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aurora077 · 3 years

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Void

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13786191/1/Void

Title: Void

Summary: Adrien Agreste was the perfect son. He had perfect grades, perfect looks, a perfect personality. Perfection however, has its price.

Post NY Special.

Can be read as a sequel to Aeon but also is a standalone.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

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Adrien Agreste was the perfect son. He had perfect grades, perfect looks, a perfect personality. (Or, so everyone but his father thought. Ironic given that he was the very reason Adrien even strived for perfection.) What nobody ever talked about however, was that perfection had its price.

And Adrien was a perfect client. He paid his dues in full.

Who even was Adrien Agreste?

Model…

Son…

Classmate...

Or, simply a doll...made to be seen and not heard.

Perfection was a sham after all. Nobody was perfect. He knew that better than most.

(Father would disagree, but then again, Father didn’t agree with him about anything.)

For ages he had tried to please everyone, and in doing so, he ended up losing himself.

When his mother had disappeared (ran away, people whispered when they thought he couldn’t hear, ran away from her cold husband and their cold home) he’d thought if only he had been a better son maybe she would have stayed (or would have taken him with her...a thought he’d never dared to utter, even to himself.) He still had Father and so unable to do anything about his mother, he tried to be the best he could be so that Father wouldn’t leave him too.

What a waste, he scoffed internally. Father couldn’t even be bothered to see him in person, preferring to communicate via Nathalie. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a meal with him. And the only time Father bothered to talk to him in person and without an appointment was to let him know what else he was disappointed about. What else he thought his son lacked. How much of a disgrace Adrien was to the Agreste name.

He reclined his incredibly comfortable seat and just lay there staring at the ceiling of the plane.

The private plane.

The private plane that he was on because once again Father couldn’t just let him have a single moment of normalcy. One moment to be a regular boy on a class trip with his friends.

Although this time maybe it was a blessing in disguise. He didn’t know how he would have been able to hold up if he had to be around his classmates and pretend that everything was okay. Because it was not okay.

He was not okay.

And he wouldn’t even be able to explain to them why.

He was grateful to be alone on the plane. No Father, no Nathalie, no Gorilla. (No Plagg either, whispered the voice in his head.) With nobody around Adrien was finally able to let the facade of perfection drop.

For the first time since he had been granted the honour of being Chat Noir, he was well and truly alone.

His eyes burned but the tears wouldn’t come. The hurt felt deeper than that. He was almost numb. It was as if his brain told his body ‘not right now’. His mind knew he wouldn’t be able to handle all the emotions brought on by the past few hours. It was too soon. The wounds too fresh. Too deep.

There was a void within him, and all feeling got sucked into the blackness of it. There was a gaping hole in his chest where his heart had once been (and coincidentally where Plagg’s camembert had always been hidden). If he had remembered it, he would have given it to Plagg as one last gift before parting ways.

But as it was, at the moment of renouncing him all Adrien was thinking about was how he had let Paris down, almost seriously injured his partner and had all but killed someone. It didn’t matter that the only reason Aeon had been destroyed was that she was in fact not actually alive. She was alive in all the ways it counted. She was more alive it seemed, than Adrien Agreste. More loved too.

“I am here to take captive those who are loved by no one!” Solitude had said. And by that he had most certainly meant Adrien. Between him and Marinette, well Adrien knew which one was loved. Adrien had fans and he had friends. But at the end of the day his fans and his friends only knew so much about him. (In no small part thanks to his father, his friends would always have to be subjected to Perfect Agreste rather than Just Adrien.) And after all how could you love someone you didn’t know?

Ladybug would argue that he didn’t know her but loved her anyway. But that was different. He may not have known her name or her face but he did know her. Conversely, everyone knew his name and his face, yet nobody knew him.

Solitude was aptly named wasn’t he? Adrien was already in solitude’s grasp long before he ever came to New York.

Especially since there was no more Plagg, who had served to be Adrien’s one sliver of freedom, and also the only being who had known him, truly known him... in and out of the mask. His most cherished companion. He was gone and Adrien was the one who threw him away.

He hoped Plagg could forgive him one day, and that whoever Ladybug chose to replace him as Chat Noir would treat him well and be able to afford the camembert he so loved. Losing Plagg, even if it was by his own doing, would take him a while to get over. He’d never said it but he loved the kwami fiercely. Not just for the powers and freedom he granted him but for the way Plagg knew how to cheer him up when he got too down and how Plagg would curl up next to him at night and purr until he fell asleep. Plagg was sarcastic and blunt but he was genuine and cared about Adrien a whole lot more than literally everybody else in his life. He encouraged him to come out of his shell and live a little. And he knew if Plagg had his way he wouldn’t be kept in the dark about anything. Plagg looked out for him in his own way. Adrien didn’t have anyone else like Plagg.

Sure sometimes Plagg’s advice could get him into trouble, but it was Adrien who chose to accept that advice. He should have told Ladybug he was going to be away on a class trip. He was just so scared that she’d lose trust in him because he had given her his word. In the end it didn’t matter, he’d lost her trust anyway. The way he saw it, he wouldn’t have won no matter what he’d chosen to do. It’s not as if he could explain to Ladybug why he had agreed to protect Paris only to turn around and say he couldn’t. She didn’t want to know. Identities and all that. (And clearly, Plagg didn’t disagree because he wouldn’t have encouraged Adrien to stay quiet if he had thought she’d be fine with him going… Given that Plagg knew who Ladybug was, Adrien chose to trust his advice. Not like he could have said no to his father when he made up his mind anyway. Adrien would not have won in this situation.)

Plagg had ranted and raved about how much easier things would be for both of them if they didn’t have these secrets in the way. Adrien agreed but it wasn’t his call to make. She was the guardian. And if even after all that she didn’t want him to know who she was...she didn’t want to know who he was, well there was nothing he or Plagg could do about it.

He didn’t forget that though he’d given up his miraculous, she hadn’t cared to look at him. She still didn’t want to know. He hadn’t expected her to stop him or beg him to stay. He knew he’d screwed up and that she’d lost faith in him. But even at the end she hadn’t wanted to know him. To know who had stood by her side all this time... or who had failed her.

But anyway, Adrien mused, it was inevitable. He was bound to screw up and lose his miraculous one way or another. As a result of Adrien Agreste being perfection incarnate, Chat Noir was carefree and subsequently, careless, as Ladybug would attest.

It was his carelessness that led to Paris being severely damaged. It was his carelessness that lost him his lady’s trust. His carelessness that would have injured her. His carelessness that erased the lights from Aeon’s eyes, permanently if not for the Miracle Cure.

Ladybug would be better off without him, he knew. She needed someone who was careful and responsible, like she was.

And that couldn’t be Adrien. Adrien loved her too much to be careful when it came to her. As Chat he would often throw himself in front of blows meant for her. And while he would never stop protecting her, he also knew it made her job harder having to fight him alongside the akuma. Another Chat Noir with less feelings invested might be able to find a better solution. But that Chat was not him. Try as he might he could not stop how he felt about her, even when he had other girls around him who he was sure he could come to love if she wasn’t in the picture.

Marinette’s face came to mind unbiddenly and his sorrow intensified. He’d been so grateful to her. She’d managed against all odds to convince his father to let him come and it was for nothing really. All he’d ended up doing was causing damage as Chat and leaving anyway as Adrien. He meant what he said to her. He would have loved to have spent more time with her (and their friends).

For once he felt like he truly belonged and could be with them as just another kid. She’d made that possible. He’d wanted nothing more for so long than to be able to be a better friend to her. He always felt like he made her uncomfortable which was the last thing he wanted, so for her to want him there meant the world to him. She was such a good friend.

She’d looked devastated when his father’s car pulled up at the hotel. Sans Father of course...Adrien didn’t count the tablet with his head as him. Though the result was the same regardless of his physical presence or lack thereof. Adrien had to leave. It seemed he was always leaving behind the people he cared about. Though it was no sweat off his father’s back. Adrien shouldn’t care about people he didn’t approve of and so had no right to miss them.

He knew Marinette wouldn’t be able to sway his father a second time, but he could admit, even if only to himself, that he was a little sad she hadn’t said anything to him before he left. He’d sort of wished she would tell him to stay or that she would miss him. But that was unfair to Marinette. It was thanks to her he could even come to begin with.

And he knew what he really wished was for Ladybug to have said she would miss him, even if she didn’t want him to stay. He knew she didn’t love him, but he hoped he was at least her friend. One who at the very least could understand some of the burden of a double life. (Or in his case, triple really.)

He chuckled darkly. ‘How naive of me’, he thought. He was merely a work colleague and a poor one at that. Former work colleague that is.

His heart clenched painfully. It would be unbearable to see her working with another. It would devastate him to go back to being a random civilian to her, when she inevitably saved him from future attacks. He wouldn’t be able to help her or to even show that she could come to him for anything, because he shouldn’t know her, not really.

She’d know Adrien Agreste, whose perfect face was displayed across Paris on billboards. Adrien Agreste would know Ladybug as Paris’s superheroine. Ladybug and Adrien Agreste knew each other as celebrities did and nothing more. The one perk to his face on billboards may just be that at the very least, he was someone she would recognise and remember even if only as a celebrity. If she couldn’t remember him at all...if he was invisible to her...Adrien didn’t know what would become of him.

God, he would miss her so, so much. Before she became the guardian they had had a lot of moments where she would banter with him and even playfully tease him. They talked about insignificant things but it gave him joy. Nino was great and he was more himself with Nino than anyone else as Adrien, but it was with Ladybug that he felt safe and happy enough to let go of all of his inhibitions. She was one of his dearest friends, he had meant what he said to her the day she rejected his dinner. He truly valued her friendship. But as he was coming to realise, Adrien Agreste may not know so much about relationships. She had never called him her friend after all. She seemed to be a well adjusted person beyond the mask. And she was so amazing, she probably had an active social life. Who wouldn’t want to be her friend? She wouldn’t need his friendship like he needed hers. And she certainly didn’t crave it the way he did.

He didn’t know a lot of things that people his age should know about the world and people. Nino did his best to guide him but again, Father hated Nino so there was only so much he could do. Plagg tried too but Plagg wasn’t exactly human and didn’t understand things himself sometimes.

He felt like his thoughts were all jumbled and going around in circles. His emotions were too heavy. It made him glad he wasn’t in Paris. He didn’t want to know what kind of akuma he could become with the amount of hurt he was currently nursing.

Thinking of her sobs when she saw the destruction done to Paris that she couldn’t reverse… because of him...well it solidified that he had made the right decision. It may have been the most painful thing he had ever had to do, but he loved her and he never wanted to put her in that kind of position again. He would put her, put Paris, before himself. He was accustomed to doing that anyway. He hid away his needs and desires to be what the ones he loved needed him to be.

And if what they needed..what they wanted, was perfect then by George he would give them perfection....

Or stand aside for someone who could.

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ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes · 4 years

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Roguish Women Part 33

Summary: Kate is an American who fled to Paris to escape her past life. Now she's dancing and playing the part of a courtesan at the Moulin Rouge. There she meets Tommy Shelby who thinks she can be useful in expanding his empire. But has he been blinded?

Part 33: Kate finds solace in her new friends and Tommy wants to escape for a bit.

When Michael returned to the office, it was tense, to say the least. He and Tommy got into shouting matches a few times and everyone could clearly hear them in the office. But it seemed that Michael was too invested in the company to let things get in the way. As well as Tommy wasn’t willing to give up his accountant.

So, things died down a couple of weeks after he returned. Meanwhile, the deal was written and the company was now working with the Forty Elephants. Kate kept in regular contact with Alice and Maggie, building a repertoire as she did with Alfie. Of course, like with Alfie, she found she enjoyed the women’s company. They were women who understood her, understood the things she did. Before, Kate had no one who really understood her other than a group of men. Still, how could they understand what it was like to be a woman in their line of work?

So, being friends with Alice and the rest of her close cohorts was refreshing.

“So, Alfie told me you were in Boston for some time.”

Kate had invited Alice and a few of the other women to join her for lunch at Arrow House. Maggie came along as well as Ruby Sparks and Lillian Goldstein. What looked like a typical ladies' lunch out on the patio was actually a gathering of some of the most dangerous women Britain had ever seen. And Kate felt right at home with them.

“There were things from my past that caught up with me,” Kate admitted. “Things I needed to take care of.”

While Alice looked genuinely interested, Maggie seemed a bit more intent on digging for anything that might garner mistrust. The contract was signed, but that didn’t mean they completely trusted each other yet. They were women who knew the true value of loyalty and how rare it was to find.

“Stuff like what?” Maggie inquired.

“A man I had dealings with.” Kate realized that there was no reason to skimp on details. These girls would understand. “I hired him to kill the man who killed my mother. A man in the Chicago Outfit. I promised him money for doing it but fell through. The deal was either I paid or I married him.”

Ruby made a noise of disgust. “Fucking pig. Who on Earth does he think he is?”

It made her smile a bit even though the memory was so painful. “He caught up to me eventually so I had to return to Boston.”

“Do you need him killed?” Alice asked bluntly. “You name the day and way, love.”

“Fucking castrate him and throw him out on the streets,” Ruby muttered into her teacup.

“Thank you, but he’s dead,” Kate assured them. It was different, hearing them become angry about it. The reactions were similar to Alfie and Tommy. They all wanted to kill the man who treated her poorly. But Alice and the others were acting on empathy instead of sympathy. They understood the plight of being a woman. Struggling under the thumb of a man. They understood the anger and desire to change the tides. To make other men feel the pressure on the back of their necks. It was a shared existence. And as hard as he could try, Tommy wouldn’t understand.

“Good.” Alice nodded. “You killed him?”

“I wouldn’t let him kill me.” Her voice quieted as her brow furrowed in thought. “He took so much from me.”

Lillian, who seemed to be the gentlest of the group touched Kate’s arm. “You’re still standing. You’re still here. He couldn’t take that away from you.”

She nodded, not sure what else to say about the matter. There was comfort in knowing she had allies who understood. Then, Kate noticed the ring on Lillian’s finger. “Oh, I didn’t know you were married.”

Alice, Maggie, and Ruby all snorted. “I’m not, technically.” Lillian looked to Ruby at her right. “Ruby and I…”

It took a moment for Kate to connect the dots but she finally realized when they looked at each other. “Oh, oh of course. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.”

Maggie studied Kate’s reaction with scrutiny. “It’s something we accept.” She spoke in a firm tone as if to ward off any criticism.

“Of course, no I…I completely understand,” Kate assured them. “There are no rules when it comes to love, least not in my eyes.”

Lillian smiled as Ruby reached for her hand. Both of them seemed relieved to act normally around Kate. There wasn’t anything to hide between the women.

“We hope your men understand that as well,” Alice added.

“Well, I can certainly talk to Tommy about it if you want me to. But I wouldn’t call them my men.” She laughed softly. “I don’t call the shots around the company.”

Alice just shook her head with an amused look. “Men can think they’re in control, but it’s usually not the case. It’s usually the woman behind him.”

“Yeah, the one who’s got his balls in her purse.” Maggie quipped making them all burst out into laughter.

Kate realized how nice it was to laugh again.

~~~~~~~

That same night, Tommy came home earlier than usual. Kate found him downstairs smoking a cigarette and flipped through some mail.

He smiled when he saw her walk into his study. “Did you have a nice lunch today?” He asked. “Mary said you four were in stitches the whole time.”

Kate laughed softly. “They’re very fun to be around.” She agreed.

“All they do is give me the cold shoulder.”

“Hm, maybe it’s how you come across.” She walked over to him, adjusting the collar of his shirt to turn his attention away from the mail in his hand. “I wasn’t very fond of you at first.”

“That’s not true, you liked me.” He dropped the envelopes to pull her close.

“Eh, you were difficult to like. At least you’re handsome.” She teased.

He scoffed and shook his head. “Those women are a bad influence on you.” He joked.

Kate laughed and ran her fingers through his hair. “It’s nice to have other women to talk to. It’s boring talking to men all day.”

“Hm.” He hummed and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“But I am glad to see you again.” She murmured and kissed him.

He deepened the kiss, pressing his hands to the small of her back. But he knew it was up to her to lead. There had been a few times when Tommy overstepped, getting carried away with the moment and Kate shied away. She said it wasn’t his fault, but he knew he was responsible for making her feel safe.

She pulled away and hugged him close, inhaling his cologne mixed with cigarettes to feel at home again.

He lightly peppered kisses down her jaw and neck, holding her tenderly. “Want to go away with me this weekend?” He asked.

“Sure, where to?” A little break sounded like heaven to her.

“Doncaster. I’m going to buy another racehorse and there’s an auction there on Monday. But I figure we could make it a longer trip. If you’d like.”

“That sounds perfect.”

“We could make a week of it.” He proposed. “Go further north, somewhere on the ocean. Scarborough has a nice place to stay by the water.”

Kate lifted her head to look at him. “I’ll follow you wherever, Tommy Shelby.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Morning, Kate.” Michael greeted her as she entered the office.

“Michael, how are you?”

Tommy’s cousin didn’t answer because he noticed she had a luggage case with her. “Are you going somewhere?” He asked.

“Tommy and I are leaving this afternoon for Doncaster then to Scarborough.” She answered, setting her case down so she could take a paper that Michael was holding out for her.

The young man seemed a little disgruntled at the fact that his cousin was taking the time to have a holiday while the rest of the family was in turmoil. But there was little he could say or do. Mentioning anything would only lead to another argument. And Michael didn’t have the energy. He was only barely making it by, using snow to keep from crashing as he worked tireless hours.

“I suspect he’s getting another horse,” Michael noted, remembering the last time he went to Doncaster with the rest of the family. When they were all still speaking to each other. Before the terrible nightmares, he had.

“I suppose. I guess we’ll see when we get there.” Kate looked to the door. Tommy had followed her into the building but stayed on the first floor to speak with some of the workers. “How is your mom?” She asked. Seldom could she ask Tommy about the others. He never wanted to talk about what happened and always cast aside her concern.

Michael sighed. “She’s not well. S’been seeing things because of the tablets they have her on.” He admitted. “Talks to spirits.”

Kate had always known Polly as the strong, woman in charge. Secure and reliable, it was hard to hear how the imprisonment had such a negative effect on her. It didn’t matter how strong one was, there was always something that could break them. “I’ve tried to talk to Tommy about everything, I really have but…”

“I know.” Michael nodded. “It’s okay, Kate, it’s not your place to fix things. It’s Tommy’s responsibility.” He scrubbed a hand over his weary eyes. “But they’re all too headstrong to face each other.”

“Right, I’m aware.” She agreed, still glancing at the door every so often just to see if Tommy would walk in. She didn’t mind if he heard her talking about his family. But she also didn’t want the subject to sour their trip together. “And John and Arthur?”

“Out in the countryside. Linda’s due any day now.” Michael figured. “Ada said she’d tell me when the baby was born. He won’t talk to me. Ada’s been…well the buffer I suppose.” He mumbled.

“I haven’t spoken to her in a bit.” Kate admitted. She’d been so caught up in the deal with the Forty Elephants that she’d neglected to stay in touch.

“Tommy’s sending her to Boston soon.” Michael shrugged. “Guess he’s got plans out there.”

Kate’s heart nearly stopped. “What?”

He looked at her blankly. “He didn’t tell you?”

“No…no he didn’t.” She cursed under her breath. “I’m going to leave this here for a moment.” She said, gesturing to her luggage before leaving. “I need to find Tommy.”

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fanficaficionado · 3 years

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okay, i know i said i would be starting with things i knew and loved. hell, i even had a fic from the fandom im currently ass-deep in all lined up!! but then i procrastinated, and i lost motivation, got distracted by my scheduled post-holiday shutdown, and something else finally kicked my ass into gear. so this blog's first true introduction to the world will not, in fact, be a post where i worship the very ground my favorite fic writers walk upon.

no, today we are talking about Ascent into Madness by cesium_sheep

((spoilers, obviously))

Now im going to preface this by saying that this criticism is subjective and based in my opinion. I did genuinely enjoy this story, and i did not at any point feel the urge to launch myself into the sun with nothing but the pure force of my rage, causing the sun to explode and consume planet earth in a scorching hell-blast and decimating all life on our tiny little space rock, which even some of my favorites are guilty of because in some stories characters just love to waffle about ((especially in my preferred reading material which puts romance at a very significant focus)). This story just isn't for me.

I'm going to explain why, and believe me when i say i am being as gentle as i physically can with this story because it is not objectively offensive to my very being, It's a good read and setting aside the problems i have with it i enjoyed it.

I keep repeating that i don't hate this story because i do not want to be accused of baseless hate, not because of reputation or anything but because being accused of something i know i didn't do sets off the same sensation that i get from rubbing my fingernails on egg cartons, the one of the back of my brain being assaulted by the mayonnaise-coated fingers of satan himself. Damn i should really get to the criticism before this just becomes an in depth description of my very soul's adverse reaction to the cream in queen anne chocolate cherries.

anyways.

The thing about this story is that, to me, it feels.. unfinished. Or at the very least like it wandered off its intended course. It leaves me with a feeling of mild dissatisfaction and the taste of confusion in my mouth. I think this problem is best summarized by the fact that, in the first chapter, it is set up that rose is in some sort of hospital, and that dave thinks she is in the grasp of some delusion, and the second chapter sets up the retroactive explanation for how it got to this point. See, what i expected was to be caught up to that point in the story, reach that point in time again, and then progress from there.

But that first chapter?? With the hospital, the delusions, the brick through the window with the radio attached?? Never brought up again, not even once. It is completely discarded and never even thought about. The story even stops trying to set up that scene after a certain point.

To put it in homestuck terms, because i'm a loser, a time player, and come on we're talking about a homestuck fic here you know i have to do this, it feels like we started a loop and then branched off the alpha timeline so completely we aren't even a part of the metaphorical timeline-tree anymore. It nags at my brain man, it's one of the main things that fuelled my motivation in writing this. It feels lost and wandering and it confuses me in a bone deep sorta way.

The second thing that gets to me is the complete lack of information presented about what, exactly, the fuck is going on. I have no idea how we got from point A to point B, not just because it completely disconnects from point A not even halfway through, but also because there's a lot of plot threads thrown in haphazardly and then never extended upon. There's a mention of jake and john's respective guardians knowing something about the story's big bad and all the mystical bullshit that follows along behind him, but that is never followed up on even a little. No one questions why they know, despite this information being so rare that literally only two families and a single group of aliens seem to have access to it. It just is a thing and then whoops, hand musta slipped because that bad boy is out the window and is facing the combined nonexistent mercy of gravity and this ten story drop.

The main plot has this same problem, in feeling like you get just enough info to keep it going forward. There's a sword in rose's umbrella basket or whatever the hell it's called, and it's implied a future dave put it there for his past self, but do we get confirmation that it was him?? Do we see that loop completed?? No, it is just used as a driving force for rose to try and push the fact that dave's got Timey powers. It feels like i'm being pulled by the hand through this story because it only gives just barely enough information to keep this crazy train rolling and then goes so far as to leave fucking time loops hanging there incomplete which okay i might be getting a little peeved about that but can you blame me?? Can you really blame me at all??

Maybe i am judging the plot too harshly, after all i was forewarned not to read for the plot in the summary because it's pretty slow and wandering. So let's get into something else then, yes?? Let's hop to the relationships.

The relationships, too, fall prey to this complete lack of any meaningful focus on any piece of information ever. I'd swear the writer was allergic if that didn't seem too harsh a description. It's a whole lot of telling without any showing, a cardinal sin in writing. We get a conversation with kanaya that doesn't suffer the disconnect from all things that the rest of the story seems haunted by. It's actually really a neat little conversation and i find it kind of wholesome how kanaya talks about rose and i personally think this interaction to be entirely too short. Then kanaya mentions karkat and apparently there's some of davekat's standard romantic tension happening off-screen because dave starts to get flustered and ponders what that means. And once again a plot thread is thrown to the winds because we never get another whiff of it.

Actually on the topic of davekat, dave just naturally gravitates to karkat and then they're stuck together like glue, so stuck in fact that dave dies for karkat because dave apparently forgets the golden rule of "If you have time to jump in front of someone then you have time to push them out of the way" and then ignores the added bit i spitefully wrote on the ancient stone tablet of Things That Make Sense in neon orange sharpie that says "Especially if you have time to have a discussion about your choices with an ambiguously-dead girl. Pull your thumb out of your ass, dave, nobody has to die here, magic option number three was not the one you picked."

Of course, this is a fanfiction, these are characters i already know. I know how these characters would interact, i know how their relationship develops in-canon and i know that given the chance these fuckers become goddamn inseparable. But that doesn't excuse the fact that it is all tell and no show, we dont see how it gets from "You're one of the only familiar faces in a group of strangers and i am not about to start interacting with new people unless i have to" to "Here let me die heroically for you and then be revived for no explainable reason besides Because The Wizard Of God Says So." I have no reason to be invested in this or even give a half-ounce shit despite it literally becoming something that the climax hinges on. And then rose and kanaya are just inexplicably,, together?? Right at the end?? And while i am happy that the lesbians get to be in love everything is off screen and nothing is ever explained, not even like one time, and god it's just so confusing. I am so confused.

But again, maybe i'm being unfair, once again the very tags of this fic are telling me that the relationships are not the focus and only really tagged so people can filter it out. I suppose i should judge the characters, then.

From what i remember there are sixteen characters, excluding ((who i believe to be, as it is once again not explained or explicitly stated to be)) caliborn at the end, with speaking roles. Five of those characters retain any narrative relevance for more than a nanosecond. A good chunk of the trolls arent even mentioned by name, with eridan and i think sollux being mentioned, and who i think to be sollux speaks when rose and dave are first brought to the trolls' apartment but again, the fog of uncertainty clouds all things and i don't have my handy dandy leafblower on me to airblast that shit out of my way. Of the five characters with any focus on them, two are relegated to the role of supporting character, with karkat joining that number more often than not. That leaves us with dave and rose, who are ultimately as a whole unaffected by their experiences. They do not learn anything, they do not grow or change. Sure rose freaks out about her perception of reality, but that falls flat because it's more tell and no show again. Dave freaks out, as he rightfully should in this situation, but there is no arc. There is no significant change in anything but moving toward the boss fight with the big baddie.

There aren't any particularly interesting interactions between these characters, either, i cannot recall one time in which i laughed, or felt much of anything really. They all fall into a state of Existing while also feeling like they aren't doing a whole lot. It's more noticeable in retrospect but these characters just Do Not feel alive, they seem incredibly flat at times and it's hard to notice while you're reading but looking back it stands out so painfully and it makes me very sad.

If i'm not supposed to read for the plot, and i'm not supposed to read for the relationships, and i can't read for the characters, then what is this story meant to be read for?? The only other thing i can think of is the mystery and sorry pal, but that's a plot, which we have already established doesn't really have a whole lot going for it because while your mystery sure is there it is currently stinking up that rug you shoved half the answers under because those mysteries aren't the ones you want to focus on.

Is it simply meant to pass the time?? Is there no deeper purpose besides keeping yourself entertained as the hours tick by?? Because if so, it at least accomplished that. Despite its faults, it kept my attention for the entire fifty one chapters, and it passed my time.

There are other nitpicks i have, but that's more based around the writing style on a more technical level. The chapters are too short for my personal taste, and there are far too many cliffhangers, these things i will not condemn as the writer gave a good reason for the latter and obviously no writer is obligated to churn out 2,500 words per chapter unless they damn well want to.

Ultimately, this story is neither good nor bad. It is straightforward in that it burns any other plot threads besides the main one on the sacrificial alter of The Writer Does What The Writer Wants, it's a bit too ambiguous and under-explained for my tastes, but there is nothing egregiously offensive in it. It is a story that exists. I wouldn't read it again, but i wouldn't not read it again, and i don't even come close to regretting the time i spent reading it ((outside of the fact that it is currently almost nine am and i haven't slept but that one is my own fault)).

I scrolled passed this story in its beginnings, assuming it would not be particularly mindblowing, and now that i've read it i know that i was entirely correct. Read it if you want, or don't, just don't go in expecting something life changing. I suggest picking out a spot on your schedule where you have nothing to do and will no doubt be bored out of your mind. I sincerely doubt you'll regret it.

#homestuck #homestuck fanfic #fanfiction #god what else do i even tag this as. fuckin..#fanfiction critique #????#i feel like a child #i am but a little boy lost in the deep dark woods and i have no idea where i am going #there is no map for this shit #also as i write this tag it is now 9:52 am #a whole hour after i finished writing this monstrosity #because editing this stuff to make it somewhat coherent is a task and a half #i ramble worse than any homestuck character and i have proof too. go ahead. challenge me. i dare you. i know im right #i don't know why or how i got to the bit about queen anne chocolate cherries but i think its funny so fuck it its staying in #again if the author of this fic somehow comes across this and doesn't want this shit on my blog or wants to be tagged like let me know plea #i am trying desperately to not step on any toes or hearts here but i was not Raised so if i fuck up please just tell me #i dont wanna be publicly hung via tumblr anon attacks and callout posts that are poorly made at best and wildly inaccurate at worst #anyways thanks for reading i guess i have no idea how to tie this shit off and it Shows lol #hope i did okay #fuck it im not rereading this anymore im sending it out into the world #off you go little timmy suck it up and face the judgement of strangers

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texxasserialroundup · 4 years

Text

Incoming college students.. listen up!

I have been asked about some tips or advice for incoming college students, both traditional and non-traditional, so here it is.. enjoy!

So I am what you call a non-traditional student I did not go to college right out of high school it took a couple years for me to realize that it was important for me to pursue a higher education beyond my high school diploma. My very first freshman semester I took two classes, one of these was a developmental math course ( I ABSOLUTELY LOATH MATH!) and of course I dropped out of college soon after, honestly I don't even think I did like a full month of classes I just stopped showing up. I wasn’t motivated and all I really wanted to do was hang out with my friends and do hood rat shit (LOL) Fast forward 4 years after that, when I AGAIN decide to get my act together, it took that mixed with having some personal experiences to kind of get my head straight in regards to my future endeavors and what I want to do with myself. When I say that it's hard to do college by yourself, y’all... it is so hard, it doesn’t help that I'm an introvert who doesn’t like to ask for help from tutors because I feel like I am burdening them and I’m worried that I will embarrass myself with dumb questions. Neither of my parents graduated high school so that was no help with homework or studying and at the time I was going to a Community College and so the atmosphere is not quite like a four-year University. Everybody just kind of stays to themselves so it is not like it is easy to mingle make new friends, there is not a lot of on campus activities and stuff like that so that also made it difficult. But also I did not know how to study, honestly I'm not going to lie to you guys, I'm currently working on my third college degree and I still don't know how to study and sometimes that really kind of like puts things into perspective about our educational system in regards to the way that they teach towards a specific curriculum. I think that teaching students how to study is extremely important. The way that I get through my college classes is a lot of crying, and I am not being sarcastic, that is exactly what happens. I do a lot of crying, there is a lot of frustration, there is a lot of screaming at myself, there is a lot of self-bullying and personal demons that I battle with. I do not feel like I learn like everybody else, I cannot just read something or watch a video and retain information. Everything must be repetitive; I must read it over and over and over, I must highlight things and make up little phrases in order to remember topics like the Krebs cycle. So, it is repetitive, and it slows me down, it is frustrating, and the experience overall is overwhelming. Especially recently with covid a lot of my classes have been online which essentially translates to teach yourself a brand-new topic, good luck, and may the force be with you kind of thing. For people like me who deal with what my boyfriend calls “impostor syndrome” it really rattles any self confidence that I built throughout my college career and it makes me feel like the achievements that I've done so far aren't valid and that I don't deserve the degrees that I have and that maybe it was a mistake . With these things being said I just want to spread some positivity and some good vibes in regards to anybody who is a freshman going into college, a current college student, or a non-traditional student such as myself who feels like they might be too old to go back to school. Everybody is dealing with their own struggles and college is not easy, if it were everybody would have a college degree. Some tips from myself would be not to be afraid to ask questions, if you're like me, I have really bad anxiety and I don't feel like I can bring myself to ask a question during lecture in front of the class so I'll either email the professor afterwards or I will speak to the professor one-on-one during office hours or I'll try to grab her as soon as class is over before she leaves an ask her a question. The reason why I say this is because college moves very fast and the professors honestly it seems like they're not going to put any extra effort into helping you understand a topic if you don't express your confusion or if you don't understand the topic. At the end of the day you're paying for your college education and you need to create self-confidence and remind yourself that you're worthy and that your questions do deserve to be answered no matter how ridiculous they sound in your head no matter if you think that it will sound dumb. I cannot stress enough the importance of getting your questions answered. My second piece of advice is to utilize any type of group study offered, like I said before, I have really bad anxiety and it's hard for me to just walk up to a stranger and ask to be a study buddy. What I've noticed though is that a few students will get together or it will just be one student and they will start a group chat through either GroupMe or through text message or you know through canvas which is the educational platform that my University uses, and it really helps because you still have access to study guides, notes, or if you miss a day you can reach out and ask what you missed. As well as review and go over important topics and information posted. A lot of the times you don't even have to be face to face with these people, all of it is through text messaging or email. Another really good piece of advice is learn how to use OneNote and Google Docs and learn how to use it in a group format so that multiple people can work on one document together in real time so you can watch somebody else edit a midterm review while you're also adding to a midterm review it.will.save.your.life! Just spend a couple minutes, get on YouTube watch a quick tutorial nothing crazy just a quick rundown, y’all, I am telling you it will do wonders. Next piece of advice will have to be not to compare yourself to other students. My first semester of college at a four-year University I went all out on the school supplies, I bought so many journals, I bought so many sticky notes and planners and different colored pens and sharpies and highlighters. I had index cards, I had binders, I had sectional post-its, basically if office depot sold it I had it in my backpack. I quickly learned that I did not need half of that crap, but when you're excited about going to your first year of college you want to be prepared and if you're like me I watched other people’s YouTube videos about their experiences and things that worked for them and so I tried to pick and choose what I thought would work for me. Long story short it did not help and I think that really played a big part in my self-loathing in a sense because I would see all these other students super organized with beautiful handwriting, multi colored notes and just over the top every day, never faltering, just like the perfect student it seemed. It's okay not to be super organized, it's okay not to have the perfect notes, it's okay if all of your notes from all of your classes are in one notebook, if it works for you, it works for you. No matter what that may be, just keep in mind that this is your college journey no one else’s. Finally, I will emphasize to invest money in a good backpack. Like do not take the backpack from high school with you, I did that, and it was a disaster honestly. It is like my dad used to say growing up, “you get what you pay for.” You are going to be carrying a lot of stuff, probably a tablet, a laptop, textbooks, journals, binders, you name it and you need support for your shoulders, for you back and for your neck. I say this from experience, my college campus is one of the largest public universities in the state of Texas, it takes me 20 minutes to get from my car to the campus, once on campus, I have another eight minute walk to get to my first class. So, it is detrimental to me and my physical health to have a good backpack with support that holds everything and equally distributes the weight correctly. I know this sounds crazy but that is probably the one thing besides getting a good laptop that I would invest a lot of money in. Lastly, I will leave you with this, college is a scary experience for many people and right now we're in very uncertain times which only adds to the stress, but I want you to know that there are resources out there for you and other students and faculty who are more than willing to work with you and accommodate accordingly. Please do not be afraid to reach out to anybody for any type of assistance whether it be academic, mental or physical help, we are all in this together. Be kind to one another and stay curious. -SLR

#college #uni #college life #college stories #college tips #college freshman #college life hack #life hacks #university #student #broke college girl #broke college student #broke college kid #non-traditional student #college tips and tricks #college student #undergrad #undergraduate #incoming freshman

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yougoodfahm · 4 years

Text

Chapter 5 – Ping Pong and Recklessness

Auranis AU

[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4]

Wordcount: 3005 words

Warnings: sibling arguing, let me know if I need to add more

Summary: After signing up for their new jobs, Roman and Remus attend their first Community Meeting where the particularly charismatic president really wows Remus. Later, Roman runs into Virgil and they hang out for a while during free time and dinner. Roman and Remus get into a small argument about recklessness and breaking the rules after only a few days in their new life.

Read it on ao3!

After breakfast the next day, Roman and Remus headed over to the Community Center. Roman glanced over to his brother who was walking beside him, and asked, “So, I know you said you were deciding between working in the Kitchen or on Maintenance, what did you end up choosing?”

Remus grinned wildly. “I’m gonna go with the Kitchen, they said they work with fire all the time!” Roman tried to smile supportively but he couldn’t hide his slight grimace. Remus and fires had always turned out poorly in the past, but hopefully he’d get some actual proper training so it wouldn’t result in too many accidents.

They walked inside the building and walked towards their retrospective booths. Each of the dozen or so booths from the day before were once again set up, this time without any reps and with tablets laying on each table, waiting for the new recruits. Roman headed over to the Crafters table and added his name to the list.

His eyes slid over towards the Greenhouse table briefly, but he snapped them back to his own booth as soon as he realized they had wandered. No, he was to be a Crafter. Maybe he’d be able to visit the Greenhouses or something, see those gorgeous plants and enchanting atmosphere again. But he reassured himself with the memory of how happy the workers in the Crafters Workshop had seemed when they had gone on the tour the day before. That would be him. That was where he was meant to go and where he was built to thrive.

Roman pulled his shoulders back and stepped away from the table to let someone else put their name down on the list. He gave a polite smile to the person before he turned to go make sure Remus had figured out what to do. Roman spotted his brother across the room, waiting for someone else to finish signing up.

Roman walked over and stood next to Remus, bumping his shoulder before he said, “Hey, rat. You just write your name on the next available line, by the way.”

Remus gave him a hard look and replied, “Yeah, I know, Roman. I could’ve figured that out myself.”

Roman was slightly taken aback before responding, “Oh, ok. Sorry. I just wanted to be sure.” Remus’s expression softened slightly as he glanced around to the couple of people milling around the Kitchen booth. Roman said, “Alright, well, I’ll leave you to it then.”

Roman backed away awkwardly and headed over to where about two dozen or so people had gathered in a group. They had all finished signing up for their new jobs and were now just waiting for the next part of orientation to get going. He found two other people who had also signed up to be Crafters and started chatting with them, though honestly at this point all this small talk was starting to blend together. He had only ever known a handful of people during his whole life before coming to Auranis, and there were almost no situations where one would just chat with a stranger. It was strange, luckily it wasn’t too hard, but it was getting a little exhausting.

After about ten minutes or so, nearly everyone had finished signing up and had joined the large group in the center of the room. All the signups would be processed throughout the day and the new citizens would start their first day of work the next day, which was a Monday. Then, there would be a couple of days of training and people would figure out which specialty would be a good fit for them if they had chosen a career with specialties.

After spending the majority of the day touring the third level and going to more orientation meetings, it was finally time for the new citizens to attend their first Community Meeting at five o’clock. They were all led back to the Community Center, which was now filled with a couple thousand chairs and many, many people getting ready to fill them.

The seats were pretty packed together so everyone was able to fit inside the space, and Roman was honestly amazed by how many people actually were able to be in that room at the same time. Basically everyone who lived in Auranis had to come to these Community Meetings each week, so there should be nearly five thousand people all seated in this huge room.

Roman and Remus found a seat towards the middle of the room, along with some other people from their orientation group that they had chatted with throughout the past couple of days. Once basically everyone was situated and the noise level in the room had lowered a bit, a fairly short man wearing a black hat and a nice blazer over a golden-colored vest and a dark shirt. He was also wearing some golden gloves that matched his vest, plus black pants and shoes. It all seemed unnecessarily fancy compared to everyone else dressed in t-shirts and pants, the occasional jacket or other clothing item.

The man cleared his throat, and the room fell silent. Roman glanced around in wonder. The man began, “Hello, everyone, and welcome to the new citizens who are joining us today for their first Community Meeting. I am President Janus, and one of the co-founders of Auranis. I am so glad to see all of you here today, and I hope everything has been satisfactory so far. Please do let us know if there’s anything we can help you with.”

Remus let out a small but reverent, “Woah,” as he listened to the man speak, seemingly entranced by his very presence.

Meanwhile, Roman couldn’t help but wonder who “we” was referring to. The man —President Janus, apparently— seemed a little too high-and-mighty to be personally taking constructive criticisms from the everyday citizen. He supposed that the Help Center was there, and the Community Council was intended to improve the community, but neither of them really seemed like the right place to bring any complaints that one might have. Regardless, he tried to clear his mind since it was pointless to think about that. He didn’t really have any issues yet, and he hoped that things would stay like that. Roman hoped that he would never need to figure out who “we” was referring to, if anyone.

Janus continued to address the crowd of intent listeners as he provided updates and reminders about various aspects of life in Auranis. Throughout his speech, Roman noticed Remus out of the corner of his eye, practically hanging onto every word. His wide eyes were trained so intensely on the stage in front of them, more focused than Roman had ever seen his brother before. Remus’s chin was propped up on one of his hands, his elbow balanced on his knee. His mouth hung open just slightly in a look of pure awe and admiration.

Roman nudged his brother with his elbow, posing an eyebrow raise in an attempt to ask what was up with him. Remus looked over at him with eyes that were positively filled with wonder. Almost… worship-like. He mouthed the words ‘He’s amazing,’ to Roman and then drew his eyes back towards the stage. A pit started to form in Roman’s stomach. Something just didn’t rub him the right way about this, but he couldn’t quite place what it was.

Nonetheless, Roman tried to once again clear his head for the remainder of the talk. When President Janus had finished and began to leave the stage, the crowd erupted suddenly into cheers, with Remus apparently trying to cheer the absolute loudest. Roman had to cover his ears as it became a bit too loud right next to him for his own comfort levels.

Roman shot a hard look at his brother, who just tilted his head and asked, “What?” Roman just shook his head slightly and looked away, not wanting to dampen Remus’s spirit too much. He didn’t technically have a reason to be upset at him, after all. Everything was fine. Everything should be great, actually. Everything WAS great.

All of the people slowly started to file out of the room towards all areas of the compound. Many people headed up to the first level for the hour of free time that most citizens had before dinner. Some people had to work, depending on their shifts, but the majority finished work at four o’clock.

Roman decided to head up to the Rec Center on the first level, following the crowds up the elevators. Remus had disappeared somewhere, and honestly Roman was kind of glad to not have to hear him ramble about either how great President Janus was or how much he liked Logan. Remus could just be a bit too invested in certain people, sometimes.

They had taken a tour of the first level the day before, but they had gone through the Rec Center so quickly that Roman hadn’t really been able to absorb what was in there and he wanted to check it out. When he reached the entrance, he started wandering around and looking at everything around him. There were a bunch of tables set up with chess sets and other board games, and some pool tables. In a side room there was a small-ish climbing wall along with some other exercise-type activities that seemed far more fun than the gyms in each of the blocks.

He went back into the main space and continued exploring. He saw some booth seating all along the far wall, and some other comfortable-looking chairs and beanbag cushions peppered throughout the room for people to relax in. Roman weaved between different activities, taking it all in as people started to fill the space.

As he reached a corner with some ping pong tables, he noticed a figure clad curled up in one of the beanbags nearby wearing all black. They were tucked around a book, apparently absorbed in its contents since they didn’t even notice Roman until he spoke aloud.

“Hey, Virgil! What’cha got there?”

Virgil nearly leapt out of their skin, almost decking Roman’s lower leg out of reflex. They quickly regained their composure and placed their book on the floor, trying to ignore Roman’s teasing laughter.

“Oh my god you scared me,” they said, running a hand through their hair which fell in loose waves around their shoulders rather than in their usual ponytail.

“Yeah, I kind of gathered that,” Roman chuckled, sitting down on the floor next to Virgil. “Though I should probably thank you for restraining yourself from bruising the hell out of my shins.”

Virgil rolled their eyes and Roman saw a slight grin tug at the edge of their mouth. “Oh, shut up,” they muttered.

Roman smiled and asked, “Anyway, you didn’t answer my question: what’cha got there?”

Virgil’s eyes lit up as they grabbed the book and showed the cover to Roman. “It’s my favorite book, actually. I’ve read all of this author’s books, and they’re all great, but this one is definitely the best in my opinion. You should totally read it sometime,” they said excitedly. Ok, clearly he had hit a jackpot with this conversation topic.

After the two of them talked for a little while about books and reading —a shared passion between them, thankfully— Roman remembered the rest of the room and came up with an idea. He sat up a little and asked, “Do you wanna play ping pong before we have to go down to dinner?”

Virgil nodded and agreed. Roman stood up and offered a hand to Virgil who was slightly struggling to get out of the beanbag chair, though they were clearly trying not to show it too much. They looked up at the proffered hand and after a moment of hesitation, took it. Roman pulled them to standing, and then stepped back and let go of their hand. Both of them smiled a little but glanced around awkwardly for a second before remembering what they had planned to do.

Roman led Virgil over to the closest ping pong table and grabbed one of the paddles and a ping pong ball from the center of the table while Virgil grabbed the other paddle. They played for about half an hour, talking a little here and there but mostly just focusing on the game and trying not to make fools of themselves in front of the other. Neither of them were particularly good at the game, but they both were good enough that it was pretty fun and had a twinge of competition.

At seven o’clock, both of their Motives beeped to remind them that dinner was starting. They put things back where they had found them, Virgil grabbed their book, and they headed downstairs with wide grins and slightly flushed faces.

Roman followed Virgil into the Dining Hall, they both got a rice dish with vegetables from one of the food stations and sat down at a table along one of the walls. The whole meal was filled with jokes, getting to know each other better, and eating the surprisingly good food. Roman was glad he had trusted Virgil’s taste, since getting the rice dish had been Virgil’s suggestion.

Although the conversation was certainly enjoyable, Roman still wanted to know so much more about the mysterious person sitting in front of him. They hadn’t really talked about anything super personal, staying fairly surface-level. Of course, Roman didn’t want to push them too much in case that made them uncomfortable or something, but that still didn’t stop his curiousness. He hoped that he would earn more insight eventually, that one day they’d feel comfortable enough with Roman to tell him more. One day at a time, though. Thinking too far ahead again, as usual.

Once dinner had wrapped up and they were walking towards C block, Roman asked if Virgil had anything planned for their free time in their block. Virgil gave a small smile and replied, “Yeah, actually, I have some stuff that I have to work on.”

Roman looked down at his hands and nodded, “Oh, ok, yeah that’s cool. We should hang out another time, then, if that’s ok with you?”

Virgil glanced over at Roman and said, “Yeah, that’s definitely ok with me.” They reached Virgil’s apartment and they said, “See you later, Roman,” as they ducked inside their apartment after casting a dazzling smile towards him. Roman trudged upstairs to his own apartment, which was pretty close by. He had hoped that they’d be able to hang out more, so now he wasn’t really sure what to do until he got tired.

When Roman opened his door, he was greeted by Remus… and Logan? They were sitting at the small table to the left of the room. “Hey, uh, what’s going on? Don’t you live in B Block? Won’t we get in trouble for you being in the wrong block?” he said in confusion, shutting the door behind him and leaning against it.

Logan chewed his lip slightly, looking slightly nervous as Remus replied happily, “Don’t worry about it! He can get back pretty easily since it’s just one block over.” Logan looked down at his hands which were folded on the table in front of him.

Roman paused to think for a moment. “Are you sure that’s ok? I really don’t want us to get in trouble. Or Logan, for that matter. Why can’t y’all just hang out tomorrow? It’s only our third day here and you’re already breaking rules again, Remus.” He started to feel stressed and began pacing between the door and the beds.

Remus just brushed off his concern with a careless flick of the hand and said, “If you’re gonna be so uptight about it, just go to the gym or something. Then if we get caught —which we won’t— you don’t have to be here for it.”

Roman glared at his reckless brother but decided that would be his best option so he quickly changed into his workout clothes in the bathroom. He knew that once Remus got stuck on an idea like this, there was no persuading him otherwise. It would be a wasted effort. He knew, because this was certainly not the first time something like this had happened. But it felt so different here. This was putting both of their entire futures in Auranis on the line, and for what? To hang out with Logan for a little bit more? First it started with this and then Roman knew it could only get worse from here.

He was seething as he stepped out into the room again, glaring daggers at Remus, his brother who was putting both of their lives in danger for something as silly as this. Remus rolled his eyes as Roman stomped out, shoving the door closed behind him.

Once he reached the block’s gym, he already started to feel a little better. The exertion from his workout also helped, and by the time he returned to the apartment about two hours later he just felt drained. No more anger. Probably. Maybe a tiny bit, but it was more towards the normal amount of anger he felt towards his brother.

When he got back inside, the lights were off and Remus was already asleep. Logan was gone, thankfully. Even though he seemed like a cool enough guy, Roman just didn’t want to put up with whatever was going on between him and Remus. It just felt really weird, and Roman wasn’t entirely sure why. He didn’t feel very sure of a lot of things lately, but that didn’t matter much right now.

Now, he needed to get plenty of beauty sleep so that tomorrow could be as wonderful as possible! It was his first day as a Crafter, and he could hardly wait. Pretty much as soon as Roman’s head hit the pillow he was out like a light, letting the grace of sleep fall over him.

[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [Chapter 4]

Taglist:

@cemmy

Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!

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rohad93 · 4 years

Text

Holly Jolly Secret

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21920110

Downtown empire city was covered in a soft sheet of snow, from the street to the rooftops of the skyscrapers, everything had a sheen of white to it.

In one such building, the light from an office glared out on the darkening city, the surrounding windows going dark one at a time.

The constant clicking and clacking of the computer keyboard was the only sound in the office as Yennefer Diamond sat hunched over the desk, typing away at the end of the year reports her mother wanted before next week's end.

The large 29th floor office, with an entire wall of floor to ceiling windows, overlooked the entirety of Empire City and the setting sun had very nearly disappeared behind the many skyscrapers, the last tendrils of orange, pink and yellows fading into the navy blues and inky blacks of a winter night. The beautiful sky however was duly ignored by the office’s sole occupant in favor of the work in front of her, a rather common occurrence.

It was ten till five on a Friday evening and even with her office door closed, she could still hear the racket of her employees doing anything but working, and it grated on her nerves as she went through their fiscal earnings for the last year line by agonizing line, getting more annoyed by the second as she did with the ongoing noise in the background a constant annoyance.

Diamond industries had suffered some… losses over the course of the past year and it showed in every line of numbers she punched in, glancing occasionally at the stack of papers at her side, checking every statement and receipt. They had hardly done poorly, but not as well as last year and it irritated the thirty-two year old executive to no end as she hit the keys a little harder than necessary.

She stopped and leaned back in her chair, heaving a sigh and pinching the bridge of her nose as she looked at the columns and lines of numbers blurring together tiredly as she thought about the next few hours she would be sitting here trying to finish these so she could move on to anything else.

A knock on her office door made her sigh heavily through her nose, just before the door opened and her personal assistant, Daisy, popped her head in, along with the now unfiltered noise of an entire office floor on a Friday evening, two weeks before Christmas and 5 minutes before punch out time.

The dull throbbing that had begun it’s slow build over the last hour behind her eyes gave a sharp jab, making her close her eyes for a long second before opening them again, exhaustion dulled amber eyes focused on Daisy, silently prompting her to speak.

“I have the rest of the reports you asked for, Miss Diamond.” She held up the armful of folders and Yennefer nodded, prompting the other woman to enter, closing the door behind her and shutting out the majority of the noise as she entered, but the sharpness of her headache remained, making her frown deepen.

“Just lay them there.” She nodded to the corner of her desk, turning her tired eyes back to her computer monitor and the endless lines of numbers still waiting for her to review. The glare of the screen made another sharp stab of pain shoot through her head just behind her eyes.

Daisy sat the folders in the empty space before holding up her tablet and reading through the itinerary for the upcoming week as was the norm on Friday, just before her PA left for the weekend.

“You have a meeting with Ms. Diamond first thing Monday morning…” She started and Yennefer rolled her eyes. What could her mother possibly want now? They had had lunch together just this afternoon and she had made no mention of any meeting. Not that her mother neglecting to tell her things was new by any stretch of the imagination.

“What else?” She grunted, laying her chin in one hand and tapping her mouse on her screen with the other.

“You have three phone conferences Tuesday and…” She continued while Yennefer only half listened, most of her attention still focused on the black and white spreadsheet sitting in front of her and trying to estimate how much longer this would take, while the clock on the eastern wall above her leather guest couch ticked away.

“...provided everything stays on schedule Friday.” Daisy finished scrolling through the listed items on her tablet.

“Good, thank you.” Yennefer nodded, not looking away from the screen and having missed most of what her assistant had been saying, as if they wouldn’t run through the itinerary again Monday morning.

“Oh, here’s your drawing for the Christmas party secret Santa.” She dug a slip of paper out of her pocket and held it out to Yennefer.

This did cause Yennefer to turn and look at her assistant before her gaze fell on the folded slip of paper in her outstretched hand.

“The secret Santa?” Yennefer repeated, like the words were foreign to her.

“You signed up for it, Miss Diamond, last week?” she reminded. “After the investor meeting, they passed around the signup sheet and you told me to put it in your calendar; today was the drawing, so I brought you yours.” She still stood there holding out the little slip of festive red paper.

Yennefer clenched her jaw as she looked at the paper, vaguely recalling the signup sheet that had been passed around after the end of last week’s investor meeting, but she had been in a hurry, trying to get out as the head of imports had been heading her way when she had told Daisy to simply sign whatever it was in her stead.

She finally took the slip of paper, not caring one bit that her assistant saw her scowling as she did.

“That will be all, Miss Almar.” Yennefer dismissed her assistant with a huff, trying and failing at not letting her annoyance shine through. Daisy was used to it though and nodded.

“Have a good weekend, Miss Diamond.” She smiled, nasally voice exceptionally grating on Yennefer’s nerves and headache tonight as she left the office.

Once she’d gone Yennefer looked down at the little slip of paper like it had personally wronged her. She had had no intention of participating in the gift exchange, just as she hadn’t the past five years she had worked in her mother’s company.

She cursed herself for the momentary lapse in judgement last week for not simply doing it herself and saving herself the trouble of having to get some sort of meaningless gift for one of the many nameless workers that worked for her mother.

She glared down at the paper as she opened it, fully expecting the name to not even ring the faintest of bells in her head.

‘Belle Ryan.’

Yennefer sat bolt upright, staring down at the name written in elegant swooping script on the tiny slip of crimson paper held tightly between her fingers.

Immediately the image of a tall, fair skinned woman with piercing blue eyes, platinum hair and a lilting Irish accent filled her mind’s eye.

Of the two-hundred something people in the office, Yennefer had to get her, of course. She pursed her lips tightly together, staring down at the name and willing it to change into any other, but it remained the same much to her chagrin.

She sighed heavily to herself, leaning back in her chair, the slip of paper still held loosely between her fingers.

Now, she had to get a gift for the one woman in the office she had an untameable attraction to, ever since she’d started nine months ago.

She groaned as she dragged a hand down her face.

They had met at a company function nearly two years ago. Her father was a large investor in the company and she was attending the party with him. When he passed away nearly a year ago and she had inherited his stock and investments in the company, her mother had been quick to take her on board as an executive in the production sector as head of imports.

She was quite skilled at finding product from sources willing to sell or trade.

They had a handful of talks here and there whenever they passed each other in the halls or in meetings but Yennefer was always quick to make an excuse and get away.

With good reason.

Belle Ryan was well off, highly educated, and maybe the most beautiful woman Yennefer had ever seen, and everything about her seemed to make Yennefer’s better senses stop functioning.

Yennefer liked to consider herself to be quite well spoken when she needed to be, but she came up blank more often than not in the Irish woman’s presence.

Now she needed to come up with a gift for her by Thursday the twenty-third, the night of the party and their last day of work before the holiday. She looked at the desktop calendar sitting next to the monitor. It was Friday the tenth.

In theory that was plenty of time. In reality, she had no idea what she could possibly give the other woman. She knew very little of her personally, though she might know more if she wasn’t so afraid of making a fool of herself in front of her.

She drummed her fingers on the large oak desk, staring off into space, deep in thought, the year end reports sitting completely forgotten as she mulled over her predicament before shaking herself out of it.

This was exactly what thinking about that woman did to her. She shook her head and sat up, concentrating on the reports in front of her once more, this was far more pressing then secret Santa presents, though, far more mind numbing.

She didn’t allow herself to think about her coworker again until she was shutting down her computer and pulling on her coat to leave her office two hours later, long after the regular staff had gone. She carefully put the last files she needed to look at into her briefcase before leaving her office. The rest of the lights were all out in the cubicles as she walked across the room to the elevator. Everyone else had gone home hours ago.

She got on the elevator and punched the button for the ground floor.

Not for a second noticing the other lit up floor on the panel.

Maybe she had simply thought her name too many times or maybe the universe was playing a game with her, but sure enough the elevator stopped on the 26th floor and when the doors slid open, they revealed the very woman she had been doing her very best not to think about.

Belle Ryan was standing there in a sapphire blue pencil skirt and white button up blouse. A small blue, diamond shaped pendant on a silver chain peeked out from the neck line. Her long platinum locks were pulled up onto her head in a perfectly neat bun off her long slender neck and a laptop case was slung over her shoulder.

When those blue eyes fell on her, they lit up, mouth turning up into a soft smile and Yennefer felt herself go ridgid under that cornflower gaze.

“Good evening, Yennefer,” she said as she stepped into the elevator, the doors closing behind her. “Do you always stay this late?” she asked, clasping her hands together in front of her as the doors slid closed behind her, closing them in together for at least the next twenty-six floors.

“I stay late more often than not, but tonight I was finishing the year end reports.” She said stiffly, looking from Belle to the much to slowly moving number on the elevator control panel. “Usually I’m the last to leave. Though apparently, not tonight.” she said, trying to ignore the nerves humming just beneath her skin.

“Ah, yes, I try to leave at five myself but as you said, there are a lot of year end things to be done.” She once again aimed that beautiful smile at her and Yennefer tried not to fidget under her attention as they moved ever closer to the ground floor. Yennefer just hummed an agreement.

“I didn’t see you at the thanksgiving dinner the company threw. Will you be attending the christmas party? I’ve been told Whitney spares no expense,” she said.

“If my mother enjoys anything, it's an elaborate party, and yes, I’ll be there,” she nodded.

They traveled a few more floors in silence and Yennefer could feel herself getting antsy in the small quiet space, shifting her weight back and forth on the balls of her feet.

“Have you eaten yet?” Belle suddenly asked. “I was going to grab something from the Thai place across the street if you’d like to join me?”

She asked just as they hit the ground floor and the doors slid open to the lobby.

“Thank you, but I really need to hurry home.” Her mouth was moving before she even had time to think about what she was sas saying. Belle looked disappointed and it was like a sucker punch to the gut that a face like hers should ever be anything but happy.

“Oh, of course, have a good weekend, Yennefer.” Belle nodded, her smile not as bright as before as she walked out of the elevator and through the pristine lobby toward the front doors, her black heels clicking across the polished white marble floor.

Yennefer stood there watching her go long enough for the doors to slide shut again, her reflection stared back at her in the highly polished metal and she cursed herself.

“Why did you say no?” She couldn’t help but ask her reflection with a scowl;predictably, there was no answer. She ran her free hand through her short blonde hair tiredly and sighed before hitting the button again, a little harder than necessary, and the doors once again opened up to the lobby. It was empty, save for the couches and chairs. Even the receptionist desk stood empty.

She grumbled to herself as she headed for the exit, the only sound being the clicking of her own heels on the marble as she left the building.

The cold hit her in the face the moment she stepped out the front doors. The sting of winter winds biting at her nose and ears as she walked towards the parking garage at the side of the building. Luckily, her reserved spot was close to the entrance. She pulled the coat tighter around her, regardless.

She let herself glance across the street to the Thai restaurant, it’s red neon open sign blinking a greeting. She hesitated a second before she scoffed at herself again as she turned away toward the parking garage. How foolish would she look to go over there now after saying she needed to get home? She had shot herself in the foot on this one.

She quickly left the office and restaurant behind as she climbed into her car.

She had a lot to do before her meeting with her mother on Monday morning and she wanted to spend as little time thinking about it as possible.

~ ~ ~ ~

Monday morning Yennefer sat in her office, clicking through her emails and sipping on her coffee.

It was only seven thirty, the majority of the office, including her assistant, wouldn't be in for another half hour. This was her quiet time of the day. The still mornings before everyone came in, when she could work in peace and solitude, even if only for a little while.

Her phone buzzed, rattling across the polished wood surface of her desk. She glanced at the notification over the top of her coffee mug.

‘Rosie’

She sat the cup down and picked up the phone. What could her sister possibly want at this hour of the morning?

She pressed a finger to the sensor on the back, opening the message. A picture of a toddler with curly black hair in a high chair and his nose turned up at a tiny, red plastic bowl of oatmeal greeted her. She couldn’t stop her lips from curling up even if she wanted to at the sight of the boy.

Three bubbles popped up and she waited only a second before the message came up.

“This is your fault!”

Yennefer snorted at the message, looking back at the picture of her three year old nephew before typing out a quick reply.

“I can hardly be blamed for your poor cooking skills.” She typed back.

The bubbles popped up before she could even take her finger off the keyboard.

She set the phone down, ignoring the buzzing that immediately followed her text with a grin, she took another long sip of her coffee as her phone buzzed several times. Only when it finally went silent for more than a full minute did she pick it up.

“There is nothing wrong with my cooking, you jerk!” Yennefer snorted at that.

“Ever since you made him your oatmeal, he won’t eat mine! What are you putting in it?

“Can Steven and I stay at your place next week for Christmas?” That did give Yennefer pause.

“Where’s your husband?” She questioned.

“Greg has to work so it’s just going to be me and your favorite nephew! Please?”

Yennefer pursed her lips. Her penthouse was hardly child proof, though more so than their mother’s luxury house, not that Rosie would stay there if she could help it. Things were still tense between Whitney and her youngest child, understandably.

When your mother is overbearing and controlling and your sister runs off and elopes, getting pregnant; family functions and holidays are a little tense.

Yennefer sighed and took another slug of her coffee as she typed a response.

“If you must.”

Instantly the bubbles indicating her sister’s incoming message popped up.

“Thank you! See you next Tuesday!”

Yennefer rolled her eyes as she sat the phone back on the wireless charger sitting next to her keyboard.

Suddenly there was a knock on her door and she glanced at the clock- ten till eight. Her assistant was early, even for her.

“Come in,” she said, turning back to her screen and lifting her mug to her lips.

“Good morning, Yennefer.” Belle was standing in her doorway and Yennefer sucked in a breath, inhaling a mouth full of coffee in the process.

She choked, coughing and sputtering on the warm liquid in her lungs, tears in her eyes as she tried to breath.

A hand was patting her back, helping expel the coffee from her airways.

A full minute of hacking later she was finally breathing again, Belle at her side, hand still resting on her back as she composed herself.

“Are you alright?” She looked incredibly concerned as she peered down at the blonde.

“Fine. I’m fine.” Yennefer rushed to assure her, voice still raspy as she tried to regain control of her breathing.

“I’m sorry, did I startle you?” she asked, stepping back as Yennefer stood, trying valiantly to compose herself in front of the executive importer.

“No, no...I swallowed wrong is all.” She pulled the handkerchief from the pocket of her ochre colored blazer and wiped the water from her eyes with as much dignity as she could muster; which didn’t feel like much at this moment. “I’m just surprised to see you, or anyone here this early…” she managed.

“You’re here, and, from the looks of it, have been for some time,” Belle observed, glancing at the desk, coffee mostly gone and several folders already sitting open on its surface.

“Yes, well. I usually come in early to get a head start on my work. There’s always something more to do…” she trailed off, brushing imaginary dust from the front of her blazer if only for something to do with her hands.

“You are the VP of finance,” Belle agreed with a smile that made the back of Yennefer's neck grow hot.

“Did you need something from me?” she asked, settling on folding her hands behind her back to keep them still.

“Oh! Yes, I nearly forgot.” She held a hand to her mouth and chuckled to herself. “I was wondering if you knew what the meeting this morning was about?” she asked.

“The meeting?” Yennefer repeated, blinking.

“Yes, with Whitney? The email I received Friday evening didn’t say, just that I was supposed to meet with you and Whitney ” Belle looked at her curiously.

Oh, right. Her meeting with her mother that Daisy had told her about Friday before she’d left.

A meeting she had not been informed of by the CEO; nor that it would include the head of imports. She felt herself grow prickly by the perceived slight from her mother all over again.

“I haven’t the slightest idea myself,” she admitted, glancing at the clock; five till. “The meeting starts in a few minutes so we may as well go and find out.” She nodded toward the clock on the wall.

“Oh, yes, I guess we should,” she nodded as they walked out of the office. Yennefer surreptitiously checking her reflection in the mirror to the left of the door as she followed Belle out of her office, shutting the door behind her.

A few people were starting to trickle into the office from the elevator and they were quick to move out their bosses way as she got on the lift with Belle and hit the button for the top floor.

The quiet of the elevator was oppressive to Yennefer, though she wasn’t sure she was grateful or not that it wasn’t to last.

“How was your weekend?” Belle looked at her as the elevator began to move upwards. Even with both of them in heels, the blonde was still a couple inches taller.

“It was fine, yours?” she asked back conversationally.

“Quiet, but nice, I spent most of it practicing.”

“Practicing?” Yennefer couldn’t help but ask curiously.

“Yes, on my piano. I don’t get to it as much as I would like these days. It’s nice to sit and play to relax.” She folded her hands in front of her, against the green and blue plaid skirt she was wearing today.

“I didn’t know you played…”

“Since I was a little girl.” She smiled, seeming to light up under the line of questions, to which Yennefer was quick to take note.

“What kind of music do you play?”

Before she could answer the elevator dinged and the doors slid open to the thirtieth floor.

The room just outside the elevators opened up to a large pristine white carpeted waiting room.

The eggshell colored walls in combination with the carpet always made Yennefer uncomfortable with it’s sterile atmosphere. Belle seemed equally uncomfortable in the room.

Her own floor of the building was decorated in soft blues, grays and whites that Yennefer always thought had a nice calming effect whenever she had to go down to the twenty-sixth floor, though she preferred her own floor with it’s rich brown wooden flooring and light yellow painted walls.

They crossed the waiting area with it’s stainless steel table and the black leather upholstered chairs situated around it, moving toward the desk sitting just outside the doors to her mother’s office.

The woman behind the desk, even with the black eyepatch that covered her left eye, in her pink floral patterned skirt and white blouse was perhaps the most colorful thing in the entire room.

Poppy Spears, her mother’s PA, smiled at them as they approached.

“Ms. Diamond is waiting for you; go ahead.” She gestured to the door and Yennefer just grunted in affirmation, Belle following behind her.

The office was decorated in a similar fashion to the waiting room. Tones of black and white, though with a few more personal touches. Some expensive paintings in abstract hung from the walls, the harsh pops of reds in them the only hints of color to be found.

She was not surprised to find her mother sitting behind her large desk, already looking at something on her computer screen. Coal black eyes looked up when the door opened and she smiled, accentuating the lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth, despite the heavily applied makeup, revealing two rows of ivory white teeth.

“Ah, Yennefer, Miss Ryan, do come in; have a seat.” She gestured to the plush black leather chairs sitting in front of her desk.

Yennefer sat in one of the chairs, arms immediately folding across her chest; still less than pleased about this surprise meeting that she hadn’t the faintest idea of the point of.

“I’m sure you’re both wondering why I’ve called you in so let’s get straight to the point,” her mother began without preamble. “Very recently I was brought to the attention of some assets up for sale in Delmarva. However, before we acquire them for the company, I need them to be assessed by the both of you.”

“Why us?” Belle asked before Yennefer could, though the one hiked blonde eyebrow spoke loudly enough of her question to the ageing CEO.

“The acquisition in question is a business that imports precious minerals and jewels called Mica Incorporated,” she explained, folding her hands atop her desk. “You are the head of imports and acquisitions, Miss Ryan; you know best what’s worth keeping or not. I need you to go over what they’re taking in and what we want to keep when we buy them,” she explained.

“Of course,” Belle nodded.

“You want me to go over their books…” Yennefer said. It wasn’t a question. Whitney smiled at her eldest.

“Of course. Your flight leaves at five am tomorrow.” she informed.

“Tomorrow?” Yennefer shot upright in her seat.

“That is rather short notice,” Belle intoned. Whitney just nodded to both of them.

“Yes, I know, but it has to be all closed out before the holidays, so it is a rush job, I’m afraid,” she admitted. “The flight and hotel have already been booked; you’ll come back Wednesday afternoon. Your assistants have all the information you need.”

With a glance at each other, they both stood from their seats at the obvious dismissal and made their way out of the office.

Inside, Yennefer was fuming. It was one thing to have to do this, she had done similar jobs before, but the lack or warning was what really grated on her nerves. Her mother had obviously known about this since at least Friday afternoon, since her assistant had been told, yet hadn’t made any mention of it all weekend. Not that they had talked at all over the weekend.

The fact that she had not deigned to inform her earlier, as opposed to springing it on her the morning before, was maddening.

She did not stomp, but her footfalls were considerably heavier than they had been on the way in as they made their way past Poppy to the elevator. The PA only smiled at their retreating figures, more than used to people leaving the office in a sour disposition, Yennefer especially.

She smashed the button to her floor as she got on, crossing her arms over her chest. She very nearly forgot about Belle standing next to her till she reached out to press the button for her own floor; she turned to her once the doors had slid closed.

“I live on the other side of town, by the river. You probably live closer to the airport, don't you?” she asked. Yennefer nodded, glancing over to see the other woman playing with the blue pendant hanging from her neck.

“Yes, near the park,” she confirmed, trying not to growl, her fingers tapping agitatedly against her arm.

“Since it’s on the way would you like me to pick you up in the morning?” She looked up at the blonde and all the boiling anger that had been simmering in Yennefer’s gut seemed to vanish, watered down by the baby blues looking up at her.

“That’s… very kind of you, yes,” she finally managed to spit out.

“I’ll be there at three?” she asked and Yennefer only managed to nod, just as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open on her floor and she stepped out.

“Great, just send the address to my assistant, I’ll see you in the morning.” She smiled and Yennefer only managed to nod before the doors slid shut, moving down toward the twenty-sixth floor, leaving her to stare at her distorted reflection in the metal doors.

“Miss Diamond?”

Yennefer jumped, whirling around to find Daisy standing there, her tablet held in front of her.

“I have your flight and hotel information, shall I email it to you?” she asked, looking down at the tablet screen before looking back up at her.

And just like that, the cooling embers of her anger burst back into flames.

“Yes,” she ground out, stomping across the floor to her office, Daisy on her heels, tapping at her tablet screen.

Yennefer felt her phone buzz in her pocket, signaling the arrival of the email, followed by another.

Entering her office she made a beeline for her computer and opened up the two emails; one a confirmation of her flight and hotel accommodations that she only briefly glanced over before opening the other, detailed information about the business and the location of its head office.

She saved the address into her phone and looked up at the clock. Eight-thirty. She looked over the last few things she needed to do and decided.

“Daisy…” Her PA was quick to jump to attention at the call of her name. “I’m leaving at noon so I can get things together before tomorrow morning. Move anything pertinent I need to do today too before then or reschedule it,” she commanded, eyes already trained on something on her screen.

“Of course.” She nodded, already swiping away at the tablet screen.

Yennefer went to close the email but caught sight of the ‘To:’ box where she and Belle had both been tagged in the email and paused, fingers hovering over the keyboard.

“Daisy, please send my home address to Miss Ryan’s assistant.” she said after a moment before resuming her work.

She could see her assistant out of the corner of her eye, looking at her curiously before nodding to herself and turning back to her tablet, fingers flying across the screen as she worked to complete her tasks.

With that out of the way, she was able to turn fully back to her work without distraction. One phone conference, several very long individual calls, and thirty emails later, and she was shutting down her computer and heading out with Daisy at her heels, taking quick notes as they walked.

“If anything urgent comes up, call me and I’ll take care of it,” she instructed, snapping her briefcase closed as she waited for the elevator.

“Of course.” Daisy nodded, still tapping away at the screen.

The elevator doors opened with a ding and she stepped inside, turning to face her assistant.

“Take the rest of the day off,” she said, pressing the button for the ground floor.

“Thank You, Miss Diamond. Have a nice trip,” she trilled as the doors slid shut, leaving the VP alone in the quiet elevator.

“I doubt it,” she grumbled to herself as the elevator moved downward.

~ ~ ~ ~

Yennefer yawned as she sat at her kitchen table, taking long sips of the black coffee in her cup. Her bag was packed and sitting next to the front door, along with her laptop case.

Her phone sat silent and dark on the table as it usually did at three fifteen in the morning.

She ran her hand through her slightly damp hair, still coming around, even after the near boiling shower.

If nothing else, she was glad she didn’t have to get herself to the airport. She would need to think of some way to show Belle her thanks.

Which reminded her.

She still had to get her a gift for the secret Santa; she cursed to herself.

She still had lots of time and perhaps she would learn something useful that would give her even the faintest idea of what she could give her.

True, if it had been anyone else, she would have just picked up a gift card of some kind and called it a day, but that wasn't going to earn her any points with the executive importer she was sure.

She sat contemplating it and sipping her coffee when her phone lit up, the vibration making it rattle across the table.

She picked it up, squinting at the bright screen.

Instead of a name there was an unknown number and a single line of text.

"I'm parked out front."

It took her a second before she realized with a jolt who it had to be and jumped up, setting the empty coffee cup in the sink before pulling on her leather long coat and picking up her bags, leaving her apartment and locking the door behind her.

Outside, her apartment building was cold and dark, save for the christmas lights that decorated some of the buildings and trees, and the headlights of a single silver car parked at the curb idle-ing.

When she stepped out onto the street from the lobby, the driver side door opened and Belle climbed out. Her hair was down, laying in silky curtain of white against the back of her deep blue peacoat and it gave Yennefer pause before the biting cold forced her to keep moving toward the car.

“Good morning.” Belle greeted her with a smile warm, enough to chase away some of winter’s bite as she popped the trunk.

“G’morning…” she mumbled, as she stuck her bag in the trunk, her hot breath coming out in wispy clouds around her head. She walked quickly to the passenger side and climbed inside. Her ears and hands burned as the hot air coming out of the heater hit her cold skin.

The very next thing that hit her was the subtle scent of lavender and something else she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

Belle climbed into the driver's seat and once the door had shut, Yennefer realized the pleasing and delicate floral scent was coming from her.

A chill ran up her spine but not from the lingering cold. Clearing her throat she looked at Belle as they pulled away from the curb and toward the airport.

“Thank you; for picking me up.” she clarified.

Belle glanced at her, smiling before turning her eyes back to the road.

“Of course. I was happy too,” she said before turning her full attention back on the road.

Yennefer wanted to say something, anything really, but she came up blank and rather then make a fool of herself, she stayed quiet for the rest of the ride, looking out the passenger window.

Arriving at the airport was a hustle of checking in and waiting in lines that stretched on forever, thanks to the jolly time of year.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, they were seated comfortably next to each other in first class.

She pulled off her coat and glanced to her side where Belle had pulled out a book. She wanted to say something but she seemed rather concentrated on the literature, so, with a silent sigh, she leant back and closed her eyes, determined to sleep through the flight.

Which she did.

She didn’t open her eyes again until they had landed and Belle was gently nudging her awake.

They were able to get their bags quickly and get out to the rental car waiting for them.

“Do you mind if I drive?” Yennefer asked distractedly as she looked at the address for their hotel on her phone.

“Not at all,” Belle answered as she set her bags in the trunk. Yennefer nodded as she set her own things next to hers before climbing into the driver’s seat.

“It should be close by…” she mumbled more to herself than anything.

‘We aren’t expected at Mica till eleven,” Belle said.

Yennefer looked at the clock on the dash blinking nine-fifteen at her. They did have time. She hummed in agreement, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel and glancing at the GPS on the phone as she followed the road to the hotel.

She wasn’t at all surprised by the scale of the building when she pulled into the parking lot. Her mother never settled, even if only for one night. The parking lot had been shoveled but everything around was covered in several inches of snow. Lights of red and green, as well as wreaths decorated the front of the building.

They gathered up their bags and headed inside, which was just as lavish as Yennefer had predicted. The lobby was pristine, and reminded her too much of her mother’s office.

“Good morning Ma’am. Name?” the man behind the counter greeted.

“Diamond.” she told him simply as he turned to his computer typing something before nodding.

“Here it is,” he said, typing a few more things and handing over two key cards.

“I’ll only need one.” She tried to hand back the second but he held up a hand.

“No Ma’am, the other is for your companion. Miss ...” He glanced at the screen before turning back to her. “...Ryan.”

“We only have one room?” Belle asked, stepping forward as Yennefer went silent.

“Yes, I’m sorry Ma’am, but when the reservation was made it was the only room available for the night, everything else in the city has been booked due to the time of year,” he informed them, looking apologetic.”

Yennefer’s jaw clenched and she could feel the words about to erupt from her mouth when they were silenced before they could even start.

“That’s alright, we’ll make do for one night, right?” Belle smiled at the relieved looking desk clerk before looking over at her, and all the vitriol gathering on the end of her tongue vanished in a puff of smoke. Left with no other options she just nodded and held out the second key card to Belle, trying not to look as disgruntled as she felt.

“Breakfast is still being served in the dining room. Enjoy your stay, ladies,” The clerk smiled as they walked toward the elevator.

Yennefer huffed inside as they got on and hit the button for the third floor.

“I hadn’t even thought about how booked up all the hotels would be,” Belle hummed.

“Tch, all they could have had left is a cot in a closet and my mother still would have insisted we come,” she grouched, unprepared for when her companion giggled.

“We’re lucky they at least had one room then,” she grinned and it took all Yennefer had to look away. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her leather coat and nodded, unable to stop the twitch of her lips which Belle seemed to notice, if the widening of her grin was anything to go by.

The doors opened on the third floor and they quickly found the room in question. Belle opened the door and walked in, flicking on the light but she stopped suddenly, Yennefer nearly running into her.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Oh, no, nothing.” she assured quickly, moving into the room properly and allowing Yennefer in; she stopped herself.

Situated in the center of the room was one queen sized bed. Not the two fulls she had expected.

‘You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,’ she thought to herself.

She glanced at Belle, who was unpacking her one bag and putting her clothes in the second drawer, but was glancing at Yennefer in the reflection of the vanity situated atop the dresser, waiting for her reaction.

Yennefer’s hands clenched. There were no other rooms to be had and she didn’t want to make this any more awkward than it already was by having a fit about it when it certainly wouldn’t help the situation or put either one of them anymore at ease.

She exhaled heavily through her nose and moved to set her bag on the bed before taking a deep breath.

“Do… you have a preference for side?” She couldn’t believe she was asking.

“Oh…” Belle looked at her in the mirror’s reflection and Yennefer thought just maybe her cheeks were a little pink but they had just come in from outside. “Closest to the wall?” she said, uncertainly and Yennefer nodded, setting her laptop case on the bedside table. She preferred to sleep on the outside edge anyway.

Belle disappeared into the bathroom and she took the opportunity to put her clothes in the top drawer she had left empty for her.

She grumbled to herself while she did.

Of all the people she had to go on this trip with and then end up sharing not only a room but a bed! It, of course, had to be the most attractive woman in the office.

She snorted to herself; it could have been worse, she supposed- it could have been a man or her mother. She grimaced at the thought, just as Belle reappeared.

“Would you like to go down and have breakfast?” she asked.

Yennefer glanced at her watch. It was only ten.

“Sure,” she nodded. Anything so that she didn't have to stand here, awkwardly pretending she was fine with sharing a bed with a woman she could hardly talk to most days.

The food set out downstairs was the usual continental breakfast and there was no telling how long it had been sitting there, so Yennefer grabbed a bagel and an orange from the fruit stand before finding an empty table in the back corner.

Belle sat down across from her with a bowl of the hotel’s oatmeal and Yennefer couldn't help but make a face that was immediately noticed.

"What?" Belle questioned, head tilted at the look being leveled on her breakfast.

"Hmm?" Yennefer looked up, amber meeting blue and flushed, realizing Belle had noticed her looking at the bowl of vile, mushy oats. "Oh, no nothing." She took a bite of her bagel to avoid saying anything else.

"You're just glaring at my breakfast for no reason?" The tone was more than a little amused and Yennefer's neck burned as she chewed on the bagel.

"I didn't… mean anything, I just have an aversion to most oatmeal. I got food poisoning from it once as a child," she informed.

"Oh, I see," Belle said.

"Mhmm," Yennefer nodded. "I have my own recipe which is the only kind I or my nephew will eat." She couldn't help the twitch of her mouth, thinking of the other morning when Rosie had sent her that photo of Steven refusing her oatmeal as she picked up her coffee cup.

"Your nephew?" Belle questioned wide eyes. "I didn't know you had any siblings. Do they work at Diamond industry?"

Yennefer snorted into her coffee cup.

"No." she stated flatly. "My sister and mother have a… let's say, tenuous relationship," she mumbled the last part.

"What about your nephew?” she asked before spooning some of the oatmeal into her mouth, but all her attention was on Yennefer.

“Steven? He’s very musical and intelligent for his age, he’s going to do great things.” She nodded to herself; she was certain of it.

“I think that’s the nicest thing I’ve ever heard you say about anyone; you seem very fond of him.” Belle smiled teasingly and the heat that had receded from Yennefer’s neck was back full force. “Do you have a picture?” She leaned forward eagerly.

She pulled her phone from her pocket, and flicked through it a few times before coming to a picture of Rosie holding Steven on the beach last summer when she had taken a rare week off to go with them, coincidentally that had been the week she’d fed Steven her oatmeal one morning and he wouldn’t touch any other since.

She handed the device to Belle who cooed at the little curly haired boy and Yennefer couldn’t help but grin.

“He’s adorable,” she murmured. “Is that your sister?” she asked looking at the younger woman with bright pink dyed hair, though it was curly, just like the little boy’s. Yennefer nodded, peeling her orange. “I would have never guessed,” she said, handing the phone back.

“We have different fathers,” she shrugged. “Rosie is eight years my junior,” she said. popping a peeled slice into her mouth.

Belle sat there eating her oatmeal and trying to wrap her head around two different men being interested in the curt and exacting Whitney Diamond, and had a hard time wrapping her mind around it as they finished their breakfast and headed for the office.

~ ~ ~

Belle did not see Yennefer again until almost five o’clock that afternoon. She didn’t have too much trouble sorting through the company's inventory and current trade contracts but one look at Yennefer when she got off the elevator to the lobby said that her counterpart had not had as easy a time.

“Are you alright?” Belle asked as they walked out of the building toward their rental. The VP was hunched over, face set in a deep scowl.

“A monkey could keep better books!” She dropped her laptop case into the back seat, trying not to slam the door and not really succeeding. Belle winced at the bang.

“I spent the entire day just sorting out the mess,” she growled, plopping down into the driver’s seat.

“Is there no way to turn it around and make it profitable? The state of their inventory and their contracts are good.”

“Oh, it will be profitable. I have everything sorted out now and I've put together an offer my mother has approved, I just needed to know what your assessment was before putting it to the owner tomorrow. Everything is set, whether or not he accepts the offer before he goes broke will be up to him.” she grumbled, starting the car.

They drove in silence for several minutes, Yennefer still too annoyed with her day to have time to feel awkward. All that time spent trying to make sense of their accounting had left her with a dull throbbing headache.

“Do you want to get dinner before we head back to the hotel?” Belle suddenly piped up as they drove past a row of restaurants.

“Sure,” she grunted.

They ended up in a booth in the back of an Italian place near their hotel.

“Outside of time spent in meetings, I think this is the most we’ve ever interacted before,” Belle suddenly said once the waiter had walked away and Yennefer looked up at her, garlic bread in her mouth. She finished biting it and and chewed, trying to figure out what she was supposed to say in response to that.

You make me nervous, so I try to avoid you most days?

That would go over about as well as it sounded.

She was saved from having to come up with an answer when she went on.

“What do you do for fun, Yennefer?” she asked and she fidgeted a little under the intense blue eyes looking at her.

“I don’t usually have much free time with all my work… but when time allows, I enjoy theater,” she finally said after a moment of thinking.

“What kind of theater?” Belle looked genuinely interested and it made Yennefer’s nerves settle a little.

“Musicals, mostly. I used to do do some performing in college,” she admitted.

“You sing?” Her eyes shot open at that and Yennefer could feel her face warming.

“Not anymore.” She concentrated on the bread in front of her.

“Whyever did you stop?” she couldn’t help but ask, though it didn’t occur to her until after the words had left her mouth that that might have been prying, “Oh, maybe that’s too personal?”

Yennefer just shrugged.

“Between my major in business and minor in finance there wasn’t any time for long rehearsals and show nights.” Yennefer pursed her lips, remembering exactly when her grades had took a slight dip during the production of ‘War paint’ with it’s long hours that had taken time from her studying, and her mother had been beside herself that her ‘little hobby’ was affecting her school work.

It was easier to quit then deal with all of that. As much as she’d hated to.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” Belle frowned, having watched the dark mood that had settled over her companion for a brief moment but decided against asking about it. “I’m rather fond of musicals myself. I double majored in music and business actually, though the second only at my father’s insistence. He had many ventures and since I was an only child someone had to manage them.” She gave a little shrug.

“That’s very impressive,” Yennefer commented and was fascinated by the slightest of pink hues that dusted across her companion’s fair complexion.

“Thank you,” she said it almost bashfully, looking at Yennefer from beneath her lashes and immediately Yennefer only wanted to set her at ease, despite the rigidness of her own spine.

“Have you seen any shows lately?” she asked. It was the only thing that came to mind.

“I haven’t, I wanted to see the production ‘Rent’ downtown next month but they’ve already sold out every showing.” She pouted and against her better judgment Yennefer couldn’t stop herself from thinking how cute it was.

“It’s always popular,” she agreed, just as the waiter was setting their food down in front of them, though that didn’t stop Belle from talking about the shows she’d seen in the past and the more she talked, the more at ease Yennefer felt herself becoming.

They talked the entire meal about theater and music.

She had even managed to forget all about their sleeping arrangements till they got back to the hotel and she was faced with the impending reality that for the first time in longer than she cared to admit, she would be sharing a bed with someone.

By half past nine it seemed there would be no more stalling and she picked up her night clothes and went into the bathroom to change.

Once she was dressed in the yellow cotton shorts and tank top that served as her sleeping clothes, she looked hard at herself in the mirror.

“This is fine. It’s not weird; this is a business trip. Just go to sleep,” she mumbled to herself before leaving the bathroom.

Belle looked up at her when she came out, and she was working so hard not to make eye contact that she didn’t notice the much longer than necessary look over the Irish woman was giving her before picking something up off the bed and heading into the bathroom.

With a sigh of relief, Yennefer climbed under the blankets and scrolled through her phone messages to find she had an unread text from her sister.

“I talked to mom… she wants Steven and I to come to the company party Thursday, I’m only coming early if I can still stay with you. I didn’t tell her that though, I know she’d put the squeeze on you.”

Yennefer snorted- that was an understatement. On the one hand that was five more days with her sister, and while they got along much better than Rosie and their mother, they still didn’t see eye to eye that often.

On the other hand, that was five more days with Steven, which was ultimately the clencher.

“Fine,” was her to the point reply.

It was just as she hit send that the bathroom door open and she looked up on instinct, and immediately wished she hadn’t.

While she would be hard pressed to call that off the shoulder, baby blue nightgown that stopped more than halfway up Belle’s thighs transparent, it’s paper thin looking fabric certainly wasn’t as opaque or long, as she wished it was.

Her face burned scarlet and she could feel it. Amber eyes locked with blue for a moment that felt much too long just as her phone buzzed and she jerked to look at the screen, to look at anything but the barely clothed woman in front of her.

“You’re the best, Yen!”

She pursed her lips and set the device on the nightstand. She wasn’t sure she was the best at anything right now, while she carefully avoided looking in Belle’s direction as she felt the bed shift while she climbed under the sheets.

She took a deep breath and glanced at Belle who’s eyes seemed to dart away when she looked her way, making her tense up even more.

Her skin felt itchy and hot, tingling in an unpleasant way. She cleared her throat, still not looking at her companion though she swore she could feel those powder blue eyes burning a hole in her.

“Goodnight,” she said simply, as she reached over and flicked off the bedside table lamp and laid down, facing away from Belle.

“Goodnight” was echoed back to her before the other light went out, casting the room in darkness and quiet.

Her face was still burning, the image of that nightgown was seared into her memory as though with a hot iron.

She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to look Belle in the eye at a meeting ever again.

She felt the brush of skin against one of her legs and electricity jolted through her from the point of contact all the way to her fingertips.

“Sorry” came the quiet apology from in the darkness.

“It’s fine,” she lied. She was anything but fine at the moment as she carefully scooted closer to the edge.

She tried to stay as still as possible even as she felt Belle move around, neither of them touching again. She was practically hanging off the edge of the mattress, least she brush up against her and cause another flash of intense heat to shoot through her nerves.

Maybe her therapist was right, she thought idley. Maybe she was touch starved.

She tried to relax, but doing her best to be as still as stone ran counter productive to that goal.

It was tense for a while as they both settled, eventually all movement on the other side of the bed ceased.

She laid there for a long while, eyes clenched shut and trying to fall asleep while being perfectly still, when a sudden sound made her eyes pop open, looking out into the darkness, her ears strained for whatever it was she’d heard.

It was a low rumbling noise, coming from just over her shoulder.

With an amused snort she realised what she was hearing was Belle.

Snoring.

She listened to the sound, without realizing that she was slowly relaxing to the rhythmic sound of Belle’s breathing, and was drifting off.

The next thing she knew she was waking up, the grogginess of sleep slowly ebbing away as she peeled open her eyes.

The room was still dark and quiet, only the sound of the heater running broke the otherwise quiet stillness in the room.

She looked at the clock sitting on the table, squinting at the numbers.

Five forty-five glared back at her in neon red. Here alarm wasn’t even due to go off for another fifteen minutes. Not that she would be able to go back to sleep now.

That extra time would give her time for an extra long shower and get woken up before breakfast.

She started to sit up when something pressing tightly against her back gave her pause.

A quiet mumble against her shoulder made her seize up as she realized that Belle had shifted in her sleep and was now pressed firmly against her back.

‘Of course’.

She could feel every bit of the other woman’s body heat radiating through the gossamer thin nightgown right into her back, not to mention every dip and curve of her body; and every breath she took, still snoring quietly.

Yennefer began to sweat, nerves on fire; she needed out.

Moving as slowly and carefully as she ever had, Yennefer slid out of the bed without disturbing Belle, who curled up into the warm empty space she left. She breathed a sigh of relief.

She needed a shower.

Moving carefully through the dark room she entered the bathroom and closed the door quietly behind her before flicking on the blinding light.

She quickly grew accustomed to it as she turned on the shower as hot as it would go.

To her disappointment it wasn’t near as hot as her shower at home, but it would make do.

Once her muscles started to unclench, she found herself humming a Christmas song that had been playing on the radio on the drive back to the hotel from dinner. The humming turned to singing.

The words began quiet, mumbles under her breath as she washed her hair, but grew into a loud sound reverberated off the smooth tile walls until she shut off the water and climbed out.

She’d never admit that singing in the shower was a daily occurrence. She dried off quickly and dressed before opening the bathroom door.

She was surprised to find the room lights on and Belle, still in her nightgown, and putting some things in her bag. It was only now Yennefer noticed that she was still wearing the small diamond shaped necklace; she must have slept in it. She looked like she had been up a while and she wondered if she had woken her up after getting out of bed… and if she had heard her singing.

She looked up when Yennefer came out of the bathroom and smiled.

“Morning.” She smiled and Yennefer returned the greeting. “Are you done in there?” She gestured to the bathroom and Yennefer nodded, still rubbing the towl through her damp hair.

She supposed Belle hadn’t been able to hear her.

She gathered up her clothes and a towel before walking toward the bathroom. She glanced at Yennefer just as she passed by on her way into the bathroom.

“You sing beautifully.” Belle grinned just as she closed the bathroom door, leaving Yennefer standing alone and red faced in the middle of the room.

~ ~ ~

Despite the rough start to her morning, the rest of the day went much smoother than the day before. She presented the buy-out to the short, bald CEO who hemmed and hawed a while at the number before Yennefer threatened to withdraw the offer altogether.

He signed the papers soon after, which she quickly faxed to her mother to sign, placing the originals carefully in her briefcase.

With business done, they were both eager to return home.

The flight back was spent sleeping. She was going to need all her energy for her sister and nephew in the coming days.

She and Belle spoke little untill she was dropping the blonde off in front of her apartment building. It seemed it had snowed again while she was gone, as piles of fluffy white stuff covered every surface save for the freshly shoveled walk. It certainly made it feel more like christmas. Steven would be beside himself with the snow at the park.

She walked around the car, bag in hand as the driver side window rolled down.

“Have a good evening, Belle.”

“I'll see you tomorrow,” she smiled before the window rolled up and she was pulling away.

Yennefer quickly made her way up to her floor; she had child proofing to do and a phone call to make to a friend that owed her a favor.

~ ~ ~

She in fact didn’t see Belle on Thursday nor Friday, she actually didn’t see her again until the next Thursday, at the company’s Christmas party.

The room was loud and full of people, all dressed in the loudest and ugliest christmas themed apparel Yennefer could imagine.

Herself included; unfortunately.

She glared at anyone who stared too long at the ugly green sweater with bright yellow garland sewn all the way around it, with it’s shiny red balls that hung from the material, jingling with every step she took.

She'd outright refused the monstrosity when Rosie had held it out to her; till her nephew had gotten teary eyed at the refusal of what was apparently his hand picked gift.

So, now she was wearing it.

She drew the line at the Santa hat, instead pushing it down over the toddlers curly locks, making him giggle.

She held Steven in her arm, tucked against her shoulder as her sister and assistant chatted, scanning the room for Belle. A red envelope held in her left hand. A sudden part in the crowd and those platinum locks came into view.

“Here. I’ll be back in a minute.” She handed Steven over to his mother before walking off through the crowd, jingling all the way, much to her annoyance.

She was halfway there, envelope in hand, only to be intercepted by her mother.

“Yennefer, this is for you, my dear.” She handed over a thin rectangle wrapped in blinding silver paper. “I had the good luck to draw you as my secret Santa.” The older woman smiled and Yennefer cocked a brow in silent question as to what about that was lucky, but it also made her wonder what poor bastard had gotten her mother if she was participating.

She pulled the wrapping off to find a gilded silver frame with a photo of no one else but her mother, dressed in the gaudiest grande dame outfit she could have ever imagined, complete with the boa, and all she could do was squint at it while Whitney beamed.

“What do you think, my dear? Lovely, isn’t it? I thought you might put it in your office at home.” She tapped the frame with a long, manicured nail.

“Thank you, mother,” was the best Yennefer could muster in response to the gift, not that it was completely without question, given the older woman’s history in the gift department. All things considered, she had gotten off easy.

“Oh. My. God.”

Suddenly her sister’s bright pink head was looking over her shoulder at the photo, Steven held in her arms. “What is that?” she asked, completely gobsmacked.

“Your sister’s Christmas present,” Whitney huffed, glaring at her youngest.

There was a tense moment before Rosie turned to her and with the most serious face she could muster said- “I’m sorry.”

She couldn’t stop the grin that followed that statement, especially when Whitney turned on the youngest.

“What exactly do you mean by that?!” she huffed.

Yennefer quickly walked away as the two began to bicker, there would be plenty of that till New Year’s. She scanned the crowd for a shock of platinum white hair. Finding it, she squared her shoulders and walked purposefully across the room.

She stopped just behind her as Belle turned, jumping at the blondes sudden presence, smiled nonetheless.

“Yennefer! Merry Christmas, I didn’t see you much last week. I went to your office last Friday and your assistant said you were out.”

“I did most of my work at home since my sister is staying with me till after Christmas,” she explained her absence.

“Oh, here I thought you were avoiding me…”

“Of course not!” Yennefer quickly said, making Belle’s eyes widen before she laughed happily.

“I was only teasing you,” she assured, laying a hand on the blonde’s forearm. Yennefer could feel her neck burning. A reoccuring theme whenever she was in the executive’s presence. “What do you have there?” She tilted her head, noticing her mother’s gift.

Now her whole face was red.

“My mother was my secret Santa..,” she grumbled, presenting the photo to the now wide-eyed woman.

“Oh my..,” she started. “That’s… lovely?” She didn’t seem too sure. Yennefer sighed heavily.

“No, it isn't, but this is on par for her,” she mumbled quietly so only the two of them could hear.

“I see.” She giggled and Yennefer smirked before remembering the reason for coming over.

“This is for you.” She held out a red envelope.

“For me?” Belle repeated, taking the envelope with her name written on it in smooth, blocky script.

“I was your secret Santa,” she explained, trying not to fidget under the seemingly intense cornflower stare.

“Oh!” She looked back down at the envelope, testing it in her hands. “Thank you, Yennefer,” she said as she pulled open the flap and reached inside, her fingers wrapping around two slips of paper.

She pulled them out and looked curiously at whatever it was and after a moment her eyes went wide, head whipping up to look at Yennefer.

“Rent tickets, how did you…?” she didn’t know what else to say.

“I know someone…” She shrugged. “Merry Christmas, Belle.”

“I… thank you, Yennefer.” She smiled so prettily up at her, Yennefer had to give herself a mental shake, thus cueing her to go.

"You're welcome, have a good time."

“Wait, Yennefer…” Belle started just as she turned to go but whatever she was going to say was cut off by a small but high pitched voice.

“Yen!”

They both turned to look, just in time to see a little boy with curly black hair in a Santa hat come running across the room straight into Yennefer's knees.

"Pick me up?" He looked up at her with wide eyes and held up his arms.

Not one to disappoint him, she reached down and pulled him up, saddling him against her hip.

"Ohh..."

They both looked up at the coo. Belle was staring at the little boy with wide eyes, even more so when he saw her and tucked his face into his aunt's shoulder.

“Hello,” Belle smiled.

"Don't be rude." Yennefer gave him a nudge. He peeked up at her before looking at Belle.

"Hi.." he said shyly.

"You must be Steven." Belle leaned down, smiling at the boy. He turned to face her better.

"Yeah!" He grinned and Belle couldn't help but return it.

"Your aunt told me a bit about you, you know. She thinks you're very impressive," she said and he looked awed by that before looking up at the obviously embarrassed VP with starry eyes and smiling brightly.

"Yes, well… We need to get you back to your mother." Yennefer cleared her throat, turning away.

"Wait just one second, Yennefer." She reached out, laying a hand on the blonde’s shoulder before she could walk away.

She turned, half way around, waiting as Belle seemed to think about what she was going to say, biting her lip.

“Considering that we’re both theatre fans, perhaps you’d like to go with me. To see the show?” she asked, pushing a few strands of white hair behind her ear.

Yennefer knew her face was red if the heat coming off it was anything to go by.

“Like..” she floundered for words, only for Belle to beat her to it.

“Like a date,” she finished, looking more amused than anyone had any right to be, despite the color spreading across her own face..

“Yes,” she managed to spit out even though her mouth felt like it was full of sand.

“Great! Well, I have an early flight to Ireland in the morning; I need to be going, but I’ll see you when I get back?” she asked.

Yennefer nodded and Belle only smiled in reply before she turned to go. She watched her move through the sea of their coworkers before she was out of sight.

“Oooh, who was that?”

She jumped, turning to find her sister giving her a shit-eating grin, and her face burned even hotter.

“None of your concern,” she scowled, handing Steven over as he held his arms out for his mother.

“She was pretty…” Rosie teased, looking where Belle had vanished before turning back to her.

“Unless you want to stay with mother, I suggest you drop it..,” she warned with a glare.

“Touchy… fine, have it your way.” She waved, walking back toward the refreshment table with Steven in tow.

Once she was gone did Yennefer allow herself to glance back into the crowd, but a small flash of light caught her eye.

Laying on the floor, just peeking out from beneath the dessert table was a small silver pendant with a blue, diamond shaped charm that she immediately recognized. She scooped it up, the fine silver chain still warm against her skin as she walked quickly toward the elevator.

The tiny bells of her sweater monstrosity jingling rapidly as she maneuvered through the throng of people; who unlike any other day were not so quick to get the hell out of her way.

“Belle!” she called, just as the elevator doors were about to slide shut. Her hand slipping into the crack just in time to make them slide back open, to the executive’s surprise.

“What, what’s wrong?” She blinked up at the blonde.

Instead of saying anything she simply held out her hand, revealing the necklace laying in her palm. Belle gasped, grabbing the delicate jewelry.

“My necklace!” She held it in her closed fist, pressed to her chest and looked up at Yennefer.

“It was on the floor,” she explained simply.

“My father gave me this,” she said quietly. “Thank you.”

She said it so sincerely that all Yennefer could manage was a nod.

“You’re welcome,” she mumbled.

Belle was looking up at her but her eyes seemed to be drawn to something just above Yennefer’s head; she chewed her bottom lip.

Before Yennefer could ask her what she was looking at the other woman practically lunged forward, pressing her lips to the stunned VP’s cheek.

Yennefer could only stand there, slack jawed, staring at the the red-faced but smiling Belle as she stepped back, allowing the doors to slide closed this time, leaving her staring at her beet- red, faced reflection.

A whistle made her whip around to find her sister, Steven still in her arms, grinning at her. She only flushed harder as Rosie pointed upward and she glanced up to find that someone had hung a sprig of mistletoe in the frame of the elevator.

“Maybe you’ll have a second aunt before you know it, honey,” Roise said to her son with a smug grin as he looked at her, wide eyed.

“Rosie!”

#bellow diamond #steven universe #fanfic #yellow diamond #blue diamond #AU #christmas story

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iamartemisday · 5 years

Text

Pepperony Week Day One- 5+1 Things

A/N: So I posted this last night, but I was informed that one of my tags wasn’t spelled correctly. Somehow, in my attempts to fix it, I managed to erase the entire post. That’s what I get for trying to fix it on mobile. >>

So here we go one more time. Hope you enjoy!

5 times Tony didn't realize he was in love with Pepper, and 1 time he did.

When Tony made a random low-level administrative assistant his new PA, it was mostly for the novelty.

Here was a woman confident enough to break into his office and tell him to his face that he was wrong. Observant enough to catch a mistake not even he, the guy who built a working robot before his balls dropped, had spotted.

Plus, she was a former model. In magazines and everything. Whoever said models were dumb could go eat their ignorant words with some ketchup on top.

Virginia Potts, newly baptized as Pepper, spent her first day on the job familiarizing herself with her new responsibilities, organizing the photos on her desk, and signing a truly immense amount of paperwork. Seriously, Tony had to talk to Obidiah about switching to digital. What kind of futurist was he killing all those defenseless trees?

Given his track record with PAs, he expected Ms. Potts to last a month, maybe two. Not a crack against her, but he was a handful and he knew it. When she inevitably quit, he'd have a generous severance package and a glowing reference ready for her. Now it was just a matter of how long before his partying, all-night science binges, and frequent overnight guests of the female variety wore her down.

Three months later, she was in his office while he slept off a hangover, notes in hand as she briefed him on the upcoming board meeting.

"Mr. Daniels in HR needs to talk to you about calculating this year's Christmas bonuses. Mrs. Prowitt in accounting just had a baby and you need to send out your personal congratulations-"

"Potts…"

"You still have paperwork to sign for the merger with Rushcorp-"

"Potts, please…"

"And R&D has taken issue with the blueprints you gave them for the new missile prototype. They're saying the flight system isn't feasible with our current technology. You might want to have a word with them."

"Potts! I'm dying!"

He struggled to lift his head and look into her eyes with all the pain in his formerly inebriated soul. As usual, she was unsympathetic.

"This is why I told you not to go out partying on a Tuesday night," she said.

"As if you never partied on a Tuesday."

"No, Mr. Stark, I didn't. I waited for the weekend." She started for the door. "I'll get you some water and ginger ale. You'll be ready to go by noon."

"I could also not go."

"That's true, but you will" Her phone rang and she ignored Tony's moaning to answer it. "Hello? Oh, yes Mr. Daniels, I was just about to call you… yes, he will be ready in time for the meeting. I just confirmed it with him."

She left and Tony whimpered in agony. This must be what abandoned kittens on the side of the road felt like.

"I thought I hired an assistant," he mumbled. "Instead I got a new mom."

He almost immediately cringed at the idea. Potts was not at all like his mother. She wasn't even a really strict big sister.

No, she was something else. Something he couldn't pinpoint.

Boy, did he hate not knowing the answer.

"Potts, we should go out sometime."

Surprisingly, he wasn't drunk. In fact, he'd been sober for the last six days while they negotiated a contract with a new satellite company. That was a personal best for him and he deserved some recognition, dammit.

"We are out," she said, and indeed they were in the lounge at the Plaza hotel waiting for their drinks to arrive.

"I mean on a date," Tony said. "You know, with dinner and dancing and no business deals. Just the two of us."

Pepper sighed like this wasn't the first time he'd asked. And, to be fair, it wasn't. "Mr. Stark, you know why we can't date."

"Do I? Remind me real quick."

She rolled her eyes. "First of all, it's against company policy. Even if I didn't work directly under you, we're still in the same department and fraternization among employees never works out well. Second, dating your PA would reflect badly on us with the press. Finally, maintaining a professional environment in the workplace is crucial to overall productivity and good financial health."

Tony whistled. "Lot of big words there. You've done your homework, Potts."

"I have to," she said, but couldn't hide a slight smile. "If I don't, who will?"

"Good point." Tony leaned back with his hands under his hand. "It's funny, though. I didn't hear anything in there about you not wanting to date me."

Pepper opened her mouth, but none of her pre-established responses to his flirting came forth. Instead, she blushed heavily and turned away to tap on her phone.

Tony chuckled to himself. She was kind of cute when she was flustered.

Not that she wasn't always cute, but…

Even though Pepper wouldn't date him (and all jokes aside he did begrudgingly see her point), that didn't mean she wouldn't date at all.

Five years had passed since the pepper spray incident. There had been a few guys in that time, or so he assumed. He was too busy keeping track of his own one night stands to pay attention to Pepper's.

One day, out of the blue, she asked to leave work two hours early. The last time she did that was three years ago.

"Hitting the town, Potts?" He meant it as a joke, but also not. Tony wasn't a genius for nothing and he'd noticed the changes in her make-up and the unfamiliar perfume lingering in the air.

Pepper cleared her throat. "As a matter of fact, yes. I'm going on a date tonight and I need to get my hair done."

He wanted to say her hair was perfect the way it was because it was perfect and whoever this guy was probably didn't even notice. He also wanted to say he needed her to stay late because they had some extra paperwork to go through. Surely he had something buried in one of his desk drawers for her to look at.

"Oh, that's nice," he said, leaning back in his big plush chair. "Didn't know you were seeing someone."

"We're casual at the moment."

"Just looking for a midnight ride, huh?"

Pepper glared at him, but it wasn't her offended face. More like her 'I think you're funny but I'm not going to say it because that will just fuel your ego so I'm going to pretend to be offended' face. He'd become an expert in differentiating between the two.

"I'll be sure to have all my tasks done before I leave," she said.

"As if you need to tell me," Tony snorted. He read some papers while Pepper went to her office. Fifteen minutes later, he was still on the same paragraph and needed to stretch his legs. "So… what's his name?"

Pepper glanced at him, then went back to typing. "Craig."

Craig and Pepper… Crepper?

God no...

"What's he do?" Tony fought to keep his posture loose. "Let me guess. He's a genius billionaire in charge of his own company-"

"He's an investment banker."

"Fun. Where are you going?"

"To dinner and maybe a movie."

"You know what you're going to see?"

"We'll decide when we get there." The intercom beeped and Pepper pressed the button to silence it. "Looks like your two-thirty is here."

Tony barely paid attention during his appointment with… whoever this guy was. Something something missile guidance revamping something. His eyes always trailed back to Pepper behind a wall of glass. When she left for the night, he hung around for half an hour before going home. It was just too quiet without her.

A few months later, Pepper asked for another early day.

"Sure thing," Tony said, chewing on his bottom lip. "Got a hot date with Craig?"

"No, just dinner with my parents. It's my mom's birthday tomorrow," she explained. "Actually, Craig and I decided to just be friends. I think he's seeing someone else now."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

Tony tried his best not to grin as he said it, but he was grinning for the whole rest of the day.

After Tony completed renovations of his Malibu home, he started doing more work from home. This meant Pepper had to come over more often than not. Aside from a requisite 'want to see the master bedroom' quip, Tony had allowed her space in his massive home. She had an office and a guest room complete with a private balcony for when she wanted to work outside.

Being as she was, most of their private time centered around business. Making deals, planning meetings, arranging his schedule, and lots of other fun and exciting activities. On weekdays, she arrived promptly in the morning and left before sundown. Unless it was quarterly report time or they were on the verge of closing a huge deal, she never deviated from this schedule.

So it was strange when he left the basement one night at midnight after five hours working on his new convertible to find Pepper asleep on the couch.

Her tablet and some papers were on the floor where she'd dropped them. One arm was tucked under her head, no pillows in sight. She'd taken her shoes off, and while Tony was no foot fetishist, her new pedicure was lovely.

She sighed and shifted in her sleep as Tony gently squeezed a throw pillow under her head and draped a blanket over her. He would've carried her to the guest room, but Pepper was typically a light sleeper and putting her in an awkward position might mean she wouldn't come over as much.

He gathered her things and stacked them neatly on the coffee table. Hopefully, those pages were in the correct order, but if they weren't, she'd have them right in under a second.

Tony stepped back to watch her chest rise and fall. Her face was so peaceful. Not like the cool serenity she used to calmly destroy brown-nosing idiots at meetings. It was like he was finally seeing Pepper in her natural state of being.

He liked it.

But of course, he liked it. He liked her.

And maybe he shouldn't be staring at her while she slept. That was kind of creepy.

He was never going to see Pepper again.

'No,' he told himself, 'don't do that. Stay positive. Stay positive.'

The problem with staying positive is that it's hard to do when you're running through the desert with no food or water and you've just escaped captivity and watched the man you spent three months forming an emotional bond with die before your eyes.

Suffice to say, this was not Tony's day.

He'd only briefly considered what would happen if the escape was successful. Best case scenario, he got himself and Yinsen out and they found a village less than a mile away with friendly locals who had food and a satellite phone handy. With both of those things now off the table, Tony stumbled through the sand, careful not to run too fast and waste energy. If he had to guess, the temperature was roughly a thousand degrees Fahrenheit. He'd probably sweated another five pounds off.

The one good thing about being lost in the desert was it gave him time to think. About all his mistakes and all his missteps. All the things he never realized he should've done.

He should've told Rhodey how much their friendship meant to him. Tony had been a pain in his ass since college and yet Rhodes never abandoned him.

He should've told his father he loved him. Twenty years he spent ignoring and pushing away that one simple truth, and now he couldn't avoid it. Howard Stark was an asshole, but so was Tony Stark. Like father, like son as they say.

He should've told Pepper… God, the things he should've told Pepper. Listing them would kill hours of time while the elements slowly killed him. He should've told her how important she was, not just to Stark Industries, but to him. How much he appreciated everything she did for him. How happy he was to see her every morning. How thankful he was that she didn't quit after two months and take that severance package. How much better she deserved than to be in his shadow. How much he truly cared about her from the bottom of his heart.

How much he…

God, this heat was unbearable. Couldn't even think straight.

When he saw her again after hours in an air-conditioned plane, being fed jello packets and wanting nothing more than a hunk of real meat, none of what he should've said came to mind.

"Your eyes are red. A few tears for your long lost boss?"

It would have to do.

It should've been another quiet post-return evening in.

Tony didn't feel like flying that night, otherwise, he'd be out on the town already. The plan was to watch cheesy sci-fi movies and laugh at all the mistakes until he fell asleep. Now he was trapped in his own body, eyes unable to close, mouth unable to open. He stared up at a monster wearing a familiar face as he literally ripped his heart out.

"Oh Tony, this is your ninth symphony," Obidiah said, among other bullshit villain monologue crap Tony couldn't hear over his own internal screaming. "This is your legacy. A new generation of weapons with this at its heart."

'Fuck you,' Tony wanted so badly to say. 'Fuck you, you lying son of a bitch. Fuck you fuck you fuck you-'

"Too bad you had to involve Pepper in this. I would've preferred that she'd live."

Someone once said there were five or six profound moments in everyone's life. Tony didn't know who that someone was or if he didn't just make that whole thing up in his head. Whatever the case, this was one of those moments.

Never before had he wanted so badly to kill someone. Not just kill them, but make them suffer the worst sort of torment. He wanted to rip Stane apart with his bare hands, destroy him from the inside out. Make him regret even thinking about threatening Pepper.

He focused all his strength on his legs, making his toes wiggle. The ringing in his ears was fading, but not fast enough.

'You can do this,' said the voice of Pepper in his ears. 'You can do this.'

His fingers twitched and he slowly clenched a fist.

He wouldn't lose one more person he loved.

#Pepperony #pepperony week #pepperonyweek19 #Tony Stark #Pepper Potts #5+1 Things

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thedistantstorm · 5 years

Text

Come Together 02

Fandom: Destiny

Pairing: Devrim Kay/Marc

Warnings: ridiculous romancing, eventual smut

“A young city planner set his eyes on an older militiaman. He was unkempt and terribly forward. The militiaman had class. He wasn’t interested.”

“Clearly,” Marc tells their friends. “That’s why they decided to get married.”

(A story told in bits and pieces.)

Chapters: 01

He enters the office with an impressive swagger come Monday morning. Manages not to piss off Devrim, passing him on his way in without so much as a direct look. Marc could absolutely feel that coldwater gaze on his back, though. Good, he thought.

Devrim meets him for lunch, arriving at noon like clockwork. Marc makes another concession, already having his usual meal sitting there, waiting for him when he sets down his pack.

“What, no aioli? You’ve only been trying to get me to put it on everything for nearly a week now.”

“Hello to you, too,” Marc chirps, pulling the extra from his take-away container and holding it out between his index and middle fingers. “Knew I’d convert you eventually. Artisanal food is my specialty.”

“I didn’t know the City employed food-tasters,” Devrim sasses him. “Is that what they do in the Planning Office now?”

“Oh, of course,” He agrees, treating Devrim to an eye-roll that’s been stolen from his own playbook. “Who needs infrastructure?”

“You’re a monster. Who needs infrastructure, indeed.” He grumbles.

His reply begins with a laugh. “I’m kidding. I love infrastructure,” Marc leans in, his eyes on Devrim’s lips before flicking up to meet his intent gaze. He hopes it’s as heavy as it feels, flirtatious but not overwhelming.

“Is that so?”

Marc’s eyes light up. “It is.”

“What do you do in the City Planner’s office?”

He shrugs. “I fool around until someone gives me something to work with.”

“Like what?”

“Like the redesign of the Market District, or the Plaza, or the Consensus Hall.” Devrim leans in as Marc leans back, crossing his arms over his chest, giving Devrim a peek of the chest hair that peeks from his unbuttoned collar. His hazel eyes flash as he grins. “I’m an architect.” He clicks his tongue against his teeth, enunciating that final ‘t.’ “Lead architect, actually.”

Devrim shakes his head. “At your age?”

“Trust me,” His smile errs toward sheepish then, “My subordinates hate me.”

That earns him a laugh. No sarcasm, no irritated expressions. It’s glorious.

Marc cannot wait to get this man under him.

Devrim cancels their second ‘official’ date, that Thursday.

He’s managed to come down with a nasty cold, the bark of his cough making Marc wince as he sees him that morning. He receives a message on his tablet - having only just exchanging contact info on Tuesday.

>CO sent me home sick. Afraid we’ll have to reschedule.

Marc takes one look at the message and scoffs. Instead of going home to change into something a bit more date-worthy after work - well, now going home to mope over cancelled plans, technically - he heads to the market for supplies and directly to the address Devrim had scribbled on that napkin he definitely isn’t keeping in a box atop his dresser since he's already memorized it.

Of course the other man lives on the upper, but as luck would have it, Devrim's neighbor lets him in without him having to use the outside buzzer. For the best, since he wasn't really sure what he was working with and grabbed a little bit of everything.

He only sets one of the three heavy bags down outside the door, preferring to do so rather than bash his produce against the wall beside it. There's some rustling from inside the flat - thin walls, he catalogs for later - and then the door opens a crack.

Red eyes, feverish cheeks, pink nose… no doubt about it. Devrim is sick as a dog.

"Did I - I swore I sent you a message saying I had to cancel," Devrim says, his voice hoarse but no less rugged or handsome.

Marc turns on his most charming of smiles. "You did. Thought I'd come-"

"I'm not dressed."

The door closes immediately in his face.

Undeterred, Marc knocks again. More insistently than before.

Devrim throws the door open a little more, just in time for Marc to catch his attire.

"WHAT," He snips, irritated. Genuinely so.

"You're in pajamas. And a robe." Marc's eyes don't leave Devrim's face for once, and his smile fades into something less put-on and more genuine. Affection bleeds into his voice as he teases, "You're plenty decent. Let a man cook for you."

Whatever comes out of his mouth is more grumble than actual words, but he's allowed entry. Even if he knows it's mostly due to Devrim wanting to lay back down. Devrim waves him in the general direction of the kitchen - sparse, but expansive - and he sets the bags down before he returns to what's clearly a living room. Surely if it has been any other time and the other man not been sick, he'd have been given a tour.

But instead, Devrim is reclined on a chair, though it's clear he'd been laying on the sofa based on the blanket and box of tissues there.

He opts for transparency. "Figured you wouldn't be up anything crazy, so I'm making chicken soup. I'll force you into trying something new when you can actually taste it."

Devrim casts him a tired glance, as if silently willing him to get on with it.

"And lay on the couch, would you? I'm not about to make a pass at you while you're sick. I'm not that trashy."

"Is that so?" He coughs into his elbow, and cuts his momentum in half. He doesn't manage to spin it into an eloquent insult.

"I'll be in the kitchen," Marc says, pressing cool fingers against Devrim's forehead as he passes. He's burning up. Maybe he should have grabbed some cold medicine. "It'll take a bit, so let me know if you need anything."

He wakes in the middle of the night with a gasp. He's still on the couch, which explains why he's so stiff. Only the light over the kitchen stove is on, casting a sliver of light into the living room, enough to see the reflection of a glass of water he definitely did not set out for himself on the coffee table. He knows this because he would have used a coaster.

Beside it is a scrap of paper.

Soup in fridge. Feel better.

-M

He sags back against the cushions, listening carefully. He barely remembers Marc showing up, he'd been so out of it, but he remembers that the other man had brought groceries. After a moment of intense scrutiny he determines that unless his senses are failing, he's definitely alone in the apartment.

Groaning, he rises, taking the cup of water with him and drinking his fill before forcing himself to see what force of nature has wrecked his kitchen.

What he finds surprises him. Whatever dishes he'd used are sitting in the rack, his cutting board cleaned and replaced on the hook near the range. Even the garbage has been emptied. It's as if he'd never been there in the first place.

"Well I'll be," He marvels aloud. He opens the refrigerator to find a large stockpot of soup, proof that Devrim needs a better array of storage containers and that Marc was not joking.

He searches for a ladle in the drawers, only to discover it and a single place setting laid out on the counter beside the refrigerator. Shaking his head, the sick militiaman takes his time reheating the bowl.

It might be mean, but he's glad Marc is long gone when he tries it. He might be sick, and his sense of taste might be lacking, but the soup is out of this world.

Marc isn't surprised to see someone else standing at Devrim's post the next morning.

What he is surprised to see, however, is the lush bouquet of cream-colored roses delivered to his office while he's out at his ten o'clock meeting. He does not want to imagine what Devrim paid for same-day delivery. Assuming they're from Devrim.

At least, he really hopes they're from Devrim. Cream roses are a rather traditional flower of gratitude. Seems his style.

He waits until his nosy co-workers buzz off, slipping the card into his suit jacket to prevent them from asking. Which they do. Surprise flowers are the most exciting thing to happen in the planning office since his secretary adopted a dog. Which was cute, but the event has come and gone and Marc would be more invested if it was a cat and not some yappy little thing the woman keeps insisting upon bringing to the office.

When the anticipation feels like it’s literally killing him, he very covertly removes the small envelope and opens the card, which has an elegant scroll of ‘Thanks’ embossed on the front of it.

Inside, it’s blank.

It’s from Devrim alright.

His tablet buzzes around the time he’d go for lunch. Which, without anyone to meet, there’s no point, so he grabs another coffee and tries to get ahead on a proposal that has to go in front of the Consensus next week. It’s always extra brownie points if he gets it in early to Zavala.

Marc nearly forgets that he’s missed a message, he’s so in the zone. More than likely it’s from his secretary, who will insist on bringing him something to eat even though he’ll stop for something on the way home.

The reminder buzz interrupts his double check of a materials analysis.

>Take away? Assuming you and your new secret admirer don’t have plans.

Marc grins.

<I’ll see you in a few hours.

#destiny fanfiction #devrim kay #devrim x marc #devrim kay/marc #devrim's marc #destiny marc #i don't know how to tag him bungo can a girl get his last name please #making soup for a sick so #this fic is going to have so many tropes #i regret nothing

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thorne93 · 5 years

Text

Stan Lee University (Part 17)

Prompt: What would the Avengers be like in college, more importantly, what would they be like if Y/N existed around them?

Word Count: 3331

Warnings: drama, language, welcome to fluff town

Notes: This is based on a HC from @carryonmyswansong. They helped brainstorm and write part of this series. In this AU, no one will have powers, everyone is a normal human. Beta’d by @carryonmyswansong

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

January tenth, and Stephen was set to be back home. Due to your excitement, you couldn’t sleep in, so you woke up fairly early. You got a little dressed up, and ran up to the airport to eagerly await his arrival.

Finally, after an hour, his plane landed. You’d been watching the board like a hawk, anticipating an early landing.

You waited at the departure terminal, barely able to contain yourself. You hopped from one foot to the other, glancing to every single face that passed by. You tried looking over people’s heads until finally, there he was, in all his glory.

In an effort to keep from squealing, you waved your arms excitedly. He smiled at you and waved back before walking more quickly to meet you. As soon as he was within reach you slammed into him, knocking the wind out of him.

“Jesus,” he gasped as you clung to him.

“I missed you,” you said defensively.

“Clearly, that’s why you’re trying to kill me,” he joked, his arms wrapped around you.

“You should know by now that’s how I show affection,” you teased, still squeezing him.

“Alright, maybe we should go get my luggage?” he suggested.

You moped and sighed. “Fine.”

He laughed. “We’re about to share almost every day together.”

“But I’ve missed you.”

He took your hand as you two walked, kissing the back of it. “I know.”

“I read all your letters. Twice,” you informed, a little sheepishly.

“Glad you like them.”

“I loved them. They’re on my nightstand. I read one a night before I go to bed.”

“I’m you’re only source of literature? That’s sad,” he noted.

You laughed. “Not for long if you keep that up, asshole.”

The two of you grabbed his luggage, got him loaded into the car, and you drove him straight to his house.

“Well, here you are,” you noted, getting a little sad. You hadn’t met his family yet, and you didn’t know if he wanted to do it just yet.

“Yeah, here we are,” he echoed. “Hey, do you think you’d have time to come in? Meet the folks?”

“You...actually want me to meet them?”

“Do you need your hearing checked? Is that not what I just said?”

You looked towards the front door. “Well, yeah, but I wasn’t sure if you were ready or if we were ready or…”

“I’ve met pretty much all of your family. You’re important to me, so I think it’s time my family met you.”

Swallowing, you nodded.

He started to retract his statement. “Look, if you aren’t up to it or don’t want to, I won’t force you. I just thought it’d be nice…”

You slowly bobbed your head. “Okay, yeah. Let’s do it.”

“Cool.” He jumped out of your car and grabbed his bags from the trunk. You grabbed his carry on and followed him inside the house. “I’m home,” he called out, but no response came at first. He walked into the kitchen and found his mom and you assumed his brother.

The woman looked to be middle aged, a short dark brunette bob, and she was wearing a brown blouse, tan slacks, and gold jewelry. His brother was blonde, in a checkered button blue button down with a red tie and nearly white pants.

“Ah, there he is, back from New York,” his brother noted.

“London…” Stephen corrected evenly.

“Welcome home, darling,” his mom greeted kindly. “Who’s this?”

“This is Y/N,” he introduced. “My girlfriend. Y/N, this is my mom Beverly and my brother Victor.”

You extended your hand, shaking both of theirs. “It’s so lovely to meet you both. Stephen’s told me all about you.”

“Really? We haven’t heard one word about you,” Victor noted.

You pursed your lips, unsure how to respond.

“That’s because you’re never around,” he snapped. “Speaking of, why are you here?”

“To talk to Dad, but he’s in his study on the phone. Wanted to run an idea by him,” he informed.

“Right,” he remarked.

“How was your trip, dear?” Beverly asked, trying to stop the feud between them.

“Cold, drizzly, informative,” he rattled off and you couldn’t help but frown slightly. Stephen told you something new every day, telling you all about his time at the hospital. But he gave his mom three words? You knew they weren’t close but this house felt just as empty as when his family wasn’t here. “I was wondering if Y/N could stay for dinner? Thought she could meet Dad…”

“Well, I suppose so,” his mom sighed as she picked up her wine and nursed it.

He just looked at his mom and his brother and then shook his head slightly, gesturing for you to follow him upstairs to his room. The two of you began unpacking his things.

“Jesus christ,” he groaned, clearly agitated as he threw pants into his dresser. “I wish for fucking once they could be decent.”

You remained quiet.

“Victor, I get. He’s always an ass. That won’t change. The only thing he cares about is black credit cards and cars to match.”

“Was… he always that way?” you wondered.

“Shit, I don’t know. We weren’t really close growing up. We got even further apart after… after Donna died.”

“Maybe he can’t stand the idea of being close to anyone, for fear he’ll lose them. So if he makes himself distance and cold and aloof, he won’t have to face any pain if something happens.”

Stephen stopped unpacking for a second and sat on the bed. “Yeah, maybe. Hell, I don’t know. It just -- you’re the first person I really give a shit about and they can’t give you two seconds. Hell, your whole family talked to me, asked about me. My mom didn’t even ask for your last name, how I met you, or anything.”

“Could you just tell her? Without an invitation? Maybe she doesn’t know what you do and don’t want to share.”

“It’d be a moot point, I honestly think all girls sort of present themselves the same to her. So she doesn’t care.”

“If this is true, then why am I here for dinner?”

“Because you’re important to me, you’re going to be around, I figured they might want to know who’s coming in their house.”

You nodded.

“And your Dad?”

He scoffed. “Fuck, Dad won’t even notice you’re here.” with that, he got back up and continued unpacking while you helped.

“You know, when a family loses a child--”

“Don’t,” he slightly warned. “I’m not trying to be a dick, but I know all about the grief cycle, how it affects families. Just please… don’t give me the brochure version, alright?”

You nodded. “Alright.” You weren’t hurt. It wasn’t your place to lecture or “analyze” them, but you thought Stephen might appreciate the practical approach. But this was an emotional issue, logic wouldn’t do here.

“It’s just… I know it hurts. I know. I miss her every single day, and I feel like it’s my fault she’s gone, but… they seem to forget they’ve got other kids. Everyone just went their separate ways after she died and I hate it.”

“That happens a lot with families.”

“Yeah,” he said with a humorless laugh. “Just don’t get why. Isn’t that the time to come together? To be together? To bond? I mean, you already know our time is short here and we never know when the day is going to be our last… Seems like they’d want to make the most of our time.”

“Not everyone can focus on what they still have. Sometimes it’s hard to look past what you lost.”

“That’s definitely true,” he agreed with a nod. “Well anyway, enough of the Strange pity party. Let’s just try to get through this night.”

All you did was nod, seeing as you weren’t sure what else to say, or that you should say.

In an hour and a half, Beverly texted Stephen telling him dinner was ready.

The two of you descended the stairs where you met his father, a balding man who already had his attention fixed on a tablet. You and Stephen sat on one of the long sides of the table, while Victor sat across from you. Beverly sat on one of the short ends, opposite her husband.

Beverly was still bringing the food to the table when Stephen piped up, “Uh, Dad, I’ve got someone I’d like you to meet,” he noted.

A grunt came from his father, he didn’t bother to look up.

“Dad… Did you hear me?” he asked again.

“What?” he finally asked, seeming to snap out of his own head. “Ah, you’re back from… Europe. How nice. How was it?”

“Fine. Great. Learned a lot. Anyway, I want you to meet Y/N, my girlfriend.”

His eyes slid to mine. “Nice to meet you.”

“Is this one going to stick or should we just wait for the next one?” Victor wondered.

“Would you even notice the difference if there was a next one?” Stephen snapped and you just reached over and slowly grabbed his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He took a deep breath and said, “Well, dinner looks great, Mom.”

“Thank you,” she said, sitting down.

“Yes, thank you so much,” you said, turning to her.

“Not a problem.”

Everyone began to dish food onto their plates, but you waited until the family had gotten theirs.

“Anything interesting today, Dad?” Victor asked.

“Looks like the DOW is down,” he noted in a gruff.

“What a shame, hey, I found out some good news about that stock you invested in last week.”

“Mmm, good, send me a report in email,” his dad ordered before taking a sip of his water, his eyes still never left the tablet.

Victor seemed to suppress a sigh as he worked on his food.

“Uh, Mrs. Strange, this food’s great. Have you been cooking long?” you wondered.

“Just since Eugene and I got married,” she informed.

“Oh, interesting. And Eugene, you work in finance?” you asked, turning your attention to him.

“Yes.”

“If the DOW is down, how will that affect your business?”

“Poorly.”

“Oh, well I’m sure it’ll look up soon. What with the way the low interest rates that are about to hit on the market.”

Suddenly, his dad put his tablet down and looked at you. “Come again? You know stocks?”

“I dabble. My mom’s a bit of a risk taker. She likes to gamble, but she likes to gamble using stocks.”

“And you think it’ll go back up?”

“Oh, sure, just look at the trend it’s been in,” you informed, launching into the past four months of data, comparing it to other trends. Eugene asked you several questions and even Victor seemed to want to test your knowledge.

“That’s impressive, Y/N. Not many people your age know that sort of knowledge. You thinking about finance for a career?”

“No, uh, actually going to medical school like Stpehen here, but instead of neurosurgery, I’m interested in psychiatry.”

“I bet you’ll do great in that. It’s a shame though. I’m sure I could get you a spot on our firm now, with your knowledge. You wouldn’t make a lot at first, but if you stuck to it, I’m sure I could get you some promising figures.”

“Thank you, that’s very kind, but I am happy with the path I’m on. If that changes, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Yeah, Dad, Y/N diagnosed a patient that we were having trouble with in London. She saved her life. Works down at that clinic with Dr. York now as a consult.”

“Is that so?” he asked, his face beaming as he nodded, smiling at you.

“Yes, sir,” you stated.

“Well, it’s clear you’ll do just fine no matter what avenue you pick. Good for you.”

“Thank you.”

The rest of the dinner was eaten in comfortable silence before everyone disbanded and seemed to go their own ways. You and Strange got up to his room and he shut the door.

“My dad has ever talked to guest that long, ever. I don’t even think he talks to the cable repair guy that long.”

You shrugged. “What can I say, parents love me.”

“I didn’t know you knew stocks.”

“I didn’t know your dad was in finance.”

“Is there anything you can’t do?”

“I apparently can’t make the best pizza sauce,” you joked.

“Well that’s true. I guess I have that over you.”

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

The next couple of nights, Stephen came over to your house to meet your family officially. They all gushed over him and everyone but your dad gave him a hug. Your mom sat with him and practically learned his whole life story in one sitting. Everyone was hanging on his every word, all while you just held his hand and stared at him in awe.

They all seemed to really enjoy having them around and he smiled quite often while he was at your house.

This weekend, Stephen was packing for his dorm. You two got dorms next door to each other this semester and you were thrilled. He was taking a break to shower though, so you two could go see a movie.

You decided to go wander around the house while he did that and you ended up out in the backyard where his mom was.

“Hi,” you greeted as you came up beside her.

“Oh, hello there,” she returned as she worked on a little garden bed. She had white shorts, a sun hat, and a blue shirt on.

“What are you planting, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Bachelor buttons, hopefully they’ll come up in time for spring.”

“Oh, I love those.” You glanced around the garden, noting the different vibrant colors. “Oh, your wisteria is gorgeous.”

She smiled. “Thank you. It’s one of my pride and joys.”

“It’s stunning. Would you like some help?”

She looked up at you, a curious expression on her face. “Sure. You can start digging the hole for the canna lilies, if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all. Where would you like it?”

“Right over here is fine,” she said pointing about a foot away from the area she was working on.

You picked up the shovel and sat it where she pointed it. “Right here?”

“That’s just fine.”

With that, you got to work, digging easily in the soft soil.

“So how did you and Stephen meet?” she casually asked as she unpackaged the bubled plants.

“We were actually physics partners for lab,” you informed.

“Oh, well that’s nice.”

“Mhm. We seemed to hit it off. He came to my pre-med club, and we became good friends.”

She made a noise of admiration. “Mmm, all good loves come from good friendships. It’s a great foundation.”

“I think so too.”

“And you’re going to medical school too, hmm?”

“Yes, ma’am, that’s the plan.”

“Will you go where Stephen goes?”

This question threw you for a loop for a moment.

“Oh, I’m not sure. We haven’t really discussed it at all,” you informed honestly. “We’re still only juniors so we’ve got a little bit of time.”

“Right, absolutely,” she agreed. “Well you seem like a very sweet, well to-do young lady.”

“Thank you very much. And Stephen is a great man. You and your husband did a fantastic job raising him. He’s very sweet, brilliant, and funny.”

She paused and looked up at you. “That’s a very kind thing to say, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“He’s lucky to have found you. He’s been so closed off from everyone since… well… I don’t know if he told you about the accident.”

You were done digging so you sat the shovel down and sat down in the grass across from Beverly.

“About Donna? Yes, he did. I’m so very sorry for that. I know my words don’t help, but, know it pains me to know that tragedy hit your family.”

She nodded. “I appreciate that. Ever since then, he’s been so… isolated. I wish I could reach him. He left his old school, all his friends… At least he’s closer to home now, but he still wants to live on campus. I guess I can’t change that.”

You gave a soft, half smile.

“You seem to be good for him though. He smiles a lot more now that you’re around,” she mentioned.

“I hope so.”

“Do you know if he’s… happy?”

You bit your lip as that was a loaded question. “I… know he misses his sister every day. And I know he feels responsible. But he misses you all,” you remarked carefully.

She sighed. “I miss him too.”

“What’s going on out here?” Stephen asked as he walked up.

“Oh, just girl talk. Me and Y/N here were getting to know each other a little better. She’s helping me plant some flowers,” she informed with a kind smile at you.

“That’s dangerous. Alright, Y/N, let’s go,” he said quickly. You got up and dusted your pants off.

“I hope I helped,” you said sweetly.

“You did,” she assured, and you weren’t sure if she meant the gardening or with her son…

As you two got in Stephen’s car he said, “You don’t have to do that.”

“Do what?”

“Try to bond with her. If it makes you uncomfortable--”

“I like trying to get to know you’re family,” you assured. “I think it’s nice.”

“I’m glad someone thinks so.”

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

The two of you went to the movies and when you returned, you said you had to use the bathroom. Suddenly, Beverly spoke to her son.

“I like her, you should bring her around more often,” she noted as she worked on chopping carrots.

“I’m sorry, what?” he said, as if he didn’t hear her.

“You heard me,” she informed evenly.

“Wh--Well, alright, I will.”

“Good. I think she’s a good addition to the family.”

At this, he smiled and nodded. “I think so too.”

“She doesn’t just lock herself in your room like some of your old friends and girlfriends did.”

“No, she’s not like any of them at all.”

“Which is a good thing,” she sternly noted. “Why don’t you have her and some friends over next weekend, you know, after school starts? A little party?”

“And… Dad’s okay with that?”

“I’m sure your father would be delighted to have some energy back in this place.”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do,” he promised just as you exited the bathroom.

You greeted Beverly and offered to help her with dinner but she declined so you two went into the living room.

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

Time around Stephen’s family was tense at first, of course, but you tried to balance time between your homes. Friday nights you went to your house, Saturday nights at his place, then you alternated on Sundays.

It seemed that when you were around the Strange’s the atmosphere sort of picked up. You made sure to check in on Beverly every time you came over, seeing if she would like help around the house or if she she just wanted to talk. The few times Victor popped up, you tried to be kind to him as well. Eugene was always thrilled to see you and eventually you made your way from talking about stocks to horse racing to bartending to economy. He always seemed really intrigued with what you had to say and took you very seriously.

Stephen always thanked you for being patient with them, and he thanked you for seemingly helping them get out of their rut. Eugene no longer locked himself in his study, unless he really had a lot of work to get done, and Beverly seemed to not grab a glass of wine every night with dinner.

For whatever reason, your presence seemed to instill a new hope, a new energy into the house.

And for the first time in a long time, they enjoyed spending time together as a family.

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

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#stan lee university #stephen strange x reader #stephen strange fic #stephen strange

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taexual · 6 years

Text

HOLIC - 8 | jb x reader

pairing: Im Jaebum x Reader

genre: enemies to lovers au | roommate au

warnings: some strong language + angst

words: 3.1k

disclaimer: i do not own the gif, please let me know if it belongs to you, so i can give proper credit

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Work was awful. It tended to be this way on Tuesdays because that was usually the day when so-called high-class socialites swarmed to art galleries to purchase pieces that’d make their guests think they knew anything about art, and, on top of that, crowds of artists and photographers gathered here, trying to get meetings with every possible staff member, wanting their work exhibited here. But today was bad even by those standards.

At first, the iPad you usually used stopped working. You were informed that they were doing maintenance on the servers today but you didn’t expect the entire system to crash on you just when a particularly pompous woman asked you for more information about one of the photographers whose works she’d enjoyed at the exhibition last week.

You told her the name but she wanted more details that you couldn’t provide her with because no matter what you pressed on the damn tablet, it would only display errors.

“I’m very sorry,” you said, feeling cold sweat wash over you. An epic escalation was awaiting, you could feel it. “We’re having some technical difficulties today, if you could just wait a moment, I—”

“I think I’ve waited enough,” she responded in a thundering voice that almost made you flinch. “I came to an art gallery to buy something from you, did I not? Why am I being forced to wait when I’m not even sure I want to invest in this… artwork, at all.”

Already having learned to be patient with similar snobby attitudes, you gave her an apologetic smile.

“My apologies, ma’am, this should be fixed soon and then I can answer all questions you might have about the photographer,” you said and then tried to get rid of her by sending her to a floor you didn’t work at, “in the meanwhile, could I interest you in the photography exhibition on the second floor? The theme is—”

“I could not care less,” she cut you off again. You understood her irritation so you could forgive her for not really listening to you, but, Jesus Christ, did she have to yell? Her loud voice echoed all through the gallery. “Find me someone who can answer my questions immediately. Or better yet, find me the manager. I refuse to be treated with disrespect by incompetent staff members.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” you said, hating the endless apologies that passed your lips. You wondered if she could tell they were fake. “My manager is the owner of the gallery and he is, unfortunately, away on a business trip. I can direct you to my supervisor, though, if you’d like.”

“You better do that,” she responded, crossing her arms over her chest and nearly scratching herself with the huge, sharp-edged rings on all of her fingers. “And don’t give me attitude. I will not tolerate that.”

You didn’t realize that explaining the hierarchy of the gallery – since she was so eager to talk to someone higher up – was a form of giving her attitude, but, for the sake of not getting kicked out for bad customer service, you nodded wordlessly and guided her across the gallery to where Eva, your supervisor, was having a conversation with one of the new photographers, whose exhibition the gallery was preparing for.

“Eva,” you said, not bothering to address her in a formal way. She wasn’t much older than you and the two of you spent so much time together at work that neither of you bothered with the formalities anymore. “There’s a snobby woman ten steps behind me. She is a nightmare. The system crashed, so I can’t help her, and now she wants to talk to you.”

Eva bit her lip, not particularly happy to be dragged away from the photographer – you tried to get a look at him, but he had turned away, watching the paintings around him instead, while he waited for Eva to give him her attention again.

“Could you keep her occupied for just one moment?” she asked. “I’ll be with her in a second. I’m kind of busy right now.”

“She is a nightmare,” you repeated, emphasizing the word for more effect. “I’m sure she’ll sue us if we don’t accommodate to her wishes right away.”

Eva groaned.

“I swear this is the tenth time this had happened in the past few weeks,” she said, after excusing herself from the photographer, who – aside from being very attractive – was a lot kinder than the snotty, problematic woman. “It’s time the staff here grew some balls. You, included, by the way. It would really take some weight off my shoulders if you just found a way to deal with her without getting me involved.”

Eva – probably – didn’t mean it personally but you took offense. You couldn’t exactly intimidate the woman with your status in the gallery and she wasn’t listening to anything you tried to tell her. On top of that, her loud voice truly gave you the chills. You felt bad for her children if she had any.

Confused what to do with yourself now that you were subtly scolded, you glanced at the photographer next to you, nodded at him as a way to excuse yourself as well – Eva hadn’t asked you to keep him company, after all, and you really wanted to get out of here, anyway – and then headed to the staff room to finally inhale.

The system still wasn’t fixed when your workday came to an end and you were forced to stay up later to help the IT team test out the updates they’d attempted to install after finishing with the maintenance. They had you walk around the gallery and scan the names of the photographs and the paintings while they checked if the system recognized the names and provided the user of the program with all the information about the artwork possible.

You knew this would make your job easier in the long run, but you were completely not in the mood to spend the whole night at the gallery, hence all of the complaining the IT team had to endure from you – they got their revenge on you by constantly criticizing the way you used the tablet, though, and that didn’t really help your self-esteem.

You ended up getting home three hours later than usual and, naturally, feeling three times more exhausted and upset than usual, too. To be honest, you just wanted to jump into the shower – which, you weren’t sure if you’d even enjoy – and then go to sleep. But, aside from not knowing if the hot water was back or not – Jaebum was on the phone with someone when you got home and you haven’t parted on a good note anyway, so you didn’t ask – you also realized you had no idea if the sheets on the mattress in your room were fresh or not. You had initially planned to sleep here because you weren’t in the mood to spend another night in Jaebum’s room, no matter how comfortable his bed was, but he did have sex here last night.

Groaning because you just couldn’t relax today, you walked out of the bedroom and saw Jaebum walking out of his at the same time.

“Did you change the—”

“I called the—”

Both of you had started to talk at the same time and both stopped, watching each other for a moment or two.

“You go,” you told him then. If he had something offensive to say to you, you’d rather get it over with faster so you could spend the rest of the night sulking. You’d planned to do that anyway.

“I, uh, I called the maintenance,” he said. “They said they’ll be here on Friday at best but Monday for sure.”

You closed your eyes. “That’s next week.”

“I know,” Jaebum said. When you opened your eyes, you saw him bite his lip while avoiding your gaze.

God, you could feel an outburst coming but you made no attempts to stop it. Maybe a part of you thought he deserved to hear it after being the cause of your inner misery ever since you moved in here.

“I’ve never had a roommate before,” you said and waited until he dared to look you in the eyes. “But, I swear, you are the worst imaginable roommate in the world.”

“W-wh—”

“You shut the fucking hot water off! And why? To get back at me for getting your water bottles out of the fridge,” you were louder now. “Well, guess fucking what? You can fix the damage I’ve done within an hour the most – your stupid water can get cold again. But you—you do shit without thinking about the consequences, you broke my—”

“I let you sleep in my room!” Jaebum cut you off, your aggression brushing off on him as he threw his hands in the air. “I tried to make it up to you for that.”

“I left you no choice the first night,” you disagreed. “And it doesn’t even matter. Does it look like I want to sleep in your room? I’m sort of left with no other option since I still don’t have a proper bed.”

He was going to object – the first syllables of his counter-argument were already at the tip of his tongue – but then you pushed past him into his bedroom. There was no point in asking him if he’d changed the sheets of your bed. You weren’t going to sleep there.

“But since you’re obviously so kind to me,” you said, glancing at him over your shoulder one more time. “I’ll be sleeping here again.”

He was taken aback for a moment after you slammed the door of his bedroom in his face – if he wasn’t so angry, he’d have admitted: this was a real power move – but then he tried knocking. Gently at first, but harsher after you didn’t react and didn’t open the door.

“Jesus, I’ll fix your damn bed!” he yelled at you through the door. “Just lose the fucking attitude and talk to me like a normal person. I was trying to be nice to you.”

The attitude, again. First, the rich, snobby bitch at the gallery insisted you gave her attitude for just doing your job. Then Eva countered by saying you don’t even have an attitude at all, or else she wouldn’t have to do your job for you. And now Jaebum was accusing you of the same thing even though you just told him the truth; not in a particularly nice way, but you had to put it out there.

After you simmered down, though, – while staring at the books piled by the wall in front of Jaebum’s bed for a whole hour, – you realized that if you hadn’t let the comments made at work get to you this badly, you wouldn’t have bitten Jaebum’s head off. Maybe he deserved that for all of the snarky comments he’d said and the things he’d done, but he was truly trying to have a normal conversation with you today, so maybe you should have been more understanding.

Sure, you’ve argued with him this morning – it got kind of bad, really – but you were still forced to live him and being civil with each other would have surely made this experience appear less like a torture.

Or maybe, another part of your brain disagreed, you should have truly let him know that he was not going to get away with everything by just being nice to you. Maybe you should have slapped him, too, for more effect.

As two sides of your brain gnawed at each other, arguing about what you should have done and said, you heard another knock on the door of the bedroom. It didn’t take a genius to guess who was behind the door, but you still hesitated before opening it because you weren’t sure how to act.

You did feel guilty about the outburst in the hallway. You’d always been a firm believer that the best way to resolve any issue was to have a calm discussion about it; it’s just that sometimes, you acted before you allowed yourself to think.

Maybe you’d feel better with yourself if you didn’t yell at Jaebum after you opened the door. So, you just stared at him.

He stared back, truly having expected you to scream at him. He had prepared what to say to you but he forgot all of that when you just looked at him, no words leaving your lips.

“Uh…” he said, lifting the plate in his hands slightly. “I brought cupcakes.”

Not having expected that – the two of you were now, clearly, involved in a wordless fight which one could surprise the other one better, – you looked down at the chocolate treats on the plate in his hands. “So you have. Are those the ones Lily brought over?”

You had moved away from the door slightly – Jaebum wasn’t sure if you did that consciously, though – and he slipped into the room. After you didn’t object against him being in your personal space – even though, technically, this room was his – he nodded with a small smile.

“I hadn’t slept with her when she brought them, though,” he said, putting the plate on the bed and sitting down next to it. “So, I’m sure they’re not poisoned.”

You let out a sound that was a mix between a sigh and a chuckle and sat down on the other side of the plate. You didn’t feel like talking about the way he’d handled everything with Lily. Actually, you couldn’t even remember why you were so upset about it, in the first place. Jaebum and Lily’s relationship – or lack thereof – wasn’t really your business. Maybe you’d allowed your personal feelings to get in the way and that’s why you yelled at him this morning. And this afternoon.

Both of you took a cupcake off the plate each and, after unwrapping it, began to eat. You stayed quiet for the most part, but when the cupcakes were halfway finished, you sighed again.

“Sorry for bursting out like that when I got home,” you said, choosing to only apologize for the most recent fight. A small part of you still considered Jaebum worthy of the harsh words you’ve said to him after Lily had left. “I had a long day at work.”

Jaebum nodded as a way of accepting your apology but didn’t make a big deal out of it, asking instead, “what happened?”

“It wasn’t… I guess it wasn’t truly horrible,” you said. “I’m just sensitive to that sort of stuff, maybe. I can’t be myself when I work – I’m not sure anyone can – so that means I can’t stand up for myself, either. I just have to let the visitors and even my superiors walk over me.”

“Yeah, that sucks,” Jaebum nodded. “You have to put up with every degrading thing they say if you want to keep the job.”

“Exactly.”

“I laughed mid-track at my station today,” he said then and you looked at him, curiously. “I didn’t realize the mic was on when I was reading a text on my phone during one of the songs, and I just burst into laughter before a part of me went, oh, but wait… I don’t remember pressing the button.”

You tried to gasp but just the image he put in your mind made you chuckle. “Did you boss realize?”

“No, he wasn’t working today, thank God,” he said, smiling, too, now that this got you to laugh however softly. “I would have been fired for sure. He’s a no-bullshit sort of fellow.”

“I’d have loved to hear that, though,” you said. “What time is your show?”

You already knew Jaebum worked at a radio station because he’d mentioned that during one of your late-night conversations back when you still thought he was a girl, and he thought you were a guy. He never elaborated much – and you didn’t really push – so you found yourself rather excited to find out a little more about him. He was starting to feel like Def to you again.

“Two to four,” he said, explaining why he was still at home most mornings. “It’s this really uncomfortable time because most people are already done with lunch but not done with their work day yet, so no one really listens to the radio at this time.”

“What do you do there?” you asked. “I mean, what is your show about?”

“Up-and-coming artists,” he said, sounding unusually sad. “They’re not really that, though. I just basically play underrated songs that no one knows. People send them to me – well, not to me, personally, but to the radio station – and I pick the ones I like the most and play them. It takes me a while to get through all the Soundcloud mixtapes we get sent, but I don’t mind. I don’t get to talk a lot during the show.”

“I can imagine how many days you make by doing this,” you said and Jaebum gave you a confused look, so you explained, “well, I think when someone hears their song on an actual radio, they really lose their shit, you know what I mean? It doesn’t matter to them what time the radio show is on. They’re just excited to hear their song playing and they’re probably very grateful to whoever chose it. You’re the reason for their happiness.”

“Huh,” Jaebum looked away from you, a slight rosy shade adorning his cheeks. “I-I forget that sometimes. The job—it’s all mechanical. I listen to music without thinking much of the artist, but you know what? You’re right. If it was my song playing there, I’d be losing my shit as you put it.”

You snickered at that but then an idea hit you. “Why don’t you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Play your own song at the radio,” you said, reminding him – and yourself, too – that the two of you knew more about each other than you had pretended to know for the sake of acting as hateful roommates to each other. You weren’t really complete strangers to each other, after all.

“Oh, man, no,” he shook his head, his eyes scanning the room wildly for a way to change the topic. He was like this when it came to his music. He refused to talk about it overly much over texts but he was even worse in real life. “Anyway, I came here to make amends and maybe make you feel better about your day at work. Shocking, yeah? But, look what happened: it’s you comforting me.”

You laughed. “Get out of my room before we actually bond.”

He laughed at this, too, but then stopped, “oh, well, technically, this is my room.”

“Oh, I’m not going back to sleep in my room,” you said. “You had sex there, that mattress is… marked.”

“Oh, God,” he visibly cringed at your choice of wording. “I changed the sheets, I’m not some animal.”

You chuckled, but your mind was starting to wander. Now that you’d finished eating Lily’s cupcakes and the topic switched to Jaebum and Lily’s previous activities, you couldn’t help but remember Jaebum’s scared face when you told him a girl had been knocking on your door.

And then, before you could think twice about it, you asked, “hey. Remember, the other day, when Lily first came over?”

“Yeah?”

“When I told you that there was a girl behind the door, your face kind of…” you couldn’t find a way to describe it properly but Jaebum seemed to understand what you were getting at as he looked away, his face paling slightly again. “Uh, what was that about, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“It’s nothing,” he tried to dismiss it. “I just… for a moment, I thought it could have been my ex-girlfriend. She’d reached out to me recently but I didn’t reply and I thought she might have found where I lived.”

Oh, this was loaded. You didn’t know Jaebum had a clearly problematic ex, but, more than that, you had no idea she was trying to get back together with him and he was, evidently, terrified of that. There was so much you wanted to ask him but before you opened your mouth, he stood up from the bed, taking the empty plate with him.

“Anyway,” he said in a somewhat forceful way as if he was letting you know that you weren’t going to discuss this topic further. “I’m going to go to bed. Well, your bed. You sleep here.”

You tried to smile despite the change of topic. “You don’t mind that?”

“No,” he shrugged his shoulders. “I guess I don’t.”

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