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artificialqueens · 7 months

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Untouchable for Life, Chapter 1 (Anetra x Sasha Colby) - Writworm42

Admin Note: I'm so worry, Writ!! You should have been in the last queue, and I'm also sorry that it's taken me a million years to fix it after you told me. I have no excuse, I just completely forgot and I apologize deeply! -V

A/N: Summary: Anetra should be grateful for his new job as a photographer for the city's biggest queer tabloid. Especially considering how hard he fucked up before landing there. But it's all lost on him until he's roped into a special assignment, one that ties Sasha Colby into his life. But can the knots that bind him to his past be undone? Or will the cord he and Sasha walk on snap?

Sorry not sorry for all the puns in the summary fhdsjfk but I promise chapter summaries will have more specific to the chapters themselves and the story as a whole!!!

Anyways, remember how I said I'd never write another multichap bc they're too much stress? WELP! Thank you nickysjaida for encouraging me and athena for beta-ing, you're both so wonderful <3

Fic title from I Turn My Camera On by Spoon

Anetra sighs, dropping his head into his hands as his thoughts race. His boss watches in front of him intensely, almost to the point of scrutiny, but what can he do?

He doesn’t exactly have options here.

“I just don’t get why—“

“The board wanted you gone,” Michele shuts him down immediately. “Hell, they wanted your head on a platter! This is the best I can do for you. You either take it, or you go collect your things.”

“But I wouldn’t even get to write!” Anetra huffs. “Not even captions or anything!”

“I know,” Michele says coolly. “Why do you think I was able to negotiate this? You’re too good to lose, Anetra, but I guarantee if you walk, it’ll be the last time you ever work in journalism, photo or otherwise.”

Anetra groans. Michele is absolutely right—he fucked up, and fucked up big. Lose his credibility big. Sue the whole company big.

But does that really mean he has to go to Q-Beat ? He’ll be a laughingstock in the journalistic community— Q-Beat may be the most popular queer magazine in the country, but it’s barely above a tabloid. Hell, maybe it’s worse—they’re probably the only print mag he can think of that has more listicles in one issue than actual pieces, and the product placements are so obvious they might as well just say Absolut wrote the news updates.

There’s a reason the whole industry calls it Q-Bait as a joke.

But with the scandal he’s in, he can’t afford to negotiate now. If he wants to do anything other than Walmart Christmas portraits for the rest of his life, he has no choice but to take this job.

"Fine," he finally sighs, grabbing the contract and pulling it closer. "Give me a pen."

The Charles Media building is often referred to as a marvel of architecture in the city, and the reputation isn’t unearned. Standing under its sloped, pink-painted roof are twenty-five floors of different print outlets, each an empire in its own right. Anetra has to admit, it’s kind of impressive--from magazines to books, encyclopedias to graphic novels, if you can flip or scroll through it, you can find it nestled among the offices in the tower.

Perhaps most impressive, though, is the way the architects were clearly so committed to the bit when they designed the place. From floors one to twelve, everything is wide, spacious, and decorated in black and silver. The floors narrow slightly after that, and from thirteen all the way to its sloped roof, the building’s colour scheme is a deep magenta, with sparkle and hints of blush. And that’s just the outside--within the walls of 96 Tucker Avenue, things are even more colourful, bringing the entire aesthetic full circle.

The perfect shade of lipstick for the perfect media queendom, both inside and out.

At least, that’s the vision the company projects. Right now, Anetra feels anything but perfect—and from the way his coworkers avoid him in the elevator, he’s pretty sure the feeling is mutual.

At least Q-Beat is near the top floor. Once the last few people filter out around the sixteenth floor, he has the elevator car all to himself, leaving him alone to try and collect his thoughts.

From what Anetra knows, the farther up the tower you go, the more isolated the group, meaning there’s a chance that no one at Q-Beat knows who he is or what he’s done. A perfectly fresh start. Good; his talent will speak for itself that way, and he can make friends based on that. If he even wants to--maybe friends aren’t such a good idea. The main condition of being able to keep this job was to lay low, after all.

Plus, the longer he tends to stay in one place, the less people seem to want him around. Especially now that he’s a liability.

It’s a thought that hurts, and he’s glad to be able to swallow it as the elevator comes to a stop at the twenty-third floor.

The sight that awaits Anetra as the elevator doors glide open makes his jaw drop.

Back on the eighth floor where Anetra’s old magazine was located, everything had been all business all the time. The walls and the floor were a stern black, with tiles that clicked under your feet as you walked. There had been almost no decor in the entrance either, other than a pair of leather chairs under a harsh silver sign directing visitors to various offices tucked behind heavy mahogany doors.

But on the twenty-third floor?

Anetra can’t help but feel like he might as well be on an alien planet. He had expected pink, had expected some sparkle and embellishment. But he had had no idea just how much of a culture shock it would be. It’s such a contrast, he barely knows where to start—though maybe the entrance is as good a place as any. The floor’s lobby is fully furnished with tables and chairs and even some floral arrangements, separated from the action by only a glass door and floor-to-ceiling windows that allow a clear view of the Q-Beat workspace behind it. The floors are plush zebra-print carpet, the walls an almost violent pink lit up by a fluorescent sign welcoming visitors to Q-Beat with cursive font. And when Anetra peers into the office space, he sees not a maze of cubicles, but an open floor plan that’s bustling with people in casual dress.

In other words, friendly coworkers and lax norms without anywhere to hide from either.

Fuck.

“Are you Anetra?”

Anetra snaps to attention and sees a tall blonde standing in the office’s doorway looking at him with anxious eyes.

"Oh, um… Yes?" He frowns. He was supposed to meet the editor-in-chief first, but this woman is in jeans and a tank top that shows off well-defined muscles and big tattoos, her hair fluffed up in an almost rockabilly style--definitely not like any chief Anetra has seen before.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" The woman's eyes narrow. "Because I have a meeting in fifteen minutes and only ten before my Ativan hits, so I really need to get a move on orienting you if you are."

Anetra decides right then and there that no matter who this woman is, he definitely likes her.

“I’m Anetra,” he tries again, stepping forward and extending a hand for the woman to take.

“Loosey LaDuca, she/her pronouns, editor-in-chief,” she shakes his hand firmly. But before he can drop his hand away, she grips it harder, pulls him forward through the glass doors and into the office.

“Let me introduce you to the others, they’re really excited to meet you.”

Crap.

—

Loosey’s tour of the Q-Beat workspace is a whirlwind, so fast that Anetra almost wishes he’d brought a notebook with him. Though that probably wouldn’t have done much to help him either; Loosey doesn’t even stop to breathe as she charges through the office with Anetra in tow, so he seriously doubts she would have let him slow down to write. At least he avoids seeing too much of the team this way; Loosey’s version of ‘introducing’ is more like drive-by name-dropping, and Anetra is perfectly content to settle for the waves he and his new coworkers exchange as he passes.

Good things can’t last forever, though, and sure enough, Loosey’s tour comes to a hard stop right in front of a large table surrounded by people who immediately turn all their focus on Anetra.

“This right here is our photography department. Well, two of them are,” Loosey rolls her eyes. “The rest of you, get back to work please?”

“Hey, they were working!” a short woman with hair almost as big as Loosey’s protests. “Half of them were reviewing the photos that are going to go with their article.”

“Uh-huh, and the other half?” Loosey retorts.

“Is this Poppy’s replacement?” The other woman left at the table pipes up quickly, a smooth change of subject accompanied by an even smoother smile.

“Oh, yes,” Loosey says, her eyebrows raising in surprise as if she’d forgotten Anetra was beside her. “Anetra, this is Mistress--” she points to the smaller woman, who nods curtly, “--And this is Salina. Ladies, Anetra is coming to us from News Summary Weekly , so things might work a little differently here than he’s used to. So be nice, Mistress.”

“Hey!” Mistress huffs when Loosey shoots her an extra-pointed look.

“You know I’m right,” Loosey rolls her eyes. “Now, will you guys take over from here? These pills are not doing what they’re supposed to, so I’m gonna go take a three-minute power nap before I have to talk budget for the rest of the afternoon.”

“Sweet dreams!” Salina calls after her, cackling when Loosey shoots her the middle finger over her shoulder in response.

Just like that, their attention is turned back on Anetra, giving him the distinct feeling of having been thrown to the wolves.

“So you’re from the political phonebook, huh?” Mistress starts in right away, her lip twitching as she looks Anetra up and down. “You’re certainly dressed like it.”

“Hey, wait a second,” Salina adds pensively, “Ain’t that the magazine with the guy who--”

“Sorry, what are your guys’ pronouns?” Anetra cuts in fast before Salina can finish that sentence, hoping to God the heat he feels rising in his cheeks isn’t visible to the two women before him. “I use he/him.”

“She/her for both of us,” Mistress answers with narrow eyes, her tone of voice skeptical. Anetra’s going to have to look out for her, he can tell. But at least Salina seems distracted enough—her attention is already back on her computer, which she wastes no time in sliding over to Anetra.

“Alright, newbie, come here and sit down, let me show you all the different softwares and shit we use in this department.”

It’s a close call, but he’ll take it. He smiles gratefully as he moves over beside Salina, leaning in close to get to work.

Pride Challenge Points: 2806

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