#her money and fine things are in the bank/storage

[musas-muse]

in a fire, they can only save three things (including people). who/what do they save?

"Me, myself, and I."

#insight. #c23: ask meme week #her money and fine things are in the bank/storage #let the building she lives in burn #unless this was the brotherhood #she'd save some of her cohorts #only some

[thesithdiaries]

Betrayed (Damien Priest/TJD imagine)

Summary: Adding a new member to the group isn't a bad idea if the person is trustworthy but what if that person wants to ruin everything?

Pairing: Damien Priest x female!reader, platonic TJD x female!reader

Warnings: wrestling, violence, cursing, mentions of bad anxiety, mention of injury

-

Anxiety. That's all Y/N felt. It was crippling. She couldn't sleep, couldn't concentrate.

The end was near, she could feel it.

Y/N joined The Judgement Day two months after Dominik Mysterio because Rhea had taken an interest in her. They had all seen what Y/N could do in and outside of the ring, she was also a fan favorite, regardless of what she did.

Damien’s interest, however, went beyond work. He fell first and fell hard. Y/N thought it was a silly crush on his part, even though she had a crush on him as well, but thanks to Dom, they realized how crazy they were for each other.

Over dinner, Dom couldn’t resist and had to speak up. “You two seem close, you know?”

Damien and Y/N looked at each other. “What do you mean?” Damien asked.

Dom smirked. “I mean, have you ever considered that there might be more to your friendship than just being coworkers?”

Y/N and Damien blushed. They stammered, trying to come up with an explanation, but the truth was that Dom had figured it out.

Dom leaned in to talk. “Look, it’s okay if you’re into each other. Sometimes the best relationships start as friendships.”

As Dom left their hotel room that evening, Damien and Y/N found themselves alone. The atmosphere had changed, and they both realized that Dom had been right. Their connection ran deeper than friendship, and they had been oblivious to it.

Y/N managed to find the courage to speak first. “Damien, Dom was right. I think I might have feelings for you.”

Damien smiled. “Y/N, I was going to say the same thing. I’ve been crazy about you for a while now.”

Y/N was currently out of action due to a shoulder injury, but still went to the weekly shows and traveled with everyone despite their protests.

The tension has been thick since Summerslam. Damien and Finn were not on the same page at all, and Y/N could feel the riff. Rhea had tried to fix it and make them get along. That only lasted a few hours, because they would find something to argue about. And, to make things worse, JD McDonagh entered the picture.

He was Finn’s friend, who liked to meddle and get into people's business. Y/N knew what it meant, knew what was about to happen and there was no way she could stop it.

“That briefcase has to go, bro,” is what JD said to Damien the night after Payback. Y/N eye's widened at his audacity, quickly holding Damien’s bicep before he could even reply. “Look, you don't need it. Look at you guys, you have all the gold. You don't need that briefcase, you need this one.”

JD reveals a purple briefcase that says “Señor Money in the Bank”. Y/N couldn't hide her grimace, what the fuck was that? Everyone around her was cheering, Rhea and the boys were surprised and seemed to like it.

Y/N didn’t.

-

She sat on a storage box in the hallway, anxious. Her stomach was turning.

“Hey babe,” Damien called, standing in front of her. “There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you.”

Y/N smiled softly at him but focused her gaze on her twiddling fingers.

“What's wrong?” He asked with concern, “Are you feeling okay? Is it your shoulder?”

“No no, I'm okay, it's just that…” Y/N looked up at him, frowning. “I don't think you should use that briefcase. I have a bad feeling.”

Damien raised an eyebrow, “Why? I don't think JD did anything to it though.”

Y/N shook her head. “It's just too much of a coincidence. At first, he tells you to get rid of it and now he gives you a new one. I really don't think you should use it.”

He glanced at the briefcase he was holding, contemplating what she said. “It'll be fine, I promise.” Someone from the crew called him from the other end of the hallway. “I have to do a promo with Finn, I'll be right back,” Damien gave her a soft peck on her lips before turning and walking away.

Y/N went to find Rhea, maybe she could help her.

-

Rhea was sitting on a couch with Dom, watching some funny video.

“Hey Rhea, can we talk?” Y/N asked.

“Sure, what's up?” She replied, not looking up.

“Alone,” Y/N added after hesitating for a few seconds. Both of them looked at her, and Rhea got worried because of her expression.

“Come on,” Rhea quickly jumped to her feet and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards a secluded part. “Are you okay?”

"Rhea," Y/N began, "I don't want to sound paranoid or anything, but I've got this gut feeling about JD. Something just doesn't sit right with me."

Rhea turned to Y/N, her eyebrows furrowing in curiosity. "What do you mean? JD seems like a nice guy, and he's been friends with Finn forever. Sure, he's annoying but if Finn trusts him, shouldn't we?"

Y/N sighed, "I know, but that's the thing. I can't explain it, but I can't shake this feeling that something's off about JD and the new briefcase he gave to Damien."

Rhea softly brushed her fingers on Y/N’s cheek, studying her expression. "I get that you're worried, but it's going to be fine. Finn has known JD for years, and they've got this weird deep bond. I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt. If we see something weird, we tell Finn."

Y/N nodded, appreciating Rhea's attempt to reassure her. "You're probably right," she said, trying to convince herself. "I just need to stop overthinking things."

-

Over the next few weeks, Y/N tried her best to push those thoughts away. She watched JD closely but couldn't find anything specific to validate her feelings. The group seemed to finally enjoy JD's company, and he effortlessly slipped into their routines and conversations.

That night, Seth Rollins had a match against Gunther and lost. He was lying mostly unconscious in the middle of the ring with a referee and two paramedics attending to him.

Damien took the opportunity, running out with his briefcase. Y/N ran after him, both excited and scared. That weird feeling she tried suppressing for so long was slowly creeping up on her. What if?

He got in the ring, pushing his briefcase into the ref’s hands, “Go! Quick!”

Y/N watched as Samatha Irwin, a producer, and the referee talked, for what seemed to be a long time. The ref turned to look at Damien, “You can't use this.” Y/N who was about to enter the ring stopped, holding the rope while feeling faint.

“What do you mean?” Damien yelled, furious. “It's not expired.”

“There's no contract in this briefcase.”

Damien turned to look at Y/N for a quick second, who was shaking her head in disbelief. No contract? But where could it… Oh. Oh no. It's in the green briefcase. The crowd started going crazy but nobody was paying attention until a yelp made them look.

Y/N was pulled by her feet, causing her to fall and hit her head on the edge of the ring. Feeling dizzy, she looked up and saw a familiar face… JD McDonagh. He grabbed a chair, hitting her repeatedly on her shoulder, agitating her injury. Y/N cried, trying to push herself away from the hits but it wasn't stopping.

Damien wanted to save her and beat JD’s ass as he heard those horrible screams but he couldn't, because someone hit him on the back of the head repeatedly and pushed him out of the ring.

Disoriented, he saw how Finn Bálor handed the green briefcase to the referee, urging him to call it. Samantha, outraged and confused, still had to do her job announcing that Finn was cashing in “his” Money in the Bank contract.

The crowd got louder. Damien turned his head groggily to see Rhea and Dom running down the ramp. Their faces were red with anger. Rhea quickly got rid of JD, knocking him out cold. Her heart was beating uncontrollably as she saw the state Y/N was in. Dom was helping Damien up, both of them walking where the girls were.

Everything was happening quickly. Finn managed to secure the victory, pinning Seth and becoming the new champion. Finn grabbed the belt and raised it high, finally getting what he wanted. The boos from the crowd were deafening.

He and Damien locked eyes. Finn had a smirk on his face while Damien looked somber. “You will regret this,” he informed him, making the new champion laugh.

Damien picked Y/N up trying to not hurt her shoulder more. “I’m sorry I didn't listen to you,” he admitted in a whisper as they walked backstage. Y/N didn't reply, only nestled her face on his shoulder. Rhea was yelling curses all over and throwing things around while Dom tried to calm her down.

The Judgement Day lost a member that day. Damien and Rhea felt like shit for not listening to Y/N. She was right all along.

#the judgement day imagine #tjd imagine #damien priest x reader #damien priest imagine #rhea ripley x reader #rhea ripley imagine #wwe fanfic #wwe imagine

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Housed For Now!

[New]

AS OF DECEMBER 20TH, 2023, WE HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT OUR NEW LANDLADY WANTS US OUT WHEN OUR LEASE ENDS IN FENBRUARY. EDIT Dec 27th 2023: We just learned that she's adding an electric garage door to the garage. Her ex-husband is working on it with an electrician friend of his and I overheard them. She doesn't intend to move in, she wants to add the small ass garage onto the lease and thinks it's worth adding another $1K+ dollars to the rent.

[Old]

Dave just doesn't get how finances work. Because he's so unhelpful and doesn't fucking listen when people speak, he's whining about how after getting paid, mom has nothing left for the month. "But we don't have to spend $230 on the storage unit anymore!" "That went into other bills, Dave!" He thinks that cuz we don't have that one issue holding us down, we're going to be able to handle everything else easily and have money left over for whatever he wants to waste it on. Because mom has had to pay one bill and let another slide as a result every month. It's how she's had to handle our financial problems this entire time. And people all over have to do things like this, it isn't a new tactic.

Mom finally paid off the bank after Dave bounced her account several times last year. She's been paying $100+ a month for ages to get that handled. That should make things a little easier now.

The car insurance has increased by several dozen dollars so it's over $150 a month now. (EDIT: Dec, 2023: It was increased again.)

Her phone and Bethy's phone have to be kept on because of her schooling and we need a functioning phone number or else we'll be in big trouble in many ways. $100+ just for 2 phones. Dave is in charge of his own damn phone.

She has to handle her Discover and Capital One cards since she's had to use them to save our asses a few times. She NEEDS to pay them off so her credit score doesn't tank, and many places won't give you a chance if your credit is low. She's got monthly payments for those around $100+ in total.

The P.O. Box price has increased. Almost $50 now. (EDIT: Dec, 2023: We had canceled it since we finally got a place to live, and now we'll need to get a new one. I'm so tired.)

Dish Network has been on pause or almost 2 years cuz she can't cancel it before the full year she paid is used up or the fee is astronomical. They keep suspiciously unpausing it and trying to lob thousands in fees at us. (EDIT: Aug, 2023: Mom finally got it taken care of by going to the Better Business Bureau with dozens of emails of proof for her case and they came down hard on Dish Network. So we're fine on that front now.)

Then we have gas for a minivan, that Dave should be paying for, but isn't. A mostly full tank is around $80 every 4-5 days. Gas is average rn. So over $400 monthly in gas. (EDIT Dec, 2023: $20 gets 4 1/2 Gallons right now. It is hell.)

We need the part for the van which is $800+. The van is just so old that finding parts for something considered an antique now is damn near impossible, and not having the money up front makes it worse. (EDIT: Dec, 2023: The van is dead and despite how the alternator was replaced and the battery and starter are fine, there's no vehicle.)

She has to pay for her medication cuz we have shit medical. She's already going without many of them but some health problems, like Asthma, can't be ignored so the inhalers are prioritized. (EDIT Aug, 2023: Our medical changed out of nowhere at the beginning of the year and all of our doctors no longer take it. No doctors take it, in fact, so our attempts to get better help have to start all over again.)

Bethy needs school supplies regularly.

But Dave just thinks that she should have all this extra money left over at the end of paying everything off. Many of these things come out instantly on the 1st of each month btw. She has to then work through what is left for the bills that aren't instantly paid off. He thinks if he works with his friend for 3 weeks, he'll have enough money for an apartment, completely ignoring that he'd only have about $1800 for a full month of work with no breaks. The cheapest 2-bedroom in Delaware requires almost all of that, which is why we're waiting on housing which charges based on your monthly income. Even if he handled the monthly rent of $1400-$1700 for a 2-bedroom, mom still has all this stuff to worry about... and then gas, water, electric, sewage, etc... Dave doesn't listen. In public housing, those things are included. Outside it, they are separate expenses.

Other Posts About Life:

[1] [2][3] [4] [5]

~.O.~

[Ko-Fi] [GoFundMe] [Venmo] [CashApp: $Flame818] [Amazon Wishlist(food list tbh)] [Meal Train] [Patreon]

[NEW Dec, 2023]

I was right to keep on my toes about this. Dave does not read or pay attention and he just rushes into things without thinking. He's made every excuse possible to defend this lady saying she'll see how clean the house is a let us stay, but when she made a point to say she's thinking of moving in here, she isn't looking for a ruined house. She already has the reason for why she wants us out and she put it in writing, and it's because she claims to want to live here now. She doesn't need any other reason; she owns the property and that is good enough.

So, we have to be out by mid-February, which means more moving. And we just have no money and nowhere to go.

[NEWER Mar, 2024]

We need food, heat, hot water, etc... and Dave's getting scammed by a blackmailer that he's now given over $3K to... His dumbass was cheating, as he always does, and within a few conversations felt safe enough to tell this bitch all his personal business, as well as everything about his kids and grandkids. And now, cuz he offended her, she did a search on him and found his family and is how holding them over his head to Apple gift cards.

Yet he stomps in the house every day demanding to know if anyone 'gave us money'. And then got mad when mom finally snapped at him with, "No, actually Helen has gotten any commissions this month, so there's nothing in the PayPal." All cuz Dave doesn't want to admit that I've brought $16K in just through commissions alone.

#poverty #homelessness #gofundme #ko-fi #watermelonsmellinfellon

[naturalbornlosers]

actually. i dont normally get this personal so i might delete this later but geez i need somewhere to put this or i'll go insane.

we lost my grandfather a year ago and Christmas has sucked ass this year. i'm overstimulated and exhausted. my family doesn't even try to connect with me. it's like i dont fucking exist anymore to them except as a problem-solver ("can you help me find xyz?") or a piece of furniture or someone to dictate later plans to or a fucking memory pad ("don't let me forget,") or a problem. we try to eat dinner together and i dont open my mouth a moment in the conversation bc there's no opening for me, there's no topic i can contribute to, no one even tries to include me, and the only time i'm spoken to is to tell me plans we're doing later. i wanna make something with my family and it gets brushed off. i wanna do something, it gets brushed off. i bought us a game to play and we're taking it down when we take my grandmother back home bc no one could be assed to remember to play it even though i made sure it appealed to all of our interests.

my mom made a joke about "oh we're just giving you money because we have no idea what you want haha!" and while yeah, i am grateful for the money, it fucking SUCKS that every time ive talked to her about my interests - about our shared interests and hobbies, too - it sounds like it's gone in one ear and right out the other!! i've shown her in person things i would like to eventually get in the future, all year. and it's like… none of it matters. no one tries. no one tries when it's me, but everyone else gets thoughtful things and i'm even still planning to get more things for my mom and my grandmother. no one tries to engage with my interests. my interests actually get made fun of here and there or outright dismissed ("i'm sure [person] doesn't wanna hear about xyz" is said often when im infodumping) and everything i like is trivial. everything i like is fodder to be mocked by my moms husband and just goes in one ear out the other with my mom and my grandmother has no idea what to do with my interests.

and, fuck, now my family doesnt believe i have endometriosis or pcos bc my ultrasound came back fine even though i explained to them repeatedly that it may not show up on an ultrasound. they dont want me to get a second opinion. they dont think its worth it, trying to find out why im in so much pain i miss class/life events and why im so sick and fatigued every month i cant leave the house sometimes. i just sit around like a decoration. i get teased for being on my phone. i get teased for not eating the same things everyone else does. and to top it all off, my moms husband vaguely threatened me tonight in front of everyone and no one did a fucking thing. no one even acknowledged that he just flat out went "dont do xyz, if you do xyz, there's gonna be a problem" in a very clear manner of 'you are going to be in deep shit'. which is fucking tiresome bc he tried to kick me out three separate times in 2020. once bc my bathroom wasn't tidy enough (just a bit cluttered, but i dont have much counter space, so naturally it was cluttered), once bc he wanted to turn my bedroom into storage and have me move into the attic spare room, and once bc "this is my castle and i am the king and if you don't like it you can leave". this was during a time i had no friends irl, no bank account, couldn't drive, no job, nobody around i could go to… he knew full well he could just toss me out and no one would say a fucking word.

i'm learning how to drive. and then i'll get a job. and then i'll move out. and then i'll put this shit behind me. but i fucking hate being in a room full of my family and feeling like none of them know me. that i'm entirely alone. that i don't fucking exist and everything i am is trivial and doesn't matter. if i make plans, there's a high chance they wont happen or will get changed last minute and then i get mocked for being upset about it like i'm a child who doesn't get how the world works. i'm twenty four. i'm young for sure, but fucking hell, i'm not six.

i just don't wanna be here. i'm gonna keep on keepin' on. but i want things to change for the better and i know they wont until i move out. i just don't believe i will actually, ever, leave this house. ughh. i'll survive but holy shit i'm gonna be screaming the entire time.

#Statement.txt #delete later #i'm relatively fine i'm just being overdramatic #i need to be overdramatic and then i'll get over it

[wingardiumiku]

name : Sabrina Inez Garcia

meaning : 'from the River Severn' 'holy' 'brave in battle'

hometown : Scarsdale, NY

family : Miguel Garcia (father), Hecate (divine mother) Katherine Garcia (stepmother), Archie Garcia (half-brother)

origin : Sabrina was born to the goddess Hecate and Miguel Garcia on 25th December. A Christmas miracle was what his family called her but it wasn't long before the pressure of raising a child alone got to him. Often Sabrina would see him come home from work completely wasted and it caused an uproar when her aunts and uncles found out she was being starved four out of seven days a week.

Sabrina encountered her first monster while returning home from elementary school, a full-grown manticore. Intrigued by the strange hybrid creature, the six-year-old stepped closer to touch it and it attacked. She was saved by her satyr protector and brought to camp half blood.

The camp was a foreign place and all she wanted was to go back home. But when Chiron successfully contacted him, Miguel was more than willing to let her stay there. Her aunt Sophia, a clearsighted mortal, insisted on Sabrina receiving a proper education and got custody of her instead.

From then on, it was back and forth between Long Island and Scarsdale every year. Despite her initial doubts about the camp, she came to love it and accepted it as her second home.

Sabrina rarely meets her dad anymore and even when she received an invitation for his wedding, she didn't care enough to show up. She heard he got rid of his addiction and turned his life around. The only time she saw him in over ten years was the day Archie was born.

Sabrina has nothing against him nor Katherine and keeps in touch with them. But her relationship with Miguel, that's one thing she's fine with leaving in the dust.

position : Vice Counselor of Heacte Cabin, Head Alchemist

weapon of choice : Metavlitôs {a bracelet enchanted to transform into whatever gun she desires by rubbing the serpent engraved on the charm}

trivia :

Sabrina is one hell of a troublemaker and gets along quite well with the Hermes Cabin. Chiron had to ban her from teaming up with the Stolls during camp activities lest they unleashed mayhem again. They swore they had nothing to do with the pest infestation in the strawberry fields!

Sabrina often helps out in the infirmary and supplies them with healing potions and whatever medicinal substance she can concoct.

Despite her petite figure (bless her, she is barely 5'5), she's known around camp for having a no-nonsense attitude when she's focused. Legend has it that she managed to scare a few Ares kids to the verge of crying when they kept interrupting her shooting class.

Sabrina can't, for the life of her, fight. Well, she can, but not hand-to-hand combat. This is one of the reasons why she chose a gun to be her primary weapon. When Hecate saw this, she gifted Sabrina the Metavlitôs.

Sabrina has a talent for painting and her dream is to have her own art gallery one day.

She adores shiny things and aesthetic knickknacks and has a hoard of them in her little storage trunk in her Cabin (a Harry Potter flair added for the sake of representation and all that shazam)

Nobody knows where she runs off to during Capture the Flag, she's just never seen. Don't tell them but she just curls up comfortably on the branches of a massive tree until the conch horn wakes her.

Sabrina's arms and legs are often convered in ancient runes because she's afraid they might fall off from the amount of running she does—both around camp and on quests. They are products of dry-erase markers.

She has two familiars—a blue and yellow Macaw named Pablo and an American Cocker Spaniel called Aspen.

Every camper adores them and Sabrina spoils them rotten with the finest toys, food and even jewelry for fun. And yeah, they can talk.

Sabrina has access to a joint bank account through which her father sends money every month. She spends almost all of it on clothes and on gifts for her friends.

Sabrina is an avid fantasy and sci-fi novel reader. She is a vernian.

She is not a morning person. Though, it's her own fault that her sleep schedule is so wacky, she stays up reading, building puzzles or trying (and miserably failing) to solve a Rubik's cube.

Sabrina's magic overflows more often than she would prefer. It's mostly when she loses her cool after a long day of touring new campers, spending hours on end overlooking sizzling cauldrons and supervising three activity divisions.

Thankfully, her siblings are there to help, as their magic resonates with each other's and they can absorb her outburst to minimize the damage.

(1) art by me

(2) picrew

#sabrina garcia x percy jackson #percy jackson x oc #percy jackson x reader #percy jackson x y/n #percy jackson #percy jackson oc #pjo oc #pjo original character #riordanverse #annabeth chase #pjo fanart #camp half blood #child of hecate #oc #abracadabra series #character design

[the-fiction-witch]

Sold

REAL LIFE  COUPLE TBS X READER RATING: SMUTTY

I wandered the woods as I always did on Thursdays walking through the tall trees, the long grass full of weeds, and heading down towards the river when I heard a noise that made me freeze up. Footsteps.

There were footsteps behind me, someone was following me. I took my knife from its holster waiting as I listened I could almost feel the air change as someone moved closer and closer before I flipped around holding a knife to whoever it was. But I found one at my own neck too.

"hehehe. Hi Tommy" she giggled pulling back her long cloak and it was y/n a girl I knew well, she lives out here in the forest and runs a small apothecary in town, being a forager and apothecary we have a close relationship with our businesses that and admittedly we where close outside of it too, we liked to walk in the woods and chat together ever since we were children, she stood in her tall brown boots and long purple dress her knife to my neck

"Hi y/n" I smiled dropping my own so she dropped hers too "what are you doing here?"

"Looking for lavender flowers for my new sleeping tonic," she says "I couldn't find any"

"ahh yeah... that might be my fault," I told her opening my bag and handing her a bunch of the lavender flowers I had already gathered

"Thanks, Here I found some up by the caves" she smiled getting some mushrooms from her bag,

"Thanks y/n," I smiled and as usual we walked together gathering the various things we needed before ending up as we always did, down by the river bank laid on the green grass  

"How much do you have now?"

"enough"

"Come on Tommy"

"No, I'm not telling you. who knows who's listening" I told her "I keep my savings for my own business"

"fine, boring." she smiled "did you want to head back?"

"No. not for a little while. It's Thursday you know what it's like"

"True, stupid auctions."

"You know what people are like, they always want more"

"I know. I saw Mr Langford at the last one"

"again?" I asked, "how many slaves do they need?"

"Who knows, I hate the stupid auctions it's always the little pretty things that make the most money, no one pays for the useful ones"

"what does it matter, it's not relevant to us what they all do"

"I suppose." she shrugs "don't you worry though?"

"about what?"

"Well... you're a very handsome boy Thomas"

"Am I?" I smirked

"Ohh. shut up." she says "You know what I mean" she laughs "maybe one day they'll pick you up and put you into an auction"

"why would they? I'm no use to anybody. I wouldn't be worth the trouble"

"I'm sure some pretty rich lady would like you, as a bed warmer, as a bath boy, something else like that"

"If a woman is willing to buy me she must be stupidly desperate"

"I suppose so."

"You might need to be worried"

"why?"

"You're smart. you're beautiful."

"I wouldn't be worth it. I wouldn't make anything. I'm not pretty enough"

"I think you are" I shrug

"Thats sweet Thomas. But you don't need to lie to me"

"why would I lie to you? what would be the point? you can just truth serum me anyway"

"I can" she giggled "I need to get back, got to open the shop for the afternoon rush"

"Yeah me too, come on I'll walk you back"

I finished up for the day locking up my little shop, I had been so busy with people requesting that I opened this morning, but then again it was fairly normal this time of year as people always want things before the harvest and winter to build up their storage I did my best not to look into the town square as it was a Thursday. So an auction was going on as always, They always do auctions, they would be selling young boys and girls to be sold off as slaves, whores and other workers. It seems strange but the rich people on the edge of town have towering houses and workshops constantly in need of hands to work, many parents who simply can't afford to feed their children give them up to the auctions to receive large sums of money that some more valuable people can make, some people even volunteer for the money that can be made for there families, Even if it was a known secret that the auctioneers where not only perverted and sadistic but also would find creative ways to.... fill the quota. They promised the town sixteen people to be sold each week, so as you can imagine some weeks they could be one or two people short. They had been known to go out in the woods, find people who lived out there or find people without parents and families to object and border like kidnap them for the auctions.  I tried not to think about it for a second I caught the apothecary shop across the square, locked up and the flowers outside now long dried and broken. The shop hadn't been open in over two weeks, I hadn't seen her for just as long I had even gone out to her little house and found she must have been out hunting for flowers, so I hadn't seen her at all.

I popped over to the little market stall selling some bread I handed him a coin so he nodded and I took a loaf of bread.

"And Sold!" The auctioneer spoke up making me look over as I walked towards the edge of the square to head home, "Next a very beautiful specimen" I looked up out of pure curiosity and I was shocked as they took the young girl away down the steps and they pulled through a very angry y/n, a rope around her neck, hands tied behind her back, she was screaming and trying to bite the auctioneers as they dragged her to the stage, her dress's skirts as they should be but the top of her dress ripped down and her bare breasts exposed, I mean... that was a pretty normal thing for the girls being sold to be naked or half-naked I was fairly used to seeing this in auctions but... I have to admit that even given the situation I couldn't help but look at her, I had long since dreamed about y/n and what was under her sweet little dresses. and now I saw I couldn't bear to even blink, she was clearly hurt her hair a mess, "she's a nice one, got a little fight but I'm sure the right owner could get her nice and submissive"

"FUCK YOU!" she screamed at them

"Nice beautiful hair, nice perky tits" He smirked folding her breast

"Get off me!"

"show her other assets" he smirked and the man who held the rope pulled up her dress much to her anger showing off her pussy, then turned her around still holding her dress so it exposed her bare ass the man dropped her dress and the auctioneer smirked "Beautiful" He smirked "I'm sure she'll be a perfect little plaything or a beautiful worker. and I will note she is without deflowering, shall we start the bidding"

immediately people showed interest, I didn't know what to do, if she went to one of these people I'll never see her again, and God only knows what they'll do to her. the bidding began to fizzle out and I noticed who it was who was winning, Lanos he runs the whore house on the edge of town I listened for how much they were bidding on her, and I had more than that in my savings, I couldn't let him win her. So I bid. soon enough after various bids it ended up a fight between Lanos and myself but the money I had in my savings I didn't worry about it, I wasn't going to let him win, or anyone else, I don't know what exactly I would do with y/n then again would I do anything or just let her go... then again, I would own her. and admittedly I couldn't stop looking at her but luckily he gave in

"Sold!" the Auctioneer yelled she screamed in a panic getting dragged away with the other sold people, I rushed to the auctioneer and he handed me a card with her number and how much I had to pay "pick her up tonight, you have five days to pay in full, Or she goes back to the auction" he explained and I nodded running home as fast as I could with the card in hand, I locked up my little house and got my savings out from the little hiding place I did have enough and even a little spare, I didn't live that I was going to lose so much of my savings but for y/n/ It's worth it. I had a bath and got dressed heading into town over to the large building where the auctioneers keep everything I noticed a couple of other people there for collecting people too, I handed over the card they gave me and it took him a second

"Yep, Fourteen get her out!"

I could hear arguing as they brought her through "Fine let me at him! let me at whoever it was! I'll bite his fucking dick off!" she screamed as she was brought in however she was blindfolded

"You got the cash?" He asks I nodded and handed over the money he counted it up and then nodded to the man, he brought her over taking off her blindfold and she was panicked but smiled as she saw me as it was  busy with other people here to pick up people I grabbed her hand and we rushed out the building going out into the dark empty square and heading out towards my little house

"what are you doing?" she giggled

"taking you home what does it look like"

"they'll know it wasn't you who bought me, Thomas."

"I did."

"what?"

"I did, Look," I told her showing her the card I still had "I bought you, I didn't want to think about the terrible things that would happen to you if you sold to someone else. so I bought you"

"For this much!" she yelled

"I had my savings, its no trouble"

"But it's so much"

"well, you're worth it. I told you'd, you'd sell high"

"Not this high"

"well I got into a bidding war with Lanos about you" I shrug

"I'll pay you back for this Thomas I promise," she says as we got back to my house

"you don't have to pay me back"

"But.. your savings."

"don't worry about it"

"Well I do"

"trust me, you don't have to pay me back. Its my savings my money I decide what I spend it on" I told her getting her a blanket to wrap herself up in given her still torn dress

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure"

"I was worried about you. I didn't know where you'd gone"

"they found me out in the woods, they wouldn't let me go"

"well you don't have to worry about that now"

"Guess I should head home"

"Well... I uhh I don't know if homes such a good idea"

"why not?" she giggled

"well they found you where once they could find you there again, and I might have been able to get you once I don't have the money to do it twice"

"So what exactly do you propose?" she asks

"well, you can stay here with me as long as you like, I can go over to yours in the morning and get you some of your nice dresses and things"

"That's sweet of you"

"well, I did buy you. I have to take care of you"

"Thank you Thomas. for everything. you didn't have to really, You didn't have to spend all your savings on me. But thank you so much for saving me" she smiled "I don't know how I can repay you for everything"

"You don't have to repay me-" "anything. anything at all"

"I- I can't"

"what?"

"I can't y/n." I told her "Look I really really like you, I've liked you forever. It's not fair for me to... take advantage of you like that"

"your so sweet" she smiled "Too sweet to be real" she smiled giving my cheek a kiss "I liked you too"

"You did?"

"Of course I did, I wouldn't mind staying here. for a good while"

"a good while?"

"A very good while" she smiled leaning in to kiss me but the moment our lips touched I pushed her back

"I don't want to take advantage of you. of this... situation."

"You won't" she smiled slipping the blanket away and pushing off the remains of her dress moving to sit on my lap "I love you"

"I love you too" I smiled holding her close, I pulled her to kiss me and she happily kissed back

#tbs #tbs au #tbs fanfiction #tbs smut #tbs smutty #tbs sex #TBS Imagine #tbs imagines #thomas #thomas sangster #thomas brodie sangster #thomassangster #thomasbrodiesangster #thomas sangster imagine #thomas brodie sangster imagine #thomas brodie sangster i #thomas brodie sangster smut #thomas broide sangster imagine #thomas sangster smut #thomas sangster x reader #thomas sangser imagine #thomas brodie sangster s

[missspringthyme]

February 8th, 2024

So before I explain today, I have to give a little context for last night. Due to not having a period in over a year, I missed the retrospectively obvious signs of what was about to happen and bled onto my sheets while I was blow drying my hair. Why was I blow drying my hair? Because I decided to make sure I showered before coming to my sister's because from what she's described, I'm not stepping foot in hers. This also meant that I didn't go to bed until past midnight even though I had an alarm set for 5am. Lovely.

Alarm goes off, I'm in hell. After a few too many snoozes, I get up and start to get ready. I've packed all my toiletries already, so I'm using my B list backup products. This includes a brand new tube of concealer that is allegedly the same shade as the one I've packed, but this is a lie. It looks clown white on my face. I decide that perhaps I could fix it with some bronzer, but I don't use it very often and the one I have in a palette I mostly use for my eyes. Now, I look like an orange. I try my best to fix what has gone wrong, but I look at my clock and see I'm running out of time. I drop third culture Australian's hairdryer in front of his door, skip breakfast, grab snacks and rush out the door. Google maps estimates that I will not get to the bus station by 7am, I still have to try.

I power walk through the cold, misty morning where the only signs of life are the bakeries. I press my feet into the ground again and again until my 30 minute walk becomes a 24 minute walk. I'm going to make it in just the nick of time. I get there and I wait and wait and wait before discovering the heist I've pulled off on myself. I put the time the bus leaves as 30 minutes earlier in my calendar so that I would get there on time. I only wish I had stopped to eat breakfast.

Bus ride is fine, I mostly sleep. Get off at Rotterdam to get my train to Utrecht and sit freezing for about an hour. I manage to get on an earlier train and sit next to a woman who smells like my grandma. Like a bathroom after someone's blowdryed their hair, a little perfumey. I haven't smelled that in a very long time and I think about it the entire train ride.

At the station I text my sister and tell her I arrived early. I lean against a railing near the turnstiles and wait for her to show up. I'm a little zoned out so she manages to scare me when she comes to say hello. She gives me options for lunch and we decide to find a restaurant in the city center because she never eats out and it's her birthday. We walk for a bit and pop into a store that I loved in Scotland. Inside, my sister finds one of those hats with a propeller on top and I take some pictures of her wearing it. She keeps saying she wants to go back and buy it. She also seems entranced by a geldautomaat that is just a yellow room filled with ATMs. She explains that it's because there's "no real banks here".

We find a little cafe that looks like it has good options, it's raining so we were looking for somewhere indoors but not too expensive. My sister doesn't like making decisions and she keeps telling me to do it for her because it's her birthday. She tries to order in dutch and doesnt do half bad, but eventually switches to english. I also find out she doesnt know what halloumi is, but we get fallafel pitas anyway, She does pay for my lunch, I'm guessing because she knows that I've not really had a ton of money because of the paying for family therapy thing, but I tell her that it's done. We talk about how and why that ended and about our family and speaking German and a bunch of other things.

We head back to go pick her bike up from the huge storage building. She's very excited to show me it, and she's talked about it repeatedly since moving here. The only empty spot we had found was a rack that was off the ground that seemed to be stuck, so I has helped her lift the bike up into it. Alas, when we retrieved the bike we discovered how to get it to slide out and down, you live and you learn

She has class today so we have to head to her campus quickly, and she offers for us to either take the tram or for me to ride on the back of her bike. I've never ridden on the back of a bike before so I go for that option. It's more difficult than I thought it would be (I was warned it was an ab work out but its actually my hip flexors that are burning), and I have to be careful with my legs because my sister keeps riding a little to close to the side of the road (she smacks me into a cone at one point). As she bikes, she point s out things we pass. Why this or that building is important or interesting, or the grocery stores that she likes best.

At her dorm, I drop off my stuff and meet the people she lives with before we go to pick up some flowers that are waiting for her at reception. The note says they're from my mom. Afterwards, she gives me a tour of her campus. I can see why she chose to go here, it suits her well, but it feels like a little bubble. Everyone here stays and lives on campus and everything she needs is a 5 minute walk away. Very American style. After she comes back from class we get ready to go out and eat dinner with a few of her friends. We go to a pizza place 15 minutes before the kitchen closes, but they still bring out a birthday tiramisu for her, which was incredibly delicious. We eat quickly and leave so that the restaurant can close. We stop and look and look at some tiles painted with chairs on the way back and I think of my insane AP lang and comp test that had the most batshit pieces of text i've ever read in my life including a long on essay on chairs and what they tell you about their owners.

Back on campus, my sister decided to take a running leap into a puddle and fell fully on her ass in the mud. Luckily, she was wearing her yellow raincoat, but her backside was still fully covered in mud. She decided the best course of action was to shower fully dressed in her concrete shower, but eventually I had to help her using the little hand held shower head. She was sad she couldn't wear her jeans anymore because she was counting on them to make a more basic top work, so I tried to help her find a different birthday outfit. Eventually she settled on something and her friends started arriving for the little get together she was having. She served chips and blue takis(?) And frantically washed cups and mugs so everyone would have a glass to drink out of. Their kitchen has a mouse so she doesn't trust any of the dishes in there.

They took photos and eventually everyone left to go to a reggaton night except for a few of her friends who brought out a cake covered in different photos of things that she likes/represent her. She thought for a moment and then blew out the candles, before begging everyone to please eat as much of the cake as they could. We then went to her campus bar, where we played some darts and danced. Initially my sister wasn't going to do this tradition where you stand on the bar and drink a cup full of shots while "its my birthday" plays in the background, but she caved and did it anyway. She also finally agreed to wear a paper party hat while we danced. Her friends kept trying to get her to dance with guy, but she was not having it. If she ever ends up dating anyone, I will be truly shocked.

We go to bed at 3 in the morning.

#sister #febuary #travel

[frosthidden]

ALICE’S VAN

alice is not a van Iife girly. her van is livable, but it’s not exactly luxurious by most people’s standards. her van and everything in it are all she has. make no mistake of it, alice is homeless. while she has done what she can to make her van somewhere comfortable and livable, she doesn’t have the funds or the skills to make her van into a real home on wheels.

she bought her van from a used car lot in new jersey when she was freshly twenty. it was the middle of winter and she was running out of places to go. she saved up everything she had to buy it. she’d been pickpocketing and hacking on the dying laptop she’d taken with her when she’d run away from home. she also picked up whatever odd jobs she could that didn’t require any kind of id and paid in cash. she didn’t have a bank account and the id she did have was a fake. she was doing everything she could to stay out of the system. she slept on the seats in the van in whatever parking spot she could for weeks. at least she had somewhere where she wasn’t exposed to the elements.

once she had the van, she started working towards making it somewhere she could live and work out of. it was a black cargo van with two seats in the front, one large sliding door on the side and two doors in the back. her top priority was a mattress, storage (not that she had much to store), a place for a computer system and a small safe. she managed to find someone that would do the work for her in saratoga, however the price was high, almost equal to what she’d paid for the van. she managed to cut a deal. alice would pay for half and help with what she could as well as falsifying some records in the computer system for the man she’d gone to. alice ended up working at a gas station for no pay for the time it took to fix up her van.

what they designed was relatively simple, a full sized bed in the back of the van with storage underneath (just cubbies on each side and one hidden cabinet for alice’s safe), shelves on the side without the door for alice’s stuff, and a small table/desk combo for alice to set up a computer system eventually. when everything was built, alice still didn’t have a mattress. that took another three months of saving as she’d spent everything she had just to get the interior built with the cheapest materials possible.

overtime she managed to get a desktop computer and a second monitor hooked up and secured on the desk (both were either stolen or second hand). she keeps an ice chest as a sort of fridge and desk chair. she’s decorated it a little bit better over time. she has battery operated string lights and some paintings she’s bought from thrift stores hung up with command strips. she’s even got a plant or two.

the few times her van has been impounded or towed, alice has been left stranded. she tries not to burn bridges with people she knows she can stay with in the event she loses custody of her van temporarily. depending on the impound lot, it could cost her a lot to pay the fine. since she’s had steadier income since she’s had her van, it takes less time for her to pay back the fine, but it still leaves her with nowhere to live and usually her money is in the safe.

the reason alice lives out of her van is because she’s always running. she doesn’t want to settle down somewhere and have to pickup and leave everything behind. she also doesn’t have any resume, credit or anything else that would allow her to actually live in an apartment. her van is also relatively innocuous. it’s plain black with no identifying features on the outside. she even switches out the license plates whenever she can.

she loves her van, but she also knows that without it she’s exposed and shit out of luck. it’s the one thing that keeps her cool in the summers and sheltered in the winters. she’s also built up a decent knowledge of mechanic skills should she need to fix her van, or take it to get fixed and know what she’s looking at so she doesn’t get hustled.

#homelessness tw #a wealth of wasted ability . . . [ META & COMMENTARY ]*

[shemarmooresfedora]

Collision Course

Summary: You and Spencer were just bound to collide. Only fate could plan a first meeting that unique.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Content/Warnings: fluff, minor car crash (no serious injuries), swearing, sexual harassment (specifically cat-calling from a stranger), mentions of eating a lot of food, implied allusion to sex (not specifically stated)

Word Count: 2.3k

A/N: this is my one-shot entry for @ellesgreenaway ‘s 1k follower celebration! congratulations! <3 i’ve had this fic in my drive for a while but i never got around to finishing it until now

Masterlist

The metro was down for scheduled repairs today. JJ offered to bring Spencer in but he politely declined. He figured he should drive his car at least every once and a while so it doesn’t just collect rust in his parking spot.

Leaving his apartment 15 minutes earlier than he normally would to account for his rather slow driving, Spencer cautiously reversed out of his space.

He sighed in relief that he had not hit the neighboring cars. Spencer began to pull out of the parking garage. Unfortunately, he was so relieved from his little victory that he forgot to check both ways when he drove out of the parking garage.

Spencer slammed on the brakes but it was too late. He hit a young woman jogging and knocked her to the ground. Luckily, his average speed was that of a snail so he hoped her injuries were not too bad.

Spencer put the car in park and got out, “Oh god, oh god, oh god. Are you okay, miss?”

“I think so,” you were on the ground, assessing your body for any damage.

“Can you stand?” Spencer extended his hand to help you up.

You carefully stood, wincing a little when you put pressure on your left ankle.

“Is there anyone I can call? Do you want me to drive you to the ER?” Spencer frantically asked.

Your eyes widened, “No!” you stated a little too loudly, “Um I mean no thank you. I should finish my run anyways. I have a 5k for Alzheimer’s research coming up and I need to run or else I don’t raise any money,” you politely waved and took off again, much slower this time.

Spencer cringed as he watched you limp slightly every time you stepped on your left ankle, knowing it was his fault you were in pain. He sighed and pulled out his phone.

“Hey JJ, have you left yet? I need a ride, I’ll explain in the car.”

-

“Pretty Boy, how was your drive in?” Derek asked as soon as Spencer stepped off the elevator with JJ.

“I got about 20 feet and then hit someone with my car and had to call JJ so not great,” he admitted.

“Boy Wonder, you did WHAT? Are they okay?” Penelope gasped.

“She insisted she was fine but then she was limping away. I offered her a ride but she didn’t seem too keen on getting in a car with me,” Spencer explained.

“I wonder why,” Emily chuckled.

-

So there Spencer was. In the park in his only pair of short athletic shorts and a hoodie.

He had asked Penelope to sign him up for the 5k as a way to sort of make it up to the woman he hit. Plus, obviously it was for a good cause that was near and dear to his heart because of his mother.

Spencer had to take a lot of water breaks, periodically stopping to walk for a bit.

In the distance, he saw you on a bench and he suddenly felt the energy again to continue running to you. As he approached, he saw you tightening an ankle brace around your left foot and to make matters worse, you had a wrist brace as well.

Spencer considered just leaving you alone but he felt the need to apologize.

“H-Hello,” he awkwardly sputtered.

“Oh, hi,” you replied.

“I am so so sorry. Please let me pay your medical bills and any other expenses that I caused,” Spencer apologized.

“Unless you meant to hit me then it’s fine,” you stood from the bench.

“I definitely didn’t and I wasn’t on my phone or anything like that. I just barely ever drive but the metro was down today,” Spencer explained.

“You don’t have to pay my medical bills. I’m friends with a nurse so she did this for free. However, I would allow you to sponsor me for the 5k,” you answered.

“Absolutely,” Spencer nodded, “And funny story, you inspired me to register as well. I got everyone in my office to sponsor me.”

“That’s so great! The money is certainly going to a good cause.”

Spencer saw you smile for the first time since he met you.

“I’ve never been much of an athlete though. I barely passed my fitness test for work,” Spencer admitted.

“What kind of job has a fitness test?” you asked.

“I work for the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI,” Spencer stated.

“Oh shit, you’re a federal agent? Maybe I will sue you and make bank,” you grinned.

Spencer’s face reddened.

“It was just a joke. You can laugh, then that means the incident is in the past and no hard feelings,” you smiled, “I’m Y/N.”

“Spencer.”

“Well, Spencer, if you ever need a running buddy, I’m more than happy to come along seeing as we both are training for the same thing. But I do have to warn you, this brace is kind of a bitch so I’m a little slower than normal.”

“I can assure you that you will probably still be faster than me with the brace on so maybe it was a good thing for me that I hit you with my car so you won’t be miles ahead,” Spencer grinned.

You laughed wholeheartedly, “See, Spencer! I’m laughing about it so no hard feelings, all is forgiven.”

“I’m just finishing up for the day but I was planning on being here again on Wednesday at the same time if you want to meet at this bench,” you offered.

“Yeah, I can do that,” Spencer nodded.

“See you around, Spencer. Hopefully not in your car though,” you winked and waved.

-

“Oh god, you’ve fallen in love with the chick you almost killed,” Derek groaned.

“Not love...well, yet anyways. She’s so pretty and easy to talk to and isn’t mean to me after everything that has happened and her laugh is like honey,” Spencer smiled softly, recalling the sound in his mind.

“Okay, lover boy,” Penelope giggled, “Did you get her number?”

“No but we’re meeting for a run tomorrow. We actually met at the park when I was training,” Spencer said.

“So she’s seen you in those short shorts and agreed to another meeting? Maybe you do have a chance, kid, cause you really put it all out there,” Derek smirked.

“Speaking of, I actually need to get more of them,” Spencer sipped his coffee.

“Just go all the way and get spandex. Leave nothing to the imagination,” Derek chuckled as Spencer rolled his eyes.

-

“Jesus, I’m going to have to hit your right leg this time if I’m going to have any chance of keeping up with you,” Spencer huffed as he bent over his knees to catch his breath.

“Well good news is that was four miles so you definitely will be able to run a 5k because it’s only 3.1 miles,” you encouraged him.

“Technically, it’s 3.10686 miles but I see your point,” Spencer heaved.

“I know a really good smoothie place nearby. Come on, it’s on me,” you grabbed his hand.

Luckily, Spencer’s face was already red from exercising so you weren’t able to see the blush that formed on his cheeks.

“No, it’s definitely on me. I know you said we’re fine but I am forever going to be indebted to you because of the incident.”

“Spencer, really just forget about it,” you assured him.

“I can’t, I have an eidetic memory,” he grinned.

“Ah, I see. Fine, you buy me one smoothie but then we’re even,” you conceded.

You were walking down the street to the cafe when you heard a whistle come from one of the cars driving by.

“Damn, your ass is looking sexy in those leggings,” a man hollered from his passing truck.

You flipped him off and tried to pull your shirt down as much as possible, crossing your arms tightly around your front.

Spencer unzipped his hoodie and extended it towards you, “Sorry, it’s a little sweaty but if you want to wear it, you can.”

You smiled softly and accepted the sweatshirt, feeling more comfortable now.

“I’ve got his license plate number memorized and I intend to file a police report. Unfortunately, reports like these usually don’t go very far but I’ll keep pushing it through. I’ll also call the company that was printed on the side of the truck and ask to speak to his supervisor,” Spencer spoke softly after a few minutes.

“Thanks, Spencer,” you leaned your head on his shoulder and sighed.

“You don’t have to thank me for that. I’m just doing what’s right. He had no right to make comments about your body,” Spencer said, wrapping a gentle arm around your upper waist.

-

“Welcome to Y/N’s carbo-loading extravaganza!” you opened the door of your apartment to let Spencer in.

“I brought dessert as requested,” Spencer held up a chocolate cake.

“I like how you think, Spencer. Dinner’s all ready,” you smiled.

“Spaghetti, meatballs, and crispy buttery garlic bread,” you pulled the bread out of the oven.

“Looks absolutely delicious,” he complimented.

“Eating carbohydrates before a race boosts the glycogen storage in your muscles allowing you to work out longer,” Spencer informed you.

“Interesting, I never knew the science behind it but I’m never going to complain about eating tons of pasta and bread,” you twirled some pasta on to your fork.

Halfway through the meal, Spencer accidentally got a sauce stain on his pale pink shirt.

“Oh no,” you said as he tried to dab it away.

“That needs to soak right away. I don’t want any casualties at the carbo-loading extravaganza. Give it to me to scrub and I’ll get you another shirt.”

Spencer unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it off. You gulped at the sight of him shirtless, grabbing the shirt and heading to your bathroom sink to scrub it with laundry detergent.

“You can just grab any t-shirt from my room that you think will fit,” you called out to him.

Spencer settled on a light gray shirt with a golden retriever on the front.

“Okay, the stain is out! It’s just soaking now-“ you immediately stopped talking as soon as you saw the shirt Spencer was wearing.

He noticed your eyes were beginning to glisten with tears, “I’m so sorry. I can pick a different shirt,” Spencer was already beginning to pull it over the top of his head.

“No it’s fine, Spencer. That’s just my grandma’s t-shirt. I forgot I even had it.”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you,” he spoke guiltily.

“You didn’t know, besides it looks good on you anyways,” you smiled, “My grandma is the whole reason I’m running the 5k.”

“My mom has Alzheimer’s too so I understand that it’s extremely hard to watch a loved one go through that,” Spencer pulled you in for a hug.

You cried into his chest as he rubbed soothing circles on your back.

After Spencer hadn’t heard any sniffles in a while, he whispered, “Do you have any tea I can make you?”

You nodded and Spencer guided you to the couch, wrapping you in a blanket before turning the kettle on.

-

Spencer answered the cheerful knocking at his front door early in the morning.

“Race day! Are you ready?” you exclaimed.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess,” Spencer smiled.

“I promise we are sticking together the whole time because it doesn’t matter how long it takes us as long as we finish,” you held up your pinky.

“Together,” Spencer affirmed, locking his pinky with yours.

The starting line in the park was only a short distance away from Spencer’s apartment so you and Spencer decided to walk there as a little warm-up.

You and Spencer were doing quad stretches when you saw his eyes wander to something behind you and then widen. His face immediately reddening.

“What?” you asked, turning around to see a group of people with a sign that read ‘Go Spencer and his girlfriend!’

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t expect them to do that,” Spencer stammered.

The poor boy was so flustered so you decided to take it easy on him.

“I don’t mind,” you shrugged with a slight smile.

“You don’t?” Spencer clarified, “I’m not very good with words or flirting in general but I would like to see you again after the race is over. Maybe I could take you out to dinner?”

“Yes but my only condition is...I’m driving,” you smirked.

“Oh, you’ll pay for that,” Spencer grinned.

An air horn sounded, signaling the start of the race.

“I think you’re going to have to catch me first, Dr. Reid,” you giggled as you sprinted ahead.

-

“It’s in sight, Spencer! We can do this!” you pointed to the finish line in the distance.

“Y/N, you’re going to have to carry me. I can’t,” Spencer heaved.

“If you finish this race, I will…” you cupped your hand to his ear and whispered something.

Spencer immediately perked up and started running again.

“Hey, wait up!” you laughed.

You and Spencer crossed the finish line at the same time. Spencer’s legs immediately gave out which caused you to fall too, collapsing on top of him.

“I know I’m really sweaty and gross right now but can I please kiss you?” Spencer whispered.

Your lips were pressed on his as soon as he finished his sentence. You honestly didn’t know how long you had been kissing for but you didn’t look up until you heard one of the race officials shout, “Hey lovebirds! That’s very sweet but other people are trying to cross the finish line.”

“Sorry!” you and Spencer apologized, scrambling to your feet.

“Not really,” Spencer whispered to you and you jabbed him in the side with your elbow playfully, stifling a laugh.

what slightly inspired this fic is one time @samuel-de-champagne-problems commented on one of my posts “i could never stay mad at spencer” and then i thought to myself “same. i couldn’t stay mad at him even if he hit me with his car” and now here we are... 🚙

taglist: (just ask to be added or removed!): @samuel-de-champagne-problems @g0lden-cth @spencerreid9 @averyhotchner @coldlilheart @k-k0129 @ickleronniekinsemotionalrange @harrystylesandthegoobs @cmily @jswessie187 @rem-ariiana @hoodpankow @mochionly

#spencer reid fluff #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid #cm fanfic #spencer x reader #reid x reader #dr spencer reid #spencer reid fic #spencer reid one shot #spencer reid x fem!reader #ellesgreenawaybookclub

[itsnothingofinterest]

I think this fandom needs more villainous Christmas content, and also we really need some light Villain content right now; so since the PLF were formed and Shigaraki was still with them for last Christmas, here’s what I headcanon Shigaraki & the lieutenants got each other during their tense first few days after the merger.

Shigaraki

He get everyone video games. And also personal consoles for each and every one of them. Now Hero Aca is 200 years in the future, but I’m gonna list specific games & series anyway and just say if it still exists, it’s the latest game from that series, if not, it’s something similar to that series. With that said, here’s what he got everyone.

Dabi: Doom

Toga: Assassins’ Creed

Spinner: Grand Theft Auto

Twice: Animal Crossing

Mr. Compress: Mario

Geten: Dark Souls

Skeptic: Professor Layton

Trumpet: Command & Conquer

Redestro: X-COM

Attitude after merger review: Good marks; no noticeable signs of favoring old friends over enemies turned allies. Good job hiding that animosity Tomura!

Dabi

He went to a book store and got everyone books; because they’re good gifts that still allow him the opportunity to knock everyone’s literacy skills by saying they should read more. It’s an important balance for him to strike, getting good gifts without appearing friendly in the slightest. Anyway, here’s the genres he got everyone

Shigaraki Edge action adventure

Toga: Romance

Spinner: Action adventure YA novel

Twice: Slice-of-life comedy

Mr. Compress: murder mystery

Geten: University-level math textbook

Skeptic: Sci-fi navel gazing

Trumpet: Political theory

Redestro: Suspenceful Thriller

Attitude after merger review: Would’ve been fine if not for that dig at Geten’s uneducated status. Try harder next year, please.

Toga

Reminiscent of her pre-quirk Christmases, she decided to make homemade gifts for everyone using whatever she had available. Which was a lot, actually, since she was not afraid to spend Redestro’s money on supplies. In fact she went out of her way to get the most expensive supplies available at every opportunity.

Shigaraki: A grim miniature carnival ground where action figures of All Might & other pros are tortured and mutilated.

Dabi: a miniature statue of him made out of platinum and then crudely painted.

Spinner: An origami model of Stain with a vast arsenal of origami swords.

Twice: a Hand-knitted toque just a bit to big for his head.

Mr. Compress: A collection of new masks in fancy paints.

Geten: A mountaineering pick-ax with a handle in his color scheme.

Skeptic: Just a piece of paper saying “I know about the neck snapping. I look forward to working with you.”

Trumpet: A Trumpet.

Redestro: A bust of his head made of solid gold and smiling his to-wide fake-y smile.

Attitude after merger review: Also docking points for a dig at a former adversary, and what’s worse is it wasn’t even in the form of a proper present. Also losing points for going out or your way to spend Redestro’s money, which granted, everyone else was doing too, but you were a bit upfront with it. Employ more subtlety next time!

Spinner

Spinner also got everyone video games like Shigaraki did; however he looked into indie games. Gotta support the little guys, y’know? That said, indie games 200 years in the future are nearly equivalent to AAA games now in all the ways that matter, so there’s not too much of a difference except it’s all spiritual successors, no franchises. Huge selection though, and there’s successors to everything so Spinner’s set.

Shigaraki: Metroid

Dabi: Mario Kart

Toga: Danganronpa

Twice: Rayman

Mr. Compress: Clunhouse Games: 51 Classics

Geten: Celeste

Skeptic: Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes.

Trumpet: Call of Duty

Redestro: Roller Coater Tycoon

Attitude after merger review: Full marks just like Tomura, as expected of his closest lieutenant. Excellent gifting Spinner!

Twice

Now that he has money, he just went on some Amazon-esque website and got the first thing he saw the reminded him of everyone. As such, his gifts are the most sporadic & random.

Shigaraki: A bottle of Kurogiri’s favorite wine.

Dabi: A quality pack of cigarettes.

Toga: Hairclips with characters from an anime she liked growing up.

Spinner: One of the spinning whetstone things for sharpening blades.

Mr. Compress: A new hat.

Geten: a pair of mittens.

Skeptic: Several Spools or wire + a pair of wire cutters.

Trumpet: A maintenance kit for trumpets.

Redestro: A $1000 donation to a quirkless rights movement in his name. (Can you tell he’s still mad about Giran?)

Attitude after merger review: Once more, major marks docked for taking a dig at an enemy-turned-ally that you can hardly even pretend is a proper gift. Once again; if you can’t do anything nice, be more sublet when acting mean.

Mr. Compress

He frankly wanted to see if he could get anyone into his hobbies, or at least get them something to remind them of him, so he robbed a magic store for magic trick-based toys & performance tools.

Shigaraki: One of those things where you saw your assistant in half (complete with saw).

Dabi: Those weird orb things that slid around your hand.

Toga: One of those boxes you have your assistant stand in and then stab them (complete with knives).

Spinner: Fancy deck of cards

Twice: Yo-yo collection.

Geten: Hula hoop

Skeptic: Semi-transparent Mirror

Trumpet: Bracelet things where you put one inside the other.

Redestro: Fog Machine

Attitude after merger review: Nearly full marks, but it is rather noticeable how League members got, on average, much larger presents than the MLA alumni. Still, the plausible deniability is worth something here. 

Geten

He just went to a store to get whatever he could find. He did not try very hard for the League. Or Skeptic & Trumpet for that matter.

Shigaraki: Santa hat

Dabi: Snow globe

Toga: Chocolate Bar

Spinner: Elf hat.

Twice: Bag of candy

Mr. Compress: a $20 gift card.

Skeptic: New tie.

Trumpet: A wallet.

Redestro: A Blue-Ray collection of a movie series he’d been meaning to see.

Attitude after merger review: Absolute lowest marks; the fact that he got bad gifts for fellow MLA members does not hide this fact as well as he may think it does.

Skeptic

Not really knowing enough about any of these guys enough to really think about what they want, but still wanting to show off; he hacked into the personal bank accounts of several heroes & famous figures and, using each one, got a ¥ 1 million gift card from this store franchise that doesn’t allow any kind of refunds.  Here are the corresponding accounts used to make each person’s gift (he did at least put thought into who each recipient might like to rob).

Shigaraki: All Might

Dabi: Endeavor

Toga: Best Jeanist

Spinner: Wash

Twice: Yoroi Musha

Mr. Compress: Edgeshot

Geten: Mirko

Trumpet: Some political opponent

Redestro: The HPSC president

Attitude after merger review: Both thoughtful and balanced between old & new partners, full marks for one of the last people you might’ve expected. Way to use that pride, Skeptic!

Trumpet

A rather materialistic fellow, he got everyone some new tech or item of convenience.

Shigaraki: An expensive watch.

Dabi: A temperature-controlled water bottle

Toga: A big make-up kit

Spinner: A nice suit

Twice: An Ipod.

Mr. Compress: A nice suitcase.

Geten: A mini-fridge.

Skeptic: A new laptop.

Redestro: A new phone.

Attitude after merger review: Full marks, I suppose, if only because he equally half-arsed it for everyone. Not even out of malice either, he just didn’t try all that hard for anyone.

Redestro

The richest of the lot: he also just got everyone some piece of technology/luxury rich person thing, with the difference that his presents were really big & expensive. He was rather invested in endearing himself to the new team.

Shigaraki: A kind of really big yacht, one with windows around the deck to keep people from seeing him. Imagine a cross between a yacht & a limo, actually.

Dabi: A stupidly big TV with like 10 different streaming services pre-paid on it. 

Toga: A self-driving car.

Spinner: One of those 4-wheeled dirt bikes

Twice: His very own mountain lodge.

Mr. Compress: His very own hot tub.

Geten: His own private jet, complete with a walk-in freezer installed in the back.

Skeptic: A warehouse & collection of those big data storage units; enough to back-up all the data his company had ever collected.

Trumpet: A new van

Attitude after merger review: Full marks and well earned; because even if they weren’t always the most personalized, they were too high quality for it to matter. And for once the expense wasn’t a mark against him because he was spending his own money!

Final review: Toga got everyone the best gifts, with Twice taking 2nd place, because theirs were both thoughtful and unique. Even the non-gift to Skeptic & Redestro couldn't bring them below anyone else’s score. Everyone else sucks at this. 3rd place goes to Redestro though, because “money can’t by happiness” is a phrase that doesn’t apply to poor people.

#bnha #paranormal liberation front #PLF #shigaraki tomura #dabi #toga himiko #spinner #jin bubaigawara #twice #mr. compress #geten #bnha skeptic #bnha trumpet #redestro #league of villains #lov #meta liberation army #mla #christmas

[adsosfraser]

The Stone’s Toll - Chapter Six

Read on AO3

Before Claire could journey up to Inverness, she had to settle some matters first in London. The first thing she did was walk up the grand steps of her parents’ bank and walk through the marble columns of the main entrance. A little over two-thirds was left in her account, and she withdrew it all. She walked out, two hundred pounds heavier. The pound notes were neatly stacked into piles of twenty in her suitcase. It was all that remained of her inheritance which had been pretty substantial; the rest had been spent on various celebrations in her life and her travels with her uncle. In total, her trip up to Inverness would be very comfortable, and she would have some to spare for a mockup dress, with guidance of course as Mrs. Graham had assured her. 

 The first thing she did was purchase a train ticket at King’s Cross Station to Edinburgh for the next day. She was almost giddy when she felt the smooth surface of the ticket and her receipt shoved into her hands. 

 The pawn shops in London had infinitely more variety than Inverness, she was certain. There was practically one on every corner in London, but only one she could remember in the general area of Inverness. She couldn’t very well bring a banknote with her into the past. But she could find something to trade. No matter what century, gold, silver, and jewellery always held value. 

 She glanced through the miscellaneous items dotted throughout the store and finally assumed a stance before the jewellery counter. Dainty rings laid within velvet boxes and chains strung across the shelves enclosed in glass carefully haphazard. Her eyes paused on an emerald. Jamie’s birthstone. Next to it was a ruby, much like the ring meant for her baby, set into a gold necklace. She pointed at the different necklaces, bracelets, and rings for the attendant to put aside for her. With one final point, she was ready at the register with her money. At the last minute, she spied a stack of pictures and postcards depicting the world’s modern marvels. An airplane, skyscrapers, tug boats, telephones, even the atom bomb were included in the stack. She added it to her items and smiled up at the cashier. She left, with little less than half of what she had withdrawn that day from her purchases at the train station and the pawnshop. She could always purchase more in Inverness. 

 Claire hurried over to her next stop; the sun would be sinking soon. Her body stopped before the small metal door. A locker in the storage facility. It contained mementos from her childhood. Pictures of her parents and notes from the various friends she had made across the world with her uncle. It was the only tangible thing that anchored her to one spot. While she constantly left for new places, it had been reassuring to know that the locker would always be there for her to remember. She shuffled through the items and pulled out some of her baby pictures where she screamed with cake smeared over her face, her parents’ smiles shining brightly behind her. One with her mouth covered in ice cream on a pier at Brighton with her parents, months before the accident. The rest were her dirty and dusty with her uncle, beaming with curiosity at various excavation sites. Claire glanced slightly at the envelope that contained things pertaining to her time with Frank and shoved it back deep into the locker. There was a final one of her during the beginning of her nurse’s training, smiling optimistically for the camera in her uniform at the train station, oblivious to the gruesome years to come sewing back shattered men and hiding from the sky itself. 

 She boarded the train without fuss the next morning. No one was travelling during the New Year. They were all settled in with their families enjoying their feasts. So Claire enjoyed the luxury of an empty compartment within the train and patted her suitcase reassuringly. 

 The Reverend would be away for the week to substitute for a minister who had taken ill on short notice. The house was left to Roger, Claire, and Mrs. Graham. 

 “Och, Claire, it’s sae fine seeing ye again.” The short woman gathered her in her arms, bringing her down to her level. “Would ye like a cuppa?” 

 “That would be wonderful Mrs. Graham, thank you.” 

 She puttered about in the kitchen and instructed Claire to place her luggage in the second room to the right up the stairs. The door creaked open to a light room covered in a rosey wallpaper. Claire was glad it wasn’t the same room she had stayed in months ago. She set her things on the bed and returned downstairs to where the elderly woman had already set up the cups with tea on the small circular table. Tarot cards were strewn all over the tablecloth. Claire presumed Mrs. Graham wanted to take a peek into her future once again. Seeing no use in delaying the inevitable, Claire launched into her questions. 

 “What do you know about the stones Mrs. Graham?” 

 “Och, please call me Mairi, lass. I’m sae glad ye called over before ye arrived here, didna want ye to be disappointed. I looked through some of my mother’s old things, and there were many journals passed down through the matrilineal line. It would have been a mess to try to find them in short notice, but I managed to find the box just in time. One of them details the subject of powerful stones holding the Earth’s energy itself within them. Ye can read through dear and I’ll wait fer any questions.” She stood up to fetch something from the counter near the oven and returned with a smooth brown book. 

 She looked closely over the scribbled notes and drawings in the small leather-bound book. It most likely could fit into her coat pocket and she was amazed at the artistry of something so old. The pages were weathered yellow like they had been soaked in tea and there were tears in some spots, but it didn’t hinder the journal’s abilities to instruct. Within it contained certainties, speculations, doubts, and even contradictions coming back to scribble that human sacrifice was indeed  not necessary  and  strongly discouraged from the earlier statement regarding it as a necessity. Different hands amended the pages, added different textured paper when the pages ran out, and ripped out some to little stubs close to the spine. 

 A calendar was sketched into the very first page, listing fire festivals at each point of a star. Imbolc. That was the closest date. She had missed Yule while in the ward and cursed herself. She would have to wait a month more, if the information written down in the battered book was to be believed. After months of separation, what more was one month? But her soul agonised over the fact that she was so close to the stones, but their strange attributes limited her. Would the nagging feeling of anxiety for her son ever waver? Or did this new sabbatical mean she would be too late?

 “So Imbolc, a fire feast?” 

 “Aye, most all o’ the journals in my grove ha’ something similar. It’s always, a gem and a fire feast. Many other suggestions have been quite unsettling.” 

 “So when I came through, on April the 16th, I was two weeks away-”

 “Lass dinna work yerself up o’er that jes now. Ye canna blame anyone, it’s jes,” the kind woman squeezed Claire’s hand in comfort, “jes the way things went.” 

 “But, I put my baby in danger, and it killed him.” She couldn’t help the wobble of her lip and the big fat tear that rolled down her cheek.

 “Ye dinna even ken if he could ha’ gone through at the proper time anyway.” Mrs. Graham hooked her weathered finger under Claire’s chin and brought her gaze towards her. “I know it might not be what ye want to hear right now, but perhaps yer baby saved ye. Ye couldna ha’ travelled alone, even wi’ yer wee gem.” 

 “But why take my baby? Why not me?” 

 “The way I see it, the stones only wanted one tae live that day. And if yer baby survived while ye died, weel it wouldna ha’ survived anyway wi’out ye. It doesna do well to dwell on the past lass. The only thing ye can do is look to the future and move forward. Go to yer lad. Yer soul kens what yer brain refuses to. The boy needs ye.” 

 “What if I’m too late? The death certificate-”

 “Have faith, Claire, yer- Frank researched tirelessly to find his fate. If he wasna going to make it, yer soul wouldna be in overdrive to return to him.” 

 “Yes, of course. Faith.” 

 “Fer now we bide, and I’ll help ye prepare. These are lean years yer returning to, ye’ll need all the help ye can get.” 

 The greying woman stood up to leave but Claire placed a hand on her arm to stop her. “Thank you Mairi, for everything.” 

 For the next month, Claire helped Mrs. Graham tidy the manse and watch after Roger. Her heart had warmed to the small boy instantly and she played planes with him whenever he asked, mimicking the noises and spreading out her arms wide to fly across the garden. Reverend Wakefield, much to his own chagrin, helped Claire smuggle some supplies from the hospital, during his visits to the ailing and injured who couldn’t attend church. He even found a set of knives that were close to being pitched before he intervened and saved them from the dumpster. Claire passed those weeks amongst pleasant company in the manse, and knew she would miss her friends dearly. To her surprise, Graham Munro, the kind boy who had brought her to the hospital from the stones, visited the manse occasionally and would take up a game of cards with her and Roger. The seven-year-old won almost every game they played; Claire and Graham had made the mistake of having him lose and much to their dismay he had started a tantrum that lasted for four hours. One evening, he had sulked into Claire’s room, his cheeks tracked with fresh tears from a nightmare and she pulled him close, murmuring to the young boy. Yes, she would miss them all terribly. 

 Mrs. Graham worked on the logistics of Claire’s dress; she was impossible at sewing, knitting, and practically any other domestic task. A plain white slip dress was transformed into a shift, extra yards of wool were donated through her druid friends which turned into her various layers of skirts, and an old blue raincoat fit for a giant was found in the closet and transformed into a cloak of sorts to cover the fact of missing stays. 

 On the First of February, close to midnight, Claire, Roger, Mrs. Graham, and Reverend Wakefield climbed into the Reverend’s black car. Roger was bouncing off the back seat next to Claire, excited at being awake way past his bedtime. Reverend Wakefield had driven them to the stones to humour them, still not quite believing in the absurd story. A leather messenger bag sat on Claire’s lap, practically bursting from the contents within it. She had already dressed into her new clothes that would not be so conspicuous in the eighteenth century. Her heart raced as the headlights from the car illuminated the grey stone at the top of the hill. 

 Claire offered a short sentence of gratitude for the Reverend’s hospitality and then moved on to her fast friend Mairi. He lingered back behind the line of the stones with his arms around Roger. Claire shared a heartfelt goodbye with Mrs. Graham and thanked her profusely. Tears clung to her eyelashes and she pecked the small woman on the cheek. Roger was inconsolable when he felt the atmosphere shift. He thought it was a fun adventure with his new friend, not the finality of a goodbye. 

 “No Miss Claire! I dinna want ye to leave!” He slobbered into her stomach and held tight to the buttons of her cloak. 

 “I’m sorry, Roger. I’ll miss playing pilot with you terribly. Will you keep this safe for me?” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a toy rocket, the new fascination of young boys. Planes were old news, but space was exciting. 

 “Aye!” He tried to be brave like his father said his parents had been. She shoved back the hair from his eyes as he looked up at her with glassy eyes and a snotty nose. 

 “What do ye say, Roger?”

 “Thank ye, Miss Claire!” He hugged her tight. 

 He took the plastic object from Claire’s hands and skipped over to his father. His mood had instantly changed and he was happily distracted from the severity of the moment. They all walked slowly towards the stones, Roger hand in hand with his father. The buzzing swarmed through Claire’s ears and she was standing near the centre cleft now.  

 “Father, what’s that noise?” 

 “Stay put Roger.” He tightened his grip on his son’s shoulders, fear laced into his voice. 

 With one last tearful glance of goodbye, Claire vanished. The group was left stunned, even Mrs. Graham. Hearing certainly was not seeing. 

 “Mama?” She felt the soft curiosity of a child’s mind amongst all the screams of anguish and hopelessness. “It’s okay. You can go home now.” 

 She pulled her towards her, guiding her mother gently.

 “I love you, mama. Tell da I love him too.”

 Was it really the child she had lost, or a delusion her mind had conjured? One thing she was certain of though deep in her bones. She had been a girl. A beautiful soul.

#jamie x claire #outlander fanfiction #adsofraser writing #craigh na dun #fergus fraser #claire beauchamp #jamie fraser #canon divergence #frank randall #roger mackenzie #brianna fraser #mrs graham #reverend wakefield #lol i'm really vomiting out these words quickly #outlander fanfic

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

So here's the skinny.

I got a check from the state for $300. It was for people while filed taxes in Delaware and was supposedly going to go toward gas to make up for the spike in prices as of late. Step-dad got his and then wasted it on not-gas. I knew mine was coming eventually and decided to keep it instead of giving it to him for gas because I can't trust him with money.

We end up in emergency situations often so i thought if I buried it in my purse until such a thing popped up, it'll be fine.

And then the morning it came in the mail, mom starts panicking! Step-dad went to the store and bounced her account. Twice. Without informing her apparently. He's supposed to get receipts and didn't. her account is set up that the money is extracted whether the account bounces or not. There's a $37.50 fee per bounce and then $10 added each day it goes unpaid. So by the time she found out it was over $200.

In order to not be in debt, I gave $40 for gas, kept $25 for myself for emergencies, and gave the rest to mom so she could fix her account.

And you'd think our problems are solved, right?

NO!

The GoFundMe got some donations lately from people at Bethy's church, and it all went toward the van, bills, and food. And then they went to get a money order to pay for our storage units so we don't lose our stuff, and Bethy lost it on the ride over. $200+ gone instantly.

To make it worse, step-dad bounced mom's account again! Unlike last time, he told her immediately at least. But there's no money to fix it so we're $37.50 in debt as of right now.

So we have until July 10th to pay the storage unit and the price has increased due to late fees each date it's gone unpaid. We might be able to get them to let us extend it until next month, but it'll be over $600 by then. And since the lady is never there, it's hard to get in touch with anyone!

We're out of food as well and can't go to the food bank until next Wednesday because it's a big one and only allows each family to come by once a month.

We're almost out of time at this motel. The state only takes care of 3 months for free and we're still having no luck getting an apartment. Mom's applied to everywhere.

We have no gas to even go tot he food bank.

It's been hell.

To make things worse, I've been writing my ass off for my Ko-Fi but the internet here is terrible and while you get to see my posts easily, it takes hours to get them to load. I am suffering with poor internet, 100 degree weather, and lack of resources.

I've been trying not to whine so much about our situation because it's annoying having to see all the homeless stuff all the time, and I understand, but damn the anti-depressants aren't really helping my mental state in the middle of this situation and I need to whine a little bit just to feel better, pls and ty.

#poverty #homelessness #ko-fi #gofundme #kofi

[another-dr-another]

watch inoris motive video,,,

Tomori - We should... probably get it over with, yeah?

Inori - Mmm... fine, whatever.

Taira - Monokuma, would you please start the video?

Maeda - Just casually ask the murder bear to share the murder video.

Monokuma - Is Any Student Unprepared?

Tsurugi - ...Hold on a second. I thiiink I may know what's happening in your video, Inori.

Tsurugi - Even if I'm wrong, to help soften the blow of having your video displayed...

Tsurugi - Should we all share what was in our videos?

Ōtori - No.

Ōtori - No, no, nope. That's dumb, and we aren't doing that.

Tsurugi - It's settled, we are!

Tsurugi - It'll help us feel a sense of kinship, and what do any of us have to hide?

Maki - Personally, I'm all for it.

Maki - Can I nominate someone? With that reaction, I want Ōtori to go first.

Ōtori - What the hell!

Maki - Cmon, don't be a bitch.

Tsurugi - Here, how 'bout I go first?

Maki - Talk about un-confrontational...

Tsurugi - Diffusing situations is helpful, and something I'm good at!

Tsurugi - For me, it showed the entirety of my close family, all in various forms of danger.

Tsurugi - One of them's been getting used to a new prosthetic, so I was already a bit worried, and seeing the circumstances everyone was in has me really panicked.

Tsurugi - But I'm certain everyone will be fine, and I know that me killing someone won't help anything, even if I were willing to.

Maki - Thanks to someone, you all already know who was in my video.

Maki - I... didn't see my brother the day I left home to travel to HPA, he's younger than me,

Maki - And I was the only one trained in sniping, let alone self defense.

Maki - Sooo... he's probably fucked over.

Yamaguchi - ...

Yamaguchi - Whole family gone, sister in danger...

Yamaguchi - I believe in my sister though! Hopes Peak was already taking an interest in her athletic skills!

Hatano - Huh... seems like the family being missing thing is pretty universal?

Hatano - Is there anyone here who didn't see their whole family in some sort of danger, or something?

Iranami - ...So many siblings... not a single remaining...

Iranami - A-ah, I didn't mean to interrupt...

Iranami - Since I'm already talking, I'll share though, to get out of your way.

Iranami - It was my big brother, the sibling closest to me in age.

Hatano - I'm sorry... both of my little siblings, for me.

Higa - ...Breaking the sibling trend, it was my Father in my video.

Mekaru - So does that make me the only person who's friend was targeted?

Taira - No, that's the same as my case, Mekaru.

Kobashikawa - I have two older sisters, I think it was the one closer to me in age in my video...

Tomori - Oh! Same here, Kobashikawa, it was my older sister.

Uehara - Little sister here!

Uehara - Though... I'm the only member of my family who was in Japan, so maybe it was faked?

Uehara - Which I promise I'm not just saying for wishful thinking, but shouldn't we try and gauge the influence of those behind this?

Maeda - ...No, I don't think so. For me, I saw a few of... my siblings, then it showed the youngest one dead.

Hatano - D-dead?!

Taira - Really...?

Maeda - Either dead, or left to bleed out... I think?

Higa - What, did you seriously forget something like that?

Maeda - S-shut up!

Tsurugi - Hey, hey, let's handle that later, okay? We can talk about what it may mean regarding this situation, but not now.

Tsurugi - Thank you all for being brave and sharing! That's almost everyone, all that's left is...

Tsurugi - ...Ōtori? I won't pressure you, but I think it could help you to tell us.

Ōtori - ...

Ōtori - My dad. That's who I'm worried about.

Tomori - And that's all you need to say.

Tsurugi - Thank you for telling us!

Inori - ...I wanna talk about my family, after we watch the video.

Inori - We're all ready now... you can play the video.

Tomori - Inori... I'm sure your reasoning was-

Inori - Just wait... please, just watch the video.

Tomori - ...As you wish.

Monokuma - Please Stay Silent And Pay Attention. Notes Are Not Required.

~*~

/On the monitor, the video begins to play. Maeda watches as it loads... right on to the serene scene from his video, with all four children going about their idyllic tasks shown earlier, exact same as Maeda watched before. "MAEDA" is written across the top of the screen, as it plays out.

VIDEO - The chance you all couldn't be driven to murder was a likely one known from the start.

//"TAIRA" has been written across the top of the screen. A brunette girl, seemingly younger than the class, and a blond boy... (possibly older?) both seem to be hard at work. The brunette has arms full of storage bins she's carrying, while the blond attempts to not trip over the bedding sets he holds.

VIDEO - But luckily, a motive was devised, certain to strike a nerve with at least one student.

//"ŌTORI" has been written across the top of the screen. A middle-aged man, with hair the same green as Ōtoris, reads from a recipe book, before turning to an oven, and pulling bread from it. He places it on a display shelf, which has a sign reading "Fresh goods, baked daily - Anything unsold donated to families in need."

VIDEO - In fact, this helped to generate more possible motives, should they be needed!

//"KUROKAWA" has been written across the top of the screen. A boy with blue hair is leaned over a desk with his back to the camera, and to the man who just entered the room. The man pulls out his phone, types something, and the boy motions him closer- whatever is on the desk starts to smoke, and both rush into action.

VIDEO - Except... a bump was hit, as loved ones were found and endangered.

//"KINJO" has been written across the top of the screen. A woman leans down to embrace her husband in his wheelchair, before dropping off bags full of case files, as can be seen through the slightly-opened cover. She kicks off her shoes, and follows him further into the house.

VIDEO - First step was always to look at siblings, and parents, then friends should that fail.

//"HATANO" has been written across the top of the screen. A man, with black hair starting to turn salt-and-pepper, chases two squealing kids, who appear to be twins. It's a game of... tag? As the trio races past a variety of athletic awards located around the house.

VIDEO - But a certain little orphaned only-child got in the way of that format.

//"KOBASHIKAWA" has been written across the top of the screen. A young adult is seen in a lavish garden, arms full of plants, which she seems to be carrying towards a older woman, working away at the garden. In the background, a older teenager is seen running, spinning, and screaming, with pure glee.

VIDEO - And so, coworkers were added to the mix.

//"IRANAMI" has been written across the top of the screen. A blue haired boy is seen alone, in what appears to be a dressing room of sorts. He wipes sweat from his palms, then, certain he's alone, begins to perform what tricks he can do in the small room, flipping and spinning- before he's called out of the room.

VIDEO - And yet even then... no hit.

//The scene shifts from other students motive videos, to a group of adults all in medical garb.

DOCTOR ONE - Another day, and no Inori? She only applied for a days leave, she was supposed to keep coming in until the start of the school year...

DOCTOR TWO  - If I have to tell another patient that their operation is getting pushed back because we can't find anyone,

DOCTOR TWO - And it's because their surgeon ditched with no warning, I'm gonna lose it with that girl!

DOCTOR THREE - Kids these days...

DOCTOR TWO - Don't you mean Super High School Level's?

DOCTOR FOUR - She's right, going to Hopes Peak is a sure way of knowing that a kid is an entitled brat.

DOCTOR TWO - Remember her reaction to being accepted? We get it, you're oh-so-special.

DOCTOR FIVE - Her ego got even bigger than before... why does her mail even get sent her anyways?

//The video changes again, returning to other motive videos.

VIDEO - Talk about swing and a miss!

//"UEHARA" has been written across the top of the screen. A small brunette boy sits up in a peach tree, at ease in the branches, pulling a peach off, which he passes down to a girl- older than him, but still younger than the class, who happily accepts the gift.

VIDEO - So, what to do? Maybe someone who cared for you wasn't necessary, just someone you cared for.

//"MAKI" has been written across the top of the screen. A teenage boy with ombré hair is seen dancing around with a crowd of others with only one thing in common- their more... alternative style. Someone taps on his shoulder, and he turns around to face them. After a brief discussion, he begins to help them with their makeup.

VIDEO - But even then, we couldn't find anyone... maybe that's the reason no one felt anything but anger towards you at your disappearance.

//"YAMAGUCHI" has been written across the top of the screen. A young girl with short black hair is shown swinging on a swing set, getting herself higher and higher. Right as she jumps off, an adult enters the frame, grabbing her attention- and she wipes out on the ground, quickly recovering and getting up.

VIDEO - A violent teen who only cares about bringing money in for herself, getting excited about others pain because it means there's more cash in her bank account.

//"TOMORI" has been written across the top of the screen. A teenager seemingly a few years older than the class, is seen sitting on a couch by herself. Shortly after the video starts, she's joined by a middle-aged woman, who shares a plate of snacks with the teen.

VIDEO - What to do, what to do... you've already got your reputation here, don't you see how scared they all are, how they distrust you?

//"HIGA" has been written across the top of the screen. A man with burgundy hair is kicking a soccer ball around in what seems to be a fenced-in back yard. He kicks the ball up to his knee, bounces it into the air, then moves back, bringing up his opposite foot to send the ball flying.

VIDEO - How safe do you think you are, here among all these students, who are now motivated to kill... who do you think they'll target?

//"MEKARU" has been written across the top of the screen. A white haired teen sits on the ground, with a storybook open in her lap. She waves her hands at two smaller children who seem to be bickering, causing them to still... for only a moment. The girl sighs, and turns her attention to the rest of the children surrounding her.

VIDEO - Who do you think they'll feel least guilty about killing? Who has nothing to lose?

//The screen flashes between various shots from the videos, the moments showing the loved ones in pain, or in danger, before switching to Monokuma, talking into the camera.

VIDEO - There's a whole world out there, of people for you to actually form bonds with. All you have to do is escape. You already know how to accomplish that... and you already know that it won't be any weight on your conscious.

//The video ends abruptly, with that final line. In the trial room, no one dares to break the silence, other than Inori, who's breath hitches as she tries to hold back tears.

~*~

Maeda, narrating - ...What the hell was that?

Maeda - I...

Maeda - What is...

Maeda - ...

Maeda - .....I feel... sick...

[Re:Act]

#sdra2 #dra #au #yuki maeda #fangan #fanganronpa #chapter 1 #class trial #deadly life #kiyoka maki #mitsuhiro higa #kizuna tomori #ayame hatano #kanata inori #kakeru yamaguchi #kinji uehara #satsuki iranami #haruhiko kobashikawa #akane taira #teruya ōtori #rei mekaru #tsurugi kinjo #monokuma #danganronpa

[galvanizedfriend]

Fic: Speed Dating

KC Bingo 2020 by @klaroline-events

The prompt is: Losing a Bet

This is fluff inspired by an episode of House. I have no idea how successful this first endeavor into unknown territory was, but @itsnotacrimetoloveyou assured me it’s good and also confirmed that it is, indeed, fluff! Also, thank you for beta’ing this and for laughing at all the jokes! lol

I hope you guys enjoy it! :) Reblogs and comments are very much welcome!

______________________

There is something fundamentally wrong, Caroline thinks, in pitying the white, rich, genetically blessed art gallery owner she lives with. It feels like a waste of empathy. Klaus has the whole world at his feet. Wherever he goes, doors open, red carpets roll out, champagne bottles pop left and right. Which makes his brooding and scowling and antisocial behavior all the more inexplicable.

He isn't always like that, truth be told. When Caroline first moved in, Klaus was out and about all the time. Opening nights, exhibitions, soirées, premieres, parties - you name it. There were weeks when Caroline would barely see him. If he wasn’t at some event, then he was at the gallery, if not at the gallery, then locked up in his studio. As far as she knew, he was pretty much living the dream.

"He's never there," Rebekah said when she pitched the idea of rooming with her brother to Caroline. She used to share an apartment with Elena, but her friend had decided to take the next step with her dumbass of a boyfriend and since it was her name on the lease, Caroline was the one having to find a new place. Her money was short and so were her options. "Nik has this huge apartment all to himself and no one to really watch over it. All the plants I give him die within a week. He could use a roommate, honestly, and you'd be perfect."

"Is he looking for a roommate, though?"

"Not yet. He will be, when I tell him to."

"Rebekah -"

"Just come and see the place, ok? It's worth it."

It made no sense that a guy with his lifestyle and bank account would want to share an apartment with a complete stranger, and Caroline had the very strong feeling the idea never even so much as crossed his mind. Judging by the spirited spat she overheard between the two siblings while she waited outside, it was exactly the case. On her request, Rebekah went in first to talk to him; Caroline would only follow if he agreed to it. She didn't want to see the apartment of someone who wasn't looking for a roommate. She was about to sneak out through the stairs and pretend she'd never been there when Rebekah wrapped a hand around her arm and pulled her into the apartment. Before she could even manifest her exasperation, her snake of a friend walked out and locked the door behind her, leaving the two of them there to stare at one another in complete astonishment.

"I think we've been set up," she said, affecting an awkward smile.

"Rebekah has never learned the meaning boundaries, I'm afraid," he said, not nearly as fiery as he'd sounded a moment before while arguing with his sister.

"Look, this was not my idea, ok? I was just looking for a place, and Rebekah said — You know what, doesn't matter. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

Klaus looked at her — really looked at her — assessing her with such sharpness it stole the wind off her chest. Mikaelsons... they're an intense bunch.

"Since you're here," he said after a moment. "Can I offer you a drink for your trouble?"

He opened a bottle of wine that cost more than Caroline's previous rent and gestured for her to make herself comfortable on the giant leather couch in his living room. He wanted to know what she did for a living, how she knew his sister, why she was on the market for an apartment, what kind of place she had in mind, what her routine was like. It was all obvious questions you'd expect from a prospective roommate, but it never felt as though she was being interviewed. Conversation simply flowed, such an easy back-and-forth she didn't realize what was happening until it was hours later and Rebekah was back with a few shopping bags in her hands and a triumphant smile on her face.

"So, when do you move in?" she asked.

"Whenever she sees fit," Klaus replied, albeit glaring at his sister.

"Wait– what?" Caroline blinked, eyes cutting from one sibling to the other. "What do you mean?"

"A spoiled brat though my sister may be, she does have a point. This apartment could use another soul. If you feel so inclined, you can bring your things whenever it is convenient. The guest bedroom is furnished, but I can put it all in storage if you'd rather have your own set. There's also plenty of room for your personal things in the common areas, you can make it more to your liking. All I ask is that you don't replace the art on the walls. I rather fancy them."

Caroline's mouth moved wordlessly for a long time. "You... I thought you didn't want a roommate."

He shrugged nonchalantly, pouring himself another glass of wine. "I'm known to be rather volatile."

"But I can't — I mean, we didn't even discuss rent and expenses. I'm a med student, I can't afford this place."

"Nonsense. It's mine." Caroline drew the breath in for a righteous protest, and he added, "We can share the bills, if you insist."

And, well. It's not how Caroline likes to do business, way too sudden, with none of the meticulous in-depth analysis she usually applies to absolutely everything, from buying dish sets to choosing a new hairstyle. Moving in with someone she didn’t know at all seemed like way too big a deal for her to simply skip those vital steps. She didn't even compile her pros and cons list. But…

The neighborhood was fantastic, the type where she'd never afford to live in as a student, it was so conveniently close to school, and Elena was pestering the hell out of her to move out so Damon could move in. She'd been to four apartments already: two were incredibly dirty — which told her everything she needed to know about the people living there; another had a single bathroom shared between four people, and the last had a creepy guy across the hall. The floor to ceiling windows alone in Klaus' living room would've sold her the place, and paying next to nothing? It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The conversation with him had been rather nice, if she was honest, and he was Rebekah's brother, so if anything went crazy, she knew exactly who to call.

For the first so many months, the Klaus-is-never-home story was very true. After a while he started inviting her to tag along to some of his events, which she did in a few occasions, especially after he learned she could not say no to puppy eyes. "These people will bore me to death, love, please, save me." Klaus can be such a dramatic baby. The parties were great and the vernissages fancy as hell, but she didn't complain. Going out with him was fun. They got along well, the booze was always A level and Klaus enjoyed taking his time to explain stuff to her. Living with him, she got to learn more about artistic movements than in all her life before. It's more interesting than she ever gave it credit. Or Klaus made it seem so, anyway. The accent kind of goes a long way.

What Caroline came to learn about him after a few months, however, was that not everything was rainbows and unicorns for Klaus as it seemed at first glance. Nothing threw him off quite like his family. He only ever spoke about Rebekah, the only sibling who lived closed by and stopped for visits, even more so than usual after Caroline moved in. She did overhear him on the phone with Elijah a few times, too. The other three, though, Freya, Finn and Kol, Caroline only knew about through Rebekah.

"Nik doesn't get along with our siblings," Rebekah told her when she asked why he never spoke of the rest of the family. "I don't blame him. I don't know what mother nature was thinking when it gathered us all under the same genetic code, we're far too screwed up to be all in the same Thanksgiving dinner."

That was an understatement, in Caroline's opinion. Whenever Klaus went back to England to visit his parents and the rest of his siblings —- something he avoided like the plague but was apparently forced to do — he came back sullen and with a temper from hell. His sour moods could last for weeks. He'd stay locked up in his bedroom or at the studio for days on end, making Caroline slightly guilty for thinking she was the thing keeping him from circulating around his own place.

"Don't be ridiculous," he snapped at her once when she suggested she could move out if he'd changed his mind. "If you move out, I will hunt you down and drag you back here."

It was perhaps slightly too aggressive an answer to be sweet, but Caroline gathers that was Klaus' way of saying he didn't want her to go.

She stayed and learned how to navigate the storms caused by his occasional family reunions. Let him do his thing, don't ask about his parents, offer him food from time to time. They make do. But it still bothers her to no end. Like right now.

It's been a month since he came back from London, more upset than necessarily angry, and he has barely set foot out of the apartment. He stays in his sweatpants and ink-stained Marc Jacobs shirts all day, wavering between having too much coffee and too much whiskey. He hasn't even been painting, which points to an all-time low.

When she walks out of her room all dressed up, putting on her earrings, he's sitting in front of the television, flipping through channels nonstop. His eyes are so unfocused she doubts he even knows what he's doing, his finger just pressing the button mindlessly.

Caroline checks her wristwatch and sighs. Bonnie is gonna be furious if she's late, but Klaus sitting on his ass like that is a waste of a perfectly fine eligible bachelor.

"What are you doing tonight?" she asks.

"Watching a movie," he says flatly after a moment, the information that he'd been spoken to taking a second to register in his brain.

"You mean porn."

He turns his face to her, eyebrows lazily arched. "If you want specifics. I'd ask you to join me, but people are already talking."

She gives him a look and then bends forward, fixing the straps of her high-heeled sandals. "Don't you get tired?"

"Who gets tired of porn?"

"Of watching porn?" He just shrugs. "Men," she puffs out with an eye roll. "Come out with me tonight. I'm going speed dating."

"That's so very boomer of you. It reeks of despair."

"It's old school, so what?" she counters, checking herself out on the antique floor length mirror. She turns to one side, then the other, tosses her hair back. "Is this cleavage too slutty? I don't want to look too slutty."

"What are you aiming for? Moderately promiscuous?"

She turns to him. "I want to say hot but with class, not I have nicknames for my boobs."

He snorts. "You look stunning, sweetheart," he says, his eyes lingering perhaps a bit too long on her décolletage.

"Thanks," she says, crossing her arms in front of her chest, suddenly self-conscious. "Back to the subject."

He sighs, turning back to the television. "Haven't they invented an app for that?"

"I'm tired of apps. It's cold, photos are almost never consistent with the truth and when you ask for a real-time one, all you get is dick pics."

"I hate to disappoint, but you're fooling yourself if you think men won't lie to your face, too."

"You can't blame me for wanting to stay hopeful that men aren't all as cynical as you. I'd have to give up sex forever if I thought that."

Klaus' lips quirk into a lopsided grin. "Well, I wish you good luck on your endeavor."

"I think you need to meet somebody, too," she insists. "You're turning into a couch potato, Klaus."

"I refute that."

"When was the last time you had a date?"

"I don't do dates."

Caroline rolls her eyes again. She has never seen him with the same girl twice, and very few have actually made it to his apartment. Mostly, he's the one who spends the night, not the other way around. He laughed at her face when she tried to tell him he didn't have to worry about bringing friends over on her account. "That's sweet, love, but I don't bring people over unless I have no other option."

"Why not?"

"Because when they know where I live it's harder to get rid of them. Besides, it's such a bore when they decide not to leave in the morning. Women can be rather spiteful."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You are so full of crap. Typical. Sweet-talk women into sleeping with you and then call them crazy when they expect a minimum of respect in return."

"I respect them fine; I just don't want to have breakfast."

"Because that is such a commitment."

"It's far more than I'm willing to commit, yes."

"We have breakfast all the time. What, am I special?"

He simply smiled, the annoying dimples he uses to lure women into bed cutting into his cheeks.

"Fine," she says, stomping her foot. "Your last one-night stand?"

"Should I be flattered you're keeping such close tabs on my life?"

"See? You're becoming this insufferable creature that I can barely tolerate that answers everything with sarcasm. Soon enough, I'm gonna have to move out and I don't want to because I like this apartment."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Come out with me. This way you get to meet twenty somebodies at once."

"Is that why you're going?"

"Last two dates I had were exclusive two hours of complete disaster I will never get back. At least this way I speed up the process of elimination."

"Over five-minute conversations," he derides.

"Five minutes is more than enough time. If they can't impress me or at the very least make me intrigued, then they're definitely not worth a second date."

"You make it sound oh-so-alluring. Like a meat market."

"Klaus," she says, slowly, planting herself between him and the random Discovery Channel show on the TV. "It's dozens of women literally just waiting to be hit on. Your odds at a happy ending are much better than if stay home and watch porn."

He regards for a beat and then sighs in defeat. "How can I say no when you make me out to be a wanker if I refute your argument?"

 x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 "You brought a date?!" Bonnie cries out with indignation when Caroline arrives at the bar with Klaus on tow.

She considered giving her friend a heads up that he'd be tagging along, but she knows what Bonnie would say. She has been saying it for a while, any opportunity she gets. Just make a move already, Caroline! Fuck the guy's brains out and get over it or stop talking about Klaus all the goddamn time.

The fact she's brought him out to meet other people should probably tell Bonnie that she does not want to bang her roommate. Not that she wouldn't, because Klaus is obviously, you know... Alluring. Annoying, sure, prone to mood swings, but also witty and smart and refined and incredibly attentive when it comes to her, not to mention the whole exterior package thing. But they live together, she's friends with his sister, and it would be a totally stupid idea to ruin it with casual sex. Caroline sweeps the whole tension under the rug and keeps Klaus firmly on the realm of healthy, platonic friendship. But Bonnie would've found a way to claim otherwise if she'd said he was coming.

"He's not a date," she counters. "He's a dater."

Bonnie gives Klaus a pointed look. "Blink once if you were coerced into being here."

Klaus makes an effort of blinking, and Caroline gapes in protest. "I did not coerce you. Our couch has a permanent imprint of Klaus' ass. He needed to dive back into the pool. I'm just being helpful."

"I'm here for the drinks, mostly," he offers.

"Well, you just ruined these poor men's lives," Bonnie says, bobbing her head towards the line of guys standing around them, waiting for the thing to start.

She hadn't really noticed, but they're all staring at them. Not at her, or at Bonnie, but at Klaus, with looks that go from mildly concerned to openly hostile.

"Tough luck," she says with a light shrug. "Look on the bright side. They're gonna be forced to bring out their A game."

"Ahh," Bonnie says, smiling at last. "I see your plan now. That’s actually smart."

"What the bloody hell are you two babbling about?" Klaus asks.

Caroline cocks him a disbelieved eyebrow. "Seriously? You can't tell?"

"Look around, Klaus," Bonnie says. "All the girls are checking you out."

"Not uncommon," he replies matter-of-factly.

"And the guys are shooting daggers at you," Caroline adds.

He purses his lips. "Also not uncommon."

"Exactly. This is competition."

"It's not a beauty pageant, love."

"Life is a beauty pageant," she retorts solemnly.

"Let's put it this way," Bonnie cuts in. "Little girls who kiss frogs expect them to turn into you."

Klaus puffs out a laugh. "Why, thank you, Bonnie, for the rather flattering image. But I don't think I'm that good looking."

"Now you're just playing dumb, which is not sexy, by the way."

He turns to Caroline, cocking his eyebrows in doubt. "Yes, you are, Klaus." A sly smirk breaks onto his lips, and she realizes he'd just set her up into singing his praise. Before he can follow up with a snarky and probably inappropriate remark, she slaps his arm lightly. "Oh, shut up."

"I bet you'll walk out of here with everyone's phone numbers," Bonnie says.

"Except for ours, of course," Caroline adds.

"Why not yours?" he asks, somewhat offended.

"You already have my number."

"Not in this context."

"Yes, because I already know you and all the nasty little bits of your personality. These women, on the other hand, don't."

"So you're attributing every relationship I've ever had to my looks?"

"I thought you didn't do relationships."

"Not normally."

"Well, not the whole relationship," she muses. "Just the beginning."

"The rest are the dimples," Bonnie remarks with a serious nod.

Klaus shakes his head despondently. "And here I was thinking women aren't as vain as men."

Caroline turns to him, putting her hand out. "Wanna bet? You can't tell anyone you're a trust fund kid who runs an art gallery. You're unemployed. Don't pay attention to everything they say, pretend to be distracted. And lose the accent. One hundred bucks says you walk out of here with at least… Twenty names. And I'm being conservative."

Klaus narrows his eyes at her. "You brought me out here to get laid and now you want me to jeopardize my chances?"

"On the contraire. I'm saying you can make yourself out to be as interested as you really are, and still get laid."

He finally takes her hand on a firm shake. "You're on."

A gong rings and they all turn to see a woman with a bright smile beckoning them all to approach. "Ladies and gentlemen," she starts. "The fun is about to start. Ladies, please, take your seats. There's a table for each of you. When I strike this gong, each man should sit at the first table they've been assigned to. When I strike it again, date's over, move on to the next."

"Wish me good luck, then," Klaus tells her as they turn around to order a drink from the bar before moving to their respective spots.

"You won't need it, buddy."

 x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 "Hello, sweetheart," Klaus says pleasantly as he slides into the seat across from her.

Caroline lets out a weary exhale. "Hi, number..." she reads the tag on his chest. "26. What do you prefer, a weekend on the mountains or long walks on the beach?"

"Mountain, easy. Too much sand on the beach, it gets in all sorts of awkward places."

Caroline snorts into her martini. "That's actually the best answer I've had to this question so far. Or to any question, really." She raises her glass on a toast. "How's it going?"

He purses his lips. "I've had to answer that question unironically more than once, so I'd say not stellar."

"I'm sorry," she says around a chuckle.

"You don't look sorry."

"Because I'm not, really. It would be unfair for me to suffer alone. Seen anyone you like, at least?"

The smile on his face turns mysterious. "There's one so far."

"Just one?"

"It's hard to speed date when you're pretending to be slow, uninteresting and American, to be honest."

"You could just tell them the truth. That you were dragged here by a friend who took pity on you sitting around, watching porn all day. That would sure scare some of them away. Although some would probably ask what kind of porn."

"What about you?"

"I don't want to know what kind of porn you watch."

He rolls her eyes at her. "I mean, how's your night going?"

"Oh, you know," she shrugs with a lot less enthusiasm than she'd expected to have by this point in the evening. "A couple of contenders, I guess."

"Oh?"

"Still early."

"Forgive me for pointing it out, but you don't seem particularly excited."

She puffs out in frustration. "Every time I tell them I'm a Med student, they ask what kind of doctor I want to be, and when I say oncologist, they start listing every member of their family who's ever died of cancer. What am I supposed to say after a guy tells me his mother died of breast cancer? I'm sorry, would you like to talk about it?" Caroline glares when he erupts into laughter. "Not funny."

"I'm sorry, it's just that sounds like an awfully interesting conversation."

"Why is dating so hard? Am I too picky? Is it wanting a meet-cute too much? To wake up one day and ta-dam, the guy is there, right in front of me."

Something about Klaus' eyes soften just then. "If only it were that easy," he says, an almost wistful tone to his voice that gives Caroline pause.

Before she can dwell on it further, however, the gong sounds and it's time to move on.

"Here I go, then," he says in his American accent.

When her next prospect sits down, she's laughing at Klaus greeting the woman on the next table with a Hey, babe.

 x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

 "Here's to making the 1% 100 dollars poorer," Caroline says, raising her shot in the air before knocking it back.

"Cheers, I suppose," Klaus says dully, sipping from his bourbon.

"Oh, come on!" She bumps her shoulder against his as they sit side by side by the bar. "Don't look so gloomy. That's literally a pile of women in front of you," she says, nodding her head towards the cards sitting on the counter. "How many again?"

"Twenty nine," he grumbles.

"Twenty nine out of 40! That's more phone numbers than most guys will get in a year. Be proud."

"Of my deep cobalt eyes or my sultry lips? Yes, I heard both tonight."

Now it's Caroline's turn to explode into laughter while he just shakes his head helplessly.

"You don't have to be ashamed of your genetics, Klaus," she says. "It's not your fault some women are awkward flirters."

"Tell that to my stepfather." His tone visibly changes as he mentions Mikael, the dark clouds coming back to hover above his head.

Before it can get any worse, Caroline prods on. "So. How many of them are you going to call?"

"None."

"None?!" she gapes. "That's at least a month of guaranteed sex. A month where you won't have to watch porn, you can actually perform porn."

"Alright, you're making me sound like a deranged pervert," he objects. "I do not watch that much porn. That was one time and it is not my fault you lack proper etiquette when walking into someone else's bedroom."

Caroline chuckles. She did walk in without knocking, but, in her defense, it was 3 o'clock. What kind of person watches porn in the middle of the afternoon? She was blushing furiously for weeks before she decided to start teasing him instead as a way to diffuse the guilt. Luckily, he hadn't actually been doing... Anything. Although she did notice the suspicious volume in his pants. It was... Interesting.

"It's nice to make fun of you, though," she says. "That was the closest to a blush I've ever seen on your face."

"Whatever makes you happy, love."

"Seriously, though. Why are you not calling any of them?"

"These women think I'm one step away from being a caveman. It says more about them than it says about me that they're willing to give me their phone numbers."

She scoffs. "Don't be such a snob. They came here to get laid, too. You can't tell me you didn't like any of them."

"Well, there was one. But she didn't slip me her phone number."

Caroline' eyebrows crinkle together. "Really? That's kinda hard to believe."

"I guess your theory was flawed, after all."

"But it has been proved nonetheless. Which reminds me..." She lifts a hand, asking for another round. "I'm gonna drink all your money."

"My whole life has been a lie," Klaus says contemplatively. "I thought I had an enthralling personality, an interesting aura, that my wittiness made me charming, and now I find out I'm nothing but a pretty face."

"To be honest, you're also an endless pit of money." Klaus gives her a side eye, knocking back his drink. Caroline scrunches up her face in mock-pity. "Oh, boo-hoo. It's so hard to be handsome. Why are you so upset about that?"

"It's different when that is all you are. I've been deluding myself."

"Who said that's all you are?" Klaus turns to her with a pointed look. "No, that's not what I said. I said women would want to date you after five minutes because you're pretty, not that pretty is all you are." When he sighs, asking for another drink, still obviously unconvinced, she continues. "Look. My first real boyfriend was a total douchebag. He came across as funny and charming and thoughtful, but it was an act. He saw something he wanted and he knew he had to act a certain way to get it, because even at 17, I liked to think I had standards, even though I clearly didn't."

"Are you saying I'm also manipulative?"

"I'm saying, figuring out who people really are takes time. It takes twice as long if they're trying to impress you. You can take from this that all your relationships have been superficial and physical only, or you can believe that people came for the appeal and stayed for the content."

"Except no one has stayed. My temper seems to have a rather short expiration date, it drives people away. Just ask my brother." He punctuates his sentence with a wan smile, and Caroline understands, at last, that this is all somehow related to his family again.

She suddenly finds herself desperately at loss for what to say. Rebekah would offer something outrageous and mildly offensive that would still hit the nail on the head. Caroline just wanted him to have some fun, but instead she ended up pushing him right back to his bad place.

She considers apologizing, saying it was just teasing and she never really meant it, but what she winds up saying, however, is, "I'm still here, aren't I?"

Klaus looks up at her, a mix of surprise and something else she can't identify flickering through his eyes.

"Is that how you rationalize your relationships?" he asks.

She huffs out a little laugh. "I don't think that highly of myself. I'm a tall, long-legged blonde. That ticks some boxes, but it hardly makes me irresistible."

"I beg to differ, love. You're an exquisite beauty."

Caroline laughs a little, thinking he's obviously saying that just to be nice, but then she catches the look in his eyes, that intensity that always seems to rattle something deep inside of her. There's not a hint of condescension about him.

"I... Well..." she stammers, her cheeks burning hot. "Thank you."

"But that's not all you are. You're also strong, fierce, full of light. Anyone who fails to see what's underneath your stunning exterior is a fool." Caroline freezes under his stare, something almost reverent in the way he says it, a spark lighting up his face for maybe the first time in a month. It sends Caroline's pulse racing. She's suddenly very much aware of how close they are, the air around them simmering with energy, releasing a fresh batch of butterflies in her stomach. The room is a dozen degrees hotter than a second before, and Caroline doesn't know what to do, what not to do, thinks maybe she's had enough to drink already because her sense of reason is getting all fuzzy.

And then Klaus says, "I heard that on PornTube," and the tension eases off of her as the two of them crack up laughing together.

#klaroline #klaroline fanfiction #klaroline fic #kcbingo2020 #kc fic #kcfic #klarolinefic #kc fandom #klaus x caroline #yokan writes #fluff apparently

[a-lovestruck-salamander]

Co-oping games like Stardew Valley will always be interesting to me because your experience will be defined by the type of people you play it with.

When I played it with my boyfriend, he spent a lot of his time grinding in the mine and fighting enemies, whilst also prioritizing making lots of money. I meandered around collecting things and petting the chickens One was named Cock and making sure to give gifts to the villagers each day. He would occasionally present me with a fish, specifically the ‘chub’ fish. We thought it was funny, however he would not accept it when I would attempt to give him my chub. Overall was fairly uneventful, other than us having a few disputes about who got to upgrade which tools first or me just being inexperienced with the game and fucking things up accidentally. We also failed the first festival, which he was dissapointed by, however I was much too busy being angry about Harvey’s existence to much care. Simply? He cared about efficiency, I liked dicking around.

When I played with my best pal Maddie, it was very smooth and slow going. She spent her days mostly fishing, but I had by this time developed a desire to mine and collect all the resources. We also planned for our in game wedding, even though we knew it was an event sequence that we’d be fully unable to control. We didn’t care. We just wanted to have a happy little farm and be married in the game. We shared a bed in the main house.

When all my friends and I played together on one farm with a total of five people? We knew it could get chaotic, so we had a game plan. We all had unique jobs- Ryan and I would mine, Maddie would fish, Chris would chop trees and Jacob would cultivate the farm. Together, we could surly acomplish feats like none had ever seen.

However, as soon as we began playing, all hell broke loose.

Maddie and I made our characters look much like we do in real life. Jacob made his character look like a ghost, and Ryan’s was hard to look at with the strange color combinations. Already there was a stark contrast on how we would approach this game.

The first thing we did is, we all stood in the exact same spot and tried to make the game glitch out. It worked, and it was really funny.

Maddie, Jacob and I began making one large plot for our crops to be planted, only to walk by Ryan and see that he had planted crops haphazardly in front of his house. We explained that this would make it harder to ensure all the crops would be watered, but we let it go.

It was then Ryan presented me with a Chub. I vehemently rejected it, demanding that I would obtain my own chub to then present to Maddie. However, I’m bad at fishing in the game, so I eventually obtained Ryan’s chub and regifted it to an unknowing Maddie. Maddie, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry for giving you Ryan’s hand me down Chub.

A few days pass, and we produced our first fruitful harvest, happily selling the wares and adding the funds to the joint bank we shared. As Jacob headed off to the market, someone asked a very good question.

“Hey. Where did all the money go?”

Silence permeated as we all probed each other for the culprit. Who had spent the money? And on what? We would soon have the guilty party, as we saw Ryan walk up wearing a new hat that he had purchased from the shady hat dealer. We all proceeded to scold him for spending our money so frivolously- we needed that for crops! It was much too early to be purchasing HATS of all things.

And then the rearranging happened.

We had all mutually decided to just share the main house that is given to the main player, because seeing 5 people sleep in one bed was funny. Our personal houses would be used for storage only, which was fine for a while. That was, until I entered my house and saw half of my furniture removed, unwanted furniture added in, and a bright pink chest in the middle of the room. It annoyed me on principle- I did not enjoy having my things moved without my permission. This was a declaration of war if I had ever seen it.

Knowing the culprit was certainly Jacob- he’s a little shit who just does things like that- I decided to take all the wall decorations from ever house and plaster them all over his. Then, Ryan stole the lamp from my house. I stole it back. It was tug of war for ownership of these precious items. No one was mining anymore. Chris had gone to bed, Maddie was too busy fishing, and the trio of chaotic fuckers were too damn busy fighting over who got to keep the weird scarecrow in their house. It was madness.

All of that happened in the course of a few hours of playing. We only ever tried to play twice, realizing quickly that we would never actually progress in the game due to our inability to actually work together as a team. However, the time we spent is remembered fondly by all present. Except Chris. He had to go to bed early so he missed a lot of it. Sorry bud.

#long post #not lovestruck #shitpost #stardew valley

[brianc521]

Late

- Better Late Than Never - {Part 1}  A/n: This is my first time posting only OG characters. I’d love some feedback, and truly appreciate the support. Meet, Jacob, Jason, Ellie, and Hadley! Thanks so much!

“Okay,” Jacob claps his hands together, “So her favorite movie is already in my Xbox.” He points to the gaming system in the storage compartment under the TV in the living room. “It just needs to be turned on after her play time. If you’re lucky she’ll fall asleep to the movie, might make bedtime easier, so I would suggest turning it on like a half hour before bedtime. Chicken nuggets for dinner, they’re already in the oven. They still have like 15 minutes or so, just give her a warning at 5 minutes so she can clean up her toys and wash her hands.” He nods, looking around to make sure he didn’t miss anything. “Oh!” He points to the green beans on the stove. “She needs to eat all of her green beans and cornbread to get a snack okay? I mean it, all of it.” 

“Dude, you literally do this every night. I know how to take care of my niece.” Jason rolls his eyes. 

“I just, it’s the Dad in me okay? I just have to go through the list to make sure her routine isn’t that much off with me gone for the night.” 

“I understand that. But we’ve done this long enough now that we have our routine. She’s playing with her Barbies right now, at 5 minutes before dinners ready we’ll both clean up her toys and wash up for dinner. We’ll use her Frozen plate that has the sauce spots so she can have ranch and barbecue without them touching. Then we’ll both do the dishes and clean up the kitchen so that way we can play fairy princess together before jammies and Monsters Inc. Ice cream when the movie starts, brush teeth and hair after ice cream and then we finish the movie after that. Bam she’s asleep by bedtime.” Jason ticks off his nightly routine with his niece by memory.

“Okay.” Jacob breathes a sigh of relief. “Okay, you’ve got it.” 

“Go, you’ll be late. The new girl starts tonight, so you know it’s gonna be crazy. Teri’s gonna have your ass if you aren’t there on time.” 

“I know.” Jacob nervously runs his fingers through his dirty blonde locks. He’s styled his hair up in a cute but messy manner. He’s just recently gotten it cut, way short on the sides but long on the top. It’s become really popular with his patrons at the bar. “Ellie! Come give Daddy a hug and kiss goodnight! I’ve gotta go to work now Baby.” He calls out. 

His four year old bundle of energy comes racing down the hall. The plastic tiara adorning her messy golden hair is falling halfway off her head. Her blue princess dress hangs off her right shoulder since the velcro has come undone on the back of the dress. Her white shirt underneath reads ‘To Cool for School’ with a cartoon monkey hanging off the O’s in ‘Cool’. 

“There’s my Gorgeous Girl.” He smiles, couching down to catch his daughter. He chuckles when she collides with his chest, her giggles spewing from her bright pink lips. He takes the opportunity to re velcro the back of her dress. “There, a Princess must always wear the best dress.” He pulls back, placing a kiss to her forehead. 

“No!” She huffs, flexing her shoulders and bringing her elbows together to pop the velcro back open again. “Dad, I can’t play with it velcroed, it’s too tight. I can’t move.” She explains, brows furrowed. 

“Time for a new dress already?” He sighs, tilting his head at his adorable girl. She looks at him with her bright blue eyes, dark lashes framing the doe eyed look. 

“No.” She shakes her head, nose scrunched. “This one fits just fine if I don’t velcro it.” She shrugs, as if that solution is the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well can I at least fix your tiara?” He asks with a small smile, trying not to show how his heart is breaking at her words.

She nods her head, making it droop that much further off the side of her head. He laughs softly, quickly catching the bejeweled plastic and righting it. He makes sure the small little comb like features on the ends brush into her hair. He’s learned that those are there to help hold it in place. 

“You’ll be here for breakfast? She asks softly, sparing a glance up at her Uncle Jason who’s burnt pancakes more times than not. 

“I always am.” He grins, leaning forward to kiss her nose. “Be good for Uncle Jason okay?” 

“Okay.” He nods, jumping, making her dress poof around her legs. “Have a good night at work Daddy!”

“I’ll try just for you.” He smiles, caressing her cheek. 

Jason stands behind them in the kitchen, arms crossed while he leans against the doorframe. He watches the interaction between the father daughter duo, like he does every night, and can’t help but be in awe. He’s never seen his twin brother so in love with something before. Watching Jacob’s infatuation with his daughter brought a whole new perspective of life over Jason. It truly was watching someone mature overnight. Something everyone thought would never happen to Jacob. 

“I love you.” Jacob whispers to Ellie, a soft smile on his face. 

“I love you too Daddy.” She whispers back, mirroring his smile. 

“Okay, I really have to go.” He stands, looking back to Jason. “I mean it with the green beans and cornbread.” 

“Yeah yeah, I got it.” Jason waves Jacob off.

“No more ‘Cool Uncle Jason’ who lets her have anything she wants. I’ll be checking the garbage in here, in the bathroom, outside, and the clever little spot you have on the side of the house.” Jacob raises an eyebrow at his brother. 

Jason’s eyes go wide, face blank now that he’s been caught dumping her uneaten food. 

“Okay, I got it. Go!” He pushes his brother into the garage. 

Jason and Ellie stand in the driveway waving at Jacob as he gets in his green 1995 Toyota Camry. How does the poor car still run? No one knows, but it was all Jacob could get when he traded his bike in. 

**

Teri is standing in the doorway that leads to the back break area when Jacob rushes in. If looks could kill, he’d be dead 80 times over by the look Teri is giving him. He’s 5 minutes late. He thought he’d have enough time to rush into the local Walmart before his shift, and he would’ve been on time if some group of 15 year old boys hadn’t been fucking around in the self checkout and slowed him up. 

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.” He acknowledges, putting his hands up in surrender as he rushes past his supervisor. 

“It’s 6:07.” She says, eyebrow raised, hands on her hips.

“It’s 7 minutes.” He sighs, stuffing his sweatshirt into his locker, leaving him in his black work shirt. It’s a tight cotton shirt that stretches nicely over his biceps. It makes it easy to extra tips with a simple flex to the right customer. Who says girls are the only ones wearing tight shirts to get tips?

“You’re training the newbie tonight Palmer, I needed you on time.” She says, with a harsh voice. He wishes that she’d stop calling him by his last name. The last person who did that was his football coach, and that just brings up a slew of bad memories. 

“I’m here Teri, I’m sorry I’m late.” 

“What was the hold up this time?” She asks, tilting her head as she waits for his next excuse. A man’s late a few times and now he’s got a reputation. He rolls his eyes before he turns to look at her. 

“Stopped by Walmart.” He answers lamely. 

“Palmer!” She hisses. “I can’t accept that answer!” She looks over her shoulder watching out for Fletcher, the owner, who’s still in his office with the door open. 

“I needed to get Ellie a new Princess dress okay?” He hisses back, watching her face soften. “The one I got her a few months ago is too tight and falling apart from how often she wears the damn thing. Before I left she was reassuring me that the one she has is fine as long as she doesn’t velcro it. Teri, that’s my baby girl, you know that. I can’t give her much right now, but the least I can do is take last nights tips and get her a new fucking dress.”

Teri’s eyes go wide when he spits the information out. She narrows her eyes, pointing at him as her hip juts out. “You were gonna put last night's tips towards an oil change on that piece of shit you drive that precious girl around in! We had a deal Jacob! You told me you’d get the oil change.” 

“Tonight's tips will go towards that.” He lies through his teeth, rushing to dump his phone and keys into his locker as well so he can get out of this conversation. 

Teri sighs, knowing that’s not the truth. “Let me talk to my brother in law. He’s got a little shop a few miles out of town. He might be willing to do some work off the clock for a case of beer or some of your family moonshine.” 

“No, Teri no.” He shakes his head. “I’m not using your family like that. I promise, tips from tonight go to the oil change.” He says as he clocks in.

“Yeah?” Teri challenges. “Then what money are you going to use on Monday to get groceries?” 

He sighs, looking down at his holey shoes. “I just wanted to get her a new dress Ter.” He shuts his eyes before looking up at her with a sad face. “She’s four and she already understands what living without means.” 

“Then let me talk to my brother in law. I want Ellie to have everything she wants. I want her to live the most amazing life, and to have the prettiest of Princess dresses. Just make sure you have a batch of moonshine handy and I’ll make the call. You then can hug me and thank me for it. But most importantly that car is getting a fucking oil change or I won’t schedule you until it does.” She threatens.

It’s an empty threat, they both know it. Teri would never not schedule him, this is the most secure job he could ever have. 

“Thanks Ter.” He sighs, nodding at her. It can be so defeating for him to be living this way. He wishes he could give his Gorgeous Girl everything she wants, without having to break bank to do so. 

“It’s now 6:12 and we’re still not on the floor. Get your shit together Palmer, it’s gonna be a long night.” 

With that Teri walks away from Jacob, head held high, heels ever higher. Jacob follows, looking like a kicked puppy on his way to more punishment. He stops by the sink to wash his hands before joining Teri and the new girl standing next to her. 

Looking at them is almost comical. Teri is very Joan Jett. She’s got dark jett black hair, teased and messed up. She’s never been caught dead in the bar in anything other than her lucky black leather pants. She usually pairs them with a dark blood red tank top, that shows off her very big and very fake boobs. She’s got a full sleeve of tattoos on her right arm. Her eyes are always lined thickly with her famous black liner, shadowed with a silver shimmer, and the look is finalized with the longest lashes known to man. 

The new girl? Polar opposite.

She stands out with her auburn hair. The neon in the lights makes it change color from how it reflects off. In one angle it’s gold, in another it’s bright red. Her hair is pulled back into a tight, professional ponytail on top of her head. Her bangs are clipped back in the middle of her head, she’s given them a little poof to add some height to her hair. She’s also in a tight black shirt like Jacob, but she’s modified hers. She’s cut the bottom, making it a crop top. Accompanied by blue jeans. They’re decorated with rhinestones on the back pockets, and they’re distressed looking. 

Either way Jacob can’t help the way he appreciates the look. They cup her ass quite nicely, and it takes him a minute to remember what being a gentleman means. He snaps back to reality when Teri calls his name. He looks up with pink, embarrassed cheeks. It was suddenly like he was back in high school again. 

“Palmer, this is Stevens.” Teri says, pointing to the new girl, whose back is still to him. 

“Ter, I think it might be easier is you said our first names?” He jokes, shaking his head at the fact that she’s so determined to call everyone by their last names. 

“Okay,” She rolls her eyes. “Jacob meet Hadley.” 

Hadley? He thinks to himself. Unique name, something he’s only heard once in his life. There was a girl he went to highschool with. One he had a major crush on. She was cute, very small compared to him. She always wore her hair down, as if she was hiding behind it. His favorite part about her was how she always had a book in her hands. He never saw her without one. She was quiet, smart, a little nerdy. He never really spoke to her, mainly because their circles never mixed. She never spared him a second glance, and he didn’t blame her. He knows now, and knew then that he was a douchebag in highschool. 

He walked around like he ruled the school, because, well he kind of did when it came to social status. He was all the cliches rolled into one. The quarterback, the bad boy, the cute blonde hair blue eyed boy, and a twin. Him and Jason were the kings of campus. Jason dated the head cheerleader, he dated all the others, at the same time. 

So he never ever blamed Hadley for not looking his way. She deserved so much better than him. 

“Jacob Palmer?” Hadley speaks up, snapping Jacob from his flashback. “That’s funny I went to high school with a kid named-” All words halt on her tongue when she finally turns to greet him. Her eyes go wide and her jaw drops a bite.

Jacob just about passes out. There standing in front of him, looking better than he remembered is the girl of his dreams.

“Hadley Stevens.” He breathes out.

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes fluff #shawn mendes angst #shawn mendes smut #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes blurbs #shawn mendes series #shawnmendes #shawnmendes imagine #shawnmendes fluff #shawnmendes angst #shawnmendes smut #shawnmendes blurb #shawnmendes blurbs #shawnmendes series #raul mendes #raul mendes imagine #raul mendes fluff #raul mendes angst #raul mendes smut #raul mendes blurb #raul mendes blurbs #raul mendes series #raulmendes #raulmendes imagine #raulmendes fluff #raulmendes angst #raulmendes smut #raulmendes blurb