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wild3flow3r · 5 years

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Chapter Six

January 7th

Lorelai did not want to interview for a job as Xavier Styles’ assistant. She wanted nothing more to do with the Styles’, and if she got the job then she most definitely would not want to admit that Harry had helped her do so. But she desperately needed a job. She did not want to move back in with her parents or Jones who had offered to house her for a while, and not because she was too embarrassed or too prideful to do it. Lorelai didn’t want to move away from London. Sure, she didn’t have many friends here, or any for that matter, but the city called to her like it was always where she was meant to be.

So Lorelai sucked it up and gave Xavier a call after the New Year started, and after a short interview earlier this morning he instantly gave her the job. It was nice to have this to fall back onto, but she promised herself that this job would only be temporary. She would look for other jobs while working for Xavier, and when she finds one she will rid herself of all Styles’ for the rest of her life.

“I haven’t had an assistant in quite some time,” Xavier notifies her as he shows her to a desk outside of his office. “So it might take me some time to get used to.”

Harry looked so much like his Uncle Xavier that it was almost uncanny. From their freakishly tall height to their bright green eyes, Lorelai could definitely see the family resemblance. The only difference was that Xavier’s hair was a sandy blonde that was starting to turn gray. All this did for Lorelai was further prove one of her theories about Harry, that he and his family were just a bunch of clones sent to Earth to ruin everyone’s life.

Except Xavier was so much nicer than Harry. In place of Harry’s snarl, Xavier was always smiling at her and being respectful to her. Being a nice human being must skip a generation, Lorelai thinks to herself.

Lorelai sets her bag down on the desk and turns to smile politely to him. “Well, just think of it this way. Whenever there’s a part of your job that comes up that you don’t want to do, the tedious work, just give me a call and I’ll get it done for you.”

Xavier shakes his head in amusement before walking off towards his office. “Get yourself settled, and in about an hour or so I’ll be emailing you something that I’ll need to be faxed over to another doctor. Faxing might be my least favorite part of the job.”

Lorelai frowns, which Xavier thankfully doesn’t catch because he’s already shut his office door behind him. Another thing that Styles’ have in common, she supposes.

Lorelai sits down at the chair provided for her, and clicks the computer mouse twice. Xavier Styles owned his own medical practice, naturally. He’s a cognitive behavioral therapist for children and teenagers, meaning he helped his patients confront any types of problems they were having and help them get better. Lorelai really respected him for his work; it was much better being a assistant for him than for a divorce lawyer.

As it was the first day the practice was open since the New Year started, Xavier was taking the day to settle back into the work setting and would start seeing patients the following day. Lorelai types in her new login information that Xavier had given her, and luckily she finally gets it right on the third try. After signing into her new email as well, Lorelai takes a moment to text Jones and her mother that she’s gotten this new job. She knows they will be pleased with how much more money she’ll be making as well.

The hour passed by slowly, but finally Xavier sent her the documents that needed to be faxed. She’s about to print them out when the phone on her desk begins to ring. After quickly clearing her throat, she picks the phone up and pressed it to her ear.

“Hello, this is Xavier Styles’ office. How may I help you?” Lorelai attempts to keep her voice as bright and chipper as possible.

“So my brother finally got himself an assistant, eh?” There was a man on the other side of the phone, and his rough voice instantly makes Lorelai tense up for two reasons. One, unless Harry had another uncle then Lorelai was currently speaking to his father. And two, just by the way he spoke Lorelai could tell that he was even worse than Harry, and he’d only said one thing to her.

“Yes sir, he just hired me today,” Lorelai lets him know, unable to think of anything else to say.

“You would think because… Well never mind. Just tell him I need to speak to him. It’s an urgent family matter.”

“Yes sir, please hold for a moment.” Lorelai's index finger presses a button on the phone so that it transfers her to Xavier’s office phone. She immediately lets out a loud breath from no longer being on the phone with another Styles’ man that she hopes she never has to meet. Two of them were enough for her.

“What is it, Miss Sterling?” Xavier asks, picking up his phone after two rings.

“Your brother is on line two, sir. He says he needs to speak to you about an urgent family matter.”

Xavier lets out a deep sigh. “Alright, thank you, Miss Sterling.” The line goes dead and Lorelai hangs up her phone. She stands then to print out and fax the documents.

Xavier exits his office ten minutes later, just as Lorelai was finishing up. He eyes her for a moment with a contemplative expression. It makes her uncomfortable, but she waits for him to speak first.

“How long were you on the phone with my brother before you transferred his call over?”

Lorelai stands by her desk with her hands behind her back. “Only for a moment,” she responds.

“Did you tell him… Did you tell him about knowing Harry?”

Lorelai cocks her head to the side before shaking it twice. “Only that it was my first day here, and then I transferred the call.”

Xavier nods curtly before turning around. “If he calls again, don’t interact in any small talk with him. Just immediately transfer him over, or if I’m not here apologize for it and hang up.” He shuts his office doors behind him.

What the hell is going on? Lorelai sits back down in her chair with a soft thud. She didn’t really seem to know why it mattered that she knew Harry, but Xavier was acting pretty perturbed after the phone call. Just a few more weeks until I can find another job, Lorelai reminds herself. Just a few more weeks until she can rid herself of this family forever.

***

As there weren’t any patients today, Xavier let Lorelai leave an hour earlier than her newly scheduled release time. She was very thankful for the fact, and already she could see that she would enjoy working with Xavier for the next few weeks drastically more than she ever liked working with Bertram. Her original plan had been to go directly home and call her parents while making dinner, but instead she caught the tube that took her away even further from her home. She had struck an idea as she was exiting Xavier’s practice, and the idea was making her act on impulse.

Lorelai must have been out of her mind, she told herself that several times as she stood outside the building in this freezing weather. The sky looked like it was about to start pouring at any moment, but Lorelai stood stock still against a wall. She was beginning to shake, from the cold and also from what she was about to do, but she barely even noticed.

Lorelai stood outside for exactly thirty-three minutes before Harry Styles exited the Clemens & Son building. He didn’t notice her at first as he strolled over to his car, his ever present frown playing across his lips. He still didn’t notice her as he threw his briefcase into the backseat of his car and closed the door with a quick slam, even though she was standing only five feet away from him. Lorelai walks those few feet over to him just before he can grip the handle of the drivers side door, and taps his shoulder twice. He jumps around so fast, his eyes wild with surprise and confusion, and Lorelai would have laughed if he wasn’t Harry Styles.

“Lorelai-”

“We don’t work together anymore.” Lorelai states calmly.

Harry raises an eyebrow. “We don’t.”

“You’re no longer my superior.”

“I’m not.” His voice was thick with uncertainty.

“You’re an arsehole, did you know that?”

Harry leans against his car, almost like she’d pushed him. “Yeah, I know that.”

“You don’t care about anyone but yourself.”

“I don’t,” he responds, but it sounded more like he was just repeating her words than actually agreeing with her.

“I’ve been wanting to tell you off so bad since the first day you walked into Clemens & Son. You were such a prick to me that day. You said things about me behind my back before you even knew me.”

Harry frowns now, the memory of his first day playing in his mind. “I did.”

“And then you just get me fired? How could you do that? Everything I’ve ever done to you, none of it will ever match those two terrible things you’ve done to me.” Lorelai was close to tears, but she takes a few deep breaths to try and keep them at bay.

He watches her carefully, taking in her trembling form and wobbling lip. He places his hands on her shoulders and she goes to shrug them off but it only makes him hold onto her tighter.

“You’re freezing,” he acknowledges while holding her still. “Get in my car, I’ll drive you home.”

Lorelai shakes her head, but he’s already leading her to the passenger side of his car. He opens the door for her, but she doesn’t make a move to step into the car.

“Why did you fire me? Tell me why you fired me, and I’ll get into the car,” Lorelai demands.

Harry sighs, his body blocking hers from trying to walk away from him if she wanted to. “I’ve announced today to Bertram that in two months Clemens & Son will have to close down. He spends money like he isn’t running a company, and it’s finally caught up to him. If you were laid off at the same time as the rest of us and couldn’t find a job immediately after, or if I couldn’t get my uncle to hire you, then the company doesn’t owe you anything. But if you were fired before the announcement was made, then we owe you a certain amount of money each month until you find another job or six months after your firing date, whichever comes first. It was just a precaution.”

“But-”

“Please, Lorelai,” Harry cuts her off and lightly pushes her towards the open car door. “Can we talk about the rest of this in the car before we catch frostbite?”

Lorelai’s shoulders slump down before climbing into the car. Harry shuts the door behind her before entering on his own side, immediately turning the car on and the heat to its maximum. She leans her head against the headrest while closing her eyes and trying to catch her bearings. The rain starts to pour down only a few seconds later.

It was silent for about another minute before Lorelai speaks up again. “Why were you so rude your first day at Clemens & Son?”

Harry stays quiet and instead pulls his car out of its parking spot. Lorelai sighs when Harry continues to be silent and she knows she won’t get an answer.

“You’ve ruined me, did you know that?” Lorelai looks over to him, and the frown on his face looks different than it normally does. It’s not laced with annoyance or stress, but with sadness. But Lorelai also thinks that it might just look that way by the lack of lighting surrounding them, because she’s pretty sure that Harry Styles can’t feel any normal emotions other than anger.

“I don’t like myself when I’m with you. You turn my into someone I don’t like. And then I think of you when I’m by myself and all the awful things you make me feel, and I feel terrible about myself even when you’re not around. I never used to feel like this, ever.”

Harry still doesn’t go to speak, and this frustrates Lorelai even more. She wants to hit him, push him around until he makes a noise, because she wants some sort of acknowledgement from him. Some way to know that he’s listening to her and properly taking in the words she’s saying.

“Pull the car over, I want to get out. I can get myself home,” Lorelai demands of him when she’s finally tired of his silence.

“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s freezing outside and with the rain you’ll get sick.” He finally responds, barely taking a moment to glance at her before looking back towards the road.

“I’d rather catch the flu than spend another minute with you. It’s not like you care about what happens to me anyways, so just let me get out.”

Harry laughs now, but it’s not one of amusement. The sound causes Lorelai to freeze in her seat and it sends chills down her spine. “You don’t think I fucking care?” He does pull the car over, but he keeps the doors locked so that Lorelai can’t escape. He turns towards her then in his seat, and Lorelai leans against the window of her door.

“I know you don’t,” Lorelai responds quickly.

“I wasn’t talking about you on my first day. It was that woman who worked downstairs, Martha, Margaret, whatever the fuck her name was. She got fired the week after I started working there. Sure I wasn’t the nicest to you on my first day, and maybe I should’ve made those comments about what’s her name in a more professional fashion, but I had a bit of an ego-complex back then that made me think I was the best fucking thing that happened to that office ever. And then you argued with me on everything I did every single day, and I’ll admit you knocked me down a couple pegs. Also I’ve only just recently come to terms with this, but no matter how hard I tried to be the best worker at Clemens & Son, no matter how much work I put into my job, you were always fucking better.

“I’ve been trying to get you a raise from Bertram for almost three months before you brought the idea up to me. I spent countless hours trying to convince Bertram to let us have Christmas off just so you could go see your family. I ordered you a teapot for your collection for Christ’s sake, and don’t ask me why because I genuinely do not know why. The amount of times I told Bertram to stop staring at you like… like… well you know what I mean. It was endless, and I did it because I knew how uncomfortable it would make you feel. So don’t say that I don’t care, because I bent over backwards to get my uncle to even consider hiring an assistant. And I don’t bend for anyone.”

Lorelai sits there in shock, Harry’s words entering her system and her body wanted to immediately reject them. They didn’t sound right, the things Harry was saying, they didn’t sound like him. But if what he was saying was true, then she didn’t really know him at all, not really.

“I’ve been horrible to you to your face, I know that. I didn’t think… I don’t want you to not like yourself.”

“I… I want to go home,” Lorelai finally responds, crossing her arms over her chest as if hugging herself. “Just take me home.” She would have demanded she be let out, let her find her own way home, but she didn’t think she could get her legs to work properly in this moment.

So Harry pulls away from the curb, both of their confessions thick in the air, but nobody speaks. Not one word for the entire ride, and Lorelai doesn’t wish him any goodbyes as she steps out of the car. She barely even waited for him to come to a full stop before throwing her door open.

Lorelai's only two feet away from the car when Harry rolls the window down.

“I’m sorry, Lorelai. I really am.”

Lorelai turns towards him, her mouth open to say something even though no words were coming to her mind, but Harry drove off before he could face her reaction.

#1dff #cmiyc #cmiyc6 #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #one direction fanfiction

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scharfkugel · 5 years

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-whips into your askbox- if youre still doing the ask thingie how about my mans enkidu (and azrael if you havent done him as well :3c)

Everyone’s favourite muscle man Enkidu!!

First impression: I had watched some pro-level UNIST matches and because Enkidu was everywhere I actually assumed he was really high tier, because why would everyone play the same character unless they were high tier? I also actually thought his design was a bit generic, like someone coming out of a Street Fighter or Tekken game.

Impression now: I now know why everyone plays Enkidu. It’s because he’s fucking awesome dslkfjdsg. It’s so hard to not love all the characters in UNIB and Enkidu is no exception. I love this badass fighter man!!

Favorite moment: In his chronicles mode when you find out that Enkidu actually controls very little EXS and his in-birth powers are comparatively very weak compared to the rest of the cast. As it turns out, Enkidu is just so fucking strong and proficient at martial arts, that he hardly even needs EXS to beat your ass. He uses it to enhance the strength of his strikes and the rest is pure skill and strength. What’s more is that it is because of his insane resolve and strength that he has very little EXS; the void that bit him could hardly pierce his vessel to allow EXS to enter. It’s just so awesome.

Idea for a story: Connected to the idea I had for Carmine’s story in another ask, but I want a story about Carmine joining Amnesia and becoming friends with Enkidu! At first Carmine acts like a bastard as usual and Enkidu is all “Yare yare daze…” then one day Carmine is complaining about how boring it is at Amnesia because of the lack of fighting. So Enkidu offers to spar with him and Carmine is all “Heh, are you sure? You’re gonna regret it you know” and of course Enkidu promptly shuts down his wild and aggresive fighting style. Carmine then gains a big sense of respect for Enkidu and his fighting skill, and the two become like a student and mentor pair of friends. Enkidu teaches Carmine all about how to fight effectively and how to be a true respectful fighter, although Carmine is still slow on learning the latter.

Unpopular opinion: Pretty much just going to repeat what I said about Gordeau with Enkidu, but no, Enkidu doesn’t want to get in with Hilda!! Anyone who spends enough time around her has any chance of romantic attraction destroyed after they realise how much of an airhead she is. Besides, even if Hilda wasn’t so haughty and dramatic, she isn’t Enkidu’s type. Enkidu would want a partner that values their physique and mind as much as he does, and someone who’s trying to become a rebirth doesn’t fit into that category at all.

Favorite relationship: It’s hard to pin-point just one, as Enkidu hasn’t been shown to have lots on one-on-one with any characters really, but I love his dynamic with Hilda. Hilda seems to constantly be trying to tease something out of Enkidu, figure out what his deal is, while Enkidu kind of just entertains all her antics as if he was babysitting a kid or something. My favourite example is when Hilda hosts a huge buffet at Amnesia celebrating their success and much fewer people than expected show up to her event. So when Enkidu arrives Hilda is so excited and she’s all like “Oh Enkidu! We have so much food, please help yourself! Go on, have more!” and Enkidu feels bad for this absolute buffoon but he also can’t help but find her endearing and so he’s like “I suppose I’ll have some more food even though I really shouldn’t over-eat… it’s just to make her feel happier.” Like, GOD, you are such a dad Enkidu.

Favorite headcanon: Enkidu lives in a private traditional Japanese Minka on his own. He has a large garden where he grows many plants and he takes great pride in the yard work he does to grow excellent food. He has just the absolute essential rooms in his house, and the rest of the space is dedicated to a large meditation room. Outside he has an open training area he spends much of his time in, and nearby his house is a long mountain walking trail he enjoys taking strolls on. The pay he gets from Amnesia is extremely generous but he doesn’t end up needing a very large portion of it. He just spends a small portion of it on things like good quality meat and incense, and gives the rest to charities and funding local facilities.

Azrael the Tyrant!

First impression: “Who IS this guy!? Why is flying around everywhere and slamming people his with coat and fists???”

Impression now: Still not anymore sure as to the answer of those earlier questions, but I do know that he’s an absolutely chaotic bastard.

Favorite moment: It’s gotta be in CF when Azrael goes through the whole deal of being in the embryo and then he meets Izanami and is like “You look pretty strong, I’m gonna punch the hell out of you” and then he realises he is physically incapable of killing her due to reasons outside of his control. So Izanami is like “How about this, you join me and punch certain people for me and in exchange I’ll let you have a punch-on with a literal god” and Azrael is like “Oh my god that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever told me. YOU’VE GOT A DEAL.”

Idea for a story: An AU-like story where Azrael joins forces with the good guys because he’s impressed with Kagura and Ragna’s abilities after the events of CP. Azrael would be like the “dangerous ally” sort of character who would be like a berserker you set loose in a locked room with only him and Terumi inside. Also throw in a moment about Azrael trying to be nice for the first time in his life when his allies invite him over to Hibiki’s buffet at the NOL HQ and treat him to some good food and drink.

Unpopular opinion: I’ve mentioned this before on this blog, but Azrael is probably my least favourite male character in BB. I know pretty much everyone loves him, but he sticks out like a sore thumb in the lore and world of Blazblue to me. We know very little about his backstory, why he’s as powerful as he is, why he wants to fight everyone aside from just “because I want to fight strong people”, and he accomplishes very little in the story and serves very little purpose. As with every other side character in CF, Azrael gets basically no development at all either, so we will never know the answer to any of these questions.

Favorite relationship: Connected to the ‘favourite moment’ part, but him and Izanami. It’s one of the most bizarre alliances in Blazblue and it’s like leading a rhinoceros forward with a carrot on a stick except the rhino is a ripped cannibal who wants to punch people. It’s a shame that nothing much comes of this alliance aside from Arcade modes where Azrael teleports in to punch random members of the cast, but it’s still cool and funny at the same time.

Favorite headcanon: While he may be a cannibal, Azrael still loves other dishes and is a big eater in general, whether meat or not. Nothing is quite as good as a barbecue with lots of meat, salads, and alcohol.

#under night in birth #blazblue #enkidu #azrael #asks #thank you so much for the ask sandra!!

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leeoliver · 7 years

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5, 8, 14, 19, 39 iunia and/or ezra

(char dev)

5. how do they dress? what styles, colors, accessories, and other possessions do they favor? why?

tbh itd be much more interesting to talk abt how iunia used to dress bcos now shes either wearing armor or her pharasma robes (which are like fancy funeral wear) she and wesviz were honestly like. fashion icons who wore an embarrassing amount of matching couples outfits. she really likes wearing like coral and salmon and peach bcos she feels like her skins too pale but those sort of warm pink and orangish tones bring color back into it. and shed do like dramatic bright makeup, especially eyes (lips were usually a solid tone bcos she and wesviz would match their lip colors to each others shirts) but stopped wearing makeup when she got pregnant bcos she remembered hearing like 10 years ago that wearing makeup when pregnant was bad for the kid. also her hair used to be really long like almost waist length and she cut it really short after wesviz died and kept it short while she was looking for cens and is only just now starting to grow it out again.

(human) ezras got like. a meticulous aesthetic going on that probs takes way more effort than they care to admit in the wasteland. they keep their clothes really really clean, though that starts to get hard after a while, and know enough basic sewing to mend any rips that occur moderately well. anyway its generally like cream/beige/brown/sometimes like yellow or like burnt orange turtlenecks and then prewar dress slacks and loafers. occasionally they wear like a white button down and like dark yellow sweater vest and bowtie, but thats for like special occasions. they definitely shine their shoes. as a ghoul the kind of start to let themself go, wearing this really big cloak w a hood so they can hide their face and stuff but it turns out that a six and a half ft tall figure of ambiguous species in a long menacing cloak and hood draws more attention than a six and a half ft tall ghoul in a tan prewar suit, so theyre doing better now.

8. where and when do they seem most and least at ease? why? how can you tell?

iunia knows a delivery table like the back of her hand. she can get like kind of intense when shes in the birthing zone, really barking orders but you definitely get the sense she knows what shes doing and is in total control of the situation. like shes super deep in her element. its pretty impressive. def uncomfortable in like wilderness or survival areas, prior to the events of coct shes never in her life been outside city limits. constantly looking around her and over her shoulder, holds her gear really tight if shes carrying any.

ezras really good in really pristine, regulated places like the vault. a lot of ppl would consider something that like regulated and controlled dystopian or monotonous but they fit really well into the machine. ezra as a person can get into fanatical territory really really quickly so like all hail the overseer and that sort of thing is something they really get into. so they of course like really have no idea how to act in a lot of more like rough and tumble sort of rugged wasteland towns. it was the first time theyd sort of been in a situation where a lethal fight or something breaking out was an actual possibility, and it scared them half to death.

14. What do they care deeply about? What kind of loyalties, commitments, moral codes, life philosophies, passions, callings, or spirituality and faith do they have? How do these tend to be expressed?

mm iunias really conflicted here bcos she always feels like the temple and stuff should be her number one priority, that her past life is exactly that–in the past. but at the same time i feel like if theres a situation where she has to choose between her goddess and her son (and knowing how devious avery is, im fully expecting there will be) shed go with the latter. no matter what. in terms of more like general talk on faith and spirituality, shes definitely very devout and she can absolutely come off as like im blanking on the word like pushing OH proselytizing she can come off as proselytizing but i feel like so much of it is unconscious? like even if shes not actively trying to like convert someone her faith is such a huge part of her identity and it bleeds into a lot of how she interacts w the world.

lmao iunia and ezra just happen to be like my two most religious characters so good question. ezra is like unbearably classic lawful good they just really want to help people like definitely in terms of humanitarian aid but also smaller stuff like being really nice to people, making themself available as a shoulder to cry on, things like that. wrt religion ezras definitely very devout but they feel. super uncomfortable discussing faith w anyone other than their dad (and i havent finished fo3 but if theres another character whos very into like faith and stuff them too) so for them its more below the surface, esp compared w iunia

19. how do they behave within a group? what role(s) do they take? does this differ if they know and trust the group, versus finding themselves in a group of strangers? why?

iunia is definitely really like cold professional, but the best way to work w her is to give her a job and then just dont interfere w however she does it. i dont think id consider her a leader, but shes good at like timetables and organization so its definitely helpful to have her in a position where she can keep everyone on track in some capacity. i think the only change were the group to go from strangers to friends is that shes a little more flexible and willing to get input from friends whereas if a stranger (who often times would be 15~ yrs younger than her) did anything to imply that she wasnt competent shed be like. like you shouldnt do that. iunias so many things but incompetent is so incredibly not one of them.

ezras definitely gonna work better in a small group where theres not a lot of variation in goals and morals (theyre pretty flexible on specific means and stuff of getting a job done, with some hard rules on violence and stuff) and a lot of the time w/o a definite leader. if there is a leader theyve gotta play into that like zealous god-worshipping side of ezra and be like larger than life if they want unwavering support.

39. what sort of questions or thoughts recur in their lives, either specifically or as a theme? why are these never answered, or answered permanently to their satisfaction?

iunia wants to know why everyone leaves her. and given that her ongoing story is yet to start, i cant quite answer the second part of that question.

ezra deals a lot i guess w sense of self and identity? they definitely struggle w navigating life w/o their dad, both when he leaves the vault and after he dies. they define them self a lot thru how other ppl view them, and their dad is pretty much like. idk if i want to use like medical terms but id call him their fp. and so w/o him to sort of reassure them and tell them who they are, they have no idea.

#lee answers #thankswolf.heartemoji #iunia pictor #ezra hong

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