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erina-writes-headcanons · 1 year

Note

I wanna see Takao and Midorima with sassy reader❤❤❤ *slides French fries* for the payment as well

Takao Kazunari, Midorima Shintarō, Miyaji Kiyoshi, and Miyaji Yūya with S/O Who Have a Sassy Personality

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A/N: Hello there Anon! Thank you for the French Fries ☚(*´∀｀☚) and from now on the payment to request headcanons for me is by giving me food XDDDD. Anyway, thank you for the request, this is such a great idea for me because I can relate to someone who is sassy. I hope you like it

Waning: (Y/N) being mean and body shame

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Takao Kazunari - Shutoku

If you have watched the anime. You know Takao can handle Midorima's harsh words as he knows how tsundere he is and I believe he would love Sassy S/O.

Hear me out, I can see his love language also being sassy back at you so the two of you had a playful banter together where the two of you going to end up with stomach cramps for laughing too much.

He is definitely amused with your sass and since his love language is teasing the hell out of you and sometimes he would even steal your words to out sass other people, especially Midorima.

So, don't worry about getting sassy with him. He is not too sensitive that he cannot handle your sass. In fact, he could even outwit you back and make you freeze on the ground because out of shock.

Of course your reaction is only going to make Takao laughing his ass off and pointing his finger at you since you just stood there like a statue and not expecting him to fight you back.

Also, Takao sometimes would help you on your side when you are debating with other people by adding even more sass and making the Karen or the asshole ashamed or angry at you two.

Afterwards, the two of you going to give each other a high five and laugh with each other, joking about those Karens or assholes when they were gone.

There would be times he would lightly bonk your head if he realizes that your sass was out of the line and hurting innocent people and looking at you with disapproval and telling you to be careful with your words because some words can be really hurt.

Ⰶ║ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ║Ⰶ

Sounds of chattering in the hallway get louder and louder as students from all of the classes get out of their classes. Walking together with their friend or alone while going to their locker to get their things including the person with a pair of (E/C) eye colors, (S/C) skin color, and (H/C) Hair color.

Taking out the notebooks from the locker and some important kinds of stuff, the bell turns off and (Y/N) (L/N) closes the door of the locker and turns the key around before leaving their/her/his locker along and walking to the gym to greet someone in there and maybe gives a little surprise for 'certain' someone.

(Y/N) could hear some giggles here and there and it was too familiar for you, internally groaning as the sound of the footsteps getting closer. It was the cheaper version of Regina George, she never interacts with you nor you interact with her but knowing this kind of female still exist makes your blood boil.

"Oh My God, don't you see that guy with silver blue-ish eyes? He's so gorgeous," the girl said.

"Yeah, that guy friend's too with the green hair although what a weirdo. Bringing frog's pocket everywhere," the other girl commented.

"I don't care about that guy. I'm more interested with that guy who has that sharp eyes and black hair," the girl putting out her lipstick before applying it.

"Could you stop talking about that guy? You three makes my ears bleed," You snapped out, slamming the locker shut and glaring at those girls.

The three of them did not expect you to hear their conversation, especially the girl on the middle with a beautiful long straight black hair that reaches the middle of her back, pale ivory skin-tone and a pair of lavender purple eyes. Despite looking beautiful like a doll, she was the most annoying one.

"Aww I'm sorry, do you want me to talk about it more~" the girl smirks, causing the other two of her friends giggles.

"You do have a nice voice... but it is nicer if you don't yap around like a chihuahua. All barks but not bite," you shrugs with the end of your lips tugged upwards.

All three of them gasps in surprise, offended with your insult as the girl on the middle face's getting more and more red and you swore you almost saw a steam getting out from her ears. "Y-YOU! AT LEAST I'M MORE BEAUTIFUL AND MORE POPULAR THAN YOU!" She shrieked, pointing her index finger at you.

Satisfied with the girl's reaction, you could not help but the grin on your face getting wider as you lean to the locker more and crossing both of your arms. "You are more beautiful than me but all of those are from plastic surgery, especially your nose job. So how much did your mommy and daddy pay for those? Also, you're more popular because you sell your body around to every guys in Shutoku. Let me guess, they paid you around 800-1000 yen? No wonder you're so rich!"

Every one in the hallway slowly surrounding the two of you, interested with the commotion as some people were cheering on you and the girl. Takao who also were walking side by side with Midorima saw the crowd from far away. He blinks repeatedly before he looks at green haired shooter.

"What the hell is going on?" Takao asks.

"I'm not sure but we need to check it out," Midorima walks closer.

Once they got closer, their eyes widened to see you standing with a smug grin at a girl with red face. The girl yanked the book out from her bag before throwing it to your face but you did not need to duck, tilting your head to the side. Her shoot already miss and making the popular girl even angrier than before.

Takao quickly steps aside with a fake smile on his face, "Hey ladies/gentleman. Let's just stop the fight and calm down," Takao tried to stop the fight.

"T-takao-kun! Thank you so much, t-this girl/guy/non-binary person was mocking me!" She tried to cling to Takao who are internally screaming since he doesn't know who's the person clinging to his arm whereas (Y/N) just roll her/his/their eyes. You pull yourself away from the locker and glance at Takao.

"She was talking about you right in front of me could you believe this girl? Talking about how much she wants to fuck you in front of me?" You smile innocently while pointing at the popular girl. You added a little lie to make it more dramatic and to make Takao on your sides.

"I-i'm sorry but I already have boyfriend/girlfriend and this is my partner," Takao stuttered a little bit. He knows your tendency to be a little bit piece of shit-

'"Tch! Whatever, I don't care about losers like you!" The girl storms away and everything was silent until the other students walking away one by one, leaving the scene. You could not help but laugh as well as Takao who joined the laughter, thinking it was hilarious to see you angered one of the most popular girl in the school.

"Glad I saw that," Takao wiped the tears after he laughing too much and patting your back.

"Me too, hun," You winked at him, still in the cheeky mood.

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Midorima Shintarō - Shutoku

Froggit Midorima doesn't really have an opinion on sassy people or he's in the middle of 'I don't really like them' and 'I like them' if he had a Sassy S/O.

He does not find it amusing when you are getting too sassy to him and it made him annoyed whenever you talk back at him while he was scolding you.

Especially if you are not listening to him whenever he is lecturing you about something or your mistake but you just rolled your eyes and talking back at him.

He also doesn't really like it whenever you are commenting and teasing him out of nowhere because it reminded him of Takao when Takao annoys him.

However, it does not mean he hates you because there are lots of times he also finds your sassiness can be really amusing sometimes.

I am saying this because there were a lot of times you were being sassy back to Takao and making him lose an argument with you whereas Midorima was in the background silently snickering.

He doesn't admit it but he also enjoys watching you destroying your enemy with your wittiness and your words. Causing your rival to be embarrassed and back away

Midorima definitely going to silently and secretly learn from you but when Takao catches him that he is trying to be like you. He will immediately deny it.

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It was sunny on the outside and many people were out there doing their own thing and interacting with each other. The green hair shooter of Shutoku glances at the screen of his phone, clearly watching Oha Asa of today with a cute girl on the side of the screen explaining the faith of Cancer's today.

"Today is going to be a bad day for cancers! There will be lots of silly and bad accidents happen to you so please be careful today. Your lucky item for Cancers today are the small Beaver figurine from the antique shop! Next I am going to show (Your Zodiac)'s-" Midorima immediately closes the screen of his phone and grumbling he shouldn't be out today.

Before he plugs the earphone out from the phone and trying to insert it, a large figure almost as big as him accidentally made contact with him and the impact was quite hard, causing the two of them to drop the things on their hands together.

"H-hey dude! I'm sorry for crashing with you!" The guy crouches down.

However, it was as if the gods tries to make his life into a comedy because the guy tries to take Midorima's earphone and give it back to him. His large shoes accidentally stepped into one of the earbuds and crushed it in a pieces. Midorima and the stranger immediately internally screams about the sudden event before the man quickly stood up and bows down repeatedly to apologize for destroying the earphone.

It wasn't over just like that, the saddest thing was as the man stood up, his head accidentally hit something hard and triangle, causing the man to wince in pain as well as the green-haired basketball player who are holding his chin in pain. Midorima curses himself, thinking Oha Asa was right about the misfortune that will happen to him today.

"I-I AM SORRY SIR! I AM SO SORRY FOR MY ACTIONS!" The man apologizes once again and things get out of control.

‿︵‿︵＼ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ／︵‿︵‿Timeskip

Standing in the middle of the aisle inside the antique shop, Midorima searched for a certain mini figure that Oha-Asa told, it was the small beaver figure and portable one since he needs to bring it around in the gym soon. His eyes laid on the last small stature of the before and his hands immediately reached it out to take it.

Another hand took the small figure of the small animal and his eyes widened in shock before it turned into annoyance and anger. Someone is taking his lucky item and judging the person in front of him. The person only smiles in a sardonic way, "Oh, you wanted this? I'm sorry but a loser with four eyes like you shouldn't even have this thing," It was clear it was just another asshole, the person didn't want the lucky item. They just want to be a jerk just to look cool since he can hear the unfamiliar laughter.

"Is that your insult? Why don't you try a better insult and something more fitting to you? Like all talk but no biting? Or maybe just a wannabe gangster? Mommy's boy?" A familiar sound appears from behind the jerk.

Midorima's green eyes were surprised to see you standing there with crossed arms and a smirk on your face. The jerk clicked his tongue at you "Tch! Scram brat! I bet if I punch you, you would be crying like a baby!" The man shouted.

"Me?? Crying?? Oh my?? Why do you think I am gonna cry when I see baby wipes on your pants? Why do I also see you red face after leaving the restaurant? Were you get angry when I saw you got rejected several hours ago by the waiters? How does that feel, getting rejected by everyone?" You snicker, causing the jerk even get angrier before he storms away.

"I'LL SHOW YOU! YOU WILL REGRET THIS!" The person said before the person leaves the antique shop.

Bonus:

Unknownbeast to you, Midorima was too shocked and speechless to see this kind of sight of you. He knows you have a tendency to act a little bit mean but this is the first time he sees you standing up for him with your sass. The green haired player could not help but glancing away, trying to hide his red face from you as he feel glad that you were standing up for him.

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Miyaji Kiyoshi - Shutoku

Either you have a thing with someone who is strict and short-tempered or you have a strong mentality to face this kind of guy even though it can get annoying sometimes.

It's canon he often gets annoyed by Midorima's vagaries and sometimes by Takao's antics. He also often gets annoyed by your sarcasm and sassiness when he is scolding you.

It feels like you are not taking him seriously when you are getting sassy to him but unlike Midorima. He won't get too argumentative so once it get's heated up. He would just gonna sigh and let it be.

There's a lot of time he only watches you mouthing him or getting witty in the argument as he looks at you with unamused glances and crossed arms.

He is strict just like his brother and temperamental but he was a little bit more chill than his brother so there are some times he would just scoff at your remarks and walk away from you.

Many times he was also amused by your sarcasm and sass when facing some idiots. There would be a time he was even trying not to laugh but failed as he is holding his stomach.

I can see Kiyoshi would also record the fight you had with another idiot or asshole when you sassed the poor guy. As he records it, he would save it in his gallery and play it when there is no one around.

Just like Midorima. There are many times he is amused with this side of yours but also many times he is not amused, especially when you are getting too argumentative to him since he can be quite stubborn.

Ⰶ║ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ ⵈ║Ⰶ

Sounds of chattering can be heard as students from inside of the classroom are talking with their friends, sleeping on their table, reading some books from the library, or studying before the upcoming exam. (Y/N) (L/N) watches the sight outside of the window, glancing at the students that follow the instruction from the P.E. Teacher or play other sports.

The (H/C) haired student can be seen sitting near the window and feeling their/her/his stomach grumbling in hunger even though the bell has not rung yet. You forgot to eat breakfast from home because you were almost late as you had time to shower, use your uniform, feed your cats or dogs in the morning, and prepare the backpack by inserting the needed books.

(Y/N) eyes glance at the ceiling of the class and think about the mouth-watering bowl of beef over rice. A steamed warm rice topped with thinly sliced beef and tender onion, simmered in dashi broth, seasoned with a soy sauce as well as diced boiled eggs on top of it. It was one of the most in-demand lunches in the cafeteria.

Not long after, the sound of the bell rang, and (Y/N) quickly stood up so you can go take those lunch earlier since it's quite often that the cafeteria was full of hungry students and you did not want to miss any of those beef slices over rice. However, fate was not on your side because you stood up. Your body accidentally made harsh contact with another person.

"WATCH IT! FREAK!" The person says.

"I should have been the one who said that, you literally take all over the place," (Y/N) commented, rolling both of their/her/his eyes.

"W-WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?! DID YOU JUST CALL ME FAT?!"

"You hear me, boo~" you said with the corner of your lips tugged upwards.

"A-AT LEAST I'M NOT A LONER FREAK!" The person screeches.

"I'm not a plastic though," (Y/N) shrugs, amused with the person in front of you as they are throwing tantrums like five-year-olds.

Sounds of cough can be heard, stopping the two of you and the stranger's argument before your eyes look up to see your boyfriend Miyaji Kiyoshi. The blonde and tall basketball player of Shutoku trudges silently before he went completely standing still next to you and eyes squinted at the person in front of you, arms crossed in an intimidating way.

"I believe you should be the one who needs to apologize instead of (Y/n). I saw the entire scene, you were the one who was walking while talking with your friend without noticing that (Y/N) just stood up from her/his/their sit," Kiyoshi defended you from the strange and entitled student.

"Tch, fine. You win this time but next time I will kick your ass," the person giving their last glare at you before they storm away with their friends following from behind.

One by one, the students that were watching the drama unfold in front of their eyes are leaving the classroom and letting what just happened to slide away. Kiyoshi Miyaji's eyes stare at you, rolling both of his eyes and taking a deeper breath before his hands reach up to your head, messing up your hair with the gentle noogie.

"You're reckless, you know that? Your mouth always getting into some troubles," he told you.

"I know, but you still love me," You cheekily smiled at him, receiving another eye rolls from him.

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Miyaji Yūya - Shutoku

Just like his brother, Miyaji Yuya is as strict and temperamental as his brother and he is also as stubborn as his brother too.

Because of this, the two of you fight a lot and the two of you are getting mouthy with each other, trying to prove the two of you were right and the other wrong.

It's very common that you two are fighting as Yuya is a little bit more has more temper than his twin so it can be a competition between the two of you.

Just like his brother, there are many times he is not amused with your antics and sass. When that happens, he will stare straight into your face, cross his arms, glare at you, or look at you with anger in his eyes, and sometime he would shout back.

He also sometimes gets a little bit embarrassed when you had a fight with another person because of your sarcasm and sass. To the point, he would act as if he doesn't know who are you.

However not in all cases he would react like those because there is a time he would be amused and learn your sass whenever he sees you debating with other Karens or Assholes.

Sometimes he would join together with you but using his own words and would scare the perpetrator away who is trying to harass you.

Once the person gets away from the two of you, he would have a good laugh together with you and tell you about those moments when the two of you are going home from school or a date.

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It was not a surprise that Basketball players can be quite popular among every student, especially if the basketball players are good looking including your boyfriend Miyaji Yuuya. Miyaji Yuuya has an athletic and slim body, he also has dark blonde hair as well as a pair of eyes that are similar to his brother.

The dark blonde second-year basketball player glances at everyone training in the gym room where the seniors teach the new player how to shoot the balls into the hoops "C'MON! TRY HARDER! SOON WE ARE GOING TO FACE AGAINST SEIRIN! MIYAJI-SAN! COME HERE TO TEACH THE NEW PLAYERS!" The coach looks at him, calling him to show all of the new players how to shoot.

"Hai!" He puts the bottles away before jogging to the old man.

As he was going up to show the new players, he did not realize many pairs of eyes watching him playing, especially the student girls who were giggling from far away and watching him playing basketball and shooting the balls into the hoop.

"Miyaji-san is so cool!" One of the girls whispers.

"Yeah, he's so cool when playing basketball like that," another girl with a messy bun whispered back.

"He's so handsome," the girl with pigtails squeals silently.

"I know right. It's sad that everyone says he has a girlfriend/boyfriend/romantic partner. I wonder who they are," the girl with the navy hairband sighs.

"Maybe try to flirt with him when his girlfriend/boyfriend is not around," the girl with pigtails giggles.

None of the girls knows that the dark blonde second-year player is your boyfriend and your ears getting hotter and hotter each time they were squealing and whispering out loud. It was really obvious that those three have a crush on your boyfriend and they are acting very obnoxious.

Both of your eyes glanced at those girls before slamming the book out loud, causing them to jump in surprise before turning around to glare at you "C-can you quiet down! We are watching people playing basketball in here!" The girl with the navy hairband hisses.

"Watching people play basketball or staring at Yuya-san?" You cross your arms, still looking at them with a sharp glance.

"S-SHUT UP! Don't act like you're his girlfriend/boyfriend!" the girl hisses, pointing her index finger at your face rudely.

"Oh, I am~" You smiled mockingly, causing the fangirl even angrier than before.

"PROVE IT!" She challenged.

"Sure," you shrug, eyes focusing on the match once again.

‿︵‿︵＼ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ／︵‿︵‿Timeskip

Once the training was done, Yuuya was sweating like a bullet with eyes lide in exhaustion but that tired face was replaced with a smile as his eyes landed on you, waving his arm at you to greet you. His footsteps were getting closer and closer but before he could speak. His eyes widened with your action.

Out of the blue, your lips made a contact with the basketball player and causing the three girl's mouths to gasp in horror as well as the other players who just saw you just eat your boyfriend's face right in front of their faces. Yuuya blushes and kisses back for a few seconds before pulling away.

"Baby, what's gotten into you? You just kissed me out of nowhere and made my teammates watch the two of us kiss" He raised his eyebrows in confusion and slight irritation since he felt a little bit embarrassed by the sudden contact

"I just miss you a little bit and I was just trying to swat some bugs to get away from you," you innocently said.

He was still looking at you with confusion, not knowing what did you mean by 'bugs' until he sees three girls marching away in anger. It immediately clicked in his brain that you were jealous of those girls and you railed them on purpose. Yuuya could not help but sigh at (Y/N) antics before his eyes glancing at his S/O, flicking your forehead and making you wince in pain.

"Don't create a scene next time. Just tell me what the hell is going on and I can help you," he chides.

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kaicubus · 1 year

Text

Dating Enid Sinclair

warnings ✩° : cursing, enid being goofy?

pairing ✩° : enid sinclair x gn!reader

authors note ✩° : i said it in the preferences but im neurodivergent so most of these are things i kinda do SO IF YOURE IN LOVE WITH HER YOURE IN LOVE WITH ME /j. but no tbh i would say that out of all the characters im a mix of wednesday and enid bc in public and around my friends im like wednesday but in private and online im like enid,, so take your pick idk.

- Ok despite being definitely more than friends, she makes friendship bracelets for you ALL the time. I see gift giving as her love language. That and psychical touch, but mostly gift giving.

“Look Y/n! This is SO you. I’m buying this right now!”

- Speaking of, she lets you borrow all of her clothes, in fact she encourages it because she’s really big on scent and smelling like you and smelling you on her clothes is her absolute favorite thing.

- LOVE LOVE LOVES when she gets to paint your nails the colors she chooses for you. Sometimes they're really chaotic and vibrant, other times they’re the colors you actually like ((ignore if you like vibrant nail colors but me personally i paint my nails black and neutral colors)) such as muted tones and pastels.

- Being around you is enough for Enid to be so excited she’s bouncing off the walls. It gets even worse when you two do anything outside of normal Enid and Y/n things, so if you give her a surprise kiss on her cheek her face explodes with heat and she’s left a stuttering mess.

- Enid is a really bold person, so it’s no surprise she’d be protective too. Especially with you since you're literally all she’s cared about and more, so if you two were put in a situation where someone would be flirting with you, she would shamelessly bare her teeth and cling onto you. She doesn't really get social cues if you get what I mean ((little head canon inside of a head canon bc i am neurodivergent and i see her as neurodiveregent as well)).

- She adores cuddling you and really twisting herself into your limbs, tangling you both so if one of you tries to move they literally can’t. Enid always giggles when you try to get up but she doesn't want to, knowing you're going to attempt to break free from her nonhuman strength and inevitably give up and fall right back into her warm embrace.

- Definitely names a few of her stuffed animals after you or things you do, both to mess with you and also just in your honor.

“Y/n look! I named this little guy after you,” She holds up a stuffed frog, “Calling him...Snoozy.”

“The fuck is Snoozy?”

“Oh, you know, because you sleep a lot.”

- Always ALWAYS hypes you up. Even if you're wearing the ugliest outfit ever or cut your hair into bangs that really doesn't compliment your face shape, she still beams and gives you double thumbs up because she’s just that supportive.

- Knocked the hell out when she kisses you, it’s hard to control herself too so her claws kind of come out when she gets too in the moment or eager to do more, sometimes she bites you too but it’s all in harmless fun...please forgive her.

- She smells like bubblegum. That’s it. Enough said. Like a soft bubblegum scent.

- Enid is the type to say “It’s us!” with the absolute most absurd things ever. She could point out two rabid opossums fighting each other for a slice of pizza and swoon about how similar they are to you two.

- She also gets zoomies, just like, whenever. It gets especially worse with you around because she’s borderline running in her room but then when you show up she starts ACTUALLY zooming.

- Adores kissing your cheek with lip gloss or her pink lipstick on just to see the marks on your face and lips, like an indirect makeover.

- There’s times where Enid will grab both of your hands and spin you around so fast that when you get dizzy—she doesn’t because it takes a lot to get her dizzy—and then she does this thing where she just lets go, throwing you directly into her stuffed animals or onto her bed. Although you're both having fun, she wants you to be safe still.

- Her temper is SUPER short so when she gets frustrated or mad, the only way to properly calm her down is by pressure therapy, aka hugging her so tight that she’s relieved of all negative emotions. She’ll be huffing at one point and then after a few minutes in your arms and between your legs she’s completely docile, playing with the ends of your hair as another means of comfort.

- Enid always likes to link her arm with yours and nuzzle into you whenever you two are walking because she thinks it’s the cutest thing ever!!

- She definitely has separation anxiety with you, so if you're gone for too long without her and without telling her where you are, she freaks out and start hysterically crying because she’s so worried about you.

#wednesday series #wednesday #enid sinclair #wednesday enid #enid sinclair imagine #enid sinclair x reader #enid sinclair x y/n #enid sinclair x you #gn!reader #enid sinclair preferences #kaicubus

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wild-houseplant · 1 year

Text

Have Warden, Will Travel- Chapter 28

OK! We got the gang back in the forest and they are MEETING and GREETING PLENTY OF NEW FACES. And one old. :o Link to the AO3 here, and the rest is under the cut! No content warnings I can think of, but if you want to let me know if something's afoot, I'm always listening :) :) Hope you bunch are doing fine, and are drinking your fluids!

“You know,” Rhodri said thoughtfully as the party wound through the deeper forest, “I don’t think I have eaten bear ‘til now. It reminded me of a few of the browner meats they’d serve in the Circle, but none tasted quite like that.”

Zevran and Leliana (and Wynne, who of course had declared she would be coming along) nodded in agreement. Bear meat was tender enough to be cut with a fork, with a curiously strong, somewhat fruity flavour; one of the clan had said during the meal that bear meat tasted like whatever the animal had last eaten. The first thing Zevran did, upon hearing that fact, was to thank the Maker that that bear’s final meal hadn’t been a darkspawn hock.

“I think I had it a few times,” Alistair chewed his lip. “The Fereldan nobles like bear quite a lot. I think one Teryn even had a sort of bear farm. Must’ve made a fortune off that.”

“I can imagine.” Rhodri looked over her shoulder at Morrigan, who in keeping with her usual demeanour of the last weeks, was yet to say a word. “What of you, Morrigan? Did you eat bear meat very much?”

Her eyebrows rose as Morrigan tsked irritably.

“Why do you ask me such questions?” she snapped. “I do not probe you for pointless information, do I?”

“Hey—” Alistair snarled warningly, only falling still when Rhodri turned around and touched his arm.

“It’s all right,” she soothed, and glanced at Morrigan worriedly. “I’m sorry, my friend, I didn’t mean to annoy. I’m just curious.” She smiled encouragingly, and gave an inviting wave of the hands, “And certainly, you’re welcome to probe me any time you like! Day or night, probe away, deep as you like!”

Morrigan’s face hardened, and the beginnings of a blush were threatening in the corners of her cheeks where makeup had not touched. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Warden,” she said tiredly. “That did not sound the way you hoped it might. Leave the topic.”

Rhodri’s smile faltered. “I–? I don’t… that is to say, yes, of course. You’ll let me know if you need anything, though, won’t you?”

“I need nothing.”

“I know, but in case you do later–”

“Enough, Warden.”

“Right, right, of course. Forgive me.” Rhodri faced front again, frowning pensively.

In the corner of Zevran’s eye, Leliana was watching him watch Rhodri. Not having it in him to feign ignorance until she tried to extract a confession out of him, he turned and smiled at her.

“I hear that frog is popular in Orlais, Leliana,” he purred, adding, “speaking of odd meats.”

If being directly addressed had taken her aback, she didn’t show it. “It must be,” she replied with a smile. “It is eaten even when other meats are more fashionable.”

Zevran snickered; Rhodri hummed. “That’s why other countries call the Orlesians ‘frogs,’ because it's their national meat.”

“Mmm,” Leliana chuckled wickedly. “Just like we call the Antivans ‘chickens,’ and the Rivainis ‘fish.’ Ooh, and of course, like we call the Tevinters ‘baboons,’ hmm?”

Rhodri grinned. “Mmm. I’ve been called that now and then, especially by frogs.”

“They call you baboons?” Alistair cackled. “I think that's probably ‘cause of your blue bums, not because you eat the meat. Drinking too much lyrium.”

Wynne’s disapproving ‘Oh, really, Alistair’ was drowned out by Rhodri’s very loud, very Tevinter-sounding ‘Ah!’

“No, he’s right!” she declared dramatically. “In a pants-down line-up, you’ll see glowing blue cheeks from start to finish! We have to wear blackout underwear so we don't blind whoever's standing behind us. But on the bright side, so to speak, we do have a torch wherever we go.” She gave a grin that showed most of her teeth.

It was tempting to point out that a lyrium posterior would hardly be in Rhodri’s best interest, her affliction considered. After everything that had happened the night before, though, Zevran was not the man to make any conversation with regard to such parts of her. He swallowed a sigh whose cause he couldn’t quite pinpoint.

Alistair snorted and shoved Rhodri. “Next time we go in a cave, then, we’ll send you in arse first.”

“Hah,” she dug her shoulder into his upper arm. “A fine way to showcase Tevinter modesty. My father would be proud.”

There was no reason, none at all, to let his mind drift to the artificial calm and privacy of the thought of being wrapped up under Rhodri’s robe. Zevran turned his focus onto the light tingle in his fingertips, and the give of the grass underfoot, and, because he was the weakest being in existence, pulled his cloak a little tighter around him.

The deep interior of the Brecilian Forest– Zevran had been calling it that since they were a day’s journey in, but surely they had to be in it by now, and it stank. Nobody else seemed to think so, but Zevran had a nose and a brain, and regardless of popular opinion, the unfortunate truth was that the forest absolutely reeked. Sickly-sweet pine needles, wet dirt, and bear shit. Where were the spices? Where was the salty air that blew in off the sea like spindrift? Even this far into the forest, there were small, makeshift bridges going across some of the wider streams, so evidently someone was living here. Had they never heard of incense? The place was nothing but wood! How, in the name of all good things, had they never thought of incense?

He tutted under his breath and shook his head. To his right, Rhodri chuckled. “Are you cursing the pine trees again, Serah?”

“Unsuccessfully,” he sighed. “They are still not dying.”

Leliana giggled, and Alistair, in an astonishing act of– what was it? Comradeship? Social pleasantness? … Civility?-- spoke to him. Without the context of enragement or irritation. Was it even possible?

“No-o-o-nsense!” the Templar trumpeted. “It’s fresh air! Get a little more in you! Won’t find air this clean out by the sea, not with all that salt gusting around!”

Rhodri audibly gasped at that– and if Zevran was honest with himself, he had done the same. It was possible that Alistair had meant to be comradely, or even pleasant, but rude remarks about the sea and its bounty were nothing less than an attack on a Northerner's personal dignity.

“Well I never,” Rhodri sniffed. “Did you hear that, Zev?”

“I wish I hadn’t,” he murmured hollowly.

“I distinctly heard the sound,” she declared before Alistair could finish laughing, “of a brother who doesn’t want to come on holiday to Minrathous and eat all the cheese his heart desires!”

That shut the bastard up.

“Ah-ah-ah!” Alistair darted over to Rhodri’s unoccupied side and slung an arm around her shoulder. “Let’s not be too hasty here! I… ah… who needs fresh air anyway, right? Overrated!”

Leliana chuckled. “I think you are missing the point, cher.”

Rhodri rubbed her brow. “At this rate, I’ll be feeding twenty people the platters of Tantervalean sweetgrass cheese that you won’t be eating, Alistair.”

“Twenty!”

“Cheer up, Al,” she said with a grin, gesturing at a nearby tree that appeared to have snapped in two in the middle of a bog. “You’ve got plenty of pine bark in your fresh-air forests to chew on instead. Think of all the roughage you’ll have in your diet with that!”

Alistair frowned. “That’s not a pine. They’ve got the green needles.”

“Ah, whoops,” she chuckled. “Haven’t covered pines yet, have we Zev?” She looked back at the tree and squinted a little. “You know, that bark is quite blue. I don’t suppose it could be the ironbark Master Varathorn– getbehindmeGETBEHINDME!”

A tree had come to life. Of course it bloody had. Life wasn’t strange enough as it was, and the forest was in dire need of freakish entities such as sentient, wildly aggressive trees like the enormous sylvan that was now walking (charging, in fact) toward them. It even looked like a person. The bloody thing had arms and legs, hands, a head– Maker help him, it had a rib cage.

The party’s scuffle with the arboreal murderer was mercifully brief. One spell from each mage floored it before Alistair could finish his quip about swapping his sword out for an axe, which was best for all concerned, really.

They gathered around the… corpse? Was it a corpse? It had died, but dead trees usually became wood. Did it even count as a tree if it was behaving like an animal? Questions for the Dalish Zevran wished he had known to ask. Whatever the thing had become, there they stood, staring at it with silent bafflement.

“Well, Zev,” Rhodri said to him after a moment, “You might refrain from cursing trees when they’re in earshot. At least until you’re absolutely sure it’s more likely to kill than offend.” She snickered at her own dreadful joke (though admittedly, so did Zevran and Alistair) and sighed. “Ah, well. Since we’re here, let’s see about that ironbark…”

This forest was jam-packed with wolves. There were grey wolves. There were black wolves. There were Blight wolves– those were ones that had been infected with the Taint and rather than die of Blight sickness, had become something else entirely. Wolves, wolves, bloody wolves. And absolutely none of them even closely resembled the wolf they were after. Not a single white wolf in sight– not even a very light grey one to make them do a double-take.

In fact, when it came down to it, they hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the werewolves, either, and as much as Zevran had decided a meeting with them was likely inevitable, he couldn’t help preferring the idea of the encounter occuring later. Much, much later, if possible.

The sun was almost finished setting. The crisp cold was piercing, and the forest was glowing in the last light like fortune. Nobody said a word, and if Zevran wasn’t mistaken, the party was even walking quietly to avoid interrupting the scene.

Past the two makeshift bridges up ahead was a little clearing on a hill. There was enough room for a few tents, a campfire, and a little node off to one side where Morrigan would no doubt establish herself. Rhodri was going between looking at the site and at the bit of the forest that was smouldering the most at that moment. She looked over her shoulder at the party, indicated the clearing with a question mark on her face, and got nods from everyone. That settled it.

Well, no, it didn’t settle it, in fact, because seemingly as soon as the party had decided where they would be setting up camp for the night, they were ambushed by–

“Are those werewolves?” Alistair squinted at the approaching figures with a frown as he whipped his sword out. “They’re– Maker, they’re walking on their hind legs!”

Zevran shouldn’t have bloody thought of the werewolves. It was his fault. It always happened that way: as soon as he thought of the unwanted thing, it invariably came for them. Why couldn’t he have not-wanted something useful like a large sum of money, or a bowl of fish chowder?

All this genius came to him from behind Rhodri’s back, to where he had been steered in the usual fashion. He shook his head and readied his knives.

And then, nothing.

He peered out from around Rhodri’s shoulder, and the werewolves– three of them, with decidedly people-like chests, if somewhat hairier– stood there, glaring at the party, though it might have been the shield Rhodri had summoned that separated them that was the actual cause for that sour look. No, that was unfair of Zevran: perhaps they weren’t glaring. That might have been the normal expression for a werewolf. Perhaps they would treat the party to a smile and reveal sets of dazzling white teeth that never looked so friendly or inviting.

The middle werewolf growled a little; Zevran decided that they had been glaring after all, and all hopes of deep-forest hospitality vanished. Its jaw unlatched, and the entire party made a medley of surprised noises as the creature addressed them in a rumbling snarl.

“The watch-wolves have spoken truly, brother and sister,” it said. “The Dalish send humans, of all things. I suppose you are here to cull us for our attack on the camp? Put us in our place?” The creature snorted. “What bitter irony.”

Zevran considered tilting his head a little to show off his pointed ear, only to decide against it at the last minute. He stayed as he was.

“Hm,” Rhodri said scornfully. “You speak. Irony, you say, that a human comes in pursuit of a cure. Why is that? Let me guess: the white wolf whose heart I’m after is actually a human in a hairy cloak?”

The werewolf snapped and lunged, only to bounce off the shield and stagger backwards a few steps. Zevran couldn’t help but snort, and to his relief, Alistair and Morrigan did as well.

“You will not speak of the white wolf in this manner!” the werewolf shouted when it had steadied itself.

“You murdered half a clan,” Rhodri spat. “My sympathy for your tender sensibilities is in rather short supply.” She lifted one hand and summoned a small, white-hot flame. “You will tell me where Witherfang is, or you’ll die now!”

Something wasn’t right. The Keeper had made that odd little pause, hadn’t he, when recounting the werewolves’ attack. Why was that? The werewolves weren’t denying they had done it, but why had they done it?

Without thinking, Zevran put a hand on Rhodri’s arm– and then, when his chest suddenly felt a little too light from the warmth radiating through her robes, he whipped the hand away again. The flame died out. Rhodri turned and lowered her head near Zevran’s, her expression softening.

"Mm?” she asked gently. “I’m listening. Tell me, Zev."

“Ah…” Zevran cleared his throat and willed his stomach to stay put. “Perhaps we need not leap to the exciting part immediately, no?” The entire party fixed him with a wide-eyed look, though Rhodri, to her credit, was polite enough to shutter it almost immediately.

He shrugged with one hand. “I, for one, would be very interested to know why they attacked the clan.”

"Of course." Rhodri nodded hard and pointed at the werewolves. “You will give him what he wants,” she said stonily, and when no more reply than a growl came, her voice rose to a shout. “Answer the question, damn you! How dare you make him wait!”

The werewolf scoffed. "You and your barking do not intimidate us, human."

"I'm not to blame for your lack of a healthy fear response," Rhodri retorted coldly. "In the Free Marches, my people wear wolf hides in the winter. I'm not so far removed from them that I won't repurpose you in the same way if you keep delaying. Answer the fucking question!"

“I am not about to enlighten you!” it snapped back. “You know nothing of us, and even less of who you serve. I suppose it was the old one, Zathrian, who sent you after us?”

“Zathrian did ask us to seek out a cure,” Zevran cut in with a calm nod. “You talk of him as though you know him.”

The werewolf growled and shook its head. “We have never met. If we did, he would not have survived the experience, I swear it.”

He hummed. “Not fond of him, I take it?”

“We have every reason not to be. And you,” the wolf’s hackles raised, “are also unwelcome here. You should run from the forest while you can.”

“Ah, but we do need that cure,” Zevran gave a small, bargaining shrug. “It is a little difficult to turn back without it. If you know the white wolf, perhaps we could parley with them? Surely there is a peaceful way to resolve all this.”

“I know why you seek him, and it is not to parley!” it shouted. “We are done talking! Go back to the Dalish, and tell them we will gladly watch them suffer the same curse as we have for too long!”

“We cannot retreat,” Zevran reiterated gently. “Not without some hope of a cure. Perhaps we could work together to find one? No need for bloodshed here. We could even cure you, too, if you wish it.”

“You seek the heart of the one who protects us!” the werewolf bellowed. “We will not deliver you to him! I do not wish to fight you, but you force my hand!” It turned to the other wolves. “Come, brothers and sisters! Swiftrunner calls you to b–”

The werewolf’s speech gave way to collective yelps and snapping bones as an invisible and almost silent force (summoned by Rhodri, of course) collided with the creatures and sent them– and an emerging few werewolves more they collected on the way– through the air and into the exposed side of an eroded hill. Awfully close to where they had intended to camp, Zevran noted, which went against the Crow principle of not killing where one slept. Perhaps the principle had been impressed because of the stench that came with new death, or the hygiene of it, or simply because even the Crows had standards about that sort of thing.

As it happened, the werewolves had not died from the attack, but from the way they were crawling, reasonable motion– and certainly fighting– no longer appeared to be an option for them. A handful more werewolves went to the hairy jumble of limbs sticking to the side of the hill, and without thinking, Zevran stopped Rhodri when she raised her hand to cast again.

“My Warden,” he said urgently. Rhodri nodded and tilted her head down near his, not taking her eyes off the werewolves.

“Sic, Zev?"

“Perhaps we might allow them to surrender?" He indicated the werewolves. "They are clearly not able to win against us, even in these numbers.”

“Eh?” Alistair goggled at him. “You’re joking! They would’ve torn our throats out if it wasn’t for that shield!”

Rhodri frowned. “Is it because they haven’t answered your question yet?”

Zevran wobbled his head a little. “In a sense, yes. I have a feeling Zathrian may have left out some select details about this curse business. Something in the way he spoke, no? Too many pauses.”

“The curiosity is not unwarranted,” Wynne ventured now, “though the werewolves did not seem too willing to part with any information.” She looked around grimly. “The Brecilian is already a dangerous place. Many enter and are never seen again… no, I do not care for the idea of releasing the beasts, only for them to return with an army.”

Zevran turned to Rhodri. “Perhaps we could simply ask? Give them another chance to respond. If they refuse, I will not press the matter further, and the party can dispose of them as it likes.” He held up his hands in a peacekeeping gesture.

The Wardens shared a glance, and Rhodri looked back at Zevran. She nodded.

“All right,” she said kindly. “We’ll go a little closer and ask. Stay behind me, please, Zev.”

They drew nearer to where the uninjured werewolves were easing the mangled ones out of the dirt.

“Werewolves,” she called to them. “You have one more chance to cooperate before we attack with the intent to kill. Tell us why you ambushed the–”

Rhodri was cut off by a rather frantic shout from Alistair (similar noises of concern issued from Leliana and Wynne shortly after, and Morrigan was quick to curse as well), and she and Zevran turned in time to see a rapidly encroaching wall of mist enshroud the rest of the party from behind.

She held her left arm out to Zevran. “Hold onto my robe or my arm, please, Zev,” she said quickly. “Don’t let go.”

Oh, and that was the trouble, wasn’t it? If given a choice between holding her arm or her robe, of course he would rather take her arm. And it was probably safer and better for all sorts of reasons to hold onto a limb than the clothes covering it– monitoring body temperature, injuries, ensuring that they wouldn’t become separated in the (however unlikely) event that her robes dissolved.

But it was undeniable that some selfish thing in him thirsted for the closeness, and she had already said that closeness was impossible. She had said no, and that was all there was to it.

Zevran took her by the robe, and let himself be led into the mist, back toward the others. By the time he and Rhodri and the rest of the party had found each other and formed a protective circle, lest the mist-maker come after them, the fog had started to lift and the werewolves were nowhere to be found.

“They’re… completely gone,” Rhodri said quietly, looking around in all directions. “I don’t believe it. I didn’t hear a thing!”

Alistair groaned. “We should’ve taken them out while we had the chance! ‘Give them another chance to respond,’ what a stupid idea that was!”

Zevran channelled his irritation into a light chuckle. “I must say, had I known we would get a fog wave for our trouble, I would have preferred we simply disposed of them.”

The forest was getting terribly dark now. Night was coming quicker and earlier as the weeks passed, and amid the clusters of evergreens blocking out the moonlight and the swallowing blackness the disappearing fog had left in its wake, there was hardly a thing to be seen.

Rhodri shrugged. “It is what it is. We’ve taken gambles before this, but this time it hasn’t paid off. We’ll just have to be careful for now.” She gave the party a confident smile. “Not to worry. I’ll make shields for the whole camp and take both watch shifts tonight in case they decide to loop back.”

“My Warden, I could take the first watch shift,” Zevran offered quickly. “I can alert you if there is any problem. After all, I was the one who suggested this gamble.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “That’s not how it works, Zev. Besides, I’ll be doing some spellwork that needs renewing from time to time. Thank you, though.”

Morrigan, who was already pulling her tent canvas out of her bag, tsked at the party impatiently. “Do the rest of you plan to help set up the camp? Or shall we all stand about exchanging pleasantries until the werewolves return?”

Rhodri gave Morrigan a fond smile that the recipient took with a vigorous ‘ugh.’

“Excellent point, Morrigan,” she said with another laugh. “We really should be exchanging pleasantries while we set up, shouldn’t we?”

Morrigan gave another disgusted ‘ugh,’ and amid the wash of guilt over his contribution to Rhodri’s self-imposed workload, Zevran pondered what tasty thing he could ferry out to her later on in the dead of night. Not an apology, or a kind gesture– not that there was anything wrong with treating his protector well or doing what he could to pardon himself. No, if she ate well, she would perform at her best– and if the werewolves did return, that is precisely how the party would need her performing. And certainly, she wouldn’t be eating them alone. He, too, was craving…

…

Ah, Antivan-style bear stew empanadas. Which he had developed a sudden urge for. Lovely.

Zevran got to work.

Antiva City went to bed in the last hours before sunrise. She loved a party, a late dinner, unexpected visitors; any excuse to steal back waking hours not absorbed by work. By the stroke of four, the so-called ‘inhospitable hours’ started, and the people slept.

So it was said, anyway. Zevran wondered what, then, society thought the early-rising fishers and farmers who fed ‘the people’ were. What society thought he was.

He knew what they thought he was well enough, and it didn’t bother him. At daybreak, when he sat alone on the beach in the balmy dark and stoked a fire in the sand to roast his little fish, he was as free as any of them, and that was enough.

“Where’s my fish, hmm?”

Zevran turned to the direction of the familiar voice, a smile already on his face.

“Lovely Rinna,” he crooned, “surely you know I am cooking this one just for you!”

She snorted and sat cross-legged beside him, one of her folded knees resting squarely on top of his. “I’ll believe that when I’ve got the finished product in my hot little hands.”

He chuckled, indulging Rinna as she drew him into a risky public kiss. “You’ll be waiting a while. I only just got the fire started.”

Rinna leaned back on her hands and smiled at him from the corner of her eye, almost dreamy. “No hurry,” she sighed cheerfully. “Taliesen won’t be up before noon, and we’re seeing Claudio at dusk. As far as I’m concerned, we’ve got all the time in the world.”

Zevran was weak. Too weak to squash down their suspended disbelief and keep them level-headed, and he was too weak to immerse himself fully and embrace the danger that came with it. However he approached it, he had lost before he had even started.

But Rinna’s warm, soft leg was resting against his, and her chest was rising and falling with her breaths, and she smelled like cedarwood and freshly-oiled leather, and all that had to count for something, even removed from any context relating to the future.

He acknowledged her comment with a smile that he couldn’t help but mean, and held the fish over the flames.

Zevran hummed to get Rhodri’s attention as he approached her with a pan in his hand. That had been all it took to get her looking over at him, which in turn revealed that she had been keeping half an eye on him the entire time he had been awake and cooking the empanadas.

Rhodri grinned as Zevran sat down beside her. “I could smell good things from all the way over here. You’ve been busy, haven’t you?”

“I have!” He took the pan and set it down on the grass in front of them. “I was seized with the urge to cook, and there was nothing to do but fulfil it.”

Her eyes widened as they fell on the empanadas. “Oh, my,” she breathed. “You have inpaniare in Antiva?”

Zevran chuckled. “Not with bear meat, but empanadas are a well-loved dish back at home.” He pointed his nose at the pan. “I do hope you will try some? I would not trust Fereldans to give me proper feedback on them.” He shook his head and put on a harassed, melodramatic tone, “‘Ah, the meat is not grey!’ ‘Ah, this spice, Zevran, what do you call it? Salt? Too hot!’ ‘Ah, not enough cheese!”

“Hah,” Rhodri snorted and took one. “I’d like to be able to stand up for Alistair in that regard, but he has said all of those things verbatim at some point or another.”

She took a bite of the empanada and froze. Chewed once. Twice. Three times; swallowed. Her eyes were white on all sides, but her pupils were wide enough to crowd out her irises altogether as she fixed her gaze on it.

“Oh no,” she uttered weakly. “Oh, I’m in trouble now. What on earth did you do to make such ordinary ingredients this good?”

Zevran smirked, took an empanada for himself and nibbled the corner off it. “Hm. Not bad, though I say so myself.” He nodded at the pan again. “You should eat some more, my dear Warden. Aren’t you hungry?”

Rhodri’s belly interrupted her ‘that’s not for you to worry about’ with a decidedly loud rumble; she scowled down at her torso.

“That answers that,” Zevran declared smoothly. “Do please help me finish these.”

She squinted at him. “I think you should be eating the rest on your own. Now that it’s getting colder, you’ll need to eat more to keep the flesh on you.”

“Maybe so! But my stomach can only hold what it has room for, and what of the empanadas I cannot eat?” He caught her eye and gave her a sad little look. “You do not want them to sit here alone in this pan on a cold night, surely. Not you, Rhodri.”

Rhodri’s mouth fell open. “Are… are you trying to make me feel sympathy for inanimate objects?”

He grinned. “Is it working?”

“... Yes.”

“Excellent.” He made a cutting motion over the pan. “Leave these four for me, and you can eat the rest. Ah, Rhodri, you wound me with your looks! All right, I will have five. Does that please you?”

Rhodri ate the rest of her empanada and folded her arms, watching him beadily. She chewed her mouthful and swallowed it. “Six.”

“Six?”

“Six,” she nodded.

“Five-and-a-half?”

“Six.”

Zevran sighed and nodded. “I will be so full you will need to roll me back to my tent, my dear Warden.”

Rhodri snorted. “I’m sure we can arrange something. Eat, please, and be thankful my father isn’t here right now. You'd never hear the end of it." Her face took on a dramatically pained look as she spoke in a thick Tevinter accent, "Ah, Domine, tell me this portion is for a fly! You are so thin, so thi-hi-hiiin! Do not stand too close to the fireplace, I fear I may confuse you for the fire poker!"

Zevran cackled, chewing hard on his lips in a failed attempt to button it in. "Does your father speak that way to everyone?"

"Mmm… he probably wouldn't say it to a stranger, but I think he'd consider anyone else fair game. You, certainly. He worries for the thin, you see." Rhodri chuckled and rubbed her chin. "He might have passed that on to me, now that I think about it."

He chanced a smile. "I did get that impression."

She smiled back. “Then you had better get on and eat well now, before we get back to Minrathous and I’m forced to take you to emergency banquets.”

“There is no such thing,” he shook his head and took another bite of empanada. “Surely not.”

“Would you like to find out the hard way?”

Zevran snickered. “My goodness, the life of the wealthy is another world entirely.”

She grinned. “I will say that money is an excellent cure for thinness.”

“Mmm, I am sure it is an excellent cure for most every issue, no?”

Rhodri went quiet, frowning as she took another empanada. She drew in a deep breath through her nose and let it out, and before Zevran could backtrack (after all, did money undo what had happened at the Circle? Why did he say such thoughtless things?) Rhodri spoke again.

“It could well be,” she murmured absently, biting into her empanada. The frown melted away again, and she chuckled like nothing had happened. “Maker, Zev, these are bloody good.”

When, in the name of sanity, were they going to get into the middle of this bloody forest?

Or were they already there? It had become hard to say. The party hadn’t encountered the werewolves again since the encounter three days prior. What it had continually met with was that bloody mist. As if out of nowhere, it would appear ahead of them, as if in a wall, and the party would be forced to turn back and try another route.

“What if we just tried… going through the fog?” Alistair said to Rhodri. “Maybe it’s just there to deter people. If that mist was what helped to get the werewolves away from us, whatever we’re looking for might be just beyond this.”

“Or,” Morrigan spoke up from behind, “Something lies waiting for us to do something so foolhardy, and attack us when our vision is at its worst. This is clearly the work of spirits within the forest.”

Rhodri sighed. “I wonder how many more routes we can exhaust before we’re left with no other option than to try. Sometimes it almost feels like the forest is rearranging itself when we’re not looking…”

“Take another track, Waren,” Morrigan insisted. “‘Tis possible we will find the cause of the mist along the way.”

Rhodri looked at the rest of the party. “I am inclined to trust Morrigan’s expertise. Is anyone in disagreement?”

Silence. She nodded. “On we go, then.”

And on they did go. And on. And on. It seemed to be the only thing anyone ever did in this neverending crop of trees and beasts and freezing, spirit-induced fog weather. Winding paths fed into even windier paths, occasionally via a clearing where bones were strewn. A real Brecilian welcome, Zevran thought miserably. Why couldn’t the Dalish have set up camp outside of Rialto?

By the second day, they happened upon their fifth clearing, which was kept as neat as a pin. Not a bone or corpse in sight. Nothing but a roaring campfire off to one side–

A roaring campfire off to one side?

“Stay behind me,” Rhodri’s shield was up before the one presumed to own the fire, a redheaded elven man who wouldn’t have been much older than Zevran, stepped out from behind a boulder. He was, to Zevran’s astonishment, in the same leather armour the Dalish favoured, but his face had not been tattooed with their vallaslin.

The fellow held up his hands and called out to them in a gentle, clear voice, “Friends, turn back please. These woods are a danger to–”

He was cut off by a gasp from Wynne that had the whole party turning to look at her. She pushed past Rhodri and Zevran, and her eyes were filling with tears.

“Aneirin?” she asked. “Is that you?”

The man frowned. “I… am Aneirin, yes. Who–? No, wait.” His mouth fell open “I remember your face. You were more impulsive, stern… Wynne?”

More stern? Zevran could have snorted– and in fact, he very nearly did. But he didn’t, of course, because emotional reunions tended not to take mirth from onlookers well, and there was only so much of those noises Zevran could pass off as a cough or a sneeze.

The Senior Enchanter kept moving until she was standing in front of Aneirin, watching him like he was her long-lost child (ooh, and wouldn’t that have been a juicy story! A mage’s illicit son, taken away and raised by Brecilian fog beasties!).

“I thought they had killed you,” she whispered.

Aneirin nodded. “They very nearly did,” he said gravely. “The Templars ran me through out here, while I was searching for the Dalish, and left me for dead.”

Wynne clapped a hand over her mouth and either coughed or sobbed into it a little– Zevran suspected it was the latter of these. Leliana and Alistair passed him and Rhodri to hover around Wynne, dispensing awkward little back pats and sympathetic coos.

“I brought this on you,” Wynne choked. “This is all my fault, Aneirin. How did you even–?”

Aneirin smiled sadly and shook his head. “Do not be so fretful, Wynne. Come, sit with me awhile and I’ll tell you what happened.” He looked past her to the others. “You’re all welcome to join. Please, I’ll make some tea for all of us.”

#Have Warden Will Travel #HWWT #Rhodri Amell #God I hope these buggers can get out of the forest soon i am SOOOOO sick of bad-tempered arboreal beasts

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existentialflirt · 9 months

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random thought: what if every high-ranking demon (especially the fallen angels) in the GO universe has animal eyes? Crowley obv has vertical slit-pupiled eyes (like a snake). Beelzebub (IDK their rank) obv has the whole fly aesthetic...

if there was a demon/fallen angel w/wolf eyes, I'd RIOT (& try to hug them)--

So Hastur and Ligur did have, er animal features in a manner of speaking. Hastur has black eyes and a Frog like welded in his head and Ligur has an iguana. I think they're both Archdukes of Hell, certainly Hastur is. Beez is a Lord or something. Definitely high rank. I know their rank is noted in the book but i don't feel like looking it up. The larger point is that it was very strongly implied in the book that Crowley is actually pretty low rank. Season 2 kinda muddied things a bit, I feel, with the whole bit with that demon trying to get dirt on Crowley in exchange for getting a promotion into temptations which i'm guessing Crowley is in. Makes sense honestly. I have the head canon that he basically invented the model of how demons corrupted humans by tempting Eve into eating the apple. Also that he's been coasting on that monumental deed for millennia, because y'know. Instigating the fall of man, even if that hadn't been his intent, is kind of a big deal.

so uh, that doesn't really answer your question, because i really can't say if there was any real intent beyond some interesting aesthetic. My thought is that GO demons are exhibiting the corruption within on the outside. There's the question of why Crowley is exponentially more...uh, well, convenionally attractive than most other demons, both on Earth and down below. You could say, I suppose, because deep down he was never really that evil. Sauntered casually downward and all. Personally i think it's just a matter of him having half a brain and an imagination, with a dash of vanity. Not to mention the fact that he's been, for all intent and purposes, on Earth since the dawn of man and as far as i can tell, hasn't spend much time in Hell. Humans are fickle things, and you can't very well go about LOOKING the part and expect to have success. There is an interesting point in the book when he changes his shape into something truly horrific to scare a dude (it's never detailed, only that it was terrifying and apparently maggots were involved). When he changes back he bitches mildly about how much he hates doing that because he's afraid of getting stuck.

Uh so. tl;dr: Demons and angels aren't really bound by anything but their imaginations. Which is why both Crowley and Aziraphale stand apart from their kin. They're both inquisitive creatures that think for themselves to varying degrees. Now, i'm not sure if a demon would have wolf eyes. The pattern of imagery is that demons embody cold blooded creatures and insects. Things often considered creepy or repulsive. Most people would probably agree that wolves are far too noble, but i mean, i really have to stress that aside from Crowley and Beez, the animal features and/or affinity is largely a series thing and as I said i really don't think it's anything but some neat costume design. Sometimes a bloke just has a frog on his head and it doesn't bear any deeper meaning than that.

#Meta ramble #I'm so sorry. I tend to prattle on #I love GO but you know some of the choices just ain't that deep y'know?#Mobile post;

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leaky-pen · 2 years

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Trailer Breakdown!! Part One?

I'm really not sure how to feel about these two. neither of their designs really jump out to me.

It does seem kind of interesting that they seem to be very different in terms of one looking very modern and the other looking more long time ago. Is that going to be a difference between the two schools? That one wants to adopt modern ideas and practices and technology and the other wishes to remain close to their roots and never change? That could potentially be the driving conflict here, with both of them eventually resolving it in the end and compromising about still participating in their culture while also adopting new ways to make things easier.

Now, on to the designs. Let's start with the violet one first because it seems slightly more interesting to me.

Well first of all, an electric typing seems inevitable. I actually really like this design from the waist up. It's just those jets?? on its legs?? that i'm not really a fan of. I love it's sleek form and I'm always a fan of arms in that shape with those claws. I think it's just a very fun set of proportions. The puff of the chest is kind of fun to me, looks a little silly but i like it. reminds me of a frog croaking. The face is really good. I love the shape of it and it's actually really cute. I also like the little lighting shaped thingys? on its head. They aren't my favorite part of the design but they aren't bad either. What i really enjoy are all the grooves on it that give it look that it's made of metal sections. And the way it appears to be made of metal with the electricity powering it being visible is always a fun design choice. Its stomach area seems like to me that it's glass or some other clear material with again that electricity powering it. I also love the tail. It's so sparkly and pretty and it's got a lil lightning bolt on the end! Also i just checked it's name! Miraidon! Which of course first reminds me of the Japanese word Mirai which translates to future. This seems to fit very well with it's futuristic design! And the -don on the end just seems to invoke the idea of a dinosaur or dragon to me. Which given its reptilian appearance makes sense.

And for the scarlet one, i'm not really sure where to start. It seems to have a lot of details on it.

I do like the crest on its head a lot. The feathers? and long tendrils? seem fun and flow-y. I also really like its eye color, the piercing gold color is very fun. The spines running down its back also seem to make sense. I like the triangular pattern on its tail and the diamond shape on its arms. The webbed feet? I'm a little confused? Does he need to swim? Is it based on a real animal i'm not aware of? The feather looking bits on the top of the tail/bottom of the back also confuse me. They look a little awkward. But my two least favorite bits of the design would have to be the weird tentacle things on the shoulders and the thing on its chest. The tentacle things look shiny in a way the rest of the body doesn't and it seems to not mesh well with the rest of the design. As for the thing on its chest it lowkey looks like half a tire got hot glued to him. However, i just noticed the little swirly white design on its chest and i really like those. But back to the chest thing, both designs seem to have this on it and i'm wondering if it's based on an animal or mythological creature i'm not familiar with. Its name is Koraidon! while this doesn't stick out to me in any way other than the -don at the end again pointing towards them being especially close to each other lore wise. I will check if Korai means anything tho. Well apparently it's the plural of Kore which means "an archaic Greek statue of a young woman, standing and clothed in long loose robes." It can also mean early, untimely, or precocious in Hungarian. The definition of early would make the most since given its traditional/prehistoric look. But i'm not sure why one wuld have its name rooted in Japanese and the other in Hungarian unless its just the fact that mirai and korai sound similar.

Now, here's a question i have: why do they look so similar? Now i mean we know sets of legendaries can look similar and they often do. Obviously they are meant to relate to each other in some way just from the way pokemon games work. But what is that relation? Well very obviously they have almost the exact same shape. Just one looks more natural and the other looks more man made. I wonder if that goes back to the different factions having different ways of doing things. Is the more natural one the original legendary pokemon who looks over the area and the man made looking one actually made by the other faction in an attempt to achieve the same results? I mean, the series is no stranger to artificially created or edited pokemon.

Ok, this thing

It's clearly the electric mouse or "pikachu clone" for this generation. It's name is Pawmii and i think while it's cute it doesn't stand out in any way compared to the rest of the electric rodents. I do like its little face and chonky legs tho.

"In addition to the electric sacs in its cheeks, Pawmi has electricity-discharging organs on its forepaws. It generates electricity by rubbing its cheeks, then it shocks its opponents by touching them with the pads on its forepaws."

-The Official Website

So! It can give boops of death!

Now, the thing that seems to be killing most of the internet(myslef included)

Lechonk! Fist up, I have to mention the name. It's perfect. Next, the design. It seems to be just a fairly general pig. Not my favorite pig design we have but i do love his nose and round body. His cartoon-ish proportions make for such a fun and silly look.

"Lechonk uses its sense of smell to find and eat only the most fragrant wild grasses and the richest Berries. As a result of its dining habits, it has come to radiate an aroma resembling herbs that bug Pokémon dislike."

-The Offical Website

I feel this little quirk of his is almost definitely based on irl pigs hunting for truffles. I also think this would make Lechonk a wonderful addition to any team meant for a chef character.

Now, This little thing

It is absolutely adorable! and i can't wait to see it's evolution. I love seeing what grass pokemon evolve into because so often they are based on a seed or sprout and it can be hard to tell what they will turn into. That being said, dose anyone know if Smoliv seems to be based on a particular seed or sprout? Also, can we talk about that name? First we had one with chonk in the name, now we have one with smol as well. And just look at it. It IS smol.

"The oil that comes out of its head has a very strong bitter taste, and it is not suitable for consumption. When startled or attacked, Smoliv will shoot this oil out, slowing its opponent down. It will then seize that moment to run away."

-Official Website

Well that also seems like it could be a clue towards what plant it's based on! It honestly looks a little like an olive to me just in color and shape, but i've never had olive oil plain?? So i can't really verify if it's bitter. Ah, I just realized its name is a play on olive. I must have been too excited to notice!

OK now the non pokemon designs! The professors are very obviously still continuing the theme of tradition vs technology.

I mean just look at them. Also excuse me for a second but, AAAAAAA TWO PROFESSORS??? T W O? *ahem* I'm fine now.

First up the Scarlet one. I gotta say, i LOVE her hair and her whole look. She looks epic as heck. Ok just checked, her name is Sada, which just seems to roll off the tongue so well. Her outfit doesn't stand out as amazing to me to me but it also isn't bad either. I like her belt, necklace, and hair accessories. But other that that she seems pretty ok to me. I also like her mismatched bracelets. Her face and posture seem to indicate she is more outgoing, confident, and openly happy. I also adore her coat, like yes it's a lab coat which seems so modern and technological and against her design but the little details on it make it work so well.

Next the Violet professor, His outfit feels kind of lacking to me. I've never been a big fan of the futuristic skin tight suit thing and that's pretty much all he has going on. :/ I do like his coat tho. Also his name is Turo apparently. Which the first time i read it my brain autofilled it as Turrón. I like the name Turo less than Sada but i guess it isn't horrible. Just not my tastes. His stance and facial expressions seem to imply he will be more reserved, cold, and not express emotions in as open or extreme of a manner as Sada.

I love that while they both have lab coats on, they're personalized, the fur and tooth or stone clasps on hers and the triangular shaped buttons and more blocky shape to the coat are very fun. I also like that neither of them are exactly white in the art. They are tinged orange and purple respectively. That's less of a design and more of an art thing but i adore when ppl don't use actual white, it adds so much more color and vibe to the picture.

"Each is carrying out research into certain lore passed down in the region."

-Official Website

Ok, well that seems intriguing. So it's not exactly that they have different approaches to things as a tradition/new thing. If both things are lore "passed down" then it seems like both tradition and technology were passed down? Or i guess it could be that they both have the same lore they are working on it's just how they choose to use it that changes things, that would then continue my previous train of thought.

Now!! It seems like we've had our rival revealed!

And! Her name is Nemona! Which seems very pretty to me! It also seems like her outfit is different depending on what version of the game you are in. I wonder if she will be a childhood friend who goes to the same school as you or if she's a rival from the other one? I also notice all her accessories that aren't part of her uniform seem to have their own style to them. Her glove, over the shoulder bag, and shoes are all black white and red with a distinct style to them. That makes it seem like that is more her style and if she were to pick her own outfit it would be more in that style. Which i think is great! As a character in a uniform it's important we can see her own style shine through! It may be even pointing towards her having an original outfit later on. I also love her freckles, they're so cute! Her eyes are a wonderful shade of amber and i like her hair and skin color. However, if her design has one negative for me it's the green in her hair. I love dyed hair don't get me wrong but the green with her accessories just reminds me of the stereotypical christmas colors. I've never really preferred green and red together and my personal distaste for christmas really makes it worse. But i'm pretty sure that's just a personal bias affecting it.

"Your friend, Nemona, has a sunny and energetic disposition, and she absolutely loves Pokémon battles. She’s an experienced Pokémon Trainer and serves as a reliable guide for you on your adventures. She has undisputed skill in battle—though it does also seem that she’s not the best at throwing Poké Balls."

-Official Website

So! She's a friend! This may mean she will be in the same school as the player. Or it could be that they are friends despite being in different schools. It also mentions her being an experienced trainer and she looks visibly older than the protagonist. This could place her as an upperclassman helping the player. She can also be seen saying "Are you these three's Trainer?"

This implies she doesn't even know the players team at the beginning of the game. It could be that's when you first meet her or it's just that she's known the player for a while and since you get your first pokemon as of the start of the game she isn't aware of what your pokemon is yet.

"You can experience a new style of adventure, with a world that you’re free to explore at your leisure and not in an order dictated by the story. You will, of course, journey to hone your skills as a Pokémon Trainer, but many more discoveries and stories await you. Meet a variety of people and Pokémon, and adventure in the world of Pokémon the way you want to."

-From the Official Website

Soooo, i know this probably isn't new info, but i haven't been on there before as i haven't been that interested until this trailer came out. I find this very interesting. Especially the phrase "you’re free to explore at your leisure and not in an order dictated by the story" This is interesting because even though Legends Arceus seemed a lot more open then a standard pokemon game, i definitely wouldn't describe it as open world. You are still stuck in specific areas until you complete a certain part in the story and the constant need to travel back to town to move anywhere else is slightly inconveniencing. But this seems to imply that you can wander anywhere and at any time with no limits from story progression. That is just, perfect. It's pretty much exactly what i've been dreaming of since i was a kid. Just a chance to exist in the pokemon world and run around doing what i want. I also really hope they keep the side quests and minigames from Arceus. I'd love to be able to wander around populated towns and talk to people helping them in different ways. Perhaps even being able to do minigames at establishments in exchange for some money? I know i'm probably getting ahead of myself but man i've just got so many thoughts running through my head.

Anyway, last thoughts. This games looks like it's shaping up to be really fun! I'll probably do another post like this breaking down more of the trailer but for now let's wrap things up. I love the open world feel to it. What I'm really hoping for is the cities to behave just like the wilder areas in some aspects. I'd love to be able to catch pokemon like trubbish, pidove and other pokemon that seem like they would live in cities there!! And of course that leaves me with one final idea. IMAGINE A GEN V REMAKE WITH MECHANICS LIKE THAT!!! :D Unova was based on the USA so seeing the big cities in it full with pokemon everywhere inhabiting it would be SO!! Much!!! Fun!!

Small Note for anyone who actually read this far!: I've only ever played 3 mainline games and i've only ever beaten one! So if something i said doesn't make sense that may be why. I'm also WAY too excited to think correctly so uh... apologies if i'm being stupid. This was mostly just my personal thoughts i needed to put somewhere so i really didn't expect anyone to read all this?

#pokemon #pokemon violet #pokemon scarlet #pokemon trailer #scarlet violet trailer #sv trailer #trailer breakdown #design review #design breakdown #smolive #lechonk #pokemon professor #pokemon spoilers #pawmii #offtopicink

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coppertigermedia · 1 year

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How to Choose Your Best Niche for Affiliate Marketing

Interested in starting an affiliate marketing business? Good for you! Now Step One is to choose a niche.

Affiliate marketers never seem to tire of talking about niches: I’m in this niche, I’m in that niche, the health niche, the make-money-online niche, the dating niche the blag-blah-blah niche.

“Don’t even think about starting an online business without first choosing your niche and then niching down further!” I mean, what on earth???! Well, the thing is this: if you don’t choose your own little niche in the vast expanses of cyber space, then you’re just not going to get heard or seen. It’s like trying to shout to get your friend’s attention when you’re standing next to the track at a Formula One rally. Might as well forget it.

So what is a Niche, and why are marketers so obsessed by them?

Well, I found this definition for you: Adjective: denoting products, services, or interests that appeal to a small, specialized section of the population

And I think that defines it pretty well: you need to figure out what products and services are going to appeal to your chosen target market; your ideal audience. How can you capture their attention and give them what they are looking for? And what are they looking for?

A Good Place to Start

Is a personal interest of yours: something that you know about yourself; something that you find yourself reading about online, or watching You Tube videos about. Even better if you’re already an expert in the subject, because then you’ll be able to enthuse your audience and they’ll love gobbling up all the content you produce to learn more about your subject. Plus you’ll find it easier to build that magic ingredient of online marketing which is authority. If you can establish yourself as an expert in your particular niche, then people are far more likely to buy from you, than from someone who comes across as not really knowing what they are talking about.( Winner, winner, chicken dinner, as they say. )

Yes, that’s all very well, but my area of expertise is in creating knitting patterns for mice.

Well, this is where you’ve got to get your commercial head on and do the research. You’re going to need to ask our wise friend Google how many people are searching for knitting patterns for mice, or juggling balls for frogs, or whatever obscure area of expertise you may have. The harsh fact is, is there are very few people searching for answers in your niche, then don’t waste your time, because it would be super difficult to make any real money out of it.

Some Unusual Niches to Consider

Ok, so the mouse mittens niche is way too tiny, I’m sure you appreciate that. But here are a few more unusual niches for you to contemplate which can be surprisingly profitable. Think of it this way: you don’t need zillions of visitors to your site to be profitable; it’s not so much a numbers game as a motivation game. Your ideal audience consists of people who are passionate about your niche, and happy to spend money in that niche.

Have you considered starting your business in any of these areas?

Elder care- lots of middle aged people are researching this topic as their parents are getting on in years and needing more help

Virtual assistant business- there’s a huge demand for virtual assistants as the number of people who are setting up their own home businesses has increased massively due to the pandemic

Gluten free eating- the food intolerance sector is massive

Get into college- tips on preparation for college, including advice on finance and accommodation, as well as academic courses

Haircare- there’s a huge potential for a home business here, especially if you really niche down: specialise in Afro hair, or vegan hair products, for example

Crochet- since the pandemic hit us and we all had to spend more time at home, the whole crafting industry has really expanded. Think knitting, crochet, painting, card-making….the list goes on. Here you are going to be thinking about creating videos ( how to..) selling craft supplies, patterns etc. Think about creating your own courses, or selling someone else’s.

Language learning: Arabic, Japanese, German…..the language niche is massive, and people are prepared to pay to learn them. You could create your own course and run a subscription business, including producing and selling your own course materials.

Deep sea fishing- the fishing niche has a highly-engaged audience who are willing to whip out their credit card to spend money on fancy fishing gear. If you’re passionate about fishing, this is a great niche for you, but there are already plenty of well-established fishing sites out there, and remember that, as a beginner, you’re going to be a very small fish in a very large pool. (Sorry, couldn’t resist!)

So…..think deep sea fishing, or salmon fishing, or fishing in Scottish rivers. In other words: specialise, so that your site offers something that all the others don’t.

Learn Wordpress, Python or Java. Sites which involve teaching a specialist skill have great potential for profitability. If you can teach someone a skill that they really want to learn, then they are prepared to pay for it; especially if that skill is going to be something that your students are going to be able to recoup their spend from later down the line. If you can teach someone the skills required to be a mortgage adviser, for example, then they will know that they won’t need to find too many clients to easily pay back the course fees that they originally paid to you.

Is This Niche Really a Viable Business Proposition?

Ok, so now perhaps you have a good idea about which niche you’d like to start your business in- but is it really a viable business proposition? Let’s look now at the factors you need to consider before you launch.

High Search Volume, but Low Competition

The golden rule is to find a niche which has high search volume, but low competition. What that means is that there are plenty of people interested in the niche- researching it and asking questions- but low competition. That means that there aren’t so many people producing content about the niche- especially established big players- that you can’t compete with them as a fledgling business without a million pound advertising budget.

How To Research

There are lots of paid tools for doing this research, but you can do it for free by opening up an account in Google Ads and then use the Keyword Planner tool. In order to do this, you’ll have to set up an advert, but don’t worry, because you won’t have to run it. Just fill in the boxes within Google Ads but don’t publish the campaign.

Once you’ve done those steps, then type in some words which describe your niche, and then go to ‘search volume and forecast.’ This will show you the numbers of searches for your niche topics and give them a score, as to whether they are high, medium or low competition keywords. It’s not an exact science, but it will give you a good idea.

Avoid Keywords With High Search Volume

Strangely enough, although high volume words are those which are being searched for most, these are the ones you want to avoid as a beginner. This is because they are search terms which are the most competitive, and as you are starting off as a very small fish in a massive pond, you simply don’t have a chance of achieving so much as a nibble. Those words are dominated by the huge companies which have been around for years and have mahoosive amounts of cash to spend on advertising.

No, you’re looking for the words with high search volume ( lots of interest) but low competition.

What Next?

Let’s take the next step. Following your keyword research, let’s imagine that you have managed to find a niche you’re interested in that has a high volume of people searching it out, but low competition. Sounds promising….but can you actually make money from it? This is your next topic for research: what are you actually going to be able to sell to generate a good income?

Courses: these can be extremely profitable, as your ideal audience will be prepared to spend to learn the skill you’re offering when you have convinced them that you know what you’re talking about. The knack to this is to publish plenty of free content on your chosen platform ( your website, Facebook page etc) to build your authority and gain the trust of your audience, but then to ask for payment if they want to know more. In other words, if they really want to know how to do it, they need to buy your course.

If you have worked hard on building your authority and gaining the trust of your audience, then you won’t meet with too much resistance when you ask them to get their credit card out and pay to learn more.

Creating a Digital Asset

Creating your course involves a fair amount of effort and time on your part, but once it’s done, then you can sell it time and time again; tweaking it where required. Therefore your course will pay you back many times over. If the idea of designing and writing your course scares the pants off you, then you might wish to engage the help of the free artificial intelligence tool, chat.openai.com and choose the ‘One click course creator.’

You will need to enter your prompts for what you want your course to look like, but the result will at least be a great starting point for you, and avoid the dreaded blank page of terror.

Speaking of digital assets: these can be a real money generator for you. Think about what downloadable assets you can create in your niche: e-books, how-to guides, quick-start guides, recipes, instructions….the list goes on. You can create these and offer them for free as lead magnets to entice prospects to sign up to your email list, and then offer them your paid downloads when you have won over their trust. Again, once you have gone to the trouble of creating these, they are going to be able to create income for you for years to come.

Create a digital asset business: you could create a very profitable business purely by creating and selling digital assets. Have a look at Etsy.com and see the massive potential that exists there: huge traffic and a huge variety of products you could create and sell.

Stressing about how to create digital assets? Go to Copyai and get them created for free!

Selling Services: there is a great demand for freelance services. You may wish to read this article: https://wearecityliving.com/blog/top-5-most-in-demand-freelance-jobs-for-2023

This discusses the top 5 freelance skills which are currently in the highest demand:

Social media management

Web app development

Translating

Videography and photography

Admin tasks

I Can’t do any of Those!

Perhaps one of these ideas sounds like a great business prospect to you but you don’t currently have the required skilset. Don’t worry! You’ll be surprised how quickly and cheaply you can learn to perform many tasks, so don’t let that put you off. Let me suggest popping over to Udemy.com and browse the recommended courses: they’re amazingly cheap and high quality. Then get to work learning the skills you need.Depending on your commitment to acquiring the skills and knowledge required, you could have learned everything you need to start your own business within the space of a few months.

Getting Started as a Service Provider

You may wish to start off your freelance career by setting up your profile on the freelancing websites such as Fiverr, Upwork or Freelancer. There are pros and cons to be considered here, including the fact that all of these sites take a slice of your profits as their fee. However, they do have massive traffic and will give you the chance to get started with working with clients and learning the skills you’ll need to get your business off the ground.

Research whether your chosen niche has any high ticket affiliate programmes for you to promote. You’ll find that, surprisingly, it isn’t actually any harder to sell products with a high price tag and those with a low one, and it’s those high ticket items which are going to get the money rolling in for you.

Low ticket or free items are handy for getting people to sign up onto your email list, but they’re not going to pay your bills. However, once you have those interested people on your list, that’s when you can promote your high ticket offerings to them through your email sequences.

Value Ladder

You may have heard of the term ‘value ladder.’ This is the process whereby a lower priced product brings someone into your sales funnel easily, and subsequently offers them other items at increasingly higher prices. You may get someone to download your free ‘how-to’ list in exchange for their e-mail address, and then make them further offers, until finally you’re inviting them to your one:one coaching programme, for example.

Recurring commissions: these are the programmes which earn you a monthly recurring commission, such as email auto-responders, web hosting etc. Supplements also often are pretty good at paying out monthly, as want to renew their supplies regularly. See whether there are any such programmes within your chosen niche, as these can build up to bring in a healthy monthly income for you over time.

Evergreen Products

Be cautious about setting up a business purely based on a current fad as it may have a very short lifespan. Think fidget spinners: at one point, not so very long ago, all the kids wanted one and businesses were selling them left, right and centre. Yes, I am sure that at the height of the craze there were savvy businesses coining it in selling them, but when the craze was over then there were also plenty of businesses left with a shedload of unsold stock that nobody wanted any more.

Google Trends is a useful research tool here, as it will show you what search terms are trending at any one time, and which are fading out. It’s easy to feel that a product is still very much in demand when in reality it’s actually beginning to die out, and is therefore not a great idea for an evergreen business.

When considering signing up for affiliate programmes, make sure that you research the commission rates they offer and do some maths: ask yourself just how many sales you’d need to make in order to generate the income you desire. You don’t want to be busting a gut to make just a few measly pounds: that’s not the lifestyle of financial freedom you’re aiming for!

Looking for programmes which offer a great affiliate commission?

Consider selling luxury items- the luxury watch market pays out great commissions, for example. There are also affiliate programmes for companies that offer private jet flights and luxury yacht sales and cruises. Look for where the money is and do your research.

Private Boat Charter Programmes

You may wish to include this article in your research: https://highpayingaffiliateprograms.com/yacht-affiliate-programs/

As the author of the article writes:

“Boat affiliate programs may be an opportunity you’ve never thought of before as an affiliate marketer.

The boat sale and rental business is doing very well and it’s not just for the ultra-affluent.”

Bill Burnice

Now, there’s an interesting niche, that most people wouldn’t have thought of.

Conclusion

Well, that’s it from me for now on the subject of choosing a profitable niche for your online business venture. I really hope that I’ve given you some useful guidance on finding the one that suits you the best, and will grow into the business you dream of. I certainly wish you all the very best, and I’m off to knit some socks for mice now- let me know if you want the pattern, won’t you?!

Want to see more articles like this one? visit my site: https://www.christinefoleyonline.com

#affilate marketing #findingprofitableniches #make money online

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idontblushsrry · 3 years

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Love Language|| Jujutsu Kaisen

“I wanna be fluent in your love language. Learning your love language.”

A/N: If you didn’t guess from the tagline this is inspired by the song love language by Kehlani. I’ll probably do more of these with different shows and what not because why not. If I missed anyone lmk and I can make a part 2. Also please tag spoilers appropriately esp for manga readers, that being said spoilers for the prequel? manga on Yuuta’s part.

Characters: Itadori, Fushiguro, Kugisaki, Maki, Inumaki, Okkotsu, Gojo, Nanami, Sukuna

Warnings: said it b4 but spoiler warnings in general but esp on Yuuji, Yuuta, and Maki’s parts

Plot synopsis: The 5 love languages; physical affection, quality time, words of affirmation, gift giving and acts of service, and how each jujutsu kaisen character shows their love and affection for you. Ft. a gender neutral reader!

Word count: 2352

Itadori Yuuji

Love Language: Quality time and physical affection

Ok listen-

So for physical affection, Yuuji’s just that kind of person

He is all about giving to you

He’s holding hands with you if you’re ever walking anywhere, and if you’re not a hand holder pls pls pls let him hold your pinky he likes the reassurance

No but seriously he loves to hold you like yall could be walking in completely opposite directions and he’ll try to find some way to hold onto you until the very last second

And even then he’s all ‘:( babe imy’

‘Yuuji we just talked 2 minutes ago’

Another way he shows his love is through quality time

I think for him this is the biggest thing overall, esp as a jujutsu sorcerer bcus you never know yk but also because you’re important to him

Like remember how he literally went to occult club so that he could get out of school in time to go visit his grandpa...ye :(

He also loves finding dumb touristy things to do with you while in Tokyo or anywhere yall go together on a mission

If you get together before he died and came back then that time he had to spend away from you literally killed him

Like my mans was goin THROUGH it

He almost considered spoiling Gojo’s secret

When he sees you again, he’s not gonna let go for like a solid day

Fushiguro Megumi

Love Language: acts of service and words of affirmation

This boy loves you so much

He loves to tell you all the things he loves about you when you’re alone

But he’s a little awkward with his words sometimes, hence where acts of service come in

He’ll immediately offer to hold your things, run to help you train or study, and if you’re cold? He’s fully prepared to never see his jacket again

Also he can’t cook but he’s fully prepared to suffer hearing Sukuna and suffering through Yuuji’s antics if it means he can learn how to make your favorite food

He also will surprise you by making you a playlist of all the songs that you’ve had stuck in your head and sends it to you randomly out of the blue one day like ‘thought you might like this’

However the best of both worlds is when he leaves you little notes throughout the day or sends you texts asking if you need anything or just encouraging you to keep going

Negl he’s lowkey the president of the Y/N support club bcus-

You need anything? It’s yours

Cravings? Sad? Angry? What do you need bby, I’ve got it for you

Also he’s totally the type to be like you need help fuckin this person up?

Also before yall started dating, Fushiguro was a mess

He was constantly asking to spar with you and go on missions, basically anything he could do to be near you

End of the day, Fushiguro loves you and makes sure you know it whether it’s through his actions or his words

Kugisaki Nobara

Love Language: physical affection

So, she’s not the best with words, she tries but like someone help her bcus she is LOST

Like when she had a crush on you she was like “c’mere dumbass i wanna give you a hug”

In fact, she still is like “c’mere” but now you are dating :)

She loves you though and at first she doesn’t really know how to show it

But one day you both come home from training and you just look at each other like ‘yeah today sucks’ and yall both just held each other for the rest of the day

After that, she decided that she wants to do that with you but like always

She’s holding your hand, kissing your cheek when you go shopping, etc. etc.

She really loves to cling to you because she always has this fear that maybe one day you’ll get killed or just disappear so she figures might as well hold onto you for as long as we’ve got

After missions, she’s running up to you and if you aren’t prepared for the tackle, you’re probably gonna fall

On dates too, like if you guys have to meet up for a date, she’s tackling you

On the subject of dates...

She doesn’t mind PDA, and while she might hold your hand or arm so that you don’t get separated

She also doesn’t mind wiping food off your face and eating it, only to then kiss the spot on your face the food was previously at

She will split her shopping load between the two of you, however she will be slightly pouty if she’s carrying more than you (she then cheers up when she realizes she can do more shopping to “balance” the two of you)

In private she’s very cuddly and kissy which honestly isn’t that bad until it gets hot

At which point she’ll just say turn on the ac or convince you to walk around in a tank top (or something like it) so that she can continue holding you

Tbh she prefers the big spoon, but if she’s ever upset you let her be the little spoon >:(

All in all a very loving girlfriend who tries her best to show how much she loves you by glomping you at any given moment.

Zenin Maki

Love language: acts of service and quality time

So you’re telling me that Maki wouldn’t immediately go out of her way to make sure her and her s/o can spend as much time together as possible?????

Like she’s super observant (which can cause her to be a bit harsh, see Yuuta) but she can always tell what’s bothering you

So if you’re upset that you haven’t been spending enough time together due to her being out on missions or otherwise busy she’s immediately running to finish her stuff and spend time with you.

((She’s very sorry, but on the bright side she brought your favorites!))

Maki is also an acts of service type

This mostly ties in with her kind of direct action way of thinking

She thinks she’s slick but you can always see her sneaking around to do small things like grabbing your laundry for you and folding it

She’s very much like if you love someone, you gotta prove it

Overall, dates with her are very intimate and personal to the two of you

Like she’ll take you to a frog pond you landed in during a fight once

Or you’ll take her to a street fair that serves this exclusive food that Maki mentioned wanting to try

However, Maki shows her love through quality time and acts of service and while she does receive love from these to a degree, she is very much a words of affirmation gal

She’s not insecure in her day to day life but she has her moments, everyone does

Sometimes, she’ll feel like shit and a failure and all she wants is for you to say that she’s doing amazing and that she’s a great girlfriend.

Inumaki Toge

Love language: Physical affection

Because of his curse, he can’t exactly express how he feels about you through words

He does text you frequently throughout the day (I’ll have to do a hc abt that someday)

But he’d prefer not to be on his phone to communicate if you’re right in front of him

So he does the next best thing and just smothers you in physical affection

He loves kissing you the most

Like he could spend hours just kissing you if you let him (please let him)

But in public, he gets if you’re not a big fan of pda he’s willing to tone it down as long as he gets kisses later in private

He’d still prefer it if you held his hand or linked pinkies maintaining touch in some way

Also, unrelated, but it means so much to him if you try to understand his sushi language

He knows realistically the foundation of any relationship is communication so already he’s at a disadvantage because of his curse

But if he sees you like take notes after he says something or start to need him to text you to translate, his heart is swelling

Like ‘omg this person loves me enough to learn a whole new language <333′

Another tangent but before you were together he was struggling so muchhhh

Like how does one express their feelings for someone without words?

If you’re Inumaki, you buy some flowers and text said person to meet you at a cafe

It took an embarrassingly long time for you to realize it was a date, but once you did, you ever so gently linked pinkies with Toge

Okkotsu Yuuta

Love language: words. of. affirmation.

He’s literally so sensitive please tell him you love him regularly

In return he’ll be sure to tell you how much he loves you too

He knows that he can’t really be there for you as much as he’d like but he likes to let you know that he’s thinking of you

Doesn’t matter the time, if you call, he’s answering

If he doesn’t he’ll cry he’ll immediately call you back and is apologizing for missing your call

You assure him it’s no big deal but the man has his volume turned all the way up and changed your ringtone to one specific for you by the time you’ve even said hey

Aside from that, he really is sensitive

He’s been through a lot especially with Rika as well as growing up alone and bullied

So for him, it’s everything to hear that you like having him around and don’t think he’s too much or anything like that

Of course, he gets better with time, trusting you and having the confidence in himself to not need constant assurance

That being said, if you ever just whisper in his ear, “I love you, Yuuta.”

That’s not your boyfriend, that’s a puddle of love on the floor

(Maki, Panda, and Inumaki had a field day when they saw him, Fushiguro now questions if Yuuta really is a respectable 2nd year.)

Gojo Satoru

Love language: gift giving and quality time

So Gojo doesn’t exactly get to spend a ton of time

Between missions, him beefing with higher ups, and you and him playing parent the baby sorcerers yall don’t exactly get time to go out much

In which case Gojo tends to default to two options:

He’ll either go the extra mile to try and spend time with you

Whether that be an at home date where he tries and fails to surprise you with a home cooked meal

Or a date out at a restaurant or cafe (which you tend to visit after his home cooking efforts)

OR he’ll bring you various souvenirs from his missions

He loves to spoil you, and if he could he’d probably bring you back a whole store’s worth of stuff

But alas, airport security regulations

Anyways, he loves to spoil you especially if he can spoil you with sweets because it benefits him in two ways

He treasures all the time you spend together, and he does try to overcompensate for his absence with gifts

Despite your assurances, it’s kind of a guilty pleasure at this point (just let him, trying to argue just goads him on further)

He doesn’t only buy you small things, he enjoys buying you outfits

And he especially likes seeing you in them

Kento Nanami

Love Language: acts of service

Y’all remember the episode where he killed that curse that was bothering that baker lady?? Yea that

He’s literally such an acts of service boyfriend it’s not even funny

Before you got together, he would memorize your coffee order and bring you a cup pretty much everyday like clockwork

Now that you’re togehter, he wakes up before you so h=that when you wake up there’s the smell of coffee throughout the house

When you come out of you’re shared bedroom and he’s just scrooling through his phone like “mornin’”

Of course you already made the bed and ironed his clothes because relationships are give and take

And then when you leave for your jobs in the morning, he kisses you and holds the door open for you

He’ll draw a bath for you if he gets home before you, if you let him join or not is up to you

Also, if you ever get sick, he’s actually the best

Like he isn’t the best cook but he can heat up soup and tea

He’ll run to the store while you’re asleep and when you wake up, there’s like a whole tray of food in front of you and he’s like ‘it’s important to eat and drink so your body can heal’

And when you inevitably fall asleep after eating and taking medicine at his insistence, he tucks you in and clears away the dishes, exiting with little more than a kiss to your head

Ryoumen Sukuna

Love Language: gift giving and acts of service

So like Sukuna never says he loves you...ever

But he does notice if someone or something’s making you uncomfortable, and if so, said entity’s head will be presented to you later that day

You also just so happen to be the only person he can tolerate being around him for longer than 20 seconds

He also loves to give you jewelry, he likes seeing you adorned in something from him

He also isn’t gonna just handle all your problems for you, he will push you to become stronger by training with you

He’ll also expect this energy to be reciprocated, as long as you’re pushing yourself to be better, he’s content with that

(He wants to see you grow because he’s scared that if he ever gets caught lackin one day you’ll end up dead)

He’ll never tell you or admit it, but Sukuna truly does care for you and hold you in a regard that he doesn’t have for others

So be grateful jkjk

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stagemanagerssaygo · 4 years

Text

Heaven and Hell: or my experience being a person of color in Disney’s Hyperion Theater

by Cooper Howell

Heaven and Hell: or my experience being a person of color in Disney's Hyperion Theater. #holdingtheateraccountable Im just gonna go ahead and be straight up. This is pretty scary to share. HEAVEN: Once upon a time Liesl Tommy cast me as Prince Hans in Frozen: Live at the Hyperion. And I was gooped. GOOPED. There was nothing in my prior history that gave any indication this was possible. Up until then every role I played had to do with my race. Every. Single. One. And even ones where it didn’t (Shakespeare or classical pieces mostly) I was always made aware that the novelty of me being a poc in that role that gave me the part. So much did I not expect to get this part that when I got the callback I rolled my eyes and didn’t take the actual callback seriously. I mean, there was a zero percent chance that Disney would ever let me play a Prince, especially when the dude in the movie is a ginger. But then I got it. And immediately everything I thought was possible about my career changed. My whole life I’ve never inwardly felt black. I’ve never inwardly felt white. I’ve always felt like I was Cooper, you know, on the inside. But whether it was every single white human in Utah reminding me that I was “the whitest person they ever knew/saw” (which DIDNT mean how white my skin was. It was how white I ACTED) or Mr. Johnson, my 7th grade drama teacher, telling me that he “wanted to put Velcro on the ceiling to see if I’d stick” or Mr. Smith, my high school drama teacher, saying “finally we can do black shows” as soon as I entered high school and then not casting me in roles because of the "optics" of it, or even my best friend in high school Tanner Harmon who called me "blackie", I was always reminded that I was an other. So imagine getting paid good money to put on that $10,000 costume and waltzing out to 4000 people a day to play a really amazing part. A fantastic, evil, complicated, person who sings a killer duet and then grabs the show by the throat with a vicious about-face monologue... and not once was my race ever mentioned cuz it didnt matter. What was being prized was Cooper, my talent, not my skin color that I never asked for. Heaven. Liesl MADE SURE, almost overly sure, that the poc’s in the cast felt equal. The kingdom of Arendelle, after all, is a make believe place. It can be whatever. From having Disney executives come and tell us that they were happy to have us there, to side conversations with John Lasseter, we were made to feel overly welcome playing the parts we were playing. She encouraged us to dive deeper into the script of a cartoon that I didnt really think much of until I was in it. We were encouraged to ask why. We felt seen as talent and not commodities. There were, of course, detractors. Gosh, I remember people at a party of cast members from "Mickey and the Magical Map" another show at Disneyland which features a princess and the frog number and many of those casts mates angrily claiming that “if that black girl Tiana Okoye can play Elsa than I should be able to play Princess Tiana” and then looking at me to confirm that was okay to say, not realizing that a) she’s one of my best friends, b) that I’m in the show with her also playing a role that wasn't created to be a poc, c) how racist that sounded, and d) why there's a difference there and why that wouldn't make sense. On Liesls final night I came up to her and said “I don’t know why you did it but thank you so much for casting ME in this part” to which she replied “you mean why would I cast a handsome, talented person in this role?” And I stuttered something like “well, I mean, I’m black. You know...” to which she tilted her head to her side and said “no. I don’t know why. Tell me why that matters.” And I had no answer. Seeing that I had no answer she smiled. That was the answer. There was no reason. On the spot my outlook about myself changed. Windows into what I thought was possible for me opened. -------------------------------------- HELL: And then Liesl went back to NYC and she was replaced by a man named Roger Castellano as show director. Rogers task, he told us on the first day, was to "change the show". We were not told what needed to be changed or even why, but that changes were on the horizon. You've got to understand: to a full cast of actors who had just spent more than three months dissecting a 60 page Disney script with a Tony nominated director like it was Shakespeare, we were initially emotionally/mentally/spiritually resistant to changes. But then it became clear that the spirit of collaboration was over, and the show changes were to be given without the same care, consideration, and thematic explanation of why they were being made. Everyones initial reaction was to push back, but when people who questioned their notes or their changes started getting days removed their schedule or being replaced entirely by a new actor, the Hyperion theater became a place where no one was allowed to speak out. Injustices were happening left and right and no one felt they could do anything for fear of losing their livelihood. And that's when the Frozen: Live at the Hyperion became a living hell. In my first note session with Roger he pulled me into a room with Domonique Paton, my best friend and incredible costar who played princess Anna in the show I was in. She just so happens to also be black. Almost all of Prince Hans’s scenes in the show are with her character and so most of my notes would be primarily based on those interactions with her. Earlier in the day I performed with a different (white) actress but it was the show with Domonique that I had a note session about. Imagine my surprise and dismay when, with how Liesl set up the show experience, we were told this: “WHEN THE TWO OF YOU PERFORM THE SHOW TOGETHER ITS TOO… URBAN.” Urban. What else could that have meant, do you think? He could have said maybe “too contemporary” emphasizing that we were maybe too modern in our speech patterns or movements. We weren’t. He could have said “too lax” or “too loose” meaning that maybe we were being unprofessional and goofy up there because we’re really good friends. We were not. The best me and Ms. Paton could think of was a 8 count moment of improv dance that me and Domonique decided to use as a synchronized moment of unity. It happened to fall on the line “our mental synchronization can have but one explanation” and thought, with the freedom that Christopher (the original choreographer) had given us, was appropriate, especially considering everyone behind us was doing the robot. As in the 80s robot. But he didnt clarify. He just said “WHEN THE TWO OF YOU PERFORM THE SHOW TOGETHER IT’S TOO… URBAN” And when asked what he meant he smiled with a little shrug and said "you can figure that out. You're smart." And thats how I became Black Hans and Domonique became Black Anna. My every moment onstage afterwards became about the optics of being a poc in that show. It was if I was suddenly made aware that I was LUCKY enough to be there and under any normal circumstances, or this new directors circumstances, me getting this part would have never happened. But the message was clear. It was especially clear when me and Domonique Paton shows together durastically decreased and made even more clear when the vast majority of the new hires were not people of color. But no one said anything. And made even MORE clear when, over the next few weeks, both Domonique and I got COPIOUS notes, ten times that of our coworkers that played the same parts. It was almost a game. In fact we did turn it into a game, seeing who would get the least amount of notes from him in a day. Our costars would even joke about it onstage with us, during the ballroom scene, and jokingly whisper "The shows been up 15 minutes. How many do you think you got today?" But no one said anything. And the notes were about all kinds of things. How we held our hand. If our inflections went up or down on a word. Which side of a couch we leaned on… which was fine! When you're an actor, thats the gig... until we started comparing our notes with the actors that played our same parts and none of them, NONE, would get the same notes. Our notes would be outrageously longer, the note sessions sometimes lasting 10/15 minutes. Others would get the “Oh hey, try doing this or that next time, okay bye” walk-by notes. Sometimes I would sneak into the audience and watch as some of the other Han's, some of whom changed lines, changed entire intentions of scenes, some of whom adding in all types of vocalizations and cackles and dance moves and what have you, and would receive ZERO notes. But I was watching them to see what was wrong with me. What was my performance missing? What am I actually doing to feel this singled out. And then I realized that the thing that was wrong with me was that I was a different color than the 5 other white Hans's they cast. And then I started getting notes about my penis. Most of the time these “penis sessions”, as I called them, were given in private rooms without another stage manager present. It was incredibly unpleasant and unprofessional. In fairness, those Prince Hans pants are TIGHT! And yes, Mr. Howell is indeed a party in the front and a party in the back, but so were a lot of those fellas. And thats where I put my foot down. If Disney was going to provide me with a costume it is not my responsibility to fix their problem, especially when other of my (white) costars had been given a dance belt for the same thing. But they never got penis notes. Private session notes about what their penis looked like in that show. Over and over again I was told to fix it, to not make it (my dick) so apparent, and that “if my daughter were younger I wouldn’t want her to come to a show you were performing at" all the more insulting considering his daughter, a cast member in the show, was a friend of mine and the loveliest person. He started demanding that I buy a dance belt. It was “my fault”, “my responsibility” …and thats where I took my stand. And then it really became hell. Penis sessions were now done out in the open. Once, he screamed at me, in the green room in front of all of my costars during lunch, about how incredible unprofessional I was, about how he was tired of seeing my dick, and that if I didnt go buy myself one I didnt deserve to be there anymore. Followed by a huge litany of notes. That doesnt compare to some of what Domonique went through and I invite her to share them if she’s willing. During this time I went to every stage manager in the building and told them about being singling out and about my penis. They all told me to write a complaint report and it would go to some place called "HR". Which I did. Numerously. More months passed. Nothing from "HR". Multiple cast members who witnessed my note sessions encouraged me to go to the HR themselves. I didnt honestly know what an HR was. As soon as it was explained to me by my allies even what an HR was I went to the head of HR at Disneyland herself and waited outside of her door. I asked her if she got any of my HR reports and she told me that she had received no HR reports from the Hyperion. Ever. And then asked me to fill out a HR form. As we went over it, she asked me some questions, and then set up a second meeting. On the second meeting she said that in order for my report to be given credence I would need witnesses to give their testimony. The witnesses, in fact the very people that told me to go to HR in the first place, said no. They didnt want to lose their jobs. In retrospect that might be the thing that hurt the most but, whatever... anyway, I was told "“well… without testimonies we’ll do an investigation and we’ll call you when we’ve completed it.” I never received a phone call. With absolutely zero protection from the stage managers from both the sexual harassment or my obvious racial targeting I (and others) were experiencing, not to mention that HR reports were doing nothing, aka not being forwarded, I thought about quitting. And when a white stage manager made a show mistake and laughed it off to the cast by saying an entirely offensive lynching joke, I quit. I didnt matter to Disney. How I felt and what I was being put through didnt matter. I was a commodity. My departure was unceremonious. Bizarre. 100% un-magical. I hung up my costume one last time and it was given to a new Hans, one who looked very much like me oddly, and stepped out of the theater. The park was playing “every wish your heart desires will come to you” and I remember laughing at how dead that song felt. The director has since moved on but still works as a musical theater director in Southern California. This one time 4 years ago I got to feel something other than my color for the first and only time in my professional career. It lasted from about March 2016 to July 2016 and never again since. I will never forget in those early days looking at all the beautiful princesses I got to woo and thinking “wow. I’m a prince right now.” Im sure that sounds stupid. But it didn't feel stupid. And a Disney prince! Yeah, a shitty prince kinda... I mean, he's a sociopath... BUT still a Prince! Especially special was being able to look in Dominique’s eyes and I could see the same glimmer of “can you believe we get to do this right now” reflected back. We never knew it was in the cards for us. My race always has and will always be part of my career equation and a determining factor of its projection. It will always be a determining factor in how im treated, by creatives, by people, by the those in authority over me, including the government and the police. #wasitmyskin

Copied in its entirety here from Cooper Howell’s public Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10163696376095054&set=a.10151302685610054&type=3&theater

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zafirosreverie · 3 years

Text

Must be the eyes (Teacher!Agatha x Fem!Student!Reader)

Here it is! first part of the TxS au! Let’s get this party started!

----

"And who exactly was the villain then, Miss Y/L/N?" You gnashed your teeth when your teacher looked at you behind the frame of her glasses, with her piercing, stupidly beautiful blue eyes and a raised eyebrow.

You flinched a bit from her gaze, but you refused to back down, you never had and you weren't going to start now, no matter how hot your cheeks got or how close this damn woman stood to you.

Agatha Harkness, Westview’s University history professor, terror of the first years and your crush since the first class you had with her. Her blue eyes had captivated you from the first moment, as had her slightly wavy hair and mocking smile. Her sarcastic and dry sense of humor was also something you loved, plus she was incredibly smart and not afraid to show it. Beautiful, smart and taught your favorite subject. Yup, you were completely under her spell.

But you hated it when she argued with you in front of the whole class, especially for things like this. It always made you feel so small and helpless, even if you didn’t show it on the outside.

She had asked your class for an essay on Greek myths, and you had chosen Medusa’s. Miss Harkness had said that you should express your views, with clear and concise arguments, which took you most of the week to investigate. But it seemed that you had not been clear enough.

Either that, or your teacher really hated you and enjoyed challenging you in front of your classmates, expecting you to break up and argue with her, so she could send you to detention. Well, you wouldn't let her win that easy.

You forced a smile and looked up. She was right in front of your chair, looking down at you as she waited for your answer.

"Athena and Poseidon" you said confidently "They are the villains"

"Interesting posture" she smiled, but it was a smile that reminded you of the cheshire cat "Although that doesn't take away the blame for the lives she took, does it?"

"It wasn't her fault either," you said, frowning.

"Oh it wasn’t?" she asked. You suppressed a gasp when she rested her hands on your table and leaned forward. You could feel her minty breath on your face "And whose fault was it, Miss Y/L/N?" she asked.

"Men’s" you gulped "Those who went to look for her"

"Explain" she ordered. Her eyes never once left your face.

"They went looking for her. They tried to kill her, what was she supposed to do? Let herself be killed? Besides, it wasn't her fault that Athena turned her into that, she didn't ask to turn people to stone" you said, crossing your arms and leaning toward back in your seat.

Anyone would think that your gesture was one of challenge, considering that your face was neutral and your eyebrow was raised slightly. But inside you were screaming and having a panic attack.

Agatha smirked in her head at your attitude. She wouldn't tell anyone even if she was under torture, but she loved having these little discussions with you. You were the only student brave enough to argue with her, and you were brilliant in the way you did.

On the other hand, you were also incredibly cute and she would lie if she said that she didn't like to make you blush, your eyes lit up a bit and the red on your cheeks really contrasted beautifully with your skin. She knew it was wrong, that as a teacher she shouldn't find any of her students attractive. But she couldn't help it, there was something about you that just fascinated her.

Most of her fellow teachers had already noticed the strange dynamic she had with you, but they took it as a simple student/teacher rivalry, stemming from the fact that you seemed like a history prodigy, which presented a vast battlefield for Agatha, it was no secret that the woman was competitive, after all.

The only one who seemed a little suspicious of what was really going on was Wanda, the literature teacher. She had been one of the best students in the university and had returned as a teacher 5 years ago and because their subjects shared a field of investigation, she and Agatha ended up spending more and more time together, until they became good friends.

It was fun having someone to judge and gossip about both the staff and the student body. But that also meant having to endure the teasing of the younger woman every time you walked by Agatha.

Of course, she had scolded Wanda for even suggesting that she was attracted to you, a student, and the redhead had apologized, saying that she was only joking, but she wasn't sure how long it would be before her friend became suspicious again. Not that the history teacher was that subtle with the way she looked at you.

Still, Agatha Harkness had certain principles, and she knew that she couldn't flirt with you as long as you were her student, so she was content to make you blush and nervous when she was around you.

“She broke Athena’s rules” she said, almost growling.

“Poseidon raped her. That wasn't her fault” you growled back. You cursed yourself for being so passionate about this. Your classmates probably thought you were an idiot for fighting a teacher.

"You seem quite determined to defend the monster," she accused, frowning. She pushed herself off your bench and turned to the rest of the class, letting you breathe for a second. "Not many people would pay attention to Medusa, a hideous and dangerous creature. But she seems to have won Miss Y/L/N’s heart" she said, making your classmates laugh and you blushed again.

"It must be the eyes" you mumbled without thinking.

Your teacher looked at you for a moment before smirking. Fortunately, it seemed like she didn't have time to keep arguing with you. Blessed heavens for that. You heard the ring bell and sighed in relief, starting to pack your things.

“Remember that the project is due for next monday” Ms Harkness said and you hear some groans from your classmates. You chuckled as you left the classroom.

“It’s not fair” you heard your friend Nick saying beside you “She didn’t give us enough time!”

“What do you mean?” you asked “I finished it three days ago”

“But you don’t count!” he frowned “you’re good at history! I can’t even remember my sister’s birthday!”

“Nick, you don’t have a sister” you rolled your eyes fondly

“And? I wouldn’t remember her birthday anyway”

You laughed and playfully punched his shoulder. You and Nick have been friends since your first day here and you were thankful for that. He was the only one who knew about your crush on Ms Harkness, which was a blessing but also a nightmare. He loved to embarrass you.

“So, what was that Y/N?” He asked suddenly

“What?” you frowned

“The whole Medusa’s thing”

“Well, she wasn’t a monster and-”

“No no, don’t give me a history lesson, I already had enough of that. I was talking about you and ‘Ms magical eyes’ almost kissing” he smirked as you coughed and almost tripped.

“What?!” you hissed “The hell you’re talking about?!”

“Oh c’mon Y/N!!” Nick laughed “She was practically lying over you!”

“That’s not true” you crossed your arms

“It is” he crossed his arms too “Y/N,I love you, but you can be so blind sometimes”

“What is that supposed to mean?” you asked, a little offended

“Y/N, we all could feel the sexual tension between you two” he laughed and left you frozen in the hall.

_____________

“No” Agatha frowned and crossed her arms

“Please” Wanda begged

“No, I’m not going to babysit a bunch of spoiled kids” the older woman said

“Okay, first of all, they’re college students, not from the kindergarden” the redhead frowned “and this could be an amazing opportunity!”

“For what? I already know about the Salem trials, love, I’m more than capable of teach my students about it without having to taking them there”

“But it would be more fun for them” Wanda argued

“I teach history, buttercup, it’s not supposed to be fun for them” the brunette smirked while the other woman rolled her eyes.

“We both know you don’t actually think that. You love your class and want them to love it too”

When the other woman shrugged and started reading again, totally ignoring her, Wanda knew it was time for plan B. She kneeled in front of Agatha and gave her puppy eyes.

“Pleaaaase” she cried “I need another teacher if I want permission to do the trip”

“Then ask Monica” Agatha said, not looking up from her book

“She has a game next week with the basketball team” Wanda said “Besides, as the history teacher, your class is the most similar to mine, it just makes sense if we both go”

“I’m not going Maximoff, period”

Wanda sighed and stood. “Fine.Thanks for nothing, Harkness” she pouted and left the teacher’s room.

Agatha rolled her eyes, she knew the other woman would get over it in a few hours.

____________

“I just say that witches are cool” you said as you and Nick walked through the hall

“They are Y/N, but visiting an old town isn’t exactly my idea for a good summer trip” he said and you rolled your eyes “Why don’t you go to Disneyland instead?” he joked

“Because I hate gigantic amusement parks” you said “And I really want to visit Salem, it was my dream since i was 9 and i read about witches from the first time. But you know I don't have enough money to do both trips. So, Salem it is for me”

Nick sighed “Alright, you do you, history girl” he joked “But try not to get cursed while you’re there, i don’t want my best friend to be a frog”

You laughed and he put an arm around your shoulders. None of you noticed the brunette teacher walking out of the teacher’s room and who totally heard your conversation.

_____________

Wanda jumped when her office door opened with a slam. She looked at a frowning Agatha, who had her arms crossed and let out a sigh.

“Alright, you win” the brunette said “We’re going to Salem”

The redhead smiled and quickly stood up to run to her friend and hug her tightly.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said.

“But!” Agatha said, gently pushing the younger woman to lock eyes with her “I pick the class we’re taking with us”

“Deal!”

#I really don't know what I'm doing ok #sorry if this sucks ;-;#i think I'm losing my writing abilities #anyway #x reader #reader insert #imagine #agatha harkness #agatha harkness x reader #agatha harkness imagine #agatha harkness x y/n #agnes x reader #agatha harkness x you #request #must be the eyes #mbte

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adelheidvonschicksal · 3 years

Note

Gosh, the Hawks x intern! Reader sure made me tear up :(

Like imagine him regretting not being there for her and his baby girl from the start and trying to make up for it now 😭😭💖

I was going to imagine this, but I couldn't because I ended up writing 3000 words. 😭 I just love fictional babies so much and want them to be happy, okay? I left it open-ended, so I wouldn't betray the "kick his ass" gang. I'm a weak woman 🥺 I still don't know much about him other than what Wikipedia and memes tell me but here we go!

Part One | Part Two

Hawks doesn’t think you’ll ever let him in, not that he could blame you. Every time you see him, your expression hardens, pretty eyes narrow into a glare, nostrils flare, breathing heavy. His only bright light during your last exchange is that you wait three seconds before slamming the door in his face rather than the usual zero.

Oh, he’s definitely softening you up. Not.

It’s been a month now that he’s been at this, and he is starting to wonder if this entire thing is worth the headache. All he’s accomplished so far is bothering you with his requests to talk. Then, he remembers the little angel that you have with you and thinks it’s worth the headache.

At first, he had ignored your previous exchange that day at the park and the nagging feeling in the corner of his mind upon seeing the two of you. Until that same feeling started to weigh on his heart. He quickly realizes what those feelings were. Guilt and regret at not taking another path with the high schooler he so carelessly took advantage of and impregnated.

If he had, he could be annoying Endeavor about his cute little wife right about now.

Hawks feels a bit like Icarus flying too close to the sun and now sinking in a turbulent ocean of his own making. Instead of drowning, the world decides to throw him a lifeline as the receptionist patches a call through to him.

His heart jumps when he hears you on the other side, resistant but succumbed in your plea, “I need your help.”

The very next day you arrive at the agency, a small hand latched in your own as you stand in the middle of his office. You didn’t want to be here. The thought of being in the same place where your daughter was conceived with the same man who left you makes you antsy. You can’t believe you actually let Fumikage talk you into this.

You remember that phone conversation.

Your daughter’s quirk had been coming in full force, so fast you didn’t know how to handle it. You hoped that Tokoyami would have been able to help her control it since he trained with the very person she received her quirk from much longer than you had and that he was part avian himself.

“Please, Fumi. It’s getting worse,” you begged over the phone. “She accidentally hurt a few of the kids at school. No. No. They’re fine, some cuts and a little shook up, but fine. They won’t let her back in until she gets it under control though, so please.”

“I told you there’s not much else I can do. The best solution would be to go to the person with the same quirk.”

He’s right. He’s absolutely right, but you don’t want to rely on someone like that man especially now. What if he ended up hurting her?

“I don’t want to do that.”

“I know you don’t, but he’s been trying to contact you, right? So I'm sure he'd do it if you asked.”

“Yeah…” You growled. “I swear if he makes one smart-ass remark, I might kill him in front of her.”

“Remember it’s not for you. Although, I don’t think you could kill him even if you tried.”

“If we combined our strength…”

“No,” Tokoyami immediately shot down.

You sighed. “I’m only joking. Do you have the number to the agency still?”

Now you’re here, watching the very man who abandoned you kneel down to your daughter’s eye level. Hawks couldn’t believe he’s actually seeing her. It’s a bit exciting to see how much bigger she’s gotten in such a short time with big fat wings at her back holding way more feathers than she can probably deal with.

“So, this is the special girl,” he says. She shies away from him, hiding behind your leg for protection. “Come on out, Baby Bird, you don’t have to be scared of me.”

Slowly, she peeks from behind you, fingers still clutched in your pants leg, and Hawks smiles.

“There you are. Did your mommy tell you who I am?”

“You’re her and uncle Toko’s old teacher, and you’re going to help me control my quirk.”

“That’s right. You just turned five, right? That’s when a lot of quirks can get kind of hectic.”

“Yeah. I had a birthday party with Elsa last month.”

Hawks’ smile falters for a second as he thinks he doesn’t know exactly what day her birthday is. At least now he knows the month. Quickly, he’s back to normal to keep an air of happiness in the situation. “You know I know a lady that looks a bit like Elsa. She has ice powers like her too,” Hawks says, having grown a little closer to the number one hero's family as he tried to figure out what to do about his own family situation.

When her eyes widen, Hawks knows he has her hook, line, and sinker. She throws her initial shyness to the wind in exchange for excitement. “She does? Can I meet her?”

“I’m sure we could make that happen. If not, her son has an ice quirk, too. I’m sure he’d show you.”

The young girl smiles at him, but Hawks notices her vision drifting to something else. Cautiously, her tiny hand stretches out to him, making him nervous as to what she’s doing, before chubby fingers clutch around the edge of his wing, squeezing into his feathers. “They’re pretty,” she mumbles.

“Want one?” he asks, and she nods.

“This is my birthday present for you, don’t lose it,” he says, offering her a single long feather from the back of his wings. She clutches it to her chest tightly, a happy smile plastered on her face.

Then, you interrupt.

“Baby, mama has to run some errands, but she’ll come right back to pick you up when the clock says twelve. You remember how that looks like, right?”

“It’s a 1 and a 2,” she says, bringing up her hands to show you.

Hawks decides to walk you out as your daughter sits in his office chair, twirling around his feather in her hand. He isn’t sure what to say to you now that he has you near him. Should he thank you for bringing her? Or would that only serve to piss you off since it’s not like you wanted to do this by choice?

“Hawks,” you say, bringing him out his thoughts. “There’s one more thing before I go.”

“What is it?”

“Don’t tell her,” you order. “Don’t you dare tell her.”

His chest squeezes at that but he can understand why you wouldn’t want her to know that information when the two of you aren’t even on speaking terms outside this issue. He didn’t want to do anything to make the situation worse either, so he brings his fingers to his mouth and zips his pinched thumb and index finger across his lips. “I’ll make sure mine and anyone else’s lips are sealed if they want to keep their job,” he calmly reassures you, always calm and carefree so you wouldn’t think that your rejection is successfully deterring him.

From then on, you drop your daughter off at his office twice a week to get a better handle on her powers. You didn’t stay long aside from that, but Hawks likes the small moments when all three of you are in the same room together.

The hero can be thankful that at least one of his girls likes him. His Baby Bird quickly attached herself to him, always pattering after his footsteps like a shadow, and always asking if he’d hold her hand, a smile forming whenever he engulfed her smaller one. He even keeps his promise to let her see Rei, or Elsa as Baby Bird so passionately refers to her, now that the woman is out of the hospital.

He thinks that if that family can recover from what happened then his shouldn’t be much different as long as he keeps trying to put in the effort and not step on your toes too much.

It isn’t long before Baby Bird begins to get a hang of her powers. At least enough that she wouldn’t be hurting anyone at school. Hawks had hoped you would still allow him to train her past that point though, but you quickly told him that she wouldn’t be returning to the agency when she reached that point.

He was sad to hear it of course, but he didn’t want to cause what little progress he made to be broken even if he really wanted to see her fly at least a few inches before she left. She’s been getting into the habit of jumping instead of walking to practice like he used to do. Although, she resembles more of a bouncy frog than a bird, to be honest.

He watches, amused, as she bounces along next to him in the hallway.

“You’ve gotten good at that,” he compliments, drawing her attention upwards.

“I’ve been practicing lots at home, but I’m not that good yet. Will you teach me how to fly like you do tomorrow?” she asks.

“No, Baby Bird. Didn’t your mommy tell you that we’re done with training after today?”

She hangs her head down, her bouncing stopping as she drags her feet. “…Yes,” she answers, letting his arm go lax as she releases his hand. Hawks pauses, watching as she draws her hands to her waist and anxiously bunches and twists the bottom of her shirt, and Hawks throat goes dry as she asks with glossy eyes, “Daddy, why doesn’t mommy like you?”

He’s completely silent, wondering exactly when she figured it out or if someone in the office had told her, let alone told her the fact that you didn’t like him. Well, he guesses it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. “How do you know to call me that?"

“Yesterday, my teacher told us that we inhe-inhe-inherent our quirk from our parents. I remember you said Elsa and her son had the same quirk, and you have big wings like mine and can make your feathers move.”

Hawks smiles. She’s a sharp one to piece it together in a day. “Your teacher is right. I bet you’ve never seen anyone else that looks quite like us.”

“No,” she answers, sniffling. “I don’t want to go home. I want to stay and play with you. Mommy is so mean to you. I hate her!”

Hawks cups her chin in his hand, forcing her to meet his eyes. “Look at me. Don’t talk about your mommy like that. It’s my fault she always gets upset when I’m around. I was mean and bullied her a lot, so if you’re mad, be mad at me. I’m the reason we can’t play together more.”

She sniffs again but it isn’t enough to stop the globs of tears running down her cheeks. “When we saw you at the park, mommy started crying when we went home. I didn’t know why she did.”

Hawks knows why. The reason you’re always so angry at him is because of the hurt you still hold inside for what he did to you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have cried. The opposite of love is indifference as they say, and he knows it’s true because he had been indifferent to the pain he caused ever since the day you came to him with weepy eyes and shaking arms as you told him you were pregnant. You had been scared, and he told you to deal with it.

Hawks scowls. He’s starting to feel sick.

"If you make someone cry, you should say sorry."

Hawks smiles. “I know, baby. I'll apologize to your mama, and I’m going to try my best to make it up to her, and you, too. I’m not going to make either of you cry anymore. Then, when she forgives me, we’ll play together again.”

She looks to him, a small glimmer of hope. “You promise?”

Hawks chuckles and grins at her, the same charming expression that made you fall for him in the first place. He holds out his hand. “Even better. I pinky promise,” he says and confidently hooks her finger with his. “Repeat after me: birds of a feather stick together.”

“Birds of a feather stick together.”

“That’s my girl,” he praises before dropping her hand to pet her head. “I think we might have a little time for me to teach you something before your mommy gets here.”

At the end of the day, Hawks is already waiting for you at the front steps of the agency as your call pulls into parallel park at the sidewalk. You step out and walk towards the steps, but your daughter meets you halfway by hopping over them, her wings flapping to hover before she falls back down onto her feet.

You smile at her. You can’t believe she’s actually flying, at least a little that is, but your surprise is ruined when she cheers. “Mommy, look at what daddy taught me,” she says, bouncing to show you her new hovering skills. “Are you looking? Are you looking?”

“Yes, I’m looking. You’re so good at that. You need to show me more when we get home,” you say but to be honest it’s the last thing on your mind as you glance over to Hawks. “Baby, why don’t you go sit in the car, and I’ll be right there.”

Hawks watches as she obediently follows your instructions, turning her back and happily hopping towards the vehicle.

“(Name), I-” Hawks says, unsure what to expect when your angry glare turns back on him. It isn’t until his yellow visors are already clicking against the pavement that he realizes you hit him. He hisses at the sting on his cheek. “That actually kind of hurt. I guess I had it coming, but I’m not really sure what I did at least recently,” he tries to play off, but you aren’t having it.

“You told her, you told her,” you keep repeating, and he’s backing away in case you decide to strike him again. “Are you trying to get her on your side?”

“Not in the way you’re thinking, and I didn’t tell her,” Hawks explains. “She pieced it together on her own. She’s sharper than you think, she can see that we look alike when she looks in a mirror, and she knows how quirks work. That’s more than enough for her to tell.”

His explanation is enough for you to halt in your assault, and you angrily huff under your breath. You don’t shift to leave, and there’s no door for you to slam away. He finally has you available. “So, what do you want to do now?” he asks.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean she knows; and honestly, I’m glad she does,” he confesses. “I wouldn’t mind seeing her again if you’d let me.”

Hawks swallows his anxiety as he waits for you to answer. Your eyes shift from him back to where she sits in your car, fiddling with the toys obviously left to clutter in the back before you look back at him, thinking.

“She does seem to like you…for some reason,” you add distastefully, but you know full well how happy training makes her. How her little smile beamed when she fluttered over those steps. How the word daddy came from her so sweetly. “She always likes talking about you after she spends the day here. You make her happy. But that’ll just make it harder for her when you leave ag-“

“I won’t,” he cuts off.

“How do I know that?”

“You don’t but I promise not again. (Name), I’m sorry. I’m sorry for telling you to go away like a burden and for not being there. You must’ve been scared, but I won’t leave either of you alone from now on even if you don’t want me there. I’ll be there if you need me.”

“Drop it. I’m not a part of this,” you tell him.

He knows that you’re rejecting his apology, but his ears can pick up what others can’t. He can hear those soft inflections in your voice right before you harden it into aggression, the slight stutter that you so cleverly thought you hid from him as you nearly fumbled your words, a little glimpse of a teenage girl with a crush on her sensei. “Not yet but do know I plan on trying until I make you fall for me all over again. I miss your cute little face when I'd smile at you.”

You glare. “Say that again, and I will smack you in your "cute little" face.”

"You already did that, but if it makes you feel better go ahead, I can take it if it helps you forgive me.”

He just didn’t expect you to actually take him up on the offer. This time, it’s the other cheek that burns.

“You’re right. That did make me feel better,” you say, smirking as you shake the sting from your hand. Hawks grunts, rubbing his jaw as you begin to walk towards your car. He bends down to pick up his shades before following close behind. You open the driver’s door, and say, “I expect you to pick her up at 9 tomorrow. If you’re late, don’t bother showing up ever again.”

Hawks smirks. You certainly became aggressive these past few years, but he thinks he kind of likes it. As you get in your car, he notices Baby Bird smiling at him from the window, her hand up and clutched around that birthday feather he gifted to her as she waves him off.

He’ll definitely be there on time.

#hawks x reader #takami keigo x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #hawks x y/n #bnha hawks

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tinisprout · 3 years

Text

A Kiss to Remember

Pairing: Hyunjae x gn!Reader

Genre: Fluff, mutual pinning

Warnings: profanities like a lot, alcohol consumption, jokes of killing

Word count: 2.4k

Summary: After a kiss you spend a month of trying to figure out your own feeling you come to the conclusion that you like Hyunjae. You wonder how to deal with these feelings, especially when he doesn't feel that way about you, at least that's what you think.

a/n: Happy birthday Hyunjae Im a little late y'all don't mind that.

When you have been friends for so long is it better to just stay as such? Should I just bury these budding feelings before, it becomes something I can’t handle? I look at my hand, the one that casually reached out to him and had been reached out to by him many times before. It was only recently that holding him like that made my heart tickle. After today there is no denying my feelings, I like Hyunjae.

“So do I just cut them off or…,” I bite my lip struggling with a decision. How would I even go about stopping these feelings?! “Ugh, why does he suddenly have to be so appealing.” around a month ago after one of our nights out drinking, we somehow ended up making out. Sure we always lightly flirted with each other, but that’s just how we are, nothing was ever taken seriously like there was a line we knew that shouldn’t be crossed.

That night it was crossed, but I’m the only one that has any recollection of it happening. Hyunjae remembers nothing of that night and I’m left to deal with these complicated feelings. I didn’t tell him cause, whatever, it’s not like we have feelings for each other anyways. It’s just something that happened, I don’t have to make a big deal of it. That’s what I thought at first, then I noticed how my eyes started to linger on him.

For this past month, I’ve been trying to gauge these feelings for him, to say I like him after one measly kiss is too much. Now I know for sure, but what do I do now? How he acts towards me now is no different from how he’s always treated me, so it’s not like he looks at me in that way.

“No, this is not what I should be thinking about right now! I have to get ready, gotta go soon.”

Hyunjae’s birthday party is tonight, I can’t make today about me. I’ll just act like normal today, he’ll never know the difference.

***

Walking into the designated lounge room for Hyunjae’s party I was greeted by a few familiar faces and some unfamiliar. I was given a wave and nod by some of my friends before almost being knocked off my feet.

“Y/N! You’re finally here, I’ve been waiting for you!” Hyunjae throws himself into my arms giving me a tight squeeze. I freeze up and then remind myself that I should act naturally.

“And a hello to you too. Drunk already I see birthday boy,” I say tapping his back with one hand trying to not get too close. Jacob comes up offering a smile in greeting and I smile back.

“You need to control yourself,” Jacob says then pulling Hyunjae off me falling into his arms, and I thank him with a nod. Hyunjae struggles in Jacob’s hold wanting to break free, then Jacob whispers something in Hyunjae’s ears and he stops struggling, instead, slumping in his arms letting himself be dragged away back to his seat. Looking back to the rest of the table I see my best friend Sunwoo waving me over the free spot next to him. I take a seat and Sunwoo pulls me in giving me a side hug and I reciprocate, doing the same.

“So you want to tell me what that was all about?” He leans in whispering to me.

“What are you talking about?”

“Seriously? I saw the way you blushed like a schoolgirl that was told they are cute by their crush when Hyunjae hugged you.”

“No way!” In shock, I pull away from Sunwoo rubbing at my forehead. I pretend I don’t see the eyes of everyone else go to me at my outburst, and get closer to Sunwoo, whispering again. “Was I that obvious?”

“So you’re admitting that there was something going on there?” He gives a sly smirk and I realize I’ve been had.

“You’re the worst.”

“Yeah yeah, but why am I only hearing about this today?”

“Because I’ve only acknowledged it myself today.”

“Acknowledged it? Just how long have I been out of the loop and does that mean that the two of you are…?” He trailed off letting me fill in the blank.

“Nothing. This is all just one-sided, he should have no idea.”

“You’re fucking kidding me right?”

“What?” Sunwoo sighs at my words and wraps his arms around my shoulder again.

“I’m your bestie, right? I’m also Hyunjae’s friend, correct?”

“Yes, and?”

“Exactly. Now, look at Hyunjae. If anyone else was in my position with you, he would not be looking at us, like a sad frog, but glaring at the person in my place. You get it?” Hyunjae did have his stupid-looking frog face on display, but no, that probably cause he was reprimanded by Jacob.

“No, Hyunjae doesn’t see me like that.”

“Sure maybe at the start of your friendship he didn’t, but the way I see it is, there is a -2% chance that he doesn’t see you that way.”

“And the way I see it is that I shouldn’t even be thinking about this tonight. I just want to get through tonight without a problem, have some fun. I can figure out everything else later.”

"Okay, whatever. My friends are a bunch of oblivious morons." He mumbles the last part knowing damn well I can still hear him.

"Say that again mother fucker. I'll kill you.” I playfully shove Sunwoo and he pretends to be hurt.

“Yo chill!” The both of us laugh out loud and then there is the slamming of shot glasses by the two of us. I turn to see it was Hyunjae, he looks at me with a pout but doesn’t say anything.

“There is a drinking rule. Every time someone joins the party we gotta take a shot,” Jacob explains in Hyunjae’s place.

“Oh, so that’s why he is already smashed.” There was still a deal more empty seats left… is Hyunjae going to survive tonight? Everyone pours themselves a drink, the ones that got here were first looking a little sick while the rest of us were fine, we all down the drinks. The night continues with good vibes, till the last guest arrives with a plus one. Both are unfamiliar faces to me.

“Sorry I’m late, Hyunjae. Also thanks for letting me bring my sister, she really wanted to meet my friends.” The man and his sister wish Hyunjae a happy birthday and take the only seats left available which just so happened to be next to the birthday man himself. With the arrival of two new guests, everyone takes the mandatory shot. I could feel a little more than a buzz, but overall still fine.

The conversation was flowing as normal as everyone was having a good time. A few more drinks in when everyone was a little drunker, open, and comfortable things got a little more handsy. Whatever that’s what people do when they’re drunk, but I couldn’t notice just how handsy that new girl was getting with Hyunjae.

“Good lord, Y/N. Are you trying to kill her with your eyes?” Snapping out of it, I look to sunwoo how was laughing his ass off.

“I might be,” getting mad at myself for the silly words, I rub roughly at my forehead. “So stupid. I don’t have any right to be mad. He isn’t my boyfriend or anything.” The girl tries to casually grab for Hyunjae’s hand and I quickly look up groaning, “That should be me.”

“Damn, you’re down bad.”

“You’re right!” I pour myself another drink, downing it as fast as I can. “I hope I get so shwasted that I forget everything!”

“I take no responsibility for whatever happens tonight, but hell yeah!” Sunwoo takes another shot. The night continues smoothly and everything is jovial except for every time I see her take an advance toward Hyunjae. The party started to slow down and eventually, everyone came to the decision that they could handle no more, so that party came to an end after a few good hours of drinking. After everyone except Hyunjae split the bill, one by one the people started leaving the lounge.

“Jacob I require your assistance home!” Sunwoo shouts to his friend and neighbor. Jacob nods, ready to leave, getting drunk was never his favorite thing. Sunwoo gets up slinging his arm around Jacob for support, and the two boys say goodbye to their friends. “Get home safe loser and get some dick while you’re at it.”

“Fuck off!” Sunwoo laughs as he walks away with Jacob. Only me, the brother-sister pair, and Hyunjae were left. I sure as hell wasn’t about to leave while they were still here, I want to hang out more. The brother as if hearing my wish says it’s time they head home.

The two get up to leave and the girl looks visibly sad while I do a little dance in my head. I walk up to Hyunjae and he looks at me then stands up like he was waiting for me. When I hear them walk out the door I can feel a smile grow on my face. Finally, no more people.

“Ready to go back home?” I ask him.

“You’re going to walk me back? How romantic.”

“We live one apartment building away from each other, stop being dramatic.”

“But still I’m ha-” my eye dart towards the sound of the lounge room door opening and see the familiar girl closing the door behind her. I cover Hyunjae’s mouth with my hand while I use my other one, taking the back of his neck and pulling him closer to me. Our lips only separated by my hand. Surely it looked like we were kissing right now, Hyunjae’s body should cover up the fact that we aren’t. Just let your mind fill in the blanks girl.

A few seconds after I can hear the sound of the door opening and closing again and a high-pitched, “I’m sorry.” from the girl. I’m sorry too… actually no I’m not. I pull away from Hyunjae and he looks stunned.

“Did we just kiss?”

“No, we didn’t. You kiss my hand.”

“Oh.” My eyes were certainly deceiving me cause it looked like he was a little disappointed by my answer.

“Well, let go.” He hums in response and we walk out of the establishment. Suddenly he wraps his arm around me. This isn’t much of a surprise since he was a clingy drunk. The walk was quiet, which was unusual for Hyunjae, maybe he is tired

“Where is my present?”

“You realize that your present was the party bill, right? Do you know just how much you drank compared to everyone else? That shit wasn’t cheap.”

“Hehe, yeah that’s why I drank so much. You know as a broke college student free drinks taste a lot better than anything you pay for!”

“As a broke college student, you would know after that I wouldn’t be able to afford a normal present, so don’t complain.”

“Who said you had to buy the present? Even something small, as long as it’s from you.”

“Why are you like this?” This is really the man I’ve come to like. “Fine, I will do any one thing for you.” He is quiet for a while.

“Two.”

“One.”

“Two!”

“Okay, fine two!” he is silent again.

“Really anything?”

“Anything within reason. If you have a body hidden in your closet right now, I would go help you bury it.”

“Then… can I be your boyfriend for a day. If not then just for the rest of the day or just an hour...” I’m so dumbfounded by his words that I stop walking.

“Do you even know what you’re saying?” He pulls away from me.

“Is that a no then?”

“I… Hyunjae, do you… like me?” He nods. “As a friend?”

“Yes, but more than that. I want to hold you all the time, kiss, and more.” He brings his hand up to his face trying to hide his embarrassment. It did nothing to hide how red his ears became.

“I like you too.” Hyunjae perked up at my words. Now I was feeling embarrassed.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’ll accept your request.” He hugs me again as he did back at the party.

“Then my other request, can we go back to my place?”

“Are we going to do the “and more” stuff you were talking about?” He thinks for a moment and then goes red in the face.

“No! It’s too soon and I’m way too shit-faced right now anyway. I just want to hold you.”

“Good answer.”

***

In the apartment I was oh so familiar with, I lay in Hyunjae’s bed with his arms wrapped around me. My heart was pounding at first but I soon calmed, getting used to the new situation. The lights were off and we were ready to sleep. It was peaceful, but I had this one lingering question and worry in my head.

“Hyunjae?”

“Hmm?”

“Will you remember this in the morning?”

“Of course why would I forget?”

“Because you forgot that we kissed already.” Shocked by my words he shot up in his spot.

“We what?!”

“It was like a month ago. It’s whatever since you don’t remember.”

“...I’m sorry… was I good?”

“Shut up.” I pinch his side and he yelps.

“Okay jeez, I’m just joking. But is that when you started to like me?”

“Not exactly, but it did all develop from then. Why?”

“I’ve liked you for a long time and have been trying for almost a year to get you to notice me in that way. I didn’t expect you to say you liked me back, so I wanted to know when it changed. Ah, I’m glad I never gave up.” He laid back down, hugging me close again.

“Alright don’t kill me now,” he loosens his grip on me in response.

“Can I kiss you again? I promise I won’t forget this time.”

“Hmm, I think you’re fresh out of requests.” He pouts, which is just the look I wanted to see from him.

“I’m messing with you, but just a little bit. If you really remember when you wake up them I’ll let you kiss me more, as my real boyfriend.”

“I’m going to remember and then I’m going to kiss you so much you’ll get sick of my affection!”

“Uh-huh, let’s just see if you can keep your word.” We both lean into each other and kiss, soft and passionate.

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early2000smovieimagines · 3 years

Text

Meeting and Dating Harry Potter

(Not my gif)(Requested by anonymous)

(Harry doesn’t get enough love.)

- You and Harry first meet at Hogwarts but he isn’t really aware of your existence until around fourth year when everyone else in the school turns their backs on him.

- He’s making his way through the crowds of ‘Potter stinks’ buttons when he hears someone call his name. He almost doesn’t stop, expecting the same mocking he’d been receiving all week, but he does stop and there you are, giving him a small, kind smile and telling him that you “just wanted to wish him good luck in the tournament.”.

“I-er, thanks.” He replies awkwardly, looking at you for another quick moment before nodding and quickly retreating.

- A few days later, you were walking around the wooded areas of the school and just so happened to come across him sitting alone. You didn’t want to bother him; especially since you really didn’t know him and you sort of had a crush on the famous boy, but a twig snapped beneath your foot and he quickly glanced up at you, taking away your option of leaving before he saw you.

- Giving a quick hello, apology, and excuse for interrupting him, you moved to walk away before you found yourself turning back and asking if he was alright. It didn’t take him long before he was explaining everything to you and; calmly, ranting about the situation.

- You listen and give him a few words of encouragement before you find yourself walking back to Hogwarts with him, as though it were the most normal thing in the world.

- Little by little, the two of you grow closer and become more comfortable with each other; even though he’s sort of forming a crush on you and gets easily flustered by you.

- Probably unsurprisingly, he doesn’t just drop you when Hermione and, more so, Ron go back to being his friends. Instead, you’re welcomed into their little clique, particularly by Hermione who appreciates having another girl in the group and can immediately see that Harry has feelings for you; even if he stutteringly protests to it.

- Funnily enough, initially, he doesn’t even think to ask you to the Yule ball until you’re sitting at breakfast one day and he looks at you and a light just goes off in his head. He’s just as nervous about asking you as he would be with anyone else; probably even more so considering the fact that he’s pretty much in love with you, but he manages to keep his cool a little better with you since you’re supposed to be his friend.

“Erm, y/n? Would you like to go to the ball with me?”

- When you happily agree, he gives you a “brilliant”, his heart racing and a small smile plastered across his lips.

- Godric, the look on his face when he first saw you the day of the ball. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you, his face turning a delicate shade of pink as you first took his arm and gave him a smile. He was so distracted by you that he hardly even noticed that he needed to start dancing with you, he only snapped out of it when you told him to take you by the waist.

- It’s after the ball that he knows for sure that he’s in love with you, and if he’s able to triumph over dragons and defeat Lord Voldemort at the age of one then he can ask out the girl that he’s fallen for, right? Easier said than done.

- Harry is pretty awful with women. He’s awkward and shy and clumsy, and it’s adorable in retrospect; and in some other cases, but it’s not exactly beneficial to the evolution of your relationship. He keeps trying to confess, keeps wondering how he’s gonna do it, tries to do it but is interrupted in some way or just can’t bring himself to actually say what he wants to.

- It isn’t until fifth year that he finally manages to do so. You’re both left alone in the room of requirement as everyone leaves after their most recent lesson. He walks over to you and the two of you talk. You ask him a few questions, make sure he’s alright with everything that’s happening and before you know it, you’re both drifting closer and kissing each other.

- It’s soft and slow, and when you pull away, he’s got this dazed sort of look on his face that gives you butterflies. He gets a hold of himself as you go to grab your things and leave, calling out to you in a quick explosion of words, asking if you’d go out with him.

- He has to repeat himself so that you can actually understand what he’d asked but once he does, a bright smile spreads across your face and his heart skips a beat as you agree.

- Due to a certain frog-faced substitute headmaster, you can’t exactly express your feelings in public, but just knowing that you’re officially his girlfriend gives him a certain sense of comfort and reassurance that otherwise wouldn’t be there.

- The girl of his dreams is finally his and he couldn’t be happier.

- Harry, in general, just isn’t the type of person to be all over you while you’re out in public. He tends to save most of his affection for when you’re behind closed doors, mainly because he’s a bit shy and easily flustered; especially by you.

- Given the fact that Harry was provided with nothing but negative attention throughout his entire childhood, he’s definitely going to be a bit awkward when it comes to affection. That being said: he loves when you give it to him and really starts to crave it after you first pay him special attention.

- Handholding. He’ll tentatively slip his hand into yours while you’re standing together or grip it tightly as you both excitedly run somewhere.

- He could genuinely hug you for hours if you let him.

- Gentle touches.

- Soft kisses.

- Quick kisses in the midst of danger or when he’s leaving to do something important.

- Kissing his scar.

- Ruffling and playing with his consistently messy hair.

- Hair petting. He’ll usually stroke his hand down/through your hair as you kiss.

- Long, loving snogging sessions. Sometimes, you’ll pull off his glasses so that you can kiss him better and he just melts.

- He loves cuddling with you; it’s one of the things that really bring him comfort. You’ll usually be the little spoon whenever you do, he’ll bury his face in your hair and wrap his arms tight around you, not letting go until morning.

- Considering the fact that he has like zero experience with girls, he usually just calls you by your name since that’s what seems most natural to him.

- Flustering him whether you mean to or not; it’s usually quite easy to do since he’s so inexperienced with girls.

- Getting mini gifts. A piece of candy here, a little trinket there, things like that.

- Dates at the Three Broomsticks. He loves kissing you and tasting the butterbeer on your lips.

- Dancing together.

- Spending time alone in the room of requirements.

- Sneaking around all the unknown tunnels and rooms of Hogwarts with him.

- Him using the invisibility cloak to come see you and sneak the two of you out somewhere.

- Study dates.

- Him helping teach you spells and defensive magic. He likes seeing that look of glee on your face when you do something right, and having the excuse to hold and guide your hand/stand close to you.

- Watching his eyes widen in shock and a smile spread across his face when you do something impressive. He’s so proud of you.

- Awkwardly and shyly reading news articles written about the two of you. Your parents have quite the reaction when they find out you’re dating the boy wizard himself.

- Hagrid gushing over and teasing the two of you. He sometimes gets a little sentimental seeing the two of you together. He knew Harry when he was such a wee little thing and here he is, all grown up and in such a lovely little relationship.

- Cheering him on at Quidditch games regardless of what house you’re in. It makes him so happy to see you rooting for him.

- Endearing sarcasm. He can be a smartass when he wants to be.

- Attempting to write to him over the summer.

- Having him stay with you over the summer or at least letting him visit for some time once you hear how he’s treated by the Dursley’s.

- Running to hug him when you’re finally reunited at the beginning of the school year.

- Being teased by Malfoy. Harry has probably almost killed him a couple of times; only stopped by the fact that Ron was holding him back.

- Hermione and Ron giving the two of you looks.

- Becoming a part of the golden “trio” and having double dates with Ron and Hermione.

- Accompanying him on adventures and quests.

- When everything starts to turn to shit around you, he may try to break up with you in order to protect you. He loves you too much to risk you getting hurt because of him.

- Standing by him, even when things go wrong and other people desert him.

- Comforting him. Harry has gone through a lot and though he won’t admit it to most people, he needs a little support. You’re his rock and he couldn’t live without you.

- He always tries his best to comfort you, even though he usually has no idea how or if his plan will work. That being said, he always just seems to know how to cheer you up.

- He’s a pretty jealous person but he tries to hide it most of the time. He hates the thought; and sight, of you with other boys and gets a bit annoyed whenever he sees you with them. He’ll be a bit passive aggressive when you go over to him, saying he’s “brilliant” when you ask what’s wrong. He just doesn’t want to lose you.

- He’s always surprised whenever you actually get jealous over him but he sort of likes it. He feels bad that you’re upset and reassures you that he only loves you but he can’t deny that it feels nice to know that you care enough about him to be jealous.

- Overprotective. After everything that’s happened to him and the people around him, he watches over you like you’re the most precious thing on earth. He’d defend you with his life if he had to.

- Harry tends to give you a sort of silent treatment when he’s mad, usually before saying something passive aggressive or harsh when you don’t really acknowledge his behavior or go to leave him alone. You’ll most likely argue until the issue is solved or until he shuts you out, either doing so by walking away in a huff or causing you to leave by his lack of responses.

- Regardless of whether you were in the wrong or if he was, he’s most likely the one to approach you. If you were in the wrong, he’ll come up to you and make some comment, trying to prompt an apology; because that’s all he really wants.

- If he’s in the wrong, he’ll feel really guilty and keep staring over at you until he can’t take it and finally asks if you can talk. He’ll ask how you are before telling you that he’s sorry and that he knows he was wrong. After he does so, he’ll ask if you forgive him/if you guys can go back to normal, smiling and kissing your cheek when you agree.

- There's quite a few I love you’s in your relationship. He loves hearing you say it; even though it flusters him, and he just feels the need to let you know how much he cares about you; especially as you get older and he loses more people without being able to let them know how important they were to him.

- The two of you will have to go through some difficult situations but he knows he wants to be with you for the rest of his life. You just need to get through this rough patch and then you can have a perfect little life together.

#harry potter x reader #harry potter imagine #harry potter headcanon #harry potter imagines #harry potter headcanons #hp headcanons #hp imagines #hp imagine #hp headcanon

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moon-light-jukebox · 4 years

Text

You’re not my type [Hotch x Reader]

Summary: Reader is the new press liaison to the elite Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. A stray comment from her leads to a lot of questions from her teammates, especially her unit chief, Aaron Hotchner. When they’re thrown together on a case that hits close to home for Reader, will that comment tear them apart? Or will it bring them closer together?

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner / (Female) Reader

Rating: Mature

Category: Angst then smut, with plenty of fluff sprinkled throughout.

Word Count: 8.4k

Content Warning: This gets pretty angst heavy in places. The team is chasing an Unsub that’s a serial r*pist/mu*derer. Mentions of an attempted a*sault to someone Reader cares about. Providing comfort to victims of the unsub. It’s dark in places, but if you can stick with me, I promise I will mend the angst and take you to the land of smut and fluff. Because there is plenty of smut.

A/n: Have you ever had a story that just grabbed hold of you and refused to let go? This story was supposed to be half this length and pure fluff. Reader and Hotch dug their claws into me and made me tell their own story. I’m not mad at it, and if you give it a chance, I hope you love it as much as I do. masterlist

y/n = your name. y/l/n = your last name. italicized text = reader’s thoughts

--“You’re not my type” --

The clock was moving so slowly, I couldn't help but think it was moving backward.

Come on, hurry up. I wanna go home.

I sighed, resigning myself to the fact that it was going to be 4:30 pm for the rest of my life. I still had some files to hand out to the team; I usually do that part of my very glamorous job in the mornings, but since I had nothing but time now, I thought why not.

I had been a “sort of” member of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit for 5 months. Jennifer- wait, JJ, had the job as media liaison before me; she was the last person to officially hold the position. When she left the unit chief of the BAU, Aaron Hotchner, and the technical analyst, Penelope Garcia, had split the roll. That is until Chief Strauss had decided that she wanted the BAU to run more efficiently. Meaning that Hotch got less paperwork, Garcia got a break from talking about mutilated bodies, and I got shuffled around from the public relations office.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed working with the team, I really did, but I couldn't help but feel excluded sometimes. They're all practically a family. I didn't really have any sort of family anymore, just a best friend that has always felt more like a sister.

Pushing those thoughts aside, I made my way towards the bullpen, shoving the doors open to see the team sitting on various desks talking to each other. Loudly.

“Shut UP, man!” Derek Morgan’s voice was loud, but amusement was clear on his face. Actually, everyone seemed sort of amused. Rossi and Hotch were leaning on the railing near their respective offices, watching the events unfold with smiles on their faces.

Hotch smiles? Huh. Weird.

I quickly tried to make my way around them, hoping none of them would notice me.

“Okay, I know how we can settle this. Y/n!” Shit. No such luck. I turned to look at Emily Prentiss, with her long dark hair and angular face. Why is everybody here so fucking pretty?

I cleared my throat, trying to compose my face. “Yes?”

“Answer something for us.” Everyone seemed very eager for me to be a part of this now, which I didn’t think was a good sign.

“I’ll do my best.”

She smiled at me like she was sensing her victory. "If Morgan asked you on a date, what would you say?"

Oh, they couldn’t have picked a worse person to play this game.

I chuckled awkwardly, trying to appear calm. “Um…I’d probably say no.” Morgan took a dramatically loud breath before slapping his hand to his chest. “No offense,” I quickly added.

Morgan wasn’t giving up his dramatics that easily. “Damn, girl! You’re gonna cut me down just like that?”

“I’m sorry,” I said with an awkward laugh. “You’re just not my type.”

Garcia’s eyebrows hit her hairline. “Excuse me? He’s not your type? Tall, dark, and extremely well-muscled isn’t your type?” She scoffed like I was insane; I mean, maybe I was. Jury’s out. “What about that is unappealing to you?”

I couldn’t think of a believable lie, so I went with the truth. “The tall and extremely well-muscled part.” I shifted from foot to foot anxiously.

Emily blinked. “O-okay. Fair enough,” she laughed, looking at me like she’d never seen me before.

I was preparing to turn and make a very quick escape, but JJ had other plans. "Woah, woah, woah," the blonde hopped off the desk, walking a bit closer to me. "If Morgan isn't your type…who is?"

Fuck me running. “Um…” I trailed off. “I don’t think I really have a type, to be honest.”

"Do you like men," Morgan chimed in. "No judgment, little mama."

Not for the first time, I wished I was a lesbian. “I am sadly mostly heterosexual.” I was convinced no one could be completely heterosexual, it just didn’t seem natural.

Emily chuckled at that. “Okay then,” her hand moved up to adjust her dark bangs, something she did when she was thinking. “What if Hotch asked you out?”

“Okay, okay, don’t drag me into this,” the Unit Chef boomed out, much to Rossi’s amusement.

“…Um.” Why couldn’t I just die? “Sorry, boss, but no.”

Morgan crossed his arms over his chest. “Is Hotch also too tall and well-muscled.”

“Probably,” I answered without much thought. “I can’t comment on the state of his muscles. But he’s very…big. And he intimidates me.” I didn’t let my eyes stray to my boss; I simply couldn’t.

"Ah-ha. There it is!" Morgan slapped his hands together like he had solved some big puzzle. "You don't like men that intimidate you. So, if pretty boy over here asked you out, you'd say yes."

I didn't know a person's ears could blush until that moment when my eyes drifted over to Dr. Spencer Reid. The tips of his ears were bright pink and he was looking anywhere but at me.

I answered honestly again, I figured they’d know if I lied. Fucking profilers. “Yeah, I would say yes. But only if I didn’t know him.” Spencer’s eyes finally shifted over towards me. “You’re easily one of the most brilliant people in the world. You’d be bored to tears on a date with me,” I said, my gaze meeting his wide eyes.

The boy genius’s head tilted ever so slightly to the side, his lips moving like he muttered something under his breath.

Is it 5 yet?

JJ wasn’t totally prepared to let this go, because she asked, “Okay, so a yes to Spence, a no to Hotch and Morgan.” She tapped her chin with her index finger. “What about Will? You’ve met my husband, right?”

I had indeed met her husband with his Princess and The Frog accent. I couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, I met him the other day when he brought your son by. And…I don’t know, maybe him. He doesn’t give off an air of intimidation.” Which was the nicest way I could say ‘your husband doesn’t scare the shit out of me.’

I glanced down at my watch, seeing it was finally 4:55 pm. “Sorry guys, I need to get these files out before I go home.” With an overly bright smile, I darted away as fast as my uncomfortable shoes would let me.

My final stop was Hotch’s office, and I was so relieved that he wasn’t in it for once. I placed the file on his desk, looking at the pictures of a little boy, his son, I assumed, on his desk.

“I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable.”

I'm not sure what I was more embarrassed by, the tiny yelp that escaped my lips or how I smacked my hand over my chest in such a dramatic fashion that I could have given Derek Morgan a run for his money. "Jesus fucking Christ, Hotch! You scared the shit out of me!"

His lips twitched in poorly concealed amusement, either at my reaction or my swearing at him. “Sorry, y/n. I didn’t know I needed to knock before I entered my office. I’ll try to do better next time.”

Oh, this guy has jokes now too.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at his dry humor. “I’m sorry. I startle easily. I didn’t mean to swear at you.”

“Y/n, I’ve been with the bureau for almost 20 years. Trust me, I’ve heard worse.”

I bet he has.

“Well,” I cleared my throat awkwardly. “Alright then. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, sir.”

“Of course,” he stepped out of the doorway so I could exit. “Y/n?” He said it like it was an afterthought. “Do you really find me intimidating?”

My eyes were wide as I looked all the way up at him. Really, what was the point in being that tall? "Oh, absolutely, sir." Then I hurried out the door, not wanting to see his reaction or lack thereof.

After stopping by my office, I was waiting for the elevator when I felt someone behind me; turning I saw the pretty boy himself standing awkwardly off to my side. I offered him a small smile before shifting my attention back to the bank of elevators in front of me.

The middle one opened first, Spencer waved me in first before he entered and hit the button for the ground floor.

He was clearly working up his nerves to say something, you didn’t have to be a profiler to see that. “Hey, um, y/n?” I turned my head in his direction, waiting for him to continue. “What you said back there…that you’d go on a date with me if I asked, did you mean that?”

There was that blush again, he really was adorable. “Of course, I meant it, Spencer.” He didn’t look convinced. “I mean, why would I lie? I turned Morgan down right away. And Hotch, who is my boss.”

Spencer let out a small laugh at that, unable to argue against my point. “I guess that’s true.” The elevator doors opened, he waved me out first, again, before exiting himself. “Do you really think that I’d be bored on a date with you?”

"I mean, you have 3 Ph.D.'s and a super high IQ." I waved my free hand around, gesturing to myself like it would help me prove my point. "And look at me. I'm smart, but I'm not that smart. I couldn't put you through a date like that."

He didn’t seem to appreciate my self-deprecating humor. I headed for the doors without giving him a chance to respond. “Have a good night, Dr. Reid!” I offered a small wave before I all but sprinted out the doors towards the parking garage.

Why? Just why?

“We have to catch him before this turns into a spree,” Hotch’s voice was grave, his face the same stern mask it always was. “Wheels up in 30.”

Taking that as a dismissal, the team rose from the table, hurrying towards their respective desks to get their go-bags. That was the part of this job that took the longest to get used to. I never traveled much in public relations; now I'm on a plane several times a week. That in itself wouldn't be so bad…if I didn't still get terrible motion sickness. I don’t know why I hadn’t gotten used to it yet, but I had to keep some non-drowsy motion sickness pills in my go-bag at all times. I tried to take them before I boarded the jet; it was probably silly, but I didn’t really want the team to know. They were all superheroes in my eyes; superheroes don’t get motion sickness.

I was the last one to board the jet today. I was usually one of the first onboard, but I got held up on my way here speaking to someone from my old office. When I came through the plane's doors there rest of the team was spread out. Dr. Reid was laying on the couch, book propped open in his lap. Emily and JJ were on one side of the table with Morgan and Rossi on the other. The only seats available were towards the back of the plane; I could have sat by myself…or I could sit in the seat across from Hotch.

I always get anxiety about things other people find silly. I’m a grown woman, I should be more confident; I’m a fucking FBI agent for god’s sake. Yet here I was, nervously trying to decide where to sit. It would be weird to not sit near him, I reasoned. Offering Hotch a tight smile before I stored my go-bag, I sat down across the aisle from him.

I fastened my seatbelt over my lap, taking deep breaths through my nose. I had taken my medicine, but take off always got me a little bit, no matter what. I never took a window seat either, sometimes I’d look out and see how fast the world was passing by underneath us and…I shuddered just thinking about it.

"Hey," the voice beside me called, his voice was so quiet I don't think any of the others could hear it. I opened my eyes and turned to face him. His dark eyes looked oddly soft like he was concerned about me. "Are you alright?"

I offered him a tight smile. “Yeah, I’m okay, Hotch.”

"Did you take your medicine?" At my puzzled expression, he clarified. "For motion sickness."

What in the- “How did you know I get motion sickness?”

The corners of his mouth quirked up. “I’m a profiler, y/n, and I’ve been one for a long time.”

A little chuckle left my lips at that, right as the plane started moving forward, gaining speed for takeoff. I closed my eyes, telling myself that it was the impending take off that was causing my stomach to flutter, not the fact that my boss, who I thought was always indifferent to me, noticed me more than I thought he did.

Cases with kids were the hardest, there was no question about it. For me, the second hardest cases were women who were assaulted. It filled my gut with such a heavy, boiling rage whenever I thought about it. These women were just living their lives, unaware of the danger that was hunting them. Some fucking monster decided that being a man in our society didn’t offer him enough power; he had to hurt women, try to take their power so that he could feel more powerful.

I had heard stories about Elle Greenaway, the agent that resigned under suspicion that she shot a rapist in cold blood. I never commented on it, but I can’t say as I blame her. That attitude is probably why I don’t comment on it, I thought dryly.

The unsub the team was hunting in Northern Texas was a serial rapist and murderer. He had claimed 3 victims in the past 2 weeks; the locals were concerned that his pattern and level of violence were escalating too rapidly. The BAU agreed.

They started piecing this monster together through the clues he left behind. A white male, mid 30's, has a high-power job, won't be able to have stable relationships with women. They were tracking his comfort zone, interviewing families, and canvassing for information.

My job was to warn the women of this small town that there was a monster lurking in the shadows.

The team was sitting around in a small room in the center of the police station that was crammed with evidence boards. Emily was leaned back in her chair, JJ's head resting on her shoulder. Dr. Reid was facing the map of the county like if he stared at it long enough and answer would just pop into his head. Morgan's head was in his hands, elbows resting on his knees. Rossi and Hotch were talking in the corner, glancing around the room every so often.

Eventually, our leader cleared his throat. "Okay, lets head back to the hotel." At the groans of a few team members, he pressed on. "I know, I want to find this guy too. But we all need rest. We'll come back tomorrow with fresh eyes."

With that, we all headed to the black SUVs parked outside, ready to head to whatever hotel the bureau put us in for the night. The drive was quick, we all stood in the lobby while Hotch spoke to whoever was at the front desk. The conversation seemed to take longer than I needed to.

He walked back over, looking mildly uncomfortable. “There aren’t enough open rooms,” he said at last. “We’ll have to double up.” He held out his hand which contained 3 key cards.

…Wait a minute. “There are 7 of us.”

Hotch nodded. “Therein lies the problem. One room will have to have 3 people.”

I turned towards Emily and JJ, assuming I’d just room with them when Rossi interrupted. “No offense, guys. But…I’m old,” he laughed, his whole face lighting up. “I need my beauty sleep. I’m not sharing a room. I’ll go get my own.”

"They don't have any rooms, Dave."

Rossi looked at Hotch with a patronizing little smile that would have been extremely offensive coming from anyone else. “They don’t have any rooms for you," he clarified. "Not only am I old, but I'm also rich."

Sure enough, he walked over to the desk and spoke to the clerk for less than a minute before he was handed a keycard.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Morgan said with a laugh.

Rossi turned to us then, his eyes filled with poorly hidden mirth. “Sogni d’oro!” And with that, he walked towards the elevators.

“Huh?” JJ asked, her voice scratchy.

“Sweet dreams,” Reid and Prentiss supplied at the same time.

“Right.” Morgan shook his head. “Come on pretty Ricky.”

It hit me right then. Oh hell.

Hotch seemed to realize it at the same time Prentiss did. “Y/n, you room with JJ, I’ll stay with Hotch.”

Somehow this was more embarrassing than the conversation in the bullpen. “No,” I said quickly. “No, you guys go. I’ll room with Hotch.” I put a smile on my face, hoping I was convincing.

“Y/l/n, you just said that I intimidated you.”

Again, why couldn’t the earth just swallow me up? My laugh was forced, but hopefully, they hadn't heard my real laugh enough to know the difference. "Intimidated to go on a date with, Hotch. This isn't like that." Right? “C’mon! I’m sleepy.”

With that display of false bravado, I grabbed a key and made my way towards the elevators. I felt his presence behind me as we walked down the hall towards our rooms. I tried to control my heartbeat, calm my breathing the closer we got to the room. This is ridiculous, y/n. I had shared a room with Morgan before, no problem. I was comfortable around the team, I really was. Not for the first time, I wish I had the sense to not open my big mouth.

I reached for the door right when Hotch cleared his throat; I busied myself with getting into the room, ignoring him. Was it cowardly? Yes. Did I care? Not at that moment.

Until I walked into the room…and saw that there was one bed. Oh, you have to be fucking kidding me. “What is this, a rom-com?” I apparently didn’t mumble that part as quietly as I thought I had given the soft laugh I heard come from the man behind me.

“Y/n,” he said, his hand coming to my shoulder. “I didn’t realize there would only be one bed. Come on, let’s go down to Prentiss and JJ’s room.”

I let out a groan. “Hoooootch,” I whined. “All of this is just making me more embarrassed. This wouldn’t even be an issue if I hadn’t been a dumbass and opened my big mouth. This isn’t a big deal but going to talk to them will make it a big deal.”

He didn't look convinced, but I was so tired. I reached out and grabbed his arm before I could think better of it. "Aaron," my voice was soft, barely a whisper, but it was like he'd been struck by lightning. His eyes snapped up to mine, his lips parted slightly. It was then I realized I'd never called him by his first name before. "I trust you with my life. You'd intimidate me if I didn't know you. But I do know you, Aaron." My gaze never wavered from his.

“Okay.”

I laid in bed for 30 minutes pretending to be asleep. I listened to his breathing even out and I kept my back to him the entire time. I had tried to keep my bedtime routine brief, taking a quick shower and changing into my sleep shorts and a baggy shirt I’d had since college. My hair was pulled back so I wouldn’t get it wet in the shower.

The weirdest thing was seeing Hotch in normal clothes. In all the months I’d worked with him, I had never seen him not in a suit. He had a pair of flannel pajama pants on, a gray t-shirt stretched over his broad chest. He has really nice arms, I thought.

When I was sure he was asleep, I rolled over onto my back. My eyes had long since adjusted to the dark, allowing me to just stare at the ceiling.

“You’re thinking very loudly.”

I let out a squeak while my whole body jerked. "Goddamnit, Hotch!” That asshole had the nerve to chuckle. “Stop scaring me!”

“I’m sorry,” he said, not sounding even slightly sorry.

“I thought you were asleep.”

He rolled onto his back; I felt his eyes on my face. “I know,” was all he said.

I sighed, wondering how I had gotten myself into such a situation. “You really don’t intimidate me.” He made a noise which caused me to amend my statement. “Alright, alright. You do intimidate me. You’re just so…stern. And you’re so tall. What is the purpose of being that tall? It’s excessive. And I feel like your eyes can see through every single thing about me. I didn’t know you had muscles until today, but I always assumed you did. They’re very nice muscles-“ I cut myself off. Fuck.

That was the first time I ever heard Aaron Hotchner laugh. Not chuckle, not snicker quietly. He actually laughed. His laugh was a higher pitch than his speaking voice; it boomed out of him and transformed the whole mood in the room. That laugh warmed a part of my heart that I wasn’t comfortable thinking about. A huge grin broke out on my face. I made him laugh, and I was oddly proud of it.

“Thanks, y/n,” his voice was still filled with amusement. “I hadn’t known you were curious about the state of my muscles. You should have just said something.”

My head snapped to the side so my eyes could meet his. He was teasing me. SSA Aaron Hotchner, BAU unit Chief, was teasing me. I lifted my hand to his arm, giving him a shove. His bicep feels like granite. “Shut up.”

That asshat just kept laughing at me.

“Anyway, you do intimidate me,” my voice was soft again. “But I’m not afraid of you.”

Aaron regarded me thoughtfully. “So, it’s not that you’re not attracted to intimidating men,” he surmised. “You’re afraid of men.”

“Not all men,” I countered. “I’m afraid of men like you. Not you, but ones like you. You overwhelm me.”

He was quiet for a few moments. “Y/n…did someone hurt you?”

It was a natural question, a normal thought process; I should have expected the question. I felt tears prick the corner of my eyes. “Yes,” I whispered, feeling safe in the darkness of the room, safe but still so alone. “But not in the way you think.” I filled my lungs with a deep breath, hoping I would find some courage. It wasn’t until I felt his hand brush over mine, his calloused fingers brushing over the back of my hand, that I finally found it. I flipped my palm up and laced my fingers through his. He gave me a reassuring squeeze.

“I’ve had the same best friend all my life,” I began. “She’s marvelous. We’ve always been together; her mom said we were like peanut butter and jelly. I love her like she’s a part of me, Aaron.” I knew he would understand; I just knew it. “We were in college when it happened. We went to this frat party because I had a crush on some guy.” My voice was filled with venom and bitterness. “He was overwhelming, so tall, and so handsome. There was a darkness in him, but I was too young to see it. She did; my best friend could see he was a monster. I didn’t listen.” My breath was shuddering through me. “I didn’t listen to her, Hotch.”

He didn't say anything. He just shifted in the bed and pulled me to him, nestling me into his side, wrapping his arms around me while I laid my head on his chest. "I was so mad at her. So mad." The shame from all those years ago was still so fresh. "She took my drink and threw it on the floor. I told her she was embarrassing me… So, I went outside to get some air."

His arm tightened around me, his free hand coming up to stroke my hair. “You don’t have to-“

“I do,” I said, refusing to let another sob escape. “I came back inside and couldn’t find either of them. I thought maybe she was going to hook up with some guy…but she isn’t like that. She’s never been like that.” My stomach rolled at the thought; sometimes when I closed my eyes I could still smell the beer in the air, I could still feel the wood of the banister under my fingers. “I found them in a room upstairs. He had her pinned on the bed, he was-he-he was trying to take her pants off.” I didn’t deserve the comfort Aaron offered me in that moment, but I clung to him, grateful for it. “I screamed, and I guess I scared him. She kneed him and was able to push him off. We ran all the way home.”

“You saved her, y/n,” Aaron’s voice was so sure, so reassuring, no matter how hard I shook my head ‘no’. “You did. You could have just left; you were mad at her, but you still went back for her.”

I wiped my eyes. “You make it sound so simple.”

His lips pressed softly against my forehead, his hand stroking up and down my back. “That’s because it is.”

Things felt different in the harsh light of the police station than they had last night. Aaron was already in the shower when I woke up this morning. I fell asleep in his arms after I told him one of my darkest secrets. He didn't judge me; he didn't tell me I was a terrible person. He just held me; he offered me comfort and made me feel deserving of that comfort.

I dressed quickly and headed downstairs before he got out of the bathroom. My feelings were already swirling around in my head. It wasn’t that I wanted to be away from him, not at all. I just didn’t think it would help my feelings settle down to be confronted by a wet, hot, well-muscled Aaron Hotchner. It was an act of self-preservation if you think about it, I reasoned.

The next time I saw him was when the team was piling back into the SUVs to head to the police station. He offered me a small smile, and I think his eyes may have twinkled a little bit when I smiled back at him a little too brightly.

Profilers.

The team was as refreshed as they could be. Dr. Reid was looking at access and service roads on the map, trying to determine the route the unsub took to dispose of his victims. JJ and Morgan were out canvassing the women's neighborhoods. Rossi was with Prentiss in the sheriff's office speaking with the family of the most recent victim, Bethany Mooreland.

This was the hardest part of my job. I wasn’t a profiler. I felt like I had nothing to offer. I was fielding calls from the media, trying to organize a targeted strategy. The team thought that if the unsub saw that he was being mocked in the press, or his masculinity was called into question in any way, that he would act out more viciously. While acting out might cause him to make a mistake, we couldn’t risk another woman’s life.

The conference room doors burst open, Hotch storming inside with Morgan and JJ hot on his heels. “There’s been another attack.”

I felt my stomach drop. “Fuck.”

“Y/n, she’s alive.”

“…What?!”

The dark-haired man that held me in his arms last night only nodded. “She’s at the hospital. I want you to come with JJ and me to interview her.”

…Me?

Summer Webb was 25 years old; she was a customer service rep at a call center just outside of town. She lived alone, had a cat named Pringles, and was close with her family.

I held her hand while JJ and Hotch put her through a cognitive interview. I rubbed her back while she recounted how the unsub only left her because he thought she was dead. Tears ran down my cheeks when she described what he did to her.

Steel and ice ran through my veins when I looked her in the eyes and promised that we would get this monster.

I’d kill him myself if I had to.

Once her mother arrived at the hospital, we left, promising to call with any updates; uniformed officers were stationed outside her hospital door. Hotch spoke to Garcia, then to Rossi, then to Reid, then Garcia again on our ride back. JJ read over Summer’s statement, occasionally jotting down notes.

I was quiet.

Almost. Almost there. I walked into the station without really seeing it. I navigated my way down the hall on instinct. I pushed the door to the bathroom open, looked around to confirm I was alone…then I broke. I placed my hands on the countertop that housed 3 separate sinks, my tears ran down my cheeks and splashed on the fake granite.

I don’t know how long I had been there when I thought I heard a knock on the door. That didn’t make any sense, the door didn’t have a lock; there were multiple stalls in this bathroom.

But I had heard a knock. The door swung open and someone walked inside. I heard him whisper my name, the tone of his voice was so soft, so fucking sad, that it only made me cry harder. Aaron put his hands on my shoulders, turning me around to face him, then letting me collapse against him.

He murmured words I couldn’t understand against the top of my head, he wrapped his arms tight around me; I was sure I would have fallen completely apart if he wasn’t holding me together.

“You must think I’m so weak,” I muttered when my tears had finally slowed.

He stiffened, though his hands never stopped moving, stroking my hair and my back. "Just the opposite, y/n." I pulled back to meet his eyes; I saw nothing but honesty swirling in those dark brown pools. His eyes appeared so dark from far away, almost black. From this close, I could see the subtle shift between various shades of brown. They weren't cold like I had always suspected; Aaron Hotchner's eyes were warm and understanding. They were the eyes of a man who had seen far too much evil for one lifetime but refused to yield his fight for even a second.

I could fall in love with those eyes.

“You’re the furthest thing from weak I’ve ever seen,” he continued. “Your heart is so big that it aches for a woman you don’t even know. It’s alright to cry right now, it’s alright to let yourself fall down for a moment. But I know you, y/n,” he was repeating my words from last night back to me. “You’re going to pull yourself back together. And then you’re going to help us find that son of a bitch before he hurts anyone else.”

Maybe I could fall in love with more than just his eyes.

There are certain moments in my life that I will look back on and remember with perfect clarity. That night when I almost lost my best friend, the day I graduated from the academy, the first night I spent in Aaron Hotchner’s arms were just a few.

I would also remember when the call came in from Garcia; how Morgan and Reid ran into the room. How Hotch’s eyes shot to mine when we found out the monster’s name. I didn’t have to ask; he nodded at me, those warm brown eyes were hidden now, hardened by pure ice-cold rage.

I strapped on my vest and road in the back seat in the SUV Morgan drove.

Summer’s monster was named Jeremy Carpenter. Her monster was a white man with brown hair, brown eyes, with a scar on the back of his right hand.

None of us were sure how he knew we were coming, but he had already barricaded himself inside his house. We heard a scream when the first gunshot was fired. I wanted more than anything to bring Summer's monster in alive; I wanted to offer her the chance to face him if she wanted to.

Aaron didn’t ask if I wanted to go to the hospital once everything was over; he really did know me. He took me to see her, he kept his hand on my back while I told Summer and her mother what happened. What I will remember most of all is how her mother hugged me when I told her the monster was gone, that he would never harm anyone ever again. I hit him in his leg; he was in pain before our unit chief put a bullet between his eyes.

We had come to the hospital alone; the rest of the team went back to the station to finish up paperwork. I held his hand on the way back to the hotel; I held his hand while we walked to our room.

I offered him a small smile before I made my way into the bathroom, determined to wash the events of the day off of my skin.

He was gone when I came back out.

It goes without saying that I had doubted most men in my life, especially since that night all those years ago.

I never once doubted Aaron Hotchner.

I was sitting on the bed when he came back, staring at the TV without seeing.

“Hey,” he said softly. “I thought you’d still be in the shower.” He set two bags down on the only table in our room. “You haven’t eaten since breakfast. I thought-“

“Hotch,” he looked at me then, his eyes locking onto mine. “Thank you.” I didn’t need to specify for what. He knows.

He pulled our food out while I made my way to the table. I couldn’t hold in my chuckle. “You know I get motion sickness; you know my favorite foods…just how closely do you pay attention to me, Agent Hotchner?”

He didn’t look the least bit embarrassed. “More closely than I should.”

We sat together and ate in comfortable silence. The next time he spoke was to answer a phone call from Jack. I tried to hide my smile while I listened to his conversation. Unlike the rest of his team, I hadn’t gotten to see Aaron Hotchner, the father. What is it about men being good father’s that is so attractive, I mused. Is it biological? I made a note to ask Dr. Reid.

After we ate, he went to shower while I stretched out on our bed, scrolling through my phone. When Hotch emerged from the bathroom he was in another pair of flannel pants paired with a black t-shirt. I pursed my lips in both amusement and disappointment.

“What?” His eyebrow was raised quizzically. Why are his eyebrows hot?

I giggled. "Nothing." At his incredulous look, I amended, "it's nothing interesting."

He sat down beside me on the right side of the bed, his back resting against the headboard. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

“Hooootch,” I whined, covering my face with my hands. “I’ve already embarrassed myself in front of you enough for one lifetime.”

His hand came up to grab mine, pulling them down from my face. Any attempts I made to wiggle away from him were in vain. Apparently, those muscles aren’t all show and no go. My body had shifted down the bed during my halfhearted struggles, meaning Aaron was now propped up on his elbow, his body angled over mine. “Embarrassed? I don’t remember any embarrassing times,” he pretended to give this some thought. “Unless you’re referring to last night when you mentioned how much you think about my muscles?”

I tried to jerk my arms out of his hands, but he held fast, laughing openly while my face turned red. “Oh, I’m sorry. Were you not talking about that?” He pushed my arms back onto the bed, rising to his knees, positioning his body over me, his face hovering over mine. “Then it must have been when you lied to the whole team a few days ago.”

I squeaked in outrage. “I didn’t lie about anything!”

He was so beautiful when that scowl left his face. “Yes, you did!” he insisted. “You said you wouldn’t say ‘yes’ if I asked you out. And, based on the evidence, I have to say I don’t believe that to be true.”

“Oh, I forgot I was dealing with a former prosecutor.” He nodded gravely, earning another giggle from me. “Okay, counselor. What’s the evidence?”

“The most glaring piece of evidence is you won’t tell me what you were thinking when you were looking at me when I came out of the shower.”

I let out a whine, accepting my fate. He’s literally on top of you, dumbass. Something tells me he’s gonna be receptive. “Okay, okay. I may have…hurried out of the room this morning while you were in the shower.”

Hotch quirked an eyebrow. “I know. Go on.”

“Asshole,” I muttered, delighted when he laughed. Hearing his laugh was one thing, but seeing it too? My insides were basically liquid. “I may have ran as an act of self-preservation. I was…worried that you’d come out of the bathroom in a towel. And you’d be wet, and hot, and I would…make an idiot out of myself, much like I am now.”

Aaron was delighted by how bright red my face turned; he made no attempt to hide his amusement. “So, just now, you were disappointed that I came out fully clothed?”

“Hotch,” I moaned out in embarrassment. He wasn’t making this easy on me.

My eyes were shut tight, my head turned away from him like this would somehow prevent him from seeing me. His left hand lifted from my wrist, his fingers coming to rest on my chin, turning my face towards him. "If you're going to moan my name while we're in bed, y/n, I'd prefer if you called me Aaron." My eyes snapped open. His eyes were still warm, teasing, but there was a certain heat in them I hadn’t seen before that made my lower belly flutter. He leaned closer to my face. “It would be hard for me to focus at work if you every time you said ‘Hotch’ I thought about you like this.”

I waited for a few moments for him to act before I realized Aaron couldn’t cross the line first. He wouldn’t be mean if I rejected him; that wasn’t the type of man he was. But the choice was mine; it had always been mine.

I lifted my free hand up to cup the side of his face, urging him closer to me. The first brush of my lips over his was so soft I wasn't sure it was even happening. It was so hesitant but so pure that it made me ache. Aaron pulled back to look at me; he was breathing hard like he had been running instead of just kissing me.

“Y/n…”

“Don’t profile me, Aaron.” I lifted my head, my teeth nipping at his bottom lip. “I want this. I want you.”

His posture shifted, he released my left arm to brace himself above me with his arms caging me in; he moved his legs, wedging one of his thighs in between mine. “I’m not profiling you. I can see how much you want this.” No need to sound so arrogant. “But I need to be sure…I’ve wanted to touch you for so long.”

My hands moved up to touch him, one hand feeling the soft hair at the nape of his neck that was still a little damp from the shower; my other hand gripped his bicep. “Then touch me, Aaron. Please.”

I wasn’t ready for the full force of Aaron Hotchner. He was the most intense man I had ever known, and that intensity didn’t stop in the bedroom. Aaron didn’t kiss me, he tried to consume me. His mouth moved over mine with a carnal hunger that made me throb, shifting against his firm thigh that was rested against me. I was desperate for any friction. I felt his hand move down from where it was cupping my face to rest on my collarbone, his thumb tracing over the base of my throat.

His lips moved off of mine to blaze a path down my jaw, his teeth nipping at the skin there before he moved back to my lips. “Don’t worry, sweetheart.” He pushed his thigh against the seam of my body, causing a whimper to escape from my throat. I didn’t even mind the smirk that covered his mouth. “We’ll get there. Just let me make you feel good.”

I opened my mouth to him; his tongue swirled around mine while the hand that wasn’t bracing him up moved to my hip. His fingers ran over the skin of my stomach that was exposed from my shirt riding up. I placed my hand over his, guiding it further up my stomach; how was I supposed to take my mouth away from his to tell him what I wanted?

Of course, Aaron knew what I needed; I was beginning to learn that he always did. His fingers trailed up my body until he got to the underside of my breast; the callouses that roughened his fingertips were heaven on my overly sensitive skin. My mouth broke away from his in a guttural cry when those fingers finally found my nipple. Aaron moved his kisses down to the side of my throat. I felt his breath against my throat when he murmured, “you’re so sexy, y/n.”

Raising up on his knees, he started tugging my shirt up; I lifted my upper body so I could slide my shirt off quickly. I heard Aaron groan when my chest was revealed to him, but I was on a mission of my own. Once I had his shirt pulled up over his abdomen, Aaron reached behind his back and pulled his shirt off at the neck.

My nails raked down the skin that covered his chest, reveling in the groan that left his mouth. He leaned over me again, his lips wasting no time before they covered my nipple. My hands tried to grip the short hair at the back of his head.

“Aaron,” I gasped out. “I need…more. Please.”

He started kissing his way to my other breast. “What do you need, sweetheart? Do you want to grind against my thigh? Do you need to use me to get off?” His tongue flicked over my nipple. “Or do you want me to use my hand? Is that what you need, Angel?” My heart stuttered at the sweet nickname just as much as it did at his filthy words. “Do you need me to put my fingers in your pussy?”

My thighs were shifting restlessly. “Yes, yes, please Aaron.”

When his mouth closed around my nipple, I felt his left-hand slide down into my shorts, then into my panties. He shifted his wrist, allowing his hand to cup me. He groaned against my skin. "I haven't even put a finger inside of you and I can already feel how wet you are. Your little cunt is just dripping for me.”

I didn’t have a chance to respond before he parted my lips, his finger ghosting over my clit, causing my back to arch off the bed. He smirked but didn’t tease me further; he slid his fingers down to my opening before pushing his middle and ring finger inside of me, using the heel of his hand to grind against my clit. I moved my hand to my mouth, having to bite on my skin to silence the scream that his actions brought forward.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” He leaned back, never pausing the movement of his fingers. “Are you trying to be quiet? Do you not want everyone in this hotel to know how wet you are? How desperate you are to have my fingers inside of you?” All I could do was nod. “It’s all right, baby. Once we get home, I’ll hear you scream for me. But for now; be a good girl and try to be quiet. I’m the only one that gets to hear what you sound like when you cum for me.”

I was grinding against him, working my hips desperately, matching his rhythm. I was so close. “Aaron, NO!” was all I could say when he removed his fingers from inside me. The man just smiled at me, looking me straight in my eyes when he put his fingers in his mouth, licking me off of them.

He grabbed my shorts and panties at my hips, roughly jerking them off my body. “When we get home,” he said as he slowly started to push his own pajama pants down. “The first thing I’m going to do is lay on my back and make you put this pussy on my mouth. You taste so good, angel.” His cock sprang free; he was so much thicker than I expected. I was transfixed, just watching his fist pump up and down his hard length. “Will you do that for me? Will you ride my face?”

“Yes,” I was so desperate I would agree to anything in that moment. “I’ll do anything. Just please fuck me, Aaron.”

He used the fingers of his free hand to part my pussy lips again, rubbing over my clit. “I don’t have a condom, sweetheart, but-“

“I’m on the pill,” I reach out to grip his shoulders, pulling him on top of me. “I trust you. I trust you with everything. I need you inside me, Aaron.”

He shoved my thighs open, running the head of his cock up and down my pussy, coating himself in my arousal. He looked up at me again, giving me another moment to back out, before he slowly started to push inside of me. He stroked in and out of me, going a little bit deeper each time until he bottomed out. Aaron’s head fell to the dip of my shoulder. “Fuck,” he whispered. “You’re so fucking tight.” He started moving then. Slowly pulling out before he shoved himself back inside me. My hands were on his back, my nails digging into his skin. I wrapped my legs around his back, trying to draw him deeper inside me.

“You feel so good,” I whisper, biting his shoulder to keep my moans quiet.

Aaron raised up on straight arms, changing the tempo of his thrusts. “You’re not doing a very good job of being quiet, baby.” I whimpered; I couldn’t help it. “I think we might have to do something about that. He quickly pulled out of me; I didn’t have time to complain before he flipped me over, gripping my hips and lifting me up on to my knees. His hand palmed my ass cheek while he leaned over me, his breath hot on my ear. “This is how you need to be fucked.”

Raising up, he lined himself up and slammed inside of me. I bit my lip so hard that I could taste blood; Aaron tangled his hands in the back of my hair, pulling my head up while he set a brutal pace. "Quiet, baby. You don't want everyone to know what a dirty girl you are. Screaming for my cock, so wet that you're dripping down your thighs." His pace didn't slow down; I felt my orgasm rising up inside me. "Touch your clit for me, sweet girl. I want to feel you cum on my cock."

My fingers began circling my clit in a frenzy, causing my pussy to flutter around him. “That’s a good girl. Such a good girl for me. Can you be quiet when you cum? Or do I need to shove your face down in the mattress while I fuck you?” He gave a dark chuckle at my needy whine. “That’s what I thought.”

In the way that he knew everything, Aaron knew when my orgasm was peaking. He pushed my head down, never too hard, but hard enough. I bit the comforter in an attempt to silence my scream. I felt myself clamp down around his thick cock. My orgasm broke inside me so quickly. I screamed his name while I came; the comforter silenced some of it, but he heard it. That scream along with my pussy cumming on him was ultimately his undoing. He gave a few final thrusts before he went all the way, holding himself inside me as deep as he could, filling me with his cum.

I collapsed after that. I had never felt anything like this before. Aaron was there, knowing what I needed even when I didn’t. He held me for a moment until I caught my breath. Then he went into the bathroom, coming back with a damp washcloth to clean me up. He was so tender with my sensitive flesh; he didn’t say anything, he just focused on his task.

Once he was satisfied, he laid down beside me, drawing me into his side just as he’d done the night before. I couldn’t help the dry chuckle that left my exhausted body. Aaron made a ‘hmm’ noise. “I was just thinking about last night,” I said quietly, my voice raw from the screaming I had just done. “You held me like this last night. It was just 24 hours ago, but the whole world feels different.”

He made a noise in the back of his throat that I took as an agreement. After a beat, he said, "well, maybe you won't run out on me in the morning this time."

I looked into his eyes, raising up to press a kiss against his stubbly jaw. “I’ll never run again.”

And I meant it. I could face any monster, as long as Aaron Hotchner was beside me.

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