#this was obviously just laura not being able to stop herself from making a joke SKDJFHGKSDJF

[pocketgalaxies]

*insert audio of taliesin cackling*

#critical role #criticalroleedit #critteredit #laura bailey #sam riegel #ashley johnson #marisha ray #gifs #* #*cr #cr3 #cr spoilers #r: bells hells #laugh tag #scheduled #1k #cr cast #the world's first spoken-word rendition of smooth criminal #i'm not even tagging this w their characters #this was obviously just laura not being able to stop herself from making a joke SKDJFHGKSDJF #trying smth slightly new with font to see if it makes it more readable #esp the lowercase A's those were pretty shit w my old settings #they looked like O's. #and a bigger stroke size #hopefully this is better

[stomp-that-ho-regard]

Needed to get this campaign wrap-up rant off my chest...

This is the specific part that irked me:

MATT: "While he never voiced this in game, Caleb's feelings for Jester have been an important part of his journey. Did he ever come close to confessing? How was playing such a long lasting, one-sided love after our last campaign's bittersweet ending for a Vax and Kiki?"

LIAM: I was never going to do romance of any kind, one-sided or otherwise in this campaign, because I felt like we really explored that pretty heavily campaign one. I think you'll remember Jester drove Caleb nuts at the beginning of the campaign, and so it was nothing that I ever expected at all. And then when they were in, was it Rexxentrum wherever the dance hall was. And I alluded to this earlier, dancing was never anything that I imagined for Caleb, but it was just like, and you were asking him to dance, Jester was asking him to dance. I was like, "Oh, this could be an interesting way to like sort of seed my story, that we're not really around yet." And there was something about, not the dancing, but the way that Jester treated him kindly after the fact like his response was to be like, "I'm going to go fucking vomit in a street, and just be by myself," and she wouldn't let it happen. And that was just like this first little moment where someone was like-- Everyone in the Nein-- I want to answer another question while I'm answering this. I wonder if we had gone that different direction that we talked about earlier where we didn't go crime, and we had gone into Rexxentrum earlier, and if Caleb had started interfacing with his past earlier, I think he would have had a gnarlier, more severe trajectory in this campaign. If he had touched his past sooner, it would have changed what he was, but he spent way too much with the Nein, for when we finally did catch up to them, it was too late, that he'd already been healed enough by the Nein, it didn't matter. And everyone in the Nein had an effect on Caleb, they all had their love like in different ways; Yasha, he could relate to. Caduceus was like a guru that confused but inspired. Fjord, who Caleb thought was real hot at the beginning of the campaign, was a great leader and, like, just I don't know, I feel like he was his closest friend, outside of Nott, early in the campaign. Beau brought tough love. Veth was this ultimate support no matter what happened. But what started to happen with Jester was that she was treating Caleb like the person-- She was treating him as if he was the person he should have been. Like none of it had happened. And he became like-- It just got in him, but he would have never wanted to saddle her with all his shit. And the difference, like-- There was also a point in the campaign where I could see, in Yasha's absence, Beauregard warming up to her, and I already quietly been thinking and going like, "Well, I'll just have this little thing that maybe fans will see," and some did early on, like it was silent. It was all silent. And then I was like, "Well, Travis is never going to do it." Oh, Travis just came online, so the entire side of the table quietly like, "Oh," at Jester for a while. But Caleb knew that Beau and Fjord would've been far better for her, because they would have put aside anything for Jester and made her their number one. And Caleb knew that, as much as she like changed him and helped him in a very specific way, and and he quietly fell in love with her and like a Jane Austen, I'm never going to say it. That he would never have set aside the things that he was trying to do. He would never have set aside trying to either get back to his parents and fix that. He would never set aside trying to undo the Cerberus Assembly if he were strong enough, so, like, that was too all-consuming, and so he would never wanted to saddle her with it, so it was always going to stay inside. And there were multiple times in the campaign where Jester teasingly needled Caleb, and I was terrified that you would say the word "Insight check," multiple times.

LAURA: I think I did it once.

LIAM: Well, you must have rolled really low when you did because I did my best to like pull faces at you, and poo poo it, and do something silly to dodge out of those situations.

LAURA: Are you secretly in love with me?

LIAM: And yeah, you said that, and I went like (blows raspberries) that's fucking ridiculous with my face, and we moved on. (laughter)

LAURA: It's so funny when you joke about the whole table being in love with Jester because Jester had, like, no concept of it at all. Her whole upbringing was everybody being in love with her mother, and her whole, and she knew she's so different from Marion, in her appearance, and the way she presents herself that-- To her, that is what people want, that's what everybody would be in love with. And so there was never-- She would never have thought in a million years that Beau would have been interested, or that Caleb would have been interested, or that Fjord would have been interested. She tried to be Marion and when she was coming on to him in the early campaign, and obviously, it did not work. So she was like, "Okay, then-- Nobody's-- That's not going to happen for me." So it just like turned off in her brain, like nobody will.

TRAVIS: There was a moment where that stopped, too, because like you doing the thing that you thought your mom did and that worked, you know, Fjord's like, "I've never been flirted with before, I don't know what this is. Stop doing it." All that behavior stopped, and you like let the happy Jester fall away. Like, I think it was on the sea, right, like with the jellyfish scene. And then it all happened.

MARISHA: That's when you started crying. There was a few times where there was these moments of Jester smiling, but tears were streaming down her face.

TRAVIS: Yeah.

MARISHA: Trying to be the happiest person in the room. And then, yeah. I don't know. Jester always had this, but I think why Jester is so enigmatic, and so easy fall in love with is because she is the purest person in the room, so that it invites this kind of--

LIAM: Which doesn't even mean innocent, it just means the purest person--

MARISHA: Pure, yeah. It's just very endearing and it got in the way-- and this is almost going to sound condescending-- but almost in the way that a child is where if a little girl runs up to you, and they're like, "Look at this card, I think I want to cover the whole thing in glitter." You kind of have no choice, but to be like, "Yeah, that's a great idea."

LAURA: Yeah.

MARISHA: Cover the whole thing, and like, even if it's bad. She felt like almost like the perfect exercise for "Yes, and-ing." Like, the concept of "Yes, and-ing," because half of them were terrible ideas, but you were like, "Yeah, brilliant."

LAURA: Also, I feel that people are drawn to somebody who sees the best in them, right? You're drawn to somebody that loves you, and she just has an unconditional love for like everybody--

LIAM: She changes everyone she meets, including a hag in a hut.

MARISHA: Yeah.

TRAVIS: Yes.

Laura’s answer here is, for the most part, true. Jester was always pretty oblivious to people being into her. That was a pretty clear character trait. However, that still doesn't explain her roleplaying choices after Beau’s confession. And I wish someone was able to ask her about that and get a direct answer. Why was there a behavior shift? Was it just Laura trolling and teasing Marisha about it, or was Laura actually trying to force Beau to confess directly?

There was a pretty condescending post about this that I found in the discourse tag that said: I know it won't happen cause people never cared about what she says anyway, but Laura confirming again that Jester never knew about Caleb and Beau's feelings for her should be enough to stop the dumb takes like "bj was happening before the hiatus but then they decided to change it" or "Jester was falling in love with Caleb and she changed it" or whatever.

‘Laura confirming again’ Again? What other time has she said this?

‘Jester never knew about Caleb and Beau’s feelings’ Laura said that ‘She would never have thought in a million years that they would be interested’ and included Fjord in that section too, so whatever point this person’s trying to make is moot.

Countering that, I want to say, that nothing in Laura’s answer seemed to give the impression that Jester would have turned down Beau (or, hate to say it, even Caleb) had they actually confessed to her. There’s nothing in her answer to imply that Jester could not have reciprocated those feelings had she known. Nowhere did I get the implication that Jester was only ever interested in men and that Fjord was the only viable choice. (Laura still has not addressed Jester’s sexuality. FJ shippers love to ignore that, and still swear up and down that she’s straight.)

Now when Marisha piped in, she didn’t even focus on Beau’s feelings, and the depth of what she was feeling at the time. Instead, she’s wrote them off. Again. Intentionally minimizing and essentially doubling down on what was said in ep108. That it’s just so easy for anyone to fall for Jester, even going as far as calling her ‘pure’. Basically infantilizing her, by comparing her behavior to that of a child which yes, Marisha, does sound condescending. (You can add that to the list of ‘sparkles’ ‘confetti’ and ‘shiny’.) And that’s it. That’s the extent to which she talks about it.

Also, the fact that the Beaujester stuff was only brought up (very briefly and casually), as a sort of ‘b’ topic to WJ. Liam got to go off on this whole extremely long-winded reminiscing answer because he got a direct question about it. It’s like, “And none for Beaujester!” Once again, Caleb’s feelings being given more weight than Beau’s ever were. 

So, another kick in the teeth. Not so much from Laura. But from Marisha. The person who MADE THE CHOICE to inject Beau developing feelings for Jester into the canon narrative. The way Marisha talks about it now, it’s just a complete mind fuck as to why she made the decision to have Beau confess at all. Why even open that door? Even if she felt, at the time, that Beau would feel this way, she could’ve just kept it to herself. And not made waves about it. And not doubled down on it the following week. And not had continued for at least THREE MONTHS after that to roleplay Beau STILL having obvious feelings for Jester. I mean, come the fuck on.

Look at ep93 with the Hag. When Jester was telling the group that she gave the Hag something she had never given anyone before. Beau frowned and said, “Did you kiss her?” Beau had it so bad she got jealous of the Hag. Jealous of a fucking monster. Then ep94. Beau wanted to climb a tree to get a better look at their surroundings. Out of the blue, Jester smacked Beau’s ass to give her Guidance. She shot up the tree like a rocket and Jester was impressed. Marisha had to make it a point to say, “She thinks it’s the Traveler. It’s just ‘cause Jester smacked my ass though. I’m just very invigorated by THAT.” And of course ep99, with the sunburn compliment.

Marisha was definitely keeping this thing going, all the way up until the hiatus.

So why the weird answers? Why the vagueness? Why does she seem so insistent on driving home to the viewers that Beau’s feelings were/are no big deal. Does she think that talking about Beau’s feelings to the fullest and reminiscing (like Liam did) on a few of their moments would be some sort of insult to BY?

I will never stop being baffled.

#op #campaign wrap up bullshit #long post

[heyyyharry]

Chapter 13: The Oscars

(from the My Girl Trilogy: Stay Mine)

…in which they attend the Oscars and Y/N almost misses it.

Word count: 5k

AU: actor!Harry, older!Harry, younger!Y/N, (4-year age gap).

Song in the kitchen scene: A Million Times - Alice Kristiansen ft. Julian Lamadrid 

Wattpad link (Thea as Y/N)

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“And the Oscar goes toooooooo...HARRY STYLES!”

“Stop making fun of me!”

“I’m not!” Y/N plumped down on to the treehouse floor, sitting with her legs crossed as she shook Harry’s arm gently. “Come on. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“I’m not being hard on myself. I’m being realistic,” he replied, toying with a yellow leaf he’d found on the floor just to avoid making eye contact as they spoke. Y/N didn’t get why he was embarrassed and so doubtful of himself. She had seen him on stage when he’d been Romeo last year. He was one of the best kid actors and no one could convince her otherwise.

“Your new drama teacher was a meanie,” she huffed, arms folded across her chest.

Harry finally cast her a glance as the corners of his mouth turned up. “You’re not being objective. Mrs Berry was.”

“You’re a kid! Kids are allowed to make mistakes. That’s the only way they can learn and improve. My writing sucks but you don’t see me giving up.”

“Has anyone ever told you your writing sucks?”

“Celine’s brother.”

“He’s an arsehole.”

“Harry!”

“Sorry,” Harry chuckled, lifting both hands. “He’s a bum.”

Y/N didn’t laugh when he did. If her mum and dad knew he cursed all the time, they wouldn’t let her hang out with him anymore. “Well,” she exhaled. “I feel sorry for your teacher. She probably has nothing better to do with her life than crushing kids’ dreams because her dreams had died with her talent when she became a teacher instead of an actress.”

“Are you sure you’re ten years old?” Harry smiled, giving her a look that could be interpreted as either amazed or amused or both.

She’d never told him, but he had one of the best smiles she’d ever seen, which was why she was sure he would become successful. Having a great smile was a great quality for every actor. At least that was what her best friend Celine had told her.

“Are you sure you’re older than me?” she rebutted.

He lifted his shoulders in a half-shrug. “I’m gonna listen to you because you’re a know-it-all.”

She said nothing and launched herself to her feet, clearing her throat. He watched with a confused look on his face when she picked up his water bottle and held it with both hands like the way an actor would hold the Oscar statue.

“Harry is too shy to come on stage and accept this Academy Award,” she said, “so I’m gonna accept it on his behalf. He’d like to thank his family, his drama teacher Mrs Berry, and his biggest fan Y/N aka Bambi. These are the people who helped shape his career.” Harry doubled over laughing as she lifted the water bottle above her head. “Thank you so much for this award. Have a good night, Los Angeles!”

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Y/N contemplated her reflection in the full-length mirror while Harry was watching her from the couch on the side. She cast him a sideways glance, to which he responded with a thumbs-up and a grin.

She sucked in a breath, looking back at herself. She looked different. She felt different. She had worn plenty of expensive gowns that didn’t belong to her and attended countless exclusive events with Harry before. But this. This was the Academy Awards. And she was wearing the kind of dress that was meant to turn heads on the red carpet, the kind of dress that models wore on the runway. She used to watch award shows with her best friends all the time, and could never imagine herself pulling off such elegant outfits. But now, she almost looked like she belonged at the Oscars.

She wasn’t wearing any make-up and her hair was in a simple low ponytail, so she knew the dress had done all the work to make her look desirable. Harry’s designer had taken the inspiration from the iconic silver dress in The Little Mermaid, when Ariel returned from the sea and reunited with Prince Eric. Harry had joked that Y/N resembled a fawn more than a princess, and she had smacked him hard on the arm, proving that she was neither.

“Is it too tight?” asked Meili – the designer. She was so kind that Y/N felt like they’d been friends forever. But on second thought, being a professional, it was Meili’s job to make her clients feel most comfortable in and out of her designs.

“No, this is perfect,” Y/N said.

“Are you sure?” She confirmed with a nod. “All right.” Meili patted her gently on the back. “How about we try walking?”

And so Y/N descended the steps and sauntered about the fitting area to make sure she was comfortable and able to breathe normally. Harry had risen from the sofa and come to stand beside Meili, his eyes dancing with amusement as he watched Y/N strike a silly pose.

“What do you think?” she asked him.

Instead of answering the question, he turned to Meili. “Can you show me how to take it off?”

Meili had quite a good laugh watching Harry with his hands up in defence as Y/N tried to hit him without hurting the dress. It was then that the sound of her ringtone from her bag came for his rescue.

He pecked her cheek and stayed to chat with Meili about his outfit while Y/N answered the call from her agent.

“Y/N!” Laura said before Y/N could speak. “What are you doing, babe?”

“I’m at the fitting for the Oscars.”

There was a pause followed by a dramatic sigh. “Oh, I nearly forgot that you’re attending the Oscars. Are you nervous?”

“Kind of.” Y/N giggled. “But I suppose you’re not calling me to ask what I’m doing, are you, Laura?”

“Of course not! I’d like to remind you that we’re having a party next Saturday!”

“Right, right, party–No!”

Both Harry and Meili whipped their heads back to gape at Y/N.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “I thought it was a brilliant idea–”

Y/N shushed her boyfriend as she indicated the phone to let him know she wasn’t talking to him.

“Hi, Laura!” he shouted, and Laura, who obviously had heard it, squealed like a schoolgirl and demanded to be put on speaker.

Y/N tapped the speaker icon as she slumped into the couch where Harry soon joined her, sitting with an arm around her shoulders. “Hi, Laura,” he repeated.

Laura laughed excitedly. “Hi, Harry! We’ve never met before but I’ve heard so much about you!”

“And I’ve heard so much about you!”

“I’m your client, Laura. Not him,” Y/N snorted as Harry kissed her temple.

“Oh, yes, right.” Laura cleared her throat to compose herself. “So what’s the matter? I thought–”

“The Oscars is next Sunday night, Laura. I have to catch the plane on Saturday morning. I can’t go to your party.”

“Your party, Y/N.”

“What party?” Harry asked.

Y/N opened her mouth to answer but Laura was faster. “To celebrate your girl’s debut novel! It hasn’t come out yet, but everything is settled. It’s a tradition. I always throw this party for my client. Everyone at the agency will be there and there will be some guests from the publishing house and some published authors. It’ll be grand.”

Y/N sucked in a breath and pinched her temple, her eyes met Harry’s. His expression was unreadable. To Laura, she asked, “Can we push it back a few days?”

“Absolutely not! I’ve sent out the invitations. You told me any date this month would do!”

Y/N had. And she kind of regretted it now. She’d been chatting with Gemma when Laura asked her about the date. Gemma had been devastated by what had happened with Winton, so Y/N had been busy comforting her and told Laura to just pick any date she’d like. It was all her fault; she should have reminded Laura about the Oscars.

Y/N glanced back at Harry, hoping he didn’t think she’d purposely prioritized her success over his. Because why would she think her first novel was a better reason to celebrate than his first-ever Oscar nomination?

But Harry didn’t seem vexed. His dimples appeared as he traced his fingertips along the strap of her sparkling dress. “It’s okay, Laura,” he said to the phone. “You don’t have to change the date.”

Y/N’s eyes went round as Laura hissed, “Yes!”

“Baby–”

“You’ll go to your party,” he said, “and I’ll send my ride to pick you up and take you to the airport. They won’t leave without you, silly.”

Right. She’d be travelling on his private jet.

“But...I’ll be late.”

“So?” He shrugged nonchalantly. “I can manage the first few hours without you. Why should your career be any less important than mine?”

“He’s right, Y/N,” Laura said.

Y/N swivelled in her seat to face him as she took his hand. “I’ll just come to say hello to the guests–”

“And give a speech!” Laura interjected, making Y/N roll her eyes and Harry chuckle.

“Fine, I’ll come to say hello and give a speech and then I’ll come to you.”

“Deal?” His lips twitched as he gave her his pinkie.

“Deal,” she said, hooking her pinkie with his.

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The party was insane.

Y/N had specifically asked Laura not to overdo this, but the agent had insisted on throwing her favourite client the most Gasby party she could pull off. Y/N didn’t even know half of the faces who’d shaken her hand and congratulated her on her debut novel which hadn’t been released yet. She felt like a fraud. What if these people ended up hating her book? What if this party made her seem like a show-off? She was already dating an Oscar nominee; she didn’t want to be branded as any more privileged than that.

She kept the speech she’d promised Laura as short and simple as possible, then returned polite smiles to the guests as she made her way to the back of the room. She wouldn’t be surprised if these folks thought that she had zero personality. When it came to self-branding, she needed all the help she could get. How did Harry do it? How did he charm people into liking him before they even viewed his work? As much as she loved him, she couldn’t help but envy him sometimes.

She wiped her sweaty palms on her dress before getting another glass of champagne and finishing it a second before Laura came up to check on her.

“You okay? You look a bit pale,” Laura said.

“Well, I tend to get anxious at formal events,” Y/N snorted, shaking her head. “I usually attend these kinds of parties with Harry. He’d do all the talking and help me get involved in the conversation. He’s very charismatic.”

“I’m charismatic!” Laura said with a hand on her chest. Y/N responded with a smile. Laura wascharismatic. The problem was, Y/N was more comfortable with Harry. Or maybe she couldn’t help but feel guilty that she’d miss the red carpet walk with him. She hated to be the one to break a promise.

“You need to stop checking your watch like modern Cinderella at the royal ball.”

Y/N dropped her arm back to her side. “I’m so nervous, Laura.”

“About this party? People love you!”

“About...everything.” This party. Her 2 AM flight. The Oscars. Showing up late. Missing Harry’s category. Her book release. The likelihood of having people roast her book unforgivingly on the internet.

She had the tendency of freaking out over insignificant matters whenever good things kept happening to her. Because, as usual, bad luck would come for her when she was most defenceless and took away her joy. This time, she could feel it in her stomach.

Laura gripped her shoulders and squeezed them tight. “You are my superstar, Y/N. You are the shit. You are the most brilliant–”

“Okay, I get it, I get it,” she laughed, pulling Laura into a hug. “Thank you for tonight. I owe you so much, Laura.”

“Don’t be stupid. You saved my life. Literally,” Laura smirked and gently patted Y/N’s cheek. “Now, let’s go say goodbye to the guests. It’s almost time for you to go.”

Y/N didn’t need to be told twice. She’d been waiting for this moment since she’d arrived. People might wonder why she seemed more energetic saying goodbye to them than when she’d welcomed them to the party. But she was just happy that she could finally leave. The last thing she wanted was to show up late for her flight (Harry had said the plane wouldn’t leave without her but she hated delays anyway) and missed more of the Oscar ceremony tomorrow than she’d allowed herself to.

The journey to LA happened in a rush. She’d slept for most of her twelve-hour flight because she’d been so exhausted. Harry’s bodyguard only woke her up when they were about to land. The next thing she knew, she was taken to his LA house. She had never been there before. It was much bigger than the one in London, but less homely, perhaps because she’d known every corner of the place that was supposed to be theirs. This one just seemed like a resort.

The hair and makeup team and Harry’s stylist were waiting upstairs to make her Oscars-ready. She’d eaten quite a lot on the plane before it took off, so she feared she wouldn’t fit in the dress. Magically, she did. And she felt so silly for feeling like she might burst into tears.

When the makeup artist asked how she’d like to have her makeup done, she told them to make her recognizable. They didn’t ask her to elaborate on that, so she hoped they knew what she meant. She didn’t want to be the centre of attention tonight, especially when she was going to show up late. The only attention she craved for was Harry’s and she was going to get it anyway, with or without this glamorous costume.

Fortunately, the makeup artist did a fantastic job. They gave her simple eye makeup and red lips and put her hair up into a classic high bun. It wasn’t until tonight that she couldn’t stop staring at herself in the mirror. Harry would be so impressed.

As Harry’s team did some final touches on her face, one girl showed her some clips and pictures of Harry on the red carpet. He looked dashingly handsome and comfortable, and when being interviewed, he said he loved her and couldn’t wait to see her later. The part of her that had been feeling guilty could finally let go of that breath she’d been holding. She thanked the makeup team for everything and came downstairs when her car arrived.

The chauffeur was a middle-aged man with greyish hair and a kind face. He was talking on the phone and ended the call as soon as he saw her. He looked rather tired, but before she could ask for his name and if he was feeling well, she remembered that she’d left her clutch upstairs, and so she asked him to wait while she went back to get it. He told her to take her time.

When she came downstairs for the second time, the man was on the phone again. He didn’t see her return so he didn’t hang up. Y/N couldn’t help but overhear the last part of the conversation where he told whoever he was speaking to that he would be at the hospital as soon as he finished his job.

“Is everything okay, sir?” she asked once he’d finished the call. He whipped around, seemingly startled to see her there. “You can tell me if something is wrong. I might be able to help,” she said.

The chauffeur looked hesitant at first. He worked his jaw for a moment before he could tell her, “My daughter...is sick. She’s just been taken to the hospital. I’ll go see her as soon as I take you to–”

“No! You’re going to see her now!” cried Y/N.

He squinted his eyes at her as if he thought she was testing him. “Are you...are you sure, Miss? Mr Styles told me–”

“I’ll talk to Harry for you. Don’t worry.”

Telling someone not to worry never seemed to work. The man screwed up his face as he shoved a hand in his hair. “Should I send you another car, Miss? Mr Styles said...he said that you couldn’t drive.”

“Of course I can!” Y/N blurted, then realized how defensive she’d sounded.

She could drive. However, she was afraid to sit behind the wheel.

Ever since her accident, she’d been using public transport and let Harry drive her around instead of doing it herself. He knew it wasn’t just her anxiety of getting into another accident. Her mother had died in a car crash, and Harry had seen how scared she’d been when he’d crashed his motorcycle. Those final thirty seconds after the collision and before she’d gone unconscious, Y/N had felt it all at once. Her mother’s death, her almost losing Harry, her head cracking open and the numbness when she lay on broken glass and her vision faded to black. She could only hope she would get through her fear this time.

“I’ll take one of his cars,” she reassured the man. “Don’t worry about me, sir. Your daughter needs you.”

The man thanked Y/N repeatedly and hurried back to the car parked in the drive. Y/N waited until he was gone, checked the time to make sure she’d make it, then she sucked in a deep breath and headed to the garage.

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Harry was a bundle of nerves trying to act composed while the other nominations were being presented. There were cameras everywhere and they could zoom into his face at any moment so he could not look like he might throw up. He was here for his Best Actor nomination; it’d be so embarrassing if he couldn’t act like he was having the best time of his life.

Y/N should have been here a long time ago. Where the fuck was she? She’d texted him that she’d drive here by herself. He didn’t want to be pessimistic, but the last time she’d sat behind the wheel, she’d ended up in the hospital.

It’d been half a year since, but he couldn’t forget that feeling when he got the call. He was praying to God that the next time his phone buzzed, it would be her telling him she’d arrived safely. If something unpleasant was going to happen (as it always did), he would accept anything as long as she was safe.

The moment his phone sounded, he jolted so hard he might have startled the lady sitting beside him. Jeff’s words swivelled in his head: Do not check your phone during someone’s acceptance speech.Well, screw that. His girl wasn’t here and the last thing he would worry about was looking like an asshole on live television.

➣ I’m here.

When he saw those words, the lump in his throat dissolved and his body relaxed into the cushion. His fake smile had been replaced with a genuine one, so at least people who saw him texting during Brad Pitt’s speech would just assume he was texting his girlfriend, who was supposed to fill the vacancy next to him.

Good. I saved you a seat, he typed and sent.

➣ I’m staying backstage. I can’t go out there.

Harry’s smile dropped as he squirmed in his chair. Why? Are you okay?

She took a bit longer to reply.

➣ Yes, don’t worry. There’s a screen here. I can watch you.

Harry muttered a curse as he put his phone back into his pocket. After a moment of leg bouncing and lip biting, he decided to go check on her.

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Y/N splashed water on her face, which was now clean of makeup and checked her pathetic reflection in the mirror one last time before she left the bathroom. She’d been sweating so hard on the way here that by the time she’d arrived, Harry’s beauty team’s two-hour of hard work had been ruined. She’d even ripped her dress by accident when she’d nearly fallen headfirst in the car park, so going out there to sit beside Harry would do so much damage to his reputation.

Besides, she was fatigued after the long flight and hadn’t rested since she got off the plane. She’d thrown up as soon as she’d texted him and found the bathroom. So it was for the best if she didn’t make an appearance tonight. It was less intimidating here backstage. She could just watch him on the screen and–

Where the fuck was he?

Her eyes frantically searched on the screen for her boyfriend.

Where had he gone?

No, he couldn’t–

“Bambi!”

She smacked him with her clutch as he rushed in for a hug. The backstage security and a few others couldn’t help the amusement as they watched them. Y/N flashed the strangers a smile before turning back to her boyfriend, who looked so stupidly happy it should be illegal. “Jeff would kill you! Go back out there!”

“But you’re here,” he said.

“I’m not nominated, you idiot!”

“I’m the idiot? You drove here!”

“I have a fucking license!”

“Then you’re an idiot with a fucking license!”

He didn’t wait for her to rebut and locked her in his arms, squeezing the air out of her like he hadn’t seen her in years. She held him back, for a second forgetting that she was sweating like a pig, her hair had fallen loose and her face weary from jetlag. She didn’t feel any less desirable, though. She knew he loved her anyway.

“Go out there with me,” he said, cupping her cheeks and kissing her nose.

“Are you crazy? Look at me!”

He pulled back to consider her appearance, his eyebrow arched. “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”

She glared at him as he grinned. “The world doesn’t wear rose-coloured glasses like you do.”

His face grew serious. “You’re right. Maybe I see a princess and they see a frog.”

Too familiar with his teasing, she snorted, “Your ability to go from Prince Charming to an arsehole never fails to amaze me.”

“My pleasure.” He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers just in time his phone chimed in his pocket. “Shit, that must be Jeff. I must go before he finds me here.” He let out a long heavy breath and then stroked her hair like she was a child. “Can you stay here by yourself, baby?”

“Keep talking like that and people might think you’re my dad,” she said.

“Daddy.” He smirked.

She hit him again, shaking with laughter. “Go!”

“Okay, love you, idiot.”

“Love you, too, idiot.”

He kissed her on the cheek and then he was gone.

.

.

.

Harry didn’t win.

Even though he’d said he wasn’t disappointed, and he didn’t seem disappointed at all, Y/N still suspected that he might be faking it. It wasn’t such a big loss since he’d been up against some big contenders. He was young, so there was a bigger chance for him to get an Oscar in the future. However, she knew the feeling of not expecting anything but still feeling awful when you didn’t get it. She’d known his chance was flimsy, and yet she had hoped he’d win somehow. She might have to wait until next year to hear his acceptance speech.

Exhausted (Y/N more than Harry), they skipped the after-party to have one at home by themselves. They drank champagne and danced barefoot around the kitchen in their nice clothes. The house which Y/N had compared to a resort soon became familiar with his presence.

Streetlights, stumbling home

To our very own, after party

Won't lie, when we're alone

You're my favourite poem to recite

Harry turned down the volume of the song playing on the speaker. As Y/N poured some more champagne, he climbed onto a chair, standing on one foot, the other foot resting on the kitchen island.

She watched him with lazy eyes and took another sip. “If you fall, I’ll let you fall.”

He chuckled. “I’m overwhelmed by your love, Bambi.” Then he shook his head and pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. It took her two seconds to figure out that it was his acceptance speech. She slid into a chair and gazed up at him with her chin on her knuckles.

He cleared his throat extravagantly and began by thanking the Academy, the cast and crew and the director of his movie, then his family and his team. It must be the wine that made every word he said in that posh accent extremely funny. She laughed so hard she almost fell off the chair.

Then, he took the longest pause to consider her, and the room sank to silence as he worked his jaw before he proceeded. “There’s this girl I love. She used to be my little secret but now she’s here watching me accept my first Academy Award. She’s the reason I’m here today, so I owe this one to her.”

Then he raised his glass as if it was the award and hopped off the chair. Before she could applaud, he’d pulled her to her feet and pressed his mouth against hers, kissing her as if she was the only thing he wanted. She kissed him back just as hard, hands in his hair, on his neck, his chest, his back, his face. Her whole body was on fire. It must be the wine. She needed to get out of this dress and get him out of his suit.

Went to bed without you (While you were sleeping)

Felt colder it used to (I crossed an ocean)

And I can't wait (And I can't wait)

'Till I get back to you

“It sounded better when I first wrote it. I’m kind of glad I didn’t win,” he said against her lips as he picked her up and sat her on the edge of the kitchen island.

She tipped her head back and laughed. “At least you weren’t going to propose to me on the stage.”

Suddenly, he stopped. She blinked as he pulled away, his mouth red and glossy from kissing her. She hadn’t even got a chance to feel bad for making that joke and he’d already stepped back. The next thing she knew, he was on one knee on the floor.

She slapped a hand over her open mouth. Her mind went blank, and the music in the background faded to white noise. The thundering beats in her chest made it hard for her to breathe. He wasn’t going to, was he? But if he was, was she going to say yes?

“My beautiful mermaid, frog, little deer,” he began with a straight face, and she choked out an unexpected laugh muffled by her hand. “I love you,” he said. “And I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Then he sucked in a breath. The suspense was killing her. “But...I don’t want to marry you–”

“Excuse me?!”

“–right now.”

She could tell he was trying his best not to guffaw at her reaction. She was confused and amused at the same time. What was going on? Was he really that drunk? He didn’t seem that drunk. She would kick his arse if he thought this was funny!

“I just want to let you know,” he went on despite the look on her face, “that I will ask you to marry me. I know you hate surprises and if I asked you unexpectedly, the chances of you saying no would be much higher. So let’s consider this as a proposal for a bigger proposal.” He wetted his lips, his eyes fixed on hers. “Y/N, my darling, will you allow me to ask you to marry me someday?”

She laughed out loud though her eyes were already filled with tears. She didn’t know why she was crying but she couldn’t stop. She blamed the wine and him and his stupid speech and whatever the fuck he thought he was doing right now. “I hate you.” She laughed through her tears. “I hate you so much.”

He got up, his eyes wide. “You hate me after I told you I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you?”

“Yes.”

He closed the distance between them, standing between her legs with his hands on her hips. “Yes, I can ask you to marry me in the future, or yes, you hate me for what I said?”

“Both.” She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth against his. “I love you. I hate you. I love you,” she said in between kisses. “I love you so much I hate you.”

“Tonight is the best night of my life,” he whispered, stroking her hair. “I didn’t want to win. I just wanted you to be there with me.”

“I’ll be there with you next time.” She rested her forehead against his. “And next time, and next time, and forever...”

You don't fall in love once but a million times

Waking up each morning with you by my side

When I drift away, I'll come back with the tide

I'm falling in and out again

Falling in and out again

#my girl series

[televisionrulesthenation]

S1E10 - “The Meershatz Pipe”

Original air date: November 28, 1961

Episode recap

At this office Rob, Buddy and Sally are working on the script for this week’s show. Rob seems overly-annoyed, probably because he’s tired.

Buddy and Sally decide to take a smoke break while Rob lies down. Buddy pulls out a fancy looking pipe he says is a gift from Alan Brady. He says Alan’s got quite the pipe collection in his den. Not having been to Alan’s house in a quite a while, an obviously jealous Rob leaves the office.

Rob returns home to find Laura and Richtie in the kitchen. Richtie wants Rob to read to him. Rob’s still in a bad mood but obliges. Richtie requests a book about Native Americans. Rob reads the part about the peace pipe and his mood worsens.

The next morning Rob is so weak is not able to the finish the second pushup of his typical twenty pushup morning routine. Laura insists he gets back in bed and take a sick day.

He checks in at the office via phone a couple times and everything seems to be under control with the show. Rob starts to feel unneeded.

The next morning he sneaks out of bed before Laura and heads to work looking disheveled. When he gets off the elevator, Mel stops him before he can even enter his office. Mel insists Rob leave as he can’t risk getting Alan sick before a live show. Buddy and Sally say they’ve got everything covered.

Later Rob and Laura watch the live Alan Brady show in bed. Laura thinks it’s hysterical. Rob is not amused because he didn’t work on it. Rob tells Laura he’s going to call Alan and resign. Why pay three writers when two can do the job? He thinks it’ll be better to resign than be fired when he looks for another job.

Before Alan signs off, he calls Rob live on the air and says to get well. He delivers a message from his co-writers: “HELP!” Turns out Rob is needed after all. Next day at the office, Buddy gives Rob a pipe that looks just like the one he has. He got it at the corner store. Buddy had only been joking the other day about Alan giving him a gift.

Everything is about me

I just had two of my seven direct reports accept different roles in the company in the past week.

Managing people is hard. Ostensibly, your job is to do your job. But then you also have to concern yourself with a bunch of other people’s jobs. And then you realize, it’s their job to do your job. You just have to make sure they do it.

And inspire them and challenge them. And make sure they are developing themselves to do jobs that are not your job in the future.

And the good ones leave and you have to train new people to do your job. But first you have to persuade them of why it will be great for them to be trained by you to do your job.

I am constantly recognizing my people for the littlest of things and at the same time not recognizing them enough somehow.

At work I am simultaneously Rob and Alan and Buddy and Sally and Mel.

My best person left. I recognized her and thanked her so far above my comfort level of offering thanks and praise to someone, and it was still probably not enough.

I pride myself in being a transparent communicator. But my other person that left always told me he felt disconnected and under-communicated to. So I just tried harder. Last week he told me his new org’s communication is just like ours and jokingly apologized to me for giving me a hard time the last few years.

I truly hope none of my people are sitting at home in bed right now feeling as unappreciated as Rob before he received that call from Alan.

Episode observations

Life before cell phones

I am not sure if I want to keep going with the section in the long run. The intention is point out all the plots based around pointless misunderstandings that would be easily resolved with cell phones.

I guess plots like these count. Again, it’s not as direct, but a cell phone with texting would have kept Rob in constant communication with Buddy, Sally and Mel throughout him being home sick. That’s the big difference a cell phone would have made in this plot. Nearly identical to the dog sitting thing last time. I can’t keep writing this over and over, can I?

Clothes and fashion

The thought of putting on a suit and tie when I am not feeling well makes my skin crawl. Anything but pajamas is a bridge too far when I’m sick.

Smoking references

In the office on a break, Sally gets out a pack of cigarettes, Buddy gets out a pipe. They never show them actually smoke, but smoking seems to a fairly normal thing. Still no direct evidence that Rob or Laura smokes.

Pop culture references

When Laura was trying to prove to Rob he was feeling too weak, she sort of pinned him down in bed. He jokingly called her Gorgeous George, the name of an old-timey pro wrestler I recognize but don’t know why exactly.

Not sure this observation fits here or anywhere, but Laura mentioned she weighted 112 pounds during this exchange.

Life advice

“I like him better when he likes himself.”

Richtie says that to his mom about his dad. Rob, feeling down about work, is not putting his best parenting effort forward. It was pretty corny and over the top scene, but it rang true to me. Trying to parent when you have other things on your mind.

Taking care of yourself first so you can be the best caretaker for those that need you.

Best/joke funniest moment

Buddy: He must have 500 pipes in his den

Rob: His den, in this house?

Buddy: No, in his car, what kind of question is that?

(The humor was all in Buddy’s delivery.)

Other assorted thoughts on life in the 1960s

Themes of employee engagement and not coming to work when you’re sick. That seems ahead of its time.

Rob’s office had an elevator operator.

Laura fixes some warm salt water for Rob to gargle with. I was going to leave it at that sentence, as it seemed so ridiculous it didn’t seem worth Googling. But my curiosity got the better of me and I Googled it. And apparently it is a thing and it helps your sore throat.

Richtie spit out some fact he learned on a kids’ TV show. And Laura thought aloud to herself, “who says television wasn’t educational.” I feel like that too was a thing back when I was a kid in the ‘80s and ‘90s, worrying about the educationalness of TV. I don’t really think about it nowadays.

The separate beds thing isn’t getting any less weird.

Final thoughts

What Alan Brady on-air phone calls could I make for my people right now?

#s1 #e10 #the dick van dyke show #sitcoms #tv #dick van dyke #mary tyler moore #1960s #health #work #management #parenting

[startwithbrooklyn]

THE GREAT ND REWATCH OF 2021 / SEPTEMBER 30, 2019 // larkspur lane/the whisper box

this post is a double whammy cause they have 2 eps happen in the same day if u can believe it (thats how awful judging timelines in this show is!!)

-"hi josh..." LMAOOOOOOO

-BESS just breaking in lmaooo how many god damn times does bess just shit the bed in this show

-LOVE her frowny face at nancys closet ("my expectations are low" lmfaoooo but this would totally be me)

-"bet she meant it metaphorically" okayyy but then why did lucy say that at all? i feel like theres defo more to this story, combined with josh's cagey behavior (part of which is to get nancy to stop looking into shit d/t him and karen but still)

-"they dont accept visitors unless they're family" .....🙂

-ace "youre really good at that" to bess i fuckin love this friendship with all my heart (also love their talk at the claw mirroring nick & nancys talk in the last ep)

-also PINK AND ORANGE BESS ARE U BLIND (also 1) why tf would nancy own this and 2) where would she wear it??)

-okay wtf is vampire dip

-"boss??" see this is what i meant yesterday about nancy ruining everything for nick/george

-god DAMN she sucks at dealing with this news lmaooo that emotional competency babey + love george literally agrees to help bc she feels bad (AND nicks immediate look of "you just reprimanded me for helping her last ep and i know why youre doing this rn" lmaoooo)

-LOVE george noticing nick "shout out to jean valjean" lmaooo once again nancy would never have noticed/commented on something like that

-"get the hell out of here" was this foreshadowing for an epic dad joke for these two eps? "how do you make holy water? you boil the hell out of it" 😂😂😂😂

-so what i dont get about the whole haunting is the ball + kids' laughter but its all the emphasis on "mr roper" the adult? wtf like what kind of entity is this

-"how did you ever have a solo career??" 😂

-okay amaya's hair is gorgeous here (also "you feel like a snack" ....👀) *ahhh so the reason bess feels so off balance is bc its like a top vs a top scenario

-has anyone who's ever been to prison confirmed this is what it looks like?

-love how ace is the only employee there when they all leave so he had to fucking close the place when he goes

-why does she take the whole file? time constraints? it'd be smarter to take pics + replace it (better sleuthing) but this place is clearly not well run anyway 😂

-so this is a pretty decent cover she invents but theres no way she would get away with it so easily for a real guard

-love how ace recognizes ryan's car (+ is able to find it by driving around)

-"my father wouldnt do anything like that" LMFAOOOOOO SIS WHY ARE U DEFENDING HIM ironically, ace is actually the best person suited to engage w ryan here d/t the car accident + connection with laura being ryans SIL. its a unique set up

-i am fascinated by the concept of priests + holy water being so effective here combined with mcginnis' beliefs and basically nondenominational ghosts/seances etc after that. the show is very clearly big on diversity but definitely steers clear from too much WASP stuff yk? wonder if other stuff from christianity works against the ghosts/demons like taking refuge in a church "holy ground" or using silver etc

-"did this start after the night of sept 10?" *this is where you get the time line for the seance if you didnt know

-this is so fucking funny when u realize that patient sal talks to is actually a ghost so sal really is psycho i guess 😂

-bitchsplain/tall jar of mayonnaise 🙏🏻😌 2gether 4ever

-how did ace get this van? also heart attack when he yells at carson (but then grins at him like a goofball lmaooo)

-"for nancys sake and yours" damn she owes ace big time for all this shit

-"what do we do for 7 minutes?" ...ummm play 7 minutes in heaven lmaooo 👀🥵

-was not expecting ace to look this sexy holding an axe but okay (*ah, its his short sleeve shirt showing his arms. usually hes a sleeves guy)

-"desperate for attention" nancy (from gomber) vs "bc she's starved for attention" patrice --> lucy (and candace also...) we know nancys detective work makes her seem like an attention seeker, but what was lucy doing to make them all think that? she was trying to hide her relationship with ryan, not expose it. unless they just mean the rumors about her?

-so is patrice hiding lucy's "truth" talking about lucy being a whore or lucy being a ghost? what is lucy's secret? did patrice guess she was pregnant or did patrice's somehow garbled mind remember tiffany trying to show patrice the video with lucy on it?

-wonder what captain thom thinks of this stand off w ace lmaooo

-"like you do?" top v top shenanigans

-how awko for carson to talk to karen again like this

-"oh no" ACE 😂

-love how amaya says "be a human" like shes kind of admitting people in rich circles typically arent (^this is an interesting focus in s2 when bess's rich family rejects her, thus making her human again, but nancy embraces her rich fam and experiences subsequent moral struggle which is predicted with the wraith)

-wonder what ryan thinks he could get from the marvins (which he cant get now lmaooo)

-this damn whisper box. so many questions. who named it the whisper box? why are the ropers' old possessions still there? who decided to build a mental hospital on top of it? and patrice! she "hid lucy's secrets" hannah gruen thinks tiffany tried to show patrice video w lucy on it, which patrice then specifically says she hid in the thin mans book. so patrice knows of the thin man? can she see him? does she know he was a ghost/supernatural? she must have a supernatural sense to know about him (unless sal told or some shit) so then when tiffany shows up w/ lucy being supernatural in it patrice hides it to protect her? is this why she is "crazy" kinda like victoria? supernatural elements or ability to sense ghosts makes her unstable? this is why lucy being a ghost/nursery rhyme that she repeats makes patrice worse/"stroke"? how did patrice even get into the whisper box to put the key in the bible and get out without getting trapped? also, her dementia --> lucidity is really fucking off, some people mildly switch like that but usually with dementia they cant even register new shit anymore

-...so did bess take the ride? 👀

-interesting how celia says "your father will be disappointed" but nothing of her own opinion. wonder how much celia truly puts up with to keep everett calm and nonhomicidal

-like george asking nick follow up questions that nancy never really would have asked

🥞🥞🥞(ep13)🥞🥞🥞

-is this bitch just eating a plain pancake with her bare hand?

-"extra case load and excessive volunteering" ugh. nancy's family here are like, gross in how "good" of people they are // unrealistic, trying to paint carson in the best light/ no way ryan could ever compare (but the reality is theyre not that good of people for lying about nancy) **and shes arrogant to think shes better than everyone else ie the only one who truly lives virtuously, thinks she can do no wrong sometimes even tho using sex to cope, breaking and entering, etc is not morally "good" stuff she still thinks she is the only one who doesnt lie and plays fair (like in the pilot she lists everyone else as a suspect but herself- obviously we know she isnt guilty but no one else does. (i mean in theory we really dont, what if nancy was an unreliable narrator and was actually guilty, that would be a hella cool show)its reactions like that where she cant understand why others like the chief suspect her

-ooooh ironic that in the Good Place carson readily agrees to pay her for helping with cases as opposed to s2 in reality

-nick's house has "problems" so why does he need a lawyer? as opposed to an interior designer, plumber, or realtor?

-in the Good Place nick and george realize they are not going to work out after one date. does this failure in the Good Place predict failure in reality, or merely an easier way of figuring out the truth? does this mean that the "opposite" of the Good Place is reality, or only an opinion of what is better? (nancy says "you all like me" as her opinion of them liking her is skewed; does this then only reflect nancys version for what is the "perfect life"?)

-why is bess a hippie??? and love how george curls her hair and wears pink lipstick here

-if this dream is so realistic then why is the one thing it cant conjure smoke? like how random

-love the locket being a key realization bc with things like jewelry you dont notice the weight of them until theyre gone

-"you all like me" in her perfect life nancy means they "like" her objectively/regardless of circumstance even though liking her is still an objective choice (like they "like" her because of other reasons instead of her working at the claw? (like how you make friends with coworkers/people at school every day but after you leave the job/graduate you never speak to them again) and her "thanks for showing up!" as if theyre not doing exactly that in reality 😐like where is she getting this shit? she sort of acknowledges in earlier eps she is hard to like/that she puts mysteries before friends, but also pushing them away to avoid danger like the previous ep "why do u show up" etc

-is it just me or does the inside of nicks "house" look like the drews'?

-nick has a dick scar lmaooooo (or more likely was hit in the balls or smth)

-love how nick + george match their anger in confronting sal 100% on the same level

-so when did ace go back to work after having such a busy day earlier?? lmaooo

-damn father shane is a creep (casting defo hired him for his voice) and how tf did he just poof + escape? and what did he request???

-love bess's white hair bow here 😌+ her jacket, whole outfit on point as usual

-like how bess is right that nancy has to find her way out but thats kind of a nonstarter for a room full of panicked people wanting to help

-in the Good Place theres no bad blood between drews + hudsons bc nancy is really theirs

-"the only one who has the key is you" in the Good Place nancy has the key (smaller picture, to finding out what happened to lucy but bigger picture, post-reveal) but ryan has the clues nancy needs- following the Good Place's mirroring, this just means that in reality ryan will either be completely useless or an active hindrance (but you KNOW this is a dream bc in what universe would ryan remember clues like that 😂)

-so in a perfect universe ryan acknowledges his family's "criminal empire" as opposed to reality where he only makes under cover jabs about disengaging with being an "entitled corrupt legacy criminal" ie finding the bonny scot relics but does nothing about them, etc

-"strippers" 😂

-okay what is nancys obsession w her beanie?? bc her mom made it? "wear beanies do crimes?" idk

-making the call: nancy -unable to make up for lost time/both her mothers had to find out/suffer alone / in the Good Place nancy was able to be with kate while she called, and in reality she had carson; somethig about seeing the mother looking to the daughter for strength in the Good Place instead of the reverse (which is what reality sounded like, kate being strong for nancy through the illness despite the struggle)

-concept: nancy & nick "let's wait out the storm"

-"i believe that you believe it" nick in the Good Place + owen in reality both trust nancy when she says she's seen things (owen's is the teeth) but nick in reality (and not really knowing details) doesnt think much of their "moment" bc it wasnt real (so she had to leave the Good Place to save carson- but if she had known then he wasnt her real dad, would she have stayed to be w nick?)

-stranger - suede james 💙👌🏻

-"really anxious as a kid" v telling bc of her desire to know everything to remain in control of situations like she always does now

-"the medicine or the metaphysics?"/"you cannot beat supernatural with science"

-i love nancy playing with her pinky while saying goodbye 🥺

-"always seek out the truth even if it hurts" this is straight irony bc kate never told nancy anything. like does that include the truth about nancys parentage? they taught her to seek out the truth, but who taught her that the truth is the only thing to live by? ie things dont count anymore like carson and kate straight up raising her is tossed out bc she finds out its not "the truth" like all that work/stress to protect carson + she just drops him? with kate maybe shes just upset thst she spent all that time mourning for someone who lied. and would she do the same to ryan if needed? probably

-bess and ace head tilt 💙

-like how for all the time she spent there nancy only has a subconscious memory of blue curtains

-YESSSSS i LOVEthese beautiful overhead shots of hannah's hands. so out of character for the show lmao but so gorgeous

-i feel like future eps/grand future will be nancy going through the lock boxes to help people who asked hannah for help

-the video is officially dated Aug 22, 2019

-soooooo in the first ep nancy breaks into the hudsons house and finds tiffanys secret drawer w the nail polish and finds the amulet with a note that says "for your protection HG" yet on this video tiffany says she talked to a medium who gave her the amulet sooooo am i just confused? HG is hannah gruen obvi so is the address for the medium what hannah gave her? or was the address on the amulet which nancy dissolved in salt water to see? so how would tiffany know where to go? its chicken and the egg which came first hannah or the medium?

and lastly:

i close these two eps with a thought that everything in this show is sealed in death. all the lies, the imagery, the fake constructs people put up to get by all crumple the second someone dies- all the secrets come clean just like these doors have been unsealed.

#brooklyn's ND primer #nancy drew cw #the Great Rewatch of 2021 #you best start believing in ghost stories miss drew - you're in one

[wolfpawn]

I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 155

Chapter Summary - Danielle and Tom spend their two weeks by the seaside enjoying themselves and thinking over what they plan for the future.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long.  This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously.

Copyright for the photo is the owners, not mine. All image rights belong to their owners

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog @jessibelle-nerdy-mum @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1 @winterisakiller @fairlightswiftly @salempoe @wolfsmom1 @black-ninja-blade

Danielle inhaled deeply and stuck her head under the water again, pulling herself through the waves for as long as felt comfortable before taking another deep breath of air and continuing.

Having calculated how far she needed to swim to meet her training requirements the day previous, she checked her watch and made for the shoreline. Pulling herself from the water, she smiled at seeing Tom waiting for her with Mac on the beach.

“Do you need a rest before we start?” He smiled, handing her the pair of shoes she had given to him for after her swim.

“No rest on the day, come on.” She smiled back as she put them. “And remember I have small legs.”

Laughing, Tom turned to head to the road. “And you just did a mile and a half swim.” He added.

“That too.” Danielle laughed as they jogged off, Mac in tow.

“Am I going too fast?” Tom asked as Danielle increased her speed halfway through their run.

“I need to push myself.” She declared as she continued.

Mac trotted happily beside them, elated at the early morning run as the hot days meant he and Bobby were forced to hide in the shade and cool tiled floor of the house. Bobby was still too young to go jogging so he was safely back at the house with Poppy, asleep in his bed.

For seven miles, Tom and Danielle ran a fast enough pace before coming to the carpark they had left the car in beside the beach once more. When they came to a halt, Tom inhaled deeply. “Is the route that uneven on the day?” He asked, referencing the Ironman.

“Not that they have given the maps for, no. But if you are prepared for shitty terrain, then easy terrain will be simple.” Danielle informed him. “Did you talk to your cousins, about your aunt?”

“Yes, Laura will be making more of an effort to get her to settle down with her badgering yet spend time with her, sans Rupert.”

“Good, it's not healthy to be more obsessed with your dog than your children.” She stretched her leg out. “I am going to walk the dogs tomorrow at this time, are you coming?”

“Yep.” Tom smiled loving the idea of an early morning walk. “I can't wait to see what Bobby makes of the water here.”

“He's a spaniel, chances are he'll have to be forcibly removed from it.”

Tom laughed at her words. “Most likely, yes.” He placed Mac in the car and tied his harness to the belt clip to keep him safe. “Elle?” Danielle looked at him and smiled. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Taking the time from work to come here, for getting your work and ignoring it rather than cutting into our time with my extended family.”

“I need to balance my home and work life. You matter more to me than that job. I love my job, I really do but between you and it, you win.” She leant up and kissed him.

Tom was taken back, not by the show of affection or even the declaration, though both were bold but the fact that it was outdoors, anyone could see them and she dismissed it all to reassure him that her love for him was more important than being seen by some bottom feeding photographer. “You wouldn't risk your happiness at work for us too much though, would you?”

Danielle's brow furrowed. “How do you mean?”

“Well, if it was us or being a Safety officer?”

“Depends on the circumstances. If I was being forbidden by you to work, then no, I wouldn't allow it. If it was a choice of it and you and it was dragging me from what makes me happy then I'd drop it like it's hot.” She shrugged. “Why?”

“Just asking.” He stated, going to the back seat of the car to get her a towel as she was still damp from her swim before their run.

“I worry with some of your questions sometimes. It always feels like there's more to them.” She commented before taking the towel. “Thank you.”

“I am a normal person who on occasion asks odd questions when I think of them, the same as every other person on the planet.” Tom defended before getting into the driver's seat. Danielle said nothing else before getting in the passenger side. “I am also considering upgrading my car.”

“Is there an upgraded version of free?”

Tom chuckled. “Not that I'm aware.”

“Up to yourself.” Danielle shrugged. “But don't go too mad, this thing already takes up a lot of the driveway, so no stretch Hummer or something similar.”

“Well, that's my plans ruined.” Tom laughed as they headed back to the house as Danielle laughed beside him.

*

Over the first week, Danielle and Tom spent the most of it in the company of his family, knowing that the following week, they would have the place to themselves.

Danielle spent time with Diana and Emma mostly, but also Sarah on occasion. She insisted that she would mind the Duchess while they went out for tea but the Hiddleston women were disgusted at the mere thought and instead told her that their fathers would mind both girls, that she was to come also.

Tom spent time being an uncle, something he did not get to do with enough regularity in his opinion. With his busy work schedule, he had not been able to invest as much time in being there for his older niece as he wanted but for the week they were on the one house, he ensured that he played with her and spent time getting his younger niece used to his face. In fact, Lucy beamed brightly at her silly faced uncle when he came over and acknowledged her. He also spent time with Jack and Yakov; as again, his busy life meaning he rarely saw them. His sisters he was more often in the company of but that did not indicate that they often met.

Come the end of the first week, the family was saddened to be going their separate ways once more, even with an argument or two, as is natural, the week was incredibly pleasant.

Saying goodbye to the family, Tom and Danielle relished in the fact they had another week to enjoy the seaside.

“Stop bragging.” Emma growled as she hugged Danielle close.

“I didn't say anything.”

“You don't need to, I can see the look on your face.”

“I will be back next week for the wedding.” Danielle promised.

“You don't…”

“I'll be there.” She reiterated. “You want to go to this. Diana and I will spoil Lucy in your absence.”

“Thank you.” Jack smiled, giving her a hug also. “We will see you then.”

“Drive safe.” Tom grinned, joining them.

“And you two better not get up to too much mischief.” Jack joked.

“Damn, they're onto us.” Danielle joked. “No parties.” She held her hand up like she was swearing an oath.

To a chorus of laughs, Danielle and Tom said goodbye to the last of the Hiddleston clan to leave, leaving them to the large home for them and their dogs.

As soon as Emma and Jack's car left the drive, went down the road and out of sight, Tom and Danielle walked back inside. By the time Tom had closed the front door and turned around, Danielle had taken off the open plaid shirt she had been wearing over a string top. “I need to find shorts to wear.” She commented, playfully grinning at Tom. “Or perhaps just my panties and bra.” Tom's eyes widened. “I think I brought those black ones, didn't….oh I'm wearing them.”

“If you are just teasing me…”

“Come upstairs and find out.” She smiled, sashaying her hips as she went up the stairs.

Tom barely locked the front door before rushing up after her, scooping her into his arms when they got to the top of the stairs before carrying her to the bedroom and placing her on the bed, kissing her as he did while leaning over her, her hands going immediately to his ass.

*

“Elle?”

“No, I'm not getting up.” She groaned, curling into the pillow.

“What about walking the boys?”

Danielle sighed before forcing herself to stretch. “Fine.”

They got ready in relative quiet before grabbing the dogs and getting into the car.

Usually, Tom had no issue with driving but he requested that Danielle do so specifically. It was odd but Danielle had no issue doing so. She noticed Tom seemed somewhat distracted on their journey but said nothing. On their walk, though he spoke on occasion, it was clear Tom was thinking of other things.

They got to the place that both Tom and Danielle swore they would go on a non-training day, on top the cliffs that showed the beautiful white-rocked coastline that made the section of Southern England so iconic, both making comments of the beautiful scenery as they walked.

“These are the places that make you think about life.” Danielle smiled, sighing as she looked at the sun, though still only half way to rising in the clear sky, the water glistening below and the cliffs looking radiantly white.

“And what do you find yourself thinking of it?” Tom inquired.

“Just how happy I am. The weather is good, it's a lovely few days break, this place is so beautiful, I really enjoyed having your family around for a couple of days, work is ticking by well with the new office and we are doing really incredibly, I think anyway, and I can honestly say, overall, I am really happy.” She smiled, looking to Tom to see his reaction.

For his part, Tom felt elated at the analogy of her life and her happiness with him. “So you never regret moving in with me?”

“Well, the toilet seat thing drives me barmy at four in the morning, but no, I don't.” She professed. “What about you, are you happy?”

“More so than I thought possible. Two years ago...Jesus, when I think back…”

“Don't, don't think back, no one wants to think back to that.” Danielle laughed.

“I am so grateful for how things turned out, how we turned out.”

“Do you think if worth it? Your summer of madness?”

“I do now.” He nodded. Tom smiled at her before looking across the water. “I think back two years and also wonder what lies ahead.”

“We all do that. I think back to two years ago. I loved being a paramedic, being able to help people but I love my work more now and the more I do, the more I think of. Say a year from now and how much more I will have learnt, how much more we will have done together.” Danielle's smile was a content one as she thought of perhaps having a similar conversation with Tom in a year's time atop the cliffs again, that would be something to covet in her opinion. “What about you?”

“Something similar.” Tom confessed, startled as to how Danielle had turned the conversation to the future, something he had wanted to discuss with her. “But I hope to see other new things in it too.”

“Such as?”

Tom inhaled deeply and forced himself to say what he had been thinking over for longer than he would care to admit. “Well, given how long Irish people seem to like to have engagements, I hope that perhaps we could be discussing the final requirements for a wedding.”

Danielle frowned, having been listening to Tom's words as she looked out to the ocean as she processed them but on that statement, she turned and faced Tom again, startled to see him at her nervously before getting on one knee with a ring box open in his hand. “What?” her voice shook from what she was seeing.

“Danielle Constance Hughes, would you please consider doing me the immense honour of becoming my wife?”

#i hate you i love you #chapter 155 #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fic #wolfpawn

[jenniferyoung]

name: jennifer young age: 38 fc: laura vanderroort time in charming: life long occupation: trauma counsellor side: devils positive traits: + valiant, + fierce, + loving negative traits: - worrywart, - insecure, - stubborn children: one boy, 22 years old siblings: one older brother

trigger warnings(please read them carefully, her background is very dark and traumatic): kidnap, abuse, implied rape, teen pregnancy, traumatic child-birth.

this is gonna be really long and i’m sorry. if you actually read it all i’ll give you a cookie

✹ early life was pretty simple, even with a dad and brother in the MC

✹ plans to graduate and go to college to study archaeology

✹ that got yeeted when she was kidnapped not long after her 16th birthday

✹ jenny had been walking home from a friends when she was grabbed from behind and knocked out

✹ she woke up in a basement with her hands and feet chained to the bed. loose enough for her to move around and sit up but not to get free

✹ her captor? turned out to be a man who she’d been seeing a lot of in the last weeks. random encounters that seemed so innocent until right now

✹ he was quite young, late 20′s maybe but he was absolutely insane. completely infatuated with her and thought that by kidnapping her, he could have her for himself and they’d have a happy life. loco maniac with big temper issues

✹ naturally she did try countless times to escape but would be quickly slapped down, only for him to cry and apologise afterwards, “why did you make me do that” as though any of it was her fault

✹ once the abuse turned into physical touches, that’s when her tears dried up and her mind began to go into autopilot. not to mention the drugs he forced down her throat to keep her subdued really took away a lot of her will to fight

✹ it had been two whole months when she finally started accepting her fate. nobody was ever going to find her and as if the man could see that light go out in her eyes, that night he pinned her down and raped her in spite of her pleas

✹ he even had the audacity to call it love

✹ she was pretty much broken after this. especially since she had been a virgin, so imagine how traumatised she was when another 2 months slipped by and she realised she hadn’t had her period

✹ it had been his plan all along, he wanted a family with her because he was convinced “you’ll love me eventually”

✹ it would have been easy enough to break completely but in the following weeks, something really strange happened. instead of focusing on the trauma, on how used and disgusting she felt, she focused on her growing bump

✹ hours alone in the dark, she began to talk to it, as though somehow it was a comfort to them both

✹ the first time she felt it kick was the first time in months she had a spark of life behind her blue eyes. so she did fall in love, not with her captor, but with her baby

✹ at first she did try to hate it, this thing growing inside her that she didn’t ask for but she couldn’t. how could you blame an innocent life for how it came to be?

✹ the following months, she began to put on an act. starting with a smile now and again that looked genuine, to a laugh at one of the mans jokes. making him believe he was winning, that she was slowly coming around to the idea of being with him

✹ for the most part, it worked. the abuse stopped, she convinced him to stop drugging her because it wasn’t good for “their” baby

✹ the plan was to eventually convince him to unchain her. he agreed to unchain her feet, which was a start ( and a relief considering the metal had long since dug right into her ankles )

✹ she waited a few more days but before she could ask about her hands, she felt the first signs of labour

✹ newly terrified, she literally cried and begged him to call an ambulance because holy fuck

✹ obviously he refused and she spent the next 30 hours in excruciating agony. something was not right

✹ she was bleeding, trying to fight the urge to push because her whole instincts were telling her not to, but it was no use

✹ four pushes and a whole lot of banshee screams later, she birthed a baby boy whom she begged to hold instantly, if only to take him out of the mans hands

✹ beautiful. the second he started to cry and looked up at her with his blue eyes she knew there wasn’t anything or anyone she’d ever let hurt him

✹ somewhere between the mixture of emotions, she hadn’t realised that she was starting to bleed out and the panic returned

✹ frantically, she tried to tell the man that he needed to unchain her and take her to a hospital and to her almost shock, he agreed. like he was actually concerned that she was going to bleed out and die if he didn’t.

✹ it was practically impossible to get up the stairs and even harder to hold her son against her chest whilst looking with double vision for something she could use as a weapon

✹ the glimmer of something shiny caught her eye and in a burst of bravery and energy, she grabbed it (a shiny vase on the table top) and swung it around, smashing it off his head

✹ thank god it must have knocked him out for at least a few seconds because she managed to get to and out the front door

✹ that’s when she realised she was still in charming. not only that, but she could see the clubhouse from where she stood & so she ran (hobbled, hopped, nearly crawled w/e) bursting through the doors like something out of a horror movie, dirty and bloody and instantly on her knees because she couldn’t support her own weight anymore

✹ her father, brother and a couple other members instantly flew to her aid. it had to have been nearly a year since she went missing and now here she was, holding a baby and about to die

✹ “he’s mine” was almost all she could manage to whisper as she had no energy to stop one of the guys taking him from her “don’t let him touch him, don’t– don’t let him” don’t let the captor touch her son, is what she meant

✹ it was barely a second after everything turned black and when she woke, it was three days later and she was in hospital. safe

✹ she only asked once about the guy and got the reply from her dad “it’s been handled” presumably she left a good trail of blood for them to find the source. but she never did dare ask, had she killed him with the vase? or did they. not that she cared.

✹ she only went over her ordeal once with her parents, her brother and the mc’s president at the time and then she told them she never wanted to relive it. which suited them just fine because they couldn’t have the guys dead body getting tied to them.

✹ so the only alternative? was to say she had ran away, that she fell pregnant and that’s why she stayed away until she got scared and came home. cue the judgement from the towns snooty bitches

✹ it was a fight and a half to keep her son, with a mother who wanted to support her decision but a father who was adamant she wouldn’t be able to cope

✹ it got overly extreme, she threatened to end her own life if he had her baby taken away & went on to explain that her son was the only thing that kept her going in those months

✹ she wanted to raise him, teach him to be kind and be a good man and to her relief, her father relented

✹ she named him liam because she always recalled someone telling her it meant “unwavering saviour”

✹ the next five years were tough, but she never gave up and she never quit. she focused her energy on her son, on learning to handle her ordeal in a healthy manner. her father paid good money for her to see a trauma counsellor, one out of town who wouldn’t ask questions they didn’t have answers to. the only rules? never tell them her real name (she posed as someone called lucy) and never name the man so it could never be traced back to them

✹ it was an uphill battle and to be honest, even now sometimes it still is

✹ she was inspired by the way the counsellor helped her and decided that’s what she wanted to do with her life now, so she went back to school and studied for a degree

✹ she’s now a qualified trauma and ptsd counsellor with her own office in the hospital. she also does a lot of fundraising for charities that feel close to her heart. domestic violence, etc. etc.

✹ when she was 25, she finally spoke out at a charity auction she’d organised for survivors and it was hands down the scariest thing she’d ever done. but she did it because she wanted to help young girls see that there was always a light at the end of the tunnel. that you’re not defined by your trauma ( she had to tweak a couple facts, such as saying it happened out of town and that the guy got away )

✹ sooo yeah, she’s one tough bitch now. taught herself how to fight and yoo she kicks ass. got a lot of her confidence back and made damn sure she was raising a good boy

✹ there is literally nobody on this earth she loves more than liam and even though he’s 22 now, he’s still very much her baby and her saving grace

bop bop bop there we have it. *hands you a chocolate chip cookie*

connections:

friends

enemies

exes ending on good or bad terms

fwb or past hook ups maybe

someone she councils would be great

her soN liam would be even better. i visualise him as brandon flynn if he could work for you. alternatively, joe keery or dacre montgomery? it’s negotiable

her older brother would be great too

or any mc members who were around at the time her trauma happened

life long besties who would also know the truth whilst everyone else assumed she was some dumb slapper who got knocked up

anything elseeee

#charming.intro #about #TRIGGERS: stated just above the read more - please read them carefully this is some dark stuff

[dabiensworld]

"please stay"

Huge thank you for @ladysantebellum and @fallonsliam for giving me an opportunity to express myself and the best work they did with organizing this event. I suck when it comes to tumblr so it isn't look so pretty as I want but I hope you will enjoy the content.

They came back to the Manor from The La Perla party. It was just after 11 pm. The night wasn’t perfect, her mother’s presence and Jeff Colby weren’t the perfect addition to the perfect first date, but Fallon had fun with Liam tonight, but obviously Liam didn’t. Something definitely was on his mind what made him sad and pensive.

“It was really nice evening.” Fallon said with gentle yet seductive smile on her face.

“ Yes, it was.” Liam answered, but Fallon could sense that something was wrong with him. Liam mumbled something what sounds like “goodnight”, he kissed her cheek and then he turned around and went to his room. Fallon walked into her room and closed the door behind her. She didn’t know what went wrong. She was lovely and sexy and she didn’t say anything stupid like she used to when she was around boys she likes. And she definitely likes Liam and she thought he liked her too.

Fallon took a quick shower, dried her hair and she put on lingerie, nothing sexy, just classic but this could affect Liam’s imagination. She went to his room. The door was partly open. She opened it and walked into.

“Knock knock.” she said with a smile, but that what she saw wiped the smile from her face. He was packing his things.

“ What are you doing?”

“ I’m packing.” Liam looked like a child caught on candy’s stealing. He didn’t expect Fallon at this time.

“ Our contract is clearly saying that I should leave the manor till midnight. It’s almost 12.30 am so I need to hurry up cause I missed deadline.” he quickly came back to being charming and amusing.

“ Don’t worry, I won’t call out our bodyguards to throw you out of the gate. You can stay here till morning.” Fallon smiled widely and sat on a bed.

“ You also can finish packing at the morning. “ Fallon added so that there would be no awkward silence between them.

“Thanks Fallon, but I’d rather do it right now. In the morning I will make sure I took everything.” Liam came closer to bed and looked at Fallon. She was thinking that he wanted to touch her or maybe even kissed her and then it hit her. She realized she was sitting on his clothes. She stood up and sat next to them. She felt her cheeks blushed. She is Fallon Carrington, she’s never blushed. But the heat of her skin proved that she wasn’t completely herself when Liam Ridley was near. But he seemed to not seeing her shame, he was still absorbed in packing his stuff.

“ You wanted to leave without saying goodbye, didn’t you?” she said sadly and when he raised his head, she knew he could sense the sadness in her voice.

“No, of course not.” he replied but this was the most dishonest answer she’s ever heard.

“Liar.” Fallon felt a metaphorical needle sticking into her heart. She’s never felt it before. Not even with Culhane, but with guy whom she knows a few days.

“ I wouldn’t go without goodbye.” Liam stopped packing,set his backpack on the floor and sat next to her on the bed.

“ I could not do it to you. But I think we both know it’s time for me to go.”

“ Didn’t you enjoy our date?” she knew she sounded a little bit desperate but she didn’t care about it then.

“ I did Fallon, really. I did enjoy our date. It was a wonderful night and also the last couple of days.” maybe unconsciously but he laid his hand on hers and squeezed.

“ So what is wrong?” she said. She looked deeply into Liam’s eyes. Her sight let him know that she would know when he would lie again. He took a deep breath and said.

“ I started to feel something for you Fallon. Seriously. I don’t know what exactly it is but I know it’s something.”

Fallon couldn’t see herself but she was sure her eyes were shining and her face was more red than before. She smiled shyly. Liam’s face was completely different. He didn’t blush like a virgin teenager. His face was tense and Fallon could barely read any emotions from it. He squeezed her hand more tightly.

“ Also I know that I couldn’t start nothing serious with you knowing that I lied to you since the beginning.”

“ What are you talking about? Is it a joke?” Fallon wrenched her hand free.

“ That woman, who we met in church on your grandfather’s funeral had right. She was old coworker of my parents John and Laura. “

“ Wait a minute.” Fallon stood up and came closer to the windows. “ That means your name is…”

“Jack” Liam said. He wanted to get closer to her but she stepped back.

“ Why did you lie in the courthouse that you are Liam Ridley? “ she reached her hand in front of her to let him understand that she didn’t want him to get closer to her.

“ I didn’t. “ Liam knew he screwed up and Fallon was angry at him. He needed to calm her down and made her listen to him.

“ Please, let me explain everything.” he stepped away to give her space.

“ You have two minutes. “ she folded her arms.

“ Please sit down” Liam came to her and he pointed to the bed. She decided to sit but she tried to avoid his touch. Liam understood her intention and kept his distance. Fallon sat on the bed and crossed her legs. She sent him eloquent look to let him know he could start talking.

“ Clock is ticking, one minutes left.”

“ Okay “ he sighed and he knelt in front of her. Fallon recalled her business class about body language.

He gave her a sign humbling himself before her that he gave up his resistance and he wanted to be completely honest with her.

“ My full name is Jack Liam Ridley Lowden Van Kirk. My parents are John Lowden and Laura Van Kirk - shareholders of Van Kirk Industries in New York.” Fallon raised her eyebrows and she looked at Liam’s face and it seemed like he didn’t lie. She heard about Van Kirks. They are rich and powerful like Carringtons, some big and small scandals. Maybe she even heard about his Liam’s parents, maybe Blake met them a couple years ago.

“ Okay but why you introduced yourself as Liam Ridley?”

“ I changed my name a few years ago. My family’s mess very complicated my career and also my personal life. I’ve decided to cut myself off of them, started new life with new name and crystal clear card in Atlanta. Now I’m officially Liam Ridley. But some people still know me as Jack Lowden. People like Julia Haart or...”

“ Julia knows who you are?” she interrupted his sentence in half a word.

“ She does. I worked with her company last year during the promotion for Vanity Fair. That’s why I’ve acted that weird. I was afraid that someone would ask you about me.” he really wanted her to believe his words but he knew it’s all sound like a crazy story from stupid Hallmark movie.

“ So you didn’t want me to know who you truly are?” she was definitely disappointed. Another man in her life who failed her.

“ Honestly I didn’t. But not because I wanted to lie you. It’s because this is my real life. You’re part of Liam Ridley’s life, not Jack Lowden. I just didn’t expect this whatever is between us will survive. It was supposed to be for one day and then we would go our separate ways. ” he laid his hands on hers and squeezed them. It took several seconds before he could raised his head and looked into her eyes and it took another several minutes for either of them to break the silence.

“ You know how insane your story sounds? “ he didn’t see tears in her eyes but he could hear how her voice broke.

“ Trust me I would sound more insane if I told you this story the day we met on the bench.” it was funny that he asked her to trust him. He was totally sure he’s the last person on Fallon Carrington’s trust list.

“ Anyway, I will take the rest of my stuff and go. I will not impose you anymore.” he released her hand and stood up.

“ Wait.” she said and stood between him and door. Liam was a little bit disorientated.

“ Look I appreciate that you told me the truth about your past and I understand why you didn’t tell me about it before, because it’s almost intimate and I’m like a stranger for you while you are my husband and I am your wife. Or was… It’s past midnight. “ Fallon felt stupid right now and she was talking through her hat, but she realized something. She realized she wasn’t ready to let Liam Ridley go.

“ Anyway you lied to me and you made me think that I am hopeless date, which I’m a great date, but it isn’t the worst thing someone did to me and I feel I can forget you, because you don’t know so many things about me too but you can know if you want to. And I totally feel that I’m talking bullshit. And I always talk like this when I’m talking with a guy I like.” Fallon said with clenched teeth. She was sure she was as red as a tomato and she probably embarrassed herself. But she felt light too. It was the first time she told someone she liked how she felt and it was a great feeling. She was also happy this person was Liam.

“ I like you Liam… Or Jack… But I’d rather call you Liam. I like you. “ she said it twice, in less than one minute, in the same sentence. Fallon never believes she was able to do it. What this man is doing to her?

“ I like you too Fallon Carrington.” Liam answered. His eyes were full of happiness and relief. He touched her chin and closed his mouth to hers and kissed her. It was only their second kiss but Fallon knew that the taste of his lips was her favorite. He broke it and she smiled and giggled like a little girl.

“ I’m not going to keep you in the Manor, you can go back to your place. But I really want to know you better and you to know me better. Please stay, stay in my life.”

#falliam fic #Falliam frenzy #Falliam #Dynasty fic #Fanfiction

[crewhonk]

Turmoil (iii)

Words: 2,809 Warnings: Swearing, Fighting

Pairings: Steve Rogers X Reader

Series summary: When Steve and YN differ in their opinions on the Accords, will they be able to survive or will their beliefs get in the way?

Chapter Summary: YN is at the UN in Vienna when tragety strikes, making her question her place in the overall situation.

Part One \ Part Two

You had never been a fan of fancy dressing. The blouses and skirts your mom bought you when you were small were never comfortable, and you were never able to properly move while being active and playing the same way you wanted to. You thought the idea that girls had to wear dresses and pretty things to be considered feminine was a dumb notion, and you made a point to always dirty your nice clothes to the point of no return. Eventually, you found yourself in Vienna twenty years later in a light blue blouse and five-inch heels readying yourself for a United Nations meeting to sign yourself over to the government.

Amazing.

You believed in the Accords, you truly did. You couldn’t shake the feeling that the Accords created more issues than they solved and felt a thick resentment towards them flow through your bones. You were leaning against the windows, watching the news reporters gather and work. Your thoughts were soon interrupted by a husky cough beside you, and when you turned around you were met with a beautiful dark-skinned man. He held an air of pride and suave-ness that had you nervously tucking your hair behind your ear and smiling nervously.

“I’ve always admired their drive to discover the truth.” He said, his accent thick and voice deep. “They are willing to do anything to get a leg up in the world despite the consequences their actions bring.”

You frown and nod, looking out of the window once more and watching them closely. They were all styled for TV, and there was an animalistic way they shoved past each other to get the best shot.

“It would be easier if they were all able to work together and create a system that benefits everyone rather than stabbing each other in the backs to do what they believe is the right thing.” You replied, sighing and looking back up at him. He smirked at your response and nodded.

“You do not believe in the Accords?” His question was met with a pregnant pause while you chewed your lip in thought.

“I do,” You said, crossing your arms and turning your back to the reporters. “I’m resentful of the way it’s tearing my family apart. But I do believe that power must be controlled in order for it to be used for Good.”

There was a quiet chuckle from the man in front of you, and you found your chest puffing with pride at the thought of making him laugh. “You would fit into my county, well, Miss. YLN.” He smiled. You found yourself tilting your head at him and smirking.

“You know my name, but I don’t get to know yours?” You held your hand out for him to shake, and he looked at it almost nervously before grasping your hand in both of his.

“The most powerful Human Avenger? How could I not know who you are.” His words made you blush and look down at your joined hands. “I am T’Challa— Prince of Wakanda.” You drew your hand back quickly in shock before bowing your head.

“I’m sorry, your Highness I didn’t—“ His hands shot out to cut you off and you stopped yourself before you could say any more.

“Do not fret, Miss YLN. Please, call me T’Challa. Any person who I engage in diplomacy with is a friend, I assure you.”

You were saved by Natasha, who had chosen this moment to sweep in and save the day. You were sure she knew how tense you felt, and were grateful for her rescue. She shook his hand when he held his out, and they greeted each other as if they were old friends.

“I guess neither of us are used to the spotlight.” He smiled warmly down at her, and she sent a wink over to you. She let out a breath of amusement at his words.

“Well, it’s not always so flattering.” Her voice dropped a few octaves, and you wanted to laugh and roll your eyes as you recognized her infamous seduction tone. You almost elbowed her int he ribs when his eyes squinted at her slightly.

“You seem to be doing alright so far.” He looked over at the crowd and noticed a few of the people who Natasha had been talking to previously. Both you and the Prince felt admiration in Natasha’s ability to make people like her regardless of if they knew her past or not. She smirked and leaned in closer to him in a way that just barely invaded his personal space— another trick. He seemed to catch on to her tactics, however, and rose a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

“Considering your previous stunts on Capitol Hill, that is. I wouldn’t think you’d be particularly comfortable in this company.” You almost lost your composure when he smirked and watched the flirtatious giant in her eyes leave— replaced with awe and respect similar to her own. Not many could see through her charm, and the fact that he saw through it clear as day made Natasha like the man even more than she had before.

She shot a quick look over to you, and you smirked at her playfully. “We’re not.” She said, looking back to him only after she spoke. He looked at the both of you and bowed his head kindly.

“That makes me very glad that you are here then, Ladies.” You could tell the way your and Natasha’s heart fluttered in response to his charm and compliments— he was certainly groomed for royalty.

“Why? You don’t approve of all this?”

He pursed his lips and shook his head, eyes wandering over the crowd once more. “The Accords? Yes. The politics— not really. Two people in a room can get more accomplished than one hundred.”

“Unless you need to move a piano.” A softer voice sounded from behind you and Natasha and your head whipped around to face the King of Wakanda. His hair was thick and white on top of his head and his kind eyes were framed by gold-framed glasses. You found yourself gravitating towards this man, and you knew everyone in the room felt the same way— the king of such an isolated country demanded respect and curiosity, and there was an air of excitement int he air due to his upcoming speech.

“Baba,” T’Challa smiled, greeting his father. You could see the way his body language communicated his love and respect for the elder, and that feeling made you like the Prince even more than you had. The King tore his eyes away from his son to look at you and Natasha. He reached for your hands first, kissing both of your hands and saying your name in greeting. He turned to Natasha, then and he kissed her hands quickly before dropping them and greeting her.

“Miss Romanoff.”

“King T’Chaka. Please allow me to personally apologize for what happened in Nigeria.” She said mournfully and respectfully bowing her head.

“Thank you,” The older man turned to you, then and his gaze turned from kind to cold in a second, sending a chill up your spine. “I’m sorry Mr. Rogers was unable to join us today.”

The mention of Steve felt similar to a slap in the face and you barely held back from a wince. The King seemed to notice the pain that Steve’s absence caused you, and his large hand rested on your bicep. The pressure of his hand on your arm comforted you in a way that you had never been comforted before and you found yourself sending him a small smile despite your heavy sadness.

“We are as well, King T’Chaka.” Your voice came out rapier than you would have liked, but T’Chaka seemed to understand your pain and glossed over it as if it wasn’t obvious. A robotic voice sounded from the speakers and you jumped when the woman began to announce that the assembly was in session. You and Natasha both bowed your heads and left the father and son duo to their own devices, and walked over to the assigned seats in the front row. You took a few gulps from the glass of water, and you tried to ignore the way Nat was looking at you.

“How are you holding up?” Her voice was slow when she spoke and you scoffed quietly to yourself, looking down at your hands that rested in your lap.

“I’m barely keeping it together as it is, Nat. What if I made the wrong decision in leaving Steve?” Your voice came out broken, and you felt your lower lip wobble slightly before you trapped it between your teeth and bit down.

“Are the Accords something you believe in?” Nat said, reaching over and taking your hand in her own. Her polished thumb brushed patterns onto your skin, and you found yourself drawing strength from the simple gesture. Natasha had only truly let down her walls with you and Steve, and you had her trust listed near the top of your list of Greatest Accomplishments.

“Of course— it’s the right thing to do. Steve’s stubbornness is one of the things that made me fall in love in the first place; I never thought in a million years that it would be the thing that tore us apart.”

“You’re not torn apart.” You shot her a look of contempt and she tried to backtrack and explain herself. “When Clint and I were an item a few years ago we were able to take on the world.” You looked up in surprise— you had assumed that Nat and Clint had a history, but you never thought it was a serious as a relationship.

“We were the partnership to beat. And then the subject of family came up. He wanted something I couldn’t give him and it was the end of us romantically. I wasn’t able to change the way I was brought up and that broke us. You shouldn’t have to change your beliefs because Steve is having a crisis. You made the right choice.”

“How did you and Clint fix everything.”

“He forced himself into my life. He refused to leave me alone and I eventually caved, obviously. The tension hadn’t really left until he met Laura and settled down a little bit. Now I had a child in my namesake, so who really won?” She joked and brushed a piece of hair behind your ear gently. “This will work out the way they work out. I’ll be by your side until the day one of us kicks the bucket.

“I don’t know what I would do without you, Natasha Romanoff.” You looked over at her and her expression quickly went from utter fondness to cocky in a second.

“Crash and burn, probably.”

“Probably.”

“When stolen Wakandan vibranium was used to make a terrible weapon, we in Wakanda were forced to question our legacy. Those men and women who died in Wakanda were part of a Goodwill mission in a country too long in the shadows. We will not, however, let misfortune drive us back. We will fight to prove to the world that we wish to join it. I am grateful to the Avengers,” T’Chaka motioned over to where you an Natasha sat, the kindness and truth of his words making his statement warm. “For supporting this initiative. Wakanda is proud yo accept this hand in peace—“

Then, many things happened at once. First, there was a loud shouting from outside followed quickly by dogs barking aggressively. The shouting grew more and more panicked until T’Challa turned from his place near the window. You could see from your place int he council that the whites of his eyes were showing, and you rose from your spot quickly.

“GET DOWN!” He cried, and dove for his father who was still unaware of the catastrophe about to bloom. You rushed forward as well, and just as the windows exploded, were able to raise your hands. The glass and debris that blew in from the car bomb were stopped by your abilities, and you placed the concrete and glass near the far east wall. You then used your other hand to shield the room from the hot fire that threatened to burn many alive.

You noticed, then, that the Prince was leaning over his father's lifeless corpse, and your world seemed to shift on its axis. You had failed, once again to protect the people you cared about. You ran over to T’Challa who looked up at you with tear tracks running through the ash and dust on his face. When you confirmed the King had died, you held T’Challa as he cried in a way that only a man who lost his mentor and father would cry.

“Steve, you gotta come and see this.” Sam’s voice broke Steve from his and Sharon’s moment, and when he looked at his best friend, he saw a multitude of emotions in his eyes. The first was fear— something terrible had happened. The second was protection— not towards him, or Sharon, but towards the idea of you.

Sam and you had managed to create an incredibly strong bond during the Ultron incident and had become almost inseparable during missions. You, Sam and Natasha, worked together like a well-oiled machine, and your shared chemistry had allowed for the Avengers to thrive on missions and other global expeditions. The look in Sam’s eyes made Steve take a step back in shame, and without looking towards, Sharon, Steve followed Sam out into the hotel lobby where there was a crowd around the television.

The scene on the screen is one of pure movie horror. A building is on fire, and multiple lines of water try to subdue the angry blazing flames. There's a figure moving through them, and the camera zooms in on a figure almost dancing through the destruction and making the flames smaller and easier to terminate completely.

You are in the middle of a burning building.

He knows it’s you because he had memorized the way you moved and manipulated your powers. It was almost a dance— the way you moved. You moved in a way that would compliment the element you were bending to your will, and the fire made your movements quick and sharp and unpredictable. Steve almost laughed when he saw what you were wearing— you were wearing the heels you had worn on your first date together (granted, they were the only pair you owned), and a tight skirt and blouse that restricted your movements.

He knew you were cursing as you made fires smaller— you hated feeling restriction, and the outfit you were wearing was the embodiment of that feeling. When the camera is able to zoom in enough to catch a glimpse of your face, the screen freeze frames and Steve can vaguely hear the reporter saying your name through the tunnel vision he has on you.

Your expression is one of pain and desperation. There are tear stains on your face, and your brow is furrowed tightly in pain and focus. What he wouldn’t know, however, is that the stress of the past two days had finally collapsed on your shoulders, and before you knew it you found yourself in the thick of the flames. One of the reasons Steve had fallen in love with you is that you were undeniably good. You took every casualty personally, and you always dove into the thick of the action in an attempt to control it and reduce that number. He knew that you would place the blame of the twelve casualties on yourself— you were supposed to be one of the most powerful Avengers, but how were you to be that Avenger when you couldn’t even save the people around you?

His heart clenched painfully at both your expression and at the way, the news report panned back to the live action— your figure now was gone and the flames extinguished.

“At least twelve are dead in today's incident, including Wakanda’s kind T’Chaka. Officials have received a video of the bombing suspect, who they have identified as one James Buchanan Barnes.” Steve’s world officially crashes around him at the news of his best friends actions, and Steve wants nothing more at that moment to go to sleep and never wake up— in 48 hours, he’s managed to lose both you and Bucky and he’d be damned if he can handle any more than that. “The Winter Soldier is an infamous HYDRA agent linked to multiple acts of terrorism and political assassinations.”

Almost immediately after the reporter says this, Shanon’s phone rings and makes Steve jump in fright. She looks down at her phone beside Steve and sighs when she sees who is calling her.

“I have to go to work.”

#steve rogers x reader #steve roger #steve rogers #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers headcannon #steve rogers headcannons #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x bucky barnes #steve rogers x tony stark #steve rogers smut #steve rogers fluff #steve rogers fic #rogers series #steve rogers series #steve rogers fanfiction #civil war #captain america #captain america x reader #captain america imagine #captain america civil war #captain america fic #bucky barnes #bucky x reader #bucky imagine #Bucky barnes x you #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff imagine #t'challa

[onelittlesparkx]

TriWiz ctnw

The former Gryffindor remained in her spot, watching as one of her most promising students continued through the maze. She had to admit that the last time the tournament was held, she had been jealous. Jealous because she wasn't of age to compete. Daphne always enjoyed proving herself and to this day she had no idea why. It was a hidden drive to be known, to have glory and more than likely the very reason the metamorphmagus had gone on living the life she did. Fighting in the war, joining the top ranks of the Quidditch league, and now Hogwarts where she had even gone as far to create a new elective to the school. But just like the end of the last tournament Daphne found herself regretting ever wanting to compete back then, even if she had been young and naive. Almost as suddenly as they had formed, her thoughts had lost focus and a smile formed on the blonde's face, her husbands words bringing her back to reality; an act she was thankful for. "Sounds great, I'll hold ya tuh tha'," it was almost hard to believe that they could celebrate after tonight and the prospect was enough to assure the blonde that the champions would all be alright.

With Grace's arrival came another glimmer of joy. It wasn't that she wanted to be distracted from the scenes but the blonde knew all to well to cherish the moments she had with her own loved ones when they were being given to her. "I'll take one love," grabbing a hold of two of her daughter's creation she carefully pinned it onto the collar of her shirt, taking a quick moment to admire it before sending her daughter a wink of approval. With a sense of pride she watched as her youngest continued to give out the buttons before turning towards her husband as he spoke to George about Radomir. A light chuckle escaped her lips obviously entertained by the idea of Oliver chasing away a future boyfriend of Grace's. "I'm sure ye'll scare'em good, love." Pushing the wrinkles around the button off his shirt she gave him a reassuring nod. With any lucky, Grace would have the instinct to come to her mother first before her father when it came to the prospect of having a boyfriend this way the two of them could ease the Scottsman into the idea.

Shifting her eyes up to the screens the flying instructor held her breath momentarily, as if this would aid the Ravenclaw against the large troll. Exhaling, she turned her line of vision over to the Creeveys, both wearing grins of amusement as they too noticed the young hufflepuff who was trying to make his presence known just behind them. It was no news to her that Jason Jameson enjoyed impressing Daphne and a few other of the female student bodies. "Some'o tha' gals at the castle are even think'n 'bout a restraining order," she joked thought she hadn't even been given time to enjoy her own joke when there was more positive news to enjoy. Raising a fist of conquest the woman allowed her blonde locks to flash in a shade of Ravenclaw blue and bronze, amazed and impressed over Dominique's use of wandless magic. By the time the Hogwarts champion had discovered the goat Daphne had been convinced that she was going to finish this task.

But just as usual as it was for the duration of the night the tables had turned. Before the champion stood a pair of familiar figures, figures Daphne knew to be out of that maze. There as no doubt that the image on the screen was fictitious, a trick, and the only thing she could think of to cause such a sickening sense of fear was a boggart. She didn't know what to think at this point, but she wouldn't have to. Oliver's movement had cause Daphne to turn her attention away towards the approaching figures of her niece and nephew. Only then did she notice the commotion that was going on. As the tension in the area rose she couldn't help but stiffen up some. "Wait, whats happened?" she noticed Susan crindging into Dennis's chest letting out a soft "Oh No." Turning back to the screen she placed her hands up her mouth shocked by the image of the Ravenclaw lying on the floor. She stood there frozen, unsure of what to do or say it wasn't until Kyle following after Freddy and then Roxanne not far behind him did she finally move. She watched as George went after his children and instinctively did her eyes move towards Brianna and Keegan.

"No!" the Head Girl had shouted before letting out a sob of fear and worry. Daphne turned her head quickly, "Sea-" but instead she found Susan, the Head of Hufflepuff house widening her eyes towards her friend before stitching her brows together in worry. All Daphne could do was stare at her, shocked by the fact that she had almost slipped up. A year wasn't long, certainly not long enough for some habits to die but she had been doing better than most people would have. Whether it was her unfortunate experience that she possessed or the fact that she was stubborn about being alright still wasn't clear to her. Either way, she hadn't expected to see Susan like she should have, she was expecting to see Seamus to him to check on Brianna. Instead, she foun a ghost that wasn't even there.

There was no time for either Susan or Daphne to speak of the situation, by now Brianna had ripped herself from Keegan's hold and made to scramble towards the steps of the stands. With a quick glance to the bottom of the pitch Daphne could see Lee Jordan carrying the champion into the medic tent and knew exactly what it was her niece was trying to do. She reached for Oliver's hand, squeezing it tightly for a short moment and motioning her head towards their niece who was trying to push the crowd to get to the stairs. She hoped that was all she needed because she didn't have time for anything else, letting go of her husband's hand she quickly excused herself past the Creeveys. "Brianna!" Keegan had called out, hoping that his sister would listen to her. "I'll get her," Daphne quickly patted the young Gryffindor on his shoulder, not taking any notice over the rest of their company. Moving fast on her feet she was able to pull the Ravenclaw into a stop before reaching the stair case. "Le'go Aintín Daphne!" She struggled against the former beater's hold but to no avail. "I need to make sure she's alright!"

Surprised by Brianna's all of a sudden strength she looked back down towards the tent, taking notice that both of Dominique's parents where making their way there. "Come lass," the woman wrapped her arms around her niece, doing the best she could to calm the girl down. Motherly instincts had taken over and while Daphne would never be the mother Brianna needed it was the only thing she had to offer.  "I know yer worried an' all," she pulled herself away from the hug and looked directly at her niece in hopes that she would better understand her. "It's down righ' scary! Bu' Dominique doesn't need ya ta be scared or worried outta yer wits. She's gonna need'ya tuh be strong." She took a moment to exhale heavly. "She's gonna be fine'n hopp'n outta tha' tent like tha boomslang bite twas nottin' but a bug bite," of this she was sure of. Laura Madley was a fine healer, she had faith that the woman's magic would cure the girl. "Bu' right now, it's gonna be a wee bit crowded in there, her parents are gonna be want'n their space with her,alright?" She wasn't sure how much Brianna would believe her, but it had been enough for the young woman to calm down her breathing and nodd her head towards her aunt.

"Come," she wrapped an arm around her shoulders and lead Brianna back towards their family. "I left yer Uncail without an explanation. He's gon'be worried."

Returning to her family, the blonde had not been prepared for what was about to come, her moment of positive consoling with her niece now long forgotten. No, it wasn't the fact that she hadn't expected Durmstrang to win, that possibility was always there. It was the vision on the screens that had horrified her most, at least for that moment. Whatever had happened within the group of people moments ago did not matter to her. Here was a situation, yet another, for her to loose the people she loved. "The kids," she breathed, quickly placing a hand on Oliver and looking over her shoulder. She could feel the vibrations of her heart, beating faster and faster, looking over at the four who had already outgrown the term 'kid'. "Wands out, Wands!" she heared Susan cry, finally snapping out of the fact that her husband had gone. She and the Charms professor not only had the responsibility of their own, but to those of Hogwarts as well. "We have to help them..." she stared around herself almost blanky as people began to either rush under the stands or into the battle. She could see even brave and spunky children, throwing themselves into the heat of the danger. "We have to help." In that moment she could feel her courage swell up inside, the kind many Gryffindors were known for. She fought then and she would fight now. Nothing was going to get in the way of what she had set out to do. "Kyle, Brianna!" the screens fell to the ground, their shattering echoing into the night sky. "Don't seperate from your sister and your brother!" she could have decided to treat them like ther were seven instead of seventeen. But the fact of the matter was, they were of age and knew a thing or two. Perhaps more than she herself knew.  And while motherly instincts were screaming to shield her babies, another bit was telling her how ridiculous it was because more than likly it would cause more harm than good. "I'm going to see if I can get everyone in order."

She climbed up a few stands and before she knew it everything had turned upside down and inside out. She felt the cold digits of a man she had hoped to never see again pushing up against her lips, keeping her from calling out for help. She pushed the pain he was inflicitng on her away from her mind, noticing it would only give him what he wanted and she sure as hell wasn't going to do that. She felt disgusting, her skin crawling with imaginary insects of the most repulsive kind as the ex-death eater dared to touch her. Her eyes widened, iris's shrinking as his cold voice hit her ear drums and yet, she remained calm. If there was any chance of her fighting back she'd have to wait for the oppertune moment, a moment that didn't involve rallying anyone around her. If she cried for her help too soon, and was suddenly stopped, then everyone would grow frantic. At his mention of Oliver she could feel herself itching to fight back, thoughts of anger and insult raging in her mind. How dare he. How DARE he. It was one thing to attack her alone, but so close to her family, her children. That was stepping over boundaries that would eventually lead to boldness or stupidity depending on the point of view.

She twisted her shoulder a bit, attempting to pull away from his hold. If there was any part of her body that was strong it had to be her arms, she didn't spend her time as a beater just to sign autographs. For an old man, he had a bit of power to him but it wasn't something to be discouraged over It was when he was reaching for her hand did she finally have a chance. Failing once again at pulling away from the man wouldn't have seemed as bad, but what he had done had changed that. Optics followed the one piece of precious jewlry she own ripped(or what felt like it) from her person and tossed as if it was nothing more than something out of a bubblegum machine(Though, to be fair, if Oliver gave her a bubblegum machine ring then she'd probably still feel the same way XDD). "SOD OFF before I smack ya wit a sack of potatoes!" she cried out. Taking the chance that had been given in tose few seconds he had pulled his hand away. Surely, her outrageous comment would not go unnoticed, especially with her family so close and knows how vivacious the woman could be with her words. It wasn't until she tried for the third time to pull away that she realied she couldn't. Instead, she found herself going in a direction she had been dreading, one away from the people she loved. The image of her friends and family burning into her sockets as if she had never been moved.

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

This couldn't be happening. She wasn't worried about herself, but worried about what would happen if she wasn't where she was suppose to be. Grace needed her, Keegan needed her, Kyle needed her, Brianna needed her, and she needed them, and she needed Oliver. She needed to break away from this hold that was placed on her. She had to fight, it was in her blood and there had been a time in her previous encounter with Rodolphus Lestrange that she had broken through the curse with the use of her metamorphmagus abilities. Control, even the slightest bit of it was all she needed. She tried again and again, but nothing. This time he must have been aware of her capabilitis unlike before where he had been takenn of guard. She would have continued to try if the light from the flames in Hogsmeade hadn't distracted her. They danced around in the darkness, had it not been so sad and discouraging for the hopes and lives of those that invested in the village it would have almost been a beautiful sight. Closer and closer they got before she found herself inside what could have been described as hell. She could feel the high temperatures around her, beads of sweat forming on her skin trying to cool her off. Soon, Creevey Snaps came to full view; the structure having been freshly set on fire was still standing. But Daphne knew better. She had gone in their countless times and knew what the building held. If the fire somehow got to certain potions it woul only fuel the blaze and make matters worse.

Upon realizing that perhaps she had finally ran out of all her luck the woman had been thrown off, literally. She was no longer being controled but instead of relishing in the moment she felt pain. Parts of her burned, as if they would forever be doing so. Another was sore, her back having gotten the full hit when she hit the stand. Coughing, and expressing her pain in a low groan she began to pull herself up only to be yanked up before she was even ready. They were moving, they were moving up and with the smoke cripling her she had no choice but give in as she tried to catch her breath. She'd catch her breath and then reach for her wand. Yeah. EEEEEEEEEEEEH Wrong. When they finally reached the top Rodolphus had been smart enough to... well, smart enough. The weight on her ankles and wrist had increased by the foreign objects that were now binding her. Hues of scarlett(a change she wouldn't have noticed anyway) locked on the death eater's figure, carrying nothing but loathing within them.

"How did this Happ'n? You happ'ned ya bas!" She didn't have to stay quiet for this. If all she had to fight with were words, then she'd throw every word she could at him. Twitching back in objection to his touch. It hurt, but she would not show it. She kept her head held high, her frosty expression not holding anything back. Emitting a gagging sound, she turned away, preffering to forget the man's next actions. "Didn' anyone teach'ya how ta treat a lady?" she questioned between a few struggling grunts, protesting against there sudden move, yet again.

Now in the next room, her mind race, trying to think of anything she could do to help in her odds of coming out of this alive. She could feel the floor growing warmer as the minutes piled on, wondering how long she had to find a way out of this situation. She had been up her thousands upon thousands of times. That had to count for something? Looking up to check in on the situation she quickly ducked out of the way of the flying object. The pole landed across her side, as she squirmed her way out from undrneath the piles of clothes. "Wha? Not find anyth'n ya like?" she asked coldly. She had to think, what had she learned? She would have been dumb not to do research on the man after their first encounter. She had learned a lot about the elder Lestrange and nothing she liked. Then it hit her. "It's tha hair, ain't it? I betcha like it wild, and dark." Could she play this game? The game of guts and bravery? Uh.. duh, she was Daphne Wood. Like second nature, the locks of blonde hair transformed into curls of dark brown similiar to that of perhaps his neglectful wife whom she was almost sure showed no affection to him. If she couldn't fight, then she'd have to be unappealing; tainted, in his eyes. Hawking up a wad of spit, she shot it ouf of her mouth and towards the ground nearest his feet. "Yer sad, is whatcha are. Dun think there ev'r was a man in there, huh? Betcha tha's why yer wife was all piney fer someone else. Ha!" She used her upper body to sit herself up, face gissled like stone. "Free me!" she demanded, asserting herself as anything but a victim in this scenerio.

#df:ctnw #old rp shit.

[lucifers-trash-stash]

Friendly Wager

Summary: Destiny had always been attracted to Negan, but the two finally get a chance to get to know each other in a little arcade during a scavenging trip.

A/N: This fic has been a WIP for a while now, and I’m so happy to finally have it finished! This fic is for @i-am-negan-trash‘s fic exchange, and my partner is @daddy-kink-confirmed.

Word Count: 7,484

Warnings: Smut, semi-public sex, light breath play, daddy kink, unprotected sex.

“Took us long enough. The boss sure knows how to pick ‘em,” Simon grumbled under his breath in the passenger’s seat. Destiny, who sat behind him in the Jeep, pulled herself out of her daydream and sat up as she looked at her surroundings.

The Jeep had stopped in the middle of an abandoned main street in some small town a little ways from Sanctuary, though Destiny hadn’t been paying attention to the name. The street certainly hadn’t fared well once the dead started walking, and the abandoned stretch of pavement was littered with glass and empty storefronts. Obviously looted, but there was always something worth finding. Every little bit helped these days.  

As the other men in the Jeep began to leave, Destiny followed suit. Her boots hit the pavement with a thud as she slid out of the truck. Absentmindedly, she watched as one of the larger trucks pulled in behind the Jeep. Milling around as she waited for instruction, she took a few steps with her hands in her jacket pockets. Negan had ordered a cleanup crew the day before to take care of any walkers that were wandering around in the streets so that she and the other members of the scavenging crew could take care of finding supplies today.

Destiny found herself glancing over at the truck as Negan made his way over to her and the group of Saviors. Usually he never went on scavenging trips, but Negan wanted to be here in case something went wrong, considering this used to be a populated area.

Distractedly, she ran her fingers through her straight black hair, fluffing it up and  trying to not make it apparent she was looking directly at him. She’d wanted to be with Negan for a while now, but found herself to be too shy to even give him a hint. Everything about him made her heart flutter, that scruffy salt and pepper beard, the dimples that dotted the corners of his ever-present wide grin, and how he confidently held himself everywhere he went. It was frustrating how much she wanted to be near him, but she always considered it a pipe dream that he would ever be interested in her. She wasn’t even going to touch the topic of the wives. That was a whole other can of worms.

“Listen up, ‘cause I’m not gonna fucking repeat myself again,” Negan’s voice boomed out as he addressed the small crowd. His hazel eyes connected with her blue ones through her glasses for a moment, and as cliche as it sounds, time stopped. Then he continued to sweep his gaze over the eyes, and time moved forward again. “There’s a lot of goodies that could be hidden around here, and I want to make sure we pick this place fucking clean like the fucking dining room table at Grandma’s Thanksgiving feast. Capiche?”

Quite aware of the usual drill, Destiny and the other Saviors nodded. Feeling a little flustered, Destiny looked away, pulling her glasses off and cleaning them against her shirt uselessly.

“Fucking phenomenal. Now, I hope it won’t be a fucking issue, but we’re gonna split into pairs today. Always good to rely on the buddy system in a place like this. All it takes is one dumb fuck to not be paying attention and get themselves turned into fucking raw, worm food for the dickless, heartless dead fuckers. So get your goddamned partners and head out!”

Placing her black-framed glasses back on her nose, Destiny looked around. The other Saviors were pairing up with each other automatically. She bit the inside of her cheek, the situation akin to a middle school teacher assigning group work when none of her friends were in the class. She usually paired off with Arat or Laura, but both were off duty today, far away home back at the Sanctuary. To top it off, it was like gym class, too; nobody wanted to pick her to be on their team.  

“Damn honey, looks like you just won the fucking lottery,” Negan’s voice boomed behind her, making her jump and turn around. When had he snuck up on her? He stood uncomfortably close, a playful smirk on his lips. “I don’t fucking believe I know your name?”

She blinked at him owlishly from behind her glasses. That’s right; they’ve never been one-on-one before. “Destiny.” She was proud at least that she didn’t stutter.

“Destiny,” he repeated, and then licked his lips like he was tasting the name. “Destiny. I like it.” Negan tested it out again, over-exaggerating the movement of his lips, “Destiny.” He had to be exaggerating it, right? It couldn’t just be how she couldn’t look away from his clever mouth. “I’ve got a fucking date with Destiny,” Negan joked, the same playfulness in his eyes that was in his toothy grin.

Internally she groaned. All her life she heard that joke, but funnily enough when Negan said it, she didn’t mind as much. Well, an attractive man like him had never made the joke before. Of course she would like it when Negan said it.

Not seeming to mind that she didn’t laugh at the joke, Negan briskly moved on. Destiny admired how nothing seemed to faze the man; she wished she could have confidence like that. “Guess we’re gonna have to be fucking partners,” Negan smoothly drawled, “seeing as how everyone else left you fucking high and dry.”

“I guess so,” Destiny mused. She shrugged her shoulders, not trying to make it apparent that she was practically swooning over just being able to talk with him.

“Don’t worry, darlin’, I’d never leave a fucking pretty little thing like you high and fucking dry.” Negan winked - actually winked. “Quite the fucking opposite.” Before she could sputter and embarrass herself, he mercifully moved on. “Lead the fucking way, darlin’,” Negan said with a grin, gesturing with Lucille.

Skirting around Lucille nervously, Destiny avoided Negan’s eye. He made her nervous - not just because he was dangerous, but because he was seductively dangerous. The kind of dangerous that was worth taking stupid risks just for the chance at living to the fullest.

Noting her skittish nature, Negan twirled the bat in his hand, her barbed wire glittering, and slung her up on his shoulder. “Believe me, you’re safe as long as Lucille and I have anything to say about it.” He leaned backwards, giving her space, and Destiny found she could breathe again.

Destiny nodded and turned back to the street, hoping Negan wouldn’t catch a glimpse of her rising blush. All this time she wanted even the chance to get close to Negan, and now here he was, as handsome as ever.

But this wasn’t a time to screw around and fawn over Negan like a ditzy school girl. She was at work, and she needed to relax and focus. If she didn’t, things really could go wrong. She was aware of this, and yet found herself getting chills when Negan followed close behind her as she made her way to the storefronts.

It seemed like most of the Saviors had staked out certain stores and the sounds of ransacking could be heard inside many of them. She moved past the occupied buildings and spotted one that no one seemed to have chosen. Her eyes widened at the sight of it, a place full of treasures from before the apocalypse that she missed every day since: an arcade.

Destiny used to spend hours playing her favorite video games before the walkers, and now a place lined with old retro arcade machines was right in front of her nose. Even though a part of her knew these machines wouldn’t be functioning without electricity, it still didn’t stop her from walking right through the door.

When she moved through the room, she could see the dust motes floating in the sunbeams that cast through the window. It had that familiar smell of an abandoned property that most other buildings had by this point: faint smell of rot from the dead and the rot of untended to repairs from water damage in the wood. The smell of mold from cracked, galvanized copper pipes, and the musty smell of stagnant air. There were no broken windows, so not much weather damage had been done to the interior; it was mainly limited to the dilapidated storefront and the surrounding sides of the building between the narrow alley spaces. Other than a little dirt, dust, and grime on the inside, the place looked good.

Forgetting that Negan was even there, she let her feet carry her to the row of arcade machines lined in front of the windows. For a small little arcade, they had a pretty decent selection. The panels on the machines were dull in color, but when she brushed the dust off with her hand the colors popped out. This one was a Donkey Kong machine. The other machines that stood out to her was a hunting game with a plastic gun that probably wouldn’t work anymore, a Pacman machine, Tetris, and a Mortal Kombat machine, just to name a few. She was surprised there were quite a few classic titles. The person that owned this store must have really treasured their machines to keep them in working order until the walkers struck.

It wasn’t just arcade machines either. The usual suspects were all here, like a foosball table, a basketball shooting game, and an air hockey table. She suspected these kinds of games were more up Negan’s alley, though she enjoyed them just as well.

“Well, well, well! Lookie what we’ve fuck, fuck, fuckity got here!” Negan exclaimed with a clap of his hands.

Destiny turned around, her face flushed at the possibility that he was teasing her over her interest in the arcade games. However, Negan was more focused on the pool table in the middle of the room, obviously placed so that it was accessible from every angle. It must have been the most popular attraction of the place. Destiny had been so enamoured by the machines that she didn’t even remember needing to walk around the table.

“This thing is a fucking beauty! Been looking for one of these for a long damn time!” Negan said with a grin as he picked up a pool cue chalk, blue powder crumbling on his black leather glove. He placed it back, rubbing his fingers together and examining how the excess smeared. Destiny’s mind wandered down another avenue, and her thighs clenched together at the possibilities. Negan blew the powder away and it collided with the dust motes in an entrancing swirl hovering around Negan’s face. “This is going to look fucking nice next to the ping pong table!” He crowed victoriously, and Destiny was pulled from her thoughts as though a bucket of water was dumped on her head.

Recovering quickly, she smiled to herself as she watched him light up like a kid on Christmas at the array of games. In fact, it was the first time his smile seemed truly genuine and not the typical cocky front he put on in front of his men. In that moment, Destiny felt special for inadvertently being the cause of his happiness; she was glad she could at least watch the moment happen, too.

An orange blur suddenly came into view, making her flinch and throw up her hands with a squeal. Her hands juggled the object back and forth before it finally was captured in her grip. It was one of the small basketballs - surprisingly not deflated - from the game in the corner.

“Great reflexes there, tiger,” Negan teased with a wink. He was leaning up against the machine, those long legs of his stretched out so perfectly. Destiny tried her best to not drag her eyes up and down his body, especially when she realized he had opened his leather jacket so she could see the fitted white t-shirt beneath. Negan continued, “We’ve got some time to kill, what do you say to some friendly fucking matches here?”

Destiny’s brow furrowed. “Aren’t we supposed to be looking for supplies?” she asked.

“We’ve got some time to kill,” Negan said with a shrug. “Besides, other than that pool table, we won’t be able to take all these games back. Might as well make the fucking best of them while we’ve got them, right?”

Destiny sighed. While she didn’t mind playing with Negan, his words just brought home how it would probably not be in their best interest to take an arcade machine that they may or may not be able to hook up and get working back at the Sanctuary. The generators had better things to power. She didn’t say any of this to Negan of course, and instead agreed to his proposal with a smile. “Okay, Negan.”

“Fucking great!” He exclaimed, smiling right back. “Let’s shoot some fucking hoops!”

The two started at the basketball game, taking turns shooting baskets and trying to keep count. Negan kept trying to distract Destiny by talking whenever she was trying to concentrate on the ball, and she barely managed to keep neck in neck with his score. As usual with Negan, he talked about whatever struck his fancy, but it was enough to make her laugh, causing her to miss most of her shots. Every time she laughed, Negan was absolutely delighted; and not just because that would put him in the lead, too. He was a big show-off with his shots, arcing his body and putting his hands just so every time, smiling wide with every swoosh of the net.

Once Negan reached twenty baskets, though, he already had his eyes set on the air hockey table. “Come on, give me a real fucking challenge, Destiny.” He dragged her away with a tight, not-too-tight grip on her hand, tossing the basketball to the side. “That was hardly a fair fucking game anyway. I used to fucking coach that shit.”

“Seriously?” Destiny tried to picture Negan in the whistle and the gym shorts, and suddenly how he yelled orders at his Saviors made a lot more sense. It was also a pretty picture, thinking about how Negan would look in a pair of sweatpants that would showcase just everything if you squinted and turned your head a certain way.

“Yeah, fucking seriously. Took those little shits to the state championship every goddamn year, too,” he boasted proudly, silver threaded chin tilted up so his nose was in the air. He had that sly grin again, eyes flashing with promised trouble. “Try and beat me at this instead, darlin’, and we’ll see if that’s fucking fair.”

Negan was a hard hitter, always pushing the puck so hard that it careened and smashed back and forth on the sides of the table. Even so, Destiny quickly saw through his weakness. While he was always quick to hit the puck as hard as possible, he wasn’t always as mindful of the goal because he held his striker at arm’s length. In the end, her strategy worked, and once she got the puck to hit the wall in just the right place to get past his arm, she always sunk it in.

“You just got fucking lucky, that’s all,” Negan said with a pout after she made the final goal. “Let’s see if you can keep it up with some foosball. You’re looking at the fucking champion at my fucking college.”

Destiny had played a fair amount of foosball herself, but it was never her strong suit. She was hardly surprised when Negan was so easily able to sink into her goal while she scrambled to turn the knobs of her players. His aggressive playing style was much better suited to this game, as he had no problem hitting the ball at such a speed that she could barely keep up. After a while, Negan had his fun with wiping the floor with Destiny, and set his sights on the piece de resistance: the pool table.

“Okay, enough beating our dicks at the cheap shit. I have to test this fucker out before we take it back.” He placed his hands covetously on the green felt and looked up at her with glittering, hazel eyes. “You know, just to fucking check and see if all of this heavy shit is even worth carting all the way fucking back.” Negan winked for good measure, and then grabbed one of the pool cues before he held it out to her. “Ready, Destiny?”

Not ready at all, Destiny hesitated. The other games had been easy to figure out, but pool wasn’t something she had ever played before. From what she’s heard about it, it required math to do. “Oh, um,” she shyly suggested, “can’t you play by yourself?”

Evidently, she surprised him, and Negan’s eyes went wide. He dropped the pool cue by his side, listing his head to the right as he stared at her. “Well, I suppose I can jack myself off, too, but when there’s always willing pussy around, I don’t fucking do that. Why don’t you wanna play with me, baby? You’ve got nothing else to do. Besides, I promise I’ll take it real fucking easy on you. It’ll be good fucking fun.”

“I…” she began hesitantly, “I don’t really know how to play.” Destiny bit her lip, careful to avoid her piercing. She had managed to keep it meticulously clean, but had developed a nervous habit where she bit around it, or at least flicked her tongue over it anxiously. Her eyes darted to the door. They had spent enough time here, too. Soon it would be time to pack up and head back to the Sanctuary before nightfall. She didn’t want her one-on-one time with Negan to end so soon - she really had been enjoying being in his company - but all good things must come to an end.

“Sh-yeet,” Negan stretched out, his smile returning easily. “Is that fucking all? That’s no fucking foreskin off my fat dick, sweetheart. I’ll just fucking teach you. It’s really an easy game to play once you know the basics.” He stalked over to her side of the pool table, his pace graceful and smooth compared to his coarse language, his strides long. Once again, he held out the pool cue to her horizontally, urging her to take it.

Tentatively, she did, bringing it close to her body. “Okay, Negan. I’ll play.”

“Good girl,” Negan crooned, and Destiny tried not to melt all over the floor. He didn’t seem to notice, or if he did, he mercifully didn’t point it out. Instead, Negan turned to the pool table and held out his hand over it as he explained. “Why don’t we face off against each other? I’ll be solids.” He grabbed the red number 3 ball and held it up for Destiny’s inspection. Returning it to the table, he grabbed another ball - the red number 13 one and then held that one up similarly. “And you’ll be stripes, okay, tiger?” Negan grinned at her rakishly, and Destiny nodded with a blush in her cheeks.

As Negan explained the game, he moved around back to his side of the pool table. “We sink our balls in - trying not to sink each others - any of the pockets. Doesn’t really fucking matter which one. You can’t let the white ball go into the pocket. If it does, you lose a turn. If you don’t get a ball into the fucking pocket, you lose a turn. The eight ball is the last one to go into the fucking pocket. First one to finish wins. Simple e-fucking-nough for ya, Destiny?”

Resting the bottom of the pool cue on the floor, Destiny studied the table. “I guess so. Do I have to hit the ball directly or…?”

“How you hit it doesn’t fucking matter.” Negan waved his hand dismissively, cutting it through the air and through the heart of the matter. “Just try and get your fucking balls in the hole. That’s a motto I fucking live by.”

Again, Destiny blushed. “Okay. I understand.”

“Good. I fucking pegged you for a fast learner.” Racking up the balls, Negan got them into position and then placed the white pool ball before them. “You want to fucking break the set or shall I?”

“Oh, you can do it. I don’t mind just watching.”

Obviously amused, Negan hummed. “Fuck yeah, I bet you don’t mind watching. I prefer being an active fucking participant myself, though.” He crooked his long fingers at her, grinning from ear to ear. “Come on, Destiny, baby. Live a little. Bust my fucking balls.”

With a wobble in her step, Destiny obeyed. Her feet moved without her telling them to, and she found herself standing just in front of Negan, staring down the pool table. Awkwardly, she shifted the pool cue in her grip and tried to copy what she had seen before in the movies. Instead of trying to hit the white ball, she grabbed it to steady her hand as she tried to hit the other balls dead on. Negan immediately stopped her.

“Not like that, cupcake. Here.” Stepping up behind her until she could feel the warmth of his presence, Negan smoothly curved his long form over her. His chest brushed against her back and she had to fight back the urge to arch into his touch. From his close proximity alone, Destiny was losing brain cells. She couldn’t think, couldn’t even breathe around him. He smelled so good. Like cloves and sandalwood.

Seemingly unaware of her reaction, Negan placed his hand over hers, lining her up properly. Placing his mouth close to her ear, he practically purred, “You just want to let the pool cue slide between your fucking fingers like this.” He demonstrated, pushing it back and forth, back and forth. Naturally, Destiny’s mind wandered to other places. When he spoke, his deep voice reverberated through his chest and made Destiny’s back tingle pleasantly. “Got it? And then you just fucking line up the shot and just…”

The pool stick hit the white ball with a crack, and the white ball hit the other balls with a louder, rippling crack as they scattered over the green felt, bouncing off the sides of the pool table. “Perfecto,” Negan crooned right in her ear, and this time Destiny couldn’t stop herself from shivering.

Just like that, Negan drew back again. Standing up straight, Destiny nervously turned around to face him, unsure of herself. She felt like such a fool. But Negan squinted at her thoughtfully, grabbing his own pool cue and shifting it restlessly from hand to hand. It was like he could see right through her, right into her mind and the gutter it was drowning in. “How about we make this fucking interesting, huh, Destiny?”

Avoiding his knowing gaze, Destiny asked anyway, “What did you have in mind?”

Negan’s gloved hand came up and gently tipped her face towards his. The leather was an interesting and not altogether unpleasant sensation. It was blessedly cool on her hot face, which only blushed hotter under Negan’s heated stare. “I was fucking thinking that you and I could have ourselves a game of strip-pool.” His fingers brushed over her cheeks, pushing her hair behind her ears. “For every ball you put in the pocket, I’ll fucking take something off. And for every ball I put in the pocket, you take something off for Daddy. You see where I’m going with this?”

She definitely saw where he was going with this. As soon as he referred to himself as ‘Daddy’, Destiny was gone. She didn’t even dare to hope before, but now what he was proposing wasn’t something she could so easily pass up. Of course, she knew that since she was inexperienced with this, she’d probably end up getting naked first, but it was a risk she was willing to take. What could she say, except that Negan inspired the best and worst in her. “Deal,” she agreed.

“Deal, what?”

For a moment Destiny hesitated, not quite knowing her mistake. Then Negan raised his eyebrows at her expectantly, and it clicked into place. “Deal, Daddy.”

“That’s fucking right, Destiny. Such a good girl.” He patted her cheek, dragging his thumb over her bottom lip around her piercing. She flicked her tongue out and tasted the leather, and Negan’s eyes went dark with lust. “Game fucking on.” He pulled away and gestured at the table. “Ladies first.”

All too eager now to play, Destiny turned back to the table with determination. She quickly noted where the striped balls were and moved into position. “Do I have to sink them numerically?”

“Fuck no, just get them in the fucking hole.” In a much lower voice, Negan added, “You get your balls in the hole and I’ll put something in your fucking hole, how about that?”

Not needing any further encouragement, Destiny eagerly tried to shoot the blue striped ball in the nearest pocket. It was a slightly awkward angle, but it was the clearest shot with no other balls in the wall. Following Negan’s instructions, she closed one eye - and just as she was about to shoot, a hand cracked down on her ass. She hit way too hard, and instead of sinking in the pocket, the ball hit the side and bounced until it clattered into another ball. A little angry, Destiny whipped around and shot a glare at Negan. “You cheated,” she flatly accused.

But the man was only all too pleased with himself of course. “My fucking apologies, Destiny, but if you’re gonna wave that cute ass of yours around, I’m not gonna be able to help myself.” He smiled with boyish charm, and lifted his pool cue to his shoulder much like he does with Lucille. Lucille, as it was, was resting within reach against the Donkey Kong arcade machine. She kept a watchful eye over them both. “Guess it’s my fucking turn.”

Without even trying, Negan sunk in the orange ball and then expectantly turned to Destiny. She stared at him for a moment, and then grasped both her courage and the bottom of her shirt with both hands before she tugged it over her head. Thankfully, she didn’t get stuck, and it fluffed up her hair quite nicely. It took a full minute for her brain to register that she was standing in front of Negan in her bra, but in that minute, she watched Negan eye her up appreciatively. Thank God she was wearing her nice bra today by chance.

“God damn,” Negan uttered, tongue dragging across his bottom slip slowly. “I could just eat you up, you look so fucking good right now, Destiny.” He shook his head slightly, eyes glued to her bra, and then quickly turned back to the pool table to line up another shot. His shot was lined up to try and sink two simultaneously, but it didn’t pander out. Negan lost his turn. “Shit.”

“My turn.” Destiny stepped up to the table and once again tried to sink the blue striped ball. This time she was out of Negan’s reach since he was across the table, and he didn’t try to make her slip up again, instead choosing to remain silent. The blue striped ball sunk, and Destiny fist pumped excitedly. “I got it!”

“Great job, sweetheart,” Negan said, and it sounded sincere. Tucking his pool cue under his arm, Negan held up his gloved hand at eye level and then ever so slowly tugged the glove off and tossed it aside. He wiggled his now bare fingers at her in a playful wave, though Destiny imagined those fingers curving elsewhere.

Her face must have been transparent, because Negan impatiently amped up their deal. “You know what, sweetheart? How about every time you put a ball in the hole, Daddy puts a finger in your tight little hole. That sound like fun to you?” His grin sharpened. “Gotta loosen you up before you take Daddy’s thick, meaty, big dick, huh, baby?”

Destiny bit her bottom lip around the piercing again. Her thighs pressed together at the thought, though her gaze flickered to the front of the arcade again. The machines blocked the window, and the window itself had such a thick layer of dust, pollen, and grime that it was practically opaque. The only way anyone would be able to see them is if they came inside. As it was, they could hear the sounds of the others talking and loading up the trucks. They still had time, but it was obviously running short.

Sensing the reason for her hesitation, Negan stepped forward into her space again, head dipping low. “Don’t you worry about that, tiger. I’ll be able to fuck you real nice before we leave.” Brushing his lips over her forehead, Negan placed his hands on her hips, rubbing at her through the fabric of her jeans. “I bet you’d like if they all strolled in to watch me fuck you right here on this pool table. For everyone to see you splayed out for me like a goddamn, dirty girl. You think you’ll be able to keep quiet for me while I’m working over your pussy? Fuck no, you won’t. You’re gonna be nice and loud, just how I like it. I bet I can make a shy girl like you come out of your shell no problem with my dick in your wet, hot pussy.”

As he whispered dirty things to her, Negan’s clever fingers unbuttoned the front of her jeans, slowly pulled down the zipper, and slipped his ungloved hand inside her panties. Down, down, down he ventured until he slipped his long index finger right between her already wet lower lips. Destiny did nothing but stare up at him, silently urging him on with lust-blown wide, blue eyes. Negan obliged, his free hand pushing her black hair over her shoulders, gripping her by the back of the neck as he pressed sweet kisses to her forehead and cheeks. It was so at odds with what he was doing with his other hand.

Trembling in his arms, Destiny grabbed at his biceps to hold herself up. No longer able to remain complacent anymore, she tilted her face up and kissed him. He tasted surprisingly like cinnamon flavored gum. She kissed him again, and Negan kissed back, not seeming to mind the lip piercing. He wasn’t too rough or too cautious. It was perfect.

Pulling away just enough so he could breathe, Negan huffed, “You forfeit the fucking game, sweetheart?”

“Yes,” Destiny threaded her fingers through his hair, rocking into his hand desperately. He was deliberately avoiding touching her clit or slipping his fingers inside her. Instead, he kept his touch feather light and teasing. It was driving her wild. “Take me,” she hesitated only for a second before she continued with something very close to a whine, “take me here, Daddy.”

With a low growl, Negan picked her up and sat her on the edge of the pool table. “Okay, little girl. You’re in for it now.” He yanked her pants down her legs, exposing a long expanse of creamy thighs that he ached to cover in love bites and bruises. “I’ll take my fucking time with you next time - and we can finish the fucking game next time, too.  I fucking need to feel you now.”

His words naturally excited her. “Next time?” She wondered aloud, her heart fluttering in her chest even as heat continued to pool in her belly. The things Negan did to her was head spinning to say the least. Destiny helped him shuck his clinging, black leather jacket off his arms and rucked up his shirt so that he was exposed from belly to chest. He was hairy and had some tattoos. Curiously, she ran her fingers over it, and his skin jumped under her touch.

“Yes, fucking next time,” Negan said confidently. “I had a fucking nice time playing with you today - and I bet I’m gonna have a damn great time fucking you here. But, I’d like to fuck you again, on a fucking bed, up against a goddamn wall, in the shower. Wherever the fuck I can.” Between his words, he pressed urgent kisses down her neck and to the tops of her breasts. “I’m gonna have this sweet pussy in as many positions as I fucking want, and I want to be able to taste it, too. To really take my fucking sweet ass time with it. I’m gonna have you fucking beg for my dick, baby. I want to know how that piercing feels when you suck my dick. I fucking want you, Destiny, all of you.”

While he talked, he pulled her breasts out of the bra, not bothering to take it off. They didn’t have the time, and not just because of the others. The tension was skyrocketing and exploding into this. They couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. Negan bent over her and sucked one of her hardened nipples into his mouth, and Destiny raked her blunt fingernails down his chest in relation. She reached his belts and quickly undid them with stumbling fingers. He felt amazing, and his dirty mouth wasn’t all talk.

With a bit of fumbling, she managed to pull him free, and he was hard and silky in her hands. Not a bad size, but something she would definitely feel phantom pains from tomorrow. It had been a while. Negan switched back and forth between her breasts, lavishing them with attention and causing her to gush excitedly. In turn, she stroked him, spreading his precome over his sizeable length, squeezing him hard when his stubble brushed over her nipples just right. She was going to have a rug burn from his facial hair tomorrow, too, but she’d take it all. Anything she could get as mementos of this occasion would be good enough for her.

Suddenly, Negan pushed her down flat on the pool table, sending the balls scattering with their noisy clacks. He stood up straight, hooking his fingers around her panties and tugging them the rest of the way down her legs to where her jeans were. Her sex was exposed and he took a moment to take it in. “Fucking beautiful,” he purred, stroking his fingers over it, pushing her thighs further apart for him. “Yeah, I’m definitely gonna have to taste this pretty pussy. But not to-fucking-day.” Spreading her lips, Negan tapped at her clit. “Ready for my dick, baby?”

“Yesss,” Destiny hissed, arching her back. All previous shyness had officially gone out the window, and Negan couldn’t say he disliked this wanton side of her. “Fuck me hard, Negan, so hard.”

Lightly, he spanked her clit and Destiny jumped and yelped. It hurt, but any touch on her clit also felt so good. She wanted him to do it again to just touch her damn it. “No, no, Destiny, baby. What’s my name when I’m fucking driving my fucking dick into you?”

“Daddy,” she whimpered and then repeated louder, “Daddy, please. Fuck me.”

Using the hand that spanked her, Negan cupped her cheek. The wetness - her own wetness - had a strong, musky smell, but she didn’t care. Destiny had no propriety left. “You’ve been such a fucking good for me today, Destiny. I like that, fuck yeah, I fucking do. And I’m a big fucking believer in rewarding good behavior.” He trailed his sticky fingers over her lips, dancing around her piercing. Instinctively, she licked, tasting her own salty essence. She couldn’t look away from Negan’s playful, lusty stare. She was aching. She wanted him - wanted it. Couldn’t he see how much she wanted it? “I’ll fuck you hard, Destiny, but you have to keep it down for Daddy or I’ll fucking stop and you’ll have to just suck it up, butter-fucking-cup. Okay, baby?”

Nodding, Destiny resisted the urge to keen. “O-okay, Daddy,” she stuttered, batting her eyelashes at him from behind her glasses. “I’ll be so good for you.”

“Fuck yeah, you will.” He dragged his hands down her body, grinding the heel of his palm into her clit and watching her squirm, going red faced to hold in her screams. “You’re definitely a fucking keeper, Destiny.”

Stepping up to the pool table, Negan’s jutting cock rutted up and down her slit, lubricating himself further and teasing them both. His hands came up and grasped her neck on either side, not quite choking yet but just adding the pressure. Destiny’s hands came up and grasped his wrists. She wasn’t scared, but adrenaline coursed through her, amplifying every sensation. Destiny had never done this before, but she wanted it, too. How did he know everything she wanted?

Negan lined himself up - just like he had lined the pool cue earlier when he took his first shot. When he slid home, all the way until he bottomed up, his pelvis flush against the cradle of her thighs, they both groaned. He paused, and didn’t move until Destiny made eye-contact again. With a wicked grin, Negan murmured, “Perfecto.”

And Destiny didn’t have time to do or say anything before he was pounding into her. It was so hard to keep quiet when all she wanted to do was shriek how much she loved his cock, and how good it felt inside of her. He was so hard, and he felt huge. Negan was stretching her out and it burned, but she loved the heat, the fire that built in her belly. She was close and he was only a few strokes in. It was wild, it was perfect like he said. Her nails dug into his wrists, and he squeezed her harder, but she could still breathe.

Above her he looked magnificent with his jaw clenched tight, the tendons in his neck popping, sweat beginning to collect on his temples. One strand of fine, black hair fell out of place in his eyes, but disheveled as he was, he only looked more beautiful for it. Negan couldn’t stop the steady stream of filth he spewed either.

“Fuck. Fuck yes, Destiny, this pussy is mine. I’m gonna make it be fucking made for my dick. I’m gonna pound it into you. Only I will make you come, and fuck, it’s gonna be, messy girl. You’re gonna have to fucking sit in your juices and my come in the trucks - and you’re not allowed to change your fucking panties when we get back. Oh no, baby. You’re gonna go straight to my room and wait for me there like a fucking good girl so I can fuck this sweet pussy again. I’m gonna fucking lick your pussy clean if you’re a goddamn good girl for me. Fuck yeah, Destiny, fuck. Fuck, you’re so tight.”

Hooking her ankles around Negan’s waist, Destiny didn’t dare try to speak. She wasn’t even sure if she could form any words, he was literally fucking her brains out. Destiny was afraid that if she did try to speak all that would come out was a high pitched scream that would summon every walker for miles. Instead, she deliberately clenched her walls around him, fucking him back as much as she could with her limited mobility. The force of his thrusts moved her body against the green felt, and it was leaving a rug burn on her rear. It stung so good, almost as nice as his hard dick. This, this was perfection.

There was a sudden intensity - even more so than before - in Negan’s thrusts that signalled his approaching climax. He brought his hand down and ruthlessly mashed his thumb into her clit, rubbing tight circles as he traded force for speed. “You gonna fucking come for me, Destiny? Gonna come for Daddy when I fucking tell you to like a good girl does? Just for Daddy?”

Destiny’s eyes rolled wildly, and she moaned, “Yes, yes, Daddy. I’m gonna come, I’m so close. Let me come, please let me come. Please, Daddy.”

“Yeah, baby, fucking come.” He switched the movement of his thumb on her clit, brushing back and forth like he was trying to light a match. The change was instantaneous, and Destiny’s walls tightened around him as she started to come. He had lit that match and it flared throughout her until it lit every nerve ending white hot. She stiffened and then was overcome with shakes, thighs quivering from where she was hugging his hips, head thumping back against the hard pool table. “That’s it, that’s fucking it. Come with me,” Negan grunted, and he came, bathing her walls in evidence of his own climax. Destiny felt the overabundance of wetness and basked in it. She liked it rough, she liked it dirty; and Negan delivered on all of that.

They both took a moment to catch their breath, trying to calm down their racing hearts. Like a gentleman, Negan helped her stand and situate her clothing again. Other than the wetness between her legs that was seeping out the longer she stood there, there was no signs of her getting fucked. He even took the time to smooth down her hair again as he pressed an appreciative, sweet kiss to her forehead, inhaling the scent of her sweat and shampoo. He pulled his own clothes back into place, slicking back his hair easily, and Destiny eyed him hungrily, already eager for a second round.

Negan caught her look at smiled wide, back to his boyish charm from before. “You were fucking fantastic, Destiny.”

Blushing, not quite knowing how to respond to that, Destiny’s shyness returned in full force. “Thanks, you, uh, weren’t so bad yourself.”

“Only not bad, huh? I’ll have to fucking work on that,” Negan promised with a wink. He looked behind her at the pool table, and then laughed.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“We definitely left our fucking mark on this bad boy,” Negan chuckled, tapping fondly at the sudden new stain on the green felt.

She blushed even redder if that were possible, and turned away. “I’m sorry, Negan.”

“Don’t be, baby,” he said lightly, “and don’t be like that. We’re still taking it with us. This bad boy is a lot of fucking fun, don’t you agree?”

Daring to look back at the spot they left, Destiny let herself bask in the memories. Then she looked at Negan and smiled. “You’re goddamn right.”

After one last heated kiss, Negan called in his men to move the pool table, and while he directed their movements, Destiny wandered back to the arcade machines to get out of their way. With a wistful sigh, she placed her hand on the joystick of the Donkey Kong machine and gave it a little jostle. It would have been nice if they could have played this together - that was definitely a game she would have won without a shadow of a doubt. But with the game they played on the pool table, at least both of them were winners.

Silent as a cat, Negan came up behind her. “You want to take one of these back home?” He offered, his voice startling her out of her thoughts.

Spinning around, she looked up at him in disbelief. “Really? I mean, the generators have better things to power, and it just seems so selfish.”

“Fuck that, baby,” Negan dismissed. “Consider this a fucking engagement present.”

“You want me to be a wife?”

“Most fucking definitely, Destiny. I think we were just fucking destined to be,” Negan stressed, all sly smiles and dimples and glittering hazel eyes.

This time she couldn’t hold back her groan, “Oh my god.”

“Is that a fucking no?”

“No! I mean, yes! Or…” Giving up, Destiny through her arms around his neck, standing on tiptoe to do so. She didn’t care about the men trying to fit the pool table through the door when she kissed Negan hard with all the gratitude and love she had for him. “Of course, I’ll fucking marry you.”

With another chuckle, Negan said, “Is it vain of me to think you said that because of my influence?”

Rather than argue with him about it, Destiny kissed him again. When they went home, it was with the pool table and the Donkey Kong machine. And rather than riding in Simon’s Jeep, Destiny sat in Negan’s lap all the way home, evidence of the pool match seeping a wet spot into her jeans and on the front of his pants, too.

Back at the Sanctuary, Negan kept all his promises, and while Destiny never did beat him pool because she was too busy blushing over the stain, she did manage to keep the highest score on Donkey Kong - best out of all the wives, the Sanctuary, and Negan, too.

@superprincesspea// @vizhi0n// @ladylorelitany// @genevievedarcygranger @kijilinn// @the-angle-of-depression// @multi-villain-imagines// @notice-me-senpai-sama// @of-dragons-and-dreams// @uniquewerewolfsuit// @lucilepiewhiskey// @i-am-negan-trash// @purplemuse// @jeffreydeanneganstrash// @followmeonelasttime// @world-war-crap// @sherlocks-timetraveling-assbutt// @zombeeegurl// @blondekel77// @deez666// @purplejellybean// @wadeyourebarelyalive// @johnthakerys// @memphisgirl1977// @melodicdolls// @negans-dirty-girl// @beltz2016// @warriorqueen1991// @ryangoslingstanktop// @to-ma-to// @superwholoki

#negan trash 2k fic exchange #negan #negan fanfic #negan fanfiction #negan x oc #the walking dead #the walking dead fanfiction #twd fanfiction #my fanfiction

[mermaidsirennikita]

July 2018 Book Roundup

This was a bit of a slump month for me in terms of reading.  But wait!  I read so many books!  Yeah, but I savored very few of them.  Some were mediocre, and several were bad.  Very bad.  Standouts included Riley Sager’s “spooky summer camp reinvented” thriller The Last Time I Lied and the very satisfying conclusion to Kiersten White’s super underrated Conqueror’s Saga, Bright We Burn.  You win some months and lose some months--I hope the next one is better.

My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows, and Brodi Ashton.  2/5.  A retelling of Jane Eyre, My Plain Jane sees Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre as friends at Lowood together, with Jane able to see ghosts and Charlotte desperate to get to the bottom of her secrets.  As Jane takes a job at Thornfield Hall, she is pursued by Charlotte and intrepid paranormal investigator Alexander, in a tale full of ghosts, secret wives, and romance.  I... really don’t want to say I hate this because it had its funny, cute moments that remind me of My Lady Jane, but... I kind of hated it?  It’s partially my own fault, really, because the book was exactly what it described itself to be.  But what worked when twisting history--My Lady Jane focused on Jane Grey--just doesn’t work when retelling a popular book.  Charlotte was quirky girl’d to the point of being twee; she also seemed into Jane Austen, which bugged me because she wasn’t.  And much of Jane’s side of things seemed like condescending fix it fic, in a way.  Don’t you know that Jane only falls for Rochester because she’s a romantic young woman with no life experience (and an obsessed with Mr. Darcy because I guess)????  Maybe I just like the real Jane Eyre too much.  Either way, I’m still going to read the next Jane book, but cannot recommend this one.

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager.  5/5.  Fifteen years ago, Emma Davis was the last person to see Vivian, Allison, and Natalie before they disappeared from Camp Nightingale--and the world--forever.  She accused a boy she liked of doing something terrible; and she vanished into obscurity, reinventing herself as an up and coming artist.  But she can’t seem to stop painting the girls, even as she covered them up afterwards.  Upon the prompting of the camp’s owner--and dogged by guilt--Emma returns to teach at the reopened Camp Nightingale, given three new girls to mentor.  Yet she still can’t seem to stop seeing the girls--especially the entrancing, manipulative Vivian.  Riley Sager does something with his books that make me really happy: he keeps on taking a classic teen slasher trope and making a whole book about it.  I loved the sexy-teens-in-a-cabin angle of Final Girls--and this book takes on the whole creepy camp thing, complete with a spooky lake and campfire legends.  He also throws in--for good measure--toxic, intoxicating girl relationships!  Because yes, Emma had a crush on a boy, but her world was really dominated by Vivian.  At one point, I thought that this book would be a 4 out of 5 because as much as I love the tone and atmosphere and the overall story, I wasn’t a big fan of how Emma’s hallucinations worked and the ending seemed rather predictable.  But that wasn’t the REAL ending.  And the real ending?  Just... yes.  The present storyline in this book is good, but the past--mostly Vivian, let’s be real, that’s a girl after my own heart--is fantastic.  

Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris.  1/5.  While stopped at a gas station with her boyfriend FInn, Layla goes missing. Twelve years later--after enduring a period as the prime suspect in Layla’s murder, despite the fact that her body was never found--Finn is engaged to Layla’s sister Ellen.  Out of nowhere, little signs begin appearing that lead Finn to wonder... could Layla still be out there?  WHAT A DUMB BOOK.  I didn’t realize that I’d read one of Paris’s books, the super underwhelming The Breakdown.  If I had, I wouldn’t have tried it.  God, this was fucking stupid.  Literally every twist you would think of, every basic “surprise” is here.  And then one that is so--but the real issue is Finn.  I don’t take issue with flawed protagonists, but Finn was more than flawed.  He was creepy (fine in certain cases) and stupid (never fine).  And for that matter, everyone else was so one-dimensional that it was impossible to sweep aside his shortcomings.  I skimmed this after a point, and I’m glad I didn’t waste any more time on it.

The List by Joanna Bolouri.  1/5.  IT GOT WORSE!!!  I won’t bother with a summary, because this is actually pretty fucking simple: a year (!!!!) after her ex cheated on her, thirty-year-old Phoebe still isn’t over it.  In an effort to revitalize her sex life, she makes a list of sexual experiences she hasn’t tried and wants to, and sets off to check them off with her best guy friend, Oliver.  Okay, admittedly, I should have known that this would be a diary book, which is a style I usually don’t like (with some notable exceptions).  Phoebe has the most annoying voice I have ever read.  It’s as if the author wants to mimic Bridget Jones, but doesn’t understand why people like Bridget and why she came off more as hapless but amusing, instead of just... a moron.  Phoebe is a FUCKING MORON.  She hates her job, she uses cutesy slang words (like, my least favorite cutesy slang words from the U.K.) and describes sex acts in the least appealing way possible.  But it’s not as if the author wants the sex to feel real, because aside from a few mishaps, Phoebe overall has great sexual experiences, even when you imagine that if this is the first time she’s doing them, it’d probably be more awkward.  Like... we’re supposed to buy that Phoebe LOOOOOVES anal after the first time she’s tried it, but she describes it as feeling like “she’s going to the bathroom, but good” basically.  HOT STUFF.  And she’s just a dipshit in general.  She and all of her friends are.  I knew this was definitely going to be 1/5 after Oliver made a joke about stereotypical “Native American” names (a joke that is somehow worse knowing that an author from the U.K. wrote it) but even before then, Phoebe is talking about her lack of sexual satisfaction with her friends all of whom are in their thirties and one of them... is like... humping a couch?  I don’t know why authors who write “sexual” books think that this is normal behavior.  I am in my 20s; I’ve been in weird situations; I know a lot of weird people.  Never has some dry-humped a couch in front of me... as a joke.... or in general.  Wow.  Stupid.

Choose Your Own Disaster by Dana Schwartz.  3/5.  Dana Schwartz’s memoir--detailing her struggles with eating disorders, mental illness in general, romantic travails, and finding herself as a millennial--is laid out in the style of a choose your own adventure novel.  While it’s certainly well-written and takes advantage of its gimmick, I can’t say this was as enjoyable as My Lady’s Choosing.  Obviously, they’re totally different genres, but...  I don’t know.  This wasn’t a fun read to me, even though I think it was important.  Some parts hit too close to home, which isn’t Schwartz’s fault, while other parts seemed overwritten, which is.  A mixed bag.

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell.  4/5.  Shortly after marrying the wealthy and handsome Rupert, Elsie finds herself widowed and pregnant, sent away to the Bainbridge family’s country estate to wait for her baby to be born.  She’s met with eerie villagers and angry servants, as well as Rupert’s awkward cousin, Sarah.  All of that, however, she could deal with--what’s more unsettling are the violent events that begin occurring in the house, and strange painted “silent companions” that seem to pop up everywhere, their eyes appearing to follow Elsie around.  Perhaps most disturbing of all is the diary Sarah finds, detailing the story of Rupert’s ancestress, Anne Bainbridge--and her mute daughter Hetta...  This kicked off with a slow start; I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get through it.  But about 50 pages in, things PICK UP.  Especially when we get into Anne’s diary, which is where some of the really creepy stuff takes place.  It’s a spooky, unsettling story that feels like it’s of another time.  If you’re a fan of “The Others”--which I am--I’d highly recommend the novel.  

Bright We Burn by Kiersten White.  4/5.  The final book in The Conqueror’s Saga sees Radu finally forced to make a choice for his future, as Lada’s conflict with him and Mehmed--and all of her enemies, really--finally comes to a head.  I can’t say much more than that, because... final book in the series, and all.  I really can’t recommend this trilogy enough.  Yes, a gender-flipped Vlad the Impaler story sounds weird.  But Lada is a great character you so rarely see in YA--a truly horrible female lead.  She’s awful.  Not a monster, but not really redeemable either, especially after this installment.  And I wouldn’t even say that Lada is the most complex character in the series--that goes to Radu, her brother who is a) gay b) a Muslim convert and c) in love with Mehmed, their childhood friend who is in love with Lada, who kind of loves Mehmed but kind of hates him because he’s about as horrible a she is.  I loved this poisonous triangle of scheming and bad people--Radu is significantly less horrible than Lada and Mehmed, but has his moments--and the world and the supporting characters, and the only reason this book didn’t a full 5/5 is because I think there needed to be more.  The conflict of the trio really petered out a bit for me, and it came down to Lada and Radu.  And I love Lada and Radu, but Mehmed was the kind of antagonist that got their asses in gear, and the book needed that extra kick.  Overall, however, this was a great conclusion--super satisfying, and quite bloody.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.  4/5.  Celestial and Roy are upwardly mobile Atlanta residents--she a rising artist, he a young executive--and just over  a year into their marriage when Roy is arrested for a crime he didn’t commit.  Sentenced to twelve years in prison, Roy writes to Celestial as their marriage gradually disintegrates.  When he’s exonerated and freed five years into his sentence, he returns to her.  But Celestial has built up a relationship with Andre, her childhood friend and the best man at her and Roy’s wedding.  The question isn’t just one of who Celestial belongs with--and whether she belongs with anyone--but of whether or not she and Roy ever would have worked out in the first place?  This is a DEEP literary book, y’all.  Not light reading.  And I can’t say it was super enjoyable?  I mean, this is one of those harshly realistic, love isn’t enough tearjerkers.  But it was very well-written, and it examined themes and questions that I don’t think you’d necessarily expect from such a relatively simple premise.  Of course, much of the novel does revolve around being a black man (or woman) in 21st century America--so I can’t critique that aspect.  The only thing I really can say as a criticism is that the older characters in the novel--Celestial and Roy’s parents, primarily--do essentially repeat themselves a good bit.  And again, I can’t say that I like everything every character did or said--but every action came from a very real place.  It’s a harsh one.

Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott.  3/5.  Kit is an ambitious scientist, hoping to gain a spot on a PMDD-related study led by her idol.  She’s the only woman in the running, and considered a shoo-in the the “woman spot”--until Diane shows up.  Diane and Kit knew each other when they were younger; and Diane told Kit a secret that derailed both of their lives.  With the weight of Diane’s secret on her mind, Kit begins to slowly unravel, questioning how she should handle a secret that has gone from being another person’s problem, to hers as well.  I’m not one of those people scared off by Abbott’s squicky, literary style of telling domestic thriller stories.  I’m used to her obsession with the female body and feminine mysteries in general.  I’m not sure why this one didn’t click with me.  The writing was still there, and on paper the story is something I should have liked--so I’m saying it’s me, not her.  It may be that the books of Abbott’s I’ve really liked have dealt more with the truly domestic sphere or something more mundane and universal than scientific studies?  I just wasn’t attached to this story or the characters.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware.  3/5.  Down on her luck tarot card reader Hal is shocked when she receives word that she is the possible recipient of an inheritance.  Her grandmother has died, and Hal is summoned to her home to hear the will being read.  The only issue is that to Hal’s knowledge, her grandmother was already dead--and with her mother gone, she has no way of knowing who this woman is.  Desperate for money, she goes to the Westaway estate, only to find that the inheritance may not be worth the risk.  This is a very standard mystery/thriller.  Kind of predictable.  I really don’t have much to say about it.  The book wasn’t bad but it didn’t thrill me, so it might be another me/my slump thing.

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren.  4/5.  Macy hasn’t seen her childhood friend and first love Elliot for eleven years.  When they run into each other in a coffee shop, he’s an aspiring novelist and she’s a resident on the brink of marriage.  As the novel traces the story of Elliot and Macy’s past--and what he did to make her cut off contact with him the same night he confessed his love--Macy is confronted with a decision about her future, and owning up to who she is in the present.  A slump-breaker!  This is a really good romance, y’all.  Elliot and Macy’s chemistry is palpable.  You spend the whole novel worrying less about what drove them apart, and more about when they’re going to get together.  That being said, the best part of the book was definitely the past.  Their friendship felt genuine, which made the sexual tension buildup even better (speaking of: this is one of the few contemporary romances with legitimately good sex scenes).  The stakes aren’t quite as high in the present--it seems painstakingly obvious from the beginning that Macy can fix her issues in a pretty simple way.  And if she didn’t know that, I’d be a bit less annoyed, but she does.  Not much happens in the present, really--that’s just the payoff for what started in the past.  Still, this is a very sweet, sexy, and kind of heartwarming book that I would recommend to anyone who needs something that’s light without being TOO light.

Roomies by Christina Lauren.  3/5.  Holland is obsessed with a guitarist on the subway, and has been for about six months.  By a twist of fate, they finally meet, and through her connections she is able to get him a job opportunity.  The only problem is that Calvin--an Irish immigrant who’s overstayed his student visa--is in the States illegally.  So, out of the goodness of her heart and not at all because she wants to jump his bones, Holland offers to marry him so that he can get his green card.  What could go wrong?  Christina Lauren is, again, great at building up the sexual tension between her characters, and can actually write good sex scenes.  This is a sweet, fluffy, silly book.  I’d recommend it to romance fans.  It’s just not as substantial as Love and Other Words and the plot could have been stronger; I basically skimmed over that stuff because it didn’t really grab me, and focused more on the romantic bits between Holland Calvin.  A quick, nice read, but I’ve read better romance novels.

Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent.  2/5.  Andrew and Lydia, a wealthy couple who’ve fallen on hard time, have buried the body of a young woman in their back yard. Though Lydia desperately tries to keep the secret from their son, Laurence, he discovers the truth before long.  Meanwhile, their victim’s sister investigates Annie’s disappearance, struggling for answers.  Ugh, this hasn’t been a great month for me + thrillers.  This one sucked.  In theory, there were good ideas, and moments of good voice, but the overall execution was very poor.  The characters came off as caricatures, one of the worst things you can do in a thriller imo.  And ooooh, there was so much emphasis on Laurence’s obesity, Annie’s lack of education--it seemed lurid and borderline exploitative at times.  Hard pass.

#reading roundup #books #book recs #book roundup

[lightsorigins]

An inefficient world

03 Marckabeth 2010

3:42 pm, Mysticiën,

Lausya, Estery High School

 Squeezed into an uncomfortable wooden chair, Sarasvatî had her arms folded. She had been staring at Madame Bigot, her biology teacher, for a few minutes. After having finished her tirade on a part of the course, this last one also observed Sara during a few seconds. The setting sun was illuminating her short jet hair and her strong gaze. She was imperturbable, yet everything about her indicated a latent irritation.

- Sarasvatî, do you have something to add?

 She sighed at length before answering.

- You send me sorry, but you can't understand anything in a class where you get lost in so many details.

- These details are in Sara's program. If you work harder, you'll understand more.

 At the agreement of his words, his gaze caught fire.

- That I work more? Me? In this room, I'm sure that no one understood a word of what you've just explained. You start to talk to us about how Anima and Menha work, and then you digress about your theories about the most powerful elements to bring down the Anima of our opponents, even though we are not even atmologists. It had nothing to do with the beginning of the session, and we haven't even been given a lecture on the primary elements yet!

- Sara...

- Don't expect me to believe that your assumptions about how things work are part of the program. Everyone here knows that you were not a high school teacher last year.

 Madame Bigot was a red-headed meïlith with very light blue skin. Her big green eyes opened more and more to Sara's insolence. Discreet and kind, she had indeed shown for some sessions difficulties in giving her course in a sufficiently clear manner. Suddenly, she gave a big blow on her desk with the flat of her hand.

- Enough! You will bring me your notebook at the bell. I cannot accept such behavior in this room. Class representative or good student, I don't care!

- Instead, say that you are unable to accept reality and the criticisms that go against your ineffective methods," Sara replied before taking out her notebook and putting it at the end of the table.

- Pardon? exclaimed the professor.

- Nothing. Nothing that you wouldn't be able to hear.

      She was dying to make him swallow her tongue with an atmos. Something that would have made her feel like making a fool of herself in front of all those students, but Laura Bigot would be in big trouble with the Grand Council of Atmology if she did so. However, she could already see herself joining hands, forming a skillful circle and whispering "Totopo lu hodo". A wooden cocoon would then have formed around Sarasvatî, who would have had no choice but to keep quiet. The pupils would then have said to each other "It is not necessary to joke with Mrs. Bigot! ». She would have earned the respect she had hoped for, continued her course and shared her intelligent theories on the functioning of the elements. Yet, instead...

- What's up? Are you going to take this notebook, yes or no? Instead of standing stupidly in front of me staring at me.

- Leave this room immediately Sara. You will have a report that you will remember for a long time. I would have liked to talk with you calmly, but it is obviously not possible.

- Anyway, it's going to ring. I would have liked to avoid this with you, but it seems to me that we have already talked about this problem. I won't be able to get a higher education with your damn theories. You simply have no right to do that. I'll talk to the director about it tomorrow. I'll see you soon.

       Madame Bigot kept talking, but Sara had already moved on. Then the bell rang. It was an unpleasant, strident, repetitive sound that she had never enjoyed hearing. She grabbed her black leather jacket and put it over her long sky-blue dress. Grabbing her bag, she walked towards the exit, expressionless. Her step was heavy, fast and sure. She didn't greet anyone and stopped at the door. Once in the hallway, Sara stretched out her arm and let her diamond shûmberr skin handbag dangle nimbly from her fingertips. Staring down at the large alley, a long sigh of impatience escaped from between her lips. Suddenly, a young sygreliad with long blond hair rushed towards her and grabbed her bag.

- Sorry Sara, I hadn't finished writing everything down. Damn, your bag is heavy today, what did you put in it?

- It's the weight of Madame Bigot's bullshit, did you see how it weighs?

  Annabelle smiled an embarrassed smile at him. Sara mimicked her expression by mimicking a despicable nonsense before continuing.

- Where's Marvin? Is he going to suck up to miss bullshit, or is he going to show up?

  A large wazardin with a tousled coat ran out of the room, jostling Sara and Annabelle as they passed by. He stumbled a few seconds later, knocking over all of his comrade's things in the hallway. His ruby eyes were lost in Sara's, who stared at him without blinking.

- Ah shit, I thought you two had left," he said, laughing and nervously scratching his head.

- Marvin, I think I'm going to destroy you and your whole family," Sara said dryly.

- But you still intend to continue to help me with the merçembuth history presentation?

- Maybe, if you pick up everything you just spilled in less than thirty seconds. After that time, I might purposely insert errors in your homework and insult the teachers to get you kicked out of school.

  Marvin swallowed his saliva and picked it all up, helped by Annabelle, who then picked up Sara's purse. They continued on their way out of the school. Snow was falling in large flakes on Lausya. It was a venckelbuth of the month of jalestar. This year's system was particularly cold. Every day, Sarasvatî, Annabelle and Marvin came home from school together because their homes were on the same road. Since middle school, the three teenagers had spent a lot of time together working on subjects in which they were struggling. Despite her bullying attitude, Sara knew she needed Annabelle's help in math. In return, she would help them out when they had arguments with other students, but also in other subjects where Annabelle and Marvin were not performing as well as she did.

- It took exactly twenty-four seconds to pick up everything," says Annabelle. That's it, you're saved for your homework Marvin!

- No, because you helped him so it doesn't count. So I'm not going to help you, too," Sara replied.

  Annabelle's face decomposed. The young sygreliad gradually slowed down her walk, when Sara suddenly ripped her purse from her hands.

- Oh, but we can't even laugh anymore? It's not possible that! I'll help you anyway, I'm not a monster ! We've known each other for a long time, seriously. You're the only two people I accept to talk to, stop being afraid like that for a little bit, otherwise I won't hang out with you anymore. 

- You'll have to excuse me Sara, but considering how mad you were at Madame Bigot earlier, it doesn't make you want to be more upset than that.

- You have nothing to do with it, I wouldn't be stupid enough to make you pay for miss bigou's incompetence. And what do you think of what I said to her? Did you understand what she was talking about?

- I don't know," Annabelle hesitated. I was interested in her ideas, but she did talk fast. Anyway, it wasn't going to last long. Do you really think that letting her talk a little bit about it from time to time is so bad?

- The problem is there, and you both need to think about it too. Like me, you would like to become good atmologists later on, wouldn't you? Imagine letting all of our teachers knock us out with their unproven hypotheses for five to ten minutes per hour-long class. Imagine, in total, how much time we will have wasted! That would mean that...

  Marvin grabs her by the arm and pulls her onto the road. Sara was so carried away by his explanation that she hadn't seen that it was time to cross.

- That would mean a lot of time would be lost," he added calmly. I know, it's okay. But only Madame Bigot does that. She is new, you said it yourself, and despite that she is still a good teacher!

  Sara stared at him before raising her eyes to the sky.

- How much did you get at his last checkup, Marvin? Honestly?

- I got 8 out of 20, and you know very well that I usually get half in organic classes!

- Marvin, you got 8 and I got 10, whereas in bio I normally go out with at least 16. She's not a good teacher. And I need a record that is relevant to my entry into the top universities in Mysticiën. I have tried to be patient, I have already talked to her about the situation but the very next day she does the same thing to me. I wish she had at least been honest and told me clearly that she would continue to do as she pleased.

- And if she had said that, are you sure you wouldn't have done something, like spilling all her stuff on the floor or yelling at her that she's just incompetent?

  Sara slowed down her walk slightly and began to contemplate the sky for a few seconds as a sign of reflection. Suddenly, her gaze returned to Annabelle.

- Yeah, you have a point. Are we still on for math tomorrow at 4:00?

- Yes, I have notified my parents. I leave you here, see you tomorrow!

  She walked away discreetly. Sara and Marvin watched the silhouette in the small white coat disappear in the distance towards the east of the city, rubbing her arms against herself to warm up before she could go home. Marvin patted Sara on the back before bursting into laughter.

- Hey, Marvin. Really, I'm going to end up killing you if you touch me a third time.

- You're not cool to make Annabelle carry your bag like that! Look how tiny and cute she is in her coat, she still looks like a little girl.

  They went the other way before Sara continued.

- I took advantage of this before she became a school principal. She will eat us all if we don't dominate her first. Look at her, with her little feet and her nice attitudes. She's hiding an evil genius, that's for sure.

- Aren't you projecting your own attitudes onto her?

- No. And you want to carry my bag instead maybe?

- I can't promise I'll never drop it if you let me do it, but we can always try, I guess.

  At the agreement of her words, she jumped up and down to try to slap him on the back of the head. Marvin ducked, and the two teenagers began to chase each other around town. The discussion turned into a brief snowball fight, won by Sarasvatî. In their bickering, they had reached Marvin's family home, which was still lying on the ground. Before he got up, Sara approached him with a huge amount of snow in her arms.

- What do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Notorious Criminal? she asked comically.

      Marvin concentrated with all his strength and a pink glow covered him. Sara frowned, wondering what idiocy he was up to. A few seconds later, he had taken on the appearance of Sara herself.

- Nothing. Nothing that you wouldn't be able to hear. "He replied seriously and solemnly, to imitate Sara's phrase when she had argued with their teacher.

  When she understood, she covered her face with snow and started kicking him. Marvin laughed and laughed for a good five minutes before getting up and returning to his original shape.

- Wazardins, you are really dangerous people. I hope you don't take my appearance to do anything in front of others.

- Given the sanctions that await me if I do that, it's better that I avoid. Well, I'm out of here. Get home safe, and don't kill your brother if he's done something stupid, okay?

- Yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow.

      Sara's home was a few dozen meters from here. All she had to do was cross a few roads, turn a couple of blocks, and she would find the park and then the building where she lived with her brother and mother. As she continued on her way silently, Sara got lost in her thoughts. She was still organizing her future, already imagining herself in a prestigious university, studying atmology as a Creator. The Creators combine the energies of Fire and Plants to fight and explore the world. What seduced Sara in this atmological discipline was the possibility of giving life to living creatures to fight at her side. Federating a team that she would have made entirely with her own hands... nothing could make her dream stronger.

    Suddenly, as she was walking at a brisk pace, her foot stumbled on a thick piece of carjaline, in the middle of a park that she travels home through every day. Intrigued, she stopped to observe it more closely. The thick black debris reflected an intense glow. She recognized the fragments of black tourmaline, through which the last rays of the sun were seeping, then she sighed at length. It was a mechanical arm, and Sara knew exactly where it came from.

- I guess it's not ironic to have one intervention a year since high school by the Guild of Renovators, while the mayor himself leaves his pieces of inventions lying around anywhere...

      She gave a huge kick to the robot arm. The noise resonated through the entire alloy. Sara looked a little further and recognized a hand also made of carjaline. Ecology was a cause that was close to her heart, also because she had become aware early on of the harmful effects that occur when no one pays attention to it. As she walked along the road again, she plunged into her memories. Many alloys and castings like these were not so easily recycled, and ended up impacting not only the fauna and flora, but also the people of Lausanne. As

    far back as she can remember, Oscar Fanghël, the mayor of Lausya, has always considered the town as an experimental field of choice to test his prototypes. No one ever really knew what he was creating so many of them for. No one ever knew why he did not stop despite the numerous requests of the people of Lausya, and even worse: no one ever knew why the GCA (Great Council of Atmosphology), or even the GCM (Great Council of Martial Arts), had never acted in the face of this problem. Still, some members of the Guilde des Rénovateurs came to the aid of the lausois, but with great discretion.

      Sara suspected well-disguised political shenanigans. She and other lausois knew that the ancestry of the Fanghël family was highly respected, had a long arm and could quickly come to grips with any opponent. This disturbing prospect probably kept many people silent. She swore to herself, however, that when she became powerful enough, Sara would make Oscar eat all his prototypes one after the other. She hoped that Annabelle, Marvin and her other friends would join her cause and that one day this city, and others suffering similar injustices, would become more effectively managed.

    She finally reached the square in her neighbourhood: a poorly maintained place, decorated with a few benches and children's games, half of which had been seriously damaged. Buildings rose up around her, as if they were contemplating her with all the coldness of the system. A cold draught suddenly woke her up, awakening a wave of shivers that ran down her spine. She clenched her teeth, cursed and started looking for her keys in her bag before reaching the entrance hall. Then a strange smell tickled her nostrils. She knew that smell well.

- Nanthilia? Seriously, some guys start smoking this early in the day?

      The fragrance was far too close for Sara to resist knowing who, in this neighborhood she knew on the tip of her fingers, was having fun rolling nanthilia joints. The local youth - and the youth from elsewhere - loved it for the fun and soothing psychic effects it provides. Sara then discreetly walked around the large building to the right, surreptitiously walked along the wall and bent down to see if there were people further away. She heard laughter, including one she could recognize from among a thousand. A group of four young boys sat on a bench at the back of the building and laughed loudly. She approached them discreetly. From then on, only a few centimeters separated her from the boys.

      One of them turned around and fell face to face with Sara. With a hiccup of surprise, he jumped up and tripped his butt first on the field of grass. She still had her arms folded and that imperturbable expression that described her so well.

- Oh damn it! cried the young man who had just fallen. Why didn't you say you were there, Sara?

      She didn't answer, then looked at another boy in the group. He was shorter than the others, had a black hair in a battle, big black eyes, and wore a red flannel shirt with white checks. He was the one with the nanthilia joint in his hands. His eyes were red with fatigue. When Sara saw the joint between her fingers, she raised her eyebrows without taking her eyes off it. The young man did not blink.

- Name of a kannidus, Sara. Do you want to become a cop for the GCs now or what's it like? You can shove your witchy eyes up your ass.

- Are you kidding me, Kieran? she replied.

      Sara moved towards him to rip the joint out of his hands, but in response, he backed away. She grabbed him by the arm and eventually ripped it off, threw it to the ground, and crushed it vigorously with the tip of her foot.

- We had an agreement between the two of us. You had to behave better and make an effort because I warned you about the consequences of this thing, and I find you three days later smoking with three idiots from the neighbourhood?

- Oh eh, that's good," replied one of them, ready to defend his cause.

      Feeling the anger rising, Sara turned to them as if to forbid them to dare to speak again. The boys preferred to stay there and walk away, stunned by the effects of the nanthilia. Sara began to feel tired and disappointed. She didn't take her eyes off Kieran, who, on the other hand, was very angry.

- You're really annoying when you get into it. I've already told you that this situation is my business! Why don't you want to get off my back, don't you have classes to study or whatever else you need to do in your corner with your nerdy friends?

      For the umpteenth time today, she sighed.

- We're talking about your future Kieran, I'm not doing this just to annoy you. I'm your sister, it's my job to warn you about the effects of these things! Do you realize that mercenaries and explorers use this to cause psychic disturbances on their opponents? Do you think it's normal to blow your head off with it?

- Yes! because it's my skull and I do what I want with it! I don't want to do mega-studies like you, me.

      She remained silent as Kieran assailed her with all her favorite phrases to express her desire for independence and freedom. Her tirades continued for minutes on end. In the hall, in the elevator, and until they entered the apartment. He slammed the front door with all his might.

- If you're going to sneak up on me like that all the time, I'm just going to end up breaking into someone else's house without telling anyone! I'm tired of having you on my ass, you understand that? You're pissing me off!

- You're not doing what you want here Kieran," she shouted back. You're fourteen years old, you're a minor, you don't have to make these kinds of decisions, let alone talk to me like that! And if you want to run away, I'm going to find you whether you like it or not!

      This time it was the door to Kieran's room that slammed. A few seconds later, he launched a hard rock song at maximum volume. Sara was about to tell him to turn it down, but when she put her hand on the latch, she heard him turn the key in the lock. She put her hands to her hair and growled in irritation before going into the kitchen. The room was dirty, dimly lit with a light that Sara often described as "too white. Tired from work, her mother Naska didn't always have time to clean the apartment. Kieran would never get down to it, and Sara was far too busy working on her lessons.Putting her purse on the floor, she abruptly pulled out one of the chairs and dropped herself on it, taking her head in her hands and closing her eyes. A warm smell of boiled yone permeated the room. Naska, was cooking. Sara hated boiled food. It was the worst day she could have hoped for.

- Then my dear, why did your brother go to his room? Why are you still arguing? she asked softly.

- I've already come out of a class given by a poor incompetent and when I get downstairs, I find him smoking nanthilia with a bunch of jerks from the neighborhood. I had spoken with him not even a week ago, he told me that he understood and that he was going to make an effort, and look what he's doing!

- Don't be hard on your brother, honey.

- But how can I not be hard on him when he literally doesn't care about the world?

- You know that the situation is not easy for Kié. He needs time to act, and he's a young boy. Give him some time.

- If I'm the only one trying to be a little firmer with him, frankly, it's not going to help him. At some point you're going to have to do something serious. Let me remind you that I'm the one who pays for the private lessons that Amaëlle gives him! I work two days a week to help with homework for those in difficulty, but also to pay for her lessons! It's not by getting high on nanthilia every night that he's likely to learn things and use his memory well. I don't want to do that for nothing, it also impacts me, you understand?

      Naska marked a time of silence. Busy with her dish, she grabbed a bowl of spices and poured a tiny part of it into the broth she was preparing. She then drained the fragrant rice before continuing.

- You should relax a little bit Sara. I know you do a lot, but you could ask Amaelle for an advance for the classes.

- No. I'm not going to do that. I just want Kieran to get to work.

- Be patient, there is no reason to get into all these states. You must not push him to leave the house. I will be sad if something happens to him.

- I am already patient. All the time. And so am I...

      Sara felt that no matter what she might say, her mother would remain relaxed, or at least pretend to. Between the loud music played in her brother's room, the smell of boiled yone that was going to make her nauseous, and that incarnation with Madame Bigot earlier, she began to think that spending the evening here would be a bad idea. So she went to her room and made a call to Marvin.

- Hello Mrs. Solenelle?" he answered.

- Marvin, can I come to your house tonight?

- It depends on what for. Like, if it's for the presentation, I'm okay with it.

- Do you have fresh choums? Do you still have your two controllers to play with? Do you have an interesting topic of discussion in mind?

- Wow, we have a real program here, don't we?

- Yes or no?

- Yeah, yeah, it's quiet. Are you sure you're okay, Sara?

- I'll be there in five minutes. I'm sleeping at your place.

- Well, okay. I'll see you in a minute.

[thevioletquinn]

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS // VIOLET X NOAH

Who: Violet Quinn, Noah Fynn, Unnamed Staff What: Noah tricks Violet in to actually celebrating her birthday. Where: A Bowling Place When: Friday 23rd October 2020 Mentions: N/A Trigger Warnings: N/A Word Count: TBA (Ongoing Chatzy)

(Forenote: Laura is a dumbass and forgot to save the start of the chatzy and can no longer access anything before this point. I’ll write up what basically led up to this when I get chance but the basics are that Noah asked Violet if she could pick him up which she begrudgingly did and he surprised her by booking out a bowling alley just for the two of them. At first Violet’s annoyed because she literally hates her birthday)

---

Noah had assumed that Violet wasn't a huge fan of her birthday, having guessed that was probably the reason why she had only told him about the date at the very last minute the year before. Still, Violet was one of the most important people in his life and he just couldn't let the day slip away without doing something to celebrate, even if she was looking at him like she would happily set him on fire right now. "I know that you're annoyed right now but I don't think that I'm the worst. If I was, I would have thrown you a huge surprise party", Noah pointed out, a cheeky grin on his face as he was confident that he would be able to get her to enjoy herself. After all, if she was really angry, she would have stormed out already. "Come on, the bartender has been eagerly awaiting your arrival so that he can start pouring drinks and the cook is on standby so that you can have whatever you want. We've literally got the full run of the place, it's a very private way to celebrate".

Violet remained with her arms folded for a few moments longer, really trying not to let that cheeky grin of his make her break her front. He did have a point though - if he had thrown a huge surprise party, he wouldn't have been seen again. The second he mentioned a bartender, the brunette's eyes flicked to try and find the bar. "Fine, but just so you know I'm staying for the alcohol, not for you." She told him but at the end, there was a small smile looming on her lips as she walked over to him, spinning him around to guide them both in the direction of the bar. Her hands remaining on his shoulders as they walked.

Despite her protests, he could tell that there was a tiny part of her that didn't completely hate what he had planned; yet he knew that she wasn't likely to admit that until she had a lot of alcohol in her system. "Damn, I shouldn't have gone to such an effort then. Next year, I'll just put my credit card behind the bar at Mars Bar and we'll just drink in silence", Noah teased, allowing her to guide him towards the bar. "Considering we're the only customers here tonight, I'm making a rule: we cannot order anything boring to eat or drink. The bartender is going to be bored if we just order beers all night and I bet the cook doesn't want to make some fries and then sit on his ass all night. I'm talking cocktails and literally everything on the food menu, Big Quinn".

"Technically, I didn't want any effort so..." Violet told him and only shifted to his side when they were at the bar. "Hm, okay, that's fair. You're going to make me fat but okay." She joked and started to look over the drinks menu before she noticed something. A slush machine. God, she hadn't had one of those since she was a kid. Her eyes shifted to the bartender and leaned forward slightly. "You want something not boring? I want a mixed slush and I want..." She hummed in contemplation. "... two, possibly three, shots of vodka mixed in with it." Her arms folded like she couldn't be told no and looked to Noah to see if he'd join her on that or not.

"Technically you shouldn't have befriended me, then. I'm not exactly the type of person to let a special occasion slip by without any sort of celebration", Noah pointed out. It just wasn't in his nature -- he loved a good celebration. "I think that's a physical impossibility, Vi. After all, I help you work out very vigorously on a very regular basis", he laughed. He looked at her with an impressed expression on her face when she decided what she wanted to drink; glad that she was starting to get into the spirit of things. "Bartender, can I please have a large mixed slush with three shots of vodka for my beautiful friend here; and a large blue slush with three shots of tequila for myself?"

Violet considered his point. "Fair point. Next year I'm hiding in a foreign country so you can't trick me in to celebrating, you sneaky little shit." She half-joked. There was every chance - if she remembered - that she would just take a holiday around her birthday so she had an excuse not to answer anyone. "Yeah... I might need a couple of work outs tonight in that case." The brunette tried to hide the smirk on her lips. Though a smile soon grew when he decided to join her on her order and turned to look back at the bartender. As much as she still wanted to be grumpy and mad that he'd got her here, there was a good part of her that actually really liked his idea. There was a choice of what she could do next - bowling or head to the arcade - and she weighed up these actions until she had her drink in hand. Surprisingly, Violet hadn't actually been bowling much in her life so she knew she was probably going to fail miserably at it so she figured she'd start there so she could end on beating Noah at arcade games. The girl thanked the bartender for her drink before swirling her straw in the cup to mix the liquor. "Bowling first?" She suggested to Noah.

"I can't believe that you would go overseas for a vacation and not invite me. I don't think I did anything to deserve such a cruel and unusual punishment from you", Noah said with a dramatic sigh. He was already mentally planning for how he could still do something to celebrate Violet's birthday next year if she was going to insist on going to such lengths to avoid said celebrations. "I think that can be arranged, although that really all depends on how tonight unfolds. I'm a pretty sore loser so I might not be in the mood later", he joked. "Good choice on the drink front, Vi", he told her once he had taken a sip of his drink, before nodding his head and leading them over to the front desk so that they could get bowling shoes. He ordered shoes for both himself and Violet; and as they were donning them, he looked at her curiously. "Have you bowled before?"

"It's not a punishment to you. I just really hate my birthday and maybe I'll hate it a little less from a foreign poolside with a constant flow of cocktails." Violet told him with a shrug. She rolled her eyes playfully at his joke. "Nice try but I'm not going to just let you win so I get sex, Fynn." She said - playing along with his joke - as she sipped from her drink. The cold feeling slipping down her throat feeling more than refreshing to her. "Thanks. I've not had one of these since I was a kid... minus the vodka obviously." The brunette swirled the straw around and followed him to the front desk to get their shoes. His question made her glance up at him briefly before continuing to tie her shoes. "Once or twice. It depended if a friend's parent was paying for everyone or not. If not, 'oh sorry, got school work to do'." Violet explained as she finished tying her shoes and drank a bit more of her slushie. "So, no, you're not allowed to laugh when I'm not good at something for once."

"I think you would enjoy it a lot more if I happened to be sitting next to you around the side of the pool", Noah was quick to counter. Violet had made the mistake of admitting her date of birth to him and it would now be very hard to stop him from celebrating entirely, although he was willing to dilute the celebrations slightly so that she wasn't too overwhelmed. "That definitely wasn't my intention, I want you to bring your A-game! I'm just warning you that I won't be feeling very sexy if I lose at literally everything tonight", he laughed. "Really? All my slushs had alcohol content, even from a young age", he teased; although he was only half-joking. He and his friends had probably started experimenting by adding alcohol in their early teenage years. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that because bowling is literally one of my favourite activities. If I had known that you had only played once or twice, I would have dragged you to the bowling alley ages ago". Without overthinking it, he leaned over and kissed her cheek; like that would help to alleviate the memory of her childhood. "I can't promise that I won't laugh but I will offer you some insider tips and tricks to help you improve".

"Maybe... I'd enjoy it more if I could push you in to the pool. Ruin that hair of yours that you probably spent way too long prepping for the pool." Violet joked. "I don't believe that for a second. Mainly because you look sexy all the time so how could you not feel sexy?" She complimented but rolled her eyes at the same time. A laugh leaving her thinking he was entirely joking about the slush thing. The brunette did make a mental note of bowling being one of his favourite activities in case she ever needed to pull him out of a bad mood. "Good luck dragging me. Mainly because I know I'm going to be absolutely terrible at this and strangely enough the idea of being worse than some kids around me sounds like hell. Luckily though, we have the whole place to ourselves." Violet explained why she probably would have tried to get out of it prior to today. She did appreciate the kiss on her cheek with a small smile on her lips. She'd gotten used to this action from Noah at this point but if anyone else tried kissing her cheek, she'd probably have backed away. "I can't promise I won't hit your arm for laughing but I definitely want the tips and tricks."

"What is your obsession with ruining my hair? What did it ever do to you?" Noah jokingly challenged. Over the last couple of months, Violet had certainly taken advantage of every opportunity to mess up his hair, despite his protests. "Even people as gorgeous as me don't feel sexy 100% of the time. Personally, I'm not really up for performing when I'm hungover or when my pride has been severely affected by repeated losses", he laughed, aware that she would ridicule him for that. "Even if you suck, I'm pretty confident that you're still going to look cute as hell whilst doing it", he assured her. "If it makes you feel any better, I can put up those bumpers and break out the ramp that they use for kids", he offered, only half-joking. "The first tip that you need to know is that kissing your very attractive bowling companion brings you good luck".

"It annoys you and you're adorable when you're annoyed." Violet answered honestly with a smirk on her lips. "Nah, the hangover one I get. The losses? I don't know, I think that would spur me on to do an even better job." The brunette responded with her view on that matter. She exhaled a laugh at him calling her cute while losing and ended up shrugging. "Okay, I'm not going to suck enough to use a ramp but the bumpers... I might need the bumpers or else I'm going to get gutterball every time." Violet considered the offer seriously before flicking her eyes back to him when he was giving her his first 'pro-tip'. A smile grew with a roll of her eyes and leaned in to give him a way more passionate kiss than he was probably expecting and only pulling back a couple of seconds later. "I need all the luck I can get."

"I'm always adorable, Quinn", Noah insisted. "That's because I'm clearly the sore loser in this relationship. It's not surprising that you'd be able to push through to redeem yourself whilst I'm still sulking in the corner", he laughed. "Bumpers it is". He quickly passed that information to the attendant that was working tonight so that they could set up the bumpers for Violet. He had been expecting Violet to just roll her eyes and dismiss the comment but instead, she rolled her eyes and quickly pulled him into a passionate kiss. He easily kissed her back, grinning at her when she pulled away. "Are you feeling lucky now? Are you ready for your first bowl of the night, birthday girl?"

"I can't argue with that." Violet agreed. "You know I won't be able to stand for you sulking in a corner. I'd probably have to kiss you until you stop pouting." She threatened like it was an actual threat. The girl appreciated how Noah wouldn't judge her for using bumpers. He never had judged her which is something she adored about Noah. Their connection was unconditional from both parties. "Very lucky." Violet told him, smiling brightly up to him. The brunette gave him a look when he called her the birthday girl but settled in to it. "I'm ready." She agreed and took his hand to guide them over to the lane set up for them. Violet initially went to the bowling ball rack to find a ball she could easily carry and use to bowl with.

"If you even tried to argue, I would know that you were lying", Noah was quick to retort. "... I suppose that might be a successful way to stop me from sulking but I don't that it would nurse my ego enough to make me put out", he joked before laughing at his own comment. "If you manage to get a spare or a strike, we'll know that my kisses basically have magic powers", he told her as the two made their way over to the lane. Whilst Violet was selecting her bowling ball, he programmed their names into the system (Fynn and Quinn) before selecting a ball of his own. "Alright, game on. Do you want me to go first so you can try and mimic my impressive moves?"

"I can't argue it but I can say that I'm more adorable." Violet teased back. "I never said you had to put out. I just don't like seeing you sulk or be grumpy. Last time you were grumpy, we had a threesome to get you out of it." She reminded him with a grin. "Oh, Oh! So what you're saying is: if I actually do good, you get all the credit for it?" The brunette questioned with a joking scoff for effect. The names didn't surprise her. They probably called each other by their last names more than their first names at this point. "You're going to be insufferable if I let you go first..." Violet pointed out but a small moment of hesitation later, she took a seat and looked to him. "Well, your name's first. You might as well go first." The girl was very good at pretending like she was good at everything but there was still a side of her that didn't want to show herself up and maybe - as he suggested - if she watched him go first, she might get an idea for the best way for her to play this

"I hate to break it to you but you're absolutely delusional. No one is more adorable than me", Noah retorted. Although Violet was one of the most adorable people that he had met in his life, he refused to admit that to her; knowing that she would never let him live it down. "I wasn't grumpy, I was sad because I had just been dumped... again. That being said, that threesome was a damn good way to cheer me up. You basically became the best wing woman I've ever had that night", he said with a grin, having very fond memories of that night. "I obviously expect 50% of the credit", he laughed, acting like it was a pretty fair request on his part. "Smart choice", he told her before walking up to the lane and taking his first bowl; loudly exclaiming when he knocked down all the pins bar two.

"I'm delusional? You're the one that thinks you're more adorable than a drunk me." Violet argued with a grin. Although she didn't always appreciate her drunken self, there were definitely times that she could be 'adorable'. "I don't see what the difference is. Sad. Grumpy." Her hands motioned like a weighing scale that was balancing out. "Either way, I at least know a trick to get you out of that mood and in to another mood now." The brunette responded with a smirk on her lips. Her eyes rolled at him taking the credit. "You're making me want to do bad just so you have to take credit for me being terrible at this." She retorted, mostly to cover that she might actually be bad at this and can then act like it was all on purpose. Violet took note of how Noah bowled so she could try to mimic it when it was her go. "Aw and here I was expecting you to get a strike on the first try, oh pro-ly one." The girl teased.

"That's not delusion, Quinn. That's a keen sense of self-awareness", Noah retorted, adamant that he was right. That wasn't to say that Violet wasn't also adorable, he was just in the mood to brag about his own achievements. "Do you really not know the difference between sad and grumpy? If so, I'm a little worried about you. That's something that they teach in primary school", he teased. "Something tells me that you're going to keep storing tricks in your mind until you have a full arsenal of strategies that you can use when I'm in those moods". Thankfully, said moods didn't actually happen that often; otherwise Violet would likely find him too draining and exhausting to spend time with. "We both know that my ego won't allow me to take responsibility for that", he laughed. "Easy there, tiger. You get two bowls per goal -- watch me get a spare with my second bowl", he told her. He focused intensely before taking his second bowl, cheering when he achieved just that.

"That's not to say that you aren't adorable... just that I'm more adorable. That's where the delusion is. Maybe we should just agree to disagree?" Violet teased. "Noah, you know I'm not good with emotions at all. Grumpy and sad fall under the same umbrella when it comes to me." She gave him a look as she said this. He knew that emotions weren't her strong suit so he shouldn't be all that surprised that she can't overly tell the difference. "I already have plenty of tricks on how to get you out of those moods. Sex is high on that list. Boosting your ego being another. Sometimes that means both." The brunette considered aloud. "No but I can still blame you and your kiss for making me bad at bowling." Violet countered with a big grin on her face. "But a spare isn't a strike. I'm still so disappointed in you." She exaggerated before laughing as he got the spare he claimed he was going to get. Hopping up from her seat to take her turn, she wandered over to him, stepping close. "You're such a show off, you know that?" The girl told him before giving him a quick peck that she would claim was for good luck if she was questioned before she bowled her ball. She attempted to do as she watched Noah do but somehow still managed to slip the ball out of her hand too early and watched it slowly make it's way down the alley at snail pace. "Erm..." Violet blinked as it knocked down two pins.

"I will agree to disagree on this occasion, purely because it's your birthday and I don't want us to spend the whole night arguing about who is more adorable", Noah conceded. "Do I need to make you a feelings chart to help you distinguish between basic emotions?" he teased, knowing that the comment would elicit some sort of reaction from her. "What would you do if sex or boosting my ego doesn't work?" he asked curiously, wondering what other tricks she had up her sleeve. He was always a little surprised when he remembered how well Violet knew him, mainly because she always made it clear that emotional connections weren't her strong suit. "I think the blame for your lack of bowling skills rests firmly on your lack of experience, not my kiss", he laughed. "Don't you worry, I'll get three strikes before the night is over", he said confidently. He just laughed when she called him a show off and kissed him quickly before stepping up to take her first shot, finding it very sweet that she had stopped protesting about the birthday celebrations and seemed to be enjoying herself. "Okay, silver lining here - it's very impressive that you still knocked down two pins when you didn't actually bowl properly. That was clearly a slip up", he pointed out, trying to bolster her confidence. He quickly made his way over to her and stood behind her, gently taking her arm so that he could properly demonstrate the movement she needed to make. "Try it like that", he encouraged.

"Ah, ah. No using the b-word." Violet reminded him. Her eyes rolled at his teasing. "Don't you dare make me a feelings chart. I don't want to offend you when I throw it away." She told him - though she probably wouldn't do this. The brunette paused for a minute to think. Usually those two options were enough to work. "Alcohol and weed is always a good back up. If all else fails, I might give in and play with your hair - not in a mess it up kinda way - because when you were ill you said it was comforting." The brunette recalled. "... Or I'd just mess it up so you'd focus on that instead of whatever got you down." She joked. He definitely wasn't wrong when he told her that her failure would be through lack of experience but it didn't stop her sticking her tongue out at him. "Yeah yeah, I'll believe it when I see it." The girl waved off his confidence. Violet quietly watched him come over to her and move behind her. She followed his guided motion and nodded slowly after. "Okay. I can give it a try." Violet got her ball back from the rack and copied the movement he showed her, this time the ball goes much smoother and knocking down a few more pins.

"You're acting like I just called you a bitch", Noah laughed. "Would you really throw away something that I worked hard on? What if I made you a deal? You have to display the feelings chart but in return, you can choose something that I have to display on my bedroom wall", he offered. "Those are good strategies, actually. I didn't realise that you paid so much attention to me". Honestly, he was kind of flattered that Violet cared about him enough to commit such strategies to memory, just in case she needed to use them in future. "You'll be eating your words before the night is over", he said confidently. He watched carefully as Violet bowled again, clearly trying her best to implement the technique he had demonstrated. He cheered when she knocked down a few pins, pulling her into a hug and kissing the top of her head. "That was much better! You'll be a pro before the night is over".

"You might as well have. You don't want to remind me how you tricked me here, Fynn." She told him, giving him a look but turning it in to a smile after. Violet hummed in contemplation on whether she actually would throw it out but his proposal intrigued her. "Even if I say it has to be one of your own nudes and you'd have to explain to hook ups why you have a picture of your own nude on your wall?" The brunette asked entirely straight faced so he couldn't read if she would actually go that far or not. Maybe a few months back she would just to keep her 'evil' streak alive but nowadays probably not. When Noah pointed out that he didn't realise she paid that much attention to him, she shrugged in initial response. "Yeah, well... you pay me attention all the time so I can return the favour by paying a little attention to you." The girl acting like it really wasn't a big deal. Her eyes rolled at his confidence but a smile pressed on her lips. A squeak of an eep left her as he suddenly cheered and wrapped his arms around her. "If I don't get a strike by the end of the night, I'm blaming my tutor." She teased, leaning up to kiss his lips since he kissed the top of her head.

[brunchbitch]

When you get a moment could you please bullet update on your week?

sure! i’m putting it under a read more bc it’s long and boring.

2/19/17

this week has been okay - up and down.

i moved back to W (the group home) last tuesday and the first couple nights were very very hard, but since then it’s gotten a little better. or, rather, i’ve been trying to change my attitude towards it. i’m going to be living here for at least another year and i don’t want to be miserable the whole time so i’m doing my best to try to be a little more positive. laura, the residence director, has been nice and helpful, but not too overbearing which i was worried about - (can’t remember if i’ve already written this but) courtney called her to let her know they supported me moving back here and she was like “okay i would like a copy of her meal plan and her exercise plan. i will be watching her closely” and courtney was like “umm… usually by the time they’re in iop, they don’t really need to be watched outside of program” but laura said “i don’t care. i am not letting what happened in the fall happen again on my watch.” so i feel really bad bc i feel like she partially blamed herself for not intervening sooner. so i was worried about her watching me like a hawk but she’s been good. she asked me a little about partial/iop but hasn’t asked me what i’ve eaten or anything like that so that’s good.

on thursday i did shop and cook with another girl - we made chicken walnut cranberry goat cheese pizza and it was yummy. friday we went to a sandwich place for lunch. it was both my and another girl’s last outing in php, so we begged to get ice cream even though it was really cold. we were so excited when the dietitian said we could go to ben & jerry’s and obviously it was still scary and i felt guilty for being excited/asking for it, but i was also able to reflect on how far i’ve come since september and that’s really cool.

yesterday i finally had galentine’s day with my best friend and we did some painting and had coffee and lunch together while watching phantom of the opera. i was supposed to go to multi-family group at mnlh but my check engine light came on and i was too nervous to drive 30 min on the highway so i took it to a shop and bri and i went shopping at a fun store for a little bit. once i got my car back ($280 later ugh), i ended up still going to mnlh to say hi to some of my friends, but those three clients weren’t even there - they were all on pass. so i hung out with one of the recovery coaches who i was really close to. and T was there and i got to talk to her about brandon’s phone call which was really helpful. when i told her about the time limit/end date, she was like “does he think your ED is just going to go away by then?” and i was like EXACTLY and said how i wanted to tell him to put a time limit on our therapy too lol. i’m wondering if the director of mnlh might be able to talk to him and say that the end date wouldn’t be advisable. i don’t plan to see liz for the rest of my life, for sure, but i think it’s problematic to start out knowing when we’re going to end. if i really wanted to be in treatment, i probably would’ve said i didn’t need an ED team, and then just let myself relapse again so i could go back to residential. but i am ACTIVELY trying to make my outpatient team as supportive as possible so that i DON’T have to go back to a HLOC. so i’m gonna try to talk to him about this on friday. i really need to work on being honest with him, especially when i disagree with him. so i’m really glad i stopped by mnlh and got to talk to her. i told her i would try to come next weekend too so that i could update her on how the meeting went. while i was there, i saw a new client who looked really really awful, like should’ve been in the hospital, and she is T’s client. that was hard for me. i was jealous of her body (i know i shouldn’t be, but i am) and jealous that she was probably going to be there for a very long time which means that she gets to work with T for a very long time and that’s hard. i miss T so much and wish i was seeing her outpatient. but one thing that’s really helpful is that she does work on saturdays which is the day of the alumni group, so i can convince my bpd (or whatever) that i don’t need to get really sick to see her again - i can see her in group every week! and hopefully i won’t need to go every week for months and months, but i know it’s there if i need it and it’s a much healthier way of transitioning than saying goodbye to a therapist for good and knowing i would have to return as a patient if i wanted to see them again.

i milieu'ed last night (milieu is where we have to be in the common area of the house playing games or watching a movie - you can’t study or read or do anything too isolative - and we have to milieu three nights a week) and it was pretty low-key. i made dinner (brussels sprouts, sweet potato cranberry onion mix, and chicken breast) and prepped breakfast (baked blueberry oatmeal) then started some art journaling (mostly just cutting things out of magazines at this point).

this morning i was supposed to meet a friend for coffee but her car broke down and i’m bummed i couldn’t see her but was also kind of relieved bc i didn’t sleep well so i went back to bed for an hour. i had oatmeal for breakfast, did a load of laundry (still haven’t folded that whoops), unpacked a little, then went to volunteer at the cat shelter! that was fun and three kitties got adopted. i’m really happy i found this shelter bc they’re so nice and i love being around the cats so much so that’s been a source of joy for me. then i went to get snack at berryline and see my outpatient dietitian, kellie. 

we had a really good session and laughed a bit about the ridiculousness of the fall (she was like “how did you even have ketoacidosis, i mean that is so freaking rare! it’s one thing if you have ketones in your urine, but for the actual pH of your body to change…” and then she shook her head and laughed and i laughed too bc it really is fucking ridiculous. and then she reminded me that she was talking to me on the phone in between the two hospitalizations and i was saying that my legs were numb and she had said “well if it gets worse, you should go to your doctor” and i replied “how would i know if they get worse? i can’t feel them!” and she was like “umm… ok you should definitely go to your doctor” lol i did not remember having that conversation. i just remember being terrified of going to the doctor or the walk-in clinic bc brandon had told me if i was hospitalized again, he wouldn’t work with me again.) i talked about how frustrated i was with the end date issue and she agreed with me, not by saying that i should be able to see liz for the rest of my life, that there should be an end to it, but to not necessarily set a date at this time. we also talked about some goals (continue eating out at a restaurant at least once a week when i step down to iop even though i don’t “have” to bc there aren’t any outings in iop, log everything in recovery record, and practice more intuitive eating while challenging judgements). we decided she’s going to do blind weights and she’s not going to give me feedback unless it continues to trend in one direction or the other and she’s concerned. i know my general 5-pound range from britt so kellie is only going to bring it up when i’m outside of my range. i think that’s probably better bc i get really obsessive about “it’s up a little” “well how much? still in the range? how close to the upper edge of the range?” etc. although it was really hard to agree to that from the outset. she’s also going to be weighing me with clothes on at 4pm on sundays and i wanted so badly to see it today bc i’m sure it’s so much higher than usual. i joked that she must have a really good poker face with this job and she was like “yeah i’m really good.” so i don’t think i’ll get any info there. overall though it was a really good session and i’m so happy i get to start seeing her again.

i’m milieuing now but am probably gonna get in trouble for being on the computer so much so i better end here. sorry this update was probably SO boring.

#anonymous #answered #personal #update #ed recovery #anorexia recovery #atypical anorexia #metabolic acidosis #ketoacidosis #tw ed #ed treatment #b #l #t #tc

[glassesofroses]

Chapter 3 // Picturesque

| Yo this is Max, Abbie's boyfriend, smokin' hot and totally a babe inside and out |

Warnings : Foreshadowing, terrible writing

Word Count : 2077

| Monday, 28th | Day 2

"Jocelyn? Joss? DOCTOR JOCELYN YOUNG!" Abbie yelled, trying to get her best friends attention and ask as to why the hell she was still in their apartment instead of at school teaching her class.

Jocelyn shot up, inherently waking Reid up at the same time.

"What time is it?" She groggily asked, standing up quickly and getting a head rush, almost falling over on the couch.

"It's 5 to 7:45, you have 5 minutes to get ready and get to school," Abbie sighed, checking her watch before watching her friend sprint into her room and come out in 30 seconds flat in a whole new wardrobe.

"Coffee's done right?" She asked before filling the brown water into her canister and chugging the scalding hot liquid, not even realizing that it was burning her tongue.

"Dammit, dammit," She mumbled, throwing everything together in her backpack and flinging it over her shoulders, grabbing her keys and running out the door in under 5 minutes.

"I'm sorry, what's going on?" Spencer asked, his voice husky from just waking up.

"Morning Doctor, I'm Abbie Smith, the most basic name ever, but I am not a basic person. If you hurt her in any way I will find you and I will kill you. Doctor Jocelyn Young is going to be late for school for the first time I've moved in with her because of you," She smirked, handing him a cup of coffee.

"Did you just quote Taken?" He mumbled ignoring half of what she said and gladly taking a sip of his hot drink.

"The more you hang around me the more you'll realize that I quote every movie in almost every sentence I speak," Abbie told him, smiling at her boyfriend who entered the room, giving Spencer a weird yet kind look.

"What's up man, I'm Max," Nodding his head in Spencer's direction before reaching for a banana.

"Doctor Spencer Reid," Nodding back, getting 'hip' with the person who could most likely beat him up the easiest.

"So you and miss Jocelyn had a date last night?" Max asked, wiggling his eyebrows, getting a blush from the younger man of only 2 years.

"It was just friendly pizza and catching up," He stuttered, placing his empty mug on a nearby coaster.

"It was definitely not just friendly pizza, you two were so into grading and emailing you didn't even hear us come in the apartment," Abbie laughed, turning her head to look at his face turn redder.

"I guess I should be going," Spencer stood up, grabbing his coat and started to make his way out until Max stopped him.

"She went through some tough shit a while ago, take care of her okay?" He asked softly, true caring in his eyes.

Spencer only nodded his head before Max let go of him and he walked out the door to his job a the BAU, awaiting the jokes that were to arise from his coworkers.

//

"Reid, are you wearing the same clothes from yesterday?" Hotch asked with a sly smirk on his face, shuffling some papers as Reid stepped into the room.

"I guess so, must have fallen asleep while working," He shrugged, trying to play it cool, but really his face was as bright as a tomato.

"Don't do it again," Hotch scolded, though in no way was he actually mad at Spencer.

Spence nodded his head and sat at his desk, diving right into his work.

"I think Spence scored last night," JJ whispered to Morgan and the others.

"With who?" Morgan laughed, not expecting Spencer to just have a date on any Sunday night, even though he did say that he had a date.

"I don't know, possibly the girl that he had a coffee with in the morning yesterday," Emily gossiped, glancing over at Reid who was hard at work.

"Who'd Reid have a coffee with?" Penelope popped in, her presence making the BAU a happier place.

"She's just an old friend that he hadn't seen for 15 years so I made him stop in because he was too chicken to do it on his own."

"What was her name?" Penny asked, getting thoroughly intrigued with wanting to do some hard core creeping.

"Jocelyn Young, goes by Joss for short," Emily told them, the whole team never taking their eyes off of Spencer, making his hair on the back of his neck stand up at attention.

Penelope nodded before walking to her cave, sneakily shutting the door behind her. Since the team didn't have a case today, everyone was working on paperwork, but not her. Penelope didn't trust anyone she didn't know, especially when they were coming mysteriously back into her families life. So, after doing a good half an hour's work, her eyes lit up.

"Oh my god," She grinned, taking a laptop, sending the link to herself and ran out of her cave and towards Morgan whose eyes widened.

"Baby girl what's up?" He asked nervously, noticing how she was out of breath with a light layer of sweat appearing.

"I found her," She gasped, full of excitement and wonder.

"Found who?" Getting up from his chair so he could set her down and have her blood flow slow down to a healthy rate.

"Jocelyn Young, prodigy from Las Vegas, Nevada. Best friend our one and only Spencer Reid, went off the wall for a while, after high school she completed one degree and disappeared for two then completed 2 more degrees! She also apparently traveled the world for 2 years and two more degrees to make a total of 5. After that she appeared on Broadway as Elle on Legally Blonde, obviously trying out everything she can before settling down at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School for two years now."

"Okay, 5 degrees, traveled, school teacher, Broadway? How'd you even find the Broadway part?"  Morgan asked in disbelief.

"Oh honey, that was easiest part, Laura Bell Bundy took a tumble and then quit so then she took over for the next 3 years, here, here's a video," Penelope shoved the video towards him, getting the attention of everyone on the team except Hotch and Spencer.

Everyone gathered around the computer screen and Emily pointed out that it definitely was the girl that Reid was talking with earlier. For Spencer, it was too quiet, he turned around to find everyone looking at him or at a screen, and when they saw that he was looking back at them they all scattered back to their desks. He stood from his desk and walked over to Penelope and Morgan and looked at the screen to see his best friend on the screen, singing and dancing, something she never did in public, but this was a very public.

"Garcia, what is this?" Reid asked, almost to the point where he was angry but didn't have the full story.

Garcia whipped around to find Reid staring at the screen flooded with song and cheers and exotic noises coming from the speaker.

"Um, you know, just doing some...research on Broadway performances," She stuttered, obviously not counting on Reid to find their dirty secret of looking up Joss.

"Why?" He demanded, getting the angriest that anyone has seen him, this was his best friend and he wanted to know why they were looking her up.

"It was all Emily!" Penelope pointed towards Emily's desk who looked up in shock and embarrassment, "She mentioned that you had a date, told me who it was and I did some research because I didn't want you going out with serial killer or something," She trailed off, looking more guilty by the second.

Reid whipped around to find Emily leaving her desk and walking over to the ladies room, somewhere where he wouldn't be able to get to unless he wanted to anger every single woman in their office.

"What is this?" He demanded, grabbing the computer despite Penelope's protests.

"I just started searching her name, Jocelyn Young and I basically found out her whole life when she wasn't with you, where she was for 15 years. She also just so happened to appear as Elle for Legally Blonde on Broadway for 3 of those years," Following Reid hurriedly towards his desk and peered over his shoulder, impressed with her performance.

"It's on Youtube?" He mumbled, typing some things into the computer and coming up with a whole page on his best friend.

"You didn't know what she was doing? You didn't try to contact her?" Penelope asked, knowing how dependant he is on constant people in his life.

"I was 12 Garcia, I was still getting beat up and going through college, going through it as fast as I could. But I still tried contacting her parents but they said they didn't even know where she was, there was just a constant need of money on her part since she was doing something," He grunted, watching the video of her singing with such intensity, Penelope was sure that the screen would break from his stare.

"So you didn't see anything on the news or on newspapers about her being on Broadway?"

"I didn't even know she liked Broadway, I just knew she liked Beethoven like I did, that's what we connected on, along with being the only 12 year olds in 12th grade," Slamming the computer shut and shoving it into Garcia's arms and ripping open his work, diving in with such vigour everyone was sure that either his pencil would break or that the pencil would rip through the paper.

/ Earlier /

"Sorry I'm late everyone! With grading your papers and...sleeping in a little bit I lost track of time, but luckily your papers are graded with a little bit of help so when I call your names come up here and grab it. Don't expect to be happy with your papers, be happy their all above 50%," She smiled lightly at her students, just happy enough that they wouldn't be angry at her since they all knew what they were getting into, all wanting to be writers, english teachers, or do something with English/writing.

"Donovan!" She called out, handing the young man his paper and he grinned, 68/100.

"What do you mean you had a little bit of help?" One of her other students, Maddie, asked with a smirk on her face, they all knew that Joss was just a normal person so of course she had to have some sort of romantic life right?

The normal desks in the school were in single line form, a way of teaching that was brought in back in the late 1800's to get the students ready for working in a factory for way less than minimum wage. Her desks were in curved rows, all facing the desk where Joss sat on, teaching them from sitting on her desk with such excitement it got everyone else excited. They always noticed that she came in with coffee, a muffin, and a bag lunch that they knew her roommate made her every night since she had a lot of work to do.

"Maddie, I don't know if you want to get into this, the whole writing thing, but good job," Joss laughed, handing the girl her paper 84/100.

"We have to know now!" Someone shouted from the back, her face turning red.

"Oh my god, you had a date!" Maddie laughed, everyone being really nice to her, no one ever made fun of her like when she was in high school herself, it was a nice change of pace for her.

"That, my students, is none of your business," Rolling her eyes and sitting on her desk, her shoes natural falling off.

"You keep denying it, but the more you deny it the more we know that you had a date, now spill," Every single one of her students leaned forward in anticipation.

"If I tell you will you be quiet for the rest of class?" And without hesitation, all of her students nodded their heads, they all loved her stories from when she was traveling and loved that she thought they were cool enough to let them into her life.

#Spencer Reid #Matthew Gray Gubler #Criminal Minds #CBS #Picturesque #Spence #Sebastian Stan #Bucky Barnes #James Barnes #Winter Soldier #Marvel #MCU #coffeeandmistakes