#Soft Play Area in Manila | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

downbadf0rficppl · 3 months

Text

sweater weather

Nomad!Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: While caught out in a snowstorm while on a mission, you resort to desperate measures to keep warm.

Word Count: 3.2K

Warnings: Canon violence, slightly injured reader, smut, manhandling, soft sex, facefucking

Repost

The mission was long. And hard. And all you wanted now was a nice, long nap.

Steve had brought up this particular mission while you two were hiding in Manila. You always preferred the warmer destinations, even when you worked for SHIELD.

It was a simple mission - too simple in hindsight - the grab-the-file-and-get-out type.

"It's Austria," you sighed, again with the cold. "I know, sweets, but it's an ex-Hydra base. We gotta check it out, make sure they don't have anything they shouldn't."

You nodded, "When do we leave?"

"Wheels up in an hour."

When you landed in Austria, your mood soured quickly. There was a foot of snow surrounding the town, and you trudged through the snow to get to the safehouse - a mile away from the nearest town. You were staking out the safe house when the entire town lost power. No lights, no heating, no appliances. It was going to be a rough couple of days.

You bundled yourself in a coat and blankets while you and Steve went over what you knew. The old Hydra base had been abandoned for a while, but it was one of the few that hadn't been on SHIELD's radar due to the lack of activity in the area. It seemed that they had missed something. It seemed very active now.

You spent the first few days making sure no one suspected you were doing anything suspicious. You stocked up on firewood - making sure you would have enough, even if you ended up snowed in for a couple of days. You tried to get out to some shops, but with the three inches of snow in the local town, no shops were open. You hoped that there was some long-life food still left in the safe house.

When you set out, you silently prayed that the power would come back on by the time you had finished dealing with the agents in the bunker. You also thanked Tony for putting a heater in your suit as part of one of his routine upgrades. You weren't freezing your ass off as you broke into the base.

The bunker itself was powered by some self-generating form of energy - no doubt developed as a result of Loki's scepter in the hands of Baron Von Strucker. The bunker was still working at peak capacity when you and Steve waltzed in the building, guns a-blazing, looking for any signs they were planning something big.

The bunker clearly had been expecting you, launching a full assault on you as soon as you guys walked in. Agents flew left, right, and centre, throwing kicks and punches. The odd bullet was fired at your heads. They were good. But you were much better. You dodged each blow, retaliating with one much harder. They may have had power but it was amateur. You were a battle-hardened professional.

One guy was lucky. He took a baton to your ribcage while you were preoccupied with two other guys. Clearly, he hadn't learned to play fair. You threw the other two guys off you, kicking your assailant into the wall. A nasty crack was the end of him.

You left the bunker exhausted, gripping a nasty bruise that was forming over your ribs. Steve wrapped an arm around you, carrying your weight as you hobbled from the bunker. He abandoned the idea quickly, your height difference making the maneuver awkward. Instead, he wrapped his arms under your thighs, scooping you up bridal style.

You nuzzled into his chest, seeking out his warmth as the snow beat down upon you both. Steve was like a human furnace, his heat radiating through you, keeping you warm even in the hostile temperatures you found yourself in. He smiled down at you, gripping you tighter into his body as you retreated into the trees.

It was about 12 miles from the bunker to the safe house and Steve knew he had to get you both there before the blizzard really hit. There he could check your ribs for the extent of the damage. He prayed that the damage wasn't bad, guilt overtaking his mind. A few seconds of preoccupation on his part led to you being injured. Steve felt terrible.

He was also on high alert. There was no exfil team. They weren't Avengers anymore. They were on their own out here - even Nat wouldn't be able to get here in time if they were attacked.

The trudge through the snow was terrible. Frost covered your hair and his beard, and the chills were racking through your body with more frequency. The snow was seeping through your tactical gear, and given that night was fast falling around them, Steve picked up the pace.

More than once, you offered to walk alongside him, saying that you'd both be faster if you could run, but then an odd step would jolt your body and the pained gasp that would leave your lips was an answer enough.

By the time you reached the house, you had fallen asleep in Steve's arms. He kicked the door open with his toe - the key being a biometric scan of his eye.

You woke up as he sat you down gently on the edge of the sofa.

"Welcome back to the land of the living sleeping beauty." He chuckled as you threw your boot at his head. He caught it easily.

You almost swooned. Sometimes, you thought Steve showed off just to get a reaction out of you. You didn't mind - it was hot.

Steve shut the door with a click, kicking off his shoes by the door. You shivered. Somehow it was colder inside the house than outside. Steve grabbed your bag, throwing a pair of soft clean clothes in your direction, before grabbing some firewood and getting a fire started.

You limped into the bathroom, the coldness making your bones ache. You made quick work of your suit - throwing it into the bathtub, before toweling yourself dry. The wetness of the suit had chaffed at your skin, and the threadbare towel was doing nothing to help the soreness of your skin, but a little itchiness was nothing compared to the hell that would be a cold. Especially since you had no idea when you were getting out of here.

"The power's still out!" Steve called from outside the bathroom. You could tell he was leaning on the door frame, ever the gentleman, even in sub-freezing temperatures.

"Yeah, no shit sherlock." You mumble under your breath as you open the door.

Steve smirked, "I caught that." You gave him a sarcastic smile back. He passed you to go dry off, "No hot water, so I dumped my suit in the tub to dry." You said, leaning on the door frame to take in the picture in front of you.

Steve's usually prim and proper appearance was dishevelled, hair run through multiple times. His suit was half-unzipped, toned chest visible under the confines of the tight fabric. A spattering of hair grew on his chest - the result of multiple back-to-back missions. And, of course, being an internationally-wanted fugitive.

He gave you a nod of confirmation, before shutting the door. You turned around to be hit by a wave of warmth. In the time it took you to pull the skin-tight tac suit off your body - which, let's be honest, took quite a while seeing as it was soaked - Steve had managed to get a fire going.

You huddled close to the fire, pulling your legs into your chest and tucking your face into your knees. You stayed there while Steve stirred in the bathroom - the occasional grunt as he bumped into the things making you giggle.

You shuffled closer to the fire, trying to steal every ounce of warmth to warm your frigid body.

"Careful, doll, you might burn yourself." You looked up at him and smiled, reaching for him as he walked towards you. He sat behind you, arms wrapped tightly around your shoulders. You relaxed into his arms. This was nice. You needed to do this more.

He ran his fingers over your ribs, goosebumps following in his path. You winced slightly as he applied pressure. "Not broken." He whispered, hot breath ghosting over your ear. You shivered lightly.

Steve pulled you into a chair, before retrieving the first aid kit. He sat you down, before sinking to his knees in front of you. You clenched your thighs slightly, the action pushing your mind to filth. If Steve noticed, he said nothing. He rolled up your sleeves and your trousers, revealing a plethora of small cuts and bruises that littered your body. Steve made quick work of treating your superficial wounds, smiling sympathetically when you winced at the sting of antiseptic against the cuts.

He snuck a hand under your shirt, locking eyes with you in a silent request for permission. You pulled up your shirt, revealing the large bruise over your ribs. There was a red mark in the centre of the bruise where the pole had hit you. Steve gently wiped it with an alcohol wipe, before applying Arnica cream to the bruise. You watched him tenderly patch you up.

"I'm sorry." His words surprise you.

"What?"

"I should have been there. To protect you."

You scoffed, "In case it slipped your memory, you were preoccupied. It's not your fault."

He nodded silently, rolling your shirt back down. He started to pack up the kit, but you grabbed his arm, dragging him back to sit where you had been sat moments before.

"You're hurt too, Captain," you said, sinking to your knees in front of him in the same way he had. The effect you had on him was far more visible. His face blushed a bright red, and you smiled coyly.

You bandaged up the graze on his leg, hands lingering longer than they needed to. You pushed yourself off the floor and occupied yourself with the knots in his shoulders. The adrenaline made both your bodies tense, but while you had had the time to relax in Steve's arms, he hadn't had that same luxury.

You ran your fingertips over his shoulders, kneading the particularly tight parts. Steve let out a low groan in appreciation, resting his forehead on your stomach. The sound sent electricity through your body, heat pooling at the bottom of your stomach.

Steve's hands came around to rest on your thighs, pulling you closer into his body like he couldn't bear to be apart from you for even a moment.

You leaned to whisper into his hair, "It's not your fault, Steve." His hold on you only became tighter.

You stood like that for a while, your arms running up and down Steve's back while he convinced himself that you were fine.

He walked out back to grab more firewood, promising he'd be back in a few seconds. You smiled to yourself, fingers ghosting over your lips. The thought of kissing Steve was overwhelming, but you didn't want to push him when you weren't sure of exactly how he felt.

You had a pretty good idea though.

Ever since you had joined the Avengers, you had been close. But with the multiple near-end-of-the-world experiences, it never seemed like the right time to explore those feelings. Steve had always been affectionate, keeping close to you, both in public and private. He had bought you flowers regularly when you lived in New York, always remembered your birthday, protected you when Hydra agents and internet trolls attacked you. In return, you had stood by him in every fight that you could - you always had his back. He could count on that. When the dispute over the Sokovia accords had happened, you agreed with Steve - even if that meant you lost some close friends. In the years that followed, you had fought countless enemies side-by-side. Bucky sometimes joined you, Sam too. But for the most part, you two had become almost intimately acquainted.

You crept towards the kitchen, rifling through the cabinets for any long-life food that might have been kept there. You pulled a can out of the cupboard. Baked Beans. You pulled another can out of the cupboard. Baked Beans. And another. And another. And another. All beans.

Buried at the back of the cupboard was a single tin of Chicken Noodle Soup that was so out of date, the mold in it had probably bred a new organism. Baked beans it was then.

You heated the beans up in a pan, placing them over the roaring fire to warm them up. You huddled up to the fire again, chills wracking through your body, keeping the pan over the fire all the while. After a while, with the tomato sauce bubbling slightly, you pulled the pan away from the heat and stood up to serve it into the two cracked bowls that were left in the safe house. Tony had done a good job at emptying the safe houses after the end of the Avengers.

Your hands shook as you evenly distributed the beans. You could hardly bear to be this far away from the fire. You needed more layers, but your coat and your tac suit were soaked through, meaning you had nothing else to wear.

Your hands shook violently again as another shiver ripped through you. You tucked your hands under your armpits and raised your shoulders to cover your ears.

From the corner of your eye, you spotted something fuzzy draped on the edge of the sofa. Steve's jumper. He's been wearing it when he arrived in Austria but claimed that it was far too thick for him - immediately discarding it when you had entered the safe house. You didn't know how it had slipped your mind earlier.

You slipped it on - Steve hadn't lied. It was incredibly thick and cozy. And also quite large, dwarfing your figure, making you feel safe and warmed. You pushed up the sleeves and carried the bowls to the floor in front of the fire.

You noticed an extra pair of Steve's socks tucked into the front of his backpack. You quickly stole them, slipping them onto your feet. You were grateful that Steve was an over-packer.

You crouched back in front of the fire, pulling the jumper over your knees, balancing your bowl on your kneecaps.

You heard Steve before you saw him. He was carrying a pile of firewood in his arms and grumbling about how 'the stupid snow got in his boots and now his socks are wet'. You giggled.

"Glad you find my torment funny, sweets." He said, his eyes still trained on the wood in his eyes, "How would you feel if I got trench foot, and was benched for-" He stopped abruptly.

You looked up at him. His gaze was trained on your body, eyes darkening by the second.

"You shouldn't have done that, sweets."

Your face breaks into uncertainty. Maybe you had completely misread the situation. Maybe Steve only wanted to be friends.

The way he grabbed your face, though, told you differently.

He stooped low to cradle your face in his hands. He placed small kisses all over your face, pecking you like a bird would its food.

"You're mine." He whispered between each one. The declaration made heat pool in your stomach and you couldn't help but laugh. You grabbed his face with your hands, and pressed your lips to his, gently at first. Steve ran his tongue against your lips, begging to be let in.

You moaned as his tongue explored each and every part of your mouth. You could feel him getting harder every second that passed and that only spurred you on.

"Steve," his name fell from your lips like a prayer, "please."

He picked you up and you let out a soft gasp.

"You like that, sweetheart?"

You nodded, words cast from your mind. He chuckled, lust colouring his tone as he shuffled you in his arms.

"Makes me feel safe." You whispered, nestling your head into his shoulder. "Like it when you carry me."

He smiled and laid you on the sofa gently. He pressed deep and sensual kisses on your lips, large and warm hands caressing your body.

You arched your back as he ran a knuckle over your nipple. You were hopelessly horny, begging for friction.

"Tell me what you want, baby."

"You. Only you." You whimpered.

"Where do you want me?"

"Everywhere. Please, Steve." You were begging. Steve's eyes lit up.

"Want me to love you, pretty baby?" Steve said, dragging his fingers up your sides.

"Steve, please!" You were close to tears.

He pulled your panties down, fingers slipping in between your wet folds.

"Fuck, darling, you're making a mess." You shuddered, moans spilling out from your lips. He pulls his trousers down, dick curling into his stomach.

"You ready, sweetheart?"

You nodded in response.

"Good." He slid into you gently, your walls stretching to accommodate him. He groaned, head tossed back in pleasure.

He was bigger than you had thought - you grabbed his bicep as he brushed your g-spot.

“S’big Stevie." You whimpered, "M’all full.”

"Yeah baby? You like that?" His hands came to rest on the bulge in your stomach.

The pleasure exploded like a million fireworks in your stomach. He started moving, setting a brutal pace, pushing in and out of you. His cock brushed your g-spot with every thrust, and soon enough you were seeing stars.

"Love it, Stevie! Please don't stop!" He drilled into you, muttering sweet praises.

The coil in your stomach tightened with each thrust. “M’not gonna last.” you whimpered softly.

“S’okay baby." He praised, "Come for me, pretty girl."

You came with a silent cry, shuddering as a wave of arousal washed over you. Steve rode out your orgasm with you, before pulling out. He stood up to head to the bathroom, but you grabbed his hand and pulled him down onto the sofa. You sank to your knees in front of him, again, and licked a stripe from the base to the tip of his cock.

"You don't have to do this."

"I want to."

You placed a kiss on the tip of his cock before taking it in your mouth and sucking on it. You wrapped your right hand around the base of his cock and used the other to massage his balls. Steve drew a sharp breath in above you. You wrapped his hand around your hair, giving him permission to fuck your face. He grabbed your hair tightly and fucked up into your face, choking you with the brutal pace that he set.

"Oh, God, I'm gonna cum," Steve said, slightly relaxing his pace as he moved to pull out. You pushed your face further onto his cock.

Ropes of his cum coated the back of your throat as he came with moans of your name. Your eyes welled up as your throat filled with his seed. You swallowed it, much to Steve's surprise. He pulls you into his lap, before carrying you to the bathroom to clean you up.

You settle on the sofa in his lap, kissing lightly over and over again.

You turn your head to the fire. "Shit."

"What?" Steve looked at you in concern.

"The food. S'gone cold."

He burst into laughter, resting his forehead on your shoulder. He placed a small kiss on your shoulder. You could get used to this.

fin.

buy me a coffee

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x plus size reader #steve rogers x female reader #steve rogers fluff #steve rogers angst #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers reader insert #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x you #no y/n

273 notes · View notes

d0wnb4df0rf1cm3n · 1 year

Text

Sweater Weather

Nomad!Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: While caught out in a snowstorm while on a mission, you resort to desperate measures to keep warm.

Word Count: 3.2K

Warnings: Canon violence, slightly injured reader, smut, manhandling, soft sex, facefucking

AN: kinda rushed but i thought it was cute! have a good day lovely people

The mission was long. And hard. And all you wanted now was a nice, long nap.

Steve had brought up this particular mission while you two were hiding in Manila. You always preferred the warmer destinations, even when you worked for SHIELD.

It was a simple mission - too simple in hindsight - the grab-the-file-and-get-out type.

"It's Austria," you sighed, again with the cold. "I know, sweets, but it's an ex-Hydra base. We gotta check it out, make sure they don't have anything they shouldn't."

You nodded, "When do we leave?"

"Wheels up in an hour."

He was also on high alert. There was no exfil team. They weren't Avengers anymore. They were on their own out here - even Nat wouldn't be able to get here in time if they were attacked.

By the time you reached the house, you had fallen asleep in Steve's arms. He kicked the door open with his toe - the key being a biometric scan of his eye.

You woke up as he sat you down gently on the edge of the sofa.

"Welcome back to the land of the living sleeping beauty." He chuckled as you threw your boot at his head. He caught it easily.

You almost swooned. Sometimes, you thought Steve showed off just to get a reaction out of you. You didn't mind - it was hot.

"The power's still out!" Steve called from outside the bathroom. You could tell he was leaning on the door frame, ever the gentleman, even in sub-freezing temperatures.

"Yeah, no shit sherlock." You mumble under your breath as you open the door.

You shuffled closer to the fire, trying to steal every ounce of warmth to warm your frigid body.

He ran his fingers over your ribs, goosebumps following in his path. You winced slightly as he applied pressure. "Not broken." He whispered, hot breath ghosting over your ear. You shivered lightly.

"I'm sorry." His words surprise you.

"What?"

"I should have been there. To protect you."

You scoffed, "In case it slipped your memory, you were preoccupied. It's not your fault."

He nodded silently, rolling your shirt back down. He started to pack up the kit, but you grabbed his arm, dragging him back to sit where you had been sat moments before.

Steve's hands came around to rest on your thighs, pulling you closer into his body like he couldn't bear to be apart from you for even a moment.

You leaned to whisper into his hair, "It's not your fault, Steve." His hold on you only became tighter.

You stood like that for a while, your arms running up and down Steve's back while he convinced himself that you were fine.

You had a pretty good idea though.

Buried at the back of the cupboard was a single tin of Chicken Noodle Soup that was so out of date, the mold in it had probably bred a new organism. Baked beans it was then.

Your hands shook violently again as another shiver ripped through you. You tucked your hands under your armpits and raised your shoulders to cover your ears.

You noticed an extra pair of Steve's socks tucked into the front of his backpack. You quickly stole them, slipping them onto your feet. You were grateful that Steve was an over-packer.

You crouched back in front of the fire, pulling the jumper over your knees, balancing your bowl on your kneecaps.

You heard Steve before you saw him. He was carrying a pile of firewood in his arms and grumbling about how 'the stupid snow got in his boots and now his socks are wet'. You giggled.

"Glad you find my torment funny, sweets." He said, his eyes still trained on the wood in his eyes, "How would you feel if I got trench foot, and was benched for-" He stopped abruptly.

You looked up at him. His gaze was trained on your body, eyes darkening by the second.

"You shouldn't have done that, sweets."

Your face breaks into uncertainty. Maybe you had completely misread the situation. Maybe Steve only wanted to be friends.

The way he grabbed your face, though, told you differently.

He stooped low to cradle your face in his hands. He placed small kisses all over your face, pecking you like a bird would its food.

You moaned as his tongue explored each and every part of your mouth. You could feel him getting harder every second that passed and that only spurred you on.

"Steve," his name fell from your lips like a prayer, "please."

He picked you up and you let out a soft gasp.

"You like that, sweetheart?"

You nodded, words cast from your mind. He chuckled, lust colouring his tone as he shuffled you in his arms.

"Makes me feel safe." You whispered, nestling your head into his shoulder. "Like it when you carry me."

He smiled and laid you on the sofa gently. He pressed deep and sensual kisses on your lips, large and warm hands caressing your body.

You arched your back as he ran a knuckle over your nipple. You were hopelessly horny, begging for friction.

"Tell me what you want, baby."

"You. Only you." You whimpered.

"Where do you want me?"

"Everywhere. Please, Steve." You were begging. Steve's eyes lit up.

"Want me to love you, pretty baby?" Steve said, dragging his fingers up your sides.

"Steve, please!" You were close to tears.

He pulled your panties down, fingers slipping in between your wet folds.

"Fuck, darling, you're making a mess." You shuddered, moans spilling out from your lips. He pulls his trousers down, dick curling into his stomach.

"You ready, sweetheart?"

You nodded in response.

"Good." He slid into you gently, your walls stretching to accommodate him. He groaned, head tossed back in pleasure.

He was bigger than you had thought - you grabbed his bicep as he brushed your g-spot.

“S’big Stevie." You whimpered, "M’all full.”

"Yeah baby? You like that?" His hands came to rest on the bulge in your stomach.

"Love it, Stevie! Please don't stop!" He drilled into you, muttering sweet praises.

The coil in your stomach tightened with each thrust. “M’not gonna last.” you whimpered softly.

“S’okay baby." He praised, "Come for me, pretty girl."

"You don't have to do this."

"I want to."

"Oh, God, I'm gonna cum," Steve said, slightly relaxing his pace as he moved to pull out. You pushed your face further onto his cock.

You settle on the sofa in his lap, kissing lightly over and over again.

You turn your head to the fire. "Shit."

"What?" Steve looked at you in concern.

"The food. S'gone cold."

He burst into laughter, resting his forehead on your shoulder. He placed a small kiss on your shoulder. You could get used to this.

503 notes · View notes

knavestrolls · 1 year

Text

Awry

“There are seven more calls from today.” Syhren leans over her desk, offering the other troll the now rather hefty stack of manila folders.

“Something about this time of year..” Vladir muses, taking the folders far too slowly and not even getting them a glance.

“You think winter brings out the blood-thirsty?” She turns her back to him, something that’s come much easier with sweeps, and opens the filing cabinet behind her. There’s more of those folders here- organized by time, name, and service. True to his musing, there does seem to be more within the winter areas. Syhren rolls her eyes and pulls out the file from yesterday, deciding to keep this knowledge to herself. “I’ll have to run out on this one today. I hear there’s a carnival in town. I want to visit it after.”

“Fun. I’ll skip it.”

“You always do.”

“I’ve seen enough clowns in my life. Now I have you and that’s enough.”

“Excuse me?”

“A small little clownfish, all to myself.”

“One day your matesprit is going to call me to get you and I’ll take that job happily.”

“You’d miss me too much. Besides, who would play your silly little games with you? Your moirail- oh wait. My bad.”

“That was low, even for you.” Despite her words, she doesn’t appear to be hurt by his. She slides her folder into her briefcase and dons her newest beret. There’s something exciting in looking cute, even if the target will never see her. Just to be petty, she hits him with the briefcase by ‘accident’ on her way out of the office. It’s just past nightfall and the moons shine so sweetly off the silver of her case.

Syhren travels as most people who don’t want to be tracked do- by foot. Right until she’s within range, then she buys a taxi and pays cash-in-hand to avoid any trail. This is far from her first hit, but the adrenaline builds up all the same. Her ride brings her to the other side of the bustling city and lets her out in an empty alleyway. It’s filthy there, with pieces of things she’d rather not ponder. She’s quick to leave that alley, jumping up to the first windowsill she can reach.

It takes several jumps but soon enough she’s on an outlooking roof- there’s a higher option if this fails her but it seems fine enough. Syhren opens the briefcase to take out a soft cloth, laying it down against the hard surface of the cement. She pats herself down, dusting herself of anything she may have picked up on the way up, before laying down flat against the cloth. The cloth can always be washed but it’s much easier to keep everything packed up nicely if only one side gets particularly dirty. After laying down she pulls out the folder, double checking her target, before taking out the most important- and her favorite- piece from her briefcase. A sniper rifle. The rifle is beautiful to her, long with a deep purple shine that matches her own. The sight is a garish red that stands out and there’s a small charm of a milkbeast that hangs off the stock. Waiting for the shot doesn’t take long at all. The target is predictable with a schedule that she scoped out herself. All it takes is a deep breath and a pulled trigger. Flawless, as always. Or it should be.

The shot itself is fine. One directly through the temple, between and just above the eyes. A smooth shot that has no problem continuing past her target, embedding itself in the wall now stained with teal blood. All of that is fine. What she wasn’t prepared for was the psionics that followed. The target didn’t have any but apparently their companion did. Before she can put the rifle away it blows up in her hands. There’s a loud ringing and then she can’t hear anything, eyes fuzzy with a mixture of blood, sweat, and tears. Syhren’s not sure if she’s in pain, she can’t feel anything. What she does know is that there’s far more purple than she’s comfortable seeing. She reaches over to her phone, knowing it’s her last hope. At least the psionic doesn’t seem to realize she’d survived the initial blast. Only one hand responds to her and she can only manage a few words before it falls limp and all goes dark.

Retail ai ton. Hurt. Hell.

#Davie's Drabbles #Syhren Demise #Vladir Ducats #Vampyre Masquerade #fantroll drabble #fantroll writing #Alucar Arc

10 notes · View notes

thehungrykat1 · 3 months

Text

Pardon My French Manila Launches New Asian-Pasti Lunch Buffet

There's a great new lunch destination for those working or living near the Makati area. While the evenings at Pardon My French Manila are usually busy and packed, not so many people know that the restaurant also offers a relaxing venue for a classy business lunch or casual get-together with friends. That's why I'm here to discover their new exquisite lunch buffet for myself.

Pardon My French is located along Jupiter Street in Makati, right where the iconic Strumm's used to be. It continues to be a popular music hotspot where guests can enjoy live bands and dance to the beat of classic songs after sundown. This time, we were here for lunch to try their newest offering, the Asian-Pasti Buffet which promises to be an exciting option featuring familiar Asian favorites served with a French twist.

Pardon My French Manila made big waves when it opened its doors in 2022, instantly becoming a lively party place for those with a more refined taste for food and music.

The central dining hall is where live performers and bands come to play in the evenings. But for today, the Hungry Kat was invited to see the more relaxed version of the restaurant during its lunch service.

The entire place exudes a fanciful charm that you don't often see in other restaurants along this side of Makati. This is a great venue to invite family and friends for a lovely afternoon filled with excellent food and drinks.

There's also a balcony floor overlooking the party venue below if you want to enjoy lunch in a more private dining area.

Taking the helm at the kitchen is the legendary Chef Ariel Manuel who is more popularly known as the man behind the beloved Lolo Dad's, arguably the best fine dining restaurant in the country during its time. While I was not able to visit the original Lolo Dad's in Malate, my first experience with Chef Ariel's restaurant was when we dined at Lolo Dad's Brasserie in Ayala Center, Makati. It seemed that everyone at the table had their own memorable experience at Lolo Dad's.

Fortunately, the bar is open as early as lunch, so guests can order any of their refreshing beverages. We tried their Cocktail of the Week called the Yellow Room (P380) which was inspired by Johannes Vermeer's "The Girl With a Wine Glass." It offers a refreshing afternoon cocktail composed of gin, mango and calamansi corsial, white wine reduction, and prosecco with tropical citrus notes. They also have Signature and Classic Cocktails, as well as other beverages such as the Strawberry Lemon Basil (P280).

The all-new Asian-Pasti Buffet is an endless array of Asian-inspired small bites, dips, spreads, breads, and canapes available from 11:00am to 3:00pm on Tuesdays to Saturdays for only P990+ per person. Unlike other hotel buffets which can be a bit heavy on the meats and fatty dishes, the Asian-Pasti buffet at Pardon My French offers a lighter and healthier selection so you can still go back to your office without falling asleep.

You can start at the salad station which comes with several composed salads like the Duck Salad, Banana Heart Salad, Spiced Fish Tofu Salad, Beef and Glass Noodles Salad. You can also make your own salad with all the ingredients spread out on the buffet table, then add your chosen salad dressings from lime vinaigrette, sesame vinaigrette, Thai basil raspberry dressing, or peanut dressing.

There are also several other enticing small bites and canapes available like these Marinated Fish and Shellfish Platters. Try some of the Soy Cured Salmon, Tuna Kilawin, Brined Mussles, and the Marinated Squid with Shrimp. There's also a Barbecued Pork platter which features this lovely Cantonese specialty.

One of my favorite dishes that afternoon was the Scallops XO with its soft scallops topped with a very flavorful XO sauce served on the half shell. I immediately went back here to get a few more servings.

There's also a Sushi Board offering some small sushi bites including Maki, California Rolls, and these Oshizushi or pressed sushi topped with fish.

Don't forget to grab some of these Shrimp Cocktail served on shot glasses with sweet chili sauce. If you like noodles, there's some Cold Soba with sauce and condiments here as well.

Over at the other table, guests can treat themselves to some meatier dishes featuring Asian barbeque and dimsum.

These Assorted Dimsum baskets come with homemade shrimp, pork, and mushroom dumplings. Try to get at least one of each then dip them in the chili sauce provided. Just beside these are Deep Fried Mantou Buns with condensed milk, pork humba jam and spiced chicken liver dips.

Meatlovers won't feel left out because there's a lot of choices here like the Beef Sate, Chicken Sate, Roasted Pork Belly, Charcuterie Quiche, plus all the Crispy Pork Chicharon that you can handle.

The centerpiece of the Asian-Pasti Buffet is definitely the Roast Pekin Duck served with hoisin sauce, condiments, and wrappers. Get a few pieces of this ultra crispy American Pekin duck and put it inside the pancake wrappers together with the vegetables and sauces for the complete Pekin Duck experience.

The buffet also comes with your choice of soup. You can ask for the very interesting Cream of Lettuce Soup or go for the Tom Yum Soup. Both are quite good and served very hot. All of these are included in the Asian-Pasti buffet.

However, for just a little more, you can actually go for their Special Lunch Deal for only P1200+. This option comes with the lavish Asian-Pasti buffet plus a tempting Entree of your choice and their Dessert of the Day. You can choose from four different entrees like the Szechuan Pork with Stir Fried Saffron Rice.

My order was the Salmon with Teriyaki Glaze served with Fried Vegetable Ravioli. The tender salmon was doused in a sweet and tangy teriyaki glaze that I really liked.

Other options for your entree are the Spiced Curried Chicken with Potatoes and Pappadum and the Braised Beef and Tendon with Garlic Pasta. Everyone really enjoyed their main course even if we were all pretty full from the Asian-Pasti selections.

We ended our beautiful buffet lunch with their Dessert of the Day which was the Mango Panna Cotta with Coconut Milk and Tapioca. This was a sweet and lovely way to finish our extended lunch session.

We would like to thank Chef Ariel Manuel and Chinkee Koppe for hosting our fabulous lunch at Pardon My French Manila. This is one of the best hidden gems in Makati for lunch so make sure to check out their Asian-Pasti Buffet before everyone else finds out.

Pardon My French Manila

110 Jupiter Street, Makati City, Philippines

(0917) 823-0091

www.facebook.com/pardonmyfrenchmanila

#PardonMyFrench #PardonMyFrenchManila #Lunch #Buffet #Manila #Asian #French #ChefArielManuel

0 notes

herunstablelogic · 12 years

Text

Dear Baby,

My laziness for not writing to you is unforgivable. The stress is unbearably hard to break from the silent secret wish to lie in bed and sleep until he comes home. Two days ago, I received Collin’s first letter. It was horrible baby. I was so excited to read his words, hoping that in doing so I would feel closer to him and all my worries would vanish, however, with each word my eyes scanned, my thin lips curled deeper and deeper into the saddened frown in which he probably held as he wrote it. If I ever have you and keep this journal of letters to you and you are reading it now, all Collin’s letters to me should be enclosed somewhere in this journal for you to read. After all, he is most likely going to be your father.

His first words were: “I miss you, it’s so different here.” Reading those words, I longed to be besides him, hold him in my arms, run my fingers through his hair -however impossible considering they saved it all off- and hum to him as he lays his head on my chest like he always used to.

Collin, my sweet Collin also witnessed a death. I can’t bear to imagine his heart ache from that experience: “…however, on the run I was running behind this person. I saw that he was struggling and suddenly he began to topple and then he fell down passed out. I assumed it was from heat exhaustion which isn’t a big deal with Navy medics posted everywhere, so I kept running as a Drill Instructor went to help him out. I found out the next day that it wasn’t heat exhaustion…he had had a heart attack and died…I still am unsure how this makes me feel…that I saw somebody die…” I knew of the death before I had gotten his letter. It was in the news; however, the paper had gotten it wrong and did not know how the boy had died. Some part of me knew that Collin had witnessed it; the boy was a marine recruit after all. I was just hoping and praying that that recruit wasn’t Collin himself.

A Drill Instructor made him eat dirt for not properly buckling his belt. He said it was “no biggy”, however if he eats dirt for a belt buckle, I can only imagine what he’d have to do for bigger mistakes. Dear God, keep Collin in line. Don’t let him screw up too much.

The last of his letter read: “I’ll keep going so you stay strong, okay? Just all most eleven more weeks, hang in there. I will be back before you know it, take care. I love you. Write me back, I’m so lonely here…”

The past two days I’ve been taking short walks around the block and up steep streets around the area. At first it was because I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror, but after I began making my way up one large hill with my earphones in my ears with soft romance playing, I could feel my eyes begin to water and the sudden urge to burst into tears. I needed to walk and put more stress on my body to rid the stress on my heart. And with the most recent unfortunate news of Collin’s mailing address changing, my stress has skyrocketed. All six or so of my letters that I sent before I received his were sent with the address the Recruiter gave me, the one that was valid until Collin was moved. Only one number changed, the street address, however it was enough so that none of my other letters reached him. No wonder he didn’t mention anything in his letter that made it obvious that he had read all mine, let alone one. So, the latest letter I sent with the return address he had written on his letter’s envelope.

If I get all six letters back in the mail, I’m shoving them all in a manila envelope and sending them straight back; no one is getting between us. No one.

I bought a Polaroid Camera and I’m expecting to come to my doorstep today. I checked on Amazon and it had said it was in town, so I would assume, it should be arriving. Sadly, I don’t think it came with film, and I’m not even sure if it works, but I only paid $20.24 including tax and shipping. I thought it was a good deal, I guess we’ll find out today. I plan on using it to send Collin pictures of me and the things I do to keep him company, also I hoped that he would keep all of them including my letters and their envelopes so I can create a scrapbook with them all. I imagine a scrapbook like the one from the movie Up. I’m probably asking too much, but if you don’t ask, you won’t receive.

#letterstoyou #religion

0 notes

noficciondelacreole · 2 years

Text

THE CITY OF LOVE

TRAVEL PIECE OF AISLE CLARIZ ARIB

It’s smack right in the middle of the tropical Philippine Islands is a quaint and at the same time progressive city called Iloilo, and Considered the heart of the Philippines because of its geographical location, it is fondly called “The City of Love”. Iloilo is home to the most loving, friendly, kind-hearted, and soft-spoken Filipinos also known as the Ilonggos. Unlike Manila, Iloilo is more laid-back. It is perfect for those who want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the polluted city and just relax. Driving around the city of ilo ilo is a pleasure since the traffic is not that horrible, you can even roll down your window for a whiff of clean, fresh air that your lungs can thank you for, while enjoying a scenic view of the city. The city boasts of modern infrastructures such as malls, bars, hotels, and likewise well-preserved old buildings, churches, and houses from the Spanish era. It is also surrounded by numerous beaches and resorts that will satisfy your wanderlust.

Afternoon of 8TH of May,2018, we flew from General Santos to The City of Love, known as IloIlo city. It was my 1st time ever riding in the plane, it made me feel nervous but it's quite fun, I just hate that thing when the plane takes off after a few minutes, my ear feels so weird, it's like that the inside of the plane makes me deaf. But it's fun. When we take off, we go to the waiting area thing for our luggage, and then we go outside of the airport, and there, I saw my father for the 1st time in how many months, because he stayed at manila in many months because of his work, I run into him and hugged him, for the reason I missed him.

And then we go to the vehicle that our using to go to the Gigantes Island, where the terminal of "bangka" are, we arrive there for how many ours, and some of driver of the "bangka" is really trying hard to get us all and wants is to be their passenger, some offers a low price and some is so high, so of course my Tito chose the smaller price. While headed to the Island where we're going to stay, I still remember what my tita and my Second cousin's mother was talking about, they spoke about that there is an Island that is full of "aswang" and etc etc. I didn't really listen that much because I was so amazed, because of the beauty of Iloilo islands, while we're heading to the island we have so many islands that are so beautiful. We arrive at the Island and one thing that I remember, that almost all of the people that is leaving on that Island is " Arib'' which is my family name, I was shocked, because that was the first time I saw my great grandparents and also my second cousins, it was so fun that I have met a lot of people, especially my relatives that I don't know before that exist.

One of memorable also when the morning of May 9 ,2018 my family plans that we're going on a Island hopping, and then my papa called his second cousin to lead us on an Island hopping, and then we started in the afternoon. At first we went to this beautiful island that there's not much of people and the place is so peaceful, as we go down from the "bangka", there's this staff coming from us and told us that there's a fee in each one of us as a entrance fee and also a fee for parking the "bangka" where we rented, my family was shocked because they thought there's no entrance fee and another Fee for where we parked the "bangka", so we take pictures and hop in back and find another island, that was so funny even the driver of the "Bangka" laughed at us , because we just stop by and took a picture and the leave. A minutes go by the second cousin of my father lead us into this island that is so beautiful, it's like a mini island it's just small but it's so beautiful, it is a white and like a powder sand.

We hop in and my Tito ask if there's a entrance fee and the staff told us that no, so we stayed there for a minute longer, we have so much fun there, and we take pictures, selfies, and so on we have fun playing at the beach, and the funny thing is when the sun is there and not hidden by the clouds we immediately turnaround from the sun and face another direction, we really don't want to get sunburned and also get dark, my cousin shouted " the gluta will be wasted!" And laughed and laughed, and some staff told us that there's this island that is beautiful and allot of people are visiting, and that Island Called lumpatan island, and after we finished our food , we headed there, a minutes go by, we have made it and the staff was not wrong it is really allot of people visiting it, but all I was thinking is the beauty of that please the water is so clear, it's a little bit rocky but the matters for me that time was the view, I didn't really took a picture that much because I was enjoying the view and also the sea.

And I was so ashamed because I was the only one wearing a life vest, it's funny because at the family I'm the only one who don't know how to swim, and then an hour goes by, we headed home and rest, the night of that day, my cousins and second cousins and also may brother started playing cards, it's called "pass and go" it's when you complete the same number that you have in your hands, it's so fun because that was the first time we enter act with our second cousins, we have so much fun that night, so much fun that we didn't realize the time. That day was a memorable day, and night for me because I have experience the things that I haven't experienced before, and met someone that I didn't know existed in our life and founded a new relationship with my family, even though it's not that perfect because my mother who is now 7 years dead, was not there with us but it's fine because we have so much fun since the beginning of our trip. The city of love really gave me happy memories that I can keep for a very long time, and I hope we can go back there and of course with my new family, with my nephew and of course with my younger sibling.

0 notes

oxmelsa · 3 years

Text

insomnis

(a/n): Mobius has made the list into top fav characters. Owen Wilson is just *chefs kiss*. enjoy this little ficlet... to be continued...? :-)

It’s hard to get a read on Loki’s boundaries.

Mobius is a friendly guy, what can he say-- little pokes and pats here and there tend to loosen people up, get them open, get them talking. He’s no chatty Kathy, that’s for sure, but it’s nice to be able to maneuver socializations with some semblance of grace, and even nicer to smooth it over with a good ol’ pat to the back. But Loki isn’t exactly open to the idea of touch, which honestly isn’t that surprising to literally anyone, and that can often lead to little awkward moments here and there where Mobius has to remind himself to take a step back and take it one conversation at a time.

...But. It’s just. Loki has this killer sense of humor, right, and he’s charming and intelligent and conversation comes so easy that it’s incredibly difficult to remember to keep himself reined in. To take it one conversation at a time. It’s dizzying to be the only one in the entire department who can elicit positive responses from Loki, God of Mischief (and yeah, okay, sue him if he has a little bit of a massive, interruptive crush). Ravonna had told him going into this case, after all that he had a soft spot for broken things, but Mobius likes to think of it as more than that. Mobius just likes to think that he can give good things to people. That he can do something as simple as touch, and that it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

Everyone’s already gone to bed, now, but he’s perched in the library, restless and twitching for something to do. To contribute to. The stacks of files mock him from his cubicle, even from so far away, but hell if he wants to touch that thing with a ten foot pole. The sight of another manila folder right now might actually be the thing to drive him over the edge and prune himself, for Pete’s sake.

“Insomniatic, are we?” comes a familiar voice.

“Hm,” Mobius sighs. He doesn’t turn to face him yet. “Pot meet kettle.”

“I haven’t the foggiest what that means.”

Mobius glances over, then, and can’t help but smile a little. “Hey there, Loki.”

“Evening,” Loki says, curtly. His hands are clasped behind his back. “Or, morning, more like.”

“Time doesn’t really work like that--”

“--down in the TVA, I know.” Loki sits down with an impatient huff; one that Mobius knows well, now. “I’m beginning to suspect the ‘T’ in ‘TVA’ might stand for ‘tedious’.”

Mobius chuckles, takes the bait. “And the ‘V’?”

“‘Vendetta,’ obviously.”

“‘Obviously’,” Mobius repeats, mimicking Loki’s posh accent. It’s a terrible impression, but it gets a smile/grimace out of Loki, so it counts for something. He adds, “Vendettas sound more like your area, pal.”

Loki rolls his eyes. “Vendettas are for children.”

“F’course they are,” he murmurs, feeling the affection within him swell to proportions that threaten to burst. Loki glances over at him, looking wary, and Mobius holds his gaze, smiling, warm and fuzzy and everything all nice. “What’re you doing up, anyway? Looking for something to corrupt?”

Loki leans forwards to rest his forearms on his knees, staring straight ahead. “Looks like I found my target.”

Mobius barks a genuine laugh, one that seems to startle the other. “You couldn’t corrupt me if you tried.”

Loki turns to smile thinly. “You underestimate me,” he says.

“Nah.” He has a glint in his eye, now, he just knows it. “I think you underestimate me, though.”

“I don’t plan on making it a habit,” Loki admits, breaking their gaze. Mobius grins, reaches out to prod him in the ribs--

Quick as lightning, Loki’s hand snaps up to intercept the contact, gripping Mobius’ index finger with the kind of furious strength that frankly isn’t needed. Show off.

Interestingly enough, beneath all that anger and fanfare, Loki looks caught out, like he’s just played his cards at the wrong time.

...Oh.

Oh.

A ticklish show off.

“Touch me again without warning and I will tear you limb from limb,” he hisses, all sharp teeth and dark eyes. The effect is undermined when he begins to try to scoot away on the library bench, hand still clamped around Mobius’ offending finger.

“Ho-ly shit,” Mobius gapes, and he knows his genuine delight in the face of Loki’s fury is thick in his voice when he continues, incredulous, “You’re ticklish?”

“What?” Loki squints. His grip around Mobius’ finger tightens, and he looks like he knows he’s fucked. Oh, this is good. “No.”

“Yes!” Mobius laughs, bouncing his legs up and down in pure, uncontained glee. This is the best damn thing to have happened since sliced bread, honestly, might even top the invention of motorized vehicles. “Yes, you totally are!”

The beginnings of a flush of shame are beginning to creep up Loki’s neck, curling him inwards and away from Mobius’ obvious, blatant delight in such a humiliating discovery. But hell, if that ain't just the darndest thing-- Loki, God of Mischief, friend of fuckin’ Mobius, ticklish.

“This is just-- oh, this is gold. You know I can’t just let this one slide, right?” he grins. Loki eyes his trapped finger with mounting dread. “You know I have to investigate, as an analyst.”

Loki sputters, fighting for purchase. “Mobius-- no-- if you even think about touching me I will--”

“You’re fighting a losing battle here, friend,” Mobius chuckles, and even quicker than lightning, strikes with his free hand.

Everything on Loki is lean and pale and very accessible through the polyester and denim TVA prisoner uniform-- Mobius’ hand finds home in the shape of a claw at Loki’s ribs, and Loki, holy hell, Loki.

He bucks.

“Oh, shit--” Mobius grunts, nerves alight with glee as he tries to chase the wriggling fish of a man with his hand--

“LET GO OF ME,” Loki bellows, wiggling like one of those pretty hula ornaments. “YOU COMPLETE AND UTTER IMBECILIC CHILD, LET GO--”

“Keep your voice down, Hollering Hank, you’ll wake the whole unit up,” Mobius chides, grinning like a little boy on Christmas. He jabs quickly at Loki’s sides as he says it, and Loki’s legs spasm upwards with it.

“Mobius--”

“I’m barely even trying to fight you, here!” Mobius laughs, trying in vain to free his other hand from Loki’s grip as he chases more spasmic reactions, maybe even laughter if he could get in there for long en--

“Oof,” he says instead, upon receiving the gift of Loki’s fist to the sternum.

He immediately flies backwards, sliding with emphasis to the other side of the bench; Loki is standing up in a flash, crimson as the dawn. Now ain’t that something, he thinks, coughing around the empty space in his lungs.

“You are pathetic,” he spits, dusting off his clothing. “A child.”

“You just punched me!” Mobius protests, laughing breathlessly.

“It was self-defense!” he cries. “A warranted attack!”

“You’re a... warranted attack,” Mobius retorts cleverly, preoccupied with staring at the flush set high on Loki’s cheekbones, visible in the darkness of the library. “...You’re also blushing like a bride.”

“Oh, fuck off, will you,” Loki groans, turning on his heel (drama queen that he is).

“C’mon, now, Loki,” Mobius calls after him with a laugh as he marches away, head held high. “It’s just a little tickling!” Loki offers no retort, but Mobius likes to imagine that he can see the tips of his ears go pink, then, too.

S’not the end of the world, after all.

#mine #fic #tickles #lokius #ticklish!loki #loki series #mcu

191 notes · View notes

lsvdw-blog · 3 years

Text

Okay

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x f!MC

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings; Rating: Angst (with a happy ending); General

Premise: The aftermath of MC and Ethan's fight about their date night debacle.

Author’s Note: Thank you to everyone for the lovely feedback on Part I and II! This almost had an alternate ending, (it's still sitting in my WIPS) but I couldn't do them like that 😅 it starts off angsty, but the happy ending is there 😊 I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading 💖

She struggles to unlock her front door, vision blurry from the tears. She hopes to any and every deity that the apartment is empty as she stumbles through the entrance.

“Serena, you’re home! How did it go?”

Sienna is at the dining room table, jumping excitedly in her seat. Her face falls as she takes in her roommate’s running mascara.

"It didn't go."

“What?"

Serena staggers to the couch, falling face first onto the cushions. "He didn't show…"

"Oh sweetie… " Sienna stands and makes her way to the couch. Sitting on the unoccupied end, she strokes her best friend’s hair.

“Then, I went to his apartment and we had this huge fight and he called us a mistake," she says through her sobs as she sits up and puts her head on Sienna’s shoulder.

"Do you want to stuff our faces with takeout and junk food and binge watch Marvel movies?"

Serena just sniffs and nods her head.

Two hours later, the television is playing a soft melody as they share their second pint of Ben & Jerry's.

"Even after everything… Steve is Peggy's Lobster, just like Ethan is yours."

Serena looks to her left with incredulity.

"You know! Lobster! They fall in love and mate for life!"

Serena snorts. "Have you seen the claws on those things? Ever been pinched by one? Shit hurts," she says as she puts another spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.

They sit in silence for a few minutes before Serena’s dejected voice rings out. “Why does he keep doing this to me?”

Sienna scrunches her nose. "Lobsters always were finicky."

~~~ One Week Later ~~~

“Here are the test results you requested, Dr. Ramsey.”

She places the manila folder in front of him and takes a step back, keeping her head down.

Ethan stares at her for a long moment, willing her to look at him. It’s been like this for the past few days: she only speaks to him when absolutely necessary and avoids eye contact at all costs. When she continues to evade his gaze, he sighs, and opens the folder.

His brows furrow. “This isn’t the test we decided to order.”

“Oh. I'll go fix that right now.” She finally meets his eyes and says, “I must have made a mistake.”

His chest tightens: Did she make a mistake with the test... or with me?

~~~~~~

She approaches the office and knocks softly.

“Come in.”

She slowly pushes open the door and sees Naveen look up.

“Ah, Serena! To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing my grand-mentee?”

She gives a small smile as she shuts the door behind her. “I was hoping you would have some time to talk.”

“What did he do?”

She spills the story, only stopping halfway through to take the tissue Naveen hands her. After she finishes, she wipes her eyes, and reaches into her coat pocket, pulling out something folded. “And I was hoping you would approve this.”

Naveen unfolds the paper, skimming over it. “A leave of absence?”

She nods. "I'm not asking for this solely because of what happened. I've been homesick for a while now; it was my first holiday season without my family and I haven't seen them since I moved here… and I don't know, I guess what happened with Eth—” she clears her throat, “Dr. Ramsey, was the last straw. It all feels like it's too much: Edenbrook, Boston.” She shakes her head before continuing. “I just… need a break. Please."

Naveen sits back and takes her in. She’s slightly hunched over, strands of hair falling out of her topknot, the concealer no longer hiding her dark circles, and she’s been wringing her hands since she sat down. The woman in front of him is a shell of the usually confident and exuberant young lady he is used to seeing and his heart breaks for her.

“I will grant you this leave of absence.”

She perks up at his words.

“On one condition.”

She eyes him warily.

“When you feel like you have reset, you must return and talk to him. I am not saying you have to make up with him, or even forgive him. Just talk to him about what happened.”

She is unmoving for a few seconds, then nods soberly. “You’re right, I know.”

“I wouldn’t be much of a grand-mentor if I wasn’t, now would I?” He says with a smile.

~~~~~~

Ethan is walking down the corridor to his office, trying to comprehend the words on the file in his hand, but his mind is elsewhere. The sun has long set, but he refuses to go home. To the place where, everywhere he looks, he's reminded of her. It's not like he'll be able to sleep anyways; he's lost count of how many sleepless nights he's had since their argument, tossing and turning for hours, as her side of the bed remains tucked and cold.

Not only has he been unable to sleep, he's been unable to focus on anything but her: her melodic laugh lilting through the hospital corridors, her sweet perfume lingering in the office, her animated way of chatting with anybody but him.

He opens the office door and a voice in the back of his head reminds him: You miss her, you idiot.

He rubs his bleary eyes and looks at his watch. 8:09pm.

He groans and goes to sit at his desk when a purple sticky note catches his eye. There, scrawled in her loopy half-cursive is a note: Need some space.

He immediately grabs his bag and rushes to the parking garage, hoping he's not too late.

~~~~~~

He knocks urgently, stepping backwards as the door swings open.

"Dr. Trinh, hello. Is Serena here? I really need to speak with her."

Sienna stands there, unblinking.

He awkwardly clears his throat and begins to try and look into and around the apartment.

Sienna follows his movements, trying, and failing, to block his line of sight.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that Dr. Ramsey."

Before he can speak, she continues: “Even if she hadn’t left yet, she wouldn’t want to speak with you anyways.”

His blue eyes turn a shade stormier at this information. “What do you mean ‘if she hadn’t left—”

“Nothing!” Sienna goes to close the door, but is stopped by Ethan’s hand.

“Dr. Trinh. Sienna… please.”

His eyes are conveying a plethora of unspoken pleas, and after a few beats, she sighs.

“She’s at the airport.”

“What? Where is she going? For how long?”

“She’s going home and she didn’t say.” She shrugs.

Ethan immediately turns on his heel.

"Flight 936!" Sienna yells after him as he sprints back to his car.

He hurriedly weaves between the leisurely drivers and dodges through the lackadaisical travelers in the airport lobby, stopping in front of an information screen. His eyes scan the monitor furiously until he sees it.

Flight 936: Boarding Now.

He bolts to the nearest desk, buying the next available flight, and rushes through security.

He's running like a madman, frantically looking for her, hoping that she hasn't boarded yet.

He arrives at the designated gate area, but she's nowhere to be found. He's about to approach the help desk when a familiar voice rings out from behind him.

“What are you doing here?”

It’s not lost on him that she utters the same words he so callously said to her in front of his apartment that night.

He heaves a sigh of relief. He turns towards her, taking a step forward, only for her to take a step back, and the small smile on his face fades.

“I need to explain myself.”

“It’s a little too late for that.” She begins to walk around him.

Ethan lightly catches her wrist, stopping her. “Rookie… I know I've hurt you, innumerable times, and I am so sorry. Please hear me out and if you still want to leave afterwards, I will buy you a new ticket home.”

She looks into his imploring orbs and sees nothing but honesty. She closes her eyes, breathes out, and whispers, “I cannot believe I’m about to do this.”

She grabs her stuff and begins walking to a less busy part of the gates area. Ethan is too stunned to move for a moment. She looks over her shoulder and raises an eyebrow at him.

“Right!” and speedwalks after her.

She stands with her suitcase in front of her, arms crossed, waiting for him to start speaking.

He runs his hand through his hair, clears his throat, and locks eyes with her.

“There are no excuses for my actions, but I want you to know that it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me. I know that’s an out people utilize, but in this case, it’s true. You know about my mother abandoning my father and I when I was a child, but what I have not shared is that her leaving absolutely destroyed my father. He waited and waited for her return, all the while putting on a brave face for me, and continuing to love her."

He notices that her arms have fallen back to her sides.

"What he did not know was that I could hear him crying at night, that I would catch him wistfully looking at her pictures, and overhear him leaving her voicemails begging her to come home. Watching him fall apart, while I couldn’t do anything, broke my heart and I promised myself I would never let myself be in the same position. ”

Her eyes have slightly softened now too and it’s all the encouragement he needs to keep going.

“My father says that he and my mother had a great relationship in the beginning. Then a few years down the road, it started to change. He told me that no matter how much you love someone, sometimes it just isn’t enough, because if it was, she wouldn’t have left. Therefore, to ensure that I wouldn’t be left heartbroken again, I closed myself off to anyone and everyone.”

He can feel the tears gathering slowly in his eyes and he tentatively reaches for her hands.

“Until I met you. You have been so incredibly patient, supportive, and understanding with me; I see and feel it everyday. Despite that, I am still afraid. Afraid that one day, you will lose your patience with me or that you will see what my mother, the one person who was supposed to love me most in the world, saw, and leave as well and I’ll be left shattered, begging you to come back to me.”

She begins to try and say something, but Ethan continues.

“I know you are not my mother and that I am not my father. But the images of him in the first few months after she left are ingrained and still haunt me.”

He’s gripping her hands tightly now and she squeezes them comfortingly.

“I do not want to make the same mistakes as my parents: that is what I meant. You, and we, are not a mistake. I know we can, will, do better. I completely misspoke the other night and even Jenner has been acutely avoiding me since then.”

She laughs lightly and it gives Ethan the strength to blink away his tears.

“I am so incredibly sorry for my words and for hurting you. I will spend however long and do whatever it takes to earn your forgiveness.”

He rests his forehead against hers and whispers, "There are not enough words for me to convey my gratitude in having you in my life. You deserve better and I will do my utmost to be better. Forgive me, baby.”

She serenely scans his face and his heart begins to pound so loudly, that he wonders if she can hear it too.

She brings one hand to wrap around the back of his neck and her eyes flutter closed. She gives a small nod and whispers, “Okay.”

“Okay?”

She pulls back far enough to look in his cerulean eyes and nods again. He breaks out into a large grin and sweeps her up into his arms, spinning her around. She laughs in surprise and Ethan thinks it's the most wonderful sound he's ever heard.

He sets her back down and kisses her tenderly, languidly. He pulls away with great effort and takes her plane ticket.

“Now that you won’t be needing this anymore, how about we go back to my place?” He doesn’t wait for her to respond, as he’s already moving to collect her things. She tugs on his hand and he looks up. When their eyes connect, she places one hand on his cheek.

“I know this is difficult for you. So thank you. For your apology, for opening up to me… for trying.”

He leans into her touch and places a sweet kiss to her palm.

“For you, I am always willing to try.”

She beams at him as he places a soft kiss to her temple and they walk out of the airport, hand in hand.

#ethan ramsey #ethan x mc #ethan ramsey x mc #playchoices #choices open heart #open heart #open heart ethan #ethan ramsey fanfiction #ethan ramsey fic #open heart fanfiction #ethan ramsey open heart #open heart fic

105 notes · View notes

ahzbacalla05 · 2 years

Text

These Two Drama and Sexual Assault Films Reflects our Today's Societal Issues

Exploitation films never failed to amaze us with their bizarre, unapologetic, and extreme storylines that are true and incorporate it with subgenres that I personally never knew would work such as gore, slasher, rape, and taboo topics like incestual relationships and actors with unbelievably high libidos. Also, it just uses a minimum amount of film budget.

Out of many exploitation films produced by Philippine cinema, the two films that defy the meaning of exploitation is the 2001 sex drama “Tuhog” with its alternative title “Larger than Life” directed by Jeffrey Jeturian, and the 1976 drama film “Insiang” directed by Lino Brocka released during the height of exploitation topics in the film industry.

“Tuhog” is a film within a film, technically the audience got a chance to enjoy and discuss two stories happening at the same time while appreciating how raw, bold and explicit the scenes are; And due to the soft-core porn, it contains, it is same to assume that prurient audiences boosted the film’s revenue. Tuhog Larger than Life is a tragic story of a barrio lass “Floring” played by Ina Raymundo who was raped baby her grandfather. Unfortunately, her mother “Perla” portrayed by Irma Adlawan shares the same fate with her as they were both raped by the same man. After their traumatic incestual rape experience, a movie director offers them a hefty sum of money to immortalize their horrible experience by making a film adaptation. Although they were quite hesitant at first, they eventually agreed to it, and it just turns out to be a fake true-to-life film adaptation as it barely resembles what really happened to the mother and daughter.

Contrarily. “Insiang” a film released 25 years before “Tuhog” revolves around the protagonist “Insiang” played by Hilda Koronel an urban lass living in the slums of Manila who was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. Although the two films share the same conflict, Insiang is a strong-willed woman who looms her plan to get revenge on those people who did her wrong after failing to find security and solace from her boyfriend whom she trusted the most. Insiang showcases relatively fewer sex scenes than “Tuhog” but the use of unadulterated shots of dirty areas, naked children, and small spaces of slums is more than enough to exploit the harsh reality this film reflects.

The thing that I like the most about these two exploitation films is how they directly mirror what could happen in real life. Both of the films seem to be limited in terms of the film budget but it is very rich in regards to the story, the dialogue, and the acting skills of the actors. Everything comes off naturally which brings uneasiness to the audiences that stories like this happen in reality. “Tuhog” scopes numerous societal issues that focus on how people behave. One of the issues that are depicted by the film shows is “Patriarchy and Female Submission”, where the women act like sex slaves to their dominant and egotistic rapist. This was proved by the rapist’s line “Nanggaling kayo sa akin, pag mamay-ari ko kayo”. The rapist's bigotry intensifies the conflict of the film to another level as it shows how women are extremely vulnerable and helpless around their perpetrator. Another thing that this film shows is the rural hazards, the whole story is set in the countryside in the Philippines where it is shown that crimes like “rape” and “murder” can be hidden easily just like how Jasmin screams while being assaulted by his grandfather but no one bothers to aid help except her mother although it can be seen throughout the film that the neighbor houses is not that far. This film also tackles the mother’s signs of Stockholm syndrome. She and her daughter are held captive for years but the mother is just blindly following all the commands from her rapist, she even gets jealous towards her daughter at some point in the film. Although this sensitive topic might not be for all, it is good to know that this certain topic is presented in the light so people would have a viewpoint that cases like this do exist. And the last societal problem this film exhibits is how the media distorts and influences people making them believe that everything that is presented by the media is real, just like how the people gossip about the mother and daughter’s family. Also, it is torture to watch Floring and Perla watching their traumatic experience on a big screen and I am sure that great distress and uneasiness would be felt by the audience.

Frankly, “Insiang” is likeably a simpler and vague representation of rape incidents here in the Philippines, there was no incestual relationship that happened throughout the film but this does not mean that this film is shallow. Certain societal problems are found throughout the film and it is alarming to know that these problems exist that no people can solve in a snap. First is how the film exhibits “victim blaming” which is still rampant these days, and this was proved by how “Tonya” Insiang’s mother played by Mona Lisa insinuated to Insiang that it is her responsibility why she got raped in the first place which the idea is utterly disgusting. Although the next issue appears to be a minor theme of the film, its presence makes the film darker and dreadful, it is the extreme poverty that the film setting implies. This includes shots of naked children, enclosed spaces almost like giving the audience a sense of claustrophobia, and even the comfort room that does not resemble one at all. All of these contribute to the factors that make “Insiang” an unsettling film to watch but not as complex as “Tuhog”. Another thing that this film exhibits is “gender stereotypes” this is manifested by “Dado” played by Ruel Vernal and his toxic masculinity and “Bebot” portrayed by Rez Cortez who justifies his uncontrolled sexual desire towards Insiang proved by his line “Lalake ako, anong magagawa ko?”. Another issue that this film shows is how a person especially a women can be “emotionally manipulative” this was proved by Insiang’s plan on getting her revenge but she turned her rapist “Dado” into her pawn to get what she thinks she deserves. She manipulated all the people around her that did her wrong like letting her mom commit murder and such giving us a viewpoint that not only men can be manipulative.

To sum up, both of these films are unique in their way.”Tuhog” relies more on the visuals of soft-core sex but it is way more than that. On the other hand, “Insiang” escorts us to see what a driven person can do to achieve what he or she truly desires. Both of the films harvested numerous awards in the film industry. “Tuhog” won the “best film of the decade” awarded by Gawad Urian Awards and took the title of the “best movie of the year 2002” awarded by PMPC Star Awards for Movies. The same goes with “Insiang”, the film also gained a significant amount of awards and has been gathered four awards from the 1976 Metro Manila Film Festival and became the first Filipino film to set foot in the Cannes Film Festival. These two films brought unmentioned issues to light so that people could get a grasp of what is happening behind the curtain and it is something that we should appreciate. Films like these are one of a kind and should be known by generations as it mirrors the issues happening in the world we are living in and make the audience comprehend that there are a lot of things than just usual shallow topics and this is what makes exploitation films beautiful.

4 notes · View notes

syntheticpoetry · 4 years

Text

The Ghosts That We Knew

See my original post on the origins of this story here!

Summary: Blaine Anderson is no stranger to hospitals and has been volunteering on the pediatric unit of Lima General Hospital for years when Kurt Hummel comes along. After Blaine is attacked at his school's Sadie Hawkins Dance, he has his best friend Kurt to help him deal with the aftermath. And when Kurt becomes the target of the McKinley football team's bullying campaign, he can count on Blaine to have his back.

AU where Blaine transfers to McKinley instead of Dalton. Set during season 1.A story of two best friends finding courage to face their bullies and discovering love along the way.

Author’s Note: Blaine has a reason he has been in an out of the hospital since childhood that will be revealed, but if you are overly cautious of the level of angst surrounding it I can assure you it's nothing heartbreaking/super serious. It's actually quite common. I cannot thank @esperantoauthor enough for beta reading this for me and really helping me whip it into shape!

AO3 Link || FFN Link

Chapter 1: Of Viral Videos and Disney Princes

The last time that Kurt Hummel remembers being in a hospital, he told his mother that he loved her for the last time.

That was six years ago.

As he walks through the lobby, towards the directory by the elevators, he keeps his gaze fixed forward, careful not to spare a glance at the waiting area to his right. He spent so many months in that waiting room. Entire seasons, multiple holidays spent watching people receive good news and bad news, with his father stoic and silent beside him as his mother underwent procedure after procedure. Until it was their turn to be the family that received bad news. The doctor sounded sincere as he said a lot of big words Kurt could not quite understand at the time, but he understood the look on his father’s face. He took to studying the ugly designs on the carpet to distract from the tight clench in his father’s jaw, the way he kept himself so still and barely blinked through the entire explanation— Kurt knew, even at eight years old, what it was like to use up all of your willpower to hold yourself together for the sake of someone else. To this day, he cannot look at paisley print without thinking back to that awful day.

Kurt scans the directory before punching the up button to call the elevator and folds his arms across his chest, tapping his foot as he awaits its arrival. When he first heard about the volunteer program on the pediatric unit he was naturally hesitant to return to the place that held some of his worst memories. He had been on the fence about it all summer, torn between the desire to give back to the hospital staff that had gone above and beyond in their attempts to cure his mother’s cancer and wanting to put as much distance as possible between himself and the place where they finally had to say goodbye to each other.

Until he saw that YouTube video.

A curly-haired boy with big doe eyes and an unwavering grin, guitar in hand, leading a Disney themed sing-along with a group of elementary school age kids. The warmth that spread through Kurt’s chest was almost overwhelming as he watched the boy march around the room performing Hakuna Matata with the parade of children trailing behind, mimicking him raucously and off-key. It was the first time Kurt had really smiled in a long time.

So he had decided to look into the program. Mostly because witnessing the boundless energy of pure joy from each child singing along in that video elicited memories of countless nights of living room performances with his own father, both of them puffy-eyed and exhausted but still managing to find the stamina to sing at the top of their lungs, using the furniture as stage props. They were two lost souls attempting to cling to each other through tidal waves of insurmountable grief, and those nights together— well, those nights wereeverything to Kurt. He had never felt closer to his father than when they were both breathless and laughing their way through the most eclectic collection of songs imaginable, hugging each other tightly at the end of each performance.

And if Kurt happened to run into the boy from the video along the way, well, that would certainly just be an added bonus. Kurt did have eyes after all. And there was no denying the boy’s natural charm or the air of confidence with which he carried himself.

Truth be told, entering yet another school year with no friends was beginning to take its toll on Kurt and the possibility of finding camaraderie with a cute boy who seemingly shared similar interests was certainly enticing.

Ding!

The doors slide open before him revealing an empty elevator. Kurt steps in and presses the button for the fourth floor. He thinks about that video and jumping on armchairs and couches in his living room with his father for the entire ride up.

***

He has to be buzzed in to enter the unit, which he thinks is strange. But the woman who greets him, a young nurse with bright green eyes and deep auburn hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, explains it is the protocol for all pediatric units in order to prevent children from wandering away or being kidnapped. There are security bracelets around each patient’s ankle that trigger an alarm if they are taken past a bright yellow line painted on the floor.

“Who would kidnap sick kids from a hospital?” Kurt asks, looking absolutely horrified.

“You would be surprised at how common it is. Parents fighting over custody, usually.”

He nods and guesses that makes sense, but the thought is still deeply unsettling.

The hallways are empty as she leads him to a room behind the nurse’s station. The unit is certainly much different from the one his mother had been on. The walls are covered in murals of different cartoon characters and scenes from popular storybooks. While the nurse punches in a code, Kurt studies a painting of Rapunzel in a high stone tower, golden plaited hair strung over the edge of the window for a handsome prince at the bottom. The door buzzes and she holds it open for him. “I’ll let my supervisor know you’re here.”

Kurt thanks her and takes a seat at one of the tables to wait. On the far wall he spots a bulletin board covered in an overabundance of overlapping photos, hand-drawn pictures and a variety of cards both homemade and store-bought. He casts a quick glance towards the door before crossing the room to investigate. He cannot help but smile as he scans over the collection of memories, reminiscing back to his own pile of hand drawn cards for the staff on the oncology unit.

Then something catches his eye.

It’s the curly haired boy from the video. He’s standing, guitar in hand with the strap over his shoulder, in the center of a group photo, surrounded by children of varying ages and the unit staff. His outfit is different from the one in the video though. He’s wearing baggy sweatpants and a printed T-shirt, only the edges of the otherwise obscured design visible from behind the guitar over his torso. In the video he had certainly seemed more, well, put together, to say the least. He had worn light grey slacks and a navy polo shirt accented with a white bow tie, which Kurt could not help but notice because he could count on one hand the amount of teenage boys he had ever seen wearing bow ties in the state of Ohio, himself included.

Kurt wonders how often he comes by to visit and volunteer. Maybe there is a chance they will be able to meet after all.

The faint beeping of the key code and jiggling of the door handle to his left draws his attention and he turns in time to see an older woman with ashy blonde hair and huge round glasses that take up half of her face walk in. Her scrub top is printed with different Winnie the Pooh characters. She smiles and approaches him, extending her hand. “Hi, you must be Kurt. I’m Jeannie; we spoke on the phone last week.”

“Oh! Yes,” Kurt shakes her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Shall we?” She gestures to a table and Kurt takes a seat opposite her. “So we just have to get some paperwork in order and then we can take a little tour around the unit so you can meet the kids.”

“Okay.”

“This is your first time volunteering, right?” She opens a Manila folder and begins rifling through a large stack of papers.

“Yes.”

“What drew you to it?”

Kurt steals a glance towards the bulletin board, lips curling up into a half-smile. “I heard about it through my school a few months back, but honestly? I spent a lot of time visiting my mom in this hospital when I was a kid and when me and my dad would get home he would always try to cheer me up. We put on a lot of concerts for my stuffed animals in our living room. And I mean… like a lot .”

Her eyes are soft as she listens, a piece of paper held loosely between both hands just inches off of the table, almost forgotten, and gives him an empathetic smile.

“I saw that video of the Disney sing-along online and I just really wanted to be a part of it, helping kids, especially with music, because it’s really helped me through some tough times.”

“Well,” She straightens up and slides the paper across the table towards him, “I think the kids will really love having you around. Do you play any instruments?”

“Never missed a piano lesson,” Kurt says, grinning. “But mostly, I love to sing.”

The paperwork consists of a lot of signatures. Kurt is not to discuss any of the patients or their health conditions with others in order to maintain privacy regulations, not to post anything to social media without permission, and just a lot of general information about the hospital’s protocols such as what to do in the event of emergency scenarios (of which there are many ). By the end of it, Kurt has a pretty sizable stack of papers to take home with him and a dull cramp in his wrist.

“I know it seems like a lot of information, but nothing you have to memorise. You’ll always be with other staff members who will guide you through every step of the way.”

Kurt releases a nervous laugh, “Okay, good. I can save my highlighters for school work then.”

***

Jeannie leads the way to the playroom which, she explains, is a safe space for all the children on the unit that remains open every day until 7 p.m. No medications or treatments are allowed to be administered to a child in the playroom, they must be brought out first. There are about ten kids inside, ranging from toddlers to older teens, all of whom have seemingly gravitated towards splitting into their own little cliques based on ages. As soon as they enter the room two of the younger kids, a boy and girl no older than three or four, look up from a mountain of blocks and start crying. Kurt casts an alarmed glance at Jeannie.

“It’s okay, you can keep playing.” Jeannie kneels down and stacks a loose block onto their small tower. “Everyone, this is Kurt, he’s going to be coming by to help out and spend some time with all of you.” She stands up and backs away from the two toddlers with the blocks to stand beside Kurt again.

“It’s the uniform,” she says quietly to him. “Some get scared when they see us come into a room cause it usually means it’s time for medicine or treatments.”

“Hi, Kurt!” A small girl with bronze skin, a round face, and long thick black hair comes over and takes his hand. “I’m Melanie! You wanna come draw with me?”

She does not wait for an answer before she starts tugging on his hand and walking back towards a small rectangular table covered with construction paper and crayons. She climbs into one of two plastic blue chairs which are far too tiny for Kurt to fit in, so he sits on the floor beside the table, crossing his legs. Melanie slides a piece of yellow construction paper towards him and pushes a pile of crayons into the middle for them to share.

“Did you draw all of these?” Kurt picks up a red crayon and starts sketching.

“Yes! My daddy brought my big brother to visit and we draw together,” she says, shading in what looks like a sunflower with a purple crayon.

“They’re very beautiful; I like that one a lot.” Kurt taps the one she is currently working on. “I’ve never seen a purple sunflower before.”

“I’m gonna invent them one day,” she says matter-of-factly. Kurt smiles and returns to his sketch of a new outfit design that has been floating around his mind for the past week.

“Woah!”

Kurt begins to lift his head up to locate where the voice has come from when he spots movement beside his left elbow. To say the boy is small would be an understatement. He is tiny . A pale, skinny little thing dressed in Batman pajamas that look two sizes too big on him. He has wide, bright blue eyes and is wearing a charcoal grey beanie. Clutched between his toothpick arms is a stuffed rabbit with drooping ears the size of its entire body.

“Hello,” Kurt says as the boy leans forward to peer at his drawing.

“You can draw,” the boy says, clutching his rabbit closer.

“Would you like to draw with us?”

“Can’t draw,” he says.

“Oh, I bet that’s not true,” Kurt says and holds out the crayon to him. “Everyone can draw.”

The boy looks at the crayon then up to Kurt and shakes his head shyly before raising the bunny up to his chin, hugging it tightly.

“What’s your name?” Kurt asks.

“Jason,” he says quietly.

“Well, would you like to watch me and Melanie draw?”

“I’m really good.” Melanie looks up at him. “You can sit next to me, I’ll show you.”

Kurt spends the next hour drawing with Melanie while Jason continues to peek curiously between them. The other kids begin to trickle out of the room, some led by nurses, some by visiting family members. Pretty soon, only the three of them are left until Jason’s mother comes in to collect him. Before he leaves, Kurt holds out a piece of paper to him.

“Something tells me you like Batman,” Kurt says as Jason’s eyes widen at the image of a child-sized Batman with bright blue eyes. “How about next time you can draw me?”

“Okay.” Jason grins, slipping the picture between his stuffed bunny and his chest to hold it there safely. “But you’re gonna look like a potato. I really can’t draw.”

It is the most Kurt has heard him speak all afternoon. Something about the way he talks contradicts the way he looks. Kurt wonders how old he actually is; the boy looks smaller than most five year olds he’s seen but definitely talks like an older child. Kurt makes a mental note to find out next time. “Deal. I can’t wait to see it.”

Jason’s mom gives Kurt a parting smile before she shepherds her son away. Soon after, Melanie’s nurse comes to collect her as well, leaving only Kurt and Jeannie in the empty playroom.

“That went well,” she says. “You’re a natural with them.”

Kurt beams back at her, a sense of pride swelling in his chest.

After his dad comes to pick him up, Kurt spends the entire car ride home filling him in on the events of the day, excluding Jason and Melanie’s names. He goes to bed that night with his mind already buzzing with activities for the next visit.

***

Kurt starts volunteering two days a week after school and over the course of the next month, he becomes very familiar with some of the regular kids on the unit. Jason, he discovers, is actually nine years old, has leukemia and is in his final round of chemotherapy by the first week in October. Melanie has sickle cell anemia and had been hospitalized for something called ‘sickle cell crisis’— she had gone home two weeks after they first met, but Kurt learns that she usually returns frequently for the same problem. There’s a teenage boy not much older than Kurt is, but taller and skinnier with jet black hair and sad eyes, named Julian who has cystic fibrosis— he usually keeps to himself, oftentimes choosing to sit in the back corner of the playroom and silently watch everyone else.

The rest have been a whirlwind of faces and names with a variety of issues such as pneumonia, appendicitis, broken bones and asthma attacks. There have also been quite a few cases of children who have come in with injuries as a result of abuse at home, more so than Kurt would have imagined actually occurred. He finds trying to interact and engage with those kids to be the most heartbreaking.

Some of the kids are not as keen to warm up to him as others, keeping to themselves or staying with their families while Kurt leads sing-alongs, painting lessons, hosts movie nights, and reads aloud during story time. He has developed a steady routine in the five weeks since he began volunteering. So on the Tuesday during the second week of October he waves hello to the security personnel by the front entrance like he usually does. He rides up the same elevator and is buzzed into the unit by Rosie, the first nurse he met with the auburn hair. And with his usual wide smile in place, he strolls into the playroom with a new four-pack of Disney themed puzzles under his arm.

But when he walks in, the kids are already sitting in a circle, staring up at a boy with loosely gelled curls coiffed into a fluffy side part, bright hazel eyes, and a sapphire acoustic guitar perched on his lap. Kurt is caught completely off guard as he realises, Oh god, it’s him! It’s the guy from the video!

He looks shorter in person than Kurt assumed. In both the photo on the bulletin board and the video his hair was ungelled and wild. Kurt vividly remembers his dark curls bouncing as he bopped his head along to the music while impersonating Timon and Pumba for the younger kids. He’s dressed in another carefully selected outfit though— bright red pants, a black polo and a white bow tie with black polka dots on it.

“Kurt!” A few of them yell excitedly.

“Ah, so you’re the famous Kurt I’ve been hearing so much about,” The boy with the guitar says, that same unwavering grin already in place. “Nice to finally meet you, I’m Blaine.”

53 notes · View notes

cheekymonkeysph · 1 month

Text

Premier Kids Soft Play Area in Manila, Philippines | Cheeky Monkeys

Discover Cheeky Monkeys, the ultimate kids soft play area in Manila, Philippines. Let your little ones explore, play, and create unforgettable memories in a safe and exciting environment.

#Kids Soft Play Area in Manila #Indoor Play Area in Manila #Kids Indoor Play Area Manila #Kids Painting Workshop in Manila #best kids soft play venue in Manila #kids play area in Manila #soft play area in Manila #Kids Birthday Party Venue Manila #Birthday Party Venues in Manila #indoor birthday party venue in Manila

0 notes

newtafterdark · 4 years

Text

Taste of Metal - Chapter 8: A Lecture on Trespassers

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26157634/chapters/65517814

Summary: What if the overwhelming VR experience Gordon went through, had a deeper purpose than just being a simple simulation & a freelance debug job for him?

But most importantly- what if Gordon Freeman listens to Metal & used to be in a band? aka. the “Metalhead Gordon AU”

- - -

Gordon had to admit that it had been a while since he organized such a big breakfast. It brought his years at MIT back to mind where he and his roommates somehow collectively managed to keep each other on their feet, food included.

But his worries over the possible mediocrity of what he, Dr Coomer and Bubby might have created - with him being the only one who had actual physical experience with cooking - went right out the window when he saw the looks of amazement and gratefulness at the table.

Despite having said that he needed neither sleep nor food, Benrey had stacked his plate with a bit of everything that had been brought on the table. If he had been any other person, Gordon would have been concerned. But it was likely that everyone at the table either hadn’t had a proper meal in quite a while or had never had the chance to have one before.

So when Benrey was carefully layering a pancake with ham, a fried egg, cheese and peanut butter, Gordon just watched with a soft amused smile.

Meanwhile, Tommy was losing his mind over the concept of Nutella-Banana toast.

“I-I can’t believe I missed out on this! They never had anything like this at the Black Mesa cafeteria!”

Gordon chuckled.

“Doesn’t surprise me, bud. But now you can have that every day if you want.”, he added with an assuring smile.

Tommy nodded in excitement, already in the process of making another Nutella-covered toast, exchanging his left-over banana slices for Darnold’s strawberries.

Darnold added the banana to his honey wheat cereal in thought, then looked up to meet Gordon’s gaze.

“Apologies in advance for prying, Gordon… but I do have a question, If you don’t mind.”

Gordon blinked over the edge of his mug, cutting the sip of hot cacao short.

“Sure, man! What’s up?”

“Well… I recalled your reaction from last night when Bubby talked about exploring the world outside. You seemed… alarmed. Why?”

Gordon set his mug down, brows furrowed as he looked at his plate. He figured he’d have to tell the Science Team about the outside world eventually...

“It isn’t as safe as you’d think, guys.”

“No place is ‘safe’, Gordon.”, Bubby scoffed while cutting his omelette into bite-sized pieces.

“I am aware, but this is… simulation levels of ‘not safe’.”, Gordon clarified.

“What do you mean, Gordon? D-Do you guys had natural disasters recently? We understand! We can deal with stuff like that! No worries-”, Tommy threw in, but Gordon held up his hand.

“Let me… go get my laptop. I need you guys to know what’s going on.”

With that said, Gordon got up and went into his bedroom, missing the confused glances the Science Team exchanged among each other.

When he returned, Gordon set up his projector and plugged the connection cable into his laptop. He let out a sigh, then opened a folder on his desktop.

“Alright, welcome to class 101 of ‘Gordon explains what the fuck has been going on on Earth that shit’s fucked up outside’...”, he said, adjusting his glasses and getting into lecture mode.

He watched as the Science Team huddled closer to each other at the table, curiously looking at the projection on the wall… but still keeping at it with the breakfast. Gordon smiled softly before reminding himself of what he was doing.

“... August 10th, 2013. San Francisco. We thought it was a 7.1 earthquake at first. Bad enough to begin with… but then the video feeds and photos got to the news...”

The Science Team watched with high attention as Gordon opened up a video file of a news recording.

The Golden Gate bridge was swinging dangerously in clear view- until the camera focused on something else.

Something huge.

Something absolutely massive.

What emerged from the waters could only be described as a leviathan of a monster. It tore the bridge down with ease and almost instantly made its way towards the city, dragging itself through the water completely unphased by the military attacking it with comparably small aerial strikes.

“We called it “Trespasser” since it was the first of its kind we were forced to face.”, Gordon added, his voice sounding heavy with memories.

The video ended and Gordon turned back, facing his friends.

Tommy had his hands covering his mouth in shock, Darnold was holding Sunkist oh-so-gently with horror in his eyes, Bubby was clawing at the table as he stared with wide eyes and even Dr Coomer sat there with concern in his face.

The last person Gordon expected to be shocked by this though, was Benrey, who looked positively mortified.

“Dude, w-what the FUCK?”, he managed to stutter out.

“Y-You say it was the ‘first”? There were m-more?!”, Tommy asked.

Gordon just nodded at that.

“The next one arrived 6 months later in Manila-”

“Six months… that was barely time to rebuild the other city...”, Dr Coomer mused, more to himself than to the others.

“Then came another one 4 months later in Cabo San Lucas-”

“They were arriving faster???”, Bubby exclaimed with horror.

Gordon nodded, pulling up pictures after pictures, playing videos to put emphasis on the seriousness of the whole ordeal.

“It was a disaster… We faced smaller ones than Trespasser occasionally… but the big ones got even bigger over time. We faced several each year until only recently. As you can imagine, Earth is still very much damaged in a lot of places because of this. Some areas are completely uninhabitable because of the acidic and poisonous nature of the Kaiju remains-”

Benrey almost chocked on a piece of bacon-

“You guys called them ‘Kaiju’??? Like, uh- Godzilla? Big Lizard???”

Gordon let out a soft chuckle.

“Yeah… one of the lead scientists behind the research of these beasts is a massive nerd. At first, he only called them that at work to differentiate the samples he got… then the names actually stuck over time in the official reports.”

Coomer raised his hand.

“Gordon, how did humanity fight these beasts? It looks like the military was once again absolutely useless!”

Gordon clicked through his files, looking positively excited to show off whatever humanity's defence system had been-

“So, uhm, before I click play… basically humanity got together and formed the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps or PPDC for short. Within the PPDC was the research division… and that included the scientists and engineers who worked on these-”

What the team saw next in the projection, made several of them gasp in excitement and astonishment.

The video showed a dragon-like kaiju getting absolutely wrecked by what could only be described as a massive robot.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME???”, Bubby exclaimed.

“Yooooo, what the fuuuuuuuck, man...”, Benrey added, holding his head in his hands, eyes still glued to the projection.

“This… h-how-”, stammered Darnold, staring in awe.

“Oh, that is quite the fine work of robotics, Gordon! Very sturdy by the looks of it!”, Dr Coomer observed, giving an approving nod, “So you used these to defeat the kaiju in one-on-one fights?”

“Well, if we could, we had more Jaeger facing one Kaiju- and yes, my nerd buddy at the PPDC also named the class of the robots.”, Gordon clarified with a chuckle.

Tommy perked up at that.

“That man is your friend, Gordon? Can we meet him?”

“Well, I haven’t talked to Newton in quite some time… and not with Hermann either… I could e-mail them and ask where they’re stationed so we could meet and catch up? Heh… yeah, I should do that. Newt especially would love you guys!”

Meanwhile, Bubby leaned back in his chair, arms crossed and glaring at the images still being projected.

“So… the reason it’s dangerous outside is that these things could pop up anywhere at any moment?”, he asked.

Gordon made a so-so motion with his hand.

“Not quite. The Breach, that’s what we called the portal to their world, was closed not too long ago… but we still deal with the damages and the toxic kaiju remains...”

Gordon pulled up a photo of an entire coastline glowing in an unnatural blue in broad daylight.

“We call this ‘Kaiju Blue’... the closest comparison I could make is that it’s… like acidic oil-like blood. Basically don’t get near any of this at any point. Compared to it, the Green Sludge back in Black Mesa was just a glow-in-the-dark kiwi slushie.”

That comment earned Gordon a few chuckles and amused huffs.

“But yes… this is the main reason I want you all to be careful when we go outside. The PPDC still studies what the fuck this stuff can do to a human body… and I don’t want to find out what it might do to you guys. Just… no slurping the toxic alien juice, please?”, Gordon pleaded.

To his surprise, the team gave him assuring nods.

“Gordon, normally I would say that you’d be a party pooper… but since we’re all new to this terrifying information, be assured that we will listen. After all, you’re now the specialist!”, Dr Coomer said with a smile.

Gordon’s tense shoulders relaxed at the reassurance. This was a welcome change from what he had been used to from the Science Team in the simulation.

“Thanks, guys. I… I know this is a lot to take in- and please take your time to process it! - but I just… I needed you guys to be aware.”

“Oh, it’s alright, Gordon! I-I think it will slowly sink in over a few days, right guys?”, Tommy asked, turning to the others at the table.

“I’m already done processing… but we need your laptop for more research, Gordon. I want to know more details on that whole disaster before I take even one step outside.”, Bubby muttered before sipping on his now cold coffee.

“Of course! And don’t be afraid to ask me about anything, related or unrelated to all this! Honestly, the more I can help with you guys being prepared for the outside world, the better I feel about our whole situation.”

Gordon turned off the projector for the time being and sat back down at the table.

“And, uh… thank you all for listening and letting me explain? I’m not used to that from you guys… but yeah, thanks.”, he said with a weak but grateful smile.

Darnold reached over, putting a hand on his shoulder, while his other hand was still gently petting Sunkist.

“Hey, know that we’ll always listen to you from now on. The simulation was one thing… but this is reality. I think I speak for everyone when I say that while bantering with you is álways fun, we won’t push your buttons to a frustrating level anymore. Especially while you’re still recovering.”

Gordon simply nodded at that, playing with the rim of his shirt.

Suddenly, he stood up once more, startling Darnold slightly.

“Gordon, a-are you okay?”, the mixologist asked.

Gordon nodded, looking quite serious all of the sudden.

“I… I want you guys to meet someone.”

Benrey visibly perked up.

“Oh shit!- is it son time? Haven’t seen him around so… uh… road trip to go see Gordon Jr?”

“I can’t wait to meet your son, Gordon!”, Dr Coomer chimed in.

“W-Well, we don’t need to go anywhere to meet him… uhm… give me a second, I just need to go get my closet key-”

“CLOSET KEY???”, gasped Tommy in shock.

“TOMMY, DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT IT WILL MAKE SENSE IN A SECOND I SWEAR!”, Gordon yelled back while he was scrambling to find his keys.

The entire team watched in a mix of judgement, curiosity and excitement as Gordon unlocked the storage closet that Benrey had sat on top of earlier that morning.

They saw his anxious expression completely melt away to make way for a loving gaze as he pulled out something orb-shaped from within the closet depths.

A sleepy chirp-like sound suddenly emerged from what Gordon was holding.

“Hey… ‘morning, bud. Dad’s finally back home...”, Gordon said with the most gentle voice any of the Science Team members had ever heard him speak with.

Another chirp, this time a bit louder-

“....dad? DAD! YOU’RE BACK!!!!”

Suddenly the orb-shaped object launched itself out of Gordon’s arms and flew in rapid circles around him, making the man laugh. He reached out and pulled the orb out of the air, hugging it close.

“I am! Hey, uhm… dad brought some friends over. They are really excited to meet you. Do you want to go say hello to them?”, he asked gently.

The Science Team watched in anticipation as Gordon walked back to the table, arms wrapped protectively around something that was as big as volley-ball.

Tommy gasped softly as he leaned over to get a better look.

A small screen on the orb slowly came into view, displaying a curious little face consisting of numbers and symbols.

Two appendages, seemingly constructed in part out of computer mice, pulled the small being further up as it looked warily over Gordon’s arm at the Science Team.

Gordon smiled proudly at the display of mutual curiosity.

“Everyone… meet Joshua.”

#metalhead gordon au #hlvrai #hlvrai gordon #benrey #tommy coolatta #hlvrai darnold #hlvrai bubby #hlvrai coomer #hlvrai sunkist #WELCOME TO THE KAIJU ZONE #newton geiszler #hermann gottlieb #both of them only mentioned by name... for now #pacific rim #but also I WANT TO SEE MY LITTLE BOY #HERE HE IS!!!!#hlvrai joshua #fanfic #fanfics

21 notes · View notes

okk--maaan · 4 years

Note

Hi Deja, Can you entertain: thigh riding & "Is someone needy?" + Ronnie? Thank you!! xoxo 🌹

Helllooo Rosie!! (I have a couple ideas about who you might be but I’m not sure so we’re not gonna talk about it, just like we’re not going to talk about how it’s almost 6 in the morning and I don’t know how that happened). I actually think this is the first full Ronnie thing I’ve written so that’s cool! BECAUSE I LOVE HIM!!!

WC: ~1.3k

CW: cold leftovers, a nickname for RC that may have already been used in regards to Ronnie, slightly Domme RC, a lil hint of a taste of my crackhead AU, teasing, orgasm denial

It was unusual for Ronnie to stay at the station later than six o’clock. Usually by six-ten he was latching the front door and padding around the house to find you, ready for a kiss and dinner. But tonight wasn’t one of those nights. Something about a spike in weird disappearances. And a spike in paperwork along with them. He had been texting you all day about how he already missed you. Already wanted you. There may or may not have been some suggestive pictures exchanged. And they may or may not have been coming mostly from your end. But that was okay. You liked teasing him. And he loved you teasing him.

Around ten o’clock, you realize he’s not going to be home for a while still and his dinner's getting cold. Maybe you’ll bring it to him. Along with another little surprise. You click off the silly show you’re not really watching, push off the couch, and head upstairs to the bedroom. You rummage through that special drawer in your dresser, searching for his favorites. Once you find them, you slip them -- and those heels that make your ass look like really good -- on. For a second you ponder what to put over your risque get up. You very well can’t just walk around town like this but you still needed something that would give you easy access, free movement. You figure that random tan trenchcoat you have for some reason is the best option. You take it from the hanger, wrap it around your body, and tie it around your waist snuggly.

As soon as you step over the threshold with Ronnie’s to go plate, the chilly air hits you, and you think maybe bare legs wasn’t the best choice. But you’re committed to it now. You walk to your car, turn it on, crank the heat, and wait for the goosebumps to go away. On your way to the police station, you think about all the messages Ronnie had sent you over the past twelve hours. About all the dick pics. Your grip tightens on the steering wheel as you imagine him inside you. In your mouth. In your pussy. In your ass. You have to force your eyes open and your head straight forward as those thoughts flash in your mind.

You’d never hear the end of it if you got pulled over.

You’re so caught up in your own fantasies that you don’t even notice that your limbs have driven you right to the station, purely out of instinct. Snapping yourself out of your daze, you turn the engine off, gather what you brought for your husband. Oh yeah. He’s going to like what you have for him. His treats.

You push back first into the door of the little municipal building to open it. When you turn, you see him sitting there in the empty pulpit. Nose deep in manila folders and loose papers. Such a good Sheriff’s Deputy, you think to yourself. So diligent. Although maybe not the best situational awareness. He doesn’t even look up until you call his name. “Oh! Hi Pumpkin! What are you doing here?” You lift the tin foil wrapped dish for him to see. But at the same time, you walk around the little swinging door separating the reception area and his desk, and the flash of your legs is enough to instantly make him forget about the food. “Just thought I’d bring you something,” you put an infliction on the last work to match the quirk in your eyebrow. “Whatcha got there?” he points to what you’re holding, but you know what he’s really asking. “Your favorite,” you respond, playing coy. He gulps, “Mushroom ravioli?” “Mhmm,” you reply softly, savoring the way his Adam’s apple bobs and the leather of his chair’s armrests squeaks under his strained grip.

Honestly, this is probably your favorite part. Getting him all hot and needy for you. It makes you gush. The thin fabric of your panties didn’t stand a chance.

As you make your way closer to him, you can already see the long prominent outline of his growing erection. Considering how long you’ve been in the station and how hard he already is, he’s been thinking about you for a while. Getting himself worked up. You can’t break your gaze from his lap as you click click click your way across the linoleum floor. You only look up to him once your shins make contact with the seat of his chair, once you're wedged in between his wide spread legs. Even behind the lenses of his glasses, you can see the desire shimmering in his honey flecked green eyes.

You set the now irrelevant plate on his desk and whisper, “Hi.” “Hi,” he breathes as he leans forward to wrap his thick fingers around your exposed thighs. “What’s under here Pumpkin?” he asks running his hot palms up your skin, bunching up the hem of your coat. He scoots to the edge of the chair, pulls your body closer, nuzzles his face into your soft belly. “Hmm. Wouldn’t you like to know, Officer?” you retort, a devilish smile playing at your lips as your own hands come up to twist in his dark locks. He nods into you and you grip his hair, yanking with just enough force to pull his head back so he’s looking at you. His red plump lips part and a desperate strangled breath blows past them. You tsk at him as you work one of his knees between your thighs and lower your already dripping core onto his leg. “Ohh Ronnie,” you coo. “Is someone needy?” you ask, at the same time dragging your wet heat over the starchy material of his uniform pants. You nudge his rigid cock just enough for him to loose an “Uhhnn”. Just enough for his head to knock into the backrest. Just enough for his fingertips to dig further into your supple flesh. You giggle a little and ask again, “Huh? What was that baby? I didn’t hear you.” “Yes,” he huffs out. “Yes Pumpkin. I need you.” “Mmhmm. That’s what I thought,” you smirk, even though he can’t see you now that his eyes have fluttered closed. You take that as you cue to go full force. To grind down hard back and forth over his strong thigh. Your own heavy head falls back in ecstasy. You work yourself over and over and over his muscles, relishing in the sensation of them flexing against your stiff clit. Even with the barrier of your underwear, you’re sure you’re leaving a dark slick streak on the front of his trousers. He’s going to have to re-pleat these. His hands work their way up to you ass, grasping and kneading there. Your nails dig into the now sticky skin of his scalp, anchoring yourself so you can go faster faster faster.

Ronnie's head snaps up, his eyes crossed and blurry as he searches for, seeks your gaze. “Pumpkin please. Please. Ple-mmhhh-please,” he begs pleads. He feels like he could cum just from this. Just from you rubbing your cunt on him. Just from your knee occasionally brushing against his ragingly blindingly hard cock.

But just as he’s ready to hoist you up and throw you across his desk, you stop your ministrations. His eyes go wide with disappointment and shock. His breathing is erratic and you know he’s right on the edge. Good. You lean into his ear and whisper, “Now Ronnie. You didn’t think I would let you get off that easy. Did you?” You place a chaste kiss to his flushed cheek, release yourself from his grip, point to his probably cold dinner, and make your exit. “See you at home baby,” you throw over your shoulder with a sly grin.

He really hopes all the documents he filled out in a matter of two minutes are correct.

72 notes · View notes

mybiasisexo · 3 years

Text

Target

Genre: Angst | Mafia!au

Pairing: None

Length: 3.5k

Warning: Language | Violence | Unfinished | OC | 1st Person

Summary: A year after her last mission, Dragen has a lot to prove to both her company and herself, but when she begins to grow closer to her next target, she realizes she might be a little too soft for her current career....

Author’s Note: Started this in like 2014 I believe and this is all I wrote, probably won’t ever finish it, but you know how it issss.

MASTERLIST

Work:

Chen and I are standing outside a deserted brick building in downtown next to an equally deserted train track.

“You think you’re so brave,” Chen chuckles, rolling his eyes.

“I am,” I say, smirking.

“Then prove it.”

Now I’m the one to roll my eyes, “you’re such a troll.”

A knowing smile grows across my face as I pull out the sleek glock 22 from inside my jacket and cock the gun. When it is ready, I place the barrel in my mouth.

Chen starts laughing before growing serious as he grasps the grip, placing his index finger confidently onto the trigger.

“What are you going to do now, Dragen?” He asks me gravelly, but I spot a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

In reply, I pull my lips back, flashing him my pearly teeth, with a few gold teeth as well.

At that moment, a black van pulls up and a shorter dark haired man walks out of the driver’s side.

“Alright, guys. That’s enough,” he orders, and Chen laughs again as I pull away from the lethal weapon, wiping the saliva that had started to drip off my chin.

“I can’t leave you two alone without you fooling around. I’m surprised we ever get anything done,” the man, Kyungsoo, mutters.

“Oh please,” I say. “You know that this ‘business’ would crumble if not for us.”

“Not to mention your sense of humor,” Chen grins brightly. His lips stretch even further when Kyungsoo glares viciously at him.

After clearing his throat, Kyungsoo gets down to business, “the guy we are looking for is named Wu Yifan, but he goes by Kris. Rumor has it, he’s discovered some very…interesting information about our contractor that can ruin their business. We must capture him and figure out what he knows.”

“So are we going to get him today or…?” Chen asks.

Kyungsoo shakes his head, “no. Today, you two are just going to find and observe. Get a good feel of him so that we can figure out how to approach him.”

Chen and I nod once in unison. Kyungsoo reaches into his jacket and pulls out a small picture, holding it out for the two of us to see. The picture is in black and white and shows the side of a man’s face, he seems to be about the same age as us.

“This is our guy. Find him, study him, and report your findings back to me. Understood?”

“Affirmative,” I reply, sliding my glock back into its hiding place.

“Alright. Good luck.” Kyungsoo heads back into his van and peels out, causing dirt to waft around us.

We cough and choke on the dirt. Once it clears we glance at each other.

“I was really hoping we would kill someone today,” Chen pouts and sighs.

I take a deep breath and let it go harshly, placing my hands on my hips, “not today. Looks like we’re spying.”

“I feel so degraded. Isn’t this Sehun’s job?”

I smack his arm, “behave.”

Chen pouts again, rubbing his arm, “let’s go.”

~*~

Twenty minutes later, Chen and I find ourselves sitting at a park, watching a basketball game.

Our boy, Yifan, is attempting to play. He’s pretty good, at least, he’s very confident.

“He has literally missed every single shot he’s thrown,” Chen says, voice filled with mild disbelief.

I sigh, “How the hell did this guy uncover vital information about our contractor that can destroy them?”

“He had to stumble upon it. There’s no way….”

Yifan tosses the ball at the basket again, Chen and I tilt our heads to the side as the ball bounces off the backboard and soars back to Yifan, who ducks just in time.

“Pathetic,” Chen says. “Should we teach him a thing or two?”

I shake my head, “we must stay in shadow mode. We need to figure him out so that we can find a way to approach him.”

“You’re right. I just feel so bad for the man.”

“At least he looks hot while doing it.”

Chen is silent and I glance over at him. He is staring at me incredulously.

“What?” I pout.

“Your taste in men is quite appalling,”

“Yeah, especially since this one cannot stay.” I pull the sunglasses that are resting on the top of my head down to my eyes and stand. “Should we go?”

“Do you think we’ve gathered enough information?”

I shrug, “No. But I’m tired and he’s boring. Maybe they got the wrong guy.”

“We never make mistakes, Dragen, you know that.”

“Ilhoon will be worried. I promised him I’d be home early tonight.”

“What’s going on between you two anyway?”

“He’s my best friend,” I breathe.

“If he were your best friend, he’d know what you have been doing for the past five years. You’re lying to him.”

“You know that this profession calls for us to lie to everyone that matters, or else they’ll get hurt.”

Chen just shakes his head, “let’s wait one more hour. Hopefully he’ll go home, and you can peep on him taking a hot shower.”

I think about Chen’s offer. It is true that we haven’t gotten much on this Kris guy—except for the fact that he’s a terrible basketball player—and after my last assignment, I cannot afford to call it a day. “One more hour.”

Chen salutes and we get settled once again on the bench.

Yifan misses again.

~*~

“We’ve gathered that he likes to play sports, basketball in particular, though he isn’t very good.”

“Also, he enjoys eating jelly filled donuts and is quite clumsy, being that he got the jelly all over his shirt.”

“In a nutshell. This man is pathetic, and could possibly be molded like putty in Dragen’s hands,” Chen finishes with a smirk.

Kyungsoo’s wide eyes bounce back and forth between Chen and I. Finally he sighs and leans back in his chair, “alright. You two are dismissed. I’ll report your minuscule findings to the boss and he’ll let us know where to continue with this mission.”

Chen and I both rise to go but then Kyungsoo asks me to stay behind. Chen and I lock eyes and I can sense the worry in his gaze, but he leaves nonetheless, he has no choice.

I settle back down into my chair and wait for Kyungsoo to speak. He leans forward, folding his hands in front of him. His tan suit is a size too big for him and he looks like a son pretending to be his father at his office.

“Suho is still worried about your well-being, Dragen,” he starts and I try not to roll my eyes. “He wants to make sure you won’t turn on us again. You haven’t killed anyone since Minho, and giving you such a big assignment after your near failure causes him to worry.”

I bite my lip. Just hearing his name rips me up inside, causes tears to form in my eyes. I take a deep breath and suck it back in, tape myself quickly back together so that I’m not exposed.

“So what do you suggest?” I question.

Kyungsoo opens a drawer and pulls out a manila folder, sliding it over to me.

“It’s a small mission. Just a man who was trading secrets of the South to the North. He’s on the run, right on the border, but they pinned him and have been watching him. His expiration date is tomorrow at noon, and then it’s a free for all. The government wants him disposed of before then.”

I skim through his profile. Kim Minseok, thirty years old, he was an officer in our military and apparently pretty high up. I wonder what caused him to betray the country in such a way.

“Do you think you can handle it?”

I allow myself this eye roll, “I can handle it.”

Kyungsoo nods and I see a hint of a smile pull at the side of his face, “good.”

I rise and walk quickly out of his office. Sometimes that man gives me the chills. It isn’t like I think he’d hurt me or anything, but I know that he can be ruthless and is completely deadly. He’s a killing machine.

At around two in the morning, I find myself on top of an old abandoned building. It’s an extremely windy night, and my curly hair flies violently behind me. Quickly, I wrap my hair into a ponytail and resume my position: kneeling on one knee with my rifle resting on the edge of the building. I peek through the scope, scanning the area for Minseok. Finally, after an hour and a half, I catch movement. There he is, running through the deserted open road covered in filth. You’d have thought he’d know better. I mean, the man’s on the run, why is he running out in the open? Oh well, I can’t care less for the reasons behind his actions. All I care about is proving Suho and Kyungsoo wrong. I can be just as heartless as them, and I am going to prove it in three, two, one…

Bang!

The jolt from my rifle pushes me back and I stumble for a second as Minseok falls, out cold. Quickly, I snatch my weapon and run as fast as I can carrying the heavy equipment on my shoulder. Once I’m out the building, I yank out my glock and cautiously approach the man sprawled against the asphalt. I glance around me, all is clear. Minseok takes a quick breath and I jump.

“Please,” he whispers. I swallow hard as his eyes roll up to my face. “Please, I had to do it. I’m sorry. No one ever has a choice.”

“No,” I snap back at him. “There is always a choice, always a way out.”

“I guess you’ll find out soon….” He takes another breath, but doesn’t ever let it back out.

What was that?! No time to think about it. I have to leave the scene. I run over to my unmarked van and throw my rifle in the back, carefully maneuvering the vehicle so to not leave any marks. Once I am about forty miles out, I high sped it out of there. When I am at my safe spot—a dingy 24-hour gas station—I jump to the back and dismantle my weapon. Once it is put away, I drive back to the agency, switching the van for my own Dodge Neon and finally go home.

Pretenses:

He smiles and his front teeth shine against the darkness that surrounds us.

“You’re so beautiful when you’re shy,” he breathes, taking me all in.

I smirk, pretending to be brave, “your flattery isn’t really working, Minho.”

“Oh yeah?” He growls and presses himself closer to me, causing both my heart to race and a moan to escape. His smile widens with satisfaction.

“I love you,” he murmurs against the skin of my collarbone.

Don’t say that, I think. All the same, I smile and answer back to him, “I love you too, Minho.”

“Good,” he snaps, his voice serious and deep with lust. “Because you’re mine, Baby. For forever.”

I awake with tears in my eyes. I’m still dreaming of him, a whole year later. I don’t think I’ll ever not dream of him, of the man who showed me what real love felt like.

I check the time and jump up and run to my closet until I freeze. Today is Sunday, I have today off.

I sigh and lean against my closet doorframe filled with relief. Something unhinged me about my last mission, something about the way Minseok had just given up, about what he said to me. A sense of fear crawls up my throat like a premonition and I swallow it back fiercely. I’m overreacting. Maybe Suho and Kyungsoo are right about me, maybe I am becoming soft.

I step out of my room and bump into Ilhoon. His arms encircle me and he takes a step back, catching us.

“Whoa, there,” he murmurs, chuckling as we pull away. “Good morning to you too, Dray.”

I rub my forehead and sigh, “sorry.”

“Busy night?” He asks. He starts walking away and I follow him to the kitchen, plopping on a chair as he pulls out two bowls from the cabinet. “You didn’t get in until late…”

I wince, “I’m sorry, Ilhoonie. I know you want me to come home earlier, but my job is kicking my butt.”

“All you do is fix computers,” he scoffs and hands me a bowl filled with chocolate cereal—our favorite.

“You’d be surprised how complicated fixing a computer can be. First you have to find the problem, and then you have to check the entire database and make sure all of the files and other information won’t get lost and then—”

“Alright, alright. I believe you,” he chuckles, shaking his head. “You’re going to give me a headache with all that computer talk.”

“Sorry,” I mutter. I’m not feeling very well today, and Ilhoon can sense it.

“Well, you have today off, don’t you?” I nod. “Are you going up to your parents’ later?”

I nod again, “Zelo’s birthday is tomorrow so we’re celebrating it tonight. Are you going to come too?”

Ilhoon shrugs, “I am practically family. Plus, I haven’t seen Zelo in a while. How old is he turning?”

“Nineteen,” I gulp. My little brother is becoming a man today, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was terrified.

Ilhoon laughs, “remember us at nineteen? We went wild on our birthday!” Ilhoon and I share the same birthday, hence why we are so close.

I shudder, “that is exactly why I am nervous. I don’t want Yongguk anywhere near him after ten.”

Ilhoon’s eyes darken, but he doesn’t say anything. We finish our breakfast in silence and I help him wash the dishes.

“It’s almost twelve, get ready,” he orders as he heads to his room.

I sigh and roll my eyes. Ilhoon is very religious. If there is one thing he loves, it’s the lord. One of the requirements of living with him is that I have to accompany him to Sunday mass every week.

Once there, we sit in a pew near the middle and listen to the word. The father preaches about God’s love and undying devotion, but I don’t feel any reassurance.

I’m no angel. I’m the opposite, in fact. I’ve committed too many sins to be forgiven and I know there is nothing pleasant waiting for me on the other side.

God gave up on me a long time ago.

~*~

After mass, Ilhoon and I head over to my parents’ house. The place is packed with all of Zelo’s friends. Once my father sees me, he beams and wraps me in a hug. Since my life is so busy with work, I don’t see my family often. It has been a few weeks since Zelo and I have talked, and months since my parents’ and I have.

“Where’s Zelo?” I practically yell into my father’s ear. The music is so loud I can feel it more than hear it.

“In the living room, AKA the ‘dance floor’.” My father rolls his eyes and chuckles at my silly brother. I nod and snatch Ilhoon’s hand, dragging him with me to the living room.

In the middle of the room, surrounded by a semi-circle is the birthday boy. He’s busting all kinds of moves and I roll my eyes—I taught that kid practically everything he knows.

#exo scenarios #exo scenario #exo drabble #exo drabbles #exo fanfic #exo fanfics #exo oneshot #exo oneshots #chanyeol #chen #kris wu

3 notes · View notes

mischiefapprentice · 4 years

Text

My Neighbor is a Ballerina (Daniel Henney x OC)

It was already the start of lock-downs in USA, and Daniel Henney cannot help but be bored as the eighth day of quarantine passed. Surely, he is enjoying the company of his fluffy golden retriever Roscoe, but still, he missed going out for shooting different commercials and series he signed in for. There was no one to talk to inside his small home, either. He can only talk to his parents and friends through video calls, and no one is allowed to step out of their homes unless needed.

What to do now? He asks himself as he looked outside. He already have gone for a swim with his dog, he finished his exercise routine, and it strains his eyes to look on the screen for too long. He sighs as he got out, looking for something to tinker on for the rest of the day. His well carved face frown as he sat nearby his own pool, waiting for the brightest idea to pop in his mind. He weakly smiles as he sees Roscoe waddle his way to him, begging to be carried.

"What do we do now, bud? Wow, is this what you feel whenever I am not around?" he jokes. The golden retriever lays its head on Daniel's stomach, relishing in the presence of his good father who he would miss terribly whenever he isn't around. Just then, some sweet classical music filled the area, making his brows raise in curiosity. He walks close to the fence that separated his house to the rest of the neighborhood, finding out who owned the music. He finds on the other side a young woman who is half his age, dancing to the music that played with a gentle grace that can be seen in a pen, a female swan. She had black hair like him, and skin tanned from the rays of the sun. He haven't seen her before. Afraid to interrupt her peace, he became content with watching her by the sidelines, enjoying her small performance by the sun.

It has come to an end when his doorbell rang. Sighing in reluctance to leave, he took a deep breath and headed to the gates of his house, his loyal liege Roscoe trailing from behind. His friend Matthew Gubler greeted him with a smile, even though it was covered with a black N-95 mask. "Got you some groceries!" Matthew smiles as he placed them right on Daniel's feet. "Dude, you didn't have to!" Daniel laughs as he took them in. "But still, thank you for the thought!" "Well, I'd better go now, enjoy your day! And, go get that girl!" Matthew jokes as he hopped on his car and drove away.

Daniel chuckles as he closed the gate with his foot, Roscoe jumping up and down as they went in the house. Matthew is right; he needs to know more about that woman next door.

"Girl, really. That guy next door is checking you out."

Charleine is busy eating her tossed salad when her friend Carina Chandran gave her a call, and she raised the thing about some guy next door checking her out whilst she danced her way to fantasy world. The young raven haired girl laughs as she hears Carina prattle her worries for her, how she wanted to be there to give the man a piece of her own mind.

"Girl, no need to make a big deal about it." Charleine tells as she swallowed down the water. "But still! You know what, I'm packing up. I am going there." Carina says as Charleine hears her shuffles on her side. "Girl no need, I can handle myself." Charleine insists. "I have a background in Martial Arts, remember?" "Okay, if that's what makes you at ease. Just make sure to be careful, okay?"

Charleine laughs as she put the phone call down. She can imagine how worried her Indian friend was, since there were a lot of men who'd catcall herback before this whole world craze happened. She used to stay in New York City since her job as a dance instructor demanded it. She also joined numerous ballets like Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty, and she always gets the lead. Carina Chandran is her childhood friend and neighbor here in Los Angeles, so no wonder why she can see him checking on her.

The next day, she went out to her backyard for another dance for nature, a series she makes for her Instagram account. She will try to catch the guy who Carina was talking about during the phone call. Setting her Bluetooth speaker and camera to where she wanted it to be, she started doing her dance routine she learned for The Nutcracker's dance of the sugar plum princess.

Daniel immediately ran to the fence where he heard the music that captured his whole being. The same girl was there, unaware of his presence as she danced her heart away to the music that played in the background, which he recognized as a part from The Nutcracker. If he only knew how to dance ballet, he could have jumped over the fence and joined her. He was enchanted with her; he cannot help but stare at her beauty that can be compared to Aphrodite, and marvel at her skills that are as graceful as Odette in Swan Lake. It was a magical enchantment that this young lady uses to men who lays their eyes on her. However, his daydreams were cut off when the young raven haired woman called his attention. "Yoohoo! Sir, are you alright there?" she asks, which makes him tumble down. Loud gasps can be heard from her as she placed a ladder on the fence where she saw him. "Are you okay?" He chuckles as he stood up, thanking the heavens above for not staining his sweatpants and hoodie. "Um, yeah. Thanks for checking." God, why is he being a nervous charmer? He asks himself. He cannot be like this, since he has swooned millions of ladies from around the world, yet this girl's got him smitten to the core. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Charleine Mercado, and you are?" she introduced herself. "I'm Daniel. So, you're new here?" He asks, trying to hide his anxious self as he starts to know more about this girl. "Not exactly. I used to stay here whenever I am on my break in the theater, and this one's a total break." She replies as she shrugged her shoulders. "You work in a theater?" He asks as he grabbed a small chair and stood on it, just to be able to talk to her a little close, observing the one-meter distance. She nods her head yes as she waited for him to settle himself, asking him if he's comfy enough with standing, which he assures her he's fine with it.

They had a long conversation, and it was already noon when they decided to just exchange social media accounts and talk there whenever they are free. Reluctant that he won't see her for the rest of the day, he sighs as he walked back to his house, waiting patiently as he can for her to talk to him soonest. Roscoe senses Daniel's remorse as the golden retriever lays its head on his lean legs.

It was already evening when she decided to open up her social media and search for the man she once talked to earlier. She was having a gut feeling that she already saw him in some commercial or television series. Shrugging that thought away, she punched in his username, and the revelation made her eyes widen. "OH. MY. GOD." She decides to call her friend away, who quickly picked up the call.

"Girl, you won't believe who I just talked to this morning," Charleine yells on the phone, her adrenaline rush picking up the fast pace. Her friend gawked at her when she mentioned the name. "WHAT? IT WAS DANIEL HENNEY?" "Yes. We exchanged social media accounts, and it really was him." "Send me a picture of him tomorrow morning! I need enough proof that it's really him." "How about a screenshot video of a 60-second conversation via Skype? We planned to talk tonight."

It was on cue when her Skype account rang loudly in the background, showing Daniel's caller id on her laptop screen. She immediately tells Carina she'll talk to her later, and ran to her seat in front of her laptop. Breathing deeply, she clicked the green button, revealing Daniel and his dog on the other side. His bed hair still looked good on him, and she cannot help but swoon at him. "Hey, Charlie." Daniel groggily greets, groaning as Roscoe hopped on his lap, making her giggle as he cheekily grins back. "Dogs really are a handful, aren't day?" Charleine asks as she eagerly looked at the furry friend. "I'll agree with you on that." Daniel laughs as he puts down Roscoe. He shuffles in his bed as he held on the laptop, walking towards his kitchen island. "So, I suppose you already found the accounts?"

She nods as she looked down at her own Golden Retriever puppy Neve, who begs to be carried. "Yes, and no wonder why you look so familiar. Nice work in Criminal Minds and Big Hero 6, by the way." She replies as she picks Neve and places the dog on her lap. Daniel's eyes widen as he saw Charleine's little puppy, smiling as he asked her where she got Neve, which Charleine eagerly answers. Daniel smiles as he realizes they had share a lot of common interests, the only difference was their occupations.

"Your name also rang bells in my mind, then I remembered a co-star telling me about your works in ballet. I must say, you did a wonderful job in your performances," Daniel tells her as he settled his laptop down as he started preparing his dinner for tonight. "May I know who told you about me long before this call?" Charleine asks as she grabbed a Shawarma from her side. "Do you by chance know Kirsten Vangsness?" Daniel asks as he grabbed some vegetables from his refrigerator and started chopping them down. Charleine's eyes lit up as he mentioned her friend and mother figure. "Yes I do! She became my mother figure whenever I am not with my parents back in Manila," she smiles as thoughts of Kirsten and her spending time together filled her mind.

They spent hours talking about their work and interests, not noticing the time anymore that they were surprised it's already past midnight when they stopped for a while. "Let's stay up together, I really love talking to you." Daniel pleads as Charleine settles in her bed, letting her bed engulf her in its softness and warmth. "I love to, but I need to get up for my routines later," she tells him, letting out a yawn that Daniel finds cute. "You'll get to talk to me after." "I look forward to that, Charlie. Good morning!"

What a dork, she thought as she waves good night and shut down her computer, her mind filled with thoughts about the new celebrity friend she made.

Daniel finds himself in a place where music and dance are everywhere. Kids wearing flower crowns and tossing flower petals greet him as he entered the gates of the magical kingdom. He finds himself wearing a cream pirate shirt that showed parts of his chest and leather pants that showed his lean legs well. He feels powerful as he took every step while wearing leather boots that reached his knees. Women swoon as he passed by while looking for a certain woman who he wanted to meet. He soon finds himself at the presence of the king, and was surprised that he introduced himself as a prince from some place far from this kingdom. The king led him to the gardens, where he saw the familiar face of Charleine laughing as she danced with her maids. Her face lit up as she saw him, hearing her father tell everyone to leave them for now. As soon as the maids and the ensemble left, he slowly strode towards her, taking in how beautiful she is as a princess.

"M'lady," he greets her, taking her hand and places a kiss on the back of her hand.

"I shall leave you two to yourselves. Please guard her," the king bade as he took his leave, his footsteps resonating on the tiles. They silently enjoyed the company of each other as he told her of his adventures, from defeating rebels to every mishap he got himself into. Her laughter is already music to his ears. He feels himself falling into her trance, his eyes taking in the view of her wondrous beauty.

His eyes squint at the feel of his dog licking the sleep off his eyes. He immediately looked around, checking if he wore the same clothes as he had in that dream of his with Charleine. It felt so real that he thought he would awake to ivory pillars and servants roaming around him. Did it really happen? He asks to himself as he got off his bed and prepared Roscoe's breakfast, his mind still stuck to that dream he had today.

It was the same dream Charleine had. She saw herself dancing with her maids in the pavilions, laughing as merriment and joy filled their surroundings. Her eyes lit as she saw Daniel in a pirate-like clothing, but can be easily identified as a prince. Charleine filled her friend Carina about this weird dream, but she was told that it is her subconscious thinking about the actor, and people tend to see their thoughts in their dreams when they think deeply about it and fell asleep. She let's it pass for now, but she knew that there was something behind it.

They both smile at each other as Charleine got out to her backyard, while Daniel stood at the fence that separated them, eager to watch her do her morning routine. "What's with that wide smile, Henney?" Charleine asks as she stood in front of him, hands at her hips in a sassy fashion. He chuckles. "Nothing, I am just happy that I get to see a new friend here. It really gets lonely whenever I am not with other people physically." "Well, I cannot blame you for that." Charleine tells as she started playing the music, this time from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.

"Wait, so you had the same dream as mine?"

They both talked over Skype again, making sure to be reminded of the time now. She almost had problems getting up earlier, and good thing she still managed to set her body clock. Daniel told Charleine about this dream he had earlier, and it is coincidental that they both were in there. They had exact details as the other, making them wonder how come they had the same dream. "I don't know, it was just... Coincidental. Maybe my friend Carina is right, it must be a work of our subconscious and the deep thoughts." Charleine shrugs as she took a bite of her homemade shawarma wrap. "I suppose so." Daniel agrees. "How's quarantine so far?" She asks. "Well, still hanging here. Gosh, this drives me crazy as hell." He sighs, making her chuckle. "You're not alone."

That was the last time they talked.

Daniel had to fly to Korea to attend to some important matters his management has raised. He didn't get to talk to her for the last time before he headed to the airport, which made him feel miserable during his stay here. Well, he tried to play his favorite sport and get his mind on the things he have to do here before he gets back to Los Angeles. He still tried to reach out to Charleine, but she never responded. Worrying that something happened to her, he tried to call Kirsten, who fortunately picked up the call. "Daniel! So good to hear from you!" the ever cheery actress beams, making the half Korean laugh. "Yeah, I missed you all! How are you?" he queries as he mentally planned how to get Charleine in the conversation. "Feeling bored, since there was no one to talk to except my cat here," Kirsten sighs. "So, I heard that you met my ballerina friend already?" Daniel smiles when she mentioned the woman who got his whole being. "Yes, and I was about to ask you about her. She wasn't responding to any of my calls and emails." "Oh, she told me she's going to have a week off in using social media. She actually asked me to tell you about it, and she says sorry in advance if ever this happens." Kirsten chuckles, making Daniel smile weakly. He cannot wait to talk to her again.

It was a week when Charleine took a break off the social media. She wanted to take a break off the world's madness since this year started. Her eyes widen as she opened up her chats, revealing lots of missed calls and 'how are you' texts from her new friend Daniel Henney. He sent a voice mail that says:

Hey Charlie...

I don't know when you'd be back in social media, but if you ever receive this, I am probably in Seoul already, since I had to attend to some matters here, just like what I said during our last talks. Charlie, if I ever get back there in LA, I want to... Ugh. Never mind. I just want to let you know that I already miss you and those small talks we had whenever I watch you dance. If I could rush things over, I would have done it in a heartbeat. I would do everything if it means to see you again. It's already late here, and I should get some sleep. I am in the 14 day quarantine period, and I got a negative result.

"I made him wait, Neve." she tells her golden retriever puppy, who in return looked at her with its doe eyes as it sensed her bereft. She sighs as she looked at other messages he dropped:

Hey Charlie! I am missing you so much already!

How are you?

Did you eat already?

When are you going to post another dance in your Instagram?

Are you alright?

You know you can talk to me whenever you got something bothering your mind, right?

"That's it, I'm waiting for the right time to call him." She says to herself as she typed in her reply to all those messages and voicemails he sent her during the week off the media.

Hi Dan!

Kirsten probably told you already that I took a week off the media, since I got stressed with what is happening with the world right now. My godmother also nearly got my nerves, so I decided to do so. I'm sorry if I got you worried for me 24/7, but now you can talk to me anytime again. Just note the time, one of us might miss the complete sleep we need to be energetic the next day. Hope to talk to you soon!

His eyes immediately land on the message she just sent him, making him smile in victory as he read it multiple times. He immediately opened his Skype and gave Charleine a call, having high hopes that she'd answer it in a flash. He quickly checked himself on the mirror app on his phone, but stopped when he heard giggles from the other side of the line. "Hey, you don't need to check your self on your mirror, Vanity Boy." she quirks, making him smirk. "Liked that new nickname, Ms. Ballerina." he comments back, making the girl smirk back at him. "So, how's the week off social media?" She weakly smiles as she looked down, taking Neve in her arms. "It's relaxing, since I got to connect with myself once again after all this madness happened. How about you? You said you are in Korea, right?" "Oh yeah. I got a negative test result, and I can go to all the places where my manager told me to go to." Daniel cheekily grins at her, making her shake her head in annoyance, but a smile still plastered on her lips. "I already saw that dance you uploaded, and I must say, it's still different if I saw it live." "You little stalker," she laughs as he chuckles. Daniel finds himself falling for her even more as the days pass.

After a few weeks of fixing up things in Korea, he immediately took a flight back to Los Angeles, eager to see Charleine again. His mother teases him on his little crush on the well-known ballerina, making him groan in feign dismay. His father, unfortunately, helps his mom with teasing him about it. But deep in his mind, he is glad that his parents are supportive with whoever he wants. He isn't pressured with what kind of girl he should date and marry, as long she is kind and understanding, he's willing to keep up with her.

It was another spring morning, and he is patiently waiting for her music to play. The small ladder he climbs on is already set, and he just needs to hear her music. Just as some random music played, he scrambles to the ladder, just in time for her to start dancing. She laughs as she saw how messed up his hair was, making her stop dancing. "Why did you run all the way?" She chuckles as she stood on her toes, messing his now messy hair as she laughs. "I just didn't want to miss my friend dancing," Daniel chuckles. "I missed you!" "I missed you too, dummy." She says. "Um about that voicemail you sent..." "Oh yes about that, I actually wanted to ask you on a date out, but there's quarantine, so..." "You know we can just hang out in the backyards, right?" "Oh. Yeah. HOW COME I FORGOT ABOUT IT?" "Stop overthinking, Tadashi Hamada." "How can I not, if I am standing in front of Juliet Capulet?"

After a few days of Daniel planning their first date, now is the day they finally get to be together up close, since they both got their negative swab test results. He made sure that the house is well disinfected, there is no mess around, and lastly, he'd make her smile with his charms and quirks. It is only a few hours before night falls beautifully, just like in La La Land. Clad in just his button up shirt and black fitting slacks, he casually waited by his gate, hoping she'd show up. He immediately opened the gate, revealing Charleine in a simple pink dress and some sandals. She shyly waved as Daniel let her in.

"Hey... Looking good tonight, I see?" Charleine smiles as Daniel guides her inside his home, her eyes widening at how simple and elegant it is. "You've got a nice house here." "Well, thank you. I'd reckon yours is better than this," Daniel replies as he eyed the package Charleine brought in. "Oh no, no, no. Did you make food as well?" "I did, it would be rude on my part if I didn't bring something, right?" the girl asks, looking down on the floor. Daniel sighs as he held her hands in his. "You didn't have to, Charlie... But, it's okay, as long it's from the thought. I'd wager this is the best pasta I'll ever taste." Daniel tells her as he leads her to the pool area, the feeling of romance can be felt in the air as the candle-lit table stood nearby the very fence where they both met. She cannot help but smile as he pulled a chair for her, a dinner for two already filling the air as the aromatic scent fills her nostrils. "I'll serve your Bolognese spaghetti later after this," Daniel tell her as they started to eat under the moonlight that coincidentally shone above them along with the stars. They talked about various things, ranging from his stay in Korea to random jokes they saw in the net. It was already late in the night when they finished eating. Her eyes widen as she heard one of her favorite songs from La La Land playing in the background, and Daniel offers his hand as he pulls her into his arms for a dance.

Silence enveloped the two of them as the song ends, the two enjoying the warmth of the other as the time passes. Her eyes widen when her watch shows it's already a quarter to midnight. "Daniel, I need to get back already." she tells as she reluctantly pulls away from their little waltz. "You can sleep here. I'll take the couch, it's actually past curfew." Daniel tells her as he held her hand tightly but gently. "Are you sure? I don't want to be a nuisance to you, Daniel." Charleine asks, worrying that she might be interrupting any important matters. "I am sure, so don't chicken out. I actually can borrow one of my shirts and sweatpants for you to sleep on."

She silently watched him pick one white shirt and gray sweatpants from his closet. She cannot help but swoon at how fit this man is. He already changed into a black sleeveless shirt and a pair of white pajamas, leaving his bathroom for her use. "This one would do," Daniel tells as he placed them beside her. He cannot help but look at her wounded feet that were barely covered by the slippers a hotel gave him before. "Change into those, I'll just find the ointment for those bruises on your feet."

"Is it still aching?"

She winces in pain as he massaged some parts of her foot, rubbing in the ointment his mother once used on him when he suffered the same bruises as hers. She cannot help but yelp in pain, tears starting to spill on her eyes. Daniel immediately sat beside her, pulling her into a hug as she started to cry. "I'm sorry , I'm sorry." He whispers to her as he kissed the top of her head.

"I'm alright, Dan. It's just I cannot fight the pain," She whimpers. "I'll be here always, okay?" Daniel whispers. "I love you."

Her eyes widen as she heard those three words that can alter her life in an instant. A famous celebrity has fallen for her. "Hear me out, Charlie. I started falling for you since the day Kirsten started talking about you during Criminal Minds shooting and script readings. She is right about you being so strong, soft-hearted, smart, wise and beautiful. It's okay if you don't share the same feelings as-"

She gave him a peck on the cheek that made him stop rambling. He grins widely as he pulled her into a heartwarming hug and kissed her head many times. "You also got me from the start, Dan. It was when Kirsten told me about you whenever we meet up in New York City, and she told me that I would be able to meet you soon. So, here we are." She chuckles as he pressed his lips on her forehead, making her giggle. "Let's get you to sleep now. You might call me a knucklehead when you wake up late," he jokes as he pulls her down beside him on the softest bed Charleine has imagined.

"Well, your boyfriend is here."

It was a year after the pandemic, and everything went back to normal. Carina and Charleine got their new assignments in Los Angeles, making it easy for the new lovers to meet up anytime they want. Daniel would pass by the American Contemporary Ballet, where she worked and performed. Carina would tease her about it, making her chuckle and playfully slap her. Some of their closest friends would drop by to see her, since some of their kids are under her class. It touched her that all of them really look at her like their second mom, and she dreams of having a family soon.

"My Prima Ballerina," Daniel mumbles as he buries his face on her hair, making her chuckle as she pulled away. "Danny, I sweat." Charleine tells as she wiped the sweat off her brow. "So what? You don't complain when I smell like Roscoe!" Daniel laughs. "Um, Charlie? Can I ask you something?"

She nods her head, but her eyes widen when she watched Daniel kneel on one knee, revealing a diamond ring on a red velvet box. Tears prick her eyes as he started rambling the most affectionate speech she has ever heard from him. Kirsten, AJ, Joe and the others are there, smiling at the most awaited moment.

Charleine Mercado. The moment I heard your name from Kirsty, I knew there was something with you that made me fall for you. Even though we haven't met long before that madness happened, I started longing for you. You were everything Kirs told me about you: you are smart, gay, loving, gentle, caring and among other things I wanted in a woman. Last year has been a blessing in disguise for me. If it weren't for it, maybe I wouldn't realize that I am just right beside this woman I have been seeking for god knows how long. That moment you told me your name, I said to myself: you are the one. Charlie, I know it has been a year since we started dating and become something more, and I want to be promoted to another position in your life. Will you do the honor of becoming my wife and marry me?

Charlie started tearing up tears of joy as she nodded her head yes, tackling Daniel in the tightest but gentle hug. He slips the ring on her right ring finger, and kissed it.

#daniel henney #danielhenneyxreader #Wattpad #ballerinareader #ballerino #criminal minds #matt simmons

10 notes · View notes