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hooniee · 3 years

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— ꒰‧⁺ making lunch for them*ೃ༄

↷enhypen x reader ⋯ ♡ᵎ

↷ genre: reaction | fluff⋯ ♡ᵎ

↷warnings: mentions of food hence the title! please proceed with caution ⋯ ♡ᵎ

⇢˚⋆ ✎ this was super fun to write and i might write so more reactions/headcannons like this! please enjoy <3ˎˊ-

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ────── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .*

-ˏˋ~ heeseung lee ~ˊˎ-

“okay here’s a lunchbox for you! all of your favorites, make sure to eat all the veggies so that you can be healthy. i packed two water bottles so that you don’t get dehydrated. i also packed a bunch of snacks for the boys so make sure they eat too! oh and-”

heeseung laughs at you rambling, making you halt and feel shy under his gaze

“too much? sorry, you know how i am”

heeseung shakes his head, “not at all babe, thank you”

you dating the oldest in the group automatically made you like a mother figure to the 6 boys you adored

you had packed heeseung lunch ever since you found out he never had time to cook anything besides ramen packets :((

it wasn’t healthy for him and both of you knew that

he loved your lunches and it had just become a routine

the boys started to pout and get sad that you didn’t pack them anything

or as heeseung says, “they’re hungry little monsters too”

from then, you started putting loads of snacks in his lunch bag so that the boys could have something to munch on, occasionally making seven lunch boxes as a meal packed with nutritious foods.

heeseung complained about how heavy it was to carry all of them

but in reality, he wanted to be the only one who had the special heart shaped sandwiches.

-ˏˋ~ jay park ~ˊˎ-

(tasting the potato) “a little too salty”

(picking up the heart shaped onigiri) “why is it cut in a weird shape?

(staring at the ratio of chicken and rice) “could have added more chicken to balance out the amount of rice-”

“jay if you don’t like it, just say it,” you pout, moving to take the lunch box away from him.

*glaring at you* “who said i didn’t like it?”

jay is definitely the type of person to love cooking

from enhypen&hi, you can see him taking the lead in making dinner with the members

he critiques your cooking, like a mini gordan ramsy, but in a more loving way

honestly your food is amazing but he doesn’t want to be seen as soft so he pretends to play it off as

“it could be better but it’s still edible”

on the inside, he was screaming at himself

“this is so good! my cute s/o made it for me and look at this cute heart shape! oh veggies too! i should eat these so that i can be healthy”

he’s grateful that you take your time out of your day to cook for him

and who are we kidding?

jay swallows your food

even if it tastes like expired makeup

-ˏˋ~ jake sim ~ˊˎ-

“what is this baby?” jake asks, pulling a yellow bento box out of his practice bag.

he had never seen this box. it was labeled with “with love, enjoy babe!”

jake had woken up late or more so, you wanted to give him some more rest, and you decided to pack his bag and make him a lunch box while you were up.

“that’s your lunch jake,” you laugh at his adorable confused face, putting the ingredients back in the cabinet.

“lunch ?that you made for me?” jake’s eyes widen as you nod your head.

you didn’t know how he would react from the way his face stayed in shock, did he not want it? was the note too much?

that was before he rushed over to hug you and plant a kiss on your forehead.

jake was a simp for you

you were the light of his life, his one and only, his whole world, etc.

you could have grabbed something from the top shelf and jake would cheer like you just won a grammy

he was grateful for anything you did for him, cuddling him when he was tired, packing his bag when he need those extra 5 minutes of sleep

to say the least, he never would have imagined that you would make lunch for him

you had usually packed snacks in his bag since you were also a busy person but it was the first time you had made a whole meal for him

your cooking was the best, next to his mom’s of course

jake almost didn’t want to eat it from how pretty it was made

“why is jake hyung looking at rice like that?”

“because his OH SO precious (y/n) made it for him”

“ahhh makes sense”

-ˏˋ~ sunghoon park ~ˊˎ-

“sunghoon! wait up, wait up,” you yell out, running after him.

maybe it was because sunghoon was blessed with those super long legs but man, does this man walk fast.

sunghoon turns around, baggy white tshirt and black sweats, a black duffel bag hanging off of his shoulder

he corks his eyebrow at your figure that’s panting after chasing after him.

he checks his pockets and unzips his bag, “did i forget anything?”

“here,” you place a bento box with a pink cloth tied in a knot in his hands.

he squints, turning it in different ways, “what is this?

“it’s a lunch box! i made it for you,” you smile.

no thank you came from his mouth but you could tell as his cheeks started to glow pink like the cloth

sunghoon is confused when you make him lunch?

don’t get him wrong, he’s thankful but why?

i see sunghoon as a person to ask why questions for anything his s/o does for him

not is it to just annoy you, but he can feel the love behind the words when you explain WHY you did that thing for him

he loves affirmation over physical touch

sunghoon seems to be someone more introverted and quiet in the relationship

listening to his s/o, nodding to them when their ranting about something

he feels really grateful to you and eats his lunch with a big smile

he attempts to make you lunch too

if jungwon hadn’t called the fire department, you guys probably would be burnt to a crisp </3

-ˏˋ~ sunoo kim ~ˊˎ-

“oh my gosh (y/n)! what is this?” sunoo squeals as you place the newly prepared food in the bento box.

“it’s your lunch, bub,” you smile, seeing his face light up when you mention his lunch.

“for me? for real?” he questions

you nod your head and he starts doing a cute wiggling dance.

“my (y/n) is the best!”

sunoo loves to eat!

he loves all types of foods from all different palettes

sunoo didn’t mean to wake up so early

after a long night of practice, the last thing he wanted to do was go wake up early

but he couldn’t help it

the smell of cooking had instantly made him rise from bed

he took a little peep out to see you rushing around the kitchen

there was an egg, frying in the pan

you were packing rice that was freshly steaming, into a blue bento box

in your (f/c) apron, hair out of your face

he smiles at the sight, pretending to be asleep when you awoke him

-ˏˋ~ jungwon yang ~ˊˎ-

“wonie? are you here?” you softly call out, peeping your head into the practice room

“i’m right here,” jungwon comes from behind you making you jump, almost dropping the lunch box

“hi won,” you smile

“hi (y/n), what’s up?” he smiles, softly giving you a forehead kiss

“i wanted to drop this off, “ you hold up the box

he tilts his head in confusion, “bento box? for me? i didn’t order anything though?”

“idiot, i made it for you”

“oh”

“OH”

jungwon is the leader

even though he doesn’t have to, he always makes sure that his members have eaten or are staying hydrated

he always is worried about his members than himself

and it takes a toll on him as the hyungs said

it made you sad when you heard a report from heeseung that jungwon had been skipping lunch as much as he preached about the topic

enough was enough for you

you got up extra early and got to work

you had prepared a lunch bento filled with protein, veggies, carbs and a small chocolate bar. making sure to pack a water bottle, you packed it in a tiny backpack

you felt proud of your final creation

and from then on, you had decided to start making jungwon lunch everyday

from that day on, jungwon hasn’t skipped lunch

-ˏˋ~ nishimura riki ~ˊˎ-

riki enters the practice room again, cutting his break short while his hyungs take a nap, continue to eat, etc.

as he’s about to start to warm up, a purple bento box catches his eye. it was placed on the speaker.

he didn’t remember that being there before? maybe it was one of his hyungs. he should probably give it to them.

to his surprise when taking a quick glance at it, it said his name

“for your lunch riki! (y/n)”

he quickly pulled out his phone and snapped a picture, sending it to you with the caption “is this for me?”

your phone buzzes and you see the notification from riki. you laugh, opening his message

you respond “yes babe! enjoy <3”

just like jungwon, ni-ki had been skipping meals :(((

and you weren’t happy to hear that

ni-ki was still growing and needed nutritious meals to be able to stay healthy

his only excuse was that he needed to practice to be better in dance

ni-ki was already amazing :(((

why did he need to sacrifice his precious lunch time to practice?

you became anxious about the way he wasn’t taking care of himself

he already doesn’t get enough sleep

now not enough nutritious food?

that was not going to pass by you

you wanted to drop the lunchbox in secret, he didn’t need to see your flustered face anyway

you signaled to sunoo in the lobby as he guides you to the practice room

ni-ki was too busy playing on his phone to notice you

you dropped it off but you didn’t expect him to find it so fast

he was glad that it was just a drop off, so you couldn’t see the fire growing on his cheeks

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aenngelic · 3 years

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I will protect her at all costs (chapter 2)

Disclaimer: please don’t hate me for it, if you don’t ship them please just don’t read it ok 🥲

contains: slow burn, Sniper falling in love with Kuon, Snipers view/thoughts, sexual fantasies, nudity, lemon stuff overall

It is a very long chapter I’m sorry

Note: please feel free to message me if you have certain romantic moments to include in the story! (Already running out of ideas oops)

It did not take long for us to find a bag of supplies. It was on a coffee table in some sort of lobby area. It seemed as if this building probably was meant to represent some kind of hotel, which I thought was a good thing, because that meant that there would be beds and showers to be found here as well. To our surprise, the bag contained mostly candy, which I wouldn't interpret as a balanced meal. However, the girl seemed to like this finding. It was only a matter of minutes before the chocolate residue stained the corners of my companion's mouth in a brown color. However, I preferred to smoke a cigarette at first and watch the girl devour her own body weight in the form of chocolate.

" This is fantastic! It feels like forever since I last ate chocolate! I faintly remember dieting before I entered this world too, so this must have been probably weeks since I held chocolate in my hand." Kuon said with delight. It was amusing to watch her enjoy sweets. Kuon's carelessness may be a burden at times, but her innocent character makes up for it.

" you partly remember your life prior to this, don't you?"

" Yes, not much to be honest. I'm sorry you can't," Kuon replied in a concerned voice.

"Tell me about it."

She gave me a visibly puzzled look before straightening her back so that she was sitting as straight as a candle on the sofa across from me, staring at her hands somewhat lost in thought. She seemed uncomfortable that I had now brought up this topic. Unfortunately, I could not take back my question. "Well," she began, "to be honest,the life I remember has not been the greatest, I guess." Kuon abruptly shook her head. " That's not true either. I was born into a rich family and had many privileges. My father owned a large company and had very high expectations of me from the very beginning. One day I was supposed to take it over. I was probably pretty lucky compared to other people. I was probably a big disappointment for him. My character was just not strong enough in his eyes. I also remember not really having any friends either, because I was privately educated. And anyway..." I could literally hear the lump in Kuon's throat as a tear began to stream down the girl's cheek.

" i'm sorry. You know, I didn't really mean to end up crying."

I felt my heart break once again, watching the girl grieve. I was surprised now, though, to find out that this yet seemingly uncomplicated high school student was actually carrying a lot of emotional baggage. I did not hesitate as I jumped up from my seat to calm the blue-haired girl. I really hated it like the plague when she cried. Trying to preserve my Coolness, however, I grumbled, "oh girl. What's wrong?"

I placed myself to her left, and pressed her against my shoulder while running my hand over her hair a few times. There was no way I could bring myself to face her, though. It would be too embarrassing and, after all, I was far from being the Prince Charming who would dry her tears with a silken tissue. Besides, I could not withstand the sight of her teary eyes. So there I sat, a weeping teenage girl wetting my blazer with salty drops of grief on my right, awkwardly staring off into the distance.

"It's, it's..." she stammered, not being able to form a word. "You're the first person I've been able to trust, and because of that, I'm kind of..."

She took a deep breath, "It makes me so unbelievably happy."

Almost for the second time that day, a cigarette nearly got stuck in my throat, but this time I was able to suppress my urge to cough. The girl seemed to really like me. But did I like her too? I would be lying if I said I did not care about her. And if she got killed, I could never forgive myself. It was astonishing how one could form such a strong bond with another person in such a short period of time. However, pouring out my entire feelings in front of her would not come close to the cool lifestyle I was pursuing.

" i'm also happy to have met you, Kuon.", i finally decided to answer after a moment of figuring out how to respond.

Kuon's face, which was still streaked with tears, started to smile again, which made me feel much relieved. However, it took her a while to completely stop her wailing . We remained in this position for a while, until at some point I realized that the girl had fallen asleep. Her head had lowered in the meantime even further toward the ground, so that after some time she was no longer leaning against my shoulder but much rather against my belly. When I noticed this after some time and looked down to the girl, a cute sight presented itself to me. Admittedly, on the one hand it felt nice to act as this girl's pillow. On the other hand, it triggered an immeasurable amount of embarrassment in me. But cool guys do like to take care of girls' comfort, don't they?

Therefore, I decided I'd rather not wake her up and hardly moved at all. I looked out the window to my right, watching the sunset and reflected on certain issues. I was thinking about Rika as well as the two girls we were trying to find and, of course, about Kuon and so many other things until my eyes started to close.

When I regained consciousness, the night must have settled in. Before I could even perceive my surroundings properly, I swiveled my head once to the left and once to the right and let my gaze wander through the room. Because the moon was particularly bright this night, everything around me had taken on a deep blue tone. It was so quiet around me that I could have heard a pin drop. In the next second I realized that I should not have fallen asleep in the first place. Somebody would have had to keep watch, after all! Crap! If an enemy would have come along the way, it certainly would not have been good for me and Kuon. I looked down to my thigh where the blue-haired girl was supposed to lie. I felt her place her head on my thigh at some point during the night, but when I looked down at my thigh, I could not find any girl. Where the hell was Kuon? A rational thinking person, as I was one, could of course assume that my companion did not necessarily have to be in danger, but could also have simply visited the toilet, for example. Nonetheless, my alarm bells started ringing immediately. Kuon was, after all, a young girl who, apart from the "rail gun", did not posses many possibilities for self-defense. So of course I was worried.

Without thinking much, I hopped up from the sofa, on which I had been napping a few moments before. In quick stride I wandered through the poorly lit hallway without really having a clue where I was heading. My head was foggy from the idea that the girl might be in serious danger. A few days ago, I probably would have accepted the fact that she was suddenly nowhere to be found and continued my journey. And now my stomach was already twisting at the thought of her getting in trouble.

Nevertheless, a short moment later, my heart pounding madly from the ever-repeating scenario in my head, I heard a noise at the end of the corridor. A soft, high-pitched humming was heard, drowned out by the pattering of many drops. Light emerged from the crack of a door on the left. Was she taking a shower? The feeling of relief spread through my chest, followed by some degree of annoyance. Why did the girl not wake me up? I took a few steps towards the door, but before I was about to reach for the door handle, I remembered that I should not do so. A gentleman never violates a lady's privacy. So I decided to wait.

I leaned against the local wall, one leg bent. Then I let my thoughts wander, while the pattering of the raindrops in the bathroom right next to me showed no indication of stopping anytime soon. A lady of high society must spend quite a bit of her life showering, I thought to myself. And before I knew it, the image of Kuon suddenly popped up in my head. In my imagination I pictured her body, wondering what it looked like completely naked. A bar of soap running over her plump breasts, leaving traces of foam on her soft, wet skin. A body swinging under the hot rainfall like a leaf in the wind, presenting its vivid buttocks. I wonder if she was shaved? Hardly had I been able to finish this dirty thought of mine and get mad at my filthy thinking when my ears picked up the sound of footsteps in the distance. And they were coming ominously closer.

Damn, I thought to myself and was about to reach for my rifle, only to realize that I forgot it next to the sofa where I had been sleeping. I had been so upset about her disappearance that I could seriously forget the most crucial item for our survival.What was I going to do? For a brief moment I was at a loss. Escape proved almost impossible at this point, since I was at a dead end and I could not force the approaching enemy down with any surrounding objects. Besides, if I escaped, it would only be a matter of time before the enemy would track down my helpless companion. In the next moment, almost instinctively, I reached for the door handle that led to the bathroom that Kuon had still claimed. Perhaps there were objects in the room that were suitable for fighting, or perhaps we could be lucky and not be found, I speculated in the heat of the moment. So I tore open the door and rushed into the bathroom, greeted by a hot haze that took over the entire area.

"Kuon!" I called out in a hushed tone.

Without hesitation, I pushed my way through the door that separated the shower from the rest of the bathroom as if I was walking through nothing. Until that moment, I had hardly given a thought to the circumstances of this situation. But at the latest, when finally the naked body of a schoolgirl jumped into my field of vision, I quickly realized this again. I was just about to violate Kuon's privacy. An obviously shocked girl looked towards me, that from 1 second to the other tried to cover herself desperately.

"Mr.Ma-", she was about to say, but I interrupted her raised voice by pressing my hand to her lips as quickly as possible.

While I was still in the act of stepping into the shower, I flicked the light switch in the same movement so that no sign of our presence could escape from the room. Maybe they would not find us here, I hoped at this point.

"There's someone out there," I whispered to the naked girl in front of me.

" if we are quiet, maybe we won't be found. If we are, then..."

Kuon replied to me with an unintelligible "Mmm" , which resembled the sound of a frightened gasp. My body had pressed so close to hers by now that I could feel the wetness of her skin soaking through my shirt. I had directed my face facing away from her so that I could sharpen my hearing for the footsteps I could hear. Furthermore , I did not want to add unnecessary tension to the whole situation. It was uncool enough to interfere with a naked girl taking a shower even if it was an emergency. My hand was still resting on her lips and even though I was wearing gloves and looking away, I could clearly feel the warmth building up in Kuon's cheeks. She was obviously blushing in this moment. But having her pressed against the bathroom wall while forcing my hand tightly onto her lips and not even keeping a distance of not 2 inches, I could not blame her.

For quite a while, we did not move at all. We listened closely to the footsteps, which came a little closer and finally slowly moved away from us again. Temporarily it was even so quiet in this bathroom that we could hear each other breathing. Kuon's breathing was fast and almost verged on hyperventilation in this situation. Because there was hardly any distance between our bodies, I could literally feel her chest rising and falling in short intervals. With each rise, her breasts brushed my upper body a slight bit. I tried, as always, to keep my composure and block out the fact that Kuon was completely naked. Only when several minutes had passed did my posture loosen and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, we should be safe for now," I stated and let go of the girl.

I flipped the light switch and had to swallow.

Kuon had been naked before too, but it was only now that the danger was gone that I could really comprehend this fact. She had tried to cover her breasts with her hands and had simultaneously crossed her legs, looking down with a shameful expression on her face. However, the concealment attempt seemed to be unsuccessful for her. Although I only caught a glimpse of her appearance before I turned away from her as quickly as possible, I saw her entire beauty for a moment.Her breasts were in relation to her otherwise so petite body, large and plump. She had a narrow waist and perfectly shaped legs, in combination with her smooth, fair skin. And so she shaved, I could still tell. What remained most imprinted on my mind, however, was the look on her face.I of course preferred to see her friendly smile a thousand times more than this face that expressed pure shame. But I could not help but adore the sight of her big sparkling dog eyes looking at the ground helplessly.

My breath stopped for a moment, but then I quickly cleared my throat, my gaze already averted from her, scanning the room for a towel. I tried to hide the fact that I actually wanted to slap myself for the thoughts I was having. Luckily, my embarrassment was not visible through the mask. I had to change the subject immediately before the situation became even more awkward:

"Sorry, Kuon." , I mumbled. I was surprised myself by my harsh tone. It took me a while to recollect the words.

"You should let me know next time you decide to go somewhere else."

"Oh yeah right. I didn't mean to cause any trouble.", Countered the girl who also seemed to be a bit embarrassed. So it wasn't just me who was feeling uncomfortable about this situation. Without giving my companion another look, I threw a towel right over my head at her. I had a precise aim.

" I'm going to get my rifle. I forgot it in all the hurry near the sofa."

Just as I was about to open the door to step out, the girl interrupted my process by grabbing my arm with unusual intensity.

" can you come back here afterwards? Please?"

"That's what I was planning on doing anyway. I'll be waiting right outside the door," I replied, a bit puzzled by this question.

" but I have -." she interrupted herself, shaking her head slightly before continuing.

Then her facial expression regained its former composure, whereupon she gave me her typical, beaming smile. I could tell, however, that she did not mean it honestly. How I could tell that, I had no idea myself though. But did she want me to stay here with her?

" no you're right. I'll hurry up and be done in a few minutes," she said. While she was talking, she wrapped the towel around her body in a quick movement, fastening it in front with the help of a knot.

I had meanwhile turned my gaze back to her. Although Kuon was now dressed, it was difficult for me not to inspect her from top to bottom. Her entire body was still drenched in a hint of wetness, so that her skin was reflectingthe bright bathroom light. It was also slightly red from the hot shower water. I wondered if the red tint to her cheeks was also caused by that, or if I was responsible for it.I could not help but notice the way the towel just managed to hide all the places it was supposed to cover and yet was far too tight. If she bent over, a special view would present itself to me. Immediately I dashed this disgusting thought from my head. If I continued to reduce myself only to her appearance this could end in negligence on my part and I would not be able to protect her properly.After all, that was the most important thing. I also discarded this thought. Had this strange girl really become so important to me? Nevertheless, there was no place for interpersonal relationships in this world.Before I could get any further into this train of thought, I turned away again and finally walked out of the room. I was in need of a cigarette.

#kuniper #kuon shinzaki #sniper mask #yuka makoto #high rise invasion #tenkuu shinpan #yuka makoto smut #yu chan #rika honjo #yuri honjo #sky high survival #sky violation #shinzaki kuon #fanfic

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changkyunswifey · 3 years

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bittersweet l lee jooheon

wc: ~1.5k (i got a bit carried away -)

request: hello, I love your writings, they are like a cosy blanket and help me to ease my anxious mind; can I request something fluff with Jooheon, like when he helps you with your messy thoughts and anxiety (or something like that)? (I’m a sucker for this man.) Thank you and know that there are people who love your stories <3 take care of yourself <3

genre: lots lots of angst at first but covered up by lots lots of fluff at the end

pairing: jooheon x gn!reader

contains: nothing jooheon always having your back no matter what (and a bit of alcohol -)

a/n: so first of all thank you so so much for this request!! i made it angsty in the beginning but i hope it’s okay with you :( thank you for liking my work, i’m happy it helps you with your anxious feelings, i really hope you take care of yourself too <3

Since Jooheon last spent the night at your place two weeks ago, you didn't meet up even though you two texted you couldn't help but think something was wrong.

So that's why you were out so late in the busy streets of Seoul.

It felt like the street was screaming all around you, some people were going in and out of bars, some of them were leaving work from a long day while the other just wanted to find some party to crash.

Looking around you could really pass for a tourist who lost themselves looking for their hotel, but you were none of that, you just wanted to walk until your legs would feel to weak to keep going. You needed to go somewhere, anywhere.

You continued walking through the noise, looking around you, observing people, smelling the scent of food, alcohol and smoke mixed together invading your senses.

You stopped at a convenient store to buy a small bottle of whatever alcohol they had and your favorite snack and started walking again.

Your expression was blank, your gaze livid, your bottom lip trembled at the contact of the cold air, your hand squeezing the bottle in your left hand almost as if it was going to disappear if you were not holding it tight enough, your mind was filled of thoughts, anger, sadness, regrets.

You were walking along the side of a bridge, the cloudly sky above your head subtly warning you of the upcoming rain, your pace was slow, from the outside it almost seemed like walking was painful for you, but was it really ?

Every time you took a new step, your feet were feeling heavier but you kept going, not caring about the pain you were feeling.

Your bottle hasn't been opened yet, you closed your eyes and took a deep breath, turning toward the view you were getting from the city on the bridge.

You opened your eyes, looking at the lights coming from the city that was now far from you, you could still slightly hear the noise escaping from it mixing with the sound of the water underneath the bridge and some cars passing by behind you.

You took your phone out from your back pocket to plugged your earphones and listen to some music, finally opening your bottle to take a sip.

Wind was brushing against your face as strands of hair were coming in your view, your fingers and cheeks turned red from the cold air, you pushed your hair aside of your face and drank a bit more, hands laying on the safety barrier of the bridge and freezing from the contact with the cold metal.

Small drops of rain were falling on your face, blending with the tears that were now escaping your eyes.

It started to pour really hard but you didn't care.

You just stayed there, looking far away, sipping some of your drink every now and then with your music at full blast.

You didn't know why you came here in the first place, you couldn't even remember why you left your apartment earlier.

But there you were, crying under the cold rain, blood filled with alcohol, mind full of problems, eyes glued to the horizon, hands shaking on the barrer, your legs feeling like jelly as your knees were giving up, not able to support your numb body anymore.

You cried silently, holding back a scream you wish you could let out. You had so much to let go, so many insecurities, so many fears. You were so scared and lonely. So deeply lonely.

After a few minutes, the rain started to calm down as you dried your tears with your sleeves, you were exhausted and the only thing you wanted to do was sleeping.

You didn't feel like walking back home so you grabbed your phone to call a taxi but when you looked at you screen you saw that you received a message 15 minutes ago and one or two missing calls, it was him.

‘Hi, honey

I don’t know where you are and I hope you’re safe right now, I came at your place right as the rain started to pour because I wanted us to have a cosy movie night. Please call me when you get this.

I love you’

You locked your phone as your tears were leaving a bitter taste on your lips again.

----

About 20 minutes after you’ve read his text, you finally got home. As you opened the door a really smiley Jooheon came up to your, who’s smile quickly faded away as he took in your appearance.

Your hair was wet, your clothes drenched, your eyes red and puffy and you just looked unwell. Worry started to bubble in his chest. He dropped everything he had in mind and rushed to hug you close to him, not caring about getting wet from your clothes.

“I got you honey, I’m right here okay? You’re not alone in this, not anymore. I’m with you and I’m not going anywhere.” he said softly, gently caressing your hair before pulling away the slightest bit to place a kiss to your forehead, “Let’s get you changed again? How about a warm shower and a hot chocolate? Does it sound good?”, after a small nod from you, Jooheon helped you out of your clothes, put them in your dryer, got you some pajamas ready in the bathroom and made you some hot chocolate while you showered.

When you got out of the bathroom in the warm comfy clothes Jooheon got ready for you - including one of his hoodie which smell exactly like him, a smell that you affectionate so much because it felt so much more like home -, you walked to your living room where you were welcomed by the scent of warm hot chocolate, the sight of comfortable blankets laying on the couch and the wonderful comforting smile of your dear boyfriend.

He gestured you to come over on the couch, which you did, taking your cup of hot cocoa in your hands before blowing some air on it.

“Y/N..” he started carefully to make you look up at him with a questioning look. He carried on “What happened? You know you can talk to me, right? Please baby talk to me..” he had a pleading look plastered on his face, you had no idea how helpless he felt seeing you like this and not knowing what was bothering, it felt like hell to him, like his worst nightmare was becoming true.

“It’s just.. It’s just life being hard on me I guess?” he gave you a look that said “it’s okay, keep going” as he placed his hand on your knee and rubbed his thumb softly on the material of your sweats, he made you feel warm inside, he made you feel so safe without even saying anything and just by being here he was working wonders, with his unspoken encouragements you spilled everything that was putting any sort of weight on your shoulders - and you heart - and he listened carefully to every single word, waiting for you to finish.

When you were done he took a minute to think, organizing his thoughts, thinking about the right things to say and after what felt like an eternity he finally broke the silence :

“Listen, I know sometimes life can be really hard on us but it’s just an obstacle you have to overcome, it’s not a phase because it’s not going to go away on its own with time, you’re going to have to work to get through it and it is for sure going to be painful but you’re not alone in all of this and you will end up stronger than you were, ready to fight any other obstacles coming on your way to happiness. I know someday it feels helpless, there are some mornings you wish you could stay in bed all day and avoid all the potential problems you could possibly encounter but unfortunately that is not how it works. Unfortunately we have to get up everyday and fight the day. And it’s okay to lose a fight every now and then but it doesn’t mean you’ve lost your battle. It’s okay to fail, it’s okay to feel unsure, it’s okay to feel sad and anxious but you’re allowed to let go of that pressure you’re feeling, I want to help you carry some of the weight you have to carry everyday, I want to be there for you anytime you need me but for it to happen you have to talk to me like you did tonight, okay baby?”

His words made you tear up, you were so lucky to have him in your life, you felt so grateful for him as his words find their way directly to your heart, a few tears rolling down your now hot cheeks, you smiled at him.

“I love you so much Lee Jooheon, I love you so damn much” you said.

“And I love you even more Y/LN Y/N” he said as he placed a gentle kiss full of all his love for you on your lips.

The soft of his lips contrasting with the salty taste of your tears, creating the most perfect bittersweet taste you could imagine.

#monsta x #monsta x imagines #monsta x scenarios #monsta x fluff #monsta x angst #monsta x jooheon #jooheon imagines #jooheon scenarios #jooheon x reader

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omg-imagine · 4 years

Text

⊱ Drabble #6 ⊰

Pairing: Jack Traven x Reader

Prompts:

28- “Don’t tell me what to do.”

37- “Who did this? Who hurt you?”

38- “I love you, not him.”

39- “Am I not good enough?” / “I’m not good enough.”

Words: 1.7k (I should stop calling these drabbles lol)

Warnings: Angst, mention of alcohol

A/N: This was a bit challenging because there were four prompts requested but I did try my best. Hope you enjoy and have a great weekend!

Requested by Anon ♡

Business at your usual dive bar was slow this evening. It was quiet and nearly empty, perfect for your plan to drink yourself to oblivion. A tune faintly playing in the background, a single shot of whiskey was merely not enough for tonight, so you ordered a second and then a third. Now on your fourth glass, the alcohol’s bitter taste had slowly faded, but the amber liquid continued to burn down your throat. You didn’t mind too much, however. You loved the feeling of it and how it blurred reality into nothingness, dulling the ache spreading in your chest for a little while.

The hours passed without notice as you thought about anything other than what you had endured earlier. The pain was still fresh, hurting deeply and immensely like a sharp knife stabbed straight through you caused by another failed relationship. Aware of the real reason for its deterioration, you couldn’t help but wonder if this was how the rest of your life would be. You were too afraid to face the truth of the situation and lose the one person that meant everything to you, who had you search for happiness in others but with no success.

Knocking back your fifth shot swiftly, the bartender shook his head when you ordered a sixth, aggravating you slightly. You wanted to keep drinking to forget, to give yourself peace of mind knowing that you would have to pretend the next time you encounter Jack. You hated lying to him, but aside from revealing your feelings, there was nothing more that you could do. You were quite certain that he didn’t love you the way you loved him, and at this point, you would rather lie to save your friendship with Jack.

As you sat in front of the counter, a finger mindlessly tracing the rim of your glass, the door to the establishment opened. Back turned towards the entrance, you didn’t glance up until you felt a large palm coming to rest on your shoulder, a gentle squeeze following afterwards. Shifting your head, you caught the concerning gaze of Jack who stood there behind you. His kind chocolate orbs darted from the empty shot in your hand to your glazed eyes, a heavy sigh escaping his lips.

“What are you doing here?” You questioned, words slurring as they left your tongue.

“I’ve been trying to call you all night, but you never picked up. I had a weird feeling that you might be here, so I dropped by to check,” Jack explained, his hand grasping your glass to take it away from you when he realized you’ve surpassed your usual limit. Any more beyond that meant something was incredibly wrong. “You have to stop drinking. You’re going to regret it in the morning.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” your response was curt and cold. Jack was just trying to help, but you were angry. Not because of him, of course. Instead, you were angry with yourself for falling in love with him. “I’m fine, Jack. Really, I’m fine.”

“It sure as hell looks like you’re not,” he retorted, arms crossing on his chest. “Come on, Y/N. What’s the matter?”

Licking your lips, you remained silent, your focus switching from Jack to the hardwood floors beneath his shoes. You couldn’t look at his face as the tears were already pooling in the corner of your eyes. One glance his way, and you were sure to break down in front of him.

“Did something happen at work?” Jack asked to which you shook your head in response. “Then what is it?”

“Not something, but someone,” you muttered underneath your breath, hoping that your voice wasn’t loud enough to be heard. The alcohol fogging your mind urged you to reveal your secrets, yet there was still a small part of you that was sober enough to prevent it from happening.

Jack’s shoulders seemed to sag as he moved to sit on the empty stool beside you. Features softening at the sight of your despair, his hands reached over the counter to hold yours. His worrisome stare did not waver as you sought comfort in his touch. “Who did this? Who hurt you?”

“David and I...we—I broke up with him.”

“Oh.” It was all Jack could say, his eyes flickering away slightly as if he’s trying to process the news. Ever since you told him about your now ex, he had been completely ecstatic for you. David was a great guy, treating you with all the care in the world. During the five months you were together, you thought that he was the one to break the spell, the one who could convince you that love was possible with somebody other than Jack.

“Yeah,” you softly voiced, still avoiding his gaze.

“Why?”

Jack’s query was simple, but the honest answer was too complicated to explain. The mere fact was this—David wasn’t Jack. Jack was your best friend, the man who held your heart, even if he didn’t know it yet. No matter how handsome or how charming David was, he could never compare to him. He couldn’t make you feel special the way Jack did, and you could never love him the way you loved Jack.

And once you accepted that, you ended the relationship, not wanting to string the poor man along when your heart was set on someone else.

“It wasn’t working out,” you tautly replied, shrugging.

Solemn, Jack smoothly ran the pad of his thumb on the back of your hand, almost reassuringly. “I-I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It was bound to happen,” you blurted out, which piqued Jack’s curiosity, causing him to probe further.

“Why would you say that?”

You froze, not knowing what to say next. Jack was quick to notice your sudden uneasiness and how guarded you were at this very moment. It was unlike you to act this way, and it was quite alarming for him to witness your current behavior.

“Y/N,” he whispered low, bringing a finger under your chin, forcing you to meet his gaze. Pools of warm brown locked with your glistening eyes, searching for the secret you kept deep within. “You can tell me anything. You used to tell me everything, but lately, you’ve been so distant.”

Deeply exhaling, you couldn’t stop the words falling from your lips. The walls you had built to shield yourself started to crumble the longer Jack silently pleaded with you. He deserved to know the truth, even if it meant risking another heartbreak, this being the worst of them all.

“I love you, Jack,” you finally revealed, the weight on your shoulders seemingly disappearing. “I love you, not him.”

Jack paused, and your heart started pounding and beating faster. His expression was nameless, giving you no indication of what thoughts were forming inside his head. Panic quickly setting in, you suddenly pushed yourself off the seat. In haste, you tossed a couple of bills on the counter before dashing out of the door, leaving Jack bewildered.

Greeted by the cool, midnight LA air, you fished out your phone from your purse as the salty tears blurred your vision. You were too distracted to notice the bar entrance nearby opening and closing, failing to even hear the sound of your name being called from behind.

“Just wait a sec, Y/N,” Jack breathed out, snatching the phone from your hands before you could call a cab. “You didn’t let me speak back there.”

“It’s because I know what you’re going to say,” you responded, trying to control your faltering voice. “You’re going to tell me that we should stick to being friends because you don’t see me as anything other than that.”

A deafening silence filled the tension-charged atmosphere, only for it to break when Jack released a chuckle in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” you nodded, taking a few steps backwards but he kept inching closer. “I’m not good enough, Jack. Look at me, I’m a mess. I can’t even keep a steady relationship since I’m too hung up on you. It’s been years, and I still can’t get past the fact that we will never be more.”

Quiet yet sympathetic, Jack towered over you, placing his hands gently on your shoulders before wrapping you in a tight embrace. Your eyes fluttered shut as you buried your head in his chest, staining his shirt with your wet tears. For a while, he held you dearly, whispering soothing words into your ear to calm you down.

“You should have told me sooner,” Jack remarked, pulling back slightly as a tender smile parted his rosy lips. “It would’ve saved you money and tears tonight.”

You arched a brow at him, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s better if I show you.”

Breath hitched in your throat, the space between you and Jack became thinner as he leaned in close, letting his lips meet yours in a soft kiss. It felt as though you were floating, unsure whether this was part of a strange hallucination created by your alcohol-ridden brain. But as Jack tilted his head, deepening the kiss that made your skin shiver in both pleasure and thrill, you finally believed that this just had to be real.

“That was…” you trailed off, unable to find the right words at that second. The only thing that you could do was allow a smile to break through your lips.

“Perfect,” Jack finished, his eyes brimming with adoration. “You’re perfect.”

“Really?” you beamed, your past insecurities fading and replaced with utter joy.

“Of course,” he nodded, still surrounding you with his warmth. “I’ve been in love with you for so long, Y/N. You have no idea.”

You swore you could feel your heart flutter at Jack’s revelation, his wide grin making your knees buckle and you would have collapsed if it weren’t for the hands around your waist holding you steady. Sighing in content, you quickly stole a kiss from Jack, relishing the way his lips felt on yours. Who knew it would be better than you had imagined?

“I love you too,” you returned softly afterwards, nuzzling your head in the crook of his neck, taking in the divine smell that was simply him.

With one last kiss to your lips, Jack’s hand then intertwined with yours. “It’s getting late, I’ll take you home.”

“Okay,” you agreed, smiling brightly as the two of you began strolling down the sidewalk towards the parking lot.

What started out as a dreary night ended on a rather sweet note. A new beginning for you and Jack had unfolded, ready to explore once daylight arrived the following morning.

And you couldn’t wait to see what the universe had in store.

Permanent Taglist: @penwieldingdreamer @keandrews @feminine-machinegun @fanficsrusz @thehumanistsdiary @rdjloverxxx @flaminasteroid @lussdew @unaspiringwritings @planetkt

#jack traven x reader #jack traven fanfic #keanu reeves #keanu reeves x reader #keanu reeves fanfic

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andipxndy-writes · 3 years

Text

holiday mishaps (part 1)

fandom: alex rider x ncis [crossover] warnings: mentions of blood, typical ncis stuff requested by: @lilcoffeecup word count: 4.6k

cross posted to ao3

summary: Alex Rider just wanted a relaxing holiday, somewhere where he could relax without any trouble cropping up. And with Jack and her family, he almost got that. ALMOST. And then he had to go and take a midnight walk. On the other hand... Ziva David swears she recognises the fair-haired witness to their murder case.

notes: this was a fun little prompt to get!! it was originally requested to @theneedlesslobsters, which i was pretty hyped about. this ended up being... a lot longer than i anticipated, though. aimed for 10k, ended up with 30k+. so i’ve split this into 5 parts as best as i could. apologies in advance for any typos throughout :P

holiday mishaps

When Alex had imagined himself going on holiday, this certainly hadn’t been his intended outcome.

Granted, it had been a while since he’d actually been on holiday, and most of the times he’d been on holiday in the past they’d been during the more peaceful times in his life, but just once he was asking for there not to be an eventful screw-up during the MI6-light period of his life so that he could actually relax. Just once.

Apparently, that was too much to ask for.

All he’d wanted to do was go to the mall with Jack, explore a little bit, maybe buy himself some souvenirs to take back home to his friends. The friends he had disappeared from for months before finally returning with his “dead” housekeeper to the home and the school system of his childhood. Of course, switching education systems had been a hell of a lot to deal with, but as an A-Level student now he didn’t find himself trying too hard to play catch-up. He’d even caught up to and surpassed Tom (not much of a feat but he’d take it), which had irritated his best friend to no end. He would have said it made his other friends laugh, but then he didn’t really have any other friends.

But anyway, he’d wanted to go to the mall with his best friend, and that had backfired spectacularly, so now he was paying for it. Not in the literal sense, which is what he’d been hoping to do with a few souvenirs and some new clothes, but more in the metaphorical sense. And he hated that, because there was this whole thing about the customer always being right and not having to pay for something that they were disappointed with or didn’t like and that logic was sorely lacking right then.

How had it backfired? Well, at that specific point in time, he was heading through the mall, weaving through the crowds in an attempt to get away from his pursuer… whoever they were. He hadn’t entered the mall with the pursuers, otherwise he would’ve turned around and gone straight home. They’d somehow latched onto him and recognised him whilst he was there. Whether it was from the case he’d accidentally got involved in, or from one of the many missions he’d done in the past, he didn’t quite know. All he knew was that they were chasing after him and were probably going to kill him if they actually caught up to him. Or rather, that was what he was assuming.

He just considered himself lucky that Jack wasn’t with him but had gone off somewhere else. Even though that meant he was alone, it also meant that she was safer than he was, and hopefully the pursuers had stuck to chasing him instead of her shock of red hair. He would be absolutely fine with that.

Moments later, he was crouched down behind a bench, hoping to whatever deities existed that no one found him or outed him to his chasers. Perhaps if he waited there long enough, they would leave the mall, and he could find Jack and walk out just fine, and maybe go home or to the Navy Yard or wherever he’d be safe. Maybe even one of Jack’s siblings lived close enough for him to head there afterwards and give her parents a break, make the situation less stressful for them. Then they wouldn’t have to explain anything to them too. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.

It was as these thoughts were running through his mind that exactly what he didn’t want happened.

His phone rang.

***

It would probably be best to explain exactly how Alex ended up in that situation in the first place.

In the teen’s defence, he hadn’t intended to get into trouble in the first place. It had been his idea to take the holiday to the States, yes, but that had been partially because he’d missed out on the A-Level Politics trip to New York and partially because he knew Jack was missing her family. Plus, it had only seemed fair for her to actually see them before she decided to contact them asking if they could help her out finishing her Law degree — as much as Alex wanted to help her out with his own savings, she had refused to take any of it. Which he considered stupid but he wasn’t going to push her. Pushing Jack was a stupid idea in and of itself.

Anyway, the trip had started off really well. Even though Tom hadn’t been able to come with them, Alex really enjoyed it at the start. They went to New York first, for Alex to catch up on the school trip that he’d missed and see all the sights everyone else in his class had spoken about, and they ended up spending most of the time sightseeing and trying various restaurants they’d seen on The Food Network (which Jack had thoroughly researched before they’d travelled). It was different without all of his classmates, but the teen found himself enjoying it more with Jack than the gaggle of twenty-or-so other teens who would’ve been on the trip. Alex thought he would have been stuffed silly for the rest of his life from all of the restaurants they visited, but somehow he always had space for more. Jack, obviously, started calling him a bottomless pit.

After about a week and a half in New York, they’d travelled down to Virginia. That happened to be where Jack’s family lived, and after everything she’d been through the past couple of years Alex was both excited and nervous about meeting them. After all, he was pretty much the reason why she’d stayed in the UK and dropped out of her Law course. Of course, he was also the reason why she was going back to study again.

Apparently Jack came from a military family, and so they lived on the base there. Quantico, Alex believed it was called. He’d been (rightfully) nervous when he’d found this out, but then he actually met them and he realised there had been nothing to actually worry about. He hit it off pretty quickly with Jack’s brothers and nephews and had been more than pleased when Jack told him they were spending a couple of weeks there together, as a huge family. He got in some good bonding time with them, and he even added them on socials so that they could message each other whenever he wasn’t around. Honestly, though, he enjoyed playing video games with them a lot more than he would enjoy messaging them on socials.

It had been whilst he was staying with the Starbright family when everything started to go wrong. Of course, it had been after a solid week of staying with them before anything actually happened, but it was more the fact that something had happened that pissed him off. He couldn’t even take one holiday to visit his housekeeper’s family without something going wrong.

Damnit, MI6.

It had happened on a late night walk. He’d wanted something to snack on in his room (whilst checking messages and playing games on his phone instead of, you know, sleeping), and of course Jack’s parents hadn’t had what he was craving in the house. American snacks just didn’t tickle his fancy like food from home did, but they would have to do. But he wanted something stupidly salty and really unhealthy, not granola bars. Hence, a late night walk. To the nearest convenience store. Which wasn’t too far out, hopefully.

Jack hadn’t minded letting him go out alone as long as he took his phone, and her parents seemed to trust that he’d be safe on the military base, so he’d been fine going out alone. In fact, he was glad to be going out alone. Sure, he enjoyed the company of Jack’s family, but as a self-proclaimed introvert sometimes he just wanted to be alone to recharge. Being surrounded by so many people usually prevented that.

The trip to the store had been pretty quiet. He’d taken his headphones with him, sticking them into his ears and playing some music on his phone as he walked. It was an album that Tom had recommended to him, and he had to admit — his best friend knew his tastes really well. And the store wasn’t even that far away, just as he’d hoped; it was only a fifteen minute walk from the house. The fresh air was nice too, and it gave him the chance to stretch his legs without asking whether he could go out for a morning run and risking someone deciding to join him (read: self-proclaimed introvert). When he entered the store, he headed straight for the snack section, looking through the different options available.

He didn’t really want to buy just cheetos, but he wasn’t really feeling like just chocolate either. It took him a little while to decide on what to buy, but in the end he grabbed a pack of cheetos, a couple of packs of chocolate, and a box of Cheerios to just snack on in his room (he knew what he’d said about healthy snacks before, but Cheerios had light layers of sugar on the outside so they counted as snack-worthy). Jack would probably judge him for it, but at this point he didn’t really care.

The cashier didn’t even really question him, popping a bubble of gum as he paid for his items and took everything in a bag large enough for all he’d bought. He had been half tempted to throw in a couple of sodas as well to make it a full midnight-snacking stock up, but he knew Jack would probably flip out if she saw it.

So yeah, the whole heading to the store and buying things at the store part was perfectly fine. He hadn’t encountered any issues, no one coming after him or anything.

No, the issue started when he was on his way home.

See, on his way to the convenience store, there had been a couple of alleyways that he’d passed on his way over. He hadn’t felt any need to look down them with the directions he’d been given and the fact that he was a bit of a danger magnet, and he’d had his headphones in anyway. If there was anything going on, he was blissfully unaware.

On the way back, though, he only had one in. Which meant that he was still alert as he headed back, listening out for anyone who could be sneaking up on him to mug him or something of the sort. After all, he was carrying a bag of shopping home. Anyone could see him as a target then.

That was the only reason why he’d heard the yell coming from one of the alleyways he’d passed on his way down, and he paused for a moment before backtracking to the entrance of the alleyway.

The alley itself was very dimly lit, so it took Alex a few moments for his eyes to adjust from the more clearly lit main street. When his eyes finally did adjust to the darkness, what he saw made his heart plummet. And then it made his instinctive, protective side kick in — the side that he had somehow honed with his time at MI6.

His need to protect.

And that was how he ended up kneeling beside a body, hands pressed to a wound to stop the man from bleeding out as his groceries sat forgotten to the side. And whoever had attacked the man laying on the ground had fled, though not before Alex had landed a solid few kicks and punches on the guy so that he hobbled away injured. But then, with the actual attacker gone and him left with the blood of a dying naval officer on his hands, he was obviously the main suspect on what had gone from a homicide investigated by the police to a homicide investigated by NCIS.

As if he needed to get involved in a murder case on a Naval base on his holiday visiting his housekeeper’s military family.

***

Cases weren’t so abnormal to encounter first thing in the morning at NCIS. In fact, they tended to spice up the day automatically just by providing something interesting to do other than paperwork and, in Ziva’s case, enduring the constant chatter of her ridiculously chipper coworkers. By chipper, she meant chatting non-stop about anything and everything that came to mind. And by coworkers, she meant Tony DiNozzo. Him specifically.

She honestly didn’t understand how Tony had so much to talk about, and there were many days that she wished he had lost his voice or was suddenly rendered unable to talk. Unfortunately, the moment she’d walked into the office, she’d realised that that day was not going to be one of those days.

“Will he shut his mouth if I gag him?” she asked suddenly, looking towards McGee. The younger agent typed away at his keyboard, barely glancing up when he heard the question.

“No, he might actually like that,” he commented casually, which earned him a playful grimace from Ziva and a look from Tony.

“I’ll have you know, my bedroom tastes do not involve gagging,” Tony pointed out, “yet.” He almost smirked when he saw McGee’s face flush and Ziva gag again, before a glint appeared in her eyes. A glint that made Tony almost regret what he’d just said.

Almost.

“Perhaps your tastes involve other types of bondage?” she asked, almost sounding innocent.

Tony didn’t fall for it one bit.

Before he could respond to her, though, Gibbs marched into the bullpen and towards his desk, halting all conversation. After all, it wasn’t the sort of thing that they wanted to discuss in front of the man. It would have been… ridiculously awkward.

“Grab your gear! Dead Naval officer in Quantico.”

By this point, all three agents had learnt not to question how someone had died on a Naval base, or who exactly had thought it smart to kill someone on a Naval base when there were so many officers living in the vicinity. In fact, they barely said anything as they all grabbed their bags and headed straight for the elevator.

As the doors shut, though, Gibbs casually commented,

“You should see a doctor about those bruises on your wrists, Tony.”

Which, of course, made Ziva and McGee turn to Tony with wide eyes as the more senior agent stumbled over his words, trying to explain himself.

***

When they arrived at the scene, they were almost immediately allocated to different jobs: bagging and tagging, interviews, and crime scene photos. The scene itself seemed to be in an alleyway just off a main street, dumpsters from the buildings either side of the alley placed at varying points along it up until the chainlink fence at the end.

The scene itself, with the dead Naval officer, was about halfway down the alley. Which, at first glance, was a little confusing. Anyone who was running from an attacker would head straight for the chain-link fence and probably get there or get significantly closer before getting caught. Which Ziva didn’t hesitate to point out as she moved to take photos of the scene whilst Tony bagged and tagged evidence.

Tony simply raised an eyebrow at her as he bagged yet another piece of evidence. “You speaking from experience, Ziva?”

Ziva just blinked at him, confused for a moment. “You ask me as if you have none.”

“Experience in being chased or climbing fences?”

“Experience in being caught by your attacker at the fence.” The scowl she got from him only made her smirk, and she turned back to taking photos of the scene before he could come back with any sort of smart comment. If she wasn’t looking in his direction, it made it easier to zone him out and therefore easier for her to do her job. “Am I wrong, though?”

They both knew that she wasn’t wrong.

Before they could really continue their conversation, though (which was held a good way from Gibbs and Ducky so that they didn’t get overheard and told off for slacking), they were interrupted by someone approaching. All Gibbs had to do was send them a look and they’d zoom back off to work for fear of being so seriously told off, so they knew it wasn’t him when the approacher came with a significant lack of yelling or judgement.

In fact, they were just over halfway through their assessment of the scene when McGee had headed straight over, notepad in hand as he straightened his hat awkwardly. Like he was about to say something that the others — more specifically, Gibbs — wouldn’t quite like. He awkwardly met Ziva and Tony’s eyes before he started to speak.

“Uh, so our main suspect… well, the guy that was found at the scene when the officer was dying, he’s uh…”

“Quiet?” Ziva offered, at the same time Tony said, “Eclectic?”

McGee was clearly resisting the urge to roll his eyes at Tony’s comment, and had opted to focus on Ziva for the rest of the conversation. Just so that he didn’t start yelling at the Senior Field Agent. “Yeah, in a way. Like, closed off. He wasn’t really answering the questions, refused medical treatment, and he has a guardian or something who’s come to try and get him to go home with her.”

That was when a frown suddenly appeared on Ziva’s face. Tony was the one who spoke, though.

“A guardian? What, is the guy a kid?”

When the only response was silence, it made Ziva more than a little worried. She’d got a brief glance of the suspect who had been at the scene as they’d approached the scene, and she hadn’t thought he was any younger than twenty. With the need of a guardian, though, that meant he had to be younger than eighteen.

Basically a child. Legally a child. Which meant that his guardian was most definitely allowed to be around during any sort of questioning and interrogation. Sometimes that was helpful, sometimes it was difficult. Very difficult.

And it seemed like McGee couldn’t tell which one it would be.

“Have you told Gibbs?” Ziva asked, glancing over McGee’s shoulder to try and take a look at the person he’d been interviewing. She could barely catch a glimpse, but what looked to be a fair-haired young man was sat on the back of an ambulance, trying to scrub what looked like blood off his hands. She didn’t know what the guardian looked like, but a redheaded woman was standing not too far from him, the only thing between them being a police officer seemingly mediating the whole situation.

McGee glanced over to where Gibbs seemed to be just finishing up with the body, leaving Ducky and Palmer to deal with the body and escort it back for the proper autopsy. “Not yet,” he answered, “though I guess I’m gonna tell him now.”

“I guess you gotta,” Tony responded sarcastically. Ziva nudged him with her foot, sending him a look. As soon as Gibbs approached the group, McGee turned to explain the situation to him, leaving Tony and Ziva to continue going through all of the evidence at the crime scene. They could only hope that the guardian was more reasonable than most guardians tended to be — cooperative and willing to let their ward actually talk.

***

When they finally got the kid to the conference room — because he still seemed more like a witness than a suspect, and because there was a guardian present who probably wouldn’t take too kindly to having their ward being questioned like they were a murderer — they found out that he was definitely a teen, probably around sixteen or so. He was also British, and on holiday to the States with his guardian to sightsee and visit her family. The guardian, on the other hand, was a lot more vocal about the situation than the teen was, almost ready to fight as soon as they’d stepped into the conference room. It had taken the interrogator, who happened to be Ziva at that moment, several minutes to convince her that the teen (who she had by that point had found out was called Alex) wasn’t actually in trouble but was just being asked about his opinion on what had happened. And even then, Alex had to nudge her a couple of times to make sure she didn’t just scream the room down.

When she eventually did calm down, Ziva got a pretty comprehensive understanding of the situation that made her realise that Alex wouldn’t have been in such a situation if someone had just gone with him to the store. Yes, he was capable of walking to a store by himself, but he was also on holiday in a foreign country, in a place that he wasn’t particularly familiar with. But, he was a teenager. Teenagers liked to do things by themselves. She certainly remembered doing things like that as a teen — or, at least, trying to do things like that before getting caught and told off.

She still didn’t quite understand how his guardian had so willingly let him roam the streets of a foreign country freely, but before she’d had the chance to ask such a question, the teen started looking very uncomfortable in what he was wearing. After all, he was still in what he’d worn the night before, and the front of his outfit was stained with blood that would definitely be very difficult to get out. Ziva decided it was alright for them both to go. If they needed any more information, they could call them back in for questioning.

In fact, Ziva made sure to point this out to them. Whilst Alex, the teen, had been seemingly okay with it, his guardian clearly had not. She had a feeling she knew exactly who would pick up if they called them back in for further questioning.

Ziva’s time focusing on her thoughts was cut short when Tony suddenly appeared beside her on her way back from the conference room. She didn’t doubt that he’d been listening in from the other side of the door for anything and everything that could be of interest to their case, as if she couldn’t do the job well enough herself.

“Well, that sounded like a fun conversation,” he commented, and she couldn’t quite read whether he was teasing her or just being sarcastic. She decided the first one seemed a more plausible conclusion and went with that, deciding that the best reaction would be to scowl at Tony before rolling her eyes at him. A usual response to him when he said things like that, and it wasn’t as if he was put off by her reaction if the smirk he gave her was any indication.

“Was the conversation not what you expected?” she challenged as they continued down the hall and exited into the general office area.

He gave a little shrug as they spotted the bullpen across the room, heading over to it. “I guess an interrogation— sorry, a conversation is what you expect of it, not me.”

Ziva glanced over at him as they reached the bullpen, moving towards her desk. It was when she’d sat down that she took the time to really scrutinise his face. “It was not what you expected,” she stated, knowing that was what he meant without even having to ask the question.

He simply raised an eyebrow at her as he sat on the edge of his desk. “Oh, so you’re coming to conclusions without even asking me my actual opinion now?”

Her nose scrunched up as she stood and leaned on her desk, pointing at his face, wiggling her pointer finger a little bit. “Your opinion is written all over your face.”

Tony barely hesitated before turning to McGee at his desk. “Is my opinion written all over my face?”

McGee didn’t even look before answering, “You’re as readable as an open book.”

Before Tony could argue, Gibbs was rounding the corner into the bullpen, causing the two bickering agents to quickly move to stand in front of the plasma whilst McGee remained at his desk, tapping away.

“What have we got?”

As pictures appeared on the screen, Ziva zoned out a little. The image of the teen had appeared alongside the image of the dead Naval Officer, Petty Officer Lewis, and Tony and McGee were rattling off details that they’d managed to find about him — his lifestyle, when he’d last worked, who he was married to, where he lived, where he was from, all of that sort of thing. The kind of thing that would explain if and when he could have found someone who wanted to kill him, that sort of thing. Ziva had already caught up on all of this before going into her conversation with the teen to figure out whether he was actually involved in what had happened to the officer or just an innocent passerby. From what he had told her, it seemed like he was more the latter.

She considered herself lucky that she managed to zone back in just as she was needed for information, and she snatched the clicker from Tony before zooming in on the teen.

“Our first and only suspect so far,” she started, “Alex Rider. Sixteen, British, lives in London with his guardian Jack Starbright.” A few more clicks, and a redheaded woman’s license appeared on the screen beside some of Alex’s extra details. “Alex is a regular school student, clean record, nothing out of the ordinary that would tip him off. Trained in the martial arts, but it seems like more of a hobby than anything.” Another click, and the image of Jack’s license zoomed in. “Jack is an American citizen, born in Virginia and raised on base. Her family are Navy, she has numerous brothers… nothing out of the ordinary with her either. It seems more like they stumbled on the situation out of…” She trailed off before she could finish that situation. She knew exactly what would be said about her observation.

“We don’t believe in coincidences,” Tony commented, glancing towards Gibbs as if he was looking for affirmation.

McGee raised an eyebrow at Tony. “I don’t know, Tony. This looks like a case of wrong place, wrong time to me.” And Ziva agreed wholly with that statement, she really did, even though there was the whole rule about there not being such a thing as coincidences. But she didn’t even need to look at Gibbs to know that he did not agree with that statement at all. He was probably staring at the screen with that usual steely look as he tried to come to a conclusion, trying to work out the case mentally and wait for his team to catch up.

“Question the family,” Gibbs suddenly suggested, moving to his desk to grab something. “Find out more about the kid, and find out more about the Petty Officer Lewis. His past and current contacts. Get more suspects. I need more information, and I want to know everything.”

There was a brief moment of hesitation and everyone mentally assigned themselves a task, before they all parted ways to do what they needed — leaving Tony and Ziva both grabbing their bags as they headed to the elevator, doing exactly as Gibbs asked them to do.

After all, who else would question the family?

#writing: mine #written for: lilcoffeecup #writing: fanfic writings #fandom: ncis #ncis #ncis fanfiction #fandom: alex rider #alex rider #alex rider fanfiction #multichap: holiday mishaps

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mipplenoop · 3 years

Text

Chapter One: Refractory

I swiped left, I swiped right. My lips echoed those satisfying plinks and plonks as points racked up and candies dropped. There was a strange sort of comfort that came from controlling supersaturated treats on an iPhone screen, as their bright light danced on the mute concrete around me.

Though I was a prisoner, the phone made me feel free. It brought me back to all those hours at home, playing the 8-bit games that were all the rage back then - especially Sweets Smash. With Aaron, with Ruby, I remembered sitting under the dining table gathered around my brother’s old console, hiding from the discipline of our parents. Even though it was called Candy Crush now, and on a screen smaller than my palm, the feeling was the same. Just like back then, staring at those lacquered sweets made my mouth water.

Oh, how I longed for a good meal. I couldn’t recall the last time I had digested something other than salty, rubbery chicken and reheated green beans. I was so starved for something different that I could’ve eaten, say, an entire spotted hyena. Yes. I imagined myself grabbing the beast by the belly while its brethren howled and laughed, sinking my teeth into its fur and biting down through its thick, black hide. Tasting that sweet, fibrous flesh of a being inferior to me. In fact, I’d have eaten the whole pack - my stomach bubbled and churned as I immersed myself in the game, trying in vain to stave off that ever present sensation. But not a moment passed that I didn’t force myself to gulp down a torrent of saliva, lest I drown in my own starvation. At this point, the mold growing out of the cracks in the wall looked tempting. What made me, of all people, deserving of such punishment? Of such pain?

Nothing, I reminded myself. I was an honest person. I worked hard at making it in this life. I was caring, curious, and funny. Loyal. There were people who loved me. And I loved them, even to the point that I would’ve given my life for them. Sure, maybe I hadn’t always been the best I could be, but I tried. I tried so hard.

Yet in the eyes of the law, I was nothing but a killer. They - the police, the prisons, the surveillance companies, “They” with a big “T” - knew my sins, and were never going to forget. A cold, computational system never forgets. Charged on two counts of first degree murder. One count of aggravated assault.

Nobody understood that I was a victim, too. In the last moments of Duy’s life, it was me or him. Letting him live would’ve been a dark, endless pit that pulled me down forever, sinking me deeper and deeper into a suffocating void of toxicity until I died. Of abuse, or stress, or insanity, I didn’t know. But I felt it in my loins. That feeling was frustrating, and it was the only thing that hurt more than the hunger. They didn’t understand that I was more than ones and zeros. That Aaron, or even Duy was more than a statistic, more than... Fuck. The gnarled remains of my cock hurt just thinking about it. A phantom pain. Tears streamed down my pudgy cheeks, falling onto those precious candies.

I swept the tears away, but no matter how hard I tried, each move felt like a setback - a step towards loss. With each combo, blocks of chocolate grew in area, threatening to envelop my remaining freedom - eating away at the space which would allow the creation of striped candies and color bombs. Those big brown balls dotted with sprinkles of rainbow, that was what I needed to win. Just six of them, in about three times as many moves. I hoped that when I saw that victory screen, with all of the points I had won, it would be almost rewarding as a real meal - maybe I would be able to forget where I was, even just for a second. Yet those brown squares were eating away at my freedom to win, or to even try to win. It was a never ending battle for territory, where each attack that did not seek to eliminate the chocolate only facilitated in growing it.

“Your phone time is over, Gambia.”

The sound echoed through my head, disrupting the swirling thoughts that I had grown so accustomed to housing. When had he entered? I hadn’t even noticed.

Loop Liu eyed me through the bars of my cell, pelvis thrust forward in a display of attempted dominance. His hands rested over a pair of bony hips, lined by a belt weighed down with all variety of police gadgets. Handcuffs, pepper spray, knives, and whistles. Two empty gun holsters. Blue fabric of his much-too-big uniform sagged over them, weighted down by a sparkling, star-shaped metal buckle that identified the man as chief - pinned over his heart like a sticker for good behavior. It made him look even more so like a child in a man’s outfit. His lanky arm reached through the bars, beckoning me to hand over the phone.

“You made your one phone call, right? Who did you contact?” he questioned in a somewhat accusatory tone.

I looked down at the phone, at my game. I hadn't made the call, but only because I was too busy crushing candies. I tried to concentrate on winning, since that was the only thing I could control now.

Still, it was interesting that he used that phrase. “One phone call.” That was just a myth from Hollywood movies, wasn’t it? Aaron had made me aware of such factoids during our time in the hospital. People treated that line as if it was written in the Constitution. But in reality, I had no rights the second they found me - a beautiful brown big boy - beaten, bloody, in a room with two bodies. This phone didn’t even belong to me, but to the lieutenant currently at the front desk. It was an aesthetic. Worse than that, it was probably monitored, tapped, just so they could incriminate me further.

The chief sighed. “Gambia. This ain’t a hotel. Say something. You gonna make me come in there?”

Only fifteen moves left, and I still needed four more color bomb swipes. It was tough, trying to get a row of candies to align in the right configuration. With the limited space imposed by the chocolates squares, it would take all of my skill to get a win.

“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be,” he taunted.

Fourteen moves now. I couldn’t stop.

“I know people like you, you don’t have anyone to call. You don’t have any family or friends, because either they got scared and ran away, or because you killed them. Am I wrong? I know I'm not. Frankly, it disgusts me that we have to do anything for murderers like you,” Loop Liu tucked his thumbs under his belt and stretched backward. “But it’s the law.”

I continued swiping. Two more moves but no closer to my goal.

He was wrong, wasn’t he? I didn’t call because I didn’t want to hurt anyone else. I had people to contact. The nurses at the hospital, family friends, my parents’ old lawyer. Right? I just didn’t want to involve them in it. And as for the people I had supposedly murdered… Duy… well, that wasn’t my choice.

“Now if you didn’t call anyone, that’s perfectly understandable. You can give me the phone and I’ll leave you be. But if you did talk to someone, and we don’t know about it, if you’re lying to me, well, that’s not good. In fact, some may say that your actions are grounds for additional obstruction of justice charges.”

Why was I still thinking those thoughts? About what happened with Duy. Why was I being stupid again? There was no way out for me. The chocolate was closing in, leaving me with only a five by five grid to build the bomb. Maybe I could use a lollipop booster? No. That would be cheap. Aaron would never have resorted to using microtransactions or cheating in Sweets Smash.

Then again, Aaron wouldn’t have killed anyone, either. Maybe I should just give Loop the phone. It wasn’t even mine, and, like I had said, it was probably compromised. It was evidence that the whole world was against me, that they would try their best to make sure I lived in a dark, cramped jail cell for the rest of my life. It was an impostor. It was a fake friend. My real phone was broken, along with Duy’s spine, when I had crushed him.

My arm began to move, raising the phone toward the chief’s hand.

But I stopped myself.

“No. I want to see Big Wang Chang’s body. Then I’ll give you your phone,” my voice cracked, after having not spoken for days.

It was a pathetic declaration. Irrational. Yet, there was something in me that wanted to grasp onto just an infinitesimal chance at hope. Even though I would never talk with Ruby or Aaron on our old farmhouse, my heart still jumped every time I swiped a candy and was reminded of their warmth. Despite the fact that I would probably never again see the light of day, I pictured myself taking Aaron’s body from the morgue, dressing it in fancy clothes, giving it a modest send off and burying it in the field out back with Ruby.

Loop laughed, as he unhooked a ring of keys from his belt. “You think you can make demands? You’ve already asked us for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a goddamn late night snack every single day you’ve been here. You’re out of requests.”

My stomach growled. Candies beckoned me, and they tasted like my lover. If I didn’t try now, I probably would never be able to again.

“I just want to see him one last time. I won’t do anything crazy,” I spoke, now with a more confident voice.

The chief rolled his eyes. “You want to see Aaron, you mean? Your ‘brother’?”

My twin.

“Not a chance,” asserted Loop. “Quit whining and give me the phone.”

I crossed my arms stubbornly in protest. The chief stood in contemplation for a moment.

Loop Liu lifted his cap and scratched his balding head. “Look, we don’t even have the body anymore. I don’t know what the feds did with it, but it got separated from Duy’s at the hospital. Good thing, too, if you ask me. You wouldn’t want to see your own handiwork. From what I already saw in the photos, that kid's chest was messed up.”

Duy had stabbed him, yet I was being blamed. This was the brilliant system at it again. Aaron was covered in my blood when they found us, and that was all there was the story. No need to investigate further, or to learn about how he saved me from an infection that would’ve taken my life, not to mention my whole cock. My blood began to boil at the sheer thought of it, and the only thing keeping me in check was that I had just gotten another color bomb. Its electricity reached out like tendrils of Aaron’s hair all those summers ago, long before he had cut it. I only had three more to go.

“That’s a lie. If you don’t have a body, how do you even know he’s dead?” I demanded.

I knew he was dead. There was no way around it. I was just stalling, taking up time, in a big middle finger to the chief. How dare he try and tease me, to give me the hope of seeing my twin once again. Fuck the chief. I remembered what Duy had done to Aaron. All I wanted was for them to give me the truth.

“Look, Gambia, we can go over all the fun details during your official interrogation. But let’s take things one at a time. First, I need you to hand me the goddamn phone.”

But I could already recall all the details. How the paramedics first took Duy’s body and threw it on a stretcher. How it landed with a squelch, and how blood spurted from his open mouth as his head fell back. His crushed, limp body jiggled as they tried to take his pulse. No response. Then they just carted him away, into another room full of body bags.

And I was left there gasping on the ground, as Chief Liu’s underlings took photos of me and Aaron.

The chief huffed. “Remember when we talked before? You gave me your solemn oath that we could get started after you settled in. With a real interview, and a phone call to your family, and all that good stuff.”

That wasn’t a promise. It was coercion, as I was being thrown into a hospital bed still bleeding, and still drenched in Duy’s blood. I was being smothered in questions and flashing lights, swarmed by the police, while they left Aaron in that terrible room all alone. Then when all of the doctors had gone, Chief Liu bent himself over me, and pushed his knee deep into the pulp that was the remains of my penis.

“Promises to bastards like you don’t count,” I sneered.

That last statement came out overflowing with anger. I guess I needed to practice holding in my emotions after experiencing so much trauma and isolation. Whatever. That didn’t matter now. I went with it. I held the phone out in front of my face and continued playing, as if to tell the chief “Come get it.” And my game was on an upswing, too. Only two more bombs needed, with eight moves left.

Liu swung his head to the side, with an amused expression.

“Don’t talk to me like that, boy. You won’t like me when I’m angry,” he laughed.

His air of nonchalance infuriated me. It wasn’t just about what he had done to me, either. I knew Loop Liu was corrupt. A liar and a rapist. Duy had told me as much the last time we met, as we hugged with his mouth pressed to my ear. In the end, perhaps he had become so disillusioned with the world because of what Loop had done. That’s right. I had to remember that we were all victims.

“And how are you when you’re angry? What’s that like?” I asked. My voice quivered with rage.

“You just might find out. I’m specially trained to take down punks like you,” the chief snorted.

“No, Loop. I’m going to take you down. There will be a day that comes when everything you’ve done comes back to bite you in the ass.”

“Really? That’s hard to believe, because I haven’t done anything,” the chief snorted.

“Of course you have. You know it, and I know it.”

“Is that a threat?” he asked, half jokingly.

No. It was a prophecy. One that was going to come to pass very soon.

“Duy told me,” I said flat-out. “I know what you did to him. What are you going to do when I let every police officer and lawyer in the city know that?”

There was a barely perceptible change in his expression. His brows crossed just a little deeper, and his forehead became just a little more wrinkly. This was the expression of a man who was not quite angry - afraid, and just enough to lose his cool. It made me feel a little bit better.

I was going to win. I could see the path forward - four blue candies split in half by a yellow. I just had to make the right move. Clink. Plop. Candies dropped. I looked at Loop as he started to tap his feet and pace the ground outside my cell. Clearly my statement had some effect on him. He was off balance now, so maybe there was a way through. Not just in the game, either. I was talking about getting out of this cell.

“You know, Julius,” he spoke quietly.

“What?”

“Some of the boys and I made bets. Bets on how many beatings you would have to take before confessing to the two murders. What do you think I wagered?”

“I don't know. Sixty nine?”

Loop chuckled to himself. “I said only one, because despite how fat you are, you have a feeble soul. And I reckon I’m right - don’t try to prove me wrong.”

Oh. Those were fighting words.

“Are we passing on the interview, then?” I asked, barely able to contain myself.

Loop Liu stared me down. “We sure as hell are. And I’m going to substitute it for a beating right now.”

It was fitting. As kids, Aaron always got out of doing chores on the farm by sweet talking our parents. He would joke with them, talk about how little work I was doing, or fake being sick by warming his forehead with our old heated toilet. I was never as smart. I would always end up doing his work, or take his beatings, while he got to go off on adventures with Ruby, or play Sweets Smash without me.

But as a result, I was used to doing backbreaking labor every day up until I fell off the roof of that barn. And even though it had been three years, I was nearly just as strong as I was then. Under my layers of folds and flaps was a man with the strength to bend steel bars. To crush the entire police force.

To kill.

Fuck! I messed up. It was the chocolate again. I wasn’t watching it. Now I had just two moves left, with no clear path to getting that color bomb.

I clutched the phone tighter as traumatic memories caused my hands to glisten. I couldn't handle another loss. I heard crackling, but I couldn’t tell if it was Candy Crush or the device itself. Or Duy’s ribs. The way I squeezed them with such ease, until his lungs popped and his chest caved in. Those round, blue candies reminded me of Duy’s glistening, pleading eyes as I smothered the life out of them-

“Just give me the damn phone!” screeched chief of police Loop Liu.

He had unlocked the door while I was deep in thought. Of course he had, that slippery bastard. Just like he had barged into mine and Duy’s relationship, he began to enter my cell. This space that they had designated for people like me without giving it a second thought. But now I knew it intimately, like Aaron’s smooth, slender body. And I could beat him with that.

Adrenaline, anger, and power pumped through my bloated body, and in that moment I saw every detail of my surroundings: the sixty nine rusted cell bars before me, the cold, mossy concrete slabs behind me, and the faint breeze that pulsed through each of their cracks. The high hum of the security system that blocked me from the outside world. Yellow heat lamps, swinging on their tethers. There was Loop’s pale hand against the door, ready to push. The hinges to squeak and squeal at his behest. And I knew the exact trajectory of its opening. I could think of one thousand ways to stop Loop from grabbing me, but I only needed one.

“You don’t want to do that,” I warned. “You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words.”

I strutted forward in a confident rage, knowing that I could take him. I no longer cared about my freedom, or Duy, or Candy Crush. I wanted revenge. If I played my cards right here, I may be able to escape and wreak even more destruction. The chief was thin and unathletic, hardly able to stand up to my thickness. The distance between his elbows was less than half that of my body. Even though I was sorely lacking nutrition, I had no doubt that I could take him.

I smacked the man across his face, knuckles digging deep into the bony recesses of his cheeks. His head snapped back and the chief fell to the floor.

I stood dominant over my prey. This spotted hyena of a man, a pathetic excuse for chief, pleaded upward at me in terror. But despite my blinding anger, I still knew in the back of my mind that he was cunning. Duy had told me that much. His pack could arrive at any moment. And so I kept an eye on bony fingers as they slid across his belt, making sure he didn’t radio for backup. Once they came to a rest, I was going to pounce. Aim for the legs, then the face. Then the groin - for Duy.

But no. Wait. the chief was reaching for something else, not on his belt. That was it. A bright red whistle tied around his neck. How had I not noticed that before?

In a single motion, Loop Liu grabbed it, put it to his mouth, and blew as hard as he could.

The shrill banshee cry made me shrink back, stumbling ass first into my cell, shielding my sensitive ears with my palms. My strength negated. Could I still salvage the situation? Nobody would have heard that whistle except for me, right? No. Before I had time to regain my surroundings, with just one glance, I knew it was over. I had no more hope of escape, save for some divine miracle. The physical barrier was just too great.

They lined Loop like a street gang: three dark, African men to each side of the chief, each outfitted in tactical gear, batons in hand, ready to wage full on war. They wore full face shields, the tinted plexiglass as dark as the skin peeking out beneath it. In contrast to the chief, they were brimming with vigor and muscle.

The men seemed to have appeared from nowhere, in a highly coordinated effort, and the beck and call of Loop. They stood with feet perfectly aligned, immaculately distanced from each other in a regular fashion, not a millimeter off. They were not only strong, but obedient. Clearly, the best of the police force.

“Come get some!” I shouted.

They charged, and my fists pounded against their vests.

They seized me. Twelve arms wrapped around my torso, beastial limbs ripping into my form as I struggled against them. With every twist, with each shove, they pressed into me harder than ever before. They were the chocolate, and I was that last color bomb, never meant to be.

As I was suffocated under their layers of Kevlar and sweat, I thought to myself that I could’ve overpowered these half dozen thugs. If only I had a little more food, if only I had won in Candy Crush, it would be a fair battle. The embarrassment brought on by my weakness, and my impotence, only galvanized my struggle even more. My muscles rippled under my corpulent body as I cried out in frustration and shame. This brought only further embarrassment, perpetuating a vicious cycle that soon brought me to tears. The phone fell from my hands, screen shattering against the unforgiving floor. I would never be able to play Candy Crush again.

“You’re not going to win, Loop Liu,” I resolved. “I’ll kill you one day, I swear!”

Loop Liu giggled like a hyena. His head rolled back and he clutched his belly, though I could barely tell through the prison of meat that surrounded me.

“Oh, Julius Gambia. You think you’re ever going to get out of here? Out of the most secure containment system humanity has seen since slavery? No. For that commotion you caused, you’re going somewhere not even your lawyers will be able to find you.”

“And where’s that?” I asked, gasping for air.

“To the depths of hell.”

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the-feeeeling-is-mutual · 4 years

Text

Thank you for the tag @heyjonesey, as always! ❤️

1. What is the colour of your hairbrush? Pink and grey, my hair included.

2. Name a food you never eat: Mushrooms. Mushrooms are evil.

3. Are you typically too warm or too cold? Too cold. Like all the time. In the summer family members use my feet to cool themselves down. So cold that we started turning the heater on in... July I think?

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? Downloading photos, I might have a problem. (I don’t see why Shutterstock doesn’t give me an account with 10 free downloads with my perfectly real-looking name AAA BBB, working for Stealers Inc. on the position of a stealer with an e-mail address thisisathrowawayaccsorry@[redacted] tho. They’re mean.)

5. What’s your favourite candy bar? None really, I prefer high-quality chocolate.

6. Have you ever been to a professional sports game? No, thank god.

7. What is the last thing you said out loud? "The interNOT”

8. What is your favourite ice cream? I really like any kind of fruit sorbet.

9. What was the last thing you had to drink? water

10. Do you like your wallet? I... I don’t have any. I usually don’t even wear any kind of purse to be honest because of my back problems. My husband carries all my things in his shoulder bag.

11. What was the last thing you ate? chocolate

12. Did you buy any new clothes last weekend? What would I need them for now?

13. What’s the last sporting event you watched? Some ice-skating like a year ago.

14. What is your favourite flavour of popcorn?

I think they’re selling only something like “sweet” and “salty” here.

15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to? a realtor

16. Ever been camping? Nope, I’m a city creature.

17. Do you take vitamins? Yes, sir.

18. Do you regularly attend a place of worship? *looks at my main blog* I mean...

19. Do you have a tan? I haven’t really been outside since... February so you can probably imagine.

20. Do you prefer chinese or pizza? This must be a trick question, one loves both equally.

21. Do you drink soda through a straw? No, I can use my hands. And mouth. And drink from a glass.

22. What colour socks do you usually wear? Pink ones inside or in winter boots, black ones outside.

23. Do you ever drive above the speed limit? I don’t drive and would never.

24. What terrifies you? As a person with a panic disorder, please let me just say this would get the length of a slow-burn fanfic if I was to list everything accurately.

25. Look to your left, what do you see? A door, would you look at that.

26. What chore do you hate the most? I’m an adult, I do all the chores with an immense love any time it means avoiding my other responsibilities.

27. What do you think of when you hear an australian accent? Of one movie I worked on.

(Did anyone notice number 28 is missing? Huh.)

29. Do you go in a fast food place or just hit drive thru? I don’t eat fast food really.

30. What’s your favourite number? Does everyone have one? I don’t.

31. Who’s the last person you talked to? husband

32. Favourite meat? No, thank you.

33. Last song you listened to? As It Was

34. Last book you read? I... I swear I used to read a lot at school but now it’s mostly fanfics for me and those I’m NOT going to name.

35. Favourite day of the week? Any day except for Saturday since I have to teach a lot. The beginning of the week is good. Long time till next Saturday.

36. Can you say the alphabet backwards? What would you need that for? I don’t have the bandwidth.

37. How do you like your coffee? Weak. Then I drink half a cup, then my stomach starts hurting, then I get nervous and shaky and then I realise I shouldn’t drink coffee.

38. Favourite pair of shoes? I wear the same “work boots” all year round. Those are my favourite, yes.

39. Time you normally get up? Usually at 12 AM or 1 PMish. My schedule has been weird lately.

40. What do you prefer, sunrise or sunsets? I have no way of ever seeing a sunrise.

41. How many blankets on your bed? Two most nights. Does husband count as well?

42. Describe your kitchen plates: Yellow. Food tastes good from yellow plates.

43. Describe your kitchen at the moment: Moderate amount of mess.

44. Do you have a favourite alcoholic drink? Nope.

45. Do you play cards? Nope.

46. What colour is your car? No car, no colour.

47. Can you change a tire? No car, no need to change a tire.

48. Your favourite state or province? People have those?

49. Favourite job you’ve ever had? My current job actually!

I’m tagging @hufflepuffveve, @riibisel, @irishsong, @frankieneedsmeds and everyone who feels like being interviewed! ❤️

#personal #LONG

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haikyuu-imagines-blog · 5 years

Text

Bokuto Koutarou - Relationship in 5 Steps

∠ genre - fluff

∠ summary - Do you want to know what it’s like to be adored by one of Haikyuu!!’s characters? Do you want to know five easy steps they would use to make you theirs? Read to find out.

∠ Kuroo Tetsurou ver. | Oikawa Tooru ver. | Sawamura Daichi ver. ∠

∠ masterlist

∠ being noticed

'I'm bored.'' Bokuto's whine broke the silence, and Akaashi wished he was somewhere else at the moment. With a roll of his eyes, he ignored the wing spiker, who started tapping his blue pen repeatedly on the desk.

''How about you go to the store and buy some snacks, huh?'' He proposed only to have Bokuto brighten at the idea.

''Great! What d'ya want, Akaashi?'' To study in peace, he thought but grunted to Koutarou to get him whatever. That seemed to be enough, and he was left alone, at last.

Bokuto, on the other hand, was clueless of his teammate’s true intention. He put on his bright sneakers and run out of the house in the direction of the nearest store. It was chilly outside but spring was just around the corner. Bokuto shivered, only now regretting not taking his jacket. He picked up his pace and noticed how the Sun was slowly setting. It was later than he previously thought. He decided to jog the rest of his trip and found himself in the store just minutes later. It was a small shop, very neighbourhood – friendly. Shop owner quietly greeted him and received a nod in response from him. The choice of the snack wasn’t huge. There were a few chocolate bars, crisps and salted peanuts. He decided on taking two orange sodas and one pack of crips. The only problem was which chocolate bar would taste the best. He has never tried this brand before and didn’t want to regret his choice or worse – anger Akaashi, who surprisingly was quite picky when it came to chocolate.

‘’You should take the salty caramel.’’ A voice from behind interrupted his train of thoughts. ‘’Huh?’’ He responded stupidly before turning his body to see you. A girl around his age wearing a obnoxiously yellow hoodie. Cute, he thought. ‘’Thanks, is it good?’’

‘’No, it’s disgusting. But the best from this store.’’ You chuckled and took two bars from the shell and gave one to Bokuto. ‘’Some choices ain’t easy.’’

‘’True.’’ He agreed and sent you a grin.

‘’What’s your name? You live here?’’

‘’Nope, just visiting my dad for the weekend.’’ You replied and headed for the register. He followed. ‘’And it’s s/o. Nice to meet you.’’ You smiled again and Bokuto decided that he wouldn’t mind seeing your face like this more often.

‘’Likewise s/o. I’m Bokuto.’’

∠being friends

‘’Okay, okay – hear me out. I don’t think she shot her with the intention to kill, but it was out of desperation.’’

‘’I mean, I think so too, Bokuto. It was still shitty thing to do, though.’’

‘’Yeah, you are probably right.’’

It’s been a few weeks since your first meeting at the store late in the evening. He remember taking you back to your dad’s that night and somehow getting your number. To his surprise, Bokuto was really shy just thinking about talking to you – even through text messages. However, you were the one who reached out first and that’s how your daily conversations started. Sometimes they were really long, even up to few hours. But it wasn’t always like that, there were times when you talked only for five minutes simply satisfied with just hearing each other voices and knowing that everything is going smoothly.

Bokuto was shocked at how easy is was to just talk to you. You were funny, witty and very smart, probably smarter than him. You came up with many new hobbies for you two to try out and even though Koutarou had only a little time between school and volleyball, he still made time for you and your ideas. This time you were discussing a show you both adored. He was getting a little tired and he could hear the many yaws you let out since he called.

‘’Tiring day, huh?’’

“A little, you know how it is sometimes. My mom works a lot, and most of the chores are mine to finish. I couldn’t really nap today.’’ You sighned. He understood completely and could symphatise with you on having almost no time at all.

‘’So, good night?’’ He said but really wanted to talk to you still, but you health was more important. He wouldn’t forgive himseld if you followed his bad habits and woke up exhausted tomorrow.

‘’I’m sorry I wish I could talk more.’’ You really sounded sorry and he hated it. He really thought of you as a very important person in his life and couldn’t stand you blaming yourself for working hard everyday.

‘’Hey! Stop this right now! We do a lot of things and we are great! No sadness today!’’ It was supposed to cheer you up and judging by a quiet laugh on the other side Bokuto succeded.

‘’Right, right – I’m sorry mister positive vibes.’’ You chuckled again and yawned. ‘’I will see you next weekend, okay Bokuto?’’

‘’Can’t wait, s/o.’’

∠ asking out

Bokuto was jumpy all day and couldn’t focus. Practice was a mess, and he could still feel disappointed stares of his teammates on the back of his neck. It wasn’t his fault! Honest! He was just stressed of the phonecall that awaited him today. He was ready, but not so ready in the end.

Being honest, Bokuto wanted to ask you out the moment he met you. However, his anxiety got the best of him and he doubted you would even agree. His behaviour was getting worse and worse each day. At first it wasn’t that bad but then it started affecting everyone around and even his team. Right then, he knew it it was the time. He had to confess or he would go crazy.

Akaashi, despite his overall peaceful demeanor, supported his decision and cheered on him in the best way he could. The same can be said about his teammates and everyone who knew about his feelings. Bokuto was an open book, so it was a lot of people. But even with such overwhelming support, he still felt unsure. Maybe it was his hidden insecurity, but he really thought you deserved better.

You were really kind and patiently listened to all his rants without interrupting. He knew you were a mature person who was desperatly trying to hide her sadness and problems. You were so brave to fight on your own but Bokuto secretly wished you would ask for let and let him carry your burdens with you.

With all this knowledge, he felt pretty honored you were regularly wasting your time on him. But were you willing to waste even more? Were you reasy fo--

‘’Bokuto, come on. I can practically hear your brain overworking itself. Just call her and let us of this misery.’'

‘’Akaashi, I’m not so sure about it.’’ He gulped and could feel the sweat gathering on his neck.

‘’Well, I’ve already dialed her number so---’’

‘’WHAT!’’ Before he could react and scold Akaashi he could hear your voice from the speaker of his phone. ‘’H-hi s/o! How are you?’’

‘’You sound out of breath, everything cool?’’ You asked concerned and he suddenly felt really warm in his chest. Damn, you were so likable it hurt.

‘’No. I mean, yes. YES! I’m great, I just wanted to ask you something – If you have time, that is...’’ Great Bokuto, really smooth.

‘’I can always find some time for you, buddy. What’s up?’’

‘’Let’s hung out! I mean like go out to eat – like on a date? Maybe? Yes, definitely date! If you want to – we can also go to movies or just stay at home. Whatever you like.’’ He was rambling and didn’t notice the dead silence on your end.

‘’I don’t know, Bokuto...’’ He froze and swallowed harshly. He suspected it, but damn did it hurt.

‘’Hey! It’s okay! We can still be friends right?’’ He hoped you would say yes, even though it would be hurt he couldn’t imagine a life without you in it. ‘’You there? I’m really sorry if I---’’

‘’Shit. You really are cute.’’ You chuckled and he almost dropped dead.

‘’What?’’

‘’I was joking, you big dummy. Of course we should go out. Like---we were probably made for each other. But I wanna choose the movie.’’

‘’Hell no.’’

∠ first kiss

‘’Koutarou, damn, gimmie a kiss.’’ He groaned, face instantly growing warm.

‘’No! I’m shy s/o!’’

‘’As if! If you are shy, then I’m an angel.’’

‘’You are to me.’’ His response made you groan and he chuckled at your cute reaction. He loved getting you worked up. These teasing between you lasted for almost two hours since you demanded him to kiss you. It was adorable, he thought. You’ve never kissed anyone! He had his fair shair of kisses and some make out sessions, but you never did! It was cute, but still stressful. Would he make you satisfied? Would this kiss be memorable and nice? Firsts were important and he wanted it to e the best, but seeing you getting frustrated was a guilty pleasure he couldn’t just reject.

You puffed your cheeks in a fake annoyance and pouted – making sure he noticed how upset you were. He leaned in and your eyes widened, then closed. You were ready to be kissed, and he wanted to do nothing but make your dream come true and then – he lightly bit your nose and burst into a fit of uncontrolled laughter.

‘’Betrayal! I have a boyfriend who hates me!’’

‘’No! I love you, babe.’’ And the good moment was suddenly dead. He couldn’t believe himself. You were still so early in your relationship and while he knew he loved you deeply, he wasn’t sure you were ready for such a serious step. He knew about your trust issues and about you shaky relationship with your dad, who left you mother when you entered middle school. You really tried to forgive his and create some kind of friendship wit him, but it was still very hard for you to even talk about the loneliness you felt when your mother had to work many shifts to provide for you.

He fucked up.

‘’I love you, too.’’ Or not. His shocked face reflected in your eyes and you could tell he wasn’t expecting a response like that. ‘’Why so shocked? You are the best thing that happened to me and honestly if you want we can even get married now.’’ You looked at him again, slightly embarrassed. You expected him to laugh at your joke or lightly punch your arm. What you saw, however, was completely different. His mouth was open and his eyes welled up with tears. You didn’t want such reaction and were ready to apologise, but you were stopped. Bokuto closed the distance between you in a seconds and his lips meet you in a first, brief kiss. When you parted, his eyes met your and you kissed again with much more passion and feelings than before.

Technically, it wasn’t the best kiss. You bit his lip once and your teeth clashed, the sound still maked you cringe -- but you wouldn’t have it any other way.

∠ being a couple

‘’This one or that one?’’

‘’The first one has many windows, the space is nicely lit up. However, the second one has better location and bigger kitchen.’’

‘’That’s true, but I kinda prefer the first one.’’

‘’Me too, honestly.’’

It’s been weeks since your graduation day and months since you and Bokuto met. It was honestly magical how in the past you weren’t even aware he existed and now you couldn’t live without him. His smiles, his laugh and sometimes crazy behaviour was like a fuel to keep you going every day. You still didn’t overcome some of your fears but it wasn;t something that can be changed overnight. He knew it too, but still supported you with such an enthusiasm that it melted you heart.

You never knew you could love, let alone be completely head over hills for a guy. You weren’t alone in this though, you knew Bakuto loved you just as much.

That’s why you both decided that the most logical decision for you after high school would be moving in together. You both were used to sharing space and to be honest, it would feel weird for you to not wake up next tto him everyday when you so longed for his presence.

‘’So the first one?’’ He asked, interrupting your train of thoughts.

‘’Maybe we call and ask first? We gotta know the price and some extra details, then we can decide. I kinda want to know whether we can own a pet.’’ Your words surprised him.

‘’You wanna pet? You’ve never told me before, babe.’’

‘’I know, sorry. I just never had much time for one, but know that I got more freedom I think I’m ready. I also think it would be nice to have someone else to care for and love with you, we would be great parents for a pet.’’ You finished and instantly heard loud sniffled from Bokuto. ‘’Oh God, don’t cry.’’

‘’But I’m so happy! I love you, you know! I would be more than happy to raise a pet with you!’’

‘’First, we have to find a suitable flat, ya know.’’

‘’I know, I know.’’ He hugged you and laid his head on your shoulder. ‘’But together, we can do everything we want.’’

‘’So cheesy.’’ You laughed, but your boyfriend suddenly jumped from the bed to grab something from his backpack. ‘’What are you doing, Kou?’’

‘’Here I bought chocolate for us.’’ He handed you the bar and you couldn’t help but smile warmly at him.

‘’Salty caramel, huh?’’

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themilky-way · 5 years

Text

Midnight Love {p.p}

gif credit: idk someone on tumblr but I forgot bc it was in my camera roll

summary; as you and peter get ready to have a cozy, planned date, he has to leave and attend some emergency as Spider-Man. However, peter did not expect to say those three special words that night and neither did you.

warnings; none that I know of just fluff :)

author’s note; hi so this is my first imagine on here and I’m a tiny blog bc I just started and this is prolly gonna flop but enjoy :) also I’m sorry if it sucks so if you guys have feedback, let me know!

———

“peter, the popcorn is gonna burn if you don’t get up and go get it.”

“why do I have to go get it, love?”

“because you’re the one who planned this date, now scurry.” And with that, you sent your boyfriend of four months to his kitchen to retrieve the possibly burned bowl of popcorn.

when peter brought up the idea of a date night, you suggested a simple one would do, and although he wanted to go all out, he finally accepted your preference. so instead of renting a fancy suit and dress for yourselves, you lay on your couch, picking your way through a random selection of movies until you settled on the one you both wanted.

peter came back with the bowl of popcorn in his right hand (which was a little burnt but a little ash won’t hurt) and a chocolate bar in his left. “for you, since you can’t have anything salty without craving something sweet,” peter said to you as he plopped down beside you.

“thank you, pete,” you smiled and gave him a small kiss on his cheek. both of you got settled and started the movie, opting for a cheesy romance film that you both loved. your hand found peter’s naturally when you both had finished the snacks, and he would occasionally lift your small hand and bring it up to his lips to where he would place a gentle kiss on it.

this was how you spent your evening, but about halfway through the movie, peter’s phone buzzed. he let go of your hand and you kept watching the movie intently, assuming it was aunt may who wanted to ask if you both wanted dinner taken to your place. after peter sent the text, though, you noticed he was disentangling from the position you were both laying in, and you got worried something had happened.

“what’s going on, pete?” you questioned while peter gave you an apologetic look and stood up. you knew peter was spider-man during your first month of dating after he accidentally dropped his mask from his pocket at the arcade. it was funny, and you laughed at first, but after peter didn’t laugh you knew he was the hero who kept the streets of Queens clean.

“I have to go, (y/n), mr. stark needs me for a few hours. he says it’s an emergency. I’m sorry.” You quickly reassured him it was alright and told him specifically to one, be safe and wear a seatbelt if he got into mr. stark’s car and two, to send you a text after he had finished notifying you he was indeed safe. Peter smiled while you were talking and he had to physically restrain the urge to tell you how much he loved you.

“I’ll be safe, pumpkin, I promise you. If you need anything, just call me,” peter said. you agreed and he leaned in to press a kiss to your warm lips. your hand touched peter’s cheek and pulled him a little closer to you, the kiss gentle, sweet, and silently filled with love. you eventually pulled apart and you let your fingers caress his cheek slowly for a few seconds. it was a quiet and intimate moment, none of you experiencing anything like this before. both of your foreheads pressed together, the steady sound of your breathing, eyes closed, and one of his hands intertwined with one yours was everything you both had wanted.

“I love you,” peter whispered shakily. he discovered it was the perfect moment for him to say how he felt and it was something completely unexpected for the both of you. You opened your eyes, now widened a bit, and pulled your forehead away from his to look up at him. you didn’t say anything, and this had peter a little worried. he thought he had ruined the moment by taking it to the next level, but his worries were thrown away when he saw you smile and firmly say those three tiny words back.

“I love you too, peter.”

peter let out a small breath he didn’t know he was holding and brought his free hand over his chest, expressing relief. “oh thank god, I thought I blew it.”

you both fully pulled apart now and you told him to not worry as you had been thinking about saying it for a while. both of you were now giddy and full of excitement, now having taken the relationship a little further and to a new level of intimacy. you let peter gather up his things so he wouldn't be late for the emergency (even though peter needed about ten additional minutes to calm down after you told him you loved him back) and he put on his shoes and opened the door and turned to look at you as he was heading out, giving you a soft smile. You smiled back and said goodbye to him while waving.

And with that, peter left your apartment, the only thought on both of your mind’s being that what you both had, was a midnight love.

#peter parker x reader #tom holland x reader #peter parker #tom holland #spiderman #spiderman homecoming #avengers

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lloydskywalkers · 5 years

Text

n stands for neutral

So the trend is to just kill everyone with angst today, huh? Huh? It’s not like I need love and happiness in my life anyways-

“I can’t believe this.”

“You really should’ve seen it coming.”

“From everyone else, maybe, but from you? I trusted you, Kai.”

“Lloyd—“

“You were supposed to be my brother!”

(Haha psYCH this isn’t even angst, somebody’s gotta bring balance to the force so here is!! totally self-indulgent bros being idiots, aka Kai tries to teach Lloyd how to drive, as inspired by treasured classic Disney Channel show The Suite Life of Zach and Cody.)

“I can’t believe this.”

“You really should’ve seen it coming.”

“From everyone else, maybe, but from you? I trusted you, Kai.”

“Lloyd—“

“You were supposed to be my brother!”

“For the love of—“ Kai turns around in the driver’s seat, staring at Lloyd where he’s (very much against his will) sitting in the passenger’s seat with his knees pulled up to his chest. “Are you seriously quoting Star Wars at me right now?”

“You tell me, Anakin Mc-Scarface, you traitor.”

Kai rubs a hand across his face, counting to three under his breath. “You are the worst drama queen, you know that, right.”

Lloyd folds his arms across his chest, looking grumpier than the wet cat Kai had rescued from a drainage flood the other day. “Takes one to know one,” Lloyd mutters.

“Look, I’m still serious about picking up that cookie cake, promise,” Kai says, wincing a bit at the reminder that he has, technically, stabbed Lloyd in the back, just a tiny bit. “Driving practice is just a stop on the way.”

Lloyd shoots him one of those I’m-Gonna-Flaunt-My-Overlord-Heritage looks, the one that could strip paint from a wall.

“I don’t need a stupid driver’s license.”

“Yes, you do!” Kai exclaims, throwing his hand up in the air. “What are you gonna do if you need to get somewhere? What are you gonna do if you get pulled over?”

Lloyd’s lip juts out stubbornly. “I’m gonna light the car on fire and fly away on a dregon.”

Kai wonders briefly if this is how Nya feels. “You’re the worst gremlin of a brother I’ve ever had.”

“And you’re a stir-fried ice cream head.”

“I should’ve let you burn in the fire temple,” Kai mutters, as he pulls the car into a mostly-empty parking lot.

“But you didn’t,” Lloyd says, a bit more cheerfully.

“A tragic mistake, really,” Kai sighs.

“Yeah,” Lloyd says, propping his elbows up on the armrest of Kai’s seat and grinning at him. “Just think — then you could’ve been the green ninja right now. Blew your chance.”

“It might not be too late,” Kai says, side-eyeing him. “I could still off you and steal the green gi, you know.”

Lloyd snorts. “Yeah, then you could give the motivational team speeches—“

“You haven’t set a super high bar—“

“—and you get to fend off whatever rabid ex-student of Sensei Wu comes by next week—“

“On second thought—“

“—and you’d get Garmadon for a dad—“

“No I wouldn’t!”

“Well you’d have to see him all the time, at least—“

“Well that’s the nail in the coffin, there.”

Lloyd giggles, falling back in his seat. “As if you could defeat me anyways,” he says, smugly.

“Oh yeah?” Kai says, pulling the car into one of the vacant parking spots (not that it matters, the entire lot is empty save for one car in the corner, but you know, lessons). “How about this: I’ll trade you five cookie cakes for the green gi—“

“Done.”

Kai blinks, his hand pausing on the gear shift as he shifts it into park. “Seriously? That’s it?”

“I’d probably trade it for one,” Lloyd says, messing absently with the string on his hoodie. “Cookies are a way better trade off.”

Kai has words for that, but he desists. The Preeminent was only a few months ago, after all, and not that long ago Lloyd had a greasy emo jerk possess him because he was salty that he wasn’t the chosen one.

Kai suppresses a snort. After meeting the guy, he honestly wonders why anyone was even surprised—

Anyways. Rant aside, Kai is on a mission here, and he’d promised Nya and the guys he’d have Lloyd driving like a pro when he came back. In hindsight, this was probably too big a promise on Kai’s part.

“Do I have to?” Lloyd complains, as Kai unbuckles his seatbelt and gestures for them to switch places. “We drive mechs, Kai, why do I even need to know how to drive a car?”

“Because,” Kai says, insistently. “This is a normal person check box. If you ever want to have a life outside of obsessive ninja training and world-saving, you gotta at least know how to parallel park.”

“You don’t even know how to parallel park,” Lloyd accuses.

Kai bristles. “Just because I hit another car once—“

“Twice.”

“—twice, doesn’t mean I haven’t parallel parked right before!”

“Sure,” Lloyd says, in a voice that sounds way too much like Kai’s own snarky skepticism, oh geez, has he created a monster when he wasn’t looking—

No, Kai decides, calming himself. He’s been nothing but a stellar role model, of course.

“Anyways, it’s an important part of growing up,” Kai says sagely, like the absolutely amazing older brother he is. “You’ve only got a certain number of important life events, and you already steamrolled past becoming a teen. We gotta treasure the rest. Getting your license, being old enough to vote, having alcohol for the first time—“

“Actually, I already had alcohol for the first time,” Lloyd corrects him.

“…what.”

“Yeah,” Lloyd says, wrinkling his nose. “When Morro possessed me he took this shot or something, it was super gross — wait, Kai, where are you going? Kai, get back in the car!”

“—find a way to the Departed Realm myself, and then I’ll show him where he can stick his shot glass—“

“Kai, please—“

“—shove his ugly emo head in a blender—“

“Kai, people are watching us!”

******

After a good ten minutes of Lloyd coaching Kai through calming exercises, and a bad five minutes of Lloyd dragging Kai by the hair back into the car before he tries his hand at necromancy, Kai finally convinces Lloyd to get into the driver’s seat.

This is, unfortunately, the easy part.

“Okay,” Kai says, pointing to the gear shift. “These here are super important, ‘cause if you put it in the wrong one, you’ll shoot backwards on accident.”

Lloyd snorts. “Speaking from experience?”

Kai shoots him a look. “Just listen, okay?”

Lloyd shrugs, but he doesn’t say anything else. Kai shakes his head. “Anyways, like I was saying — this is an automatic car, so it’s easier than stick shift, but you still gotta pay attention to the gear shift. It’s in park right now, which is the P, see?” Kai taps the transmission. “That means it won’t move, even if you hit the gas. If you want to move, you shift it into drive, which is D, right here. The R is for reverse, which is if you wanna go backwards. N is for neutral, which is pretty pointless I guess. And the L is for low, which means, uh….low,” Kai finishes awkwardly. Huh, maybe Nya should have taken this one…

He shakes that off and directs his attention back to Lloyd. “You got all that?”

Lloyd, who has been tuning him out for the last five minutes in favor of watching the little bee that’s outside their window buzz around the antenna, quickly yanks his attention back to Kai, trying to seem like he’s been listening like a diligent little brother the whole time.

“Yes. Totally got it. The PRDNL. Good to go.”

Kai narrows his eyes at him. “Then what’s the P stand for?”

Lloyd rolls his eyes. “Park, duh.”

“And the N?” Kai says, shrewdly.

“Uh…” Lloyd tries not to sweat. “Never hit…another car?”

Kai thunks his head against the glove compartment. “You’re not even gonna make into the car for the test,” he groans.

“It’s not my fault it’s so boring!” Lloyd defends. “All this stuff about the park and reverse and braking is stupid—“

“Really, the brakes are stupid?”

“You know what I mean!” Lloyd huffs, slouching down in the seat. “I don’t even want to be here.”

“Look,” Kai says, trying his very best not to make a crack about the five year-old that Lloyd is. “If you stop whining about it, I’ll make cookies with you when we get home.”

Lloyd eyes him, looking slightly more receptive. “Chocolate chip?”

“I was actually thinking oatmeal raisin this time, change it up a bit—“

Lloyd gags. “Oatmeal raisin?” he repeats, scandalized. “You’d rather have oatmeal raisin cookies than chocolate chip? Who are you, satan?”

“Yes,” Kai says, flatly. “I’m the devil incarnate.”

“The driving devil—“

“You know what, just go ahead and start driving,” Kai says, grinding his palms in his eyes. “You know which is brakes and which is the gas, right?”

“Obviously,” Lloyd rolls his eyes. “Get ready for the ultimate driving master, heh.”

“I can’t believe I helped raise you.”

“Psh, you were lucky to,” Lloyd says. Kai shakes his head, grinning against his better will. Lloyd falls quiet, and Kai watches him expectantly.

Then watches him expectantly for another minute.

“You can drive now.”

“…”

“…Lloyd.”

“…”

“Lloyd, you can drive.”

Lloyd remains frozen at the steering wheel, gripping it hard enough to creak. “Um.”

Kai stares at him. “Lloyd?”

“I’m going,” Lloyd says, tightly. “Just. Gimme a sec.”

Kai blinks, staring at him another minute. Lloyd makes no move, and the car doesn’t either, quietly puttering away in park.

Kai gestures to the gear shift. “Just start with changing the gear—“

“I know,” Lloyd grits out. “Stop putting so much pressure on me.”

“Pressure, I’m not even—“ Kai cuts off, trying not to face-palm. Okay, new tactic. “Just…imagine the road is Morro’s face,” Kai suggests.

Lloyd blinks. “What?”

“Imagine the road is Morro,” Kai repeats. “And you’re, uh, running him over if you drive.”

Lloyd turns this over in his head, the epiphany dawning on his face. “You’re right,” he says, his voice hushed. “If I knew how to drive, I could run him over.”

“Well yeah, I mean, if he wasn’t already dead, and that’s not quite the point I was going for there, but—“

“I changed my mind,” Lloyd says, a look of hellish glee in his eyes. “I like driving.”

Uh-oh.

“Don’t get carried away,” Kai says, sweating. “Here, just take it slow—“

Lloyd throws the car into drive, and— oof, there’s the gas, he was paying attention after all, apparently.

“Okay, that was a little rough, but so far, so — um, Lloyd?” Kai says, weakly. “Lloyd, you might wanna — you might wanna slow down a bit—“

“That would defeat the purpose,” Lloyd says, resolutely turning the steering wheel as they pick up speed.

Kai looks at him in alarm. “The purpose?”

A grin spreads across Lloyd’s face that looks way too much like it belongs on Garmadon’s face. “Of running Morro over.”

“Morro is hypothetical, Lloyd—!”

“I know, but—“ Lloyd pauses, a slight look of panic crossing his face. Kai follows his line of vision, and realizes that they’re now headed in the direction of the lone car in the lot with them.

“Uh, which one was the brakes again?”

Kai stares at him in disbelief. “The left.”

“The left what?”

“Are you kidding me?”

“The left what, Kai?!”

“The left pedal, Lloyd, hit it, hit it — no, with your foot, you idiot��“

As it turns out, they’re both idiots, as no one thinks to turn the wheel in time.

******

“Can I say a bad word.”

“No.”

“Rats.”

“I can’t believe this,” Kai moans. “There is literally one. One single car in this parking lot, and you still managed to hit it.”

“I’m going to prison,” Lloyd says sadly, surveying the two wrecked cars, Sensei’s old rented car neatly smashed into the considerably more expensive sports car, crushing the side in.

At least neither of them got hurt, Kai thinks, dully. Property damage was only kept to a few couple thousand dollars this time, that’s…probably a record for him and Lloyd, actually.

It’s still not good, but Kai is nothing if not a loyal brother, and if Lloyd goes down to his own inability to touch a car without wrecking it, he’ll go down with him. But preferably neither of them are going down, Kai likes living life outside prison.

“No, you aren’t,” Kai says, shaking his head and rising in determination. “You’re too young to go to prison.”

“Yeah, I haven’t even voted yet.”

“Cut the sass or I’ll make prison look like a playground next time I’m on training with you,” Kai says, tightly. “Look, we’re just gonna—“

There’s a slam from the door of the building near them, and Kai hears voices sound from around the corner. Lloyd takes a careful step behind him, going pale.

“Ah,” Kai says. “Okay!” he claps his hands together. “Lloyd, this next lesson is called hit and run, which is terrible and bad and you should never do, ever, however—“ Heavy footsteps round the corner. “Desperate times!” Kai yelps, grabbing Lloyd by the arm and hauling them both into a sprint. “Run for it!”

******

“Weren’t Kai and Lloyd supposed to be back by now?”

Nya looks up from her book, meeting Zane’s concerned expression. “They’re probably just taking their time,” she says. “Lloyd didn’t look super enthusiastic about driving.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Zane says, not looking entirely reassured. Nya can’t blame him — they’re trusting their only normal car into the hands of Kai and Lloyd, the odds aren’t exactly great.

Zane shifts, making to stand. “Perhaps I should check on—“

The heavy sound of a dragon landing on the deck echoes from the ceiling, and Nya gives a tiny sigh of relief as twin footsteps echo across the deck, heading down for the cabin. Both her and Zane glance at the door as it swings open — and blink. Kai and Lloyd look fairly cheerful, which probably has something to do with the three large boxes from the Great Ninjago Cookie Factory Lloyd’s balancing in his arms, and the half-eaten slice he’s got stuffed in his mouth.

“How’d driving go?” Nya asks, eyeing the boxes shrewdly. She’s already debating how difficult it’s going to be to wrestle those from Lloyd before he makes himself sick, chances slim to none.

“It went okay,” Kai shrugs, hanging up his jacket. “Lloyd knows the gear shifts now.”

“Yeah,” Lloyd says, through a mouthful of cookie. “The PRDNL.”

“Oh,” Zane says, staring at them. “That’s good. Did you bring the keys back?”

“Yup,” Kai says, tossing Zane the key ring. Nya relaxes, exchanging relieved glances with Zane. Ah well, she sighs to herself. Its not that she’s unhappy to be wrong about her brothers’ capability, but she’d really thought they might end up—

“By the way, the car’s in downtown Ninjago,” Kai says quickly, placing his hands on Lloyd’s back and shoving. “It mightbealittlewrecked too but we gotta go, training awaits, go Lloyd go—“

Before Nya can blink, Kai’s shoved Lloyd down the hall, the two sprinting away as Lloyd cackles. Zane gives a tiny, quiet sigh of utter despair.

Horrible as she feels, because poor Zane and his dejected expression, he doesn’t deserve this…but Nya can’t help the tiny smile of satisfaction that spreads across her face. Ha. Cole’s losing twenty bucks to her after all.

#lego ninjago #ninjago #lloyd garmadon #kai smith #dont kill me for the whiplash here i couldnt help it #my fic

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madmen · 4 years

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all of them pls jodie comer janelle monae phoebe waller bridge, have fun

do you have a crush on anyone? yeee on my grilled friend! bitches be havin girled friends.

what’s your favorite candy? i am cadbury dairy milk bar’s bitch! i also really like kitkats especially the mini ones those are so good.

favorite love song? aaaaa it changes with the weather i like so many but can’t take my eyes off of you is always a classic both it and let’s get married (mitski cover) make me feel Warm and the past few months i cannot stop listening to mr mika tiny love. yes this question asked for one but this is me restraining myself i promise. OH it might be being alive from company actually.

what was your first kiss like? technically my first kiss lasted for .0001 of a second in a public high school hallway and it was by accident so i choose to disregard that one because the one after that was very nice imagine. you are on a BEACH it is MIDNIGHT she tastes like some type of wine and you are not sober and do not know what you’re doing so you’re taking MENTAL NOTES and trying to imitate what it feels like she’s doing but you want to live in this moment forever.

what was your last kiss like? it was sweet! well, more like salty because we were crying but it’s because we are simply full of love!

sexual/romantic orientation? i’m a (fleabag godmother voice) LESBIAN

do you prefer poems or love letters? love letters hands DOWN

favorite fanfic trope? i like it when they’re both friends and in love and afraid to say anything for fear of ruining their relationship. there is a name for this but i hate it so i will not say it it’s two words, first one with an m and second one with a p. Don’t know what it is about that second word but. hate it.

have you ever been in love? yes, highly recommend

favorite milkshake flavor? I don’t like milkshakes I think they’re ice cream soup which is disgusting but my favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip if that counts

dinner dates or brunch dates? I prefer the idea of brunch dates but I wake up hungry so in practice probably dinner dates but like. to diners so I can have breakfast food.

favorite flowers? Pink carnations! Honorable mentions to bleeding hearts and roses that are light orange or light blue or light pink.

favorite perfume/cologne? no clue

favorite candle scent? if it’s sold during fall i probably love it anything pumpkin-y or slightly-but-not-too-much cinnamon-y

what’s your ideal first date? we go on a funky lil adventure! we see some fancy house and get food together and then see something else maybe a beeg church i like the way they make me feel small and they make me feel Whole when i’m there with someone i care about. maybe go for a walk in my head this is some city we’ve never been to and we just walk and talk and hold hands and point out pretty architecture.

favorite love story? in real life i am still losing it every time i think about how ronan farrow proposed to jonathan lovett via his BOOK. in fiction i am unfortunately stuck at 11 still losing it over both the doctor and rose as well as mary and matthew crawley.

what’s the most attractive thing a person could wear? idk i think suits are hot but i also melt when my girlfriend wears her oversized hoodie she just looks so cute and cozy! i feel like most things are attractive when you’re into a person. also lingerie.

chocolate, vanilla, or red velvet? vanilla!

snow, rain, or sun? rain but not too hard just a nice light mist

sweetest romantic memory? she wrote me LOVE LETTERS!!!!

favorite dating sim (and favorite character)? I have played all of one dating sim, which makes it my favorite by default. Unfortunately, it is UmaPri/My Horse Prince. I did not finish it I got impatient and my apartment watched a playthrough on youtube you don’t even get to fuck horse boy I don’t think you even kiss but it’s still so funny horse boy is obviously the best character.

fictional crushes? leia organa, cheryl blossom or betty cooper (whichever one is more likely to commit a crime on that episode), joan holloway, betty draper, villanelle, all the big little lies milfs, among others.

what’s your dream wedding like? it takes place at the johns hopkins library if i can’t have that then like. some fancy house or library or museum somewhere thats super neat. i don’t know what i wear but i look very nice. all my friends are there and it’s Very Fancy. elegant and refined thats the general Vibe.

what makes you blush? i have no clue i think sometimes when i drink my face flushes so we’ll go with that

do you believe in love at first sight? only in romeo and juliet. i think theres like. a spark at first sight maybe but also not needed for love ya know?

do you believe in soulmates? i don’t know i feel like theres like. maybe a list of people who are your soulmate? like it couldve been this one yea but it also couldve been someone else had circumstances been different like the world is soooooooooooooo big and sometimes theres right place wrong timing i think? i don’t know.

denim jackets, leather jackets, or bomber jackets? on me? all of the above. on hot gals? leather jackets.

what’s your sign? taurus sun, leo moon and rising

are you single? nope i have a grilled friend! i love her!

do you prefer to charm, or be charmed? both!

guitar or piano? normally i’d say piano but rianne used to play guitar so mixed thots here also it’s so fun to try and teach her piano and hear her lil laugh when i fix her fingers on the keys. answer foggy try again later

favorite romcom (or any romantic movie)? when harry met sally!!!!!!

do you fall in love easily? i don’t think so but i’ve only done it once so i could be mistaken

valentine’s decorations: yay or nay? i think they’re cute!

would you prefer to propose or be proposed to? what’s your dream proposal? I wanna propose which throws a real Wrench in Rianne’s concurrent desire to propose. Gotta keep the proposal a surprise, soz gang.

cloud gazing or star gazing? Star gazing!

do you like to dance? I cannot dance to save my life but god if I don’t fantasize about it every second of the livelong day

what’s your OTP? please do not make me admit to being into harry potter on main, and worse yet being into dr*rry and w*lfstar it is rightfully embarrassing.

kittens or puppies? I am afraid of almost all living things which includes kittens and puppies but I prefer pictures of puppies

coffee, hot chocolate, or tea? Cofy!

favorite soda? i hate fizz > : ( why does everyone like it when it feels like theres ants crawling on your tongue?

do you prefer gazing wistfully out the window or lying dramatically over the sofa? is there someone to give me atten shun? if so, i’m lying dramatically on the sofa. if i’m on my own it’s window time babey

favorite ABBA song? this one also changes over the years right now i’m gonna say voulez-vous

fuck/marry/kill? (anons name 3 people of your choice) this is so MEAN okay so phoebe waller-bridge’s dad was named in the panama papers i know she has the most exorbitant amount of wealth and i trust her to treat me right. that leaves jodie and janelle cannot stress enough how much i haaaaate having to kill any of them okay at the oscars we saw what janelle’s tongue can do so unfortunately we will be sacrificing jodie comer : / jodie i’m sorry i love you.

favorite pajamas? I don’t own pajamas because I’m a weirdo who either sleeps in their clothes or an oversized long sleeve t shirt and leggings

favorite liquor? vodka for mixing, sourz for shots

do you think about love a lot? yeeeeeeeeeeee

a walk in the park or a walk on the beach? i don’t like sand. it’s rough and it’s coarse and it gets everywhere. Honestly I think I’d rather just walk indoors i am anti fresh air got that sweet sweet hay fever

hand kisses or nose kisses? nose kisses!

what’s your dreamhouse? i wanna live in the city in an apartment and due to the fact that i am american it is unfortunately so big in my head no apartment has ever been this beeg and if it did exist i could not afford it but. it’s so pretty i have fancy kitchen cabinets and my living room is filled with bookshelf upon bookshelf of used books and it has room for my piano and i have a beeeeeg sleigh bed and black cherry furniture and a dishwasher and a laundry room. i come home and am filled with calm.

#roman forum #personal

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kootenaygoon · 4 years

Photo

So,

Before changing ownership a decade previous, Tony’s Taphouse had been a biker bar called the Civic. Notorious for its rough clientele and routine bouts of violence, and for harbouring regulars who acted like nocturnal animals, most locals knew it as the Zoo. It had been the preferred haunt for the Hell’s Angels, who had long since been banned from the premises.

“It took us a long time to turn things around,” my boss told me one night, while I manned the door for a Val Kilmer and the New Coke concert. A crowd of twenty-somethings were smoking all around us.

“Whenever we tried to get people to behave they’d say ‘don’t you know this is the Zoo?’ And I would say ‘yes, and I’m the new zookeeper’.”

My boss reminded me of a small child in an enormous body, slightly immature and with a propensity for breaking stuff. He had a reputation for overdoing things, to the point that the Nelson Police Department had nailed him for multiple assault charges. The other bouncers told me he was well known for choke-slamming unruly patrons into unconsciousness, which was the reason he was no longer allowed to assist us when we ejected the city’s shitheads and drunks. The guy was easily 300 pounds, and scary as hell when provoked. The rest of the time he was an amiable teddy bear, quick to laugh and always game to sing “Chocolate Salty Balls” from South Park at karaoke, much to the chagrin of his embarrassed wife.

Most of my shifts were spent alongside a fellow ginger beard named Luke who liked playing bad cop to my good cop. During the day he worked at a pet food store, and he was well-known as a huge softie when it came to animals. While I had a tendency to treat Tony’s like my own personal Cheers, he was monosyllabic and ominous. Late into the night we would hang by the entrance swapping jokes and taking turns shovelling back lettuce wraps and chicken strips, clad in all black.

Eventually I suggested we should update our uniforms. There was a local barber named Chris Brach who bounced at Spiritbar and I admired how he dressed and carried himself like an old-school gentleman. We ultimately settled on matching vests with dress button-down shirts, with each bouncer choosing their favourite colour. I chose a blood red that was almost purple, while Luke went with sky blue. Eventually the whole team adopted this new look, making the whole place that much classier.

Working at Tony’s gave me a whole new perspective on Nelson. I knew who was doing drugs, who was cheating on their spouse, and who was banned from the premises until they came grovelling back to the owners. The Nelson Leafs were preening and omnipresent as peacocks, and in the early hours of the evening I’d encounter the more wholesome members of society as they engaged in events like paint night. Sometimes people would approach me with the latest issue of the Nelson Star, commenting on stories or complimenting me on the cover photo. The print edition was becoming increasingly irrelevant, but Tony’s was one of the few places I could regularly see people consuming it alongside their beer.

From where we stood during our shifts, we looked out at a sports bar that took up the ground floor of the Adventure Hotel. Because we were open later than any other establishment in Nelson, we would watch as the late night crowd funnelled in our direction. Crowds of drunk twenty-somethings would march diagonally across the intersection, ignoring the cross-walks, and it was our job to interpret whether or not they could come into Tony’s based on their lurching gait. Some would nod solemnly when we denied them access, while others would whip themselves into deranged frenzies. They would scream their threats to the uncaring black sky, or demand to talk to the owners. These people pissed me off.

“You’re a good bouncer and everyone loves you, but the other staff have told me you have a tendency to go from zero to sixty pretty quick,” my other boss told me, during a performance review. She was the owner.

“We don’t think it’s a problem, but it’s something we want you to watch out for. Obviously this job can be stressful at times, so it’s up to you to keep your temper in check. It’s about customer service.”

Though there were plenty of threats of violence at Tony’s, it was rare that we actually had to put our hands on people. Most were cowed into submission by our size, and knew they had to play nice if they wanted continued access to the bar. We tried to kill them with kindness, calling them cabs and reassuring them that they’d be welcomed back once they sobered up. More than once I found myself consoling despondent drunks who were horrified by their own behaviour, going through a break-up, or grieving. Some were so confused and inebriated they didn’t know how to get home. I came to love these idiots, or at least most of them, because I considered them part of the Tony’s family.

The most interesting employee was a behemoth brute named Gordo, a holdover from the days of the Zoo, who looked exactly like a bearded Bobby Baccala. The female staff adored him because of his gentle, benevolent presence. He made people feel safe. He wasn’t a bouncer anymore because, like my boss, he’d gone overboard a few too many times. He lived downstairs and oversaw the daily operations, and was only called to help during emergencies. He was the type of guy you didn’t want to fuck with, ever. He loved Tony’s and everyone on staff intensely, and if violence was needed he was more than capable of dispensing it. I’d never met someone with such a fascinating mix of kindness and malevolence to his personality, and I admired how effectively he funnelled his anger in appropriate directions.

One night, during a slow period, he stood out on the street and regaled me with stories of his bouncing days in Toronto. During those years he’d been stabbed and shot multiple times, a fact he delivered with a shy chuckle.

“This one guy was shaking my hand, right? And with his other hand he stabbed me right here,” Gordo said, pointing to his rib cage.

“So I pulled him close to me and snapped his elbow backwards, just like this.”

Gordo recreated the scene with a smile on his face, demonstrating how the guy’s arm had bent the wrong way while the bones snapped and popped. He’d regained control of the situation while the knife was still plunged hilt-deep into his side. He laughed and wiped his eyes, remembering.

“I was a lot bigger back then, if you can imagine that. So the knife didn’t end up doing much damage. It didn’t hit anything significant. Meanwhile this guy’s a puddle on the ground in front of me, whimpering like a little girl.”

When I wasn’t on the door, I would work my way slowly through the lounge area and out to the back patio where people were allowed to smoke. There was a row of comfortable couches and a long counter where people could pull up stools and drink under the gaze of Elephant Mountain. At times I couldn’t believe I was being paid to socialize, and the dance floor playlist introduced me to a new favourite artist: a young Swedish woman named Tove Lo. If we’re talking body, she sang, You got a perfect one so put it on me. If you do me right, we’ll fuck for life, on and on and on.

Paisley had finally moved home to be with her parents, and her absence had proven to be a boon to my mental health. I still missed my dogs desperately but I was finally free to move on without her constant surveillance and gossip. I decided early on that I wouldn’t date anyone on staff, but there was no shortage of young women who would find excuses to linger by the door or stand outside smoking, sizing me up. Most nights I was still ending up at Natalya’s, where I would crawl into her bed and cap the night off with an early morning fuck in the dark. She’d leave her front door unlocked and we’d pant through our routine without speaking a word. She’d resigned herself to the fact I wasn’t interested in anything beyond that, and she never bothered me with small talk. We had what we had, and that was it.

The sleep deprivation involved with working at Tony’s ended up meaning that I spent most of my weekends asleep, recovering in Brendan’s basement and only leaving the house for necessities. Sunday was my only day off, and I needed that down time to get in the right headspace for the Star. I had a couple of ambitious series going on, including one about the Columbia River Treaty, and I needed my mental faculties operating properly to adequately approach these subjects. I could sense that Ed was growing tired of my rock star attitude and reluctance to put in a full 40-hour work week. I kept finding myself asking why I was still there, but I didn’t have another option available. Both jobs and housing were scarce in Nelson, and I was barely holding on.

“I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” I told my friend Tia one night. She worked at the Hume Hotel but had started her own business called Wurst Dog. We’d been discussing whether I could find some sort of entrepreneurial gig to transition to once I was finished with journalism.

“You just have to take a chance and jump, kid,” she said. “Then see where you land. I’m sure there’s all kinds of people in this town who would give you a job doing social media or something.”

“Or maybe I could be a full-time bouncer and write on the side? Finally finish my manuscript? I dunno.”

Tia smiled and mussed my hair.

“I believe in you,” she said. “You’ve got this.”

The Kootenay Goon

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leigh-kelly · 5 years

Text

A continuation of NYU!AU

Santana gets her period again and she’s absolutely miserable. She knows from living with another woman that not everyone feels incapacitated by it, but she does. This one is particularly bad and she struggles to get out of bed and go to class. Every second that she doesn’t have to be somewhere, she’s curled up in bed with a heating pad, only getting up to change her tampons or refill her water bottle.

Brittany is absolutely amazing about it. She brings Santana chocolate and ice cream and salty snacks. She snuggles Santana when she’s feeling affectionate and gives her space when she feels like she needs it. Brittany even sneaks Santana food out of the dining hall when she’s feeling too crappy to go and get it. As bad as Santana feels, having Brittany be Brittany just makes everything feel a little better.

“Cuddles or space?” Brittany asks, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“Cuddles would be good.” Santana smiles a little and Brittany gets under the covers with her.

“Still no better?”

“No. I talked to my mom while you were eating and she thinks I really need to see the gyno about it.”

“She’s probably right, babes. This is the worst I’ve ever seen it, it you and you almost didn’t go to class this morning.”

“My cramps are just really bad. I couldn’t sleep last night.”

“I know, you were tossing and turning and you got up three times.”

“I’m sorry I kept you up. You have a late class tonight...” Santana purses her lips and Brittany kisses them.

“Don’t be sorry for me, you’re the one who’s not feeling great.”

“I guess I thought this was normal until I was living with you. Your periods are a breeze.”

“I mean, mine are unusually light but yeah, being stuck in bed like this is totally not normal. If you want to make a doctor’s appointment, I’ll definitely come with you so you don’t have to go alone.” Brittany promises.

“This is going to sound so dumb but my mom always finds my doctors for me. I have to talk to her about how to use the insurance website.”

“I would have no idea how to find a doctor either. I think we’re only half grown up even though it feels like we’re more sometimes.”

“I’m just glad I have you. Before we were together I’d lay in bed and try to will a chocolate bar to come to me from the other side of the room. You take really good care of me.”

“We totally take care of each other. I have to leave in a few minutes to go to class though.”

“I really have to read some of Moby Dick today.” Santana sighs. “That’s what I’ll probably do while I wait for you to come home.”

“And call your mom about finding a doctor?”

“And that.”

Brittany refills Santana’s water bottle for her before she leaves for class and she kisses her goodbye. Once she’s gone, Santana is at least glad that she doesn’t have to get out of bed to read and she rolls over, grabbing the book from the desk next to the bed. She reads for awhile before she takes some more Midol and then she calls her mom, figuring she should try to make an appointment before doctor’s offices close. She doesn’t want to go while she has her period, that feels completely mortifying, but maybe if she can get an appointment for next week it’ll be good.

”Twice in one day.” Santana can hear her mom smile through the phone. ”Brittany must be busy.”

“She’s in class. I talked to her about the gynecologist thing and she said she’ll go with me. You know I’m kinda nervous but just having her in the waiting room might make it better.”

”You’re always so nervous about the doctor, you’d think your Papi wasn’t one. But I’m glad she’ll go with you, I don’t like the sound of you when you lay in your bed and cry in pain.”

“It’s just really bad, Mami. I know it sounds like I’m being dramatic...”

”Mija, I’ve seen you suffer with it. I should have encouraged you to talk to the doctor when you had your first appointment. But now it’s effecting your life more greatly.”

“Can you help me use the insurance website to find a doctor here?”

When her mom helps her, Santana realizes how easy it actually is to look up doctors by specialization and after she hangs up with her, she calls three places until she can finally get an appointment for next Wednesday. She writes it down in her planner and goes back to her book, hoping she can at least get a chunk of it done before Brittany gets back and all she wants to do is cuddle and watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine. She really isn’t a Melville fan so the reading goes slowly and she’s only about halfway done when she hears the key in the lock.

“Guess who’s the best girlfriend ever?” Brittany holds up a paper takeout bag and Santana smiles at her. “Moo shu pork and egg rolls.”

“Britt, you didn’t have to do that.”

“Obviously I wanted to. I was totally craving egg rolls anyway and I figured they’d make you feel better.”

“I love you a lot.”

“Duh.” Brittany laughs. “And I love you too.”

Brittany brings the bag over along with plates and forks and she turns on the TV so they can watch while they’re eating. When the show is over, Santana notices that Brittany is quiet and she nudges her with her elbow, wanting her to talk.

“Sorry, class was just kind of crappy tonight.”

“What happened?”

“It’s just the usual thing when I’m in a class that’s not a math class, I have trouble making sense of things. I raised my hand and said something kind of stupid and immediately knew I was wrong.”

“Britt, you’re like, an actual certifiable genius. But I’ll help you with studying if you want.”

“You have so much to do and you’re not feeling well.”

“Honey, I always have time for you. I don’t want you to feel bad about your classes.”

“I just wish things came more easily.” She sighs. “When I’m doing math, I feel really smart but everything else brings me back to high school where I was the class idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot. If you put math problems in front of me, I can’t solve them to save my life, but I can analyze a book like crazy. That’s why we have majors.” Santana plays with Brittany’s fingers. “This is the last class you have to take outside of math.”

“You’re right. I know you are, I just can’t help but get bummed out.”

“C’mere.” Santana stacked the plates on the desk on her side of the bed and opened up her arms for Brittany. “You’ve taken care of me for the past three days, now it’s my turn to be the cuddle giver.”

“You’re still feeling crappy.”

“And I feel better when I’m hugging my girlfriend.”

For a long while, Santana just hugs Brittany. When she was in high school, she’d always thought that the popular girls were like Teflon, but having Brittany, she’s learned that they have a lot of feelings too. When she knows that she absolutely has to go to the bathroom, she kisses the top of Brittany’s head and wriggles out from behind her. She takes the dishes with her and washes them before she goes into the bathroom and does everything she has to do to get ready for bed. Brittany isn’t far behind, waiting outside of the bathroom when Santana comes out and Santana kisses her lips when she sees her there before reheating her heating pad and getting back into bed.

Brittany holds her from behind when she gets back into bed and rubs Santana’s lower back where she always gets really crampy. They don’t say anything else, they’re both really exhausted but they fit together in just the right way that each of them knows they have a person who loves them so deeply, who takes care of them, who cherishes them.

In the morning, Santana gets up first. Although she knows she should be doing work, she logs into Tumblr and makes a post about how much she loves her girlfriend. She knows that Brittany checks her blog and she just wants to give sort of a public shoutout to Brittany for being so extra amazing while she’s been grumbling in bed. Santana thinks she feels it more because it’s something she never imagined she’d have but Brittany is real, Brittany loves her and she wants the world—or at least her followers—to know that she loves Brittany too.

“Why you up so early?” Brittany mumbles. “It’s Friday.”

“Just making a post about how I love you extra this week. Don’t worry, I didn’t include a picture with you drooling on the pillow.”

“I do not drool.” Brittany throws the pillow at Santana. “You’re the one who drools. Last week, my shoulder was totally soaked when you took a nap on it.”

“Psht, whatever.” Santana laughs and hits post. “Your shoulder is comfortable.”

“You’re in a good mood this morning. Are you feeling better?”

“I took three Midol at like three am so they’re still kicked in. But I think I’m getting there.”

“Do you wanna have a picnic in the park today? Now that it’s warmed up, everyone is doing it and I’ve been kinda wanting to take you.”

“I’d really love that. I need to read for a couple of hours before we go though.”

“Yeah, cool.” Brittany nods, grabbing her pillow back and rolling over. “Wake me up in an hour? I have to study.”

Before Santana starts her reading for the day, she decides to take a shower. She just wants to feel freshened up and she soaks under the hot water for a long time before drying off and pulling on jeans and a t-shirt. She’s glad the bed is so big because when she sits back on it, she doesn’t disturb Brittany’s sleep. She reads for a little while and then she wakes Brittany up. Even though she’s grumbly, she gets out of bed and brushes her teeth and the two of them quietly go about their work. Santana really appreciates that, how Brittany is never a distraction, and at noon, she puts her book down.

“Artie texted me.” Brittany tells Santana. “He wanted to know if we want to meet up with everyone later to go to some concert in Brooklyn. I told him no.”

“You didn’t have to do that, Britt. I know I’m not feeling great but you can do things that I don’t want to do.”

“I’m just, like, not into that scene anymore. Everyone gets wasted and I really don’t want to come in to you drunk at two in the morning.”

“Are you sure? You used to love that.”

“I don’t think I ever loved it, I think it was just something I did because everyone else was doing it. You taught me that I don’t have to do things just because other people do, you never care.”

“I don’t.” Santana shakes her head. “But no matter what, I want you to be happy.”

“I’m really the most happy spending time with you.”

“I haven’t been great company for the past few days.”

“I still like being around you.” Brittany shrugs. “There’s only so many days before it’s summer vacation...”

“Can’t you use your math genius skills to invent a teleporter for us?”

“I wish. I’m trying to convince my parents to move next door to your mom.”

“I hate my mom’s neighbors, I would really like that.”

“You have to work at camp this summer? You can’t just spend the whole summer with me?”

“I totally wish I could.” Santana sighs. “But it would disappoint my mom. She only has, like, this summer and next summer with me before I graduate. And even my dad is looking forward to spending time with me.”

“I know, my parents are too, it just sucks.”

“I know. But hey, let’s just go to the park and enjoy the day.”

By the time they get themselves ready to go to the park, rain is hammering down outside and Brittany sighs, flopping back onto the bed. Santana feels bad that she feels so bad and she sits down by her head, running her fingers through her hair. She really is going to miss being close to Brittany every day when they leave in less than a month so even if they can’t go on a picnic in the park, she’s going to spend as much of her free time with her girlfriend as she can.

“Now I’m going to feel guilty not studying if we’re going to be stuck inside all day.” Brittany groans.

“I’m not going to. We’re supposed to be spending the afternoon together, so what if we do it here? I’ll make EZ Mac and we’ll watch a movie.”

“Nope, my picnic, I’m the one who’s going to make the EZ Mac.” She smiles. “You pick out the movie.”

“We still haven’t watched Pretty Woman, should we do that?”

“Anything you want. You want your heating pad reheated before I use the microwave?”

“Yeah, that might be good.” Santana hands it to Brittany and she brings it over to warm up. “Britt?”

“Yeah?”

“I really love you, you know.”

“I really love you too.”

#brittana #nyu!au

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the-bestwaytolose-weightfas-blog · 5 years

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What Is The Best Way To Lose Weight Fast?

Whether you are an avowed fitness fanatic or a couch potato,most of us at some point have wondered what is the best way to lose weight fast? Particularly because there are so many diets and weight loss regimens out there, all claiming that they are theirs is the best one, that you'll see results faster than ever before, and, the truth is that the majority of them make you feel like you're torturing yourself! You stick to them for as long as you can – depriving yourself of your favorite foods, feeling uninspired and miserable because the diet plan you're on isn't working for you, and before you know it you slip into old habits and give up on the diet. But don't despair! There are some really effective ways that can help you lose weight, and some truly amazing weight loss plans that inspire you and keep you motivated to melt those pounds away! So read on to learn our top tips and favorite weight loss plan...

Eat Balanced Meals

The key to losing weight successfully is to understand that exercising is important, but the food you eat is much more important. Food counts for up to 70% of weight loss, so it shouldn't be a surprise that if you're eating rubbish then no amount of exercise is going to help you drop those extra pounds. So, in order to lose weight quickly you need to get in control of what you eat.

A healthy, balanced plate of food should consist of around half the meal being made up of vegetables, quarter of it healthy carbs and the other quarter lean protein.

Vegetables are ideal for helping you lose weight: they have virtually zero calories, yet they leave you feeling full and boost your metabolism, so having half your meal made up of veggies will make the weight drop off.

Cut Out The Alcohol

I don't want to be a buzz kill, but the fact of the matter is that drinking booze wreaks havoc with your attempts to lose weight!

Alcohol is full of empty calories. If you drink 3 cocktails you will have consumed around 600 calories, maybe more. That more than likely accounts for more calories than you had on your dinner plate! And it's not just the calories that kill your diet, when you've got a buzz on and feel a little peckish, you're more likely to come off course and snack on junk food, be it a half a pack of cookies or eating a couple of cheeseburgers from McD's.

Don't worry though, I'm not saying to stop drinking altogether, just be careful of what you do drink and when: try and limit it to a few glasses of wine, or beers, per week. Enjoy it, and drink when you eat a healthy meal to avoid the possibility of snacking afterwards.

Kill Your Cravings With Healthy Snacks

It doesn't matter how disciplined you are, you're gonna get cravings at some point. The question is, what do you do about it? Give in to the craving and eat junk food, or feed it with a healthy alternative?

Maybe you're craving some chocolate? Well, why don't you go ahead with it – have a small bar of dark chocolate. It's good for you, tastes much better than milk chocolate and it boosts your serotonin levels to boot.

Got a hankering for something sweet? Well put the candy bar down and have some fresh fruit, like an apple, some berries or an orange. They're all naturally sweet and help to increase your metabolism.

Maybe you're in the mood for something salty? Well don't go for the salty potato chips, instead why not have some carrot or celery sticks with skinny ranch dip?

Eat Healthy Fat To Get Rid of Excess Fat

Now I know that might sound a little counter-intuitive, but eating good, healthy fats are one of the best ways to lose weight fast there is – they tell the body to burn up the excess fat its storing. The body stores fat, but when you start feeding it with balanced levels of healthy fats it will start burning it because it gets used to getting it on a daily basis.

Some of my favorite healthy fats are:

Fatty fish, like mackerel, salmon & trout

Eggs

Dark chocolate

Dairy

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Know What To Eat & How Often

Its a mistake that many of us make – eating too much or too little at the wrong time of day. It always starts with us skipping breakfast, when we do this it usually leads to us eating junk through the day, snacking at lunch and eating a huge dinner at night. You need to rethink how you eat and when you eat so you're burning calories throughout the day.

Get your day off to a flyer with a good, hearty, healthy breakfast. A breakfast of around 500 calories will give you the fuel you need to make it to lunch time without snacking. When it comes to lunch, a meal of around 500 calories again is ideal – this will fill you up and give you the boost you need for the second half of your day to get through until dinner time. And here's a little bonus tip, if you want to go out for a meal, go out for lunch rather than dinner so you give yourself plenty of time to burn off those calories.

Now at dinner time you should eat something light – you'll be going to bed in a few hours, your body isn't going to be able to burn those calories while you sleep! Have a meal that is full of vegetables, lean protein and healthy carbs, in the region of 300-400 calories. This will keep you satisfied until bed time, and as you'll be processing those vegetables through the night you'll wake up in the morning with the mindset to eat healthy all over again!

These tips will all most definitely help if you want to know the best way to lose weight fast, but these alone aren't the key. There are also some amazing weight loss plans available that cover everything you need to know, and that can really help you lose weight fast, easily and healthily.

The 2 Week Diet

This is one of my favorite weight loss plans. It's a simple, effective, highly motivational diet and exercise program that works!

The 2 Week Diet was developed by weight loss guru and fitness expert Brian Flatt. Brian has used his years of experience to create this revolutionary weight loss plan. With his understanding of how the mind and body work together when it comes to us losing weight he has crafted a program that is foolproof, backed by science and yields truly amazing results!

After I gave birth to my second child I had a really tough time losing the weight I had gained during my pregnancy. I followed diets that my doctor recommended to me, I spoke with friends and family members to get their advice, I followed a few health channels on YouTube, and nothing I tried really worked. A year after the birth I was still 30 pounds overweight. It really was affecting me, I just wanted to know the best way I could lose the baby weight fast. Then one day I found out about The 2 Week Diet from a site I found on google, reading about it I thought it sounded almost too good to be true, but I had tried everything else so maybe this would be the answer. I bought the program and I started following it the very next day.

I wasn't expecting much from it, I had hoped that I could lose maybe 5 pounds in 2 weeks, that would be massive for me. So, imagine my surprise when after 3 days I weighed myself and I had already lost 4 pounds! I was ecstatic! Especially as it didn't actually feel like I was on a diet at all! I kept following the plan, and after 2 weeks I had lost almost 14 pounds. After a little over 6 weeks I had managed to drop all the excess weight, and now a year and a half later I've kept it all off, and I feel amazing for it! And you can feel that too, just click here to learn more about The 2 Week Diet and you will see that it really is the best way to lose weight fast!

#best way to lose weight fast #best way to lose weight #weight loss #how to lose weight #how to lose weight fast #weight loss tips #healthy eating #lose weight #2 week diet

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