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forever-rogue · 6 years

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In Another Life - Part I

A/N: Don’t hate me for this, okay? Just know, there’s another part coming :) Taglists and Requests are open! xx

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Reader

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: None

PART II

MASTERLIST

Y/N gave herself one last look over in the hallway mirror, making sure she looked decent. Shrugging to herself, she decided she looked fine enough, and reached for her purse. Pausing, she pulled her hand back and studied the rings on her left hand. She quickly pulled off the wedding band, followed by the large engagement ring and placed them delicately on the small hallway table. She gathered her things, taking one last breath before heading our for the day. She could already make out the figures on the other side of her door.

"Y/N!" Her name was immediately being shouted from several directions at once. The paparazzi were already relentless. Like she had every other time she’s had to deal with them, she slipped on some sunglasses and ignored them. One of them got very bold, refusing to move, which forced her to shove past them, a frown each on her face.

"Y/N! Why are you divorcing Sebastian?!"

"Did you cheat on Sebastian? Or was it him!?"

"What happened with you two?"

Y/N sighed and got into her car, quickly revving up the engine and speeding away and leaving everyone in the dust.

Ever since it came to light that Y/N Y/L/N was divorcing Sebastian Stan, the world had been restless and watching her every move.

“Good morning, Mrs. Stan,” Y/N was greeted as she walking into her office building, the doorman looking as cheery as ever. Even though she had kept her last name when they were married, and ran her clothing design company under her last name, the doorman had always insisted on calling her Mrs. Stan. It was traditional he said, and usually it put a smile on her to be Mrs. Stan, but not today. She considered making a comment, but decided against it, nothing was worth a fight this early in the morning. Instead she gave him a forced smile, making no comment in return.

She avoided making eye contact with any of her employees, choosing to forgo her coffee and heading straight into her office, and closing the door behind her, letting out a long sigh. She put her things again and plopped into her chair, turning on her email and scrolling through the messages she had received over night. Much to her chagrin, she noticed that many of them pertained to things other than work - including the announcement of her divorce.

She hadn’t actually told anyone what was happening or that she had even done, besides her attorney and Sebastian, but of course the media and other people had found out as soon as papers were filed - so much for things being confidential. Frowning, she turned away from the screen and decided to focus her attention on other things.

After working for a little bit, she pulled out her phone to see if she had any notifications, and indeed she had - from Sebastian. She went to read the message, not surprised that it wasn’t exactly cheery. All he had asked was for her to call him, but she could tell from the tone that he wasn’t happy. They’d been together long enough for her to be able to detect all his moods. She debated ignoring the message, but decided that ultimately wouldn’t solve anything.

She picked the phone and decided to call him then, fingers crossed that he wouldn’t answer. He was away filming after all, and Greece was several hours ahead, so the chance was there.

“Y/N,” he skipped the formalities as he answered and she cringed slightly, “nice of you to finally call. What the hell is going on?!”

“You know what’s going on, Seb. I believe you received the papers,” she snapped back at him, “I didn’t really think this should come as much of a surprise to you.”

“My wife decided to just go and file for divorce, how am I not supposed to be surprised?” he asked and she could tell he was getting frustrated already. It wasn’t a secret to either of them that their relationship wasn’t exactly on the best terms these days. With their schedules and differing attitudes, they hadn’t really together in almost the last year and a half.

“Seb, we haven’t seen each other in months, we barely talk and when we do it always end in a fight. How is this a shocker?” she asked as she felt the tears coming on already. No matter how they fought or argued, she did still love him. He was the first man she truly loved, but when she knew when it was time to let things go.

“We didn’t even try to-”

“Yes, yes we did. We tried counseling and it amounted to nothing. Several times,” she reminded him and she could hear him take a deep breath, “I don’t think we’re ever going to work things out. We haven’t been able to make any type of progress. What do we do at this point?”

“I-I don’t know, Y/N. I know things are hard, and we’ve both done and said things we shouldn’t have, but that doesn’t mean we just have to give up on each other. We can always try,” his voice broke a little bit halfway through what he was saying, and Y/N tried her best to keep herself contained but it was hard, “I love you, Y/N.”

“Don’t do this, Seb. We’re not going to make anything work at this point,” she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. His velvety voice always brought all the emotions in her, “do you know that’s first time you’ve told me you love me in six months?”

“It is?” he sounded taken aback, but Y/N knew what she was saying. It’s not that she had been keeping count, but it was something that always stuck with her. This was most conversation they had in a long time.

“Yes, it is. Do you even mean it at this point?” she didn’t mean for it to sound so harsh, but she was genuinely curious. She knew she still loved him, but she questioned him at this point. She hated the idea of even questioning his love.

“I do, yes. It’s you, it’s always been you,” he insisted and she closed her eyes, “Y/N, please don’t do this.”

“I’m sorry, Sebastian. I think this is best for us,” she said as she got ready to end the call, “we’ll work things out and get everything divided and settled soon. Just focus on finishing your movie and then when you get back we’ll go from there.”

“Y/N!” she didn’t let him get another word in before she ended the call and stashed her phone in her desk drawer. She didn’t want to dwell on anything anymore and needed to get some work done.

A soft knock came on her office door a few hours later, once Y/N had finally been able to check some work done. Considering not acknowledging the knock, and turning back to her work, she paused for a few moments, fiddling with her pen before sighing and letting the person on the other side know the door was open.

“Y/N? How are you doing sweetheart?” her best friend and business partner slowly opened the door and poked her head in. Cyrena had a cheery expression on her face, but Y/N immediately knew what she was referencing. They had been friends long enough for Cyrena to be able to know Y/N well enough at this point. Y/N paused and tucked a stand of hair behind her ear and gave something between a nod and a shake of her head as she invited her in.

“I don’t really know at this point,” she sighed, setting her pen as she avoided making direct eye contact with Cyrena’s piercing blue eyes. In some ways they almost reminded her of Sebastian’s and that was something she didn’t want to think about at the moment, “it all feels a little surreal still.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N. I saw some stuff online this morning,” she commented as she reached over and patted Y/N’s hand gently, “I’m sorry for the awful things people are saying. I know they’re not true.”

“Thank you,” she replied as she sniffled and felt the familiar sting of tears in her eyes, “I can’t say I’m exactly surprised, but it still hurts, you know. People don’t know anything about us. They don’t know anything about our relationship, and here they are, making assumptions.”

“I suppose, it’s the nature of the business. That doesn’t make anything better, but it is what it is,” Cyrena agreed. Y/N nodded and wiped the few stray tears away before smiling lightly and giving a small shrug of her shoulders.

“I know it’ll be okay,” Y/N said quietly, letting out a deep breath that she didn’t know she had been holding in, “but right now it really sucks. It’s like...I know this is the best thing to do, because at this point there’s nothing else that can be done, but it still hurts. It’s like a wound, gross but accurate metaphor, where when you first get it, it’s open and bleeding but slowly it heals and eventually it’ll be all gone, maybe leaving a scar but that’s it.”

“I think that’s a good way of looking at it,” Cyrena agreed, standing up and giving her a big hug. She held onto her and soothingly rubbed her back for a moment, “now, I think you and I should go and get a few drinks and then a girls night What do you say, are you in?”

“I don’t know,” she said quietly as she glanced at the time, “it’s still a little early-”

“And this is our business and we can leave whenever we want!” Y/N couldn’t argue with her logic.

“You’re right,” she agreed as she reached for her phone and purse, deciding that a night out with her best friend was exactly what she needed, “let’s blow this place.”

Just as they were about to leave, another knock came at her door. The women exchanged looks, but Y/N gingerly opened it. Her assistant stood there, looking doe-eyed and nervous as clutched her notepad, “Y/N?”

“What’s going on, Layla?” she asked as she hitched her bag higher on her shoulder, “Cyrena and I were just getting ready to leave for the day.”

“I’ve got a call for you from the Daily Mail. They want to do an interview with you,” she said as she shifted her weight nervously from foot to foot.

“You don’t gave to worry, Layla, I’m not mad,” she sighed as she exchanged an annoyed glance with Cyrena, “tell them I’m not interested. I”m not doing interviews with anyone and this will be kept as private as possible.”

“Yes, Y/N. Thank you,” she said as she got ready to head back to her desk, “I hope you both have a good evening.”

“Thank you, Layla. I hope you have a good night as well. We’ll see you in the morning,” Y/N shut off her lights and the two women got ready to head to their favorite bar, “can you believe those absolute vultures?”

“I know, they can’t let anyone live,” Cyrena agreed, “they need to learn some boundaries!”

“They’ll learn,” Y/N said with a small smirk, “they’ll learn when I don’t tell them anything.”

“A good woman,” Cyrena chuckled as they headed out of the building only to see some more paparazzi milling about, ready to get some gossip to shove down the internet’s throat, “just remember. It’ll all be okay.”

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haroldsguccisuit · 6 years

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Love sick

- or the one where harry nurses a sick Y/n back to health

Hot and cold. That is two adjectives to describe exactly how y/n is feeling as she rolled over in bed to be met by Harry’s eyebrows furrowed and his mouth pouted in his sleep. Her throat was scratchy and sore, chills wracked her body yet she was unknowingly sweating, and her nose was stuffed. She took a peek at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand on Harry’s side of the bed considering he uses it more than she does for his early studio meetings; it read 7:13am in bright red numbers and she sighed because harry would be awake in exactly 2 minutes. She didn’t want harry to know about her random cold yet because of the amount of worrying he would do which would cause him to call out from the studio, so she decided when the clock struck 7:14 she would pretend to be fast asleep beside him and tell him when he got back later that afternoon. In her eyes it was just a little cold that would pass by the next day but to harry it would be the worst thing in the world for his love to be under the weather.

When the nerve rattling sound blared from the alarm throughout the room Harry began to toss and shuffle around the bed to stop the noise so it wouldn’t wake his love. He slapped his hand on the button on top of the annoying device and the noise stopped abruptly. He turned back over to look at y/n who had her eyes fluttered shut and her head rested on her own pillow. It was always apart of his morning routine to admire y/n for a moment or so before pressing a kiss to her cheek and getting ready for his day, so he’s become accustomed to her sleep position and the way her eyebrows furrow when she’s dreaming. But today, her eyebrows were uncreased from her forehead and she was in a ball-like position instead of her usual clingy fetal position.

“Know you’re awake, petal.” He rasped, his voice filled with sleep as he was containing a yawn and knuckling his eyes.

One of her eyes slowly peeled open to reveal dull eyes with bags underneath apart from her normal bright orbs. “How long have you been awake? You look a tad pale.” He frowned as his hand reached out to brush a few strands of hair away from her face.

“Not long.” She cringed as her voice audibly sounded croaky and made her throat hurt more. She was trying to talk as little as possible so he wouldn’t realize just how icky she truly felt.

“Are you ill, love?” He voices his concern with furrowed eyebrows and a hand coming to a rest on her forehead. “Oi! You’re burning up!” He hissed with a frown.

“It’s nothing, babe. You better get up, you’re going to be late.” She shrug it off and snuggled deeper into the sheets. She was truly freezing and craved harry to hold her and radiate his own body heat to her but she also wanted him to not worry.

“Not going anywhere with you ill. I’m calling Jeff right now.” He said with his voice full of sternness and concern causing a low groan out of y/n. “Just go into work H. I’ll be fine, I promise!” She tried so hard to convince him but he simply wasn’t budging.

“Nope. I’m going to get you meds and then we’re going back to sleep.” He replied as he wrestled the covers off his body and began to walk down the hall and stairs to the kitchen. While downstairs, he made a call into Jeff explaining how y/n was ill and really needed him for a few days. Jeff immediately agreed and gave his best wishes to them before Harry hung up and gathered 2 tablets for her cold/sore throat and some tea.

“Here ya go, love. Drink some of this, it’ll help soothe your throat.” He patted her covered leg and she obliged and sat with her back against the headboard. The warm liquid warmed her body for a bit and she thanked him.

“Thank you, harry.” She smiled softly over at him, but he was already watching her every action. “No problem, love. Mum always used to put honey in my tea when I was sick as a kid, figured it may help you too.” He smiled and ran his fingers over her knuckles.

After taking her medicine and finishing her tea, they both slid back under the covers and harry shifted closer to hold her close.

“You’re going to get sick too, harry!” She gasped when harry held her and his face was relatively near hers. “I don’t care. just want you to be warmer, you’re shivering.” He stated and fluttered his eyes closed again. Sooner or later, they both drifted back to sleep for a few hours and woke back up in the exact same position-y/n being the little spoon and harry cascading around her from behind.

Harry had woke up before she had so he quietly snuck out of the bed to grab his laptop and quickly returned in hopes she hadn’t woken up. As he checked his emails and sent some, y/n began to stir in her sleep due to the lack of warmth. When her eyes opened to the light filled room, she squinted and groaned.

“How do you feel?” He questioned, immediately taking his eyes off his computer screen and setting them on his sick girlfriend.

“The same, I’m so cold.” She pouted before breaking into a coughing fit-the feeling of her chest rattling causing her to shiver even more. Harry ran his hand up and down her back to calm her down. When her coughs ended he stood up and walked over to the closet and shuffled around a bit before pulling out her favorite hoodie of his.

“Lift your arms, lovie.” He instructed and tapped her arms. He slid the grey hoodie onto her body and she hummed in appreciation of the new warmth and the strong scent of him.

“Better?” He asked and she nodded with a small smile as she layed back down. “Can we watch a movie?” She croaked and looked over at harry who was already pulling up Netflix. “One step ahead of you.” He smiled over at her, “now what do you want to watch? A rom-com?” He questioned and tilted the computer so she could see as well. After settling on a movie, Harry layed down slightly and moved the laptop before pulling y/n closer and she layed her head on his chest while his fingers absentmindedly combed through her hair.

For dinner that night, Harry made her chicken noodle soup and although she only ate a few bites, he was content that she was eating and staying hydrated. He made her take her medicine again even though she was a tad stubborn and whined a bit. The routine seemed to cycle over the next few days and eventually y/n was approaching good health as the bags under her eyes got lighter and she coughed less.

“Thank you for taking care of me,H.” She smiled at him and gave him a peck on the cheek. “No, I want the real deal. It’s been a week, love! Just kiss me, please!” He pleaded out like a kid in a candy store. She was so worried in not getting him sick that she refused to kiss him for a whole week and harry was going mental. She groaned and muttered a small “fine.” with a smile before latching her hands behind his neck to pull him closer and connecting their lips for a passionate kiss. Even though she’s been with him for so long, her heart still skips a beat and she feels the sparks when he kisses her.

While they looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, Harry’s eyes got wide before he turned away and released a loud sneeze.

“Oh, Bloody Hell!” They both cursed out and chuckled loudly,

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howtobangyourmonster · 6 years

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Boris, Part 1

Since people seem to like Boris and there have been requests for a story, here it is! A bit holiday-flavored and late, but I hope you like it anyway. It’s just a big pile of awkward adorkable fluff.

Part 2(nsfw)

There's this great coffee shop in my neighborhood. It's trendy and bit hipster-ish, really popular with the college crowd. I don't actually like coffee, but I brave the early morning pre-lecture rush because they make the most amazing London Fog in the city.

I like Thursdays the best because that's when their cutest barista has the morning shift. I extra don't mind getting up early for my morning cuppa on Thursdays. I'm not the only one with that opinion either, because I swear there's a good fifty per-cent more customers on Thursday mornings than the rest of the week.

This Thursday it was pouring buckets outside, and I was grateful to duck into the cafe and warm up a bit. I guess the rain was dissuading some of the regulars because the line was shorter than I'd expected. Boris, the cute barista, smiles as I approach the counter. I always wonder how he knows it's me, he doesn't have eyes(at least not that I can discern). Maybe it's scent? Oh, god, I hope not, sometimes I don't have time to shower before I come in...

“Hey, Boris!”

“Good morning! Pretty bad out there today, huh?”

“Ugh, yeah, it's like monsoon season or something.”

“Your usual?”

“Yep! Thanks.” I swipe my card and take my receipt. Sometimes I try flirty banter with him, but I'm so bad at it and I think he must cringe at my sad attempts. He's always very gracious about it and laughs at my terrible puns.

I thumb idly through my instagram while I wait. He says my name with a smile, and our fingers brush as he hands me my cup. It might sound depressing, but our brief interaction is kinda the highlight of my week. I glance down at my cup and see the little doodle of a smiling raincloud he's drawn there instead of writing my name. It's different each week. I don't keep them, I'm not that far-gone, but I do have a collection of snaps of all the doodles that I like to look through when I'm having a hard time.

I sip my London Fog in my depressing cubicle at my soul-crushing job as a glorified code monkey. The happy little rain cloud on the cup cheers me up enough that I manage to slog through the day. Maybe I'll draw him something, Christmas is coming up, I could make him a card. I'm certainly not doing much with my MFA in this hellhole.

When I get back to my apartment, I pull out my pencils and gouache supplies and start sketching.

It's almost Christmas. I haven't had as much time to work on Boris's card as I'd like. Dad's getting worse and I've been spending a lot of time helping Mom out taking care of him. I can tell we're getting close to the end, and so can she. Most of the time, she's barely keeping it together. I'm trying to be strong, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I cried myself to sleep more often than not.

The coffee shop is packed, people filling the sofas and chairs and booths, the snow outside painting the city white and making for a picture-perfect holiday scene. I get in line and check my email while I wait. When it's my turn, I put my phone away and look up, and immediately have to suppress the giggle threatening to spill out.

Boris is wearing a red santa hat with a little bell on the end, and it makes him look so cute that I nearly implode. The red of the hat brings out the pinker tones of his violet skin. He's got a holiday sweater on, too, completing the look. His shoulder spikes poke through the knit fabric.

“You're looking very festive today!”

“Yeah, 'tis the season, and all. Hey, I'm sorry, but I ran out of earl grey earlier, I sent Sasha out to get more, but...”

My heart half-sank. “Oh, that's okay, um, I can just have...”

“Actually,” he interrupted, “I've been wanting to try something, if you're up for it. You kinda inspired me.”

I'm a bit taken aback by that. I inspired him? I have to tell inner-teenage-me to calm down. “Uh, I'm game!”

“Great.” Boris grinned, showing off his tusks and sharp teeth. “I picked up this orange gingerbread chai at the import market this weekend, and it immediately made me think of you.”

He turned and busied himself with the tea, glancing over and smiling at me every so often. Truth be told, my heart was pounding and I felt like I was in tenth grade again and Jake LeSalle noticed me. Boris picks up his sharpie and scribbles on the side of the cup. He hands me the drink and I don't know if it's my mind playing tricks on me, or if his fingers linger a little longer against mine as I take it from him.

“Uh, wow, it smells great!” I take a sip. “Mmmm, oh, wow, that's really good. This definitely needs to go on the menu board.”

“Yeah?” his grin widens. “Ah, I'm so glad you like it!”

“Yeah, totally, I love yo-this, I love this, that you made, I love that you made this for me.” Oh, for fucking sake...

Boris half-smiles and rubs the back of his neck with his hand. “Ha, yeah, you're welcome, I guess...well, have a good day!”

Oh god, he's embarrassed for me. That was so bad. I can never come back here. “Thanks,” I reply, “you too!”

Turning to hide my shame, I glance down at the coffee cup in my hand. Instead of the usual adorable doodle, it's a phone number. A phone number, and a little heart. Oh...

My face is on fire and I glance back up, but Boris is talking to the next customer and I can't catch his attention. Instead I push back through the morning crowd and toward the door. I need some air, even cold snowy air.

It takes me all week to work up the nerve to call him. And of course he doesn't answer and I get his voicemail instead. I panic and hang up. Then call back.

“Hey, sorry, it was me earlier, the hang-up message. Sorry. I already said that. Sorry I didn't call sooner, god I'm apologizing a lot. Um, I guess you're busy, so...call me back when you can? Okay, uh, bye.”

I hang up, groan, and bury my face in my hands lest the objects in my apartment witness my shame. I jump as my phone suddenly rings. “Hello?”

“Hey, hi, it's Boris.”

“Oh, uh, hi!”

“Hi.”

Awkward pause. Why isn't he saying anything? “So...”

“Uh,” I hear him clear his throat. “So, I was wondering if you'd maybe like go ice skating with me Saturday? At the Pavilion?”

“Yeah, yes, I'd love that!” Stop saying 'love' so much!

“Great! Want to meet me at the shop, say 7? We can walk together?”

“That sounds perfect.” I try to keep the elation in my voice in check. “I'll see you then.”

“See you then.” I can hear the smile in his voice, though.

“Bye.”

I hang up, and sit for a moment, the blood rushing in my ears. I have a date. I have a date with Boris. I have a totally romantic ice skating date with Boris the hot barista. Not even my shit job can kill my buzz. I realize I still haven't finished his card, and pull out my paints. It's pretty simple, just a study of the coffee shop from the outside, in the snow, though a violet figure can be glimpsed through the window. I just hope he doesn't think it's childish, a homemade card.

Boris is waiting outside the shop for me when I walk up. He has two cups in his clawed hands, steam rising from them. He has a wool peacoat on over his usual sweater and jeans, though this one seems to have been made for him. His shoulder spikes don't poke through. Boris hands me one of the cups.

“I know you don't like coffee, but how about hot chocolate?” He smiles at me over the thick scarf wrapped around his neck.

“I love hot chocolate! Thank you.” I smile back at him as I take the cup. “Shall we?”

We start slowly strolling along the sidewalk, the crunch of snow under our feet. The trees that line the street are decked out in string lights and everything feels magical. I love this time of year.

“I've been wanting to ask you out for a long time, you know.” Boris is looking straight ahead, but he has a little smirk on his face.

“Yeah? What stopped you?” I have to admit, I am curious.

“To be honest, I wasn't sure if you were into me or not. I mean, we flirt and I draw pictures on your cup, but I couldn't tell if we were just friendly flirting or flirting flirting, you know?”

“Wait, don't you draw pictures on everyone's cups? I just thought that was something you did?”

“No,” Boris looks down at me, his expression warm and affectionate. “Just for you.”

He reaches over and takes my hand in his, long claws resting lightly against the back of my hand. I swallow, thickly.

“Oh.” is all I can manage.

We walk in silence for a ways after that, my hand in his. His skin isn't rough, but it is firmer than mine, and surprisingly warm. The Pavilion comes into view ahead of us, lights and festive garlands all over it, the sound of the carousel music wafting out at us.

Inside, there is a modest ice rink next to the antique wooden carousel. I haven't been ice skating since I was a kid, and I tell him so.

“Neither have I, actually. It's okay, we can support each other.”

Boris and I pick up our skates from the counter and lace in. He's already steadier on his feet than I am, but we're both pretty slow and careful as we step onto the ice. We sort of shuffle along slowly, me clinging to his side like a barnacle. It's pretty nice, almost like cuddling.

After about an hour of clinging to each other and falling down, repeatedly, we decide our egos and knees are bruised enough. We grab some food at one of the food trucks outside the Pavilion and settle onto one of the benches near the carousel.

We chat over steaming bowls of rice and bulgogi and I learn he has an older sister and a younger brother, but both his parents have passed. I talk a bit about my dad, but I don't go into details, too heavy for a first date. Boris is a really good listener. We discover we share a love of terrible horror movies.

“Yeah, my great-uncle actually played the monster in that one.”

“You're kidding!” I gasp. “You're related to Chneya Szim?! I looooove 'Horror From The Deep'!”

“Ha, he'd have loved to hear that, he was such a ham. That whole side of my family was big in the industry back in the '50s.” Boris grins, fork in hand. I'm always amazed at how expressive his face is, even without eyebrows or eyes. The folds on the upper half of his face are much more flexible and pliant than they seem at first glance.

“How'd your family get involved in that?”

“Well, my great-great-grandparents were first-generation extradimensionals, back when the tears were uncontrolled, they just kinda fell through. My great-great-grandpa was working construction on a backlot when some character actor quit and they needed someone fast. The director saw him, and let's be honest, we're waaaay scarier than the foam and rubber suits you humans were wearing back then in the movies.” Boris looks a little sad. “He didn't really like playing monsters in movies, I guess back in our dimension he was some kind of professor, but work was hard to find and he had kids by that point, you know?”

“I'm sorry.” I have a sharp stab of guilt about my earlier enthusiasm for basically ex-ploitation flicks.

“Hey, it was the '50s, right? Anyway, it kind of became a family business, and my great-uncle really took to it well. Thus spawning the 'Horrors' franchise.” He grimaces. “The whole disco-phase in the '70s embarrassed the hell out him, though.”

“What disco-phase? Everyone knows 'Return to the Deep' was the last 'Horrors' film.” I reply, gamely.

“Oh, of course! I'm mistaken.” he laughs. “What about you? Other than your latte order and your penchant for horror movies, I don't actually know a whole lot about you.”

“Uh, what do you want to know?”

“Everything.” His face is so open and earnest. I swallow my discomfort.

“Well, I got my MFA at XSU a few years ago, and I do web design for some local corporations, I work mainly at an office share downtown, but I do some stuff from home. It's kind of soul-killing, to be honest. When I graduated, I thought I was gonna take over the world, you know, and instead I'm grinding away at a 9-to-5 in a cubicle, well, more like 7-to-6.”

“You don't do any of your own stuff anymore?” Boris asks.

“I do a little, when I have time, but between work and helping out at home, I mean at my folks' place, there's not a lot of energy left over for my own art. I do miss it though, creating something just for the joy of it.” I dig around in my purse. “Actually, the last thing I made of my own is for you.”

I hand him the card in it's red envelope. He turns it over slowly, examining it in some way I can't understand. “This is for me?”

“Yeah, I hope you like it.” I bite my lip, very nervous.

Boris slices the envelope open with one claw and pulls out the card. On the front is my watercolor of the coffee shop. After a moment, he opens the card and appears to be reading, his brows coming together. I had tried to keep my message simple and not too romantic, in case the date went badly.

“This is...beautiful. Thank you.” he looks back up at me. “You painted this?”

“Yeah, it was nice to flex my watercolor muscles. I'm glad you like it.”

“It's really good. Why don't you show your work in galleries? There's that art walk every first Friday of the month, we always hang up local artists' work in the shop.”

“The gallery scene in this city is ridiculously hard to break into, unless you know someone or you get 'discovered' I guess.”

“You should let me hang some of your work up in the shop, there's a gallery guy who comes in all the time. I'm sure he'd love your stuff.”

“Are you sure?” I ask. “That's really sweet, but I don't want to get you in trouble with your boss...”

“I am the boss.” Boris states, flatly.

I blink. “What?”

“I own the shop. It's mine. I live in the apartment above it.”

“Oh, I didn't, I feel silly for assuming you just worked there, now.” I reply. I guess I never thought about how old he was, extradimensionals don't really visibly age, I assumed he was close to my own age and just working in the coffee shop. “How old are you? Just, I realized I don't actually know, and-”

“And you suddenly worry you're out with a 50-year-old guy?” he jokes.

“Not that that's bad, or anything!” I try to recover, in case he really is 50.

“I'm 32.” he responds. Oh, well then.

“And you own your own business, nice.”

“Don't be too impressed, I inherited it from my folks. Tycha, my sister, wasn't interested in running the shop, and Zloan went into film like Dad's side of the family. Except he's directing instead of acting. So it's me.”

“Do you like running the shop?” I ask.

“I do. I really do. I love the sense of community. I grew up here, you know, and while I've traveled my fair share, I always knew I was going to come back here to stay.”

“Well, I'm glad for that, you make the best London Fog in the city.”

“Ha, so I've been told.”

Our walk back to the shop is easy and slow, our conversation drifting back to horror movies, then to horror novels, books in general, the writing-a-novel-at-the-coffee-shop trope, and some amusing stories about his regulars. He walks me the extra distance to my place, after asking if it's okay. Apparently he had me meet him at the coffee shop in case I didn't want him to know where I lived, in case the date went poorly. Turns out we're both pragmatic realists. Or pessimists. Whichever. I do not mind him knowing where I live.

“I had a really great time tonight, thanks for inviting me out.” I say as we pause at my door.

“I had a really great time, too. I'm really glad you called.” he smiles down at me, hands in his coat pockets, as he leans against the wall. “Eventually.”

He's teasing me. I deserve it.

“Yeah, well, I had to work up the nerve, you're intimidatingly handsome.” I toss back.

He ducks his head down and chuckles. “Well, I'm glad you think so. Can I see you again?”

“Yes, absolutely. If you want, we can stay in and watch terrible horror movies, order some delivery?”

He straightens up and gives me a satisfied half-smile. “It's a date. Can I kiss you goodnight?”

“Absolutely.”

We both lean in to the kiss, his hand brushing my cheek as I stretch up on my tiptoes because he's just so damn tall. After a few moments I feel his tongue brush against my mouth and I part my lips slightly. Boris deepens the kiss, his tusks ghosting over my skin. I sigh into his mouth as we part.

“That was a hell of a first kiss.” he remarks, sounding a little breathless.

“I have high hopes for the second one, too.” I can't hide my smile as I open my door. “Goodnight, Boris. See you Thursday.”

“Goodnight.”

#monster love #monster boyfriend #Boris the barista #short story #sfw #fluff #exophilia

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my-emotional-self · 6 years

Text

Desired Hearts (Alex x OC/Bill x OC)

Pairings: Alex x OC / Bill x OC

Warnings: none

Summary: After getting the job of your life, you move to Dublin to work on the set of Vikings. You told yourself you were going to remain single after the emotional abuse your ex-boyfriend put your through. But what happens when you meet not one, but two guys who wiggle their way into your life? Will you let either one of them get close enough to you to change your mind about being single?

A/N: FYI, this is going to be a slow burn!!!

It was another typical day in New York City as you sat in the bedroom in which you grew up. The sun was shining high in the sky, illuminating the bedroom but instead of the beautiful singsongs of birds, there was nothing but car honks. “Ugh, I have to get out of here,” you groaned, your leg bouncing up and down nervously as you waited for Sharon, the Human Resources Manager from Vikings to appear on your screen.

More insistent car honking finally made you get up from your chair and shut the window. As you slammed it shut your skype call with Sharon showed up on your laptop. Moving quickly you sat down on the chair, smoothing down your hair before answering with a smile.

“Hello Sharon,” you sang in professional manner, a bright smile plastered on your face.

“Hi there Effie. Are you ready for the interview?” she asked. You had emailed Sharon back and forth a few times, but this was the first time you heard her voice or saw her. She middle aged, probably around 40-45 with short blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

“As cliché as it sounds, I was born ready,” you replied with a chuckle. Hey, it was the truth. You had only been back in New York City all of two weeks after your last job and you already needed out. The city life wasn’t for you, not after traveling to the destinations you had for your previous two jobs.

Sharon smiled, looking down at your resume she had in front of her. “You have a very impressive resume Effie. Very impressive indeed. Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself and how you got to where you are now?”

You took a deep breath, never liking having to talk about yourself but you knew it was needed in these situations. “Ok, I ahh, I was born and raised all my life here in New York City. Ever since I was young I found a passion for doing hair and makeup, always practicing all my dolls,” you let out a chuckle just thinking about those memories. “I went to Empire Beauty School and got an internship job on The Walking Dead. I work down in Georgia with them for two seasons before applying to Game of Thrones. I got the job with that show and moved to Belfast Ireland where I’ve worked for the last three years up until Season 7. Now they are taking a bit more of a hiatus between seasons and I didn’t want to go that long without work so…here I am!” You gave a nervous chuckle at the end, hoping your description wasn’t too bad.

“Well that is just wonderful dear. And since you have lived in Ireland the past few years you already know your way around I’m guessing?”

You quickly nodded your head before replying. “Yes, and even though I was in Northern Ireland, I still made plenty of trips down to Dublin and am very well acquainted with that part of the country also.”

Sharon nodded, continuing to read through your resume before locking eyes with you. Her smile growing wide as the corners of her eyes crinkled. “Well then I think that is all I need. I will be in touch. Thank you Effie,” Sharon declared.

“Yes thank you so much Sharon. I look forward to hearing from you.”

With that, the skype call ended as you blew out a breath of air. “That wasn’t so bad,” you chimed to yourself as your hands pulled your long brown hair into a topknot. Getting up from your chair grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen and headed back to your room, not wanting to deal with your mother.

Your home life was rather unsatisfying growing up. Coming from a broken home would do that to you. Your parents divorced when you were 15, but in your opinion, they should have divorced many years before that. Hearing their constant yelling and screaming is was truly dove you into practicing hair and makeup. It was a whole other realm for you to escape to. You were an only child also which made your childhood in the cities rather boring. Both your parents were lawyers and they were always on the go or studying for cases. And when they were home, well, let’s just say they weren’t paying too much attention to you.

~~~

The next morning you were scrolling through your email as you happened upon one from Sharon. You sat upright with a jolt, opening the email.

Effie,

It is with my greatest pleasure to let you know we would be honored to have you work with us here on the set of Vikings. I have included all the travel arrangements in the file for you. It is your responsibility to find an apartment to live in but the company will pay the first two months’ rent until you get settled. We look forward to seeing you in two weeks!

Sharon

You read the email multiple times, squealing in delight. This was without a doubt, your absolute dream job! Ever since Vikings first aired you had been hooked from the start. Floki was without a doubt your favorite. You had yet to see the second half of season 4 but now you had a long flight ahead of you to catch up on it.

The next few days you spent packing and researching apartments in Dublin. From where they filmed it was only about a 45 minute drive to Dublin and even though you hated city life, Dublin was not bad at all compared to NYC. Dublin was more laid back compared to the chaos here. Even though you didn’t have to report on set for another two weeks, you wanted out of here as soon as possible.

Luckily you found an apartment in a rather desirable building for a great price. All it took was a quick phone interview and you apartment was all ready to move into whenever you wanted; it even came furnished which you were grateful for.

Your bags were packed and the rest of the stuff was being shipped over, curtesy of your mother. “Alright mom I’m leaving,” you remarked, hauling your large suite case behind you as you put on your flats. Lillian, your mother hugged you from behind; her strong perfume invading your nostrils and you wanted to choke on the smell.

“Effie dear, won’t you please reconsider?” Her voice sounded pleading but you knew better. She was rather manipulative and you were done playing her games. She wanted you to stay here because she was lonely but you weren’t going to fall for that trap.

You let out a dejected sigh, giving her a weak smile. “I can’t mom. You know this is what I want to do. I have to follow my dreams.” She started crying and you had to give it to her, being able to cry on demand. ‘She should have been an actress’ you thought to yourself. She latched onto you as she swayed you back and forth in her arms. “Ok mom I have to go or else I’m going to miss my flight.”

She pulled away, her face sullen. “That won’t be so bad.” You rolled your eyes at her before giving her a kiss on her cheek.

“I’ll text you when I land. Bye mom.”

Making it out the doors, you hailed a taxi. You took one more breath of the NYC air, cringing at the polluted smell as you smiled; never having to look back again.

Tag List: @lol-haha-joke @2toastersbang @crushed-pink-petals @gleamed @skarswhat @kenzieam @lupy22 @kanupps06 @potterhead1265 @miss-cap21 @pumbibaby @the-real-kellymonster @princess-evans-addict @mustbenot @remember-that-one-blog @projectxhappiness @libbitinasdeath @sophiealiice @badassbaker @supernatural-girl97 @jjlevin

#alex hogh andersen fanfiction #bill skarsgard fanfiction #alex hogh andersen #alex hogh andersen x oc #bill skarsgard x oc #bill skarsgard fanfic #alex hogh andersen fanfic #desired hearts

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sapphicscholar · 6 years

Link

A/N: It should be pretty obvious as the timeline gets clearer over the chapters, but I've aged up most of the main cast to make their career trajectories fit

Big thanks to @performativezippers for ALL the delightful title suggestions (seriously, 10/10, A+ all around, even the ones that didn’t make the cut). And thank you to @lurkz for listening to me dork out about politics and giving a first read through!

Chapter Text:

“As much as I have appreciated your support and enthusiasm—and believe me, I have. You are the ones who made this experience possible, who inspired me to get out there day in and day out—I will be suspending my campaign for the time being,” Cat Grant announced. A hush fell over the room full of once rowdy and boisterous supporters, though after a moment of stunned silence, the room filled once more with shouts and questions and pleas to stay in the race. But Cat was already making her way off the stage and out to her waiting car, directing a few members of her team to stay behind and field questions, even if it just meant giving them vague pleasantries and the always frustrating reply of: “She has no comment at this time,” which was all the more frustrating because she did have a comment. Dammit, she was Cat Grant; she had a thousand and one perfectly worded comments. But each one of them would mean putting Kara in danger, so she kept quiet—a sacrifice she would willingly make again and again.

[4 months ago, October]

“Oh, and get Kara on the phone for tomorrow,” Cat added, drumming her perfectly manicured nails against the top of her desk, her mind whirring as she thought through her plan.

“Kara…?” Eve trailed off, a question in her voice that she wasn’t quite brave enough to voice as such.

“Danvers,” James cut in, earning himself a rare smile from Cat. “I’ll get you her personal email in a few.”

“That will be all.” With a flick of her wrist, Cat dismissed the group of core campaign staff that had gathered in her office for their weekly Monday morning briefing. When she looked up, however, she found James still lingering in her office. “What is it?”

“I—why are you calling Kara in?”

“Because I’d just love to know where she finds those poly-blend tartan skirts and clashing, kindergarten teacher cardigans—would really hammer home my message next debate, I think.” Her wit was as scathing as ever; apparently no amount of shaking hands and smiling and kissing babies would ever change some things.

“I mean, are you interviewing her for something?” It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see his friend succeeding—and surely, after last night’s debate performance, being a part of Cat Grant’s team would be seen as success—but he’d been there for the fallout after the last campaign, after the last time Cat left Kara behind.

Leveling him with a glare that would have sent most of her staff scurrying, Cat snapped, “I don’t pay you to question my decisions.”

“Sorry,” James muttered, turning on his heel and striding out of the office and over to Eve’s desk, figuring the least he could do was to make sure that Kara at least received the invitation. Whether or not she accepted was her decision to make.

Once he finished helping Eve, he slipped down the hallway and knocked lightly on the door to Lucy’s office. Even though she wasn’t in the inner circle the way she had been during Cat’s years in office as governor, she still tended to know gossip before almost everyone.

“Yeah?” Lucy called out.

“Hey,” James greeted, sticking his head in the doorway. “You free?”

“I’ll head out,” Alex offered, pushing up off of the desk and pulling herself back to a standing position.

“You’re just as much a part of this campaign as anyone else,” Lucy corrected her, gesturing for Alex to sit—though perhaps in a real chair this time.

Alex shrugged; she hadn’t gotten used to the idea of working full time for one single candidate. After nearly a decade of work based out of the DEO’s offices and constantly flying from city to city to help put out fires and manage crises as they arose, she was still working on learning what it meant to pledge loyalty to a person, rather than to J’onn and the DEO. Of course, he’d encouraged her, told her she could hold onto her DEO affiliation—it looked good for them, after all, and he wanted to claim credit for the work of his protégé—but she missed working at his side.

“You are,” James insisted, smiling warmly and taking the seat beside her as he nudged the door shut with his foot. Though, now that he thought about it, perhaps Alex wasn’t the best person to tell about Kara… She might be on Cat’s payroll, but her willingness to sever ties with clients who violated her rather strict personal codes—almost all of which seemed to revolve around the small handful of people she deemed worthy of her protection—was legendary throughout DC.

“So what do you need to know?”

“I could have just dropped in to say hello, Luce.” She arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at him and crossed her arms until he relented. “Okay, yes, fine. What do you know about…uh, tomorrow’s phone meeting?”

“What meeting?”

“Lucy Lane, not in on the gossip?” Alex looked genuinely astounded. Even though she was basically paid to know all the dirty details that never made it into the papers if she did her job right, Lucy often managed to be one step ahead of her when it came to the inner workings of Cat’s office.

“Hush, I still knew that Eve was sleeping with the new volunteer coordinator before they’d even stumbled out of the supply closet.”

Alex shuddered. “He was a walking, talking time bomb of a scandal.”

“And that’s why you had Cat fire him.”

“Among other reasons.”

Lucy snorted at the memory of Alex’s face when Mike had tried to hit on one of the new volunteers in front of her. The loud reaming out he got from Alex about abuses of power and inappropriate behavior in the workplace had been worth the meeting she’d been forced to have with the woman about why threatening physical violence against staff members, even those on their way out, was decidedly not a good idea from a legal perspective.

Remembering how they had gotten here, Lucy turned her attention back to James. “What’s this about a mysterious meeting?”

“Oh, uh…” James hesitated, casting a wary eye in Alex’s direction.

“If a scandal is brewing, it’s best I know about it now.”

“No, nothing like that. Cat asked Eve to set up a phone meeting with Kara.”

“As in my sister Kara?”

“That would be the one.”

Lucy narrowed her eyes, running through the possibilities for why she might want to talk to Kara. “Think she’s gonna try to get her on the campaign team? They worked pretty well together back when she made her run for governor…”

“Once she started calling her by her actual name,” Alex huffed.

“Would Kara even consider it?” James asked, looking more to Alex than Lucy. Sure, Lucy had gotten to know Kara since coming back to DC with Cat to stay on as her legal advisor after their four years in Sacramento, but she hadn’t been there the first time Cat left.

Alex shrugged. “She’s gotten older.”

“But I’ve never seen her that upset.” She’d shown up at James’ apartment the week after the election, tears streaking down her cheeks and unwilling to even talk about what had happened until she’d finished her first pint of Half Baked. Eventually she told him about how Cat had called her into her office only to offer her a glowing letter of recommendation for whatever job she wanted next. To anyone else, that would have been ideal, but Kara had expected to keep working with Cat, to be invited to come with her to Sacramento from National City. He still wasn’t sure exactly why she’d been as devastated as she was, but eventually she called in the promised recommendation and moved across the country to DC where she took up a post as a high-ranking congressional staffer.

“She made the best of it—got her foot in the door, and look at how well she’s done for herself since. I’m not saying Cat deserves to get her back, but I’m not about to dictate what Kara can and can’t do,” Alex said.

“That’s not what I’m saying, I just…” James trailed off, shaking his head. “I don’t know. I don’t want to see her get hurt again.”

“I think she’s been in this town long enough to hope for the best but not really to expect it anymore.” Watching Kara lose some of the optimism that she had clung to since childhood—her persistent belief that there had to be some greater purpose in all of it—had been painful, but Alex was glad to see a bit of realism infused into her perspective, even if she still had a tendency to buy into the relentless idealism of candidates that Alex had a hard time stomaching.

“I hope so.”

As the conversation turned to lighter topics—namely, Winn’s terrible blind date the night before that James had the good fortune of hearing all about on their metro ride in that morning—Alex’s phone trilled with a loud alarm.

Lucy cringed. “Christ, Alex, not everything is a crisis anymore. Maybe you turn that volume down.”

“I’m still a crisis manager.”

“No, I wrote your contract. I know for a fact that you are a ‘political consultant.’”

“Speaking of which,” Alex sighed, looking at the meeting reminder on her phone, “I’ve got to go meet with the research team.”

“Cheer up. When you’re done, you’ll be an hour closer to happy hour.”

Grumbling about unnecessary meetings and interaction with other people, Alex straightened her blazer and wandered down the hallways she was still learning to navigate until she found the smaller conference room Cat preferred for meetings. A handful of people, only some of whom she recognized, had already found their seats at the table and pulled out papers or opened laptops to spreadsheets and documents. Fighting the urge to run back for something to use as a prop, Alex reminded herself that she had prepared, that her job wasn’t the same as theirs and she was damn good at what she did. No one trained under J’onn for as long as she had and came out of it unqualified.

The telltale click of heels alerted everyone in the room to Cat’s approach just a moment or two before she strolled in, phone clutched in one hand and a latte in the other. “You’re all here?” It wasn’t really a question, at least not one anyone would dare answer in the negative. “We’ll start with the topics we’ve gotten traction on since last night’s debate. Education—go.”

“Ah right.” A young man Alex was fairly certain was named Rob adjusted his glasses as he shuffled his papers. “You got some really positive op-eds in the Times—LA and New York, a real coast-to-coast marvel,” he clarified with a small chuckle at his own remarks. It was nerdy enough that Alex smiled. “The Daily Planet was a bit more neutral, but no overt criticism.”

“No surprise there,” Cat drawled.

“You’ve got a few religious lobbying groups that are upset that you dismissed school vouchers, but no one in the party base would really expect you to say otherwise unless you were in Philly or Boston or one of those cities that’s Catholic enough that people identify themselves by parish.” Cat didn’t seem upset, though she jotted down a few notes. “And there’s been some talk about support for you coming from the Silicon Valley start ups—keep talking about increased funding for STEM education, and we might get a couple early campaign endorsements.”

“Any follow up?” Cat asked, looking out at everyone else, especially Alex. When there were no takers, she quickly checked off education and moved to the next item—she was nothing if not efficient.

By the time they made it to international affairs, Alex felt like she had a handle on how these meetings might go. Informed updates. A follow up question or two, especially when Cat wasn’t satisfied. Sometimes orders about new research to be undertaken—polls, reports, and the like. And then on to the next one. But when Kelly wrapped up her presentation on foreign affairs, Cat’s offer for further commentary wasn’t met with its customary silence. Instead another woman, one Alex didn’t recognize, cleared her throat and leaned in to the table.

“When asked about aid and disaster relief, you didn’t touch on some of the most prominent humanitarian crises. Look at Venezuela, Yemen, Syria. You barely touched on immigration and failed to offer any statements on your policies about refugees and asylum seekers.”

“Because it’s a political landmine,” Alex interjected. “Offering anything concrete this early when public opinion is as volatile as it has been on those issues would be a horrible idea.”

“Speaking up now would set us apart as the campaign finally talking about these topics, the campaign that doesn’t just offer vague platitudes about respecting human rights but actually gives concrete policies and solutions.”

“So that they can be brought up and derided and criticized by every single other candidate who was smart enough not to go specific this early in the game?”

“So that the young voters who care about these topics more than almost any other generation will show up for us.”

“They don’t outnumber the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers who won’t get behind a progressivism that starts spouting things about open borders with little to no security.”

“So you don’t care about everyone dying? Because that’s what those young people you’re so quick to dismiss will say, and they’ve been building grassroots organizations that have more reach than you care to admit.”

“I’m not paid to talk about things I care about; I’m paid to get Cat Grant elected president. As are you. You might want to start acting like it.”

“Ladies, ladies,” Cat cut in, looking mildly intrigued rather than simply annoyed. “I appreciate the passion, but let’s move some of these discussions to later strategy meetings.” Alex slumped back into her seat, resigned to dealing with the other woman’s frustratingly naïve idealism later. “Now, Maggie, how’d we do on human rights and advocacy issues—setting aside questions of international crises for now, please,” she added with a tinge of exasperation in her voice.

“Right.” The woman—Maggie—had the decency to look chagrined at least, Alex thought. She paid close attention as she spoke, finding herself almost disappointed at how thorough she had been, pulling sources from both sides of the aisle as she went through a rather comprehensive list of issues. When Cat asked for questions, Alex realized she had none.

“Before we adjourn, anything to add? Alex?” Cat peered over her glasses and down the table to where Alex had settled herself at the opposite end.

“Not yet. It’s early—now that you’ve proven yourself, I’m sure they’ll start to come for you. Until then, we wait. Stay smart, but don’t get overly defensive about slight criticisms.” She couldn’t hold back a pointed glare in Maggie’s direction.

“Alright then. Back to work with you all.”

Maggie sidled up next to Alex, leaning her hip against the table as she cocked her head to the side and regarded the woman. “So, what issue did you once care about only to have your heart broken?”

“What?”

“I mean…no one gets that jaded that fast without a reason.”

“I’ve lived in DC for over a decade.”

“Mm.” Maggie paused to consider it. “I suppose that could do it too.”

“What liberal enclave did we drag you out of?”

“Blue Springs, Nebraska,” Maggie answered, grinning at the surprised look Alex was quick to suppress—but not quite quick enough.

“Ah, well…I suppose idealism doesn’t have borders—just what you want for the country, right?”

“If that’s what you need to think to dismiss my proposals, sure.”

With a huff of annoyance, Alex stood up and stormed back to her office, determined to see Lucy and find out who the hell this woman was and how much longer they’d have to wait before she got shipped back to the middle of nowhere, Nebraska.

---

Chewing on the end of her pencil, Kara read the email from an Eve Teschmacher for what felt like the tenth time in as many minutes. It was short with little in the way of information:

Dear Ms. Danvers, I’m writing from Cat Grant’s campaign headquarters to see if you might be available for a phone conversation with the candidate. Please send me three times that would work for you at your earliest convenience, and I’ll schedule a time for you to speak with Ms. Grant. Sincerely, Eve Teschmacher

She cast a longing glance over at Alex’s whiskey, wishing, not for the first time, that it had an effect on her. Eventually she dialed her sister and curled up on the sofa.

After just two rings, Alex answered. “Hey.”

“Hey. How’s the start of your second week?”

“Ugh, I miss J’onn.”

“Ya know, back when you started I never expected you to be the poster child for the Department of Extranormal Operations.”

“Just call it the DEO,” Alex sighed, a slight laugh in her voice.

“Did you realize it sounds like you guys work on alien issues? Too many calls about UFOs and ET in people’s backyards?”

“We handle crises. They are extranormal events.” After a moment, Alex finally relented. “Okay, yes, fine. I didn’t name it!”

“I know, I know.”

“Plus, everything in this town goes by an acronym anyway.”

“Even the town,” Kara added with a laugh. “But what’s making you miss J’onn? Is it the lack of Oreos? I know Cat’s not big on junk food.” It wasn’t true of course; Kara had kept her office stocked with M&Ms. But she projected a certain image, and Kara wouldn’t be the one to bring it down, no matter how things had gone between them.

“No, no. Just some new researcher. The human right strategist or something. Thinks she knows better than everyone else. It’s my job to know what might cause an uproar, the kinds of things that bring down campaigns.”

“Aww, I’m sorry,” Kara commiserated. “If it makes you feel any better, I had a shitty day too.”

“Kara, it never makes me feel better when you’re upset.”

“Don’t let anyone hear you saying that. They might go thinking you’re a nice person.”

“Oh hush. So what happened to you? Whose ass do I need to kick?”

“Nothing like that. It’s actually—well, it’s your boss. Or her new assistant—Eve something.”

“Ah, the scheduler.”

“Yeah, she emailed me about having a phone conversation with Cat. Know why?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she wants you to come work for her again?”

Kara scoffed, shaking her head. “Yeah, doubt it. If she thought I was good, she’d have kept me on her team.”

“Hey, you’re plenty good. There’s a reason she sang your praises to everyone in this town. You could’ve gotten a job just about anywhere with her good word. Or, well, I guess mainly just with Democrats, but you get the idea.”

“I don’t—it’s not—I don’t know, Alex.” Kara burrowed slightly further into the blanket nest she’d built up around her while they talked. She’d gotten over the hurt, for the most part, but she still longed for an explanation—though she feared she already knew the real reason.

After a few moments of quiet, Alex spoke up. “Do you think you’re gonna talk to her?”

“I don’t know. Yes? Maybe? Probably?”

“Alright. Well you let me know if I need to kick her ass for you, okay?”

“Didn’t you just get a stern lecture about not threatening people at the office?”

“I’m going to kill Lucy.”

“There you go again!” Kara teased, laughing loudly at the sounds of annoyance she could hear through the line. “Anyway, I’ll let ya go. I just wanted to talk for a minute.”

“Still up for Thursday happy hour?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.”

Once she hung up with Alex, Kara flipped on the TV, intent on distracting herself for the rest of the night. Only, a few hours later, she felt like she couldn’t remember a minute of anything she’d seen, and she knew it would be a sleepless night if she left that email glaring up at her from her inbox.

Pulling it up, she began typing up a response, clicking through her calendar and finding times when she wouldn’t necessarily be missed from the office. Luckily it wasn’t close to an election year for Senator Rosen, so things were much quieter than they were elsewhere on the Hill.

Before she could hit send, in an act of bravery—or maybe it was just reckless, pent-up anger—she hadn’t anticipated, Kara switched over to her contacts and pulled up a number she hadn’t called in years.

“Hello?” Cat’s voice was cautious, and Kara could hear the news playing in the background. Apparently not much had changed.

“I hear you want to talk to me,” Kara said, catching the hitch in Cat’s breath that no human would have heard.

“I—yes, I had Eve email you about finding a time for us to speak.”

“Well, now works best for me, Cat. So what is it you want?”

“You really are a true Washingtonian these days, aren’t you?” When Kara didn’t respond, Cat continued, “As you probably know, I’m running for president.”

“Since I don’t live under a rock, yes, I am aware.”

“Right.” Kara was somewhat gratified to hear Cat sound rattled for a change. “My team’s done well so far. They’ve gotten me to where I am, and I’m grateful.” She paused, trying to find the right words, a diplomatic phrasing lest something be leaked to the press. “But they’re missing something.”

“Okay…”

“I think that something could be you, Kara.”

Kara hated herself for the way her heart sped up at that. “What do you mean?”

“Come work for me again.”

“Cat, I’m Senator Rosen’s chief of staff. I’m not coming back to be your personal assistant just because I was better than any of the other ones you had.”

“Good, I would be disappointed if you ever offered to drop back down to that level.”

“Then what is it you’re asking?”

“Come be my campaign manager.”

Kara gasped—she couldn’t help it. “Excuse me?”

“Greg is…adequate. Things function. But he’s not good or great. And you, Kara, you were always exceptional.”

“Cat…”

Hearing the warning tone in Kara’s voice, Cat cleared her throat. “Just think about it? We always did make a good team.”

“Did, Cat. Past tense.”

“I needed to let you dive—on your own, without my holding you back. And you did. Look at what you’ve done!”

Deciding to ignore what felt like half of the explanation she’d wanted for years now, Kara turned back to the job offer. “You know if I’m your campaign manager, you have to listen to me, right? I get a say. I can tell you no.”

“I still have the final decision.”

“Yes…but you don’t run a campaign by undercutting your right hand person every step of the way.”

“No, you don’t,” Cat conceded. “And I don’t plan on doing that with you. I saw what you did for Rosen. I could use someone like you by my side.”

“Give me 48 hours to decide.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

#political au #supercat #sanvers #supercat sanvers 2020 #cat grant #kara danvers #lucy lane #alex danvers #james olsen #maggie sawyer #winn schott #slow burn #fanfic #supergirl #ao3feed

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canaryatlaw · 7 years

Text

Alright it's late so I should get this written and get to bed. So today was fine. Woke up on time (yay!) and made it to the bus and took the bus to work without falling asleep. They changed up the sheriffs doing the security checks and suddenly I don't set the alarm off every time anymore....I knew it was that one bitch that always set it off manually on me (it's okay, I'll make a lot more money than her in my life even if I work for the government). Got to my office, boss isn't around, so I go through the DCP packets in the case we've been working on and created profiles for all of them, who's involved and who the allegations are against, and how they may or may not be related to this case. So that took more of my morning. I did do my caffeine in the morning, but around 11 or so I think I did start to feel overwhelmingly tired, so I took a half hour nap at my desk and just continued what I've been doing, working through lunch to make up to it. So after I was finished with that I returned to the phone calls for most of the day. There was one really good one they talked about their daughter and I got a page's worth of info from it, so that was helpful but most of the rest of them are like.....they're either being so sappy to each other or fighting over the stupidest shit- like she called going out with some friends a "double date" and he flipped a shit on her, and then there was something about her talking to his grandmother and he flipped out on that and I was just like wow this is actually a really emotionally abusive relationship (which is funny because in the calls they were like "the foster parents are probably telling our daughter all sorts of lies about us and emotionally abusing her" and I'm just like okay sure buddy) but nothing else was too ground breaking. Since it really didn't take all of my concentration, I tried to do some other stuff done in the mean time. I had looked at theatre auditions in Chicago yesterday and gotten frustrated that my options are sadly limited, which doesn't make any fucking sense but half the shows listed up there are like, out in some suburb like bitch I don't have a car it's not happening lol. But I went back through them today and identified 3 that could potentially work, and emailed each of them questions about the time commitment details they didn't post on the page. One of them was like "please make sure you can make all Monday rehearsals before submitting" but didn't state when the Monday rehearsals started or ended so I emailed asking that and got the reply of "thank you for submitting yourself to audition..." and I was just like, ugh lol but hopefully that will work itself out better. Later tonight I did hear back from another one whose schedule just might work very well for me, their space isn't far from my apartment, so the only hustle would be getting to the few weekday 6 pm rehearsals on time. So I went ahead and sent in my headshot and resume and got an audition slot for Saturday and I'm so excited!!!! This is the first thing I've auditioned for in Chicago haha it's been so long and I'm so happy to be back. The show is an original and I think it's part of pride, it's called "pride ever after" and from what I can tell it's fairy tales + homosexuality haha for audiences 10+, which sounds like great children's theatre content to me. And of course I'd just have so much fun personally with the concept because I could run around my Christian conservative circles screaming THE GAYS ARE COMING TO INDOCTRINATE YOUR CHILDREN EVERYBODY RUN and it probably wouldn't go quite like that but you know what I mean. Lol. So after I finished looking at auditions and had nothing else I could really do, I decided to play candy crush which I haven't played since 2013 when I got stuck on a level for like, a month, and gave up out of frustration. It was a decent level of distraction while still being able to listen to the calls. It's too bad the government isn't the one paying me, it'd be really satisfying to be earning government money for this 😂 but hey, school money is good too. So I did that until the end of the day and left a few minutes early to catch the 5:02 bus. Got home an out of my business clothes by 6:20, so I had a small amount of time to get ready before going to physical therapy at 7. I had the guy I had last week that I liked a lot, and I felt like it was pretty productive, though I definitely came out of it with some aching muscles (though that's more or less the point, I suppose). After I walked across the street to Jewel just to pick up some cocoa krispies and milk because I was running low on both and I'm very suspicious of milk right now because we keep finding the refrigerator door open a tiny bit and then I look into it and it kind of looks curdled but like idk how to tell if it doesn't really smell, so I've been using it but felt really uneasy about it and my stomach was bothering me today, so I may just blame it on that. Jewel, however, did not have any cocoa krispies in stock, which of course I was shocked and appalled at, so I had to settle for cocoa pebbles (inferior, but still decent). I then grabbed milk and remembered I had like no yogurts for lunches because I ended up tossing a few because of questionable edible status so I grabbed a couple of those too. Paid, and I was walking back to my apartment by the parking lot and I feel something on my right arm and I look and it's this big bug just sitting there (big like, in relation to a mosquito which you'd expect in this situation). So of course my immediate reaction was to freak out and drop my grocery bag on the ground, and the girl that was passing the other way was just staring at me like wtf just happened and I was just like "I'm fine, there was a bug...." haha and then of course my PT guy had to show up at that moment too also walking home and was like "yeah, we'll work on lifting techniques next week" totally joking and I was just like there was a bug!!! Lol it was humorous. Got back to my apartment and my roommate's friend is there with her and they're playing guitar hero, so I just join them on the couch as they play and then start SNL and a couple other shows. Roommate's friend left shortly after 10 so I then turned on Supergirl. Overall I thought it was a really good episode! The return of Cat Grant obviously made my life because she IS my life and I just so wish we could've had her this whole season, it would've been soooo much better. Teri Hatcher is very good at playing evil Rhea, her and the actress that plays Lillian Luthor are both very good at the whole I love my child more than anything except my power and how that trips them up. The whole time I was like WHERE IS JAMES DAMMIT but him swooping in at the end was pretty epic, and of course Cat knew who he was in about 2 seconds flat lol. When her and Supergirl were talking by the dumpster I really wanted Cat to just deliberately call her Kara but I guess they want to play it out like she's pretending she doesn't know (because she obviously does). I mean, everyone on that spaceship really should've been able to tell that's Kara Danvers, lol. The whole Meh-El and Lena forced marriage plot made me cringe more than a little bit, just because it reminded me of the Oliver and Nyssa forces marriage is season 3 of Arrow and just how bad that was. This one wasn't that bad, but it was still rather uncomfortable. But I liked it a lot and look forward to next week's episode, which will hopefully contain Meh-El dying in some way or being sent away to lead his people or something up that alley. Okay, that's it for today. Tomorrow will hopefully be the end of the child death case and we'll get a final ruling, so fingers crossed for that. Goodnight starlights. Keep shining.

#daily journal #May 2017

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forever-rogue · 6 years

Text

Feel the Magic

Request: Can I request one where the reader works for a big tech company who happen to have a contract with the government there is a threat that the government sends Captain America when he gets there Hydra lets out a gas that only words on mortals the reader isn’t one (maybe Loki’s daughter for added spice). - @natalienicole12347

A/N: I hope I interpreted this correctly and I hope you all enjoy it! Taglists and Requests are open!

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: None

MASTERLIST

“Ms.Laufeyson?” Y/N put down her phone and looked up to see her assistant standing in front of her desk. She tried to keep her expression neutral, but she already felt annoyed - she had a ton of things to do and getting constantly interrupted did not help.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” she sighed as she ran a hand through her locks.

“There’s a call for you,” she said nervously as she felt small underneath Y/N’s intense scrutiny, “from someone named Fury? I-I didn’t know what to say, so I put him on hold.”

“Fury,” Y/N repeated. It had been a while since she had heard from him, “tell him I’ll take his call in a minute.”

“Yes ma’am,” she quickly replied as she half ran out of Y/N’s office and back to her desk. Y/N rolled her eyes, wondering what he could possibly want. She looked at the blinking light on her phone and took a deep breath before picking up the handset.

“This is Y/N,” she said quickly as she prepared for his inevitable barrage of words.

“Miss Laufeyson, it’s been a long time,” his voice rang in her ears as she sighed.

“And I prefer to keep it that way, Fury. There’s a reason I separated myself from my father, uncle and the rest of you,” she snapped at him as she rubbed her temples.

“And what would that reason be?”

“I choose not to exploit myself for appearances, and I don’t practically have an interest in trapezing around the world acting like a hero.”

“So that’s all you think we do?”

“That’s all I’ve ever seen,” she rebutted, “now what can I do for you?”

“I know your big, fancy company has a contract with the government, but I thought I’d alert you to some news that have been floating around,” he changed his tone into a more serious one, “there’s been word that Hydra is back and might be trying to infiltrate the government’s secret archives.”

“Hydra,” she repeatedly with a chuckle, “alrighty, I’ll be sure to keep my eyes and ears out for any signs.”

“Heed my words, Miss Laufeyson, this is not to be taken lightly,” he insisted and she gave him a hum of discontent, “if you end up deciding you need some help, you know where to call.”

“Thanks Fury,” she said as she ended the call, “thanks for nothing.”

Y/N huffed before turning back to her computer screen. She knew he liked to worry about nothing, but she had better things to worry about. Real threats, not made up ones that were going to lead to nothing.

Y/N yawned as she poured herself a cup of coffee. She had come into the office early to get some work done, and she felt more tired than anything else. A brand new newspaper was sitting out on the counter, so she grabbed it and skimmed the headlines. There was nothing extremely eye catching or fresh - until she flipped the page and almost dropped her coffee cup.

She took a seat at one of the tables, abandoning her coffee as she started to intently read through the article. This looked bad. Any sign of Hydra was bad.

“Y/N?” the voice was familiar, but she hadn’t heard it in so long. She looked up and came face to face with her Loki. He looked just the same as she remembered, but then again looks don’t really fade when you’re a god.

“Father,” she said as she put down her paper and gave him her attention, “it certainly has been a while. Have you come to warn me too?”

“Regardless of whether or not you believe I love you, I do. And I want to make sure you’re safe,” he said as he took a seat opposite her, “Hydra has big plans and no one is safe. I want you to come with me.”

“I can handle myself,” she insisted and an annoyed expression crossed his face. She had always been as stubborn as him, “I can protect myself, I’ve got enough magic in me to do that at least.”

“You don’t seem to be taking this very seriously,” he sighed and narrowed his eyes at her.

“That’s because I grew up with over dramatic heroes and gods who like to make something out of nothing,” she pushed her chair back an stood up to leave, “but I appreciate the effort. Perhaps I’ll see you in another five years.”

“Y/N! I am being serious!”

“Okay Dad, sure thing,” she sighed as she waved dismissively over her shoulder.

“If you don’t want to listen to me, at least call back Fury. He can get you the protection you need.”

“Dad,” she turned around and stopped in her tracks, “fine, I’ll go ahead and call him.”

“Thank you,” he said as he let out a sigh of relief, “I’ve got matters to attend to, but I’ll be back soon to check in on you.”

“I don’t need you to-” but he didn’t hear her words as he vanished and left her standing there, annoyed and distraught. She sighed and headed for her office, deciding that she might as well get the jump and give Fury a call before he rang her up again. There was no doubt that he would just to gloat at her if nothing else.

Flopping into her chair, she quickly turned on her computer and sat in silence for a moment, knowing she probably had a million emails to attend to. She put on her headset and quickly dialed Fury’s number, which she still had memorized after all these years.

It only rang a few times before it was answered and she could immediately tell that he was amused, “Miss Laufeyson, I was wondering when you’d call.”

“Did you put my father up to this?” she asked, completely ignoring his previous comment.

“No, surprisingly I did not. I presume you saw the article in The Times this morning?” he paused as he heard her sigh heavily, “of course you did. I’ll send Rogers on his way over to you. He’ll check your building for any signs of a breach or security concerns. He can keep an eye on you as well.”

“Why does everyone presume I need someone to help me? Are you all forgetting that I too have powers and more than capable of protecting myself,” she threw her hands up in exasperation.

“Because you’ve often renounced the powers you were born with,” he explained and she cringed a little bit. It was true - she had efforts to separate herself from her father and anyone else with special powers. All she tried to do was remain incognito and normal, “when’s the last time you even used your magic?”

“Fine. Send someone, but is there anyone else available besides Steve?” she had a history with him, but these days she preferred to avoid seeing him, which was hard considering he was Captain America.

“Rogers will be there within the hour,” he chuckled as he hung up, without letting her get another word in.

She rolled her eyes as she leaned back in her chair and stared at the white ceiling. Why couldn't things just be normal for once - that’s all she ever wanted.

“Miss Laufeyson?” her assistant knocked on her door frame as she poked her head inside nervously.

“Yes?” she asked although she knew what it was.

“Mr. Rogers is here for you,” she said as she cast a nervous glance behind her, “he says someone named Fury sent him?”

“Go ahead and send him in,” Y/N dismissed her with a wave of her hand and it was only a few seconds before Steve appeared in front of her, a small smirk on his face. She tried not to react to his presence with anything other than indifference, “Rogers, what a pleasure.”

“Y/N,” he said as he took a sit at one of the chairs opposite of her, “it’s been a while. I’ve missed you.”

“Please don’t start like this,” she said quietly as she avoided looking in his eyes, “you know things wouldn’t have worked out between. I am not one for the life you chose.”

“You deny to yourself who you truly are. I loved you then and I love you now, regardless of what you think,” he gave her a small smile and she shrugged lightly.

“I’m not one for your lifestyle. I prefer this - normality and quiet,” she said, trying to fight the familiar feelings that were threatened to bubble up, “can you please scan the building and make sure there are no security breaches or concerns? My company’s got a lot of big contracts, including ones with the city and state and I don’t need anything compromised.”

“Sure,” he said distantly as he stood up and headed out of her office, “I’ll let you know when I’m done.”

Y/N was glancing through some spreadsheets, diligently taking notes, when Steve rushed back in with no warning. She looked up to see him wide eyed and out of breath.

“Y/N - we have a problem,” he said quickly as she closed the portfolio in front of her.

“Oh?”

“There’s been a breach in your firewall,” he said, “it’s definitely Hydra, but there’s more. I was able to find their plans.”

“Plans?” she asked as she leaned forward and put her chin in her hands, “please tell me you’re sure and serious.”

“Yes. They’re planning on releasing a gas, today, it affects humans,” he said and she grew concerned, “it slowly suffocates them. They have plans to release it from a source at the plant outside of the city, and let it seep through underground and through plumbing and pipes.”

“Seriously!?” she asked as she stood up, “does it affect us?”

“No, we’re safe, you’re not mortal and I’m enhanced, but there’s millions of people that will be affected,” he said and she gave him a nod as she grabbed her phone and started heading for the door.

“Come on, we have to get going,” she said as he followed behind her, having no problem keeping up with her fast strides.

“But I thought you said-”

“I may not choose this life, but I can’t let millions of people suffer if I can help it,” she explained as they got onto the elevator to leave. Her assistant watched her go with a bewildered expression on her face, but said nothing. She was used to her boss having odd comings and goings.

“Where exactly is the center core of the plant?” she asked as she followed closely behind Steve. The whole plant was ancient and depreciate, having been abandoned years before in favor of a new and more advanced plant. Y/N tried her best to avoid touching anything for fear of spiders and bugs.

“Just a further in. We’re getting close, I can feel it,” he said and she gave him a nod, “there’s going to be people coming up, so be ready.”

“I’ve never more ready,” she said as she felt the magic flowing through her veins. She tried to suppress and ignore her powers, but now, just the mere thought of them had her whole body buzzing.

They slowed their pace, making their way deeper, constantly making sure no one was around them. After a few minutes of silence, they heard a few voices echoing down the narrow concrete. Y/N put her hand out to stop Steve, putting a finger to her lips as she went on with out him.

“Hey boys,” she said as she entered the opening and encountered a group of men guarding something. She smiled at them, “miss me?”

“It’s her!” one of them exclaimed, but it was no use - with a few simple arm movements, she cast their bodies against the walls, causing them to fall limply and lifelessly back onto the floor.

“Steve, let’s move. Some of the gas is here,” she said as he came, a surprised look on his face, “we need to take and destroy it.”

“Keep going and take them out. I’ll grab these and follow you,” he said and she nodded, running through the doorway, casting him one last look before continuing on.

“Steve!” Y/N said as he finally exited the plan and caught up with her. He had several large containers filled with the concentrated liquid that was meant to disperse and kill millions of innocent civilians, “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“I didn’t have much work to do,” he said as he set everything down, “you took care of most of the work. Great job.”

“Thanks,” she smiled, “it felt weird using magic again after all these years. I didn’t think it’d feel so...good.”

“That’s because it’s a part of who you are,” he said as he took a step closer to her, “you can’t hide from who you really are.”

“I haven’t been hiding,” she insisted, but even she knew that it was a bit of a lie, “I just wanted to try being...not this way for a while.”

“How has that worked out for you?” he asked as he put his finger under chin and forced her to look up at him.

“Not the greatest,” she admitted. They stared at each other for a few moments, neither of them saying anything. Steve wasted no time in capturing her lips in a brief but sweet kiss.

“Come back,” he said gently, “we make a good team. And I miss you. I’ve been missing you.”

“Steve, that’s a good big commitment,” she admitted as she pulled back from him slightly, “I can’t make any promises. But I will consider it. I’ve forgotten how thrilling all this feels.”

“Okay,” he nodded in agreement, “but one more thing.”

“What?”

“Can we do that again some time? That whole kissing thing?” he asked and she burst out laughing.

“Yes,” she said between breaths, “we can do that some more.”

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#steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #reader insert #captain america #captain america x reader #marvel #mcu #avengers #au #chris evans #chris evans x reader #hydra

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