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bangtaninborderland · 1 year

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Niragi X Fem Reader. || Come Here Sweetheart PT 2.

Part 1

It had been a week since your last argument with Niragi and since then he had been nice, too nice. For once he had been gentle with you, his voice soft, his words sweet lacking the usual venomous tone he laced them with, he hasn’t hurt you or even attempted to. He stayed true to his words of being with you every time you had a conversation with you, his role within the militants enabled him to know exactly what you was doing all day every day.

His sweetness only put you further on edge but you knew not to question it, his hands circled around your waist, his chin resting against your shoulder after pressing a quick kiss to your jaw. It had become a habit for you to wait on the roof for him after his shift, if he wasn’t dragging you along to be with him for the entirety of it then you was told to wait in either your room, his room or the roof. At least up here you were allowed some kind of freedom.

It’s ironic that even in a world with no laws you’re still just as trapped. The man you love keeping you in a cage.

“Did you miss me?” His words were slurred, you could tell he had been divulging in the high quantity low quality alcohol that the beach had scavenged from the surrounding stores.

“Of course I missed you.” It was only a half lie. You missed the person you thought you cared about.

“Shall we go back to my room? You must be cold.” He noticed the way you shivered lightly as his fingertips drew patterns on your waist.

As much as you wished to be in the warmth you were sure if you had to spend another minuet staring at the plain walls of your assigned room then you’d definitely go insane. “Do you think we can go for a walk?”

You winced at how his movements slowed, a sign he wasn’t expecting your request. “Why? Do you not want to spend time with me? What’s wrong with our room? What are you hiding?”

His soft touches turned rough fast enough to knock your breath out of you, his sudden interrogation not at all expected. “No-nothing.” You struggle out.

He spins you around by your arm, hand wringing around your through as he guides you closer to the edge of the roof. “You know I’ll find out if you’re hiding something, I’ll do anything to keep you with me.”

“Yo-you- hurting.” You couldn’t finish your sentence but thankfully he understood, relaxing his grip on your neck although not releasing you completely.

Niragi was always in charge. In charge of guns, in charge of anyone without a gun, in charge of you.

After you’d had a few seconds to catch your breath he continued his questioning. “Why do you want to go for a walk, you know you can’t escape right baby?”

“I don’t want to escape I just feel so trapped here.” You notice your mistake instantly as you glance at his face and scramble to fix it. “Not trapped with you, trapped here at the beach. I can’t talk to people if you aren’t around and I want to see different things. You’ll keep us safe.” It was better to sweet talk him, arguing only fuelled his rage.

You swore your heart stopped for a few seconds as he dazed off into the night sky. “Fine, you’ll stay next to me the entire time.”

You felt like a child being warned but you accepted it nevertheless.

“Okay, Thankyou.” You reached up to place a chaste kiss to his lips, he smiled despite his attempts to hide it.

The residents within the hotel had already started what seemed to have been a never ending party, beer bottles and glasses scattered around the pool. You hated coming down here and not because of Niragi but because there was always some kind of fight, crowds weren’t something you were big on even outside of the boderlands.

Niragi had warned you to stay in your spot, a corner he had chosen for you to wait in what he informs Aguni of your short departure.

You turn at the sound of your name being called, Ann approaching you. “Hey, I haven’t seen you around in a few days.”

“I’ve just been in my room.” You shrug your shoulders, omitting the part about Niragi not letting you do anything else.

She glances around, eyes landing on the man who had been occupying your thoughts. “You know if you need help getting away from him I’ll talk to hatter.”

You shake your head instantly. “It would be pointless, I both hate him and love him, even with a chance to have some form of freedom he would never stop trying. It’s easier to be with him.”

“Are you even happy with him?” She questions, eyes narrowing.

You think about it for a minute, were you happy? Did happiness even exist in a place like this? You weren’t miserable, he could be genuinely sweet, like how he would run you bubble baths, get you the best food available and put it on a little tray so you could eat breakfast in bed. He had gathered magazines and books for you along with art supplies so you could paint. You weren’t sure if he did those things because he loved you or because he wants to keep you busy enough to always stay with him but he did it and that was what mattered. He could be rough but you chalked that up to his fear of being alone.

“I’m not always unhappy.” It was an answer, a shitty one but one that was as close to the truth you knew.

“You don’t seem that way, it’s okay to admit you need help.” She states, taking the straw of her drink between her stained lips.

You didn’t get a chance to reply as Niragi pushed past her, an arm resting lazily across your shoulder.

You cringed at the thought of the scene that was about to unfold before Niragi spat the words “What do you want.”

“I want you to stop ruining all my conversations with your lovely girlfriend here.” You held in a laugh at Ann’s mockery, she wouldn’t be the one facing the consequences later.

“You know for someone so small you do have such a big ego, maybe we will see how much you want to talk when I press a gun bet-

“Niragi!” You cut him off, pushing his arm from your shoulders before walking away towards the exit.

You heard him calling your name behind you, the gravel under his boots alerting you that he was following you but you didn’t care. You couldn’t win, even when you asked for something small like the chance to have friends or for him to not be so violent he just couldn’t stop himself.

You were all for ignoring his shouting until his voice cracked, something that rarely happened, although you didn’t turn back to him you did pause your movement as did he.

“Baby I’m sorry okay! I know I keep messing up but I’m trying. I just don’t know how to do everything the way you want.”

You were shocked by his rare bout of honesty, you considered ignoring him, walking off and facing whatever anger determined punishment he see fit later but you couldn’t ignore the pangs of longing within your chest.

Even in a broken world a broken being needs love and if you were the one that had to love the beast you could.

“Walk with me?” You called you, extending your hand towards him. You didn’t mention the smile that tugged at his lips as he laced his fingers with yours.

You walked in silence for a while, the bare streets providing minimal background noise, you could tell Niragi was always alert even with the handgun resting in his waist band, he turned to you, face unsure.

“What’s wrong?” You hummed leaning into his side as your walking slowed, the cold air causing you to shiver.

He shook his head. “I told you we should have fucking stayed inside but you don’t listen to me.”

Your throat tightened at the tone in his voice but you willed yourself to stay calm. “Why should we have stayed home?”

“You’re cold.” You weren’t shocked, he often expressed his concern for you through violence or anger.

You couldn’t help but wonder what made him like that.

“Why can’t you just tell me that nicely? You don’t always have to be so angry.”

“What did you say?”

“You always get angry at me, angry for having my own thoughts or wanting my own things, angry for existing but you don’t let me leave. You keep me by your side hurting me again and again and you claim it’s love and you know what? I love you, as sick and fucking twisted as it is I love you I fell in love with the way you take care of me even if it means I get hurt in the process. I’m stuck with you because even if you gave me freedom I’d still be tied to you because I fucking love you.” The words left your mouth before you could think about what you was saying but in a way you was grateful to the inner courage you had even if you was unaware of it.

“Get over it.” He scoffed, not giving you a second look as his grip on your fingers tightened.

“You know what why don’t you learn to talk to me like an adult? Stop hiding behind childish fucking anger because in case you haven’t realised in this world it doesn’t work. Either you kill me or I’ll die in a game. I can love you, I can hate you but I won’t let myself be scared of you anymore, we had this conversation last week but you don’t ever change.”

You tried to pull your hand away from his but he didn’t move, your walking had come to a stop and the only movement he made was to further tighten his grip on your hand.

“You’re hurting me.” You tried to pry his fingers off your own but it was no use, you were sure he was going to break your fingers.

“Niragi.” You called out once again, only for him to push you full force against the old car behind you.

“You want me to be an adult right? Let’s do some adult things.” He laughed, a hand pushing your shirt over your tits as he uses his other one to slide down the waist of your sweatpants.

His fingers were cold along your skin, your nipples hardening at his touch.

“Niragi stop!” You screaming at him, thrashing against his hold on you.

“Shut up!” He thrusted his hips against your ass, your body jolting into the car.

You hissed in pain as his soft massage of your boobs turned rough. His other fingers working around your clit harshly.

“You know you’re mine.” He growled in your ear, his teeth grazing against your earlobe.

“M yours.” You slurred your words, tears welling in your eyes.

“You are mine.” Suddenly his touch was gone.

You slumped to your knees, the pressure of his body against yours was the only thing holding you up. You looked around in confusion, only to see the man backing away from you, his head shaking profusely.

“Baby?” You whispered the pet name you rarely used for the man.

“I don’t know why I keep hurting you.” His voice was broken.

Your futile attempt to hold back your tears was no more at his confession. “Do you hate me?”

He was hesitant as he took a step towards you, almost as if he was debating if you wanted him.

“Come here sweetheart.” You reached out to him and he answered your wishing, retracing his steps to join you on the floor.

“I don’t hate you, it’s the opposite.” He looks away, his hair messy around his face.

“You love me?” You didn’t know wether you meant it as a statement of conviction or a question of confusion.

“That one.” You wanted to smile at how he couldn’t say the words.

“Say it.” You prodded at his side.

“No.”

“Say it and I’ll forgive you.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“I will.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because you deserve to be loved by someone who wants to leave here with you.”

“I want to be loved by you.”

He shrugs. “You shouldn’t. You aren’t very smart.”

“You want me but you don’t know me Niragi.” You roll your eyes.

“I know you aren’t smart.”

“I wish you said nice things about me.”

“Like what?” He looks at you.

“I wish you told me I was pretty.”

He laughs. “I don’t think you’re ugly.”

“Still not a compliment.” You lay your head on his shoulder.

“Why do you like me?” He asks.

“Why do you?” You ask him the same.

“Because you don’t annoy me.”

“But you don’t know me.”

“I want to.”

“Then try. I’m not going to leave you. I’m not going to want someone else and you don’t have to threaten to kill the people I care about. I don’t have anything to lose in this world Niragi, if you keep pushing me I will break.” You was pleading with him, wanting him even if you knew you shouldn’t.

“I wish I could explain things to you.”

“Things like what?” You look towards him, your face only inches apart.

“Like how you make me feel, how special you are, how much I hate hurting you.” He whispers, eyes focused solely on your lips.

“Then why don’t you?”

“Because no one taught me how.”

“Will you let me?”

A daunting moment of silence overcomes you, his eyes wondering across your face.

“Why do you want to?”

“Because I want to be with you and I can’t be with you if you don’t change.”

“I could force you to stay with me.” He smirks

“If you do I’ll kill myself.”

“You wouldn’t.” His face is blank, his smirk vanishing.

“Will you let me?” You ask again.

“Yes, but you have to be patient with me.”

“I doubt anyone is leaving here anytime soon, hatter is half naked and insane, Arisu is trying his best, not to mention whatever weird things Chishiya has going on.”

“Don’t mention them.” You can practically hear him grinding his teeth.

“Talking about them doesn’t make them suddenly become someone I’m interested in. You have to learn to bend a little.”

“Arisu likes you.” He bits his lip.

“As a friend, he’s In love with Usagi.”

“I’m in love with you.”

You’d swear up and down that your heart stopped, this had to be an illusion, a dream.

“What?”

He groans dramatically. “Don’t make me say it again.”

“Please?” You stare at him.

He shakes his head, a little smile lightening his usually angry features as he leans in to press a gentle kiss to your lips.

“I love you.” You whisper, the words holding a much happier meaning.

“I’m not perfect but I want to be better.” He leans in again, this time placing a kiss to your cheek before he stands, extending a hand to you.

You take it without question, he helps you stand up before taking off his own jacket and wrapping it around your shoulders.

He sighs. “You’re cold.”

“I am cold.” You admit.

“Can we go back? I don’t like it when you’re cold.”

“Take me home?” You smile stupidly, a grin stretching across your lips making you look dopey.

“I’ll get you a better home one day, it will be me and you, no one else.”

“Why?” You lean against him as you walk, his arm around your waist.

He laughs. “I’ll make sure you’ll never need anyone else.”

🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

An: so this is something I really wanted to showcase in this couple, Niragi can make multiple promises but it will always come down to his desperation of her to need him. He will always make it so she feels like he will change and can change but this man cannot stick to anything good. I haven’t wrote in AIB for a while but I remember when I wrote the first part a friend had said how it made her feel as if she had something to relate to with the way Niragi was so manipulative. The character of him in this fic is based on my own experiences. This was something that did happen to me and I thought it would be perfect to showcase how twisted he is. I’m Sorry this isn’t very long he is a difficult character to write for. I’ll write some smut soon I promise. Thank you all for 900 followers.

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captainsophiestark · 4 months

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The Best-Laid Plans

Platonic!Annabeth Chase x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for my personal fic writing challenge for 2024, Sophie's Year of Fic! Featuring a new fic being posted every Friday, all year long :)

Fandom: Percy Jackson

Summary: Annabeth's best friend and older sibling figure since she ran away at seven helps her execute the perfect birthday surprise for Percy in their first year at college.

Word Count: 1,306

Category: Fluff, Humor

A/N: To those new to the fandom from the tv show, weclome! This fic has hella spoilers for future books, so be warned

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"I just want to do something special for him. It's his first birthday away from home, and I can tell it's bothering him."

I hummed, twirling my dagger and staring at the ceiling while kicked back on my couch. Such was the life of a demigod, that we fiddled with weapons like fidget toys.

"And there's no way you guys can go back?" I finally asked. Annabeth, my little sister in every way but blood, shook her head.

"We've got orientation for the next week and a half, including his birthday. It's the only reason we're here so early in the first place. We can't miss it."

I frowned. Annabeth and her boyfriend, Percy Jackson, had just started college at New Rome University. They'd gotten to the Bay Area yesterday, which I'd been incredibly excited about. Annabeth and I had been attached at the hip since I was eleven and she was seven, when we'd met as runaway demigods. Out of our little group, Annabeth and I had stayed the closest. After the Titan War, I'd decided to go USF, the muggle university in San Francisco. Leaving her had been the hardest part.

Now, luckily for me, she and Percy had moved out here too. Annabeth had finished unpacking and setting up her dorm room within a few hours of arrival, and so had some free time this morning to spend hanging out with me. Percy had not, so he was otherwise occupied on their last day before school activities started.

"Well, I'm happy to help with whatever you want to do, Annabeth," I said. She sighed, chewing at her lip and staring out the window of my apartment as she thought. "Maybe you could show him around the Bay Area? He probably hasn't spent much time out here, has he?"

"I really haven't either," she said. "I've barely been back since I was a kid."

"True..."

"Maybe we could go on a tour of New Rome? Percy told me he wanted to show me around, but I don't want to make him be the tour guide for his birthday."

"Yeah."

The two of us fell silent for a moment, thinking things through. Then, like a blast of lightning from Thalia, an idea hit me.

"What if you baked him some cookies or something? He's probably already missing his mom's baking."

Annabeth shot up straight in her seat, staring at me with wide eyes.

"That is the perfect idea. Can I make them here?"

"Of course! I'm not going to make you use the shared freshman kitchens."

Annabeth grinned, then stood and headed to the kitchen table. I watched her go with interest as she pulled out a notebook and pen and started scribbling away.

"Uh... Annabeth?"

"Making a plan. Don't worry about it."

I grinned to myself. My little sister was nothing if not predictable.

A few days later, Annabeth managed to sneak away from Percy and orientation to come back to my place for a baking party. Percy's birthday was tomorrow, so we only had tonight to get everything ready.

"I came up with the perfect plan," she said in lieu of greeting as she pushed past me and into the apartment. I smiled after her, joining her in the kitchen as she plopped down a massive bag of baking supplies. "I got the recipe, I timed everything out, I got a ton of blue food coloring. By the end of the day, the perfect birthday surprise will be completed."

"I'd never doubt a plan from Athena," I said, giving her a smile. "Just tell me what to do, and I'm on it."

"Right. Well, first we need to preheat the oven."

That was about the only part of the plan that ended up going off without a hitch. Annabeth didn't bake often, and she'd happened to choose a pretty difficult cookie recipe. I did my best to help, but I didn't have a lot of experience in the area either, so things went quickly off the rails. Just under two hours later, the two of us stood in the kitchen covered in flower, eggs, and bits of way too watery dough, staring at the absolute disaster of a mess we'd created on the counter.

"This was not part of the plan," she said. I couldn't help it—I burst out laughing.

"I don't know, I think sugar cookies are supposed to be so wet we can't pick them up," I joked. I turned to see Annabeth with a very serious frown on her face.

"I haven't had a plan fail this miserably in... a long time."

"Well, I think it's probably time for plan B. That can be your redemption."

Annabeth's frown just deepened, so I did what any good sibling would do and took it upon myself to cheer her up. By throwing a wad of dough in her face, of course.

Her mouth dropped open in shock as sugary, goopy dough dripped off her chin. Then she whirled on me with a fierce look and fire in her eyes that I recognized from the few times she'd really been on the warpath for capture the flag.

"That was a mistake."

She picked up the nearest glob of dough and chucked it at me as I tried to dodge. It hit me in the back with a thunk, and I cackled before turning around to reengage with a clump of flour.

The baking battle raged for a few fierce minutes, before Annabeth and I slipped in some dough on the floor while wrestling to smear more of the stuff on each others' heads. We collapsed in a heap, both of us laughing like crazy people.

"That was so worth everything that came before it," I declared, slumping against the nearest kitchen cabinet. Annabeth immediately followed suit, leaving us shoulder to shoulder in the middle of the mess.

"What about the cleanup that comes after?"

"Also worth it, especially since I have you here to help me."

Annabeth snorted, but didn't say anything. After a minute of comfortable silence, she sighed.

"What am I gonna do for Percy's birthday tomorrow?"

"Well, were the cookies the only plan?"

"No... He took me to one of his favorite spots in the city a few days ago, so I planned a picnic for the two of us there. The cookies were going to be the final surprise."

"Well, there you go then. The rest of the plan remains intact. If you wanted to, you could even make him a little coupon or something that promises 'one day of baking cookies' or something like that, and the two of you can pick an easier but still delicious recipe to try."

Annabeth looked at me with a skeptical eyebrow raised.

"Would you let us use your kitchen again?"

I shrugged. "Sure. Maybe Percy's better at baking than us. And even if he's not, having someone who can control water to help us with cleanup will at least make a round two of this easier."

Annabeth smiled and huffed a laugh, leaning against me.

"Thanks. For this, and for everything. I'm really glad you're here in San Francisco with us."

I smiled too, reaching out to put one arm around Annabeth. We'd known each other more than a decade, and we'd both changed so much. But our relationship had stayed the same.

"Any time, Annabeth. You know I'm always here for you." The two of us sat there for a minute, taking a breather and appreciating each other's company, and then I sighed. "Alright, time to get the cleaning stuff out. This is going to take hours."

"You know, I actually have a lot of coursework I need to get started on-"

"Nice try, but it's orientation. And even if you were in the middle of finals, you wouldn't be getting out of this."

"Fine. But next time, let's plan to avoid the massive kitchen food fight."

I grinned. "Sure. We can plan on that."

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989

Riordanverse: @valkyriepirate

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pokemon-teacology · 8 months

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!!! Many many updates on the challenger scene in Galar. Many thanks to Brandy (@paldean-ranger-brandy) for watching with me >:³

Okay so first off, last week the kiddos from postwick made it to Milo, smashed the competition, and carried on. Gloria's Scorbunny looked like it was having a Blast leading all those wooloo to their pens.

There's some kid in pink with The Worst Attitude I've ever seen, kids obviously got some issues. The internet tells me he was recommended by Rosie Posie himself, so I'm interested to see where that goes.

Monday, they got to Nessa, solved the puzzle beautifully, though Viktor got a bit distracted because his Sobble kept wanting to stop and play in the water. Which was adorable.

But! They all managed to defeat Nessa with very few hiccups. Raboot did struggle a bit, but Gloria managed to pick up a Charjabug on the way that finished the first two off fairly easily, then went for Raboot in the end to Max Knuckle the shit out of Nessa's drednaw.

I got a message from Sonia that our Beloved Chairman invited the kiddos out to dinner to "celebrate their victory" the day after, and pictures from the news show me he was wearing The Most Appalling outfit I have ever seen, even worse than the carpet he makes Leon wear all the time. Apparently they didn't even eat anything? Just sat in the restaurant while his assistant stared them down and he spoke at them for thirty minutes???

Anyway, capitalism aside, the kids got to Motostoke and took out Kabu with ease as well, and they're all doing fantastically. Hop did struggle with the fire types, seeing as his now Thwackey is weak to fire and his now Dubwool can't learn any moves that are super effective against it. Same with his Corvisquire (he got a rookidee somewhere around Turffield), its moves are completely neutral to the first two of Kabu's mons.

However! He managed to get it done and beat up Kabu with a shit ton of defense curls on Dubwool's part and three good max airstreams on Corvisquire's for that gigantimax Centiskorch.

Next gym for them is Stow-On-Side, where they'll either fight Bea or Alistair, depending on who they choose. I'm still dubious about letting two children run a gym, even if they only handle the battling side of things. I feel like that responsibility should fall on the adults?? Of the nation??? Is that an unpopular opinion? That we shouldn't let children have jobs for the government??? I feel like that might be an unpopular opinion but whatever. They should arrive in Stow-On-Side within the next week or two, since they have the wild area to traverse, and they'll probably want to catch some more team members between now and the next gym.

That girl with the rad outfit that looked familiar did great, too, her Pokémon are a force to be reckoned with.

There's not anyone worthy of being made fun of this year yet, but there is this old man who's competing because his granddaughter has a chronic illness that means she can't go on a proper journey without endangering herself, so he's going on a journey for her TvT he talks about her in all of his interviews and her dream is to be a professional battler. He acts as her body to go to the stadiums and she teaches him over the phone how to strategize and battle properly because he's never done it before. It's so sweet his name is Gareth his granddaughter's name is Isabella they share their Pokémon and I would die for them.

#pkmn irl #pokemon irl #unreality #rotomblr #rotumblr #pokemon #pokeblogging #pkmn #gym challenges commentary

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itsgoghtime · 9 months

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Delta Dawn

The Long Way Home Series : Part 1

CW: it’s a longer fic, takes place in the 70’s and the beginning of the 80’s, an uncomfortable workplace relationship (nothing happens but it’s mentioned that it’s uncomfortable), lots and lots of angst and longing that only gets resolved at the end, some lil swears, time skips, people being judgy, that’s about it

Words : 5179

-1980-

It was always something about waking up with an empty space next to me in bed that put me in the mental state I was in.

The sun always came up in the morning even when I wished it wouldn't - and on some occasions, the sky graced me with dark gray thunder and the tears I wished I could cry.

Sometimes, I'd forget why I even wanted to cry.

Although, without fail, I'd make my way into the kitchen those same mornings, and pass the dried rose in the hall. I had refused to look at it when I had first moved in, but it was just habit now.

I'd put on the same record, sit down at the typewriter, and begin my day finishing the transcript from the court case a day earlier before having to turn it in the next morning. I only worked a few days a week as a stenographer, but it paid well enough that I lived in...

Well, it wasn't the lap of luxury by any means, but it was home.

I only lived here because I needed to leave my hometown and be an independent from it. People still looked down on me for not being married, as everyone else that I had grown up with were all hitched and moved away - some of them to this area, actually.

Not that moving had helped any, they knew my story and twisted it in all directions to fit their purposes.

I didn't do anything to dispute what they were saying either - I didn't go out much, and I went to the train station every once in a while, suitcase in hand, in hopes that there would be a relatively inexpensive ticket to take me somewhere other than Illinois.

And maybe I was hoping I'd find him there.

"Words are powerful - they can be the shields to protect or the sword to destroy."

I sat back in my chair. If only what he had said was true - I worked with words, for a living. Not that it made me any more competent when defending myself against people who didn't even give me a chance to prove I was anything more than rumors.

I had first met Murray Bauman just before he got me hired as a secretary for the Chicago Sun Times. Only in our early thirties then, his head was already beginning to bald. He was everything to me.

It didn't feel like that long ago since I had seen him last. I let my eyes wander over to the kitchen windowsill, where the picture of us was framed.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized it had been eight years.

Eight years.

-1972-

Come on, friends, leave the poor man alone." I waved the kids off, as they wandered back to their blankets on the lawn to roll another joint.

"Thank you. I didn't think I was going to make it out of there alive."

I laughed, and rolled my eyes. "You would have been fine. They're really quite harmless."

"Not until they're high and have weapons in their possession - they're subject to no control."

"They're just looking for truth, in all reality. I haven't met one of them that isn't lost in some way and looking for something better." I turned to face the man. "You haven't told me your name yet."

"Murray Bauman. Investigative Journalist for Chicago Sun Times - doing a piece on this movement actually. And you are...?"

"I'd like to keep that a secret - keeps things interesting. Besides, I don't want to be quoted or photographed or anything - even if the sunflowers in my eyes are gorgeous - I'm anonymous and prefer to remain so."

"Well, anonymous tipster, perhaps you can tell me more about this..." he motioned with his hand towards the group of people, stuttering to try and find the right word.

"Movement? Gathering? Purpose in action?"

"Yes."

"Ah, I see. Well, let me show you around then."

We walked around campus, and I explained the different groups within the main umbrella of "hippie" and how we all had different reasons for coming, but all united in our desire for something better than was handed to us. A desire to belong - and we found belonging together.

"What's your story?"

I paused a moment, laughing a little. "It's inconsequential, really."

"No, I'm really curious."

"Maybe I'll tell you someday, Bauman. For now, I'll tell you that I'm one of the oldest ones here, and I'm attempting to convince them drugs aren't the right way to escape. I'd like to think I could do something normal, like be a Secretary or something - but given my background with these folks, I haven't been accepted anywhere but here. I'm too radical for the squares."

"You really have a strange way of thinking about everything - compared to everyone else."

"Normally, Murray, I would take that as an insult, but considering the circumstances, I'll take it as a challenge."

Murray had a double take - looking into those eyes that really did have the sunflower pupil rings now that he could see. "What... what do you mean?"

"I'll try it your way - you try it mine. Simple as that, lover boy."

I relished in the blush on his cheeks in this moment, and I about fell over when he agreed.

He got me a simple job in the building where he worked - Chicago Sun Times, as a part-time afternoon secretary.

Murray found the fact that I immersed so well into the workplace impressive - I had been so different when he met me on campus - dressed different and wearing no shoes. Now? Wearing professional clothes and shoes - that I told him I secretly took off when I was sitting behind the desk, which he found amusing.

After work most days, I'd take him to concerts or different areas he could write about in his story. We watched so many fireworks and speeches and things like that - I found great enjoyment in sharing them with him.

We also shared all sorts of conspiracy theories - about Kennedy, the moon landing, and more. Murray expressed how much he enjoyed sharing these theories with me - and I told him the same.

We often found ourselves on the lawn of the university we first met at - and this day was no different.

"Why do you like going barefoot all the time?"

I threw my head back and laughed, leaning back on the grass. "Oh Murray, that is such a square thing to say!"

"Well I have to learn your ways so I'll be less of a square - questions are required."

"Then go ask them - everyone knows who you are now. They won't bite too hard."

I watched as Murray walked around, asking all the hippies in the yard why they didn't wear shoes, as they laughed together.

He came back, plopping himself on the grass next to me again. "Well, I got the consensus that shoes are square, and we don't do what the squares do."

"That's good! But there are other reasons."

"Like what?"

"Its freeing. We want to be one with the earth - it helps connect the central nervous system to have bare feet on the ground."

He nodded, scribbling this down in his notebook. "Can I quote you on that?"

"Of course not - okay, well, as long as..."

"As long as I don't mention your name, of course. At least we're on a first name basis now, wild woman."

"Oh, a nickname - I like that! Yeah, you could put it that way." I observed as he finished his notes. "You should try it."

"Absolutely not."

"One of these days, Murray Bauman the square, I'll get you to do it."

"We'll just have to see about that."

As time passed, I noticed this nervousness in my chest every time I was with Murray. The way he looked into my eyes, the way he always remained close - I couldn't quite place my finger on it.

One night, we were on North Avenue Beach, barefoot on the sand, attempting to gaze up at what stars we could see through the city lights and the smog.

Murray handed me a rose as we sat on the sand - a yellow rose, as it was my favorite color. As I was taking a moment to admire it, he spoke up.

"You were right - there is a certain freedom to not wearing shoes." Murray leaned back on his arms.

"You see, it isn't half bad, isn't it? Besides, this is the only part of the beach by Chicago that has warm sand." I sat up and began to take my hair out of the bun I was now accustomed to having pulled up for work those few hours a day.

As I let my hair down, running my fingers through it, I caught Murray's eyes.

"You jealous of my hair, Bauman? You're not that far gone, you still have some..." I smoothed the thin hair on top of his head, "here."

I then moved to the back of his head, running my hand through his hair as it came to the side - I hadn't expected it to be so soft, "...and here."

I leaned in closer, both of us only propped up by an arm as we faced each other. My hand traced his beard, also surprisingly supple to the touch, my voice just above a whisper now. "...and here."

"You're breathtaking, wild woman. Sunflower eyes and everything..." We were now just inches apart.

"Wild and free, darlin'."

Our lips met for the first - and surely not the last - time that night in the smoggy moonlight.

The phone rang, startling me from my train of thought, and I hesitantly picked it up.

I had a short conversation with the judge of the courthouse I was working for - there was a case beginning that afternoon and he needed me to come in and document it - the other stenographer who had been assigned wasn't able to do it. I agreed, and began to pack up my things.

The walk to the courthouse was fairly short - I thanked my lucky stars I lived so close, I didn't have to put so many miles on the car that sat in the back of the apartment building.

In all reality, I just needed to sell it. It wasn't doing me any good anyways.

The audience rose for the judge, and as I scanned the courtroom as I usually did, my mind froze on a familiar face.

No, it couldn't be.

Murray Bauman.

I hadn't seen him in eight years - there was no way he just showed up to the case I wasn't even originally going to be on.

Our eyes met for a brief moment, and I smiled gently. He looked panicked, and while I did catch the blush on his cheeks, he wouldn't look at me anymore and that scared me.

What had I done wrong?

The case continued as normal, and it was put on recess till the next morning.

The judge asked me to come to the bench as the crowd was filing out - and I watched as Murray followed the press out to the main area.

I agreed to stay and notate the rest of the case, only half paying attention as I was trying to keep track of the man I had been waiting eight years for.

The judge dismissed me, and I dashed out into the hallway, turning both directions to see if I could find Murray.

My eyes finally found him - talking to a reporter, and our eyes met again. He looked only briefly, the same panic setting in his demeanor as before. He focused all of his energy and attention on this reporter, seeming to ignore me, and I paused my walk over to him.

I had surely done something wrong. Why would he be so intent on not interacting if I hadn't?

My mind swirled with possibilities, trying to piece the last eight years together - and the time we spent together before then. The tears were there before I could even process them.

I looked up again, and somehow caught a glance from him. Unable to approach any longer, I stepped back, and turned on my heel to go home.

Without needing any confirmation, I knew why he hadn't come back to get me in eight years.

He didn't want me.

I spent the night trying to type up the notes I already had - but I couldn't see very well as my head started to spin from the tears I had shed. I set the typewriter aside, taking my alarm clock from my room and putting it next to the couch as I turned the television set on softly.

I just needed to get through this case and then, I would return to the university where it had all started - or I'd find a group of my people to join somewhere else. To return to my purpose in life, before this had all started.

Why I had ever allowed myself to not only fall in love with a square, but to embrace that lifestyle in the first place I wasn't sure. Maybe I had been sure then, but now eight years down the road, I wasn't so sure anymore.

I wasn't even really paying attention to the television set anymore. There were too many thoughts swirling around that it felt like I was trying to go back to where it had all started.

Our romance was fun - stolen glances at work, completely "random" meetings in the hallway, trying to keep our relationship a secret from our coworkers. The evenings were no different - I spent many of them teaching Murray different recipes and how to use the natural resources around him. He taught me how to make risotto and taught me a few Russian phrases, and introduced me to Russian opera as I showed him John Denver. The rest of our evenings were spent doing other things - but simply put, they were all spent being happily in love with each other.

We had it good.

We had it so good.

But sometimes, good isn't enough.

The big boss at the Chicago Sun Times began to take an interest in me - 4 months after I had started - and made it his mission to make me feel very uncomfortable.

He was a large man who's only life accomplishment was that he had been to Russia - and I had always been a little skeptical of him. Murray had confessed he was the reason he learned Russian as he was skeptical as well - now that this situation had found me, his conspiracy theories about Russians and Russian sympathizers invading the United States seemed so much more real.

At first, I had a hard time expressing this to Murray, knowing there would possibly be repercussions if word got out.

However, I didn't have to say anything.

Murray picked up on this new behavior all on his own - and he apologized to me for what was happening.

I hadn't expected him to go and approach this man about it. But he did. He didn't say anything about it to me, but he did.

That same evening, I was in his apartment, making dinner as he said he was going to be late. I picked up on a change of vibe - something in the universe was off, and I wasn't sure how to calm my racing heart. So I waited for Murray to come home.

When he did come through the door, he looked tired. I had never seen him this exhausted, but unwilling to press anything he didn't want to talk about, I turned the heat down on the stove and came to take off his jacket.

He allowed me to take it off, but when I went to put my arms around him and rest my head against his back, he gently shrugged me off.

"Murray, is everything alright?"

He mumbled slightly under his breath, heading to the fridge to get the bottle of vodka out with his little glass.

"Murray?"

"I just need a minute." His voice was hard around the edges, and pricked at me more than I liked. But knowing something was off beforehand had helped me remember that he'd come up with whatever it was whenever he was ready.

He brushed past me into the living room, and I watched him for a moment.

"What're you waiting for?" He asked, his tone still laced with frustration.

I shook my head, shrugging my shoulders gently to indicate that I didn't mean any harm, trying to keep my emotion out of my throat. "I'll go finish working on dinner."

My heart sunk. The vibe was entirely off and as much as I wanted to just wrap this grumpy man in my arms and wait for whatever it was to pass, I knew I couldn't do anything until he brought it to the figurative table of our relationship.

A few minutes passed, and I wiped the couple tears that had wandered onto my cheek, one falling to my bare foot. It was just a simple misunderstanding - and when I gained understanding, it would be okay. I'd give him his space until then.

Another few minutes passed. I heard the ice in his glass a few times, but it was often covered by the thud of my cutting board and eventually, the sizzle of the pan.

Murray sat on the couch in the other room, listening to the pan scrape against the stove. He was swept with guilt, knowing he'd have to figure out how to tell me what had just transpired.

I heard the record player begin to play my favorite John Denver album, and I smiled a little.

"Hey." I turned at the sound of his voice to see him leaning against the post in the kitchen, and I gave him a half smile.

"It's okay." I went back to the food in the pan.

"I'm really sorry, I just..."

"It's really alright, Murray. You don't have to worry about me - you can go relax." I swallowed the hurt in my throat back down, keeping my voice as steady as I could, shoulders tensing a little bit.

A minute or so passed, and I assumed he had left the room because it was so quiet.

But when I turned the heat down to let my sauce simmer, and leaned with my back against the counter, I wasn't surprised to find him there.

I didn't look up at him, but he took me into his arms. I gingerly hugged him back, but he then pulled me to him as tight as he could, and I did the same.

We remained this way for a little while, and as he released his tight grip on me, he gently took my chin in his hand, and I met his eyes, a soft smile finding its way to me.

"There you are, wild woman. I thought I'd lost you."

Our lips met gently, and he began to explain to me how he had approached the manager at the Times, and how he had gotten fired for trying to stand up for me.

"He gave me a week to get out of my apartment. That is one downside to work related housing."

"I'm coming with you."

"I don't think that would work as well as we'd hope, lover."

"I can get another job somewhere - wherever you go, I want to go too."

"I can't put you through that. Let me get on my feet again, and I'll come back and get you. I promise."

I held him tighter, not able to say anything.

That week was the shortest of my life. I wished I could just stop time - remain in his apartment, figure something out, and then resume life as normal.

But that's not how it worked out.

I helped him carry the few boxes to his car, and he pulled me into his arms.

"I will come back for you - it won't be long."

"I'll be waiting."

Time, after this, passed so slowly. I spent a little while longer in Chicago, but went to go stay with my parents a few months later when the lease on the apartment was up - I hadn't been to work since Murray had been fired, but the manager somehow had forgotten to cancel the lease, so that's where I stayed until I moved in with my parents, and then to where I was now to accommodate the court stenographer job.

I came back to the studio audience laughs playing loudly on the television. I made the decision that I was going to take my shoes off and let my hair down again and live the way the universe had intended - wild and free.

That's why no one really liked me around here - they knew my history, it got out somehow. They knew I wasn't like them - and maybe Murray finally saw this reality too and that's why he didn't want me anymore.

Those next few days were grueling. I would arrive just before the judge came in, not only because I didn't want the possibility of confrontation, but also because I didn't sleep well.

I visited the beach at night - no one was around, and I'd get home early in the morning, just to get up and have to go back and do it again.

Any time I'd see Murray within a certain proximity, I'd keep my head down, assuming it was something about eye contact that frightened him - and I'd walk in the opposite direction. The case would be over in a few days - and I wouldn't have to worry about it again.

I could go back to being wild and free, and I wouldn't have to worry...

Without fail, every weekend, I spent time at the train station, a suitcase in hand. Murray had promised - he had promised - and people kept their promises, right?

The first year after he left passed painfully at a tortoise like pace. I knew he'd have to find another apartment, get another job - that would take time. But he said he would return.

And I believed him.

Soon enough, the contents in the suitcase I took began to be less and less. I wouldn't need to take everything - I could leave most everything behind and just take a few essentials so I could start my new life with him somewhere else.

But another year passed.

And another.

I began to realize maybe Murray wasn't coming back - maybe he forgot about me. So I made my train station excursions every other week. Then once a month. Then once every other month.

I couldn't shake the feeling that he still would come back - but I couldn't see how and I surely couldn't see when.

My train of thought as I was walking through the hall of the courthouse was interrupted as I ran straight into Murray.

"Hey! Watch where you're... going..." He exclaimed, softening at the end as he saw that it's me.

Murray.

I panicked, looking at my papers all over the floor, and what had remained of my lukewarm cocoa spilt on top of them.

"Mr. Bauman... wow... this is embarrassing." I knelt down and began to pick up my papers. My breath immediately hitched in my throat as the tears in my eyes took no time to wait for permission to fall down my cheeks.

"Hey, wild woman..."

I sat still for a moment. I haven't heard his voice in eight years, and there's a part of me that holds onto what he just said and stores it in a little cross stitch in the hallway of my mind.

But instead of turning to look at him, I finish collecting my papers, apologize profusely, and walk in the opposite direction. I'm still convinced that somehow, my eyes are the issue.

I go home that night, I make a sandwich with my jam and what peanut butter I have left, and I take a walk to North Avenue beach.

The sand was cold. It's much less enjoyable than the last few nights, but I sit there anyways and eat my sandwich.

I didn't hear footsteps at first, but suddenly, there they were - two sets of perfectly polished black shoes. I looked up to see Murray, and I turned my head again so I didn't make eye contact.

"Now, before you run away before I can say anything again, let me sit down."

I chuckled, knowing he had seen my stance and how ready I was to bolt, and I relaxed back onto the sand as he sat next to me.

"Listen, I can see that you've been avoiding me, and I get it."

I looked to Murray incredulously. "Well, yes. I thought you didn't want to see me."

Murray paused. "Wait... you thought that I..."

"We made eye contact the first day of this case and you looked frightened... I kept my distance. With all due respect, why did you come to find me? Better yet, how did you find me?"

"Well, that was the easy part. I remember that whenever you got stressed or had something you needed to think on, you'd come to this beach. 'It's the only part of the beach by Chicago that has warm sand'... although it seems that you lucked out tonight, it's cold."

I chuckled, digging my feet into the sand. "Yeah, I did."

"But uh... I was afraid. At first. I broke my promise and I didn't come to get you, so I thought you'd be upset. But now knowing you thought... I came here because I want to see you."

I smiled, a slight blush grazing my freckled cheeks as I looked down at my lap.

"I've missed your freckles, your hair let down, the fact that you don't like wearing shoes... I've missed the sunflowers in your eyes."

I chuckle and shake my head, looking out at the city lights. "I must be dreaming or something... the square I fell in love with is sitting with me on North Avenue beach after we haven't seen each other for eight years... the same beach..."

"...the same beach we had our first kiss on. I remember." Murray's voice is soft and nostalgic. "I want to apologize for not keeping my promise. You haven't left my mind since everything happened. I didn't quite know how to begin to find you - and now that you're here..."

"I waited eight years, Murray. Eight."

"I'm sorry." He whispered, looking at the horizon.

I scoot closer to him, and cup his bearded face with my hands so we're looking at each other. We both have tears falling down our cheeks.

"I never thought I'd see you again..." I smiled softly.

Murray's arm came around me, caressing my waist. Slowly, but surely, our lips meet for the first time in eight years. It's slow, it's passionate, and it felt like it lasted an eternity. My eyes fluttered closed, as they always did when he had kissed me before - Murray Bauman was magic to my soul.

When we pulled apart, Murray chuckled.

"I'll take that as a sign that you're not upset?"

"Well, less so, now that you're here. You still have some explaining to do, Mr. Bauman."

"Okay, but as long as you're done with this 'Mr. Bauman' shit. I'm Murray. I'm your Murray. And I'm never leaving you again."

The next few days, as the case came to a close, I found myself more and more excited to go and type up the transcript. Murray, while focused on the case, was making faces at me and watching me. I would often blush, and he'd tell me how much he loved it when the court would recess.

The afternoons were spent visiting our favorite places.

He came to my apartment in the evenings, and we made some of our favorite recipes together.

One night, after dinner was all cleaned up, we snuggled on the sofa together looking through a newspaper at house advertisements as a movie played softly on the television.

"Mur, we've been looking at these houses for over an hour. Do you really not like any of them enough to want to go see one?" I yawned.

"No, it's not that... Mur, eh? That's cute."

"That's your name isn't it? You're my Mur."

Murray chuckled at my remark, putting the newspaper down on his lap.

"Alright. Here's the deal. I'm going to put the clippings of the ones I like on the coffee table, and you're going to throw a dart and choose which one we go with."

"First, Murray, that would ruin the coffee table. Second, I don't have darts to throw."

Before he could respond, I pull a pair of scissors out of the drawer of the coffee table and give them to him, pressing the newspaper to his chest as he looked at me incredulously.

"I have another solution."

Murray cut out his favorite of the house listings, all across Illinois and Indiana.

He finished cutting them, and looked to me as I put the clippings in a circle on the table.

"Now what? Are we summoning some other worldly power to decide for us?" His tone was laced with sarcasm.

I smiled, jumping from the couch and going to the kitchen. I pulled out a small glass bottle of rootbeer I had been saving, and put two glasses on the coffee table in front of him.

After a moment, I poured the contents of the bottle into the two glasses, and looked into it when I was done to make sure it was empty.

Murray laughed. "Oh, I see. We're playing spin the bottle to decide where we're going to live. This should be entertaining."

I kissed the top of his head, then sitting next to him on the edge of the sofa and taking a sip of my glass.

"Don't make fun of an efficient way of making decisions, Murray Bauman. Now, do you want to spin it or should I?"

Murray was still laughing, and after wiping his eyes, took a deep breath.

"Give me your hand, love." He gently asked, and I gave it to him.

"Together." Murray put my hand on the bottle, his hand on top of mine, and I gave it a good spin.

We sipped our rootbeer, watching it begin to slow as we held our breaths.

It landed on a warehouse looking abode in Sesser Illinois, and I put my hand on the bottle.

"Nah, let's spin again..."

"No, that's not how this works. You spin once, whether or not you like the outcome is a different issue." Murray took the bottle from me and smiled. "Besides, I like this one. It's out of the way, it's safe, and its perfectly customizable to have all of the things I want in it - security, my dear. That's what this one provides."

Murray quickly tore up all the other options, and held up the Sesser warehouse.

"This, this is the one."

I laughed, leaning back onto the couch and into Murray's arms. I yawned widely, snuggling into him.

"Then there we will go... let's call tomorrow."

"Oh we most definitely will call tomorrow."

The call was supposed to be short - Murray essentially told them he was buying it, but the part that made it long was all of his requests for additions to the house - the set of metal doors, all of the power cables to install his security system, the PA system, the kitchen, and more.

He finally hung up, and I looked up from the book I was reading.

"Finally done?"

"Oh, would you like me to call back and have another chat? Was it long enough for you?" Murray teased. "It'll be ready in a week - apparently it already had a few of the things I asked about, but they'll have to install the doors and the power cables and a few other things."

"I see. Well, how about we go and..."

"We can't go anywhere tonight, my love. You need to start packing."

I took a moment and looked around my apartment.

"Honestly, I may just sell this furnished. I don't want anything that's here, besides a few things of course."

"Here's the boxes for what you do want to take - pack them." Murray smiled, handing me the boxes.

I rolled my eyes playfully and went to my bedroom to begin to pack.

Murray began walking down the hall with me, but stopped at the vase with the dried rose. He had already been surprised at the picture of us in my kitchen, but he paused at this rose. He immediately recognized it as the one he had given me on North Avenue Beach.

He smiled, and walked into the bedroom to help me pack.

Soon enough, the end of the week approached and we are putting my boxes into his van.

I stood on the sidewalk, looking up at my apartment with some level of sadness, however small.

"You alright, lover?" Murray asked, putting an arm around me.

"Yeah..." I smiled and turned to him. "Let's go."

The drive to Sesser felt short - even though it was 4 hours.

We pull into the driveway - a large patch of gravel that sits in front of the house.

"Ah, lover - isn't it magnificent?" Murray asked excitedly.

I laughed as he came around to open my door for me.

We found the key where the realtor had said it would be, and walked in.

I had expected, originally, not to like it. I was expecting to find it too... too much like a war bunker.

However, I walked in the door, and smiled. It already felt like home - the layout was a little odd, but I was certain that when Murray got his furniture in, it would be perfect.

"Hey..." Murray whispered, gently turning me around to face him. "This is for you." He handed me a yellow rose, like the one he had given me on the beach eight years ago.

"Thank you... it's beautiful." I smiled, taking it from him and admiring it.

"Of course... How do you like the house?" He asked.

I turned back around to look at the house as Murray kissed the top of my head.

"It's perfect."

---

next part - 500 Miles

#delta dawn #part 1 #series #the long way home #the long way home part 1 #the long way home series #murray bauman x reader #murray bauman #murray x reader #murray #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #oneshot #imagines #stranger things imagine #song fic sort of #reader insert

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justalittletomato · 2 years

Text

Juncture Point (Seilos x Ava x Danica)

The darling’s gang returns to Corosuant....it is as awkward as usual

@patchiefrog @apocalypticwafflekitten @eyecandyeoz @literatureandqueen @stardustbee @gran-maul-seizure @kimageddon @spookiifi @by-the-primes

Life became as normal as it could be. After much argument and Danica's tears and a veiled threat from Ava Seilos returned to Corosaunt.

However, the three were now inhabiting Danica's apartment forever in a dance of bumping into another or catching a glimpse at a private moment. Seilos’s face burns remembering the sight of Ava stepping into Danica’s room late into the night. He quickly walked away as the other Chiss let the thin robe he wore slip off his shoulders.

Danica only had eyes for him, and Seilos slipped away from the moment that was not to be shared.

Tattoos, similar to Danicas, it was not a Chiss custom, then again Ava was different and raised by Dathomirian Zabraks.

“When we finished our training, my father felt Ava earned them,” Danica weaving another memory.

A night brother, an honorary one but nonetheless. Seilos knew Ava could be deadly, Danica’s stories of their youth and time in the Rebellion. A beautiful deadly warrior, Seilos’s heart thrummed at the thought. Ava sounded and looked like the warriors of old and Seilos wanted nothing more than to sketch him, more so with those tattoos he only caught a glimpse of….

—

Danica spins about in her university attire, “Do I look like a scholar?” A long skirt, a smart blazer and her gold rim round glasses. Her short curls moved with her twirl.

“Yes and ever so beautiful, m- Dani,” Seilos told her.

Ava kisses her cheek, “Your poor classmates how will they stand being around such a darling?”

Danica blushed deep burgundy, “ Two of them asked me for a coffee after the first day,”

Ava grinned, “Already breaking hearts.”

Seilos laughed softly, “You should have seen how it was when she had to work through the Senate halls, I swear there was talk of a few wondering about if they could ask for your hand.”

“Names?” his grin slips and Seilos winces.

“Ava…..” Danica warns.

—--

Unlucky for the two Chiss they would be in close quarters today, Seilos was waiting for his office to be reassigned back to the archives and Ava was not in class today. So the two men were alone.

Ava did not help the situation within Seilos’s heart. Sporting a low-cut tunic that showed off a good view of his chest and pants that hugged his hips low.

Ava glanced at Seilos, he felt the other man look at him, a bit of pride rising. Seilos was not quite helping either, his button-up undone for the first few buttons. His sleeves rolled up to show well built arms and the ever-present pen and ink marks on his wrists. That dark blue hair flowing freely and red eyes slightly obscured.

—--

“Shall I make us lunch?” Ava merely gave a nod and watched as Seilos walked to the kitchen.

He was confused, he needed to cloud his head of such thoughts.

“A bit early for wine isn’t it?”

Ava scoffed, “ Nonsense,” a slow sip from a delicate glass.

“Pour me one then.”

As Seilos cooked them up something that had Ava’s mouth water, both thier minds became cloudy from sweet wine.

—-

The younger chiss ate eagerly, it had been so long since he had this dish made so well!

“I’ll be sure to write down the recipe for you,” Seilos laughed over another glass.

Ava huffed, “ You know well Danica wont let you go, you get to cook for me again.”

Seilos smiled into the next sip, he would not mind making Ava smile with a nice meal.

—-

Ava ended up taking the rest of the bottle, bringing a glass to his lips and loving the cloud in his mind.

“You saw me the other night didn't you?” Seilos’s happy daze stops in its tracks.

Ava’s eyes burn, “Saw me in Danica’s room” the bottle is set down. “ Did you see the tattoos?”

“I did not mean to intrude”

“Did you see them?” Ava asks again, red eyes bright with a fire. Seilos feels his back being pressed to a wall.

“She said you got them after training, they mark you as a warrior as a nightbrother,”

Ava nods, “How do you find them?” his head is pounding but he wants to ask Seilos, Seilos was an artist he wants to know what the artist thought of him.

“Amazing wouldnt even scratch the surface.” is what slips from his lips. “Such a power and strength..you remind me of the warriors of old,”

A shiver runs through Ava“A simple they look nice would suffice, but do go on.” Why did he enjoy that? The words made his heart pound.

“I only caught a glimpse…but such marks seem fiting from what I have heard of you,”

He could remedy that, without so much as a warning, Ava shrugged up the tunic and let Seilos gaze at him.

“ Pretty?”

“Remarkable,” seilos whispers.

“Remarkable enough to kiss?”

Seilos mind has clouded and Ava found his lips moving in sync with Seilos. Tasting of sweet wine. Tasting and burning lust.

The two Chiss kiss desperately, fueled by wine and passion.

Ava gives a cry when Seilos pulls away. “Ava you're drunk….”

“Kiss me, please kiss me.”

“Ava no.” he says with reluctance.

“Touch me then…” Seilos resists

“No Ava.” he whispers gently.

Ava huffs and pushes at Seilos, “ I know what I want.”

“Then tell me later, when you aren't clouded.” Seilos says softly.

Ava shakes his head, “ I won’t, I know myself…please…” his head hurts and his heart is aching terribly

Seilos gives him a sad smile, “No darling, I won’t. Tempting and as much as I would…no darling” He would not kiss or touch Ava like this. No matter how his heart weeped for the chance.

—

Danica knew her lovers had eyes for another as well as for her. She could say something but Ava was too shy and Seilos weary from his past, but that would mean intruding, making an already hard situation more so….sadly her darlings would have to figure it out on their own.

She opens the door to see Seilos sleeping his head on the couch where Ava lay, a few tear streaks on both thier faces.

“Oh my darlings…” she whispered sadly. Maybe her previous stance would have to change.

#danica x seilos #danica x ava #danica x seilos x ava #the darlings gang #chiss #zabrak #oc x oc x oc #polyamourous #poly relationship #alcohol mention #drunk kiss

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flaringgoosebumps · 2 years

Text

Just ranting I guess but I think one of the reasons why Bylers got so upset whenever we finished volume two is because the way the story was taking us, it truly felt like Mike didn't even (romantically) love El. It still doesn't. Even without the rainbow lenses on our eyes, there's something about the way that Mike talks about her that doesn't feel like he's in love. We have a comparison within the show, the way Jonathan and Nancy talk about each other to other people, the way it's grounded in reality. The way that Johnathan understands himself and Nancy enough that he has to lie so that she doesn't throw away her future for him. He's also scared of losing her but he knows it's inevitable so he's going to do what Finn did for Rachel in glee. He's going to wait until they're supposed to go together and he's going to send her on her way, alone.

While I do understand that every relationship does have its own individual dynamic, something about the way Mike talks about El doesn't feel right. I get it he views her as a superhero, for him that means that she is brave, undefeatable, riotous, amazing. That could very much be true but that reads as him holding her up to high standards on par with Sean coming back to Emma in Degrassi and thinking she was still the innocent girl he left behind and being utterly disgusted by her and her actions when she wasn't. (Y'know how El reasonably lashed out on Angela and he didn't like that, same energy) Additionally, Mike's conversations with Will about her felt like he wasn't in love with her, and only regrets not saying it because of where she is now and not because of how she must feel because he didn't say it to her.

"if I would've said that thing" perhaps I am biased from personal experiences, but every time I've witnessed a dude say this about his girl, he didn't actually feel romantic towards her. They always ended up saying that they loved their partner because they did care but that was always the beginning of the end. Either they break up or reluctantly start a family thinking it would strengthen their bond. Maybe my mind has been poisoned by the real life tragedies I've witnessed from cishet couples.

I don't feel Mike's angst about the idea of losing El, not the way it felt in season 2 and even season 3. I could feel his relief knowing she was okay, his panic when he thought she would die but that's it. For the normal relationship drama, I didn't feel that angst.

I was trying to find shots of him looking at her with adoration in s4 earlier today just to admire it the way the way we do Byler, but there are very few until their reunion scene. I noticed during this attempt that during the airport and roller rink scenes and so on, he barely looked at her at all. Even during their good moments. It's just so strange.

I also can't stop fixating on the fact that they could've done a "still pretty" call back but they didn't, in fact he didn't call her pretty or compliment her appearance once. This is the only season where that has happened. Something is off, I don't need to ship Byler to see that.

And people will come in with "his nine I love you's aren't enough for you?!" no babe, they're not because they were partnered with a lie. He didn't love her from the moment they met, he took her in because it was raining and she was homeless. The original plan was for her to go to his mom the next day so she could help her and they could keep looking for Will, he kept hiding her because she made it clear they would be killed if adults knew. She knew this. He was curious about her but he didn't truly get invested until he saw she could help. He used her in season 1, and as much as I admire Mike Wheeler, I refuse to ignore that. I know that he gradually got feelings for her but something is different in this season, the math ain't mathing. I wish I could see it through the M!leven lens, I wish I could see it as unquestionable love at first sight, us against the world, no one can stop us type love but it just doesn't look that way to me anymore.

#stranger things 4 vol2 #stranger things 4 vol1 #stranger things discourse #stranger things #antimileven

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the-fiction-witch · 1 year

Text

Home To Rome

Media The Last Legion

Character Romulus Augustus

Couple Romulus X Reader

Rating: Sweet AF

Concept The Villa

I gently pushed my body up out of the sea of cotton, silk and other sweet fabrics that made up the bedding. I pushed it away and pulled myself out of bed stepping onto the cold marble floor I made the bed behind me and hopped across the cold floor. I looked around of course the bedroom being empty but myself our sweet bed with the red and gold curtains lining it, the porch to the garden with its curtains fluttering, all the wardrobes, chamise and other such furniture littered about the room many tables lined with books from the great library that had been brought here apon my request. Even though it was so beautiful and so comforting I couldn't help but feel lonesome.

I went to the door pushing it open and closing it behind me as I did a little stretch looking out across the Villa's centre. The Villa itself was laid out like a large square of stone in the centre a beautiful fountain a statue of a woman pouring water from a vase in her hand into a square pool, this pool then lined two rectangular gardens full of exotic non-native flowers and plants the pool from the fountain feeding the plants in the garden. the roof open to let in the sweet sun and the sounds of birds. The rooms on either side of the garden, with the door to the greeting room at one end and the door to the gardens at the other. Once I arrived in the corridor I was greeted by the two handmaidens in their long yellow dresses and golden chains.

"Empress" they each bowed to me

"Morning" I smiled back

"Where to this morning My lady?"

"Just the Baths this morning I think. No need to worry you girls can go" I told them they each bowed and headed off to the kitchens, I hurried down the corridor until I reached the door to the baths, I pushed open the door smiling sweetly at the room within a large stone room with five unique sections the first beside the door mostly storage with towels, brushes, sponges and the two robes I sighed a little noticing how long it had been since one of the robes had moved. The second closest to the door was a small five or so-inch deep pool with a little box of salt beside it a small trowel inside the box sat in the salt, this was a pool mostly for feet care of course as often walking in sandals even in the smaller distances can cause blisters and calluses that and any time we did leave this sanctity of our villa the outside roman streets where often not as clean we where used to. The third pool and the next size up was a long thin pool along the left-hand side of the room with three metal taps in the all that fed it, this water was always cold from the fresh spring meer inches from our villa filtered through various cloth's of course before it came into the villa's pool today a few springs of lavender and rosemary graced the waters top. The fourth pool was the largest the hot water that came from a hot spring only a mile or so up the mountain and piped down for our villa this pool had a beautiful but small waterfall to feed it the steam hovering off the warm pool, the fifth area of the room was in fact a smaller room a stone and wood-lined room with a large black kettle and stones steam already emanating from the open door a small but rather sweet steam room to help melt away the stress of the day. It was impressive even given the standard.

I began my usual daily route of washing my feet, my hair, having a little while in the sauna spending a good part of my morning making sure I was as clean as possible.

I did adore the villa even if it hadn't been my home for long honestly the place hadn't existed that long. The Villa began its construction just six years ago and it was a marvel in itself that it was finished. The Emporer had spent his life in the Palace near the centre of the city, but began the construction of this beautiful villa just six years ago, personalty overseeing the construction and design of the villa from start to finish sparing no expense and hiring all the best workers from across the empire to get it finished in time. He of course wanted it to be perfect given it was to be his permanent home, but the villa served another purpose. An Engagement gift for his empress, well for me.

Romulus and I had been aware of each other since our childhood given the rules and regulations of his upbringing we didn't have much time together much less alone, But we still were friendly. when his advisors began to push him towards his bride considerations he didn't need much time to think it over. He immediately began the design and construction of the villa and as soon as it was done he lead me out on a walk alone bringing me here, showing me all the amenities and all the little details he had designed as offering it, as our home. If I was to marry him. Of course, I accepted and we were married only a week later the two of us moving in immediately, unfortunately, I hadn't seen him much, as only a month after our wedding one of the counties of the empire had a small spark turn into a full out revolution against us, so Romulus had to go with his armies to sort it all out. He writes me letters whenever he has the time but I hadn't seen him in almost a year.

"My Lady" A handmaiden called knocking on the door loudly

"Yes?"

"The legion has been spotted on the hill, my lady"

"Is it true?" I asked

"It is my lady"

I quickly finished up with my bath and hurried to the bedroom getting into my best little lilac dress doing my hair and making sure I looked as nice as possible, once dressed I headed into the small entryway room at the front of the villa I was nervous but excited it if was indeed true and suddenly the door opened a few soldiers heading in with the advisors in tow who had gone out to greet them I was fearful as I didn't see him but I blushed hard as he marched into the room still in his armour of red and gold.

"My Emporer" I bowed low

He threw his helmet to the floor and dropped his amour immediately taking me into his arms kissing me intensely and pulling me as close to him as possible "I've missed you y/n"

"I've missed you too Romulus"

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2dkapsddr · 2 months

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March 29th, 2024 - ProSeka, CHUNITHM, beatmania, DanEvo, EZ2AC, Arcaea

WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT GAME LIST!!! oh my god this day is so hype you guys have no idea yet .

so after a few months of waiting and making my cosplay, the day finally arrived. after much communication and deliberation between my friends, we were set to meet up and depart outside my house for the event. i put on my cosplay, wrote some scholarship stuff, and hopped in the car where we made our way to the con and our weekend of freedom and joy. i even scored this Ego Rock FC on the EN ver of ProSeka on the way there!

we finally arrived after taking the link train there and having some eats at a local ramen place, where i was INSTANTLY drawn into the magic and joyousness of the con's environment and cosplayers. we first entered the artist valley after getting our badges and my GOD there was so much!!! i was drawn in!!! it was amazing!!! most of the details i've already discussed and put down in a journal somewhere, but for this account? i'm gonna be talking about the RHYTHM GAMES there.

they had an insanely cool freeplay arcade full of arcade games, but most notably the rhythm game ones that were by far the most popular of the bunch. once i was finished with my artist valley purchases for the time being, i split off from my friends and headed upstairs to try and find another friend before giving up and finding the arcade room. i entered into a room of magic, a room of marvels and wonder for me. not only did they have the recent CHUNITHM NEW update, but so many other rhythm games i had only dreamed of seeing and even playing!!! you'll notice such rhythm games by the title, which includes three that i've never featured before on this account. ladies and gentlemen, for the first of around three consecutive posts, i introduce you to... the SAKURACON ARCADE SELECTION SPECIAL POST PART ONE!!!

first off, CHUNITHM NEW!!! i had already played SUN PLUS at a different event, so this was a slight step back. however, what set this apart was the fact that it was on the same server as my paralost account and thus i could transfer over my data to play on my main chuni account on 120hz!!! that's right, 120hz!!! 120 whole frames per second!!! as much as i wanted to play all the other games, i settled nicely into this one and grinded it out as much as i could while the line was short and while my friend also wanted to play. so before i move on to the more obscure zone, here's the collection of scores i got from that part!!

next up? DANEVO!!! i've really wanted to play this at a con and especially in cosplay for the longest time, and now that i was briefly with a friend, i finally had my chance... i unfortunately didn't have very many routines memorized, so i only played one set containing Daisuke and Tsumi to Batsu, the two DANCE aROUND level 10s that i had memorized for that game. the result? AMAZING!!! i'll even link a video as a bonus at the end of this whole thing, but here's the sick and clean (though imperfect) scores i got!!

briefly returned to chunithm where i got a few more scores before my friends dragged me back to the artist valley with them :] S+ on A Site De La Rue and Hana to, Yuki to, Drum n' Bass!!!

after i got caught up in a persona stamp rally and wasted more funds on even more charms (i wouldn't say they were wasted, but i maaay have spent a little more than i maybe should've? idk...), i headed back to the arcade for the rest of the day to finally have some peaceful, quiet gaming time all to myself. it was at this moment that i found two particular empty cabs, and opportunity struck at that exact moment. i've been dying to play either of these for years, their song selections and silly charts enticing me. and now, they were finally free, in the open, within my grasp. i ran up while no one even paid them any mind and booted them up, resting my hands on the keys and turntables. "hello 5key, my new friend."

that's right babey we're finally actually playing 5KEY BEATMANIA!!! AND 5KEY EZ2AC AS WELL!!! FUCKYEAH!!!!!!!!!!! to say i was ecstatic would be an understatement, as i've always been a huge watcher of really old 5key videos on youtube and have really wondered what it's like to actually play on one of these. they sure did feel old, but that only completed the experience even more. i fucking LOVED THIS!!! LOOK AT ALL MY BEAUTIFUL FIRST-TIMER SCORES!!!! (i had some trouble figuring out how to change some settings, but i figured it out within my first set and got straight to work on the (fake) grind...

thought that was the only 5key game they had, or the only one i'd be playing at least? THINK AGAIN!!! i also managed to snag a set of EZ2AC when all the casuals left!!! and by GOD i'm also wondering how they managed to do this on old windows XP monitors it's so beautiful to actually see and play up close, even if i suck complete ass with the foot pedal and stuff...

one last score for the night as i was heading back from the con for the day (tragically missing the ddr sing-along), it's a full recall on Dement ~After Legend~ BYD-9+!! there's not much notable about this score other than just being during con weekend, but i just fuckign LOVE rhythm games ya feel? (and the score is pretty good on its own too ig :rolling_eyes:)

BONUS: you didn't ask, but i delivered on my promise! here's a super short clip from my friend of me playing Daisuke in my Toya Aoyagi cosplay!!

#2dkaps 2024 #2dkaps proseka #2dkaps chunithm #2dkaps danevo #2dkaps bm #2dkaps ez2ac #2dkaps ez2on #2dkaps arcaea #2dkaps etc

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bangtaninborderland · 1 year

Text

JHS- Twisted Feelings (5)

Summary: After working at an award show for 2 years everything had become normal, idols were no longer exciting to see, performances became dull and every day blended together, that was until an unexpected man asked for your help.

Genre: idol!jhope × fem!reader, angst, fluff, strangers to lovers, ongoing series

Warning: none for this chapter!

A/N: I have another chapter nearly done, im going to miss hobi sm. I hope you’re all still ready to enjoy this story. Also, fun fact - I got accepted to 4 universities :)

Ch.04 < Series Masterlist > Ch.06

You shuffled around one another for a few minuets, your earlier excitement bubbling down to a mere nervousness as you watch him take a seat him not quite opposite but not quite beside you.

You glance over him quickly, you weren’t up to date on all the luxury brands but you could tell his shoes alone probably cost your entire rent for a month.

“Is everything okay?” When he laughs it’s light, soft as though not to startle you from wherever he believed your thoughts had escaped too.

You wave your hand dismissively. “I’m fine, where do you want to start?”

“Wherever you think, you’re the teacher after all.”

Oh yeah, I’m the teacher.

“How about we try to have a simple conversation with the English you know? That was I could grasp what stage you’re at and where we need to focus to help you improve.” You suggest, leaning against the backrest of your chair.

He nods enthusiastically, you weren’t sure wether it was done to help quell your own worries, that you were sure you’d put on display within the past few minuets, or because unlike the majority of the population he was genuinely excited to learn.

Either way you were grateful.

Being bilingual you had always been asked what it was like to switch between languages, people never understood it was something that could just happen. You’d definitely made mistakes before, integrating Korean and English into a conversation without meaning too.

Switching to English was easy. “Can you introduce yourself?”

He took a breath clearing his throat. “I am jhope of BTS.”

“Can you tell me your favourite colour?”

“Colour?” You nod and he Humms. “I like green.”

“Great, now ask me something.”

He thinks for a moment before responding, stumbling a few times before successfully asking. “What is your favourite food?”

“Samgyeopsal, what do you like about being an artist?” You decide to make the question a little different, something more difficult.

“I like connecting with our army, producing too. I like my art and to dance.” He finished with a smile and for a moment it felt as if you were almost one of those ghastly English interviewers.

You make a few notes on the words he takes longer to respond with before continuing an array of questions for the next hour, most of which are simple enough for him to understand and respond too even if it takes him a second to think or act the word out, something you were sure he had done to help you understand more. He had a basic grasp on English and that was an amazing place to start, much easier than it would have been had he have known nothing.

You make a small list of things he had told you he finds useful in terms of studying, flash cards and bright colours being two of them.

It made you laugh just how similar your study patterns were, he was someone who likes organisation, a different colour for a different thing. You were the same.

You agreed to end the lesson, having all the information you needed for the day to construct a much better plan for the future.

He fiddles with his hands as you clean the room, his voice almost insecure when he asks. “So how did I do?”

You turned on your heel to face him, sending him a reassuring smile before telling him he had done well.

He waited at the door for you, holding it open.

Such a gentleman.

Due to the company being mid move renovations weren’t complete, tools had been left around in various locations so you had been keeping an eye out, you’d done so well throughout the day to not create any issues.

Until now at least.

By the time you noticed you had knocked the open pot of paint over it was already too late, the grey staining the expensive material on Hoseoks shoes.

Shoes you couldn’t even afford.

You scrambled around to grab a packet of wipes that had been left beside the door frame, pulling out more than necessary before you drop to your knees in a rush to try and salvage the footwear “Fuck I am so sorry, god I didn’t see.” Your hands are already scrubbing and scooping as much paint as possible, you weren’t sure if it was helping at all but you couldn’t give up. “Who leaves a pot of paint in the open, actually who leaves an open pot in the open. I’m so sorry, I-“ you pause for a second, humility befalling you as your head drops to face the floor, your hands resting in your lap, paint soaked clothes still clutched between them. “I can’t afford to replace these, I could pay you back out of my pay check every month until you have enough for a new pair. I’m so sorry.” You bargained with a pay check you weren’t even sure you’d still be receiving after this mess.

You felt your heart die inside of you when he began to speak. “They were expensive shoes, that’s all. Nothing worth stressing over. Besides I got them for free when we were at a photo shoot. Don’t worry about it. Besides you didn’t put the paint there, you aren’t responsible.”

Oh.

“I really can pay you from my pay check, I should have been more careful. It’s principle.” You look up, an action you regret instantly when you realise the compromising position you’re in.

You on your knees, in front of him, your face almost equal with his crotch. Great.

He extends a hand to you which you take, using him to pull yourself up.

“Let me take these.” He slips the soaked clothes from your hands before walking across the hall, throwing them in the trash.

You don’t know what else to do, wrecked with humiliation and guilt you give him a small bow whispering a meek. “Thank you.”

“Don’t be so formal with me, I said it’s okay. You, however, are not. Your shirt is covered I should have a spare one in my studio if you’d like it?” He offers, pointing down the hall at one of the doors decorated in bright colours.

You nod, you hadn’t even noticed the state you were in. “If it’s not too much of a bother that would be great, I can wash it and return it then next time I come.”

“That’s fine don’t rush.” He guides you down the hall, meeting in the code to his studio before stepping aside and letting you in.

You were unsure how but this room seemed to captivate the very being you had understood Hoseok to be in the limited time you had with him.

You looked around careful not to touch anything, if the shoes weren’t meaningful you were sure the kaws bears definitely were.

“Here.” He shouts, throwing the shirt in your direction.

You grab it before it can fall, it’s orange, bright orange. “You like bright colours?

“Is that even a question?” He retorts playfully, signalling a hand around his studio.

You laugh. “I guess not, thank you again and I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t be, I’d let you ruin my shoes every day as long as you keep teaching me English. It really helped.” He says with a deepened sincerity.

It was nice to know you’d done something right, you still couldn’t beat the guilt and humiliation though. “I should probably get going, our class was supposed to finish thirty minuets ago. I’d hate to make you late for something.”

“You wouldn’t be a bother, I could show you the rest of the building if you’d like?” He offers.

You nod in agreement, it’s not like you had anything else to do. “Sure, that would be nice.”

“Let me just change my shoes and then I’ll show you where you can change your shirt.” He explains, heading towards a small shelving unit in the corner.

You shuffle awkwardly for a few seconds, with nothing to do it’s easy for your gaze to linger on him as he moves around. He slips his shoes off shoving them in a plastic bad before replacing them with some slippers.

He jumps up, landing softly on his feet. “All done, let’s go.”

You laugh, mumbling a thanks as he holds the door open for you. He guides you to the restrooms, where you promptly switch your shirt for his. You’re thankful there’s no cameras so the image of you smelling his shirt will never resurface, besides so what if you sniffed it, it smelt nice.

You didn’t rush per se but you did move quicker than you would have had Hoseok not been waiting.

It was rude to make others wait, nothing else.

You throw your ruined shirt in the trash before washing your hands, you didn’t look too bad considering you tossed and turned for half of the night.

You were greeted with a warm smile as you opened the door.. “Is Samgyeopsal really your favourite food?”

“Yes it is, my eomma makes it all the time.” You follow behind him a few steps, not wanting to get lost.

He holds a door open to you, leading to a staircase. “My eomma cooks a lot too, she always tells me to bring the members so they can put on weight.”

“Thank you, do you get to go home a lot?” You ask.

There’s a sullen look across his eyes as he shakes his head. “No, I try to but work is busy.”

“Forgive me if this is too forward, don’t answer it if it bothers you but what is it actually like to be an idol?”

He leads you upstairs, once again allowing you to go first. “It has its ups and downs, I enjoy it for the most part but when fans become too intrusive it can become hurtful. It makes it harder to have moments where it’s safe for me to see my family. That’s the downfall. Stress comes with every job, so does exhaustion not to mention overtime.”

“Tell me about it.” You scoff, remembering all the nights you’d been held back due to some internal issue.

He laughs, opening another door for you. “Bad experience?”

You cross through it quickly, this hall much different to the last. “My last job wasn’t great, a lot of things and people depended on me.”

“I hope it’s better here, I’ll try to be a good student. Scouts honour.” He holds up three fingers, a very American thing to do.

“You weren’t a scout.” You laugh.

He raised an eyebrow. “And how do you know?”

“I don’t know much about you behind the screen but I did once see a compilation of you screaming at bugs.” You admit, gouging him a pointed look.

He side eyes you. “You watch bts compilation videos?”

“My cousin does, she’s 9.” You explain, not wanting him to get the wrong idea.

“I could sign something for her if you’d like?”

It was safe to say you were touched by the gesture. “Oh, no that’s okay. I couldn’t afford it and I wouldn’t want you to put yourself out.”

He laughs, pulling a pen from his pocket. “It’s my signature, not an appearance at a birthday party.”

“Unless you want to sign my hand…I don’t have anything for you to sign.”

“I do, come in here”. He tilts his head to the door behind you, his key card having full clearance to enter.

You didn’t know much about collecting Kpop albums, let alone BTS albums but you knew that the items in the room were worth a pretty penny. The walls had inbuilt shelves, albums, DVDs and other various merchandise all displayed on it. Multiple copies of each seemingly dating back to the day bangtan debuted.

“Wow.” You breathed, genuinely taken back.

He laughs, grabbing an album off the shelf before signing the front page. “It’s something the company did for us as a surprise when we changed buildings. There’s stuff in here I had no knowledge of even existing.” He hands you the album. “This is for your cousin. I left a little note inside.”

You take it slowly, afraid to somehow damage it. “She’s going to cry.”

“Adorable.” He chuckles. Pulling some things from the shelves. “Give her these too.”

“Thats too much.” You decline, eyeing the two DVDS and 3 BT21 plushies he shoves into a Hybe bag.

He shakes his head. “Nonsense, we get it all for free.”

“You really do want to see her cry don’t you?” You laugh, you truly meant that he had already given you so much.

You were slightly worried about everyone getting the wrong idea, you didn’t want anyone to think you were using him.

Before you could voice your objection once again he was already opening the door, bag in hand. “Let’s take all this back to my studio, there’s a few more things I think you’d enjoy.”

He’d already done so much, the least you could do was accompany him.

So you did.

You spent another hour exploring the Hybe building before he announced that he had in fact ordered food, insisting you eat with him.

The conversation between you both was easy, floating from one topic to another. The conversation never becoming too serious or invasive but personal enough for you to both understand each other a little better. He shared things about his time as a trainee as you did about studying abroad and your childhood.

By the time dinner was over it was already 6pm, 4 hours past the time you were supposed to wrap up the day.

Still he didn’t complain as he walked you to the private exit, waving to you as you were driven off.

It may have been a messy first day, but it was a first day you were sure you would remember forever.

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the-firebird69 · 8 months

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I'm a couple other things happening there's a large number of people who are moving towards the 17th and 18th rings they're from the outside and small lock it's more lock and the clones are not assisting either side but the empire has stated that they will stop them if they try and get in further and then the 17th ring

-the clones are not responding to that and they are in pursued by the empire.

-there's a bit more news the forces that are engaging usually have Representatives here and they do this morning and there's several of them walking around from both sides the pseudo empire and the molok they are hateful of each other and don't appreciate each other's presence and some people have lost people as the woman did that walk by she's not being kind to us son but she's not being massively mean considering and people are trying to push her.

-we anticipated that the morlock and pseudo empire will be out in the next few days. They think they have a timed so the pseudo empire will engage Tommy f and the empire and that they think they can stroll in and take over the place and take our son to one of the islands and that's what the intent to do and Tommy Allen proved it by heading up to Venus and he got completely decimated quite easily and by the pseudo empire. We think that the almost empire will get hammered pretty much flat by the molok when the ships rise and the empire will be taken pretty good hits but will flatten the more locks completely and others will finish them off and mostly will keep them out of Charlotte county with a small contingent of the pseudo empire left to run things and they'll slowly wither

-couple other things are happening people who are abusing are some are being picked up when they do it soundly or not and they're being put away. We do feel that the stone ships will launch within a few days or less they could have lunch last week and they're going to be forced to

-the 4th and final fleet of Tommy f is engaged the first three fleets are at 60 to 65% and falling they're calling for more and more ships shortly they will be destroyed then the bases below will be destroyed by the end of the day today and the ships areas and bunkers defending them will be engaged

Thor Freya

Olympus

It's a few more things happening and they are about these movies The exorcist the second one will occur shortly and you can recognize the star from the first one and she goes on to make that before the second one and during the Halloween series. And it's her people we think trying to fight The possession and failing miserably and more or less advertising the wrong thing

Hera

It's also cover for the presidential election and we don't want any of you running this world

Zues

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benjaminsblog · 8 months

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British Open, Cheltenham

Snooker made its long-anticipated return to my schedule with the first ITV event of the season; the week was incredibly busy throughout, chiefly because a brand-new graphics style made its debut. It naturally required constant TLC (tinkering like crazy) each day, and it meant that even my 'break' periods in between sessions were dominated by software updates and the requisite testing - I was exhausted after Day 1!

Towards the end of the week, Nicola and I did manage to reach a sufficient state of stability, but it's fair to say that this was the most difficult week I've had at a snooker event, and for once I was simply glad to see the end of it! We got through it largely unscathed, which I consider a massive win under the circumstances. We were extra-vigilant with all our GFX, but with so many changes and updates flying around, we couldn't avoid the odd little gremlin rearing its head.

The snooker itself didn't always help us out either; despite the opening rounds being best-of-7 sprints, quite a few players endeavoured to treat them like a two-session match at the Crucible. Chief among them was – pause for dramatic effect – Mark Selby, who, alongside David Gilbert, took us all the way to a deciding black and 1 o’clock in the morning!

In the interest of fairness, Selby did win his semi-final 6-0 in double-quick time, but the flip side of that meant he’d be joining us on Sunday. I sent all my good vibes Mark Williams’ way as the title match kicked off, and early on it seemed to be doing the job; he went 3-0 up (in the race to 10), but Selby started to claw back enough ground to stay within touching distance. The first session really should have been much more in Williams’ favour, which he took 5-3.

The evening session saw them exchange frames a few times, before what felt like the most pivotal frame of the match at 8-5 to Williams; fascinating bouts of safety play mixed with some shocking errors took over 50 minutes to complete, and eventually, inevitably fell into the hands of Mark Selby. It took them so long in fact, that around 45 minutes in, Williams asked Selby if he would allow him a mid-frame toilet break! They both briefly exited the arena, and upon resumption, Williams’ next shot handed Selby the frame on a platter.

To use a tired sporting cliché, it looked like Williams had left his head in the locker room! For the next couple of frames he was completely AWOL, while in his usual spectral fashion, Selby inched ever closer. I was resigned to the worst, but to Williams’ credit – and my surprise – he recovered his poise, and somehow found the mental strength to make a fantastic clearance in the 16th frame (after going nearly 40 minutes without potting a ball), to put him one frame away from victory.

What followed in the next frame was even more astounding; Selby managed a 60-odd break to put himself 36 ahead with 35 remaining, and even had the upper hand in the ensuing safety battle before making an unexpected error and handing Williams the requisite foul points to resurrect the frame. Even worse (for Selby), he left Williams a gimme of a free ball, which kicked off a stone-cold title-winning clearance!

Upon downing the final black, Williams allowed himself a medium-sized fist pump (which is about as animated as I’ve ever seen him) and I allowed myself an even bigger one in the van. Not just because he had thwarted Selby, but with the comeback gathering momentum and the night approaching morning once more, he spared us all from another horribly late finish. And he proved that, sometimes, the good guys can still win!

#British Open #Mark won #Mark lost #gimme a break

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 1 year

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Rage Fire Institution

Movement. 10.

Taking his friends to see Doctor Poaw had proved an exercise in patience. Where Maki had kept himself in control, Silva couldn’t stop his sense of curiosity, which was thankfully, and appreciatively, handled well by the Doctor. Once the tour of the lab was done, Doctor Poaw presented their eagerly awaited pilot suits.

The next issue had been that they needed to test their prototype. Maki was technically still banned from piloting, and Li refused to use the suit without Maki. They both felt it would be beneficial to gather data over two days. Day one without the suit and day two with the new suit on. This allowed for an adequate amount of rest and recovery. They couldn’t cut into their class time either, which meant applying for permission to use two training mechs after class hours. Andes was the type of man who liked to finish his day the same time everyone else did… and Skylark straight up hated Maki. With the Professor absence, they couldn’t ask him to supervise.

So the pair pled their case to Professor Walters. Unfortunately, she had no say over who could and couldn’t use mechs after hours and wasn’t able to help. He and Li were also gently scolded over not having thought ahead and planned accordingly knowing that their prototype required testing. Some of the other students had purposely lingered back, Maki sure they were curious over where Tatsumi was than the project, yet he was also sure they’d take any excuse to pry. Snickering and laughing wasn’t unusual, but how was it his fault that he’d been labelled without being able to defend his character?

In the end, it all came back to Skylark. Swallowing his pride and Slylark.

Maki actively avoided the dorm father’s quarters. Rumour said that Skylark had cameras installed outside his room simply to watch students squirm before they knocked. Maki easily believed the rumour, after all, it’d be stranger if Skylark didn’t have hidden cameras in place. The man was a tyrant and there were not two which ways about it.

With Li hovering next to him, Maki bit down snapping. He didn’t need his friend’s anxiety on top of his own. Rapping his knuckles lightly against Skylark’s door, Li moved to hide half behind him, as if he thought Maki could stop a rampaging angry dorm father. The wait was long enough for the alpha to consider knocking again, and also long enough for him to consider faking the result data and avoiding Skylark altogether.

Opening the door to them, Skylark squinted as if he’d only just woken. Instead of his usual bossiness, the man sighed heavily

“Really? The two of you? You took your time”

“You were expecting us?”

Maki hated how confused he’d sounded, the words escaping his mouth and making him feel stupid. Of course Skylark would have had to have known they’d come knocking sooner rather than later. Skylark gave a small snort and a shake of his head

“You’d better come in then. Don’t touch anything”

The lair of the dorm father was as bleak as a student’s dorm room. Everything there was only there for functionality, other than a trophy case containing a few trophies and photos on the far side of the room. Maki couldn’t have pictured it. Skylark didn’t seem the sentimental type, even if every accolade within the case belonged to him. Li kept close as Maki walked over to the sofa, forcing himself not to appear curious about his surroundings.

Stalking across his room, Skylark retrieved a bottle of mineral water from his small refrigerator, cracking the top and downing half of it before looking back to the pair of silent alphas

“Go on then. You can’t have come here to visit”

Shit. The man was intimidating. Maki nodding, knowing he’d have to do the speaking on their behalf

“Yes. We need permission to use the student mechs for our bio-engineering class project. We need two sets of data”

“And?”

God. Skylark really couldn’t make anything easy, Maki forcing himself to raise his head and not to talk at his lap

“And we were wondering if we could please use two mechs today and tomorrow after classes are finished… please and thank you”

Downing the rest of the bottle, Skylark fished out another two. Bringing them over, the force at which both were thrown at them was far from friendly. Maki confused as to why they were being given water

“You need Andes to sign you off”

“Sir, we both know Andes won’t stay after classes”

Skylark dropped to sit across from them, the man with his elbows on his knees as he leant forward

“Go on then, tell me about your project”

That was unexpected. He’d thought Skylark would have laughed at them. Maki swallowing hard, feeling foolish over ever thinking of modding pilot suits

“We… we’re testing two suits that the research department made. They’re actually designed for more… um… pilots who are forced to leave their mechs. We need data of how they affect combat and how well they handle the outside environment”

“And you designed these suits yourselves?”

“Yes, with the help of Doctor Poaw in the research wing”

Skylark sat back at “Doctor Poaw”. His features softening, yet somehow that only made him seem stranger to Maki. Skylark had never been the type to show anything but sternness and anger

“If Doctor Poaw helped you personally, I’m expecting big things. To be honest, I did know you would be coming. The Professor gave me the heads up that he’d be away. I’ll give you two hours, if I’m not impressed you’ll both be running laps in this new suit of yours until you drop. Did Tatsuma take you over?”

For a moment Maki wondered if he was dreaming. He didn’t think Skylark cared enough to use Tatsumi’s nickname in any way other derogatory terms. Li coming to life next to him

“Yes! He did. Do you know where he is? He totally dumped this project on us an-…”

Maki elbowed Li. He too wanted to know what was going on, but there were ways to say things and ways not to. They didn’t have the same relationship with Skylark as they did Tatsumi. Skylark had never told them to speak casually and Li had forgotten himself. Sheepishly, his best friend lowered his head at the elbowed hint

“Sorry, sir. It’s just… he didn’t tell us anything and with the project due and no clue if he will return in time… it’s really poor form”

Maki watched as Skylark’s eyes flicked towards the trophy cabinet and back. He was sure he’d seen it, despite the way Skylark’s face seemed to take back his usual stern expression. There was something there and Maki knew he’d seen something he shouldn’t have

“He’s off until the end of next week. Unavoidable circumstances for him. At his age he should know better. Well, two hours, that’s all you’re getting. I expect you dressed and ready before I show up. No silly business or you’ll both be running laps for a year”

Before Li could put his foot in it again, Maki nodded

“Thank you, sir. We’ll submit the proper paperwork work”

“See that you do. You’re both dismissed”

Maki’s heart was still pounding as he and Li parted ways. There was no way he could risk his grade sneaking out until after they’d completed their project… but his mind wasn’t on that anyway. It was on his missing babysitter. He’d thought Tatsumi was Skylark’s person flunky… yet something else was going on. Something else left to rattle around his brain and drive him crazy on top of everything else. He’d not planned on taking up Doctor Poaw’s invitation to join the research study group, yet something told him if he finally wanted to get somewhere with all the unknowns in his life, paying a visit there might not be a bad thing.

***

“Hello, everyone! This is Maki, Sato Maki will joining you today, so I hope you’ll all make him feel welcome”

From the look of the student research group, Maki got the distinct impression making him feel welcome was not high on the priority of the other students. With 8 people to the group, he was a little disappointed over the numbers and a little glad that there wasn’t more students there. He was the proverbial fish out of water, entering a group where deep friendships had already formed didn’t give him much room to move.

Having introduced him, Doctor Poaw beamed at the other students. They all sported lab coats and looked almost professional, and definitely in “their natural environment”. Forcing a smile, he knew he couldn’t mess this up. He didn’t want another lecture from Tatsumi over his behaviour, nor did he want to give the other students the opportunity to whine about him behind his back

“Thank you for having me. It’s my first time meeting a group like this”

Standing up, a tall beta girl looked him up and down from behind her glasses. She’d been tinkering with some kind of motherboard, and with how she’d been the only one to stand, Maki had the impression that she was voted to speak for the group

“Is this the one Tatsumi talked about? The smart kid?”

Doctor Poaw nodded, while Maki wanted to disappear into the floor. Couldn’t his damn babysitter keep his mouth shut? Not everyone needed to know who he was. Why the Professor would tell everyone about him left him annoyed. He wasn’t the only student in the whole damn school. Doctor Poaw smoothly explaining, as she’d known his thoughts

“Yes. I think he’ll be a good fit here. He’s in the pilot course, so will be able to fill in some of the blanks over mech movement for you. Maki, I’ll leave you here. If anything happens just pop by my lab, or message me. I don’t think it will. These students are all lovely”

Having been embarrassed enough, Maki didn’t protest Doctor Poaw leaving. The lab door sliding closed silently behind her, leaving him stuck in a silence he didn’t know how to break easily. Thankfully, the spokes woman of the group got herself together

“Don’t mind the Doctor. If she vouches for you, that’s all we need. Though I do wonder how you know Tatsumi. You do know him right? Do you know where he is?”

Ah. Something clicked. She wasn’t so much interested in her new study buddy, but rather she wanted to know what he knew about Tatsumi fucking disappearing on everyone

“I probably know as much as you do. Skylark informed me that he’ll return next week. He’s transferred into my bio-engineering class and we were assigned to work together on our latest group project”

The girl deflated in front of him. It seemed true. Women actually did like his babysitter

“That’s all we know too. I’m Flo, we don’t use titles here. From left to right we have Camden, Sara, Lucian, Anla, Amy, Dan, and Alex”

Li would have had something to say. Each student looked prim and proper, perfect poster children for the institution. Unlike Li, he simply lacked the social graces to come off friendly from the get go. He could have used his best friend’s skill right about now. Unfortunately he’d remember the names of the students even if he didn’t want to, it came with the curse of an excellent memory due to being an alpha

“Thanks. I’ll try remember your names so please be patient with me. There’s no need to be formal around me either. I’m a student too”

Flo sank back in her chair, gesturing to the empty chair between her and Dan

“You might as well sit down. You’re late to the part so you’ll need to keep up. We don’t have time to pause and keep explaining ourselves. Alex, you want to fill Maki in? I need to get this soldering work done today if we have a chance of entering”

Oh no. Maki had the feeling that his idea of only sticking around long enough to find out what the go with his babysitter was had just landed him in hot water. He was busy enough with one group project as it was

“What’s this about entering? Are you guys in a competition or something?”

8 pairs of eyes all looked at him at the exact same time. Flo letting out a noise close to a whimper, mumbling under her breath afterward. Pushing aside the mech part he’d been working on Anla took one for the team

“They really told you nothing and just dumped you here. Here I was hoping we’d have a competent pilot and instead we’ve got a guy who knows nothing”

Maki couldn’t help the way his hands clenched at the insinuation that he knew nothing. Sara quietly butting in

“Ignore him. He gets moody when he’s short on sleep. If the Doctor and Tatsumi think you can help then that’s good enough. We’re entering the yearly student research competition. It’s in four months from now, yet concept submissions end this month. Out of the projects selected, 12 will advance to the capital where the creators will show off their skills. I suppose Pilot students don’t know much about us research students”

“Honestly, no. I can pilot. I’ve had the necessary training for the first and second years. I wasn’t sure I wanted to join, the Pro-… I mean, Tatsumi didn’t fill me in on the details, neither did Doctor Poaw”

The pair probably knew he’d run at the first chance if he’d known… because he would have. Maki had enough to worry about without all this. Sara nodded slightly, blush raising in her cheeks

“Tatsumi is our teachers aide. He clears access to the things we need for our projects”

So she liked him too… Did all the students there like Tatsumi? Had he walked into a room of stalkers without knowing it? Anla cleared his throat

“We don’t have time to fill you in today. Read the schematics and try to keep out the way. If you’re useless, you don’t need to stay. We don’t need dead weight”

Maki’s personal pride wasn’t about to stand for this. If he wanted to be ridiculed he’d either be in his own class or at his family home

“Look, you need a pilot. I know my away around most general mechs. Let me see your project data and then we’ll decide if I’m dead weight or not”

Anla wasn’t out off by Maki’s stern tone, or half lie when all he’d piloted were student mechs before, the man nodding to Dan who produced a data pad

“This is our project… We already know it’s feasible. You should read all of it before making your decision. Anything you don’t know… Sara can explain. She’s good at that”

“Right… Let me see”

#omegaverse #mpreg #rfi #rage fire #rage fire institute #mech #mecha

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herestohoping14-blog-blog · 1 year

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With My Life

October 2022

I heard my phone go off, an alert for a message coming through on my social media. I ignored it, I hardly ever used it and figured it was just another scam email. The only reason I still even has it was for family to send things or to see what was happening in their lives. If I lived closer to them, I wouldn’t even have it. Being 1300 miles away made it hard to keep up with anyone, especially when I didn’t have their cell phone numbers anymore to text or call them and catch up. There was always too much drama, scam posts, political opinions and sad posts of animals needing good homes. For every post from a family member, there were 15 more from people that I would roll my eyes at and scroll past.

I silenced my phone and kept plugging away at my current client’s request. This particular one had been the bane of my existence for the past few months and I was ready to be done with it. Arguments with the attorney’s office, complete silence from the title company, at least 5 emails a day from the client who couldn’t seem to understand the hold up. He was constantly asking for updates on the progress and couldn’t seem to grasp that until he got us what we needed from him, then we were stalled on making any headway. I was ready to pull my hair out by the end of every day and my constant headache got worse with every email he sent. Deciding to take a quick break, I grabbed my vape and headed out the back dor. The sun beat down on me and I took a deep breath, relaxing my shoulders and unclenching my jaw.

I had always been a naturally nervous person, preferring to either hide away or blend in if I couldn’t find a way to make myself invisible. Thankfully for my sanity, when I started this job I found the perfect little nook for when I needed to step away. There was enough cover to keep the elements away when it was nasty outside but still be able to enjoy the few sunny and warm days we had left of fall. I could still keep an eye out on the area around me but wasn’t easily seen. If you wanted to see me, you really had to look. I took a few more deep breaths and soaked up a few more rays of sunshine. A few hits on my vape and a mental pat on the back, I decided to get back in and finish what I could.

What I thought would be a quick and easy phone call and just a couple short emails turned into an all-day project. I worked straight through lunch to tie up any loose ends and sent an email to the client to let him know what the last couple of items I needed from him to get the loan sent off the next day. I knew that it was highly unlikely that I would be able to send everything off but I still held out a little hope. Time seemed to fly by, and the next thing I knew, it was the end of the day and everyone had already left. The cleaning crew were already hard at work trying to get everything ready for the next day and the lights were shut off in all of the main areas. I quickly cleaned up my desk and locked all of my files away for the night, packed up my work bag and headed outside to wait for my ride.

Six years and counting of seizures had left me with a paid off car I couldn’t drive and relying on other people for rides wherever I had to go, my mom being the main person to get us back and forth anywhere we had to go. I still lived at home with her and my step dad. It made the commute back and forth to our jobs easier and a great way to save money instead of having to rent an expensive apartment within walking distance to my job. It didn’t bother me quite as much as it used to in the beginning, we at least had reliable transportation and we both worked the same hours so it was a win-win for both of us. The only times it bothered me were nights I had to stay later than normal or when the weather turned nasty. Tonight happened to be one of those nights for both.

There was no car in sight and the wind had picked up, bringing a sprinkling of rain along with it. I had completely forgotten they were calling for a storm that evening and, in hindsight, I should have just stayed in the building and waited for her. Too late now. The best thing I could do was move to under the drive thru awning and hope that she got here before it got too bad outside. I pulled out my phone and saw the messenger notification still sitting on my home screen. I cleared it off and sent her a quick text, letting her know where I was waiting at. She sent a message back fairly quick, saying that she had just gotten out of work and would be there as soon as she could so I closed the app down on my phone and waited.

I stood there for a couple of minutes before remembering the message again. Opening the app, I saw the message was from someone named “Ken” with a profile picture of a tv show character. Immediately, I thought ‘Hmm….I wonder what kind of scam this could be’. I had been in banking for 12 years at that point and had seen just about everything in the book. From the fake paychecks for using a bumper sticker, to a relative in jail needing bail money and everything in between. I had my profile set to private and usually the only people that could get a direct message to me either had to already be friends or we had mutual friends in common. Curiosity got the better of me and I went ahead and opened the message. It at least had to be good for a laugh or two. When I read it, all the person had put was just a simple short message.

Ken: Hey, been a long time. How have you been?

I wondered who it could be. The name didn’t ring a bell. I tried to pull up their profile to get an idea of whether I actually knew this person or not, but there wasn’t much to see. It looked like a new profile, just a couple of pictures from other tv shows and it looked like they lived in the same area as me. Maybe it was one of my customers from one of my old jobs? I had worked at a couple of banks before the one I was currently at and had built fairly close relationships with a lot of them. Some of them, I still kept in contact with to this day! It felt good to know that, even though I no longer saw them on a daily basis, I could still remain close with some of them and make sure they were still doing okay.

I went back to the message and tried to wrack my brain. Who could this be? I didn’t know anyone by that name and with no picture to go off of, I didn’t have much to guess by. They had to know me if they were able to find me on here. I wracked my brain but I kept coming up empty on guesses for this person. I debated on just deleting the message and blocking the person but my guilt complex decided to make itself known. What if it WAS someone I knew and was just not remembering them? I pondered for a minute on what to do before deciding to put on my customer service hat and type out a polite reply.

Me: It’s great to hear from you, it has been a while! I’ve been doing well, thank you for asking. I just started a new job and am excited to see what comes of it! How have you been? Has everyone been doing well?

I read it over a few times before I hit “send”, deeming it polite and appropriate and would hopefully be enough to give me a little more information on who messaged me. Maybe It would be enough that I would remember them quickly. Besides, worst case scenario and it was a scam or a hacker, I could just delete my profile and start a new one. I read it over again and sent it off, shoving my phone back into my purse and look around for my ride. I heard it go off again but before I could see what they sent back, my chariot arrived to whisk me away from work and back home. It couldn’t have gotten here soon enough! As soon as I got in the car and we pulled out of the parking lot, the heavens opened up.

A torrential downpour quickly made it almost impossible to see and the streets started to flood, unable to keep up with the storm. Neither of us spoke as we drove through downtown, trying to focus on not getting hit or washed away. Once we finally got out of the city, it seemed to start letting up a little and we both released a breath. My mom removed one of her hands from the steering wheel and tried to shake and stretch it out before placing it back where it was. The white knuckle grip she had for the past 10 minutes had really done a number on her already hurting hands. I knew she had to be in pain, it was near the deadline for her monthly reports and she always came home with stiff fingers and shooting pains from keying in so much information.

“I really hate driving in this!” she said as she adjusted the defrost to try and help clear the windshield a little more. I looked over at her and she was squinting, trying to see out and I let out a small chuckle, asking her “Did you maybe try putting your glasses on and see if that would help?”. She looked over at me and smiled, pulling her other hand off of the steering wheel and repeating the process, “My cheaters aren’t going to help with this smart ass.” I tried to joke with her and cheer her up a little, “Look on the bright side then! You have a great copilot with a deafening set of lungs and an extra set of eyes! Between the both of us, we can do this! You’ll have to work the pedals and the wheel but I can at least help keep a lookout!”

She smiled and shook her head, looking a little sad for a minute before reaching over and taking my hand in hers. “One day Mija, one day you’ll get there. And when you do, you can be the chauffer and take me wherever I want to go for a change.” I squeezed her hand and gave her a slight smile. The rain had let up quite a bit the closer we got to home and she didn’t have a white knuckle grip of the wheel anymore so I took the opportunity to gaze out at the passing scenery and let my mind wander.

There wasn’t much to see, it was already fairly dark outside. We lived in a small town outside of where our work was, about half an hour away. Some of my friends thought it was so far away but it worked for us. Our little town of 1100 people was quiet and calm most of the year except for services on Sundays and the town festival every fall. It was perfect for us, and gave us a chance to wind down after being in the bustling traffic and the city life. Though some people would consider our city small, to me and mom, it felt huge. Going from a town of 1100 people to a city of over 70,000 felt like a huge change to us. Sure, there were bigger cities around Decatur but we never really went there and were already fine with dealing with the area we had to be in.

It had a fairly good university, one of the top corn and soybean processing factories in the country and plenty of shops and restaurants. We may have considered it big, but it was still considered a “small town”. Our drive in and home sometimes made us wish we lived closer but the smell reminded us why we didn’t. Depending on the time of day and which way the wind blew, the stench varied between corn syrup and dog food. When it rained, it was even worse and seemed to linger even longer than normal.

The drive was long, but it was worth it. It gave us plenty of time to vent and talk about our days before we got home. We had always tried to leave work at the door. Don’t let it bleed into our home lives and worry about it later. Nine times out of ten, we never had any problems with doing just that. Sometimes my work life and home life would collide but it was few and far between, especially with my current job. No more late night phone calls or trying to help someone over the phone. No late trips in the middle of the night to try to fix whatever was wrong at the branches or alarms that were tripped. It was a fresh new start and one that I was ready for at that point in my life.

By the time we pulled in the drive at home, you would never even know it was storming not far away. Halfway home, we had very light rain but at home? It was dry as a bone and you could see the stars peeking out through breaks in the clouds. Central Illinois weather at its finest, if you don’t like it just wait 5 minutes or drive down the road. It might be a completely different story there.

We walked in the door and each headed off to our own rooms. I dropped my bag off at the foot of the bed and started to strip my work clothes off. I grabbed my comfiest hoodie and sweatpants, taking advantage of my step dad working late and not bothering to keep on my bra or underwear. After a quick dinner and cleaning up the kitchen, we turned on some home improvement shows for background noise and decided to do our own thing. Mom loved to wind down at night by coloring on her tablet and I had downloaded a few e-books at work for the evening. I grabbed my tablet and tried to turn it on but all I got was a black screen. The battery was dead and the charger was nowhere to be found.

I let out a frustrated breath and went on the hunt. I was famous in my family for easily misplacing or losing things so it was no surprise that I couldn’t find something when I needed it. I could now add “charger” to that list. I went to my cubby hole in my room that I designated for charging cable and plug ins…only to find it empty as well. Where could it be? Rational thought went straight out the window and I immediately went to tear through my other hiding spots, leaving a trail of destruction in my wake. Halfway through making my room look like a tornado had ripped through it, it dawned on me. “Dumb ass,” I scolded myself’ “It’s in your purse! You took it with you to work instead of your phone charger.”

I cursed myself some more and dug the charger out of my purse. Realizing I still couldn’t read or listen to my audiobooks until it had a charge on it, I reached down and took my phone and earbuds with me back to the living room. I could at least use those until I had some juice on the tablet. Huffing out a breath at the state of my room, I decided that I would take care of it later and strolled out to the living room. Putting my tablet on the charger, I went to the kitchen to fix a cup of my favorite chamomile and mint tea. “Hey T,” my mom said, looking over her glasses at me from the couch, “have you taken your meds yet?”

Oops….I hadn’t even thought about them. “No but I’ll go ahead and take them now” I told her. Going over to our overflowing shelf of medications and storage boxes, I went ahead and grabbed mine from their designated day in the case and set them down to finish steeping my tea. Once it was ready, I blew on it to cool it off a little and tossed my pills back with a sip. “Oh good!”, mom piped up again, “You can grab mine for me too while you’re in there!” I looked over at her with a smile and decided to try to make her laugh. “Oh of course madam! Would thoust care for a frosty beverage from the ice box to aid you?” I asked with a fake posh accent and a deep curtsy. She rolled her eyes at me and laughed, “Just get them for me would you?? Goofy girl!” Mission successful. A smile and a laugh were exactly what I wanted to cause.

I reached over to her section and grabbed hers out of her pill box. Having two people in the house and an epileptic made for a lot of medications. Depending on the days we needed refills or were fully stocked, we looked like we could open up our own pharmacy in a heartbeat. Once I gave her the night set that she needed, I walked over to my side of the couch and flopped down. “T? Are you feeling okay? She asked from her end of the sectional, “You seem a little frantic.” I gave her a smile, “Yeah, I’m just tired. It was a long and frustrating day. I still can’t get the loan finished that I need to and it’s like pulling teeth to get anyone to cooperate! I’ve gotten better answers from school children than I have from them! I am just ready to relax and be a couch potato for the night” She held her tablet up at me and showed me the picture she was working on. “That’s my exact plan for the rest of the night!”

We got comfortable in our spots and went about our own projects. I popped an earbud in and opened my audiobook app on my phone, selecting the shorter romance novel that I had gotten earlier in the morning and hit play. While the prologue was going, I remembered that I had received a message from “Ken”. I switched over to my messenger app and immediately felt terrible. 4 unread messages! I probably should have checked this sooner…especially if this was one of my older clients. I opened them and started reading.

Ken: “Yeah, it really has. I think the last time we talked, I was still living in Shelbyville!”

That made me pause….Who did I know in Shelbyville? I had a few distant family members there but none of us were on speaking terms. I kept reading on, hoping for another clue.

Ken: “If I’m being completely honest, life hasn’t been all too great. Got divorced about a year ago, separated for over two. Moved back home and living with my mom. Just working and sleeping whenever I don’t have the kids. How about you? Have you and mom been doing okay?”

None of this was ringing a bell….I knew my seizures had done some damage but not this much! Who could this be? Lives with his mom, has kids and is divorced…..Still coming up blank I kept on.

Ken: “Hello? Are you okay?”

I felt terrible…..For the life of me, I just could NOT remember who this was! I dug through every memory I could think of with my previous clients but no one seemed to match that! I decided to bite the bullet and ask who this was.

Me: “Sorry it has taken so long for me to respond! I just got home from work and finished dinner. I am so sorry to hear about your recent struggles and I hope they get better. I hate to ask but my brain has seemed to realize we are no longer at work and has clocked out for the day. Would you remind me of your name?”

Hitting send, I took a deep breath and tried to reason with my guilt complex and anxiety. I’m not being rude, it’s completely reasonable to ask who it is! They seem to know me and mom, it’s been years since I’ve seen them and it’s understandable to ask for their name. They will understand and if they don’t, then I can just block them and delete the message. No skin off my back! The bubble popped up that indicated they were writing back so I waited a couple of minutes for their response but nothing came. I shrugged and locked the screen. Laying back on the couch, I listened to my book for about an hour before I could feel my eyes starting to get heavy. Yawning, I got up from the couch and stretched myself out. I could feel the tension on my neck and between my shoulder blades so I twisted around as best as I could to try to relieve some of it.

As I passed my mom, I told her I was headed to bed, gave her a kiss on the cheek and wished her a good night. In my room, I stripped off my pjs, put my earbuds back in my purse and put my phone on the charger for the night. I double checked all of my alarms were correct for the morning and crawled into my nest of blankets and pillows on the bed. Wrapping myself in my warmest blanket, I curled up and knew it wouldn’t take too long to fall asleep.

The next morning I flew in the door at work and rushed to clock in. Alarms that go off every 15 minutes, starting at six in the morning, and somehow I still overslept. Another perk of living at home, I wasn’t the only one who did that morning. My mom hollered down the hall that we were both running late and rushed to get ready. Had it not been for her, I would still be passed out in bed. I clocked in just in time and got all of my files out to get started on the day.

I hadn’t been sleeping well for a couple of weeks and had felt a little off lately, but stress always did that to me and in combination with not sleeping well? It wreaked havoc on my body so it made sense at the time as to why I felt so off. I checked my emails from overnight and saw that not only had the lawyers office send me a couple, but the title company had sent quite a few and the customer sent one in the middle of the night with new requests for his loan. I groaned and dropped my head down onto my desk. It was going to be another long day, I could already tell. It would be so much easier if they would communicate with each other instead of using me as the go between. This person wants this done, but won’t do it unless the other person says they will. The client wants this done but one place says no to the change while the other says yes. It was like dealing with children in a petty argument! I was shocked I still had hair on my head for as much as they made me want to rip it out.

I had never been more grateful to have an office of coffee addicts just like me. It meant there was at least 1 fresh carafe of coffee ready to go and Keurigs ready at a moments notice. I stepped into the conference room and sure enough, a fresh pot of what smelled like raspberry coffee was ready to go. I grabbed my favorite mug from the cabinet and filled it, leaving just enough room for a splash of creamer. I sat back down at my desk and took everything out I would need to survive the day. Earbuds from my purse, a charger in case they go dead, my phone and its charger, my vape and my worry stone. I popped an earbud in quickly and opened my music storage to see what felt good for the day.

Between my music collection at home and what I had purchased on my phone, I could always find something that sounded good for the day. Whether I needed something to kickstart the day or something to calm me down, I had it at the tip of my fingers at a moment’s notice. Feeling like I needed something a little heavier for the morning, I scrolled through my library until I came across Ozzy Osbourne. That sounded like the perfect way to start the day, and as soon as I clicked to play “No More Tears”, I knew it was the right one. I felt my body relax and my brain slow down. I grabbed my files, opened all my apps and got straight to work. The next thing I knew, it was lunch time and “Return Of The Mack” was blaring in my ears. I shook off the fog in my head and headed out for lunch, opting to spend it outside again since it wasn’t too bad out. I grabbed my phone and vape and stepped out the back door. I needed a chance to calm down and if the hustle and bustle I heard inside was anything to go by, I did NOT want to spend my lunch in there.

Once I got back to my desk, the afternoon flew by just as quickly as the morning did. I had worked over again without even realizing it, but at least tonight I wasn’t the only one. One of the other bank officers and a couple of the tellers were still in, trying to finish up their work and balance out for the day. I started to save everything on my desktop and made some notes for where I needed to start tomorrow and heard my phone go off. I finished up the last of what I needed to do and clocked out before heading outside to wait for my ride. I was shocked to see that “Ken” had responded back instead of just ignoring me. I still felt bad for forgetting whoever it is, I wouldn’t have blamed them if they didn’t respond.

Ken: “Oh, did you forget me already? Lol, just kidding. It HAS been a while, at least five years, since we’ve seen each other so I don’t blame you if it’s a little fuzzy. I’m sure your seizures haven’t helped much with that either.”

Okay wait, what? Whoever this was knew about my seizures, which means I knew them fairly well. I tried not to tell anyone unless I trusted them or if they absolutely HAD TO KNOW in case something happened. I typed out a reply as best as I could, my hands starting to shake a little.

Me: “I apologize, some of my older memories are a little harder to remember than they used to be.”

Ken: “Don’t apologize, you’re fine! I’m used to it by now! You’ve had memory problems since we were in school. I was actually surprised you responded to my first message, I wasn’t sure if you would remember me with how hazy your memory could be.”

Wait, in school?! Okay, who the fuck is this person and how do they know me?! I started to type out that exact response but before I could send it off, they sent me another message that made me freeze in place.

Ken: “It’s JB”

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