "when playing the guqin, the way that the two conversed and got along even had a hint of the peace they had before they fell out"—which is certainly better than there being no peace at all, but which I think suggests there's still at least some tension, given that it's only a "hint."

Now, NMJ certainly cares about JGY, both in the sense of desiring his well-being, at first, and absolutely in the sense of being emotionally invested in him—even after his death, as a fierce corpse his only desire is to kill Jin Guangyao. But while they had a close superior-subordinate relationship—certainly NMJ seems to have felt close to MY—at no point was it a close personal relationship, and I don't think that NMJ even liked JGY (or MY, I'm using the name expansively) as a person, let alone was in love with him.

But mostly so far I've been focusing in NMJ's feelings. What about JGY? Is /he/ in love with NMJ?

Once again, I just don't read him that way. This isn't to say he didn't care for NMJ—he absolutely did! He goes to quite significant lengths to save his life from WRH in the Sun Palace, including quite a lot of risk to MY himself—I analyze that in a lot more depth in the first part of my post here, if you're interested, though I will also note now that he specifically sent for LXC to help NMJ. (You'll have to scroll down some; I'm responding to someone else's post.) Afterwards, he kneels to NMJ and apologizes, I think sincerely, for hurting him and for invoking his pain about his father's death. He certainly conceives of himself as owing a debt of gratitude to NMJ for recognizing him, and he's so overcome when NMJ offers to send him to his father with a letter of recommendation, saying that he didn't promote MY so that MY would owe him, that he quite remarkably can't even find words. NMJ meant a lot to him, and so did NMJ's not defining him in terms of his birth—until he did, of course, at the stairs kick incident. But as far as I can tell, there's nothing to suggest he has /romantic feelings/ for NMJ, and frankly—how can I put this—it does not at all surprise me that JGY isn't in love with someone with a violent temper who is noted at least twice to react to people explaining themselves when he is angry with even more anger, and that's even without the thing where he nearly killed JGY on multiple occasions and called him the son of a prostitute.

No, I think JGY's emotional journey with NMJ goes through three stages: first, he's deeply grateful to him and respects him a great deal, although he's also aware of NMJ's lack of awareness of certain social realities (see: the teacup scene, NMJ yelling at the other Nie cultivators about their treatment of MY and telling MY not to worry as long as his conduct is upright); second, after Sun Palace, still gratitude and respect but also a mounting frustration with his lack of awareness of the implications of JGY's social position and his hypocrisy re: acceptable violence; finally, after the stairs kick when NMJ kicks him down the stairs, almost kills him, and tells him what else can be expected from the son of a prostitute, he is completely done with NMJ, but is still very much scared of him. The gratitude, I've discussed; the frustration, I think is fairly obvious in the speech he gives back to NMJ at the stairs. But I think the fear is often undervalued, so I'm going to pull a bunch of quotes again:

Meng Yao shrunk immediately after his previous outburst. Watching Baxia slash toward him, he sprinted off at once, scared lifeless. Of the two, one striked with madness and the other fled with madness. Both staggered, still soaked in blood. In such amusing circumstances, as Wei WuXian chopped at the future Chief Cultivator, in his heart he split his sides laughing. He thought that if not for how Nie MingJue was under heavy injuries and lacked spiritual power, Meng Yao would probably have been dead already.

Baxia’s strikes were so menacing that Shuoyue had to unsheath. Lan XiChen stopped him, half to support his figure and half to block his attacks, “MingJue-xiong, calm down! Why bother?”

Nie MingJue, “Why don’t you ask what he did?!”

Lan XiChen turned around to look at Meng Yao, his face was full of terror. He stammered as if he didn’t dare speak.

Nie MingJue remained silent, while Baxia and Shuoyue continued. Meng Yao took a glimpse at the glares from the clashes of the saber and the sword, his gaze full of fear. After a while, however, he still took a step forward. He kneeled to Nie MingJue.

A moment later, Nie MingJue still raised his saber. Lan XiChen, “MingJue-xiong!”

Meng Yao shut his eyes. Lan XiChen also tightened his grip on Shuoyue, “Please excuse…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the silver light of the blade slashed down violently, onto a boulder on the side.

Meng Yao flinched from the thunder of the boulder splitting apart. Looking over, he saw that it had been sliced into two halves, from the top to the bottom.

Jin GuangYao nodded. Xue Yang had been infamous ever since he was young. Wei WuXian clearly felt Nie MingJue’s brows knit even tighter. He spoke, “Why are you wasting your time with such a person?”

Jin GuangYao, “The LanlingJin Sect recruited him.”

He didn’t dare to protest any further. Excuse being that he needed to care for the guests, he scurried to the other side.

[part of his speech to NMJ at the stairs] You think that I should be afraid of nothing? Well I'm afraid of everything, even other people!

Within the temple, three people called Nie MingJue’s corpse ‘Brother’ but the three tones were drastically different. Jin GuangYao’s face was full of a drowning fear. His entire body began to shiver. No matter dead or alive, the person Jin GuangYao was most scared of was none but this sworn brother of his whose temper tolerated no evil. As his body shivered, his hands shivered as well, and the bloody guqin string he clutched tightly in his hand also began to shiver.

Clenching his teeth, Jin GuangYao struck a few acupoints of his arm. Amidst the dizziness that came from a loss of blood, he suddenly saw Nie MingJue walk a step towards him, his eyes locked on him. He was immediately half-dead with fear.

Collapsed beside Lan XiChen, Jin GuangYao saw this scene as well. Whether because the bleeding and the pain intensified at his arm and stomach or from some other reason, the glisten of tears could be seen in his eyes. But before he had a chance to catch his breath or lick his wounds, Nie MingJue turned around after he pulled his fist back and stared hungrily in his direction.

The harsh, stern expression on his rigid face held a sense of judgement that was no different from before he died. Even his tears had been scared away as Jin GuangYao turned to Lan XiChen for help, his voice trembling, “Brother…”

I think the stuff with, you know, handling NMJ's fierce corpse and hanging onto his head is often viewed as evidence of JGY's continued emotional investment in NMJ, but... I don't really think so? First of all, NMJ's fierce corpse is completely obsessed with killing JGY. I'll spare you another round of quotes on that because this is already ridiculously long and because it's not at all subtle—it's all over the temple chapters, take a look! And second of all—well, there's ways of getting information from a corpse. In this case, NMJ's resentful energy is so strong that without the protection of his body, papernan WWX is actually sucked into NMJ's memories against his will! Sure, maybe no one would risk it, and maybe no one who risked it would survive, but especially given that NMJ's fierce corpse is completely obsessed with killing JGY, that's a heck of a risk to take. And look at the description of the protections around NMJ's head:

Suddenly, Wei WuXian noticed that one of the shelves were blocked by a curtain. The curtain was covered in sinister, blood-red runes. It was a talisman of forbiddance, one of extreme power.

Jin GuangYao walked over and lifted the curtain.

For a split second, Wei WuXian thought that he had been exposed. After the faint firelight made its way through the curtain, he found that he was enveloped in a shadow. A circular object just happened to be in front of him.

Jin GuangYao stood still, as though he was staring into the eyes of whatever was inside this shelf.

After a moment, he spoke, “Were you the one looking at me?"

Of course, there couldn’t be any response. He was silent for a while, then let down the curtain.

Wei WuXian quietly attached himself to the object. Cold and hard, it seemed to be a helmet. He then turned to the front. As he had expected, he saw a pallid face. The one who sealed the head wanted it to see nothing, hear nothing, speak nothing, and so incantations had been crowded onto the waxen skin. The eyes, the ears, and the mouth were all sealed tightly shut.

There's containment, it's suppressed to all hell and back, and JGY quite justifiably expects it to be murderously obsessed with him, but to me it doesn't suggest a reciprocal obsession—just more fear.

I'll also note that as a strategy for containing the information about his own involvement it's a very successful operation! It failed in the end /eventually/, but the failure needed:

someone who could successfully break into his private treasure room and escape without being caught

who could also perform Empathy or a similar tecnnique on NMJ's head and survive it

who could successfully recreate from memory the altered Empathy song

whom LXC would be willing to listen to

That's a heck of a tall order!

As to being done with NMJ after the stairs, well, listen to what he says to LXC:

[...]

Jin GuangYao, “It’s not that I don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong, but that sometimes I really can’t help. Nowadays, I have it bad no matter which side I’m on. I have to ensure that I’m on everyone’s good sides. I wouldn’t care if it were someone else, but have I mistreated our eldest brother in any way? Brother, you heard as well. What did he call me?”

[...]

Jin GuangYao was almost sobbing, “If he could say such a thing when he was angry, then just how does he think of me on a daily basis? Is it that because I couldn’t choose my background, because my mother couldn’t choose her fate, I’ll have to be humiliated by others throughout my whole life? If so, then how is Brother different from the people who look down on me? No matter what I do, in the end, just a sentence and I’m ‘the son of a prostitute’.”

And then of course there's what he says to LXC, in his speech to him at the end: "You, on the other hand, ZeWu-Jun, Sect Leader Lan, are as intolerant of me as Nie MingJue—you refuse to spare me even a single breath of life!"

So—wow, this got very long—I don't ship them, and although I think they have very much mattered emotionally to each other, I don't really see them as ever having been in love with or attracted to each other.

A couple of end notes:

In MDZS, NMJ isn't the first (non-MS) person who recognizes MY's worth, although he is the first person to promote him; by the time NMJ promotes MY MY has already met, rescued, and exchanged intimate confidences with LXC, who respects him greatly and thinks he is highly talented (see again the conversation in Hejian which NMJ overhears/eavedrops on).

I've seen people talk about them not understanding each other, but while NMJ certainly doesn't understand JGY, it's not at all obvious that the reverse is true; he generally seems to understand him pretty well. I think he has two surprises overall: first, that he wasn't expecting NMJ to say he didn't promote MY so MY would owe him, and volunteer to send him to his father with a letter of recommendation—and second, he wasn't expecting NMJ, who for all his flaws did seem to ignore JGY's background in good ways as well as bad, to call him the son of a prostitute.

I definitely don't read the coffin at the end as romantic. Or I mean, uh, there's the romance of an obsessive stalker-murderer finally getting his victim, and that's not nothing (unironically; look, I'm a Hannibal fan), but I don't think it's usually what people mean. This is a shitty end for JGY, part of how thoroughly he loses and is destroyed. I think to some extent it might be that he doesn't want LXC to be the one who killed him, and to some extent it's an act of defiance—now that he has nothing to lose, not even his life, he's going to go out fighting. I would expand on this but this post is ridiculously long and I have way too many quotes, maybe I'll do it in a separate post later on—but if you look at the description of it in the text, plus the subsequent description of it in the coffin...yeah. JGY didn't want to die, he didn't want to be engaged in a mutually destructive thing with NMJ; he wanted to leave NMJ behind in the past, and move on. It's not, for him any kind of fulfillment, is my read.

All quotes are taken from the Exiled Rebels translation: ch 48-50 for everything about NMJ and JGY's past relationship, ch. 47 for the description of JGY's containment measures for NMJ's head, and ch. 106-108 for the quotes about JGY's fear of NMJ's fierce corpse. The description of JGY going into the coffin is at the end of 108 if you want to have a look, and there's more in 109 and 110 about the difficulty of sealing NMJ's fierce corpse/its power and violence.

#ship meme #ship negativity #this is so goddamn long #how many quotes can I fit in one post? dear god #also there's no way the coffin is actually staying shut for 100 years see ch. 113 #also I didn't want to rely on material that isn't in the final text but if you do look at the scene of JGY cutting NMJ's head off #the same theme of NMJ's fierce corpse's murderous obsession + JGY's fear are very much there #also I'm not sure I'd call it a notp exactly? like obviously I don't see it but there are versions of it I can kind of enjoy #but I figured I was being well by all accounts it doesn't make sense enough that I wanted to circle it as like. a warning XP #we can't change places #anger burned in his heart #more than one tag could contain #long meta

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msmkcreates · 3 years

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A Second Chance at a First Impression Ch. 9: The One With the Croissant

Boss may be taking care of Stretch, but he still has therapy of his own to attend, and therapy always digs up the root of the problem.

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I know it's been a while, but I've had so much going on these last few weeks, some very good (like a promotion) and some very bad,, including dealing with a death of a family member recently so all of my works have been inching along slowly in my documents.

I hope everyone is having a Happy New Year

Warnings: therapy, imposter syndrome, anxiety, working out Boss' issues, discussion of consent and power imbalances

Read on Ao3 with the above link

-or-

Read here on Tumblr

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The clinic was always empty this time of day, the sun sinking down beneath the surrounding buildings, but Boss quite prefers it when there's less people cluttering the lobby and the waiting room.

His therapist was an aging man named John, with kind eyes and a weathered wedding ring polished by worrying fingers over the years. His office was decorated simply with a handful of pictures of his wife and nephews. No children, he had told Boss once, though the why had never quite come to him. In Boss' opinion it was really none of his business, but he did wonder what could stop someone with so much kindness from passing it on.

"How are things with your new job?" John asked, looking over his glasses at him. "I know you've been struggling with your inability to join the workforce, has this helped the negative thoughts go away?"

"It helps to have another income," Boss agreed, his hands folded neatly in his lap. "And it helps that it's family, and so close to home. It isn't what I expected, though."

John hummed, leaning back in his own chair. "How so?"

"Well, to be frank, I expected it to be a nightmare," he chuckled. "Stretch and I get along like baking soda and vinegar on the best of days. Or at least, we used to...it seems like we get along better than he and his own brother now. He's kind, and thoughtful, a little naive but also startlingly wise at times."

"A good change, then?"

Boss hummed, looking down at his hands. "...I'm not sure. It's nice that he usually does what I ask, and it's nice that we don't fight all the time. But I worry that maybe...he still feels the same, deep down."

"As if maybe, he is keeping it to himself out of a sense of duty and gratitude?" John asked. "You worry that he is only this way because you're caring for him."

"...right on the money, as always," he chuckled.

It was something they'd discussed before, the fear that any kindness shown to him was out of a sense of duty, fear, or propriety. When he'd begun his sessions with John, he'd resisted the idea that he treated Red badly, only to find that was exactly what he had done and Red had only gone along with every horrid word because Boss provided protection, safety, and home. With Red's HP he had always just taken it on the chin for the sake of surviving, something they have been parsing out in small quantities and group sessions over the years, limited by Red's stubborn insistence that Boss has nothing to apologize for.

The fear was there, that Stretch was only pretending to like him because of the inherent power Boss holds being his caregiver. He worries that fear rules their relationship, that Stretch is only being kind because Boss is helping him.

"Is it wrong of me to assume that you might hold feelings for Stretch?"

Boss felt his face flush as he looked up swiftly, bristling slightly in embarrassment. "I, well, that is...I don't know what you mean."

"Correct me if I'm wrong,but every time we talk about Stretch recently, it's all very positive. Your posture changes, and you smile more. Before the accident, any time we spoke of him it was as if you'd eaten something sour, but now it's like I've just offered you your favorite candy." John leaned back in his chair, his eyes twinkling knowingly. "Is it fear of your power in the relationship that keeps you from recognizing these feelings?"

Boss hummed, looking out the minnow over the nearby park. Stretch sat there, on a bench where he had left him to wait, and he got up to walk over to the window and pulled the sheer curtain aside to look at him more properly.

He'd bought him a croissant, in the hopes he'd eat it, but looked like the soft-hearted man had felt bad for the birds with little food, as he was tearing pieces off it to feed to the growing number of cardinals and winter wrens surrounding him. They pecked at the snowy ground and hopped around his feet, and Boss could almost hear him talking to them, telling them to wait their turn as if they understood English, and he chuckled.

"Feelings are irrelevant. I only want him to get better. I want to see him smile more, to see him happy." Boss let the curtain fall back into place. "I'm his friend now, but I'm also his caregiver. If I made a move on him, wouldn't that put pressure on him to say yes, even if he didn't want to? Would he feel as if he owed me? As much as I may want him, I don't want that."

"Consent is very important, and being on unequal footing can compromise it," John agreed. "Have you spoken with him about these thoughts? Being clear in your motives and your wish for consent?"

"Heavens no," Boss chuckled, grasping his hands together as he turned back to the couch. "I think I'd much rather eat a cactus than talk about my feelings. As you know."

"Do you think that's very fair?"

"To him?" Boss asked.

"To yourself."

Boss paused, squeezing his hands together as he thought on that. "...I'm not sure. I'm not even sure what I feel for him is romantic or platonic. I can't tell if it's happiness at finding a true friend or...something more. Or if it's just the amount of time together, or just guilt. I think it'd be a disservice to tell him how I feel if it turns out I'm wrong."

"That seems sound," John said, leaning back in his chair. "Perhaps you should explore your feelings deeper?"

Boss shook his head. "I'm not so sure I want to."

"And why is that?"

"I...I'm not good for him. I'm dangerous, my LV is... so high, and only one hit from me, even with higher HP that he has now, would destroy him. What if I lose myself one day?"

"Do you think knowing you cared for him would increase the chance of that happening?" John asked. "Currently you are spending about as much time together as any married couple. Do you still thinks he is in danger from your presence?"

"Well...I guess you have a point." Boss fidgeted with his fingertips. "Maybe I was the wrong person to look after him."

"That isn't what I meant," John chuckled, standing from his chair. "I think all feelings are worth exploring, Papyrus. If you understand yourself, you can begin to make the changes you want to see. It's worked thus far with your brother, hasn't it?"

Boss smiled wryly. It was true, his relationship with Red was leagues better now than it had ever been, just from understanding and changing his behavior.

"...I will think on it." He reached out to shake John's outstretched hand. "Thank you again, John. Have a lovely weekend and say hello to the missus."

"I gave you that croissant to feed yourself, not the birds."

"I always do," John promised.

--------

Stretch looked up at Boss with bright eyelights, smiling wide from beneath the many birds perched on his outstretched arms. And legs. And head. And any semi-flat surface they could sit on.

"but it's so cold! where are they gonna get their food?"

Boss chuckled, the puffy jacket he was wearing rising and falling with his shoulders in a shrug. "They're winter birds. They eat nuts and berries and whatever else. They know how to get what they need, unless people keep feeding them so they never learn how to do it themselves."

Stretch smiled sheepishly. "...oops?"

Boss stepped closer, and in a flurry of wings, all his new bird friends took off into the chilly winter air. He watched them flutter off, scattering into the sparse park trees.

"I suppose I'm too scary for your birds," he sighed, sitting beside him on the bench. "And you? Am I too scary?"

"too scary? no, you're the best!" Stretch answered, and Boss noted the lack of hesitation with faint pride before he even registered the compliment. "who else is gonna buy me croissants to feed the birds with? blue just says i can't live off bread and gives me something lame, like a salad or green beans."

"Hmm, so I shouldn't make shepherd's pie for dinner tonight?" Boss asked, smirking over at him as he gave a look of disbelief. "Well, since you've decided to live off croissants…"

"noooo! i want the pie!" Stretch whined, leaning on him and tugging on his sleeve. "please! you cook so much better than blue!"

"Don't let him hear you say that," Boss laughed, gently removing his hands from his arm. "If we want shepherd's pie, we need to go to the grocery store. Are you up for it?"

"...can we also get some more honey?" Stretch asked, standing with him and trying his best to look cute. Looking cute seemed to get him what he wanted with Boss, and to his delight he got an amused smirk.

Boss turned, jerking his head so he would follow. "If you're good, we can get whatever you want. Come on, then."

#ascaafi #a second chance at a first impression #spicyhoney #papcest #finally figured out the readmore eeeyyyy #amnesia fic

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af1899 · 3 years

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FEH - "The outside world...! So vast!" (+10 WIP Sophia mini-showcase and appreciation)

So, with the [Feh Pass] subscription, I've been auto battling as much as I could while doing whatever else and gather [Hero Feathers] to get all the [HM] I had yet to get, and it was absolutely worth it, although I've already spent like 300 out of my 900+ something [Stamina Bottles] in the [Forging Bonds] lmao, I have around 660 now.

But with the obtained [Hero Feathers] I merged up Tailtiu to +6 and...

Poggers

I'm happy to have finished merging Sophia at long last which makes of her my eleventh fully merged project soon after New Year Eir, her build is pretty much done but I'd be delighted to give her more premium stuff she can use in the future and make more builds, as well as giving her the remaining [Dragonflowers (I)] but I'm so close to fully boost Sonya and then I have to boost OG and Legendary Julia because of the post-[CYL 2021] update. 🥴

But her current build does wonders already, true, she's not impervious to nearly everything as it is, but I can give her some team support and the like, she's still great on her own.

Now, onto appreciation talk which includes describing her a little and explaining why I like her. I did this in one of my previous posts but it's time to review the info we have about her and expand on it. As always, feel free to read on (long read ahead)...

About Sophia

She's a half-dragon, half-human girl with the power of foresight, she's a priestess residing in Arcadia, a village that houses manaketes that survived one of the most vicious wars from past lore (The Scouring) located in the southwestern desertic region (Nabata) in Elibe, the continent on which the sixth and seventh Fire Emblem games take place in, she's a playable [Shaman] in the former and makes a minor appearance as a NPC near the end of the latter. Her class makes of her one of the two playable dark magic users in Fire Emblem: Sword of Seals (the other is the guy you're most likely to get while pulling on red stones in FEH, a.k.a. Raigh), and she gains access to basic staves after promoting to [Druid].

In her support convo with Niime, it's revealed that Sophia's father was human, meaning that her mother was a dragon, but neither's identity is ever known to the player. But despite this, she never transforms into a dragon, most likely because she never had her own stone to contain those powers. Being half-dragon also allows her to live much longer, but not as purebred manaketes/dragons.

She's fully self-aware of her heritage and doesn't let that bother her, she accepts both halves of herself which make of her a whole person.

She's somewhat important around the half of the game's duration as she helps a gravely injured Cecilia to at least tend to her wounds while waiting for Roy's army to rescue them as they were both thrown into a prison under Bern's control (the kingdom invading the other countries during the events of the game).

Sophia displays a shy and gentle personality, showing clear astonishmnet yet in a calm way when witnessing what the outside world is like and what it has to offer (beyond the village she's been living for around a century), this is most evidenced in her support dialogues with Igrene. She even feels similarly when wearing a new set of clothes, such as those of Embla in the World of Zenith, anytime after she joins the Order of Heroes.

«As long as I am with you... I can go anywhere...even a new country...»

― Sophia

She also mentions she was raised to avoid outsiders, and in the same aforementioned support convo, it's mentioned why.

«I understand what he's saying... The Dragons' powers could easily destroy entire countries. If the outsiders found out, they would surely fight over it. I've seen many conflicts like that in my life...»

― Igrene

And it's understandable why she feels that way after being raised by the elder of the village to do as told for decades. But in the end, she wants to work towards a world of peace where both dragons and humans live together without a war ever spreading out, and befriend other people, she's appreciative of other's kindness.

So... why do I like her?

Because she's purple-haired and most of her design has purple and I love purple soooooo much, that's all you need to know. :)

...Kidding kidding, that's not actually it, but it's in part true that I find her aesthetic pleasing, partially due to my passion for this color:

(Official artwork from FE6)

Her design is rather simple but so charming, clearly evidencing her shyness (see the way she holds her book and her facial expression), and feeling clean without going overboard on details.

Also, I find long, purple hair a rather rare yet dazzling sight, I always look at it in her artwork and remins me why I love her design.

True, her neck in Zaza's take on Sophia in Fire Emblem Heroes bothered me a little, mostly because her neck is a little long as seen above, but not as slim as long as Zaza has drawn her (it's still a decent artwork and the artist has made some really nice pieces later, look at Emmeryn), the style also felt a little off to me. But her Resplendent upgrade made Sophia look more cute and still being the one we know, doning a brand new attire.

(❶ Original by Zaza. | ❷ Resplendent by Miwabe Sakura)

But for me, it's pointless to be pretty if there's not a likeable personality behind the character in question, and Sophia has been proven to be really interesting, often a mysterious but shy girl, she's capable of kindness and finding comfort with outsiders like Kiran or Roy, when I see her, I always feel that she's so nice, never feeling bitterness towards any of her allies, just being shy due to how she's grown, but with a desire for friendship and peace pushing her forward, even slowly but surely, she's so lovely. 🥰

What's more, some of her quotes show she has a protective side, determined to stand up to help her allies but specially those she's close with, this eventually includes Kiran themselves.

Her voice in Fire Emblem Heroes is also really soothing, Wendee Lee has made such a delightful work giving new life to Sophia through her voice acting, there sure are differences between her work back in 2017 (Sophia is a launch unit, meaning she's been around ever since the game was live) and the work on the Resplendent in 2020, yet both are pretty consistent and equally pleasant to hear. But if I have to vouch for one or another, I give a point to the Resplendent voice acting, her voice can be heard with a little more depth and calmness to it than the original, which feels more natural.

And she's a dark magic practitioner but that doesn't make her evil at all, she's really pure actually. But I actually find dark magic most appealing out of any kind of weapon I have ever seen, the whole concept is cool, being always creepy and nefarious in nature, often portrayed in hues of black and dark purple.

And like, c'mon, this thing is amazing:

I wish that [Apocalypse] was her PRF weapon in Fire Emblem Heroes but neither Raigh nor Bramimond who's its OG owner got it and just got random PRFs instead.

Anyway, in short, I adore Sophia and it always makes me happy to turn a seemingly weak unit into a tough to crack cookie, love for favorites sure can take them far.

"And... as a unit?"

I've been trying her mainly against the foes she has advantage with, but I've been also trying her against red/blue units and sometimes she does a nice job holding them at bay, she has low speed even after all this investment but with buffing it's somewhat usable.

Yet I prefer to focus on her strengths, not weaknesses, and she stands as a fairly good magic tank, with the few extras she enjoys as a launch unit and full demote plus Resplendent skin since around the first weeks of the [Feh Pass].

I actually tried her here some time after posting this because I didn't notice the [Limited Hero Battle] for today requires you use FE6 units, so I went with my faves in the game and it was rather easy. 🙂 But it still took a little thinking.

"Who's the next +10 you have in mind?"

Hmm... actually gonna (at least try to) work on Lilina, another one of my Elibian favorites. I also have her Resplendent upgrade and could revamp her kit. 🤔

But she's currently +3 so her turn might take longer or someone's else may come before, Idk.

And then, hopefully someone I like out of the next potential Resplendent Heroes...!

#feh #fe heroes #fire emblem heroes #fire emblem #fire emblem sword of seals #fire emblem the binding blade #fe sophia #af1899-updates

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iamknicole · 4 years

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Deja Vú (2)

Florian Munteanu/OC

Its probably pretty awful but it was stuck in my head 🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️

After two weeks with her nieces their mother had finally picked them up from Angel. She didn't offer an excuse or extend a thank you but Angel wasn't expecting one either. She still checked on them while they were home because she knew her brother would want her to.

After work Angel decided to go to the hookah bar down the street from her house to relax. Her another friends usually went their together but they were all working but she didn't mind going alone.

She looked around the room as she sat in a booth waiting for a waitress. The room was dimly lit which is why she chose to sit at a booth with a small hanging light over it. Moments later, a brown skin girl dressed in black short shorts and a fitted black tee came to her table placing the hookah on it. She put fresh cubes at the top then smiled.

"Here you go. Its jungle juice flavored, love."

Angel looked at her strangely and took the hose from her, "Um ... this isn't mine. I didn't order this."

The waitress smiled. "It was from another customer. He asked me to send it to you."

"Oh no thank you. I'm good."

"Uh, no, I think you should keep it. Its the guy on the couch over there," The waitress explained pointing discreetly in the direction.

Rolling her eyes, Angel looked at who was on the sofa. When she did she spotted the man she had bumped into weeks ago sitting wide legged with the hookah hose in his hand. She smiled and sat back in the booth.

"Can you do me a favor and take it over to sit on his table? I'm gonna sit with him."

The waitress nodded waiting for Angel to get up and follow her. When she got to the table she sat beside him, turning her body sideways so she could look at him.

"Jungle juice?"

He laughed taking a pull from the hose.

"Seemed fitting. It got you here, didn't it?"

"I guess it did," she hummed picking up her own hose, "Why is it fitting?"

"Closest thing to jungle fever, no?"

Angel laughed for the first time in a while. She shook her head taking a pull.

"What do you think?" He asked watchign her facial expressions.

"Minty and fruity. I like it."

He nodded. "I have good taste. Looks like you do as well."

The two sat for another two hours talking about nothing in particular. They'd gone through four refreshers before Angel's phone vibrated on the table. She saw her nieces' picture pop up and answered putting her hand over her other ear.

"What's up, Nyla?" She asked quickly.

"Auntie, come get us, please."

"Why? Whats wrong?"

"Mama not here and her boyfriend got people in the house. They doin drugs, Auntie. I had to lock us in Nia's room."

Angel took a deep breath before answering. "Alright, I'm on my way. Stay in the room till I get there."

When they hung up, Angel looked over and started to call his name realizing she didn't know what it was.

"We've been sitting here and I don't even know you're name."

He leaned in close so she could hear him, "Florian."

She smiled and stuck her hand out to him which he took. His hand swallowed hers. "Well, Florian, I'm Angel."

"Hmm.... Angel? Never thought I'd see on walk the earth." He responded cooly slowly letting her hand fall from his.

"Cute," she laughed, "But I need to go, my nieces need me. "

Florian flagged the waitress down, "Give me a second to pay. I'll go with you."

"You don't gotta do that, Florian. I assume you were just apologizing for bumping me. All is forgiven."

After handing the waitress two hundred dollar bills, he laughed under his breath and stood up. He offered his hand to her which she took.

"Not what I was doing. Sounded like you were upset, I want to make sure all is okay."

Figuring that arguing wouldn't work, Angel followed him outside. He walked her to her car then told her to follow him to his building so he could drop his car off.

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

"Your nieces okay?" He asked fifteen minutes into their drive.

"As long as they're in their room, they are."

"Is there a problem where they live?"

Angel nodded turning into the neighborhood. "Yeah, their mama got shit for brains."

Florian laughed at the tone of her voice. He understood the seriousness but to hear her so upset was sort of amusing to him after she'd been so happy and carefree at the bar.

"Something funny?"

"Yeah, the way you said that. You sound pissed."

"Cause I am," she snorted. "Stop making me wanna laugh."

When they pulled up to the house, Angel parked across the street and killed her engine. She saw the cars parked in front of the house and shook her head.

"You mind coming in with me to get them?"

Florian shook his head and started to get out, "Not at all. Come on."

The door was unlocked when they got to the porch so they walked on in. Florian walked closely behind her looking around the small house. Angel went straight to the living room she spotted 6 men and 2 women sitting around it.

"Chanda know you doin this shit in her house, Rod?" Angel asked loudly.

Rod jumped then scoffed when he realized who it was. "Man, gone somewhere with all that. Take ya bougie ass on."

"Yeah, after I get my nieces I will. I don't know why she let your dumbass have a key anyway." Angel fussed turning to leave the living room.

"I don't know why she gave you a key either, bitch. Airways messing shit up."

Angel started to turn around but Florian stopped her telling her to grab her nieces. She knocked softly on the bedroom door then called their names softly promoting them to open the door.

"Come on. We leaving, yall. Yall got what yall need?"

Nyla grabbed both their bookbags then her little sister's hand and walked out the bedroom. Shaking her head, Angel followed them down the short hallway and found Rod pinned against the wall by Florian. She gave Nylah the keys telling her to go get in her sub then rushed to Florian pulling his arm to no avail.

"Let him go. Its okay."

"Its not," he said simply, "Apologize to her."

Rod stuttered out an apology prompting Florian to let him go. Nodding, Angel pulled her new friend out of her sister's house to the suv.

"Girls, this is Florian. Florian, these are my nieces, Nia and Nylah." Angel said pulling off from the house. "We're gonna take him home then get food. Okay?"

Florian turned in his seat to smile at them. "Nice to meet you, girls."

"You our uncle? We never had one and we want one." Nia said smiling.

Angel sucked her teeth, "Nia, hush. That's not your business."

"Correction," Nyla added, "You never had a uncle, Nia. I did. But Auntie said he wasn't shit so he had to go."

"Nyla! Watch your mouth!"

Florian laughed turning back around in his seat, "I like them. They're funny."

"We like you too, Uncle Flo!" Nia squealed. "You come over for dinner?"

"Sure, I'd love too."

Angel side eyed him as she drove, knowing this was another losing argument.

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

After picking up some soul food, they all went back to Angel's house to eat. She sent her nieces upstairs to bathe and change before they ate leaving Florian and her in the kitchen. Her phone rung while she fixed their plates, she answered it putting it on speaker.

"What, Chanda?"

"You been to my house?"

Angel sucked her teeth. "You know good and damn well I've been there. What do you want?"

"I want you to stay the hell.outta my house when I'm not there. Every time Nyla lying ass call you, ya bougie ass come runnin. Aint shit happen."

Angel put down the spoon she was holding and stared at her phone. "She didn't say anything happened other than Rod had people over there with drugs so what are you talking about?"

Chanda paused for a second then spoke, "Oh well don't worry about that then. But you heard what I said stop running over here aint shit wrong with them. They just spoiled cause of you."

"My nieces aren't liars and I'm always gon pick them up when they ask. You need to worry about leaving them there with Rod ass." Angel fussed rolling her neck as if Chanda could see her.

Chanda sucked her teeth. "You know what since you think you know everything and you and ya stupid ass brother think you can raise them better than I can then you keep they asses. I aint want them no way, lyin ass lil children."

"Whatver, Chanda. Thats fine, they would rather be here anyway."

Angel hung up the phone without waitng for a response and put her face in her hands trying to calm herself down. Florian, who she'd forgotten about in the midst of the argument, came around the island and wrapped his arms around him to comfort her. He rocked them from side to side letting her cry on his chest.

"So we live here now?" Nia asked softly from the doorway.

Angel pulled away from the hug wiping her face and pushed her hair behind her ears. She went over to both of her nieces, who'd been standing there since the tail end of the conversation.

"Yeah, I guess yall do. Is that okay?" She asked both of them.

Nyla shrugged, "Took long enough. Been tryna move here for months."

Nia hugged her aunt's legs smiling. "I love it here! We get to live with you forever!"

Angel hugged her back laugjing softly, "What about when ya daddy comes back?"

"Then he can come live here!"

Nyla laughed going to sit to the table, "No, Daddy said we getting our own house plus Auntie and Uncle Flo need their space."

Nia pulled away from the hug and ran to the table to her sister.

"Space for what?"

"To make our cousins, duh, Nia."

Angel rolled her eyes playfully when she heard Florian laughing. "Okay, okay, lets eat and stop talking about cousins."

"But I can still be their uncle," Florian asked playfully as he walked over to the table to sit down.

#Deja Vu #florian munteanu #florian munteanu/oc #florian & angel

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sage-nebula · 3 years

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Thanks for the explanation! I've been a JRPG fan since the 90s and the changes made to the Let's Go games don't sound as though they'd be my thing either. Do you have a review of Gen 8 anywhere on here? I'd be curious to see what you think of Sword and Shield.

I don’t think I ever did a formal review of Sword / Shield because I wasn’t writing up game reviews at the time, but I’d be happy to give an impromptu one here!

Overall Score: 8.5/10

The Pros:

— Gameplay was a vast improvement from the previous gen. Dynamaxing is a much more fun battle mechanic than a one-time-per-battle use Z-Move; the Wild Area is FANTASTIC, especially with the wild pokémon roaming around; the bike came back without annoying music to accompany it; the post-game Battle Tower provided actual challenge, and so on. I actually had fun playing these games, particularly with so much space to explore and things to find. I’m not someone who says that story is never important in games—I’m far from that person, actually—but gameplay will always be the most important component of a video game because it’s how the audience engages with it. The Alola games were not fun for me to play; the Galar games were, and that was automatically such a relief after a gen that felt like a chore to get through.

— The characters are all fantastic! Aside from postgame characters Shieldbert and Swordward, I didn’t dislike a single character in the games. The rivals were great, the Gym Leaders were memorable and involved for the first time since Gen V, and Sonia has one of my favorite arcs of any Pokémon character ever given how relatable her story was. (Having one of the main characters be someone in her twenties trying to figure out what she’s going to do with her life is almost like Game Freak was trying to speak to the young adult audience who grew up with these games, tbh.) I didn’t like the characters in the Kalos games aside from one, and the Alola games were a massive disappointment, but Galar really came through and shone with all of its characters. The fact that they’ve only managed to get even more spotlight and depth in things like the League Card bios and the post-game Galarian Stars Tournament only makes things even better.

— The music was excellent. While there were a few tracks that weren’t especially memorable (such as the standard trainer battle music), there were many more that were absolute bangers (the Gym Leader battle music, the Battle Tower music composed by Toby Fox himself, Marnie’s Battle Theme, etc). I especially love the music for the northern part of the wild area, with how the bagpipes come into full crescendo. Absolutely spectacular.

— There was so much to explore! One of my primary complaints with the Alola games is that they were so small; only four tiny islands, without being able to explore the sea. Galar made up for that, though, with more towns, a huge wild area, and to cap it all off, extra locations added with DLC that allowed you to fully explore the ocean and many other areas. There were so many little hidden things around and I LOVED discovering everything, ignoring the plot while I did so. That was my jam.

— Speaking of the DLC, I cannot speak highly enough about Game Freak’s decision to release DLC with new areas / content rather than just releasing a slightly modified third version with different postgame (coughUSUMcough). Yes, the DLC still cost money, but it was half the price that a third game would have been, and honestly the DLC stories adding to the postgame (though you can do them at any time and the levels scale) added to the richness, depth, and overall playtime that the Galar games offered. I really, really can’t express how much I hope that this is the business model Game Freak takes with future releases. Please give us new stories via DLC rather than making us shell out for a slightly modified third version.

— Honestly, this is an unpopular opinion, but I really liked the way the story was handled. I LOVED the model for the Gym Challenge being a regional tournament that you have to be sponsored to enter, how the “gyms” were stadiums full of people, how it’s something that really affected the region and encompassed everything you did, story-wise. I loved, too, how the adults in the game ACTUALLY DID SOMETHING FOR ONCE instead of wanting to rely on literal children to solve their problems for them. Sure, it means we missed some instances of disaster, but honestly, I’ve been cleaning up the PokéWorld’s messes since 1998. I’m tired. I want to just have fun gallivanting off into the wilderness in-between doing a fun Gym Challenge. That’s all I want. So while some didn’t like the fact that the story wasn’t super deep, I liked it, especially since if the Kalos and Alola games taught us everything, it’s that Game Freak fails spectacularly at handling tough topics, to the point I’d really rather they not try at all.

The Cons:

— I’m still disappointed about the Dex cut. I’ve accepted it at this point, we won’t get the full Dex back unless Game Freak somehow gets more time to develop the games, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t find it disappointing. I think all pokémon should be included in the games at least once the main campaign is over, and it’s disappointing that they aren’t.

— I don’t know if it’s a fault of the game or thanks to my internet connection, but I experience severe lag when wifi is turned on in the wild area, which is again disappointing since it was promoted how you could interact freely with other players this way.

— I MISS MEGA EVOLUTION. My Charizard was bred and trained specifically to mega evolve into X. I really hope we get Mega Evolution back at some point because I’m angry that it’s gone.

— While I was glad to see following pokémon back in the DLC, it really wasn’t implemented well. They can’t keep pace properly at all. Again, I wonder if this is tied to the time constraints that went into development, and if it is, I hope they can smooth it out in the future.

— I was kind of disappointed in the way Rose ended up being depicted as the game’s Big Bad, because of the role they gave him in the game. In the game, he’s the CEO of a mega corporation that controls all energy throughout the Galar region. Given that we currently live in a world where CEOs of mega corporations who control everything are actively destroying the planet and don’t care that they’re doing it, it fell a bit flat for me for the games to be like, “no, it’s fine he controls everything that everyone’s lives depend on, the real problem is he summoned a legendary pokémon he couldn’t control.” Like, my dislike of Rose is far less about what he does versus what he is, and I feel like Game Freak chickened out of criticizing what actually needed to be criticized.

But yeah, that’s all I’ve got! I really enjoyed Sword and Shield; they gave me some hope for the direction the games might be taking in the future.

#pokemon #pokemon swsh #Anonymous

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simons-calling-the-127-squad · 3 years

Text

Unbreakable - Xiaojun

Credit to original owners of the images.

GN College Student Reader X Band Member Xiaojun

Soulmate Au: Red String

You couldn't help but roll your eyes at your friends, who just suggested going to a performance they had heard about that was happening tonight. They wanted to go to celebrate making it through finals, but you wanted to sleep. Your friends pleaded with you to join them, they even bribed you.

"Y/N, how do you expect to meet your soulmate if you never leave your house?" Y/B/F said, causing you to instantly look at the red string tied around your ring finger it weaved through people and eventually left your vision. You sighed knowing that she was right. You finally agreed to join them, resulting in them squealing with joy. Jenna offered to be the driver of the group while Y/B/N offered to help with your outfit. You accepted, knowing that she wouldn't take no for an offer. The group decided they should all head home and get ready, but Y/B/F began pulling you in the direction of her dorm, stating that "you had nothing to wear for it". You knew she was right and allowed her to drag you to her room. Upon entering she greeted her roommate and instantly moved to her room, pushing you to sit on her bed as she started pulling clothes out of her closest and throwing them at you to try on. After numerous outfit changes, she eventually settled on a simple outfit for you. One that fits the scene and your style, pleasing both of you. It luckily didn't take long for her to choose her clothes for the night. She also allowed you to choose the makeup and hairstyle, though only after you pointed out the time to her, making her rush to do her own. She was able to finish before Jenna arrived, the two of you climb into the backseat. Jenna informed you that Nova was already at the performance hall, meaning you only had to pick up Terrance. He was already waiting outside and immediately jumped into the passenger seat.

"It's about time we got to do something fun", he said. All of you agreed and talked about how horrible classes were going. The conversation made the ride pass by quickly, making you surprised when you saw you had already arrived at the hall.

"Remember no stressing tonight. We are here to have fun and let loose", Jenna said as she parked. You nodded in response, knowing the statement was directed at you. The line wasn't unbearably long and soon enough you found Nova who was already sitting at a table with a drink in hand.

"Okay so like the guys in the band are ridiculously hot", she said the moment you guys were in earshot.

"I feel bad for your poor soulmate. Whoever they have to deal with your thirsty ass", Terrance said as he sat down next to her. She told him to shut up before turning to the rest of you.

"So, how's the search going", she questioned. Jenna and Y/B/F both shrugged. Promoting Nova to ask you specifically. You looked down at your string and followed it, your eyes widening as you realized it didn't disappear around in a corner but was instead attached to a male standing on the stage with a guitar in hand. He had the classic 'I'm in a band look going' black ripped jeans with a black shirt and black hair.

"No freaking way", Y/B/F whispered. She had realized your eyes were focused on something, or rather someone, and followed your gaze. Terrance was the next to catch on, he whistled as he looked at the male.

"You're so lucky", he whispered. Jenna and Nova we're still confused, Terrance wasted no time filling them in.

"You have to talk to him after the show!" Nova practically screamed, forcing your attention to her.

"Trust me, I will", you replied. Jenna shushed you and told you they were starting.

"Before we begin we wanted to thank you all for coming tonight. I know that you guys don't know who we are, but we're happy that you're taking a chance to listen to us right now", your soulmate said. He then nodded to the boy sat at the drums, he was tall and blonde. The boy nodded and began playing. After a few beats, your soulmate began to sing, and you couldn't help but be even more thankful this man was the one at the end of the string. After a few songs ended, your friends immediately forced you to stand sending you over to the bar where the male sat.

"I was wondering which of us was gonna make the first move", he said as you took the seat next to him.

"Didn't wanna take the risk of you not noticing", you replied.

"Trust me", he paused to fully turn his attention to you, "I've been waiting for this moment my entire life. And knowing that you are this gorgeous, it makes me even happier to know that you're my mate." He then proceeded to ask for your name

"I'm Y/N. You?"

"I go by Xiaojun", he told you.

"Pleasure to meet you, Xiaojun."

"Pleasure to meet you too, Y/N." The two of you continued to talk for the rest of the night. It was almost four in the morning by the time Nova stumbled over to you, telling you that Jenna wanted to leave and needed to know if you were riding with them. You told her to give you a few minutes and she nodded, going back to the group. You turned to Xiaojun who was already sliding his phone to you. You picked it up and added your number. He instantly sent you a text and begged you to let him name his contact. You handed him your phone.

"Don't check it till you get home", he said as he gave it back, with a wink.

"Do I really wanna know what you named yourself?"

"Of course you do", he laughed. " Is it okay to ask for a hug?" He questioned.

"Sounds like a reasonable request", you said. The two of you stepping closer to wrap your arms around each other.

"Could I also kiss you on the cheek?"

"Yes. In fact, I'd love it if you did."

"Good,'' he said, planting a quick kiss on your right cheek.

"Lemme know when you get home", he whispered as you parted.

"I will. You also better let me know."

"I will", he told you. You waved as you moved closer to your friends and he returned the gesture.

"I already ship it", Terrence said.

"Same", Y/B/F agreed.

" You guys ready?" You asked as you rejoined them.

"Yep. Are you though?" Terrence inquired. His eyes moving to Xiaojun, you begin to blush and tell him to shut up. He laughs at your reaction and stands up from the table.

"Alright, let's head out guys. I'm tired", He said as he began to move to the doors. The rest of you followed and the moment you got in the car you felt ready to pass out. It took all ounces of your effort to change into your pajamas and to get to bed. You texted the groupchat, announcing that you were home. You then moved down to the second most recent conversation, laughing at the contact name. Xiaojun had named himself 'My Forever'. You told him you had made it home and complemented the name. He soon texted you saying he was also home and informed you that your contact was 'My Muse' because he could already feel inspiration for new songs the moment he met you. You smiled at his words telling him he was adorable before telling him goodnight. He replied with a goodnight. A few minutes later Jenna texted the chat to let you all know she had made it home. You told the group goodnight before turning your phone off and settling into your bed. You could already sense that Xiaojun would be in your dreams tonight.

--------

It had been over a year since you met Xiaojun. Here you were, sat at the same table with the same friends as you watched the band perform.

"So this last song is not my favorite song that I have written, but it's also my soulmate's. It was the first song I wrote after meeting them. The moment I saw them at the end of my string, I started to compose this song. So here's Unbreakable", Xiaojun said and started the song. You smiled, being thankful that this man and you were tied together, and so was your future.

A/N: sup guys. Admin 🃏 here, my co-writer and I have decided to launch a soulmate series for the WayV members. Unbreakable is the first story in the series, and we hope to have the second story up soon. Thanks for reading and tell us your thoughts!

#wayv #nct #xiaojun #wayv xiaojun #wayv imagines #xiaojun imagines #nct imagines #wayv xiaojun imagines #wayv x reader

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punkscowardschampions · 4 years

Text

Saint & Leilani

Saint: So, how many people with my surname have found their way into your inbox today? Leilani: few Saint: I hope those few have behaved and not been too taxing on your typing fingers or your patience Leilani: you're making it sound more fun & scandalous than it came close to Saint: That would be an odd but not unentirely precedented way to welcome you for us Saint: I'm just more than aware how...much, shall we be polite and say, some of them can be, even at the best of times Leilani: 😅 Leilani: are you forgetting which one of you I live with? Saint: 😅 Saint: I am in no way doubting your ability to cope with it, or previous experience doing so, just apologizing for the times you don't feel like being so gracious about their...persistence Leilani: thanks, I think? Leilani: the sentence was a mouthful to digest but I detected some sweetness in it Saint: I'm happy to apologize for my taste as well Saint: and will try to be more palatable Leilani: coming thick & fast but still smooth with it, that's impressive Saint: I'll accept that I'm potentially being much of a muchness with some of the more well-meaning but over-the-top members of my family, if that's what you're saying Saint: but admittedly, I'll struggle to hear I'm on par with certain ones who best remain nameless until I get more of a gage for your tolerance of their particular brand of care 😅 Leilani: I'm not saying much, personally, until I work out how much of this welcome wagon is genuinely what you'd like to say vs what you feel like you must Leilani: to make up for the rest or walk on eggshells in case I crack up Saint: Well, I haven't been instructed to talk to you, if that's what you mean Saint: and without a doubt, I have no idea how I would ideally like to broach this subject, because I have literally no firsthand experience Saint: I imagine that must be frustrating, is it? Leilani: it can be coming from you but not coming from you, if you know what I mean Leilani: deep in there, maybe you've got a whole other convo you'd love to be having Saint: I'm receptive to any conversation you'd like to have Saint: well, almost any, I'm sure Leilani: you & everybody else Leilani: the talk about me is non-stop Saint: We wouldn't have to talk about you Saint: I don't have any particular bias towards the subject of you, though it would be bad manners to ask you no questions about yourself, I can refrain if you have, like I said and assumed, had enough for a while Leilani: it's good manners if I'm in no mood to answer questions about me Leilani: but it'd be my bad to tell you to shush & end this convo just like that Saint: As you've saved me from the mortal sin of impoliteness with your rhetoric there, I'll save you from having to do so and can leave it there Leilani: take a turn in the hot seat, see how you feel about it Leilani: prep if I haven't saved you from 👿🔥 Saint: I'm not inclined to believe the creator would be that unforgiving, but that's what Catholicism will do for your morals, I suppose Saint: Fire away, as it were 🔥 Leilani: you're a catholic? Saint: Culturally, definitely Saint: I'm not sure my commitment to the church is such I can claim myself as fully saved, yet Leilani: mine goes as far as loving the 1st Eid for its treats & ignoring the sacrifices of the 2nd, can't call it commitment Saint: I don't think you're alone in that philosophy and approach Saint: but I don't necessarily think that's terrible at all, as long as you're finding some joy and fulfilment from religion- that is certainly a huge tenant of all the ones I've heard of, so it can only be a positive Leilani: how my friends celebrate 🎄🎁🎅 shows me I'm not Leilani: party > church Saint: Precisely, commercialism argument aside Saint: any promotion of togetherness, community and goodwill, what could be the issue? Leilani: the issue is in the confusion Leilani: people thinking it's something its not Saint: There's plenty issue around 🎄🎁🎅 but no more than most anything in our society today Leilani: if you're trying to take issue with something on any level, you'll find a way Saint: Don't you think problems should be solved? Leilani: if it can Leilani: big if Saint: Of course Saint: I think the if only makes the pursuit of more vital, I don't find it to be invalidating Leilani: sure but some questions aren't if or but ones Saint: Such as? Leilani: if I said, you're the fittest member of this family, let's go out, your answer would be no, becos you are a member of this family, it doesn't matter if you add I would if I wasn't Leilani: the answer's still no Saint: No, my answer would be that there's truly only one absolute in this life Saint: that I know of Saint: there are laws, ethics, morality and codes of conduct in all societies, sure Saint: but nothing is certain Leilani: birth & death are certain Leilani: one brought you here, the other me Saint: I was thinking about death Saint: birth is luck, usually, it's a little different Leilani: 🤔 Leilani: accepted Saint: We can differ on perspectives there, it's fine 😃 Saint: in fact, the father would probably want to put forth an argument for the opposite, now I think about it Saint: worse Catholic than I thought Leilani: I was thinking that 🤰 = birth, the certainty part being you don't get to stay in but you know Saint: I see what you mean Saint: anyone that is here is a certainty Saint: think we're going into Schroedinger territory there, I respect it Leilani: 🙀📦 Saint: 👍 Saint: who am I to say that whatever people are before and after they're people here can't debate philosophy Leilani: these are bigger questions than I expected Saint: And I wasn't meant to even ask how you were Saint: 🤐 Saint: go on Leilani: I've got a headache now 😅 Saint: Oh dear Saint: That's the first time that's happened, I would assure you but that sounds like a losing battle and another knock for my ego Leilani: your ego wants to take it as brush off, retro as hell Leilani: but I don't get questions that deep posed around me is all Saint: Retro...God, just don't take my 'deep' questions as a sign of pretension or I'm getting more tragic by the second! Leilani: it's okay I'm not a downtrodden wifey from back in the day, we're in an era where I can just tell you no Saint: and we're all the better for it Saint: though I don't think I've asked you any question where you'd be directly answerable to me 🤔 Saint: giving me a little too much credit for the universe and it's many questions there Leilani: I don't want your ego to end this convo black & blue Saint: That's very kind of you Saint: but my ability to take criticism could be compared to your ability to cope with Grace, just so we're clear Leilani: Grace isn't hard to cope with Leilani: I like her Saint: I'm glad to hear that, it would be really hard if you didn't Saint: harder, than it is, of course Saint: don't think I'm bashing her really, as I said, they all mean well, I can just imagine that relentless good intentions and meaningful conversations to be had would get very exhausting very fast Leilani: everything's happened fast Leilani: they're all playing catch up to the unexpected Saint: But you're the important one here Saint: most, although I was adding that to try and take the pressure off but clearly that's easier said than done Leilani: this is where I add something about pressure creating 💎 Saint: I don't loathe the sentiment but does it make you feel any better? Leilani: no Saint: then I wouldn't worry Saint: and I doubt there's anything hugely meaningful I can do to make you feel better in an impactful, big way Saint: but if you think of anything on a smaller scale that you would like Saint: don't hesistate to ask Leilani: will you introduce me to everyone in a retro way? Leilani: 🗨 & 🤝 Saint: That I can do Saint: The upsides to this family being as large as it is is that you're never short of functions to hijack for whatever purpose you may need Saint: and you won't have to worry about being centre of attention unless it's your birth, wedding or death Saint: even then, people have their own agendas Leilani: no pressure or as close as Leilani: when's the next? Saint: Exactly Saint: [literally whatever and whenever we want, offer a selection to show your point lol] Leilani: [picks the one where she can serve the best lewk because gotta make an impression regardless especially when you're nervous] Leilani: it's a date Saint: That it is Saint: if you'd rather show up with another kid, I'm happy to come pick you up from Grace's Saint: up to you, of course Leilani: pick me up 🚗 Leilani: I have no idea how Grace is allowed on the road Saint: 😅 Saint: I suppose they reckon the amount of potholes, we're all playing a dangerous game at the mercy of the council Leilani: 🙏 by god's grace like Saint: Seems that's all that's left in the budget 🙄 Leilani: 😅😅 Saint: I think you're in my sister's year Saint: Venus, that is Leilani: what should I think about it? Saint: You know you hypothesized that I was the fittest member of this family? Leilani: it's too late to drop the bomb that I should've asked her to pick me up Saint: She'll need a lift as much as you Saint: but meaning, she'd have taken DEEP offence to that assertion Saint: the headache would be realer Leilani: oops Leilani: & yikes Saint: again, not here on a smear campaign Saint: but I'd be doing you a disservice if I pretended she's universally easy to get on with Saint: perhaps you'll take to each other though Leilani: I'm not easy to get on with atm Leilani: but I do get a free pass Saint: You're doing fine Saint: unless this is your attempt at belligerence, in which case, sorry 😬 Leilani: attempting nothing but no pressure face to face intros Leilani: how could you forget already? Saint: 🤦 forgive me? Leilani: 💅 Leilani: hold on, I'll ask myself what my god would do Leilani: ... Leilani: yeah sure Saint: 😅 Saint: I was hoping distraction only fell under bad manners, not sin Leilani: it depends how you're distracting me Saint: What I offered would depend on how 😇/😈 you preferred your distractions Leilani: if I don't have both on offer how can I possibly choose? Saint: That's completely fair, actually Leilani: I know Leilani: so don't be unfair Saint: Wouldn't dream of it Leilani: is there anyone else you'd like to warn me about, while you're being fair? Leilani: or anyone I should run into the arms of like 🤗🤗? Saint: Warn would be extreme Saint: I don't think anyone is that bad Saint: I would have to know you better personally to say who I think you'd really click with, but there's plenty of us, I'm sure you will with someone Leilani: indulge me in the drama of it, St Leilani: 🤦😅 Saint: Oh, right Saint: you want the gossip of it all so you also have prior information on them coming into the conversations Saint: let me think then Leilani: I miss when my friends wanted to talk about that stuff Leilani: instead of me & my feelings Saint: That makes sense Saint: maybe you and Vee will get on then Saint: there's just a lot of drama to get into Saint: your head and inbox would be rocked Leilani: I've got time Leilani: & my head's already a mess Saint: Okay then Saint: bear with me if my typing speed gets retro Leilani: 😄 Saint: [just methodically go through all that is messed up with the fam nbd] Leilani: holy hell Leilani: I know I asked for that but did I though? Leilani: where have I come to live Leilani: 👋🚕 Saint: Yes Saint: sorry Leilani: hold on I need to just ✈️ Leilani: I thought my mum's relationship history was crazy Saint: It is what it is Saint: we all still manage fine Leilani: by the grace of god again, or whatever other means necessary Saint: Maybe Saint: I don't think it's all that dire now Leilani: maybe when I've come though all the stages of grief I'll be able to let you know what I think Saint: Look forward to it Leilani: I did make it sound really hot Saint: 😏 Saint: we're not all messed up, thank you Leilani: I'm used to being that half of the convo Leilani: you do you Saint: How are you messed up then? Leilani: other than having no parents now? Saint: Yeah Leilani: I'm not doing this right Leilani: any of it Saint: What aren't you doing right? Leilani: I miss her but like she's gone on holiday or a work course Leilani: not like she's never coming back Saint: Well, what's the first stage of grieving Saint: you feel like you aren't missing her hard enough, but if you were out of denial already, you'd actually be taking it way too fast Saint: be rude, right? Saint: Think of it like that Leilani: my rudeness is worse, wanting to hang out with my friends how I did before Leilani: care about 👗👠💄 Saint: Your entire world has been turned upside down Saint: of course you're craving normality Saint: I'm not just saying all this to appease you Saint: you're a kid that just lost her mum Saint: I literally do not believe there's any way you could get through this that would be wrong, or would reflect poorly on you Leilani: she needs to walk back in & badmouth all her worst clients Leilani: she can't be lost Saint: I'm so sorry Saint: that it's so unfair Leilani: unfair was when my dad stopped sending money & letters after going back home for what he said would be a few months Leilani: this is Leilani: I don't even know Saint: How old were you? Leilani: does it make a difference? Saint: Did it? Leilani: I'd just started school, so financially, yeah Saint: Do you know what he's doing now, like, where he is? Leilani: no Leilani: my mum said he had another family there Leilani: someone he was actually married to Saint: Right Saint: that was a cowardly thing for him to do Saint: the minimum would've been financial support Leilani: sadly I can't get it backdated Leilani: imagine Leilani: 👗👠💄 Saint: I'd have to look into it Saint: but probably not Saint: very hard to enforce at any rate Leilani: & taking food out of his other children's mouths, assuming he has some others Saint: Yeah Saint: but you can't be held responsible for his life choices Leilani: neither can they then Saint: I meant it'd be his problem to worry about and solve Saint: but I can understand not wanting to literally steal candy from a baby, as it were Leilani: I haven't been his problem for years, I'm Grace's now Leilani: this family's with all their existing crazy Saint: Okay, getting in contact with your dad for reparations isn't the first step Leilani: it's a mis-step Leilani: he fell off the earth, I'm not following him Saint: Okay Saint: so, what would you be doing with your friends today, if things were normal? Leilani: 🛍 Saint: So, I'll give you both options Saint: I can drive you to your friends, or whatever 🛍 you go to with them Saint: or you can come 🛍 with me Leilani: you can take me Leilani: they don't know how to act now that I'm 💣💥 Saint: they probably think they're giving you time Saint: but really, they're asking for it Saint: at least, that's how I see it Saint: maybe next weekend, or the next Saint: but we can go for now Leilani: it's okay, I wouldn't deal any better if the roles were reversed Leilani: it's not their bad that there's nothing to say or do Saint: You're very fair Saint: not to detract from how much of a 💣💥 you feel Leilani: you're flattering me like I'm not a 💣💥 Leilani: I don't know what that says about you Saint: It's honesty, not flattery Saint: The situation is a 💣💥 Saint: I've seen people handle significantly worse, that's all Leilani: it feels nice, honesty doesn't usually Saint: that's a resounding endorsement Saint: probably a bit too smug to put on a poster or LinkedIn but still, I appreciate it Leilani: you know what I mean, honesty is usually like that 💅 isn't the one or you need braces, child Saint: I think people purposefully conflate being honest with being rude Saint: but you can weaponize anything if you're that sort of person Leilani: yeah ☕ Saint: There's plenty of that sort at church Leilani: & the salon Saint: I've spent less time there myself but I imagine they're much of a muchness Saint: 👵 they all love me, obviously but father is a perfect case study for diplomacy Leilani: it's a type of church for some people Leilani: they take it as serious as a religion Saint: Hair and beauty has always been important Leilani: they just like being able to see results, there's no guarantee when you pray Saint: I'd argue there's no guarantee you get the result you wanted Saint: perhaps even less than 🙏 Saint: maybe you get what you need, not what you want Leilani: 😅😅 Leilani: maybe not for 👵 if they're trying to look 👩 Saint: it highlights the limitations of communication Saint: you think you've asked concisely for one thing, and you end up with something that's nothing like that at all Leilani: I swear I did see my mum work some genuine miracles, that said Saint: It is without a doubt impressive what can be achieved Leilani: what do you want to be? Saint: I want to work for the government Leilani: we haven't been talking that long but that has come through Saint: Is there any particular way you'd like me to take that honesty? Leilani: as a compliment? Leilani: I think Saint: 😅 I think I can manage that then Leilani: I'll tell you what I used to want to be when I was a child, that's weirder Saint: Not admitting it's weird, but go on Saint: I'm intrigued Leilani: clues: Leilani: 🦷💉🥛😁 Leilani: 🚫🍬🍭🍫 Saint: Okay, question, just the one Saint: did you want to be rich or did you just really care about oral hygiene? Leilani: I wanted to make people pretty like my mum, I suppose was the thought process Leilani: & 😁 = happy Saint: So it's even more adorable than I first thought Saint: you don't want to be a dentist anymore? Leilani: the reality is way more gory than I knew then Saint: That's enough to give me a headache Leilani: I need a job with no blood or pus Leilani: even typing that made me feel weird Saint: 😖 Saint: Subject change Saint: are you going to buy anything today? Leilani: do I need to dress to impress your family or just myself? Saint: do you want me to invite my family out shopping with us? Leilani: you do have a lot of sisters Leilani: but you know I meant do I need a new outfit for this meet & greet you're taking me to of the entire extended clan Saint: Oh, gotcha Saint: dress for yourself, of course Saint: unless dressing to impress makes you feel more at ease, in which case, go for that and you won't be alone Leilani: it can't hurt Saint: No, there we go then 😊 Saint: though you can still do the aimless browsing I know 🛍 trips are really about, of course Leilani: are you looking to dress up too? Saint: I like to look presentable Leilani: oh good becos if it was just me, Grace & your sister that'd be a statement Saint: 😅 Saint: don't worry, it won't be Leilani: I'll do my happy dentist 😁 then Leilani: as I'm thrilled Saint: I'm just as 😁 to hear that Leilani: I'll try not to turn it into a frown with excessive browsing Leilani: no promises Saint: I've got a lot of sisters, as you said Saint: I'm sure I'll cope Leilani: which one's your favourite? Saint: which sister? 😂 Saint: I'm not sure there's a diplomatic way to answer that Leilani: answer it honestly, I can promise not to slide in to share the news Saint: Well, Jay is older and we didn't meet her until she was a kid so that combined with her personality makes her the most chilled out now Saint: Vee is younger but still close enough that we were kids together, so that makes her prime annoying younger sister category Saint: then the twins are that much younger that they get to be removed from that, and I have more of that protective older brother in me Leilani: Okay so Jay's your fave Leilani: what's your brother like? Saint: No, I didn't say that Saint: but she wasn't here in the beginning and she's grown up and gone now, it's easy to have less negatives to say about her Leilani: how old were you when you met? Saint: I was about 3 when we found out about her Saint: but the process took a while because she had a dad that raised her and still wanted to even though she wasn't his like he thought Saint: I think I was about 8 when she moved in and spent most of her time with us Leilani: that must have been such a weird time Saint: it was Saint: Vee was born around the time we found out about her so Saint: that was a trial too Leilani: your parents have had a LOT going on Saint: Yes, it seems to be their forte Leilani: your brother then Saint: he's younger too, so again, protective Saint: probably because we're outnumbered too Leilani: an if question Leilani: if you had to give me one of them, as an only child, which one would you give me? Saint: 😂 an odd request but okay, let me 🤔 Saint: Probably Sekh Saint: from the short conversation we've had, you have things in common, that would work well 🛍👠💄👗 Leilani: you're gonna separate the twins? very disney channel Saint: It was either lump them in together there and offend them, or separate and acknowledge that they're separate people Saint: they'll understand 😅 Leilani: 😅 Leilani: safer if I ask Grace for a pet instead Saint: Sure that she'd be down for that Saint: 🐰🐹🐱🐶🐠? Leilani: 🤔 Saint: That is a big decision Saint: best to take your time, decide how much effort you wanna put in to day to day care Leilani: 🐱 or 🏠🐰 Saint: Cute Saint: got any names or do you need to see it before assigning one Leilani: it feels fairer to meet them 1st Saint: 👍 Saint: we can go to the nearest pet shop/shelter if you'd like Leilani: adopt don't shop, St Leilani: or else 👿🔥 Saint: Indeed 😏 Saint: but you know most shops rescue their animals now anyway Saint: except fish...but I don't know how we're morally meant to feel about breeding fish? Leilani: we won't buy any, be on the safe & 😇 side Saint: It's your day Saint: I wouldn't try to bring you down to 👿🔥 levels Leilani: thanks, I have only just moved in Saint: Definitely not my intention with this conversation, or any going forward Leilani: that comes through too Saint: Is that a compliment? Leilani: I don't know if you're 😁 or not to be a good & polite boy Saint: Why would I want to be anything less 😇? Leilani: becos of your name maybe Saint: Subverting expectations Saint: I'd argue people expect the opposite from me though, regardless of my first name Leilani: in your case pressure makes 😇 Saint: 🤞 I hope so Leilani: I'll subvert expectations for us both Saint: Is that your new plan? Leilani: I don't really have one Leilani: other than the 🛍 Saint: Well, you have time Leilani: yeah, it's the keyword that's getting thrown around most atm Saint: It's not provably true but it's most likely the case Leilani: & it'll fill an awkward silence Saint: I can clearly talk enough for the both of us Saint: it doesn't need to be awkward Leilani: this isn't, but remember how we ref-ed that you weren't the only McKenna in my 💬📱 Saint: Right Saint: is there anything you'd like me to do, beyond the formal introductions Saint: politely suggest some people give it some time, perhaps? Leilani: use the time thing against them, I like it 😅 Saint: Only fair 🙂 Saint: consider it done Leilani: we're back into retro hubby & wifey territory Saint: You think? Leilani: it's very defence squad but I'm not 😤 Saint: I'm not helping you because you're a girl and I'm a boy Saint: just because I have the ability to Leilani: I know, you're coming across capable Saint: I'd like to think so Saint: but bragging about it would not be 😇 nor helpful Leilani: I've got your back in hyping you up a 😇 amount Saint: That's sweet Saint: I promise my ego is not that fragile that I need you to but it's still nice Leilani: I'd like to think I am Leilani: that it's not all doom & gloom in me, but maybe time will have to tell, annoyingly Saint: It shows Saint: honestly Saint: you aren't what's happened to you, even if that is all you can think about right now, or feel it's all you're meant to, or are allowed to, whatever Leilani: whether or not I'm her death, I was her life Leilani: there's credit for how she raised me, I mean Saint: Definitely Saint: I don't know you yet, but I would like to get to know you, from what I've seen Saint: I won't throw out proud for her but, you know Saint: I would be in her position Leilani: I don't know what to say Leilani: that feels above nice to hear Saint: I'm almost certain she would want you to know that, at the very least Leilani: yeah, she would Leilani: she wasn't too humble for a brag Saint: 😅 Saint: you should continue that tradition then Leilani: you'll regret saying that when I make you take 10000000000000s of pictures of me posing in different 👗 Saint: 😏 I'll have to buy myself something expensive to cope, I'm sure Leilani: ⌚️ so you can keep an eye on the time Saint: I have an uncharacteristically free day today Saint: my time is yours Leilani: what are we waiting for? come get me Saint: That's what I was waiting for Saint: I'll be with you shortly Leilani: consent given Saint: 👍

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