#me and our other coworker have made it our personal mission to ensure that she takes care of herself | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bnhabadass · 4 years

Text

Four Long Days | Bakugo x Aizawa’s Little Sister [angst]

When you are kidnapped by the League of Villains, the two people closest to you have very different ways of handling the situation. This is my first time attempting at writing angst so I really hope you all enjoy.

Pairings: Bakugo x reader, Aizawa / reader (siblings) Warnings: Kinda angsty, mentions of physical abuse

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Villains always seemed to take a liking to Eraserhead’s quirk. There was just something about taking away another person’s power that was so enticing to them. It’s easy to imagine such a powerful feeling, being able to hold someone back with that much strength. That being said, Aizawa was not surprised when word got out that the league had kidnapped his little sister, one of the strongest students in class 1-A.

It was particularly difficult for Aizawa, dealing with your kidnapping. On the one hand, he had to reassure his students, your classmates, your friends that you would be alright and that the police force and other pros are working hard to find you. On the other hand, all he wanted to do was scream, cry and beat down the doors of the league’s hideout himself and pummel Shigaraki into a pulp.

Tsukauchi refused to let him on the case. “We understand your concern,” he said. “But because you’re her family we can’t let you on this case. Emotions can get in the way, and it may cause more harm than good if you’re part of this.”

Aizawa understood where he was coming from. He didn’t like it, but he still understood. He was told by Nezu and the rest of his coworkers to take some time off from teaching, but what is there to do when he isn’t busy with exams, grading, and educating? He needed the distraction.

Heading back to the classroom immediately after finding out about your kidnapping might not have been the best idea on his part. Once he entered the classroom, he was left with a sour feeling in his stomach as your chair was empty and your bright eyes and big smile weren’t staring back at him. His students also added to the anxiety he was experiencing. Questions like “when is (Y/n) coming back?” and “Have the police made any moves yet?” flooded his ears, almost breaking the delicately built dam that was holding him together.

“I know just as much as you do,” he said. “When I hear anything else, any public information, any moves that the police make, believe me I will let you know.”

“But sensei, you’re her brother and her closest family member. Shouldn’t you know these things?”

Aizawa could have slapped Kaminari for saying that. The hand in his pocket twitched but he held it back. He could have used his capture weapon to grab the boy, but he was too exhausted from staying up late and tracing your every move, seeing when and where the league could have caught you, to bother chastising the idiot.

“They are not allowing me on the case to look for her,” he explained. “Now if you could please open your books to page 246–”

“It must be very hard for you, sensei,” Ausi spoke up. “I can’t even imagine what must be going through your head right now.”

Aizawa looked at the frog girl and took a deep breath in. “Thank you, Asui. Now let’s stop talking about (Y/n). There is nothing we can do at the moment, and nothing good ever comes out of worrying.”

The rest of the class nodded and took out their textbooks. Class that day was agonizingly slow. Aizawa was distracted, his students were distracted, everyone was distracted. Throughout the day, Aizawa’s eyes kept drifting to a particular student of his, a student he had a feeling was experiencing the worst of this incident.

Bakugo had spent most of class staring out the window, which was unusual for him. It’s true that he was usually quiet during class, not speaking up to give an answer unless it was hero related. Books and school never seemed to interest him that much, but he was intelligent and did well on tests, quizzes and papers.

Aizawa could tell that your being kidnapped was taking a greater toll on Bakugo than it was the rest of the class. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew about your relationship with the blonde boy. He didn’t know the details, and for that he was grateful, but he knew that the two of you shared a bond deeper than that of two classmates, and even of two friends.

He had a feeling that Bakugo would try and leave the dorms that night. He was quiet all day, not even bothering to yell at his friends when they said or did something stupid or out of the ordinary. Aizawa watched him during lunch. He barely picked at his food. It was clear to the pro that his student was having a hard time coping.

He decided to stake out the dorms that night. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to sleep in any case, and he would much rather secure the safety of another student than stay up worrying about the both of you.

Bakugo planned on sneaking out around four in the morning. Everyone would be asleep by then, and he would have enough time to run and grab you before your classmates woke up. He didn’t take much with him, just a jacket and a bag with a change of clothes for you. His quirk could do the rest. Bakugo left the dorm with thoughts of you racing in his head. His shoulders were slumped over and he hoisted the slipping duffle bag back over one of them. He missed you. A lot. He was angry, angry with Shigaraki and the rest of the League of Villains for taking you, angry with the police force for taking their sweet time finding you, angry with Aizawa who didn’t seem to care that his own sister was missing, angry with himself for not being able to protect you.

“Going somewhere?”

Bakugo nearly jumped out of his skin at hearing Aizawa’s voice. “Shit,” he muttered under his breath.

Aizawa was stationed in a nearby tree, hidden from anyone’s sight in the thick dark of night. He jumped down and walked over to Bakugo. The light coming from the moon softly reflected off his yellow goggles. He brought them down to where they usually stay hidden in the folds of his weapon. “I had a feeling that you’d try to sneak out tonight.”

“And you’re here to stop me?” Bakugo asked. He was going to put up a fight. He wouldn’t let his sensei get in the way of him going to rescue you.

“I can’t risk having another one of my students leaving and getting injured. I’m sorry, Bakugo, but you’ll just have to trust that the police have a handle on this one.” He reached out to put a hand on Bakugo’s shoulder, but the boy slapped it away.

Bakugo had a pissed off look on his face. He was tired and angry, tired of feeling so helpless and angry that he couldn’t do anything about that feeling. “Don’t touch me,” he said. “You have no idea what I’m going through right now. Just let me go find her and I’ll bring her back safe.”

“Where are you going you go? You don’t know where the league has their new hideout. The police and heroes are doing what they can, and to make sure they can get her back safely, all we can do is sit tight and let them do their work.”

Bakugo’s muscles tensed. It’s like Aizawa didn’t even care that you were missing. “How,” she started.

Aizawa waited for him to continue.

“How can you just stand there and not do anything?” he yelled. “You’re her brother, for god sake, and it’s like you don’t even care.” Bakugo clenched his fists and his body started shaking. “How the hell can you just sit back and do nothing!?” He crouched forward slightly as tears began to spill from his crimson eyes. He had done so well in keeping it together, but in that moment, everything he held onto was beginning to spill out.

Aizawa stood for a moment and watched as Bakugo crumbled before him. “We all have our roles in a mission,” he said, placing a large hand on Bakugo’s head. “And for this one, my job is to ensure the safety of the rest of my students. I understand how hard this is for you. You of all people know what being taken by the league is like.”

Bakugo twitched slightly at remembering what everything then felt like, from being trapped in the marble of Mr. Compress to carrying the weight of being the reason that All Might lost his power.

“I wish there was more that I could do,” Aizawa continued. “Believe me when I say that you’re not alone in that feeling, but for now we just have to wait.”

It was then that Bakugo crumbled, letting all of his pent up anger and sadness out. He leaned onto Aizawa’s shoulder and screamed his sobs. He had never been more close with his sensei than in that moment.

Aizawa let him stay there for as long as he needed. He didn’t mind that the salt from Bakugo’s tears were staining his shirt. He didn’t care that it was late and that he needed to teach the next day.

“I love her,” he heard Bakugo whimper.

“I know,” Aizawa said. “I love her too.”

Neither of them were in class the next day. Aizawa had arranged for Midnight and Present Mic to take over his classes. He had also told them that Bakugo wouldn’t be attending class that day either. The blonde was too distracted to pay attention. He needed time to himself to process everything around him.

The next four days were agonizingly long. When Aizawa wasn’t teaching, thoughts of you and your well being raced through his head. He lost a lot of sleep, but he also grew a lot closer to Bakugo.

The two of them sat down and talked after what happened the night Bakugo tried to rescue you. They talked about his relationship with you, leaving out the details one would hope to spare from a family member. Bakugo told him about how much he loves you, and how you were the only other person in that class who wasn’t braindead.

Aizawa chuckled at that last part. “She means a lot to you,” he said, “and I can tell that you mean a lot to her too.”

Those four long days eventually passed, and Aizawa was grading papers when he received a call from Tsukauchi. They had found the league’s new hideout, and they were sure that was where they were keeping you.

“Bakugo and I will be going to the police station,” he informed his class. “They have found the league’s new hideout, and they have estimated that they will bring (Y/n) back by tonight. Iida and Yaoyorozu are in charge while I’m gone.”

“Wait why does Bakugo get to go?” Kaminari, who was fully aware of your relationship, asked.

“Yeah,” Mina chimed in. “We wanna see (Y/n) too.”

“We don’t want to over-crowd her,” Aizawa explained. “We have no idea what she’s been through, and having so many people will probably be overwhelming.”

“But–”

“Just stop talking, dunceface,” Bakugo said. “We’re bringing her back, okay?”

Kaminari nodded, too scared to open his mouth any further.

Bakugo threw on his jacket and followed Aizawa out of Heights Alliance. The taxi ride to the police station was excruciating. They had no idea if you were even there yet or if the pros were still fighting.

The pros who were working on the case were some of the best, so Aizawa had no doubt that you would be safe soon enough. Still, the hours couldn’t go by quicker.

It isn’t that Bakugo was in unfamiliar territory. He had been to the police station numerous times before, from the sludge incident to being asked to make a statement after the League had kidnapped him. Being here at that very moment, though. He wanted to throw up. His stomach had never been twisted this much. Each knot and loop of his intestines tightened as the minutes slowly flew by.

“Bakugo.” Aizawa said.

“Huh?”

“You’re shaking.”

Bakugo hadn’t realized how intensely his body was moving until his sensei pointed it out.

“They’ll bring her back,” Aizawa reassured his student.

“But what if she’s, I don’t know,” Bakugo scratched the back of his neck. “Different?”

“Different how?”

The vein on Bakugo’s head nearly burst with how Aizawa was acting. He knew full well what Bakugo meant, afterall. “You know! What if those bastard villains hurt her or if they did something to wipe or change her memory.”

Aizawa took a deep inhale. These are the questions that have been racing through his mind since the moment Yaoyorozu and Todoroki came into his office, telling him that you still hadn’t come home from your evening run. Still, he knew that he had to keep a level head in front of his students. He couldn’t break down like Bakugo had in front of him. “Recovery girl said that she’d be here soon,” he informed Bakugo. “Then, when (Y/n) comes back she’ll be quick to heal her.”

Bakugo nodded, although his anxiety did not subside. They arrived at the police station around 9:30, and they stayed there for another five hours. Bakugo conked out an hour after they arrived but kept waking up.

Aizawa was given a cup of coffee from the receptionist at the station, but even with the caffeine he could feel the bags under his eyes grow heavier and heavier as time went on. He had barely gotten any sleep in the last four days, and as he felt the light at the end of this miserable tunnel growing warmer, he could feel himself beginning to ease into comfort.

It was nearing 3:00 am when the police returned. One of the officers was pushing a wheelchair with a small lump inside covered mostly by a blanket. Aizawa dropped his coffee mug at realizing that the small lump was you, huddling in to yourself either for warmth or an instinctive form of self defense.

The sound of his mug falling and breaking on the floor’s surface stirred Bakugo away. He rubbed his eyes which were glazed over with a blurry line of tears that he rubbed away, allowing them to adjust.

“Eraserhead,” one of the cops said. “She put up a nasty fight, but she’s going to be okay.”

Your ears twitched at the sound of your brother’s hero alias leaving the cop’s mouth. It sounded like butter being smoothed onto a piece of warm bread. Ever so slowly, you peeked your head out from under the blanket and gasped as you saw a familiar tangled mop of thick black hair. He really was here.

You watched as he walked over to your chair and crouched down to look at you. He moved some of his messy hair out of his eyes and you could tell he was trying to hold back his tears. Before either of you could think, you launched yourself out of your chair and wrapped your arms tightly around his neck. You let out a loud sob, breathing in his musky scent, a scent you didn’t realize how much you had missed until this very moment.

Aizawa adjusted himself so he was sitting on the floor. You sat in his lap, wrapping your legs around his torso as you cried into the crook of his neck. “It’s okay,” he repeated. “You’re safe now. Don’t worry. I’m here.”

No one dared to interrupt you as the two of you sat there. You were exhausted, having stayed awake nearly all five days you were held captive. It wasn’t long before you fell asleep in your brother’s embrace.

Aizawa told Tsukauchi to call Hizashi to pick the three of them up and drive them back to campus. When you arrived at the dorms, a small group of your friends had stayed up waiting for your return. They all stood up and began crowding around the three of you, you being carried by your brother in your sleeping state.

“Is (Y/n) going to be okay?”

“She looks terrible.”

“What did the league do to her?”

Bakugo’s eye began to twitch at his classmates’ barating questions. “Shut the fuck up,” he said, stepping in front of Midoriya as he tried getting closer to you. Bakugo sounded calmer than his peers assumed he would be, yet his words still had a sharp bite that stung the ears like a chilly windy morning. “She’s had a long few days and I can’t imagine she’s gotten much sleep, so don’t fucking crowd her.”

Your classmates took a few steps back away from Bakugo, afraid of what would happen if they tried to push back against him.

Aizawa, although not exactly thrilled with Bakugo’s reaction, didn’t bother to stop him. “I’m taking her up to her room,” he said. “I’ll let you all know how she’s feeling tomorrow.”

Everyone watched as Aizawa trudged up the stairs with you in his arms. Bakugo followed behind him, but briefly paused. “If any of you wake her up,” he said. “I won’t hesitate to kill you.” He glared at his peers for another few seconds before continuing to follow Aizawa up the stairs.

Your brother laid you down on your bed and pulled the covers up to your chin. His heart sank into his stomach seeing the scars from rope burns around your wrists. How he had not noticed them before he wasn’t sure, but he was definitely beating himself up over it.

Bakugo sat on your desk chair and watched. Aizawa tried to get him to go to sleep, to let you rest peacefully so you could recover faster, but your boyfriend refused. “I’m not gonna be able to sleep anyway,” he said. “Besides, I don’t want her to be alone when she wakes up.”

Aizawa nodded and turned back to you, kissing your hairline before departing to rest himself.

Bakugo sat there staring at your sleeping form, wanting to hold you and comfort you as your disgruntled brow moved up and down as you dreamt of the terrible week you had just endured.

By the time you woke up, it was dark outside. You had never felt more comfortable in your dorm room bed, and you began to regret all the times you complained about the stiff mattresses the school provided. You turned the lamp next to your bed on and saw that your boyfriend was leaning back in your desk chair, fast asleep. You smiled, although your thumb instinctively went to caress the newly formed scar drawn across your cheek.

You watched as Bakugo’s eyes fluttered open and grew wider as he saw you were finally awake. “Hi,” you said, smiling at him meekly.

“Hey.” He gulped a little, not knowing what to do or say. “How are you feeling?”

“How long was I out?” you asked, avoiding the question.

“We brought you back here about twenty hours ago. You slept pretty much all of today.”

“I’m sorry,” you said looking down. “I’m sorry that I needed rescuing and that I wasn’t able to defend myself.”

Bakugo could hear your throat tightening as tears and mucus welled in the back. He was quick to get up and get into your bed to hold you. He missed holding you like he would every Saturday morning before forcing the both of you to get up and go train.

You wrapped your arms around his torso and snuggled into his chest. “I thought I lost you,” you said between cries.

“What do you mean?”

You were silent, not sure if you should continue or not.

“(Y/n) what do you mean?” Bakugo raised his voice slightly, but not enough for him to be yelling at you. “What did they do to you?”

You buried your scarred cheek further into his chest. “They liked messing with me,” you said after a long period of silence. “The stapled one, Dabi, and that girl, Himiko Toga.” You felt Bakugo’s hold on you tighten, but you continued anyways. “At one point he backhanded me and one of his staples cut my cheek.” You sat up slightly so Bakugo could get a good look at the scar.

His eyes widened and his hand began to curl into a fist to prevent himself from blowing up your bedroom out of pure anger.

Knowing that he would pop off at any moment, you laid your head back onto his chest, letting him hold you some more. “Himiko Toga walked up to me and licked the blood off of my cheek. Oh god it was so slimy.” Your toes curled at remembering what her tongue felt like as it lapped its way around your face. “I watched her turn into me, become me before my eyes. Dabi held my head in place, forcing me to watch as she pretended to call you as me and end our relationship. She said that I hated you and that you were holding me back from becoming a true hero.”

You looked up at Bakugo and he wiped a few tears from off your cheeks and a few strands of hair out of your face. “I’ll kill that stapled bastard the next time I see him,” he said.

You nodded as you leaned forward to kiss him. It had been so long since you had felt the warmth of his soft lips on your own and smelt his caramel skin so close to yours. It was overwhelming but in a good way. In that moment you didn’t care that your body ached every time you moved. You were just happy to finally be held by your boyfriend once again.

#boku no hero academia #my hero academia #katsuki bakugou #bakugo x reader #mha bakugou #bnha bakugo #katsuki bakugo imagine #aizawa shouta #aizawa x reader #mha aizawa #mr. aizawa #bnha aizawa #Aizawa Shouta imagine

426 notes · View notes

commissioningcolor · 4 years

Text

Commissioning Color

Part two available here!

I walked swiftly through near-empty halls approaching the murmurs of the crowd before me. My heels lightly clack against the tile as you hurry, not wanting to miss a single word and hanging on to every detail that you can glean from your coworkers' hushed whispers. They have gathered by the stairwell. We have all been reluctant to inhabit these halls for too long, ever since The Handler made her proclamation of war. Was this about a new board member? Has this timeline been severely compromised? ‘Are we facing layoffs? Hmm… Maybe someone broke the coffee pot in the break room again.’

Hovering near the edge of the crowd I peered forward trying to search for a familiar presence. Someone grabbed my arm lightly and pulled me deeper into the crowd

"It took you long enough! I asked Nathan to get you like 12 minutes ago!" Naomi's warm yet agitated voice welcomed me

"I got held up wrapping up my last report."

Naomi rolled her eyes tracing the outline of her glasses "paperwork can wait, you know this."

"I know, I know. I just worry I'd forget" I said in a soft tone, slightly embarrassed as hushed echos reverberated through the stairwell.

Dot emerged from the crowd straightening her light blue dress as she climbed the first few steps with Herb only a few moments behind

" I am so excited to address you all here today! As you all are aware we are currently under new leadership! Our first steps are to rebuild the commission after the havoc wrought by The Handler. ." As Dot takes a moment to look over the crowd I join with the others as they clap and cheer.

I notice a hint of unease in Dots expression as she continues.

"That being said, we have found ourselves understaffed and have decided to welcome in a new era at The Commission!"

I glanced over to Naomi who grimaced slightly as I frowned a bit in concern.

Herb interrupted in excitement, "And with this new era we would like to extend to all of you the opportunity to explore new departments!"

Dot nodded in excitement as she continued “At this time we are currently requesting volunteers to assist in fieldwork as we search for and recruit new agents."

The room grew silent as the only sounds to be heard were a few soft groans and the shifting of clothes as a few people started to fidget anxiously.

"We believe doing this shall bring more valuable insights into all aspects of our operations and open up the chance to improve interdepartmental relations with this collaboration. We also have more positions available in supervisory roles as well as maintenance and security! If you have any interest in these positions we highly encourage you to fill out one of the forms waiting for you all in the foyer." She gestured past us with an uneasy smile.

As Herb and Dot finished their closing remarks and the stairwell began to empty I looked towards Naomi She, like several others, had just pulled a cigarette out of a small case and was just lighting it I furrow my brows in concern as I watch Herb and Dot converse quietly as they start making their way to the chairman's office.

"We're desk jockeys, not the fricking A team!" Naomi grumbled, turning to walk away unintentionally leaving me behind. I bit my lip as I began to step forward taking a slow breath as I approached Dot and Herb.

Herb perked up noticing me approaching from a rather stressful conversation I couldn't quite hear. "Bea! It's always nice to see you!"

I smiled sweetly hoping they won’t sense my stress "Likewise Herb! Dot your announcement was wonderful!" I retorted as my hands pressed lightly together.

"Thank you, though I don't believe everyone was as relax as you were to hear it!" Dot she smiled with a hint of somberness in her tone.

"Don't be too hard on yourself Dot, change puts everyone on edge when it's not followed with immediate ease after everything we went through" Herb spoke as he patted her arm.

"I was actually hoping to talk to you about that" I spoke up as Dot's back straightened inattentiveness

"I would like to volunteer for fieldwork. I understand it's difficult and that missions may not always end in my return but I want to give it my best to be able to help the commission develop as much as possible until we get more permanent field agents."

Dot smiled as Herb looked concerned at me "I really appreciate your eagerness but don't you want to think this over a bit?"

Dot tilted her head back a little in contemplation as I spoke up "I understand that I may not be the best option for a one-man cavalry but I know I am more capable than others when we're talking survival. I know I can handle myself."I grimaced slightly thinking back to stumbling upon Harvy's blood pooling onto the control panel floor days before. "We don't need to lose more in house employees to needless violence."

Dot hummed slightly before speaking up and pointing forward slightly "You know, she has a point. We also don't have any advanced missions at this time so it would be a perfect introductory point." Dot looked to Herb who shrugged reluctantly agreeing with a sigh

"Okay, you do have a poin..t. Fine, we can start filling out the forms tomorrow but Bea, I need you to know that this isn't going to be a cakewalk. Your life is going to be on the line along with the timeline. If you feel like you've ch-"

"I'm not going to change my mind." I interrupted with fierce determination clenching my fists.

Herb chuckled as he waved his hands at his side before reaching out for a handshake "Then we'll make it official tomorrow"

I shook his hand confidently extending goodbyes whilst holding back the anxiety building up in the back of my mind. Walking steadily down the hallways rounding a secluded corner. My shoes squeaked harshly against the tile as I abruptly stopped and leaned against the wall harshly whispering "Holy fuck what did I just do," as my hands gripped at the back of my head.

-----

The last few weeks haven't been kind to me in the least. As things progressed, my coworkers seemed reluctant to speak to me when I occasionally am in the office aside from a select few.

Iif anything on Naomi and Nathan have been more curious about what fieldwork was like, trying to find details upon how a temp would even manage to screw up so many recon and relocation missions.

“Just moving things to the right position to trigger events, not so hard is it?” Nathan caught me in a train of thought, from a mission where I had to ensure that the right bra was in just the right place to be discovered. Staying undiscovered in a housewife’s domain was more difficult than imagined.

"I think you're oversimplifying things a bit" I sighed as I sipped my coffee leaning against the counter.

"It’s just we give them such easy missions and these idiots don't even read them! They just get caught up in the whole ‘time traveler hero idea’" Nathan groaned as he ran his hands through his hair frustrated.

"At least you actually know what you're doing.” Naomi chirped with a slight sway as she drank some of her coffee. “You've managed to get every task I send through completed so far!" Granted most of them were simple tasks "Now if only they trained the rest of them the way they trained you" she retorted in a monotone frustration.

"To be fair, I haven't been sent in to actually kill anyone yet. It's mostly been recon, replace, and recruitment." I raised an eyebrow to Nathan while debating if I wanted more coffee.

"But you at least get everything done!" Nathan smiled with a clear underline of stress and frustration. "Having to clean up after all of these fuck ups is more effort than just sending them in in the first place!" He stated frowning as he leaned back against the table.

Light footsteps that had echoed through halls halted for a brief moment as a light-haired agent walked past us in an anxious hurry. Avoiding eye contact as they grabbed their coffee and left while Nathan and Naomi conversed.

Frowning, my eyebrows scrunched together with the framed masking frustration for sadness. I pushed myself off of the counter and stormed out while Naomi glanced at me concerned.

I walked swiftly to one of the control panel rooms I was assigned to for the evening. It wasn't often I was working this shift but it was enough where a little rust had developed. I tried to get familiar with the panels and screens again. I know what they were for, what to do, but the instinct of fluid movement had deteriorated. As I analyzed the screens. Glancing between the CR TVs writing down anything of note I notice something. A man with white slicked back hair sitting onto of a colorful bus with a melancholy look in his eyes.

'That.. looks familiar. Where have I seen this face before?' I glanced over to the control board biting my lip trying to keep my curiosity at bay. Debating internally if I really should be doing personal research right now. My attention is captured by a light buzzing light below the screen with the white-haired man turned orange.

I grinned as I swiftly scooted my chair to the control panel pulling plugs and replacing them with new ones while paying attention to the screens, all of them transitioned to different points in the recent timeline focusing around him. I squinted slightly trying to focus my eyes 'I swear I've seen this man before' when It finally hit me as I saw the man followed by two others with white hair.

'Oh shit!' I slumped back down in my chair gripping my mouth as I stared at the screens. I didn't know them well, but they were the first contact I had with the commission. Bringing me here nearly 5 years ago.

I could still remember the smoke billowing within the office halls building accompanied by fierce crackling flames as my vision was clouded. Being bearly able to breathe as one of their rough hands gripped my arm pulling me into them with an odd sense of warmth before teleporting me with Naomi to the commission. I grabbed my forms and set to work Immediately.

Hours passed as I analyzed the timeline playing before me on the screens trying to see where and what went wrong. A muted explosion erupted from one of the TVs as I looked overseeing one of the brothers nearly disintegrated in a matter of seconds. No orange light, I look over to another screen as one of the brothers retrieves a canister from the fireplace with confusion as it didn't have a return slot.

'Wait. No return slot?' I jot down more notes, trying to pay attention to the scene, there were a photo and coordinates I was going to have to search for later in the mission orders.

I glance over another screen before the familiar buzzing and orange light popped up once more. "Was that.. One of the Hargreaves? What the hell" I whispered more confused than before as the scene played out before me, grimacing with a wince of mimicked pain as the taller brother was stabbed in the eye. Clearly there was outside interference with the commission's orders.

This is going to take more time to analyze.

------

Hours later after finally returning home after some accidental overtime I nearly tore off my heels to relieve my sore feet. I laid on the stiff leather couch in my apartment covering myself in the crochet quilt I made last summer. I was barely able to stay awake. Grabbing one of the cheesy romance novels I picked up at in the check out line on my last grocery run I attempted to fight off my drowsiness. Trying to reread the same page for the 3rd time I groaned and rubbed my eyes. An abrupt hiss from the kitchen startled me causing me to nearly fall of the couch in surprise. I sat down the book on my coffee table as I swiftly jogged over to the canister rattled in the sink.

I reached down and examined the new silver canister and opened it to examine the newest assignment. "1985, protect Martha Ross" A photo of a smiling woman with big curly hair and a heart tattoo on her neck was attached. I examined it for a moment before setting it down and starting to prepare for my mission, finally removing my wig and letting my real hair down and the side of my head breathe.

#the umbrella academy #umbrella acedmy #swedes #Herb #Dot #axel #otto #oscar #OCs #office #plus sized #chubby #wip #commissioning color #the swedes

7 notes · View notes

mylifeasaserver · 5 years

Text

Change of Pace

Next door to the restaurant I currently (and probably briefly) work at, there’s a nice little spot where I applied before my shift today. I have an interview next week.

A coworker of mine and I sat there for 3 hours before our shift mocking the stupid GM and lamenting leaving our good front of house manager behind, and having a few (see: many) drinks.

I had a lot to drink in those 3 hours. So did she. I’m a seasoned professional though so I swaggered next door to be tormented with stupidity for a shift. She was fairly obviously buzzed but she also has an interview next week at the same place and they straight up told us they don’t give a fuck what we do off the clock and not in their restaurant so...

When I showed up to work I was better than comfortably buzzed and in a great mood.

Then I got my first table. Of course nobody bothered telling me I had a table or that I’d been assigned a section or that we didn’t have a host. So my very first table sat there waiting to be served while the GM gave me a write-up that I signed his name to for walking out last night (I’m certain that he filed it without looking, or he saw that I’d pulled a “NO U” and gave up) and I happily chatted with the lazy fucks I’d walked out on. He did attempt to have a larger discussion with me about the whole situation but I told him [very sarcastically] that it was his restaurant to run so he can do what he pleases. Confused, he returned to his office to destroy a family size bag of oreos or whatever his junk food du jour was.

10 minutes later somebody got the wise idea to let me know I had a table. Fortunately, a bit of apologizing (and a free dessert) convinced the table that it was no big deal. Also fortunately I’d taken a margarita from next door in a kid’s cup and downed it after putting the order in - ensuring my buzz would last just a bit longer. **Author’s note: this is super illegal where I live - I think - but with a close to 50% tip and the knowledge we weren’t driving for a few hours the bartender let me slide with it.**

Meanwhile, we ran out of the stupid bread we give tables because our beloved GM didn’t bother to instruct anybody to make more, probably so he could go fry himself a milkshake or something. I gave zero fucks. I just told my tables that we were out and that was the end of it. I also gave them the number for corporate and the GM’s name and let them know he was personally responsible (which is true, watch me roll shit uphill!)

The rush hits and my drinking buddy starts feeling shitty. She goes and sits down in the break room like I told her to and I just use her card to put in all her orders. I can handle 12 small tables for us, even with my buzz starting to wear off.

Then I get the 8 top. At first, only two of them show up, but of course I need to bring 8 waters to the table so I can dump out 8 waters at the end of the meal. Whatever, I’ve had worse.

I bring the waters and I’m told they’re going to need ketchup, A1, and a shitload of bread and butter. Oh no! We have no bread! I’m so sorry but I can’t give it to you!

Surprisingly, the revelation that we have no bread is at first met with a small, short-lived tantrum, but finally acceptance begins to creep in. I’m beginning to accept that my buzz is going to go away and there’s nothing I can do about it.

Later my drinking buddy is feeling a little better so instead of taking tables she runs the food for me and does the clear/reset combo and I keep using her card to ring in orders. She takes a break as she needs to, and we’re both making great money despite what we’re doing being flagrantly against company policy. I’m never supposed to have another server’s card, but then again, I’m also not supposed to show up buzzed for a shift. Company policy clearly takes itself too seriously. I’m having a great time with our tables and everybody is getting everything they need and quickly.

The rest of the 8 top shows up and I’m waved over. They didn’t need anything, they just wanted me to know they were going to need some time to decide on food - and all of them wanted to order some drinks. ME TOO!

I come back to the table with drinks and they are suddenly in a hurry because they’ve decided to see a movie. The first person at the table orders a mid-well steak. I ask them to clarify - are they in a hurry or do they want a mid-well steak? I can’t do both because of physics.

They actually listen and order other things. My shock is immeasurable.

Their food comes up and both myself and my drinking buddy have our asses run ragged by these needy fuckers. If I didn’t know better I’d swear they were making a game of it, except at the end of the night they’re all still losers. Finally they ask for boxes for what they couldn’t shove down their necks fast enough and ask for the check. $149 check, $6 tip.

Fuck you all.

They finally leave and we dump 8 untouched waters.

I’m cut and so is my friend. The GM briefly attempts to get me to roll the silverware I skipped out on last night but is forced to abort mission when I laugh at him and tell him I can still catch happy hour next door if I left right then.

I still made happy hour, with my drinking buddy in tow.

Honestly showing up after drinking was unintentional. We were gonna just hang out a bit and then we decided to say fuck it and did what we wanted. Also: her tables tipped better tonight but since we teamed up we just averaged it all anyway. -J

#restaurant

17 notes · View notes

rkxsungwoon-blog · 5 years

Photo

☆ MGA5 EPISODE THREE; JULY 11 #5008 HA SUNGWOON ; FT. NA JAEMIN ( duos ) performance: easy by wheein ft. sik-k ( rearranged ) ( 0:07 - 2:07 ) ; line distribution

he’d never precisely forgotten how nerve-wracking waiting for the results of each round of the mgas could be, but sungwoon is still surprised by the sheer depth of his anxiety as they await the judges’ pronouncements. too much is at stake; he’s worrying for four peoples’ survival instead of just two. maybe he’s doomed to feel this twisted up and scared for as long as the rest of his friends are in this competition alongside him, but he’s willing to endure it if it means they can stick together for a while longer.

though idly, sungwoon wonders if it would be easier if he were eliminated and watching the episode air in the comfort of his home. would he feel this nervous, this jittery as the ceos announce names—some of them familiar, some not—of those who won’t continue on in each category? would he feel sick looking at the faces of those who’ll be leaving today, guilt threatening to eat him up because he made it when they didn’t? would that be better?

(his heart says no, he’s meant to be here).

beneath mild disappointment that none of empty enigma placed in the top 3 of their individual skill categories is immense relief that neither were they bad enough to be cut at this stage in the competition. daniel’s survival is the most important of them all. despite his early switch from singing to rapping, sungwoon couldn’t shake the worry that this might be it—but it’s the switch that saved him, in all likelihood. sungwoon commends daniel for realizing he’d have a better chance at making it through doing something he was confident in, as opposed to the very skill that got him eliminated last time.

joohyun’s elimination hurts, even if it’s not entirely unexpected. the stumble was costly, and though sungwoon doesn’t like it, the judges’ assessment is fair. he just hopes she isn’t taking it too badly. it’s sobering to realize that the previous season’s contestants are beginning to drop one by one as well; he wonders if it’s a matter of overall skills not being up to par or just a lack of improvement. or is it simpler still—a lack of star power? sungwoon can’t tell, and that worries him.

but with the announcement of the next episode’s mission, he’s forced to switch gears. duos, he thinks, squaring his shoulders. different from last year, sure, but not bad. he can work with duos. part of him can’t help but hope that he gets paired with one of his friends, but that would be… vastly unfair. woojin and kenta deserve better than his dance skills, but sungwoon thinks he could do something exciting with minhyun or daniel. they’ve worked together enough that sungwoon trusts them.

of course, the universe isn’t that kind. sungwoon gets paired with na jaemin instead. he knows very little about the kid himself—and he is a kid, as if sungwoon wasn’t feeling old enough in this competition already—or what he’s capable of, though he remembers jaemin performing an original song he enjoyed. their introduction is a bit awkward and formal, but they eventually settle on a time and place to meet the next day to plan their performance without much trouble.

sungwoon doesn’t know what to expect out of their partnership, but he hopes at the very least, they’ll pull together a performance to be proud of.

the awkwardness persists.

jaemin has a makeshift studio they can practice in, which sungwoon is grateful for. he’d offer the empty enigma practice space were it not for the possibility one of the others might be using it as well. it hits him for the first time that—well, he’s competing against his friends, that whatever he and jaemin put together is a secret only the two of them should be privy to. anyone else discovering what they’re planning to perform could give them a potential edge in the competition—or at the very least, screw sungwoon and jaemin over.

(sungwoon trusts his friends would not resort to sabotage. he does. but he’s also competitive as fuck—there’s no we in a competition).

so he heads to the address jaemin provided after his shift at the pastry shop is over, armed with a box of leftover goodies, also known as whatever they didn’t sell that sungwoon could rescue from his coworkers’ clutches. he’s hoping the food will break the ice somewhat between them. who doesn’t love a good pastry? but he figures out soon enough that expecting a couple of (admittedly delicious) fruit tarts to set the stage for them to work well together is being overly optimistic.

jaemin isn’t rude or arrogant or a dozen other horror stories wrapped up in a deceptively benign package. he’s just a little on the quiet side. sungwoon can manage quiet—he’s lived with woojin for long enough that he knows how to curb his own exuberance to match the energy. however, jaemin also doesn’t fuck around when it comes to music. their first argument (professional disagreement?) happens because of their wildly opposing opinions, and neither jaemin nor sungwoon are willing to back down.

stubbornness runs through sungwoon’s veins in spades, sure. he’s less used to dealing with it in other people. while they eventually compromise and come to an agreement regarding their performance, sungwoon ends up under the impression that jaemin hates him for the first couple of days of the week.

and—truthfully, sungwoon isn’t the easiest person to work with either. he knows from the album prep that he can be a bit much, but it comes from a place of passion. jaemin is the same way; sungwoon can see it in his eyes when they practice together, and in the care he takes while working on the arrangement for their song. it’s admirable, and recognizing that jaemin cares just as much as he does finally bridges the gap between them and puts them on the same page.

jaemin is a good musician in every sense of the word. sungwoon wishes he had even half of his talent. he may not know a lot about rap, but even he can tell jaemin is skilled. and when it comes to rearrangements and remixes of songs, sungwoon can see how much thought and effort he puts into every single one. it’s not mindless playing around for him. the fact that jaemin is just as invested in perfecting their performance as he is gives sungwoon hope for the round.

they keep in close contact until filming, practicing together every single day. jaemin sends him snippets of revisions he’s made to their arrangement constantly, sometimes tiny things sungwoon can only hear after putting all his focus into listening, but every bit of it is important in ensuring they’re prepared for d-day.

by the end of it, sungwoon is, to his surprise, pleased to have been paired with jaemin in the end. the experience may not have been smooth sailing all around, but he feels like he’s learned a lot from his partner in the short time they’ve worked together. they’ve reached a good point, not only in their teamwork but in their performance as well, and he prays their synergy will shine through on stage.

seats are assigned for the day’s filming. sungwoon is both relieved and disappointed; he was hoping to sit with his friends and feels a little lost at the idea of not being able to lean over to whisper his comments into their ears or slip his hand in one of theirs when the nerves get too bad. but—at least he’s away from the distracting presence of those around him in the last round.

minhyun is still near enough that sungwoon throws him a quick smile as he takes his seat next to jaemin and surreptitiously wipes his clammy palms on the underneath his thighs. “nervous?” he asks, attempting to look unconcerned. it comes out as more of a grimace instead, but jaemin seems alright in sungwoon’s eyes.

it’s… odd to think how unused to singing with other people he still is. how unused to sharing the spotlight he is. squall is larger than life by necessity; he eats up the stage by himself. sungwoon is not an explosive, expanding, all consuming star. he wants to be someone who enhances others, who shares his glow rather than devouring everything in sight. but jaemin is a star on his own, and they’ve worked so hard this past week to ensure they work in tandem and not against each other. sungwoon has to believe they’ll perform equally as well today.

the competition is fierce this round. they’re sixth to perform, but the people before them pull off some truly spectacular stages that have sungwoon applauding hard enough to turn his palms red. when it’s finally their turn to get up there, he gives jaemin a double thumbs up and a smile brimming with confidence he doesn’t fully possess. “let’s get it done!” sungwoon chirps. it’s their time to shine.

they’d decided to coordinate their outfits for the performance because appearances matter, and they stand together as a polished duo up on stage. their introduction is similarly polished and cheerful—“we’re your lucky stars, sungwoon and jaemin!” as sungwoon goes on to explain, “jaemin is the brains of our team, which makes me the brawn.” a grin dances on his lips as he lifts one arm and flexes (well, makes an attempt) to punctuate his sentence. “brawn-to-be, i guess.” letting his arm fall back to his side, he continues. “we’ll be performing easy by wheein—but with our own spin, courtesy of jaemin. we hope you enjoy!”

sungwoon emphatically believes in giving credit where it’s due, and jaemin deserves that much even though it’s cumbersome to say. he gives the younger boy and encouraging smile as they take their places and the first notes of their pre-recorded acoustic rearrangement fill the stage.

sungwoon raises the mic to his lips and vocalizes for the first part, letting the vibe of the song flow through him. it’s a little more playful than his usual fare, almost cheeky in its lightheartedness. the words are both meant to be taken seriously and yet not at the same time; he feels like it’s meant to be an admonition, though not a stern one. it’s like when you try to tell someone something important but so so with a smile or a just kidding! at the end, as if naked, frank honesty is terrifying. and it is, most of the time.

넌 다른 생각할 때 그 표정이 너무 뻔해 난 다 알 수가 있어 it’s not an ordinary day

눈치가 빠르지 않더라도 넌 너무 알기 쉽게 보여주니 잔인하네

날 긴장하게 만드는 예민함도 가슴을 찌르는 너의 솔직함도 왜 내게만 해당 돼 it’s too unfair

initially, he was a little unsure about singing a song originally meant for a female vocalist, but sungwoon knows he won’t get anywhere without taking some sort of a risk. but they’ve rearranged it into a male key, though it’s still not entirely easy to sing. sungwoon is confident enough in his abilities that he’s not scared of attempting it by any means. he knows he can pull it off.

i’m not easy 난 그런 거 싫어해 좋게 맞춰준 거지 널 더 좋아한 거지 이미 내 마음도 변해가네 너에게 가둬둔 날 꺼내 벗어날래

he makes eye contact with jaemin as he sings, naturally turning towards him during the chorus, taking the opportunity to ad lib some high notes and dip into his falsetto as the occasion arises. they play well off each other, their synergy coming across in the ease with which sungwoon gives way to jaemin’s rap verse following the chorus—he sings it’s not easy right at the judges, then shifts to let jaemin have his turn in the spotlight.

too late too late you’re so stupid stupid no way no way it’s not easy

sungwoon’s head bops along to jaemin’s verse. his delivery is smooth and works well with the song; neither of them overpower the other during their parts. most importantly, in his opinion, they’re having fun performing together. the whole song is a labour of love, from their rocky beginnings to their comfort with each other now. he wants to show that progress, that growth from nothing into the duo they are now. he feels like he and jaemin have been performing together for longer than merely a week; they navigate the stage well together, their energies matching, and their facial expressions on point as they interact with and react to one another up there.

i’m not easy 난 그런 거 싫어해 좋게 맞춰준 거지 널 더 좋아한 거지 이미 내 마음도 변해가네 너에게 가둬둔 날 꺼내 벗어날래

it falls to sungwoon to end the song with a refrain of the chorus. it’s his final chance to demonstrate his skills, so he builds up into a powerful high note before softening his voice, almost trailing off on the last line so his voice fades out along with the notes of the song. in that moment, he hopes more than anything that both he and jaemin survive this round. sungwoon isn’t sure anymore about who deserves to survive and who doesn’t—not after last week—but what he wants is for them move forward. he doesn’t want to be the reason jaemin’s mga dreams come to a premature end.

because it’s sink or swim together—and sungwoon will doggy paddle to the shore with jaemin in tow if he has to.

once they’re off the stage, sungwoon pulls jaemin into a one armed hug. “it’s been great working with you,” he says sincerely, his voice hoarse with the effort of keeping his emotions at bay. “and if we don’t—uh, no. we will pull through.” if he says it out loud enough, maybe he’ll even convince himself of it. "i just wanted to say that you’re my rapper one-pick from now on,” he continues. "and i hope we get the chance to perform again together. let's meet in the finale, yeah?"

sungwoon's still dreaming big, but he takes comfort in the knowledge that jaemin has the skills to make it. and if nothing else, he's glad he got the opportunity to learn that much.

#rkmga5 #rkmga5duos #( c: solo )#( wc: 2365 )#rkjaemin #rkminhyun #( wrote this while out of town which is why it's a mess )#( pls forgive )

6 notes · View notes

sxypigeon · 5 years

Text

Part 4: Pharmercy Beginnings

A/N: The last chapter of my pre-recall Pharmercy story.

After the fall of Overwatch, Dr. Ziegler spends her time traveling the world helping people, occasionally with the help of Helix and Fareeha Amari. Nosy coworkers try their best to bring the two together, but as the doctor is called away, Talon plots . . .

Part 1 warnings: none, just sarcasm and fluff

Part 2 warnings: attempted assault, violence

Part 3 warnings: none, more fluff

Part 4 warnings: assassinations, NSFW, cough-sex-cough

Fareeha took a sip of her tea as she adjusted the volume of her headphones. A twenty year old version of Angela flashed a shy smile as the auditorium’s applause died down during her first TED talk.

[Before I begin, I have a bit of a confession to make. I’ve been asked at least five times over the last two years to give a TED talk, but up until now I’ve been able come up with reasonable excuses to decline: I’m too busy working or researching, I don’t know what country I’ll be in four days from now, I hate public speaking - please don’t make me do it.]

The soldier smiled. While the doctor did hate speaking in front of crowds, she was proficient at it even then.

[I’m here today because I finally ran out excuses . . . and because my mentor threaten to confiscate the coffee maker from my office if I didn’t.

[My name is Angela Ziegler, I’m a surgeon and researcher at Universitätsspital Zürich. In my spare time, I act as a field medic on humanitarian missions with the UN’s peacekeeping organisation Overwatch and I’m here tonight to talk about myself and my research into nanotechnology.]

The doctor took a moment to sip from a bottle of water before continuing.

[Before I get into that, I feel like I should address the comments I get most often whenever I tell someone I’m a doctor - ‘Really? You don’t look old enough to be a doctor. What’s your skincare routine?’]

And she still gets those comments, Fareeha thought with a grin.

[There’s a reason for that - I earned my doctorate in Biomedical Engineering before I was able to legally celebrate my accomplishment with a pint or glass of wine. To put that in better context for those living outside of Switzerland, our drinking age for less potent alcohols is sixteen.]

Younger Angela paused her slow walk across the stage with a soft smirk as the room broke out in quiet muttering.

[By seventeen, I finished medical school and had started my residency, that was the same year I submitted my first proposal to the European Medicines Agency to begin clinical trials for treating heart disease using nanotechnology.]

The doctor clicked a button on the small remote in her hand and a picture of her with her team in Switzerland appeared on the large screen above her.

[That was taken on the first day of human testing, almost three years ago. That was a very roundabout way of saying I’m currently a few months shy of my twenty-first birthday. So yes, I am quite young.]

Fareeha paused the video and put her laptop on the coffee table in front of the large sofa she’d been laying across. Quietly, she trekked across the expansive living area and informal dining room before opening the door to Angela’s room just enough to poke her head through. The doctor was still asleep on her stomach with her hair brushed off her face by the soldier. Angela had collapsed into bed after nonchalantly stripping down to her underwear in front of her. She was so tired, I doubt she realized what she was doing. . . or she was messing with me again. Both are equally likely. She closed the door and retreated back to the living room.

They made it to Angela’s apartment nearly an hour ago after fighting through a sea of reporters and dignitaries at the airport. Fareeha wanted to punch every last one of them in the face . . . many, many times. Couldn’t they see the doctor was exhausted? Didn’t they see the way she grimaced at their camera flashes and shouted questions?

The captain rolled her shoulders and continued walking through the penthouse apartment restlessly. Over twenty-four hours of non-stop tension was difficult to relax after, especially when what she really wanted to do was pull the doctor into her arms and hold her while she slept. She’s already asleep . . . she doesn’t need me.

The lingering anger about the whole ordeal her best friend endured didn’t help her state of mind either. I need to hit something, she thought as she headed towards the small exercise room.

“None of this makes any sense!” Nayef shouted as he pulled at his thick hair.

His father frowned at the younger man’s lack of self control, But perhaps Talon is partly to blame for that. “Calm yourself, boy. The situation is being dealt with.”

“But I would never attack anyone like they’re saying I did! And somehow there’s fucking video of it!” He let his hands fall from his hair to his face, one hand over his mouth as he watched the airport assault video on his phone.

“Put that away. I told you, the situation is being handled.”

“How?! How could this be spun any way but how it looks?!”

“That’s enough,” the older man growled quietly. His son immediately quieted his protests. “Turn your phone off and go play one of your games. The situation is being handled.”

The young man frowned at being dismissed like a child, but obeyed and left the room.

Ogundimu had better clean up this mess, he thought as readied himself for the Talon operative’s pending call.

[Your highness, good evening,] the smooth, slightly accented voice on the other end of the video call greeted.

“Ogundimu, you said this plan was fool-proof. Instead, my brother lives, my son is being hounded as a rapist on the web, and I have three dozen different countries threatening tariffs on the Kingdom over this debacle. What are you going to do about it?” the acting-king asked quietly, barely keeping his anger under control.

[How is your son?]

“Fine, don’t change the subject.”

[I have a team working on damage control. We also need to ensure the safety of you and your son-]

“I’ll take care of that,” he said shortly. “After the mess you and your people created, I think I’ll rely on my own people.”

[If you believe that’s for the best then I won’t push the matter. For now it’s important to remember this is only a setback. Our goals can still be-]

“Save your pandering for the gullible, Ogundimu. I am already suspected by my brother. If he doesn’t arrest me, I’ll surely be exiled. I took a risk trusting you and now I’m paying the price. Don’t contact me again unless you have a way to fix this.”

With that, the acting king disconnected the call.

Ogundimu glared at the screen for a moment before coming to a decision. “Sombra, Lacroix. I have a mission for you both.”

Sombra grinned and looked to the sniper who was lazily filing her nails in front of a 24 hour news channel on one of the many monitors in the large room. “I was beginning to wonder why we brought her with,” the hacker mused.

“To keep an eye on you, ma chérie,” Widowmaker said flatly as she rose slowly and approached.

It was the smell of her bed sheets that pulled Angela from her slumber twelve hours later - not because of how they smelled, but because of what they were missing. Why don’t these smell of bleach? she wondered drowsily. Oh, I’m not at the hospital or the refugee camp.

She rolled onto her side and groped for her phone and turned it on. So many messages . . . I can’t deal with this now.

Sitting up proved to be a monumental task - dizziness assailed her strong enough to force her back down onto the bed. Low blood sugar. I still have chocolate in the night stand, right? A clumsy hand opened the drawer and found a small vibrator and a bottle of lubricant, lip balm, moisturizer, a spare phone charger, and finally a few pieces of individually wrapped dark chocolates at the very back. Verdammt, that’s good for being in there for over a year, she thought as the candy melted in her mouth.

Blood sugar better regulated, she finally sat up and took stock of her injuries. Ribs seem fine. She removed the brace from her right hand and wiggled her fingers. Good as new, though a little stiff. She felt the bridge of her nose and gave a wide yawn. No permanent damage. And I just assume the concussion has resolved itself. I need some real food . . . and coffee. A lot of coffee . . . especially if I’m going to make a dent in these messages today.

As she steam from the shower filled the bathroom, Angela tried not to dwell on how wonderful it had felt having Fareeha lather up her hair. You have no excuse to ask for her help this time. Just hurry up and wash . . . and maybe later you can return the favor later, she thought as she stripped and stepped under the water.

Twenty minutes later, dressed in a Universitätsspital Zürich hoodie and yoga pants, she wandered out of her room in search of sustenance.

“Ange?”

Warmth blossomed deep in her chest as she spotted warm eyes peering over the back of the couch. “Fareeha, what are you doing up? It’s not even dawn yet!” Angela laughed as the soldier practically vaulted over the sofa before carefully enveloping the blonde in a tender embrace. “My injures have healed,” Angela muttered into her clavicle. “I’m not made of glass.”

“Oh, well in that case-” Fareeha squeezed the doctor tight enough to force a bit of the air from her lungs.

“O-okay, I’m rethinking that last statement,” she groaned with a chuckle. Angela pulled back enough to see the captain’s smiling face.

“You look better, Ange. How are you feeling?”

“Hungry,” she admitted, “and a bit tired still. Have you slept?”

Fareeha rolled her eyes, but nodded. “Probably not enough though. I’m still on Indian time, I guess.”

“Well, I’ve ordered enough food from the kitchen to put one person into a food coma and I can always order more.”

“I’m fine. I’m just happy you’re feeling better,” she said softly as she brushed a loose strand of damp hair behind Angela’s ear.

The warmth shifted to the pit of her stomach as calloused fingers brushed her neck. If only I hadn’t just burned through more than three thousand calories healing broken bones . . . Eat first, eat her out after. “I have you to thank for some of that. Knowing you were around definitely allowed me to rest easier.”

“If you say so.”

“I do,” Angela muttered softly as she cupped the side of Fareeha’s jaw and guided her lips to hers. It was a chaste kiss, but a lingering one - one that left Angela wondering just how badly she needed to eat and if she could put it off for an hour or three.

“You need to eat,” Fareeha whispered against her lips.

“I know,” she said simply before she pulled her back in for another kiss. The embers in her gut were quickly stoked into a growing fire as she pulled herself flush against the soldier. I shouldn’t be doing this. I need to-

Angela’s stomach suddenly gave what was probably the loudest rumble she’d ever remembered hearing.

Fareeha pulled back enough to chuckle, “I think we need to save this for later.”

“Verdammt.” As if on cue, the doorbell chimed announcing the arrival of the food. “I suppose you’re right.”

[Web is set. Happy hunting, Madame Araignée.]

Lacroix rolled her eyes before watching the younger al Saud’s limousine navigate the city courtesy of Sombra’s tracker. Coming home after a late night clubbing. You should have listened to your father and stayed home, Nayef.

Fareeha was pretty sure she was in love. Technically she had been for years, but watching Angela put away an enormous amount of sausage, bread, and yogurt cemented the feeling.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything?” the doctor asked as she paused long enough to sip her coffee.

“I don’t want to deprive you of what you are very clearly enjoying.”

Angela’s cheeks darkened a shade. “It’s been . . . nine months? Yes, that sounds right. Nine months since I’ve been home and had Swiss food. I didn’t realize I missed it so much. . . . That and I was quite literally starving when I woke up. Here, have some röschti-”

“Only if I can pour maple syrup on it,” she chuckled as she took the plate of potato pancakes.

“I would be concerned if you didn’t.”

Omar kept a silent watch on the troubled young man in the back of the limousine. Prince Nayef was uncharacteristically quiet tonight. Usually after a night out like tonight he would regale the driver and his security team with tales his exploits, but not tonight it seemed.

The Omar came to a stop at the intersection and peered back at his passenger. “Would you like to stop for an early morning snack, sir?” he asked.

The prince jerked out of his thoughts and shook his head. “No, just take me home.”

“Yes, sir.” He glanced in the rearview mirror once more before moving forward. He hasn’t been himself since that business with the doctor. How all of that was fabricated is beyond me, but I know Nayef. He may bed many women, but he isn’t the type to attack a woman.

The streets were quiet in the predawn darkness. So much so that Omar almost thought he imaged the sound of breaking glass and the splatter of liquid. Omnic eyes jumped to the rear view mirror; he saw Nayef slumped to the side, a quarter of his skull and brain tissue plastered the left window.

[Breaking news: Prince Nayef al Saud, subject of international outrage for his alleged attack on humanitarian Dr. Angela Ziegler, was assassinated this morning in Riyadh while returning home from the city center.]

Angela jerked her head up to the television screen and felt her jaw drop. She and Fareeha had settled on the sofa in the living room after breakfast to allow the doctor to work on the numerous messages and updates on King Azid populating her phone. “What?”

[Sources say the prince was traveling back to the royal palace in a limousine when a single bullet struck him in the head, killing him instantly.]

“Shit,” Fareeha muttered.

Angela stared at the screen in shock. Mixed feelings fought for dominance in her still exhausted mind: horror that he was murdered, sadness for his family, and - though she’d never admit it to anyone - relief the man was gone from the world. “But why?”

Fareeha tore her eyes from the screen and looked to the stricken doctor. She wrapped an arm around Angela and pulled her close. “I don’t know, Ange.”

Silence fell between them as the news report rambled on. “What if this was Talon?” Angela asked quietly after a while.

“What do you mean?”

“What if-” she started before pausing to gather her thoughts. “What if this is Talon covering their tracks? What if Nayef was just a pawn? It already looks like Dr. O’Deorain had a hand in the assassination attempt on the king - what if she or someone else in Talon got to Nayef? His pupils were massively constricted each time he attacked me - what if Talon . . . brainwashed him or drugged him or I don’t know, did something to force him to attack me?”

“You think he was innocent in all of this?” Fareeha asked a bit incredulously.

“I’m saying none of this makes sense. There was definitely corruption at the police station and with the secret police, but why Nayef targeted me still doesn’t make sense. Why were he and his friends in India in the first place? You said it yourself, that without me, the king’s surgery couldn’t have been done without removing the rogue nanobots. I’m not saying I’m the only person in the world that would have recognized the symptoms, but there certainly aren’t many that would and even fewer that could figure out how to remove them.”

The captain let the argument bounce around her mind for a moment. “But you fought him and his friends off. Talon thought three large men could easily overpower you - render you physically and mentally unable to help the king. Holy shit,” she muttered quietly. “If-”

“If they had finished their job, the king would be dead by now,” Angela finished softly. “And now that their mission has failed, they’re covering their tracks. I just wonder if they’ll target the acting king. Perhaps killing his son was a message.”

“Keep quiet or you’ll be next?”

“Something like that.”

The acting king stared stoically at his laptop. Every fifteen minutes, aids would update him on the investigation, but he merely nodded and sent them away. He already knew who was responsible - what he didn’t know is what to do about it.

“Sir, there is no new information at this time,” the latest aid muttered regretfully.

He shooed him away with a flick of his wrist. Do I call Ogundimu? Will he admit to it? Should I tell the Mabahith? If I admit to having ties to Talon, I’ll be signing my own death warrant.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Fareeha asked as Angela set up her webcam.

“Every major news site is asking for a statement and my lawyers seem to think it would be a good idea as well.” She smiled as video of herself popped up on the screen. “Are you sure you don’t want to be in it?”

“Completely,” the soldier said from across the room.

Angela rolled her eyes before beginning to record. “Guten Morgen, as promised, an update since leaving Saudi Arabia. I’m finally home and recovering, though I admit the news I woke to this morning is incredibly worrisome. I’d like to extend my condolences to the Saudi royal family - regardless of what happened in the last forty-eight hours, murder is never an acceptable course of action. I’m as anxious as the rest of the world to know the outcome of the investigation.”

Angela paused and sipped her coffee, “Since arriving home I’ve slept twelve hours and allowed my injuries to heal. I’ve eaten enough for at least three people since waking, so hopefully I’ll be able to return to work soon. For now, I plan to spend the next few days relaxing and trying to process everything that’s happened.”

“There are many people I need to thank for their help and understanding through this whole ordeal: the staff at the Royal Hospital in Riyadh, my colleague from Universitätsspital Zürich who performed the necessary surgery I couldn’t because of my injuries, and Helix Security for protection and piece of mind once I left police custody.”

Another sip of coffee, this time turning the mug to display the text “Self Medicating” to the camera. “That’s all for now. Stay safe and when in doubt, ask your doctor.”

Slow inhale, slower exhale - There you are, Widowmaker thought as she lined up her shot. “Magnifique,” she whispered as the body fell to the ground. “Widowmaker here. Mission accomplished. Are there further instructions?”

[Hold position for now. There is a possibility of a fourth target. Position yourself within range of the royal palace,] Ogundimu responded.

[Uh, boss - we just took out the acting king’s son and his friends,] Sombra pointed out tensely. [Define within range of the royal palace.]

[Just don’t leave town,] he replied shortly.

“Very well,” Lacroix replied before Sombra could further annoy the man. I suppose one more wouldn’t hurt.

Fareeha sat down next to the pensive doctor, “Are you okay?”

Angela set her mug on the coffee table and leaned against the soldier, “I don’t know.” She closed her eyes and enjoyed the other woman’s warmth as Fareeha wrapped an arm around her shoulders. So much had happened in the last two days, little of which she was prepared to deal with.

I have a beautiful woman in my apartment I’ve been fantasizing about for longer than I care to admit - I should do something with that. She pulled away from the embrace enough to stare up into Fareeha’s curious eyes. We should really talk about what this is . . . Angela raised her hand and let her fingertips ghost over the other woman’s skin before cupping her check. . . . but I didn’t get where I am today without taking risks, she thought as she licked her lips and met Fareeha halfway for the kiss.

It was tender, too tender to be honest. As Angela threaded her fingers through the younger woman’s hair, she considered falling back against the length of the couch and pulling Fareeha on top of her, but impatience won out. I need to get us on the same page.

She broke the kiss and smiled at the confused look Fareeha gave her before straddling the soldier’s lap. “If it’s not too much to ask,” Angela purred as she removed her hoodie, “I would appreciate something a bit more blunt.”

Fareeha stared up at her, pupils dilating as she licked her lips. “Like this?” she asked hesitantly as she placed her hands on Angela’s hips.

A soft chuckle escaped the doctor. “I was thinking something more like-,” she paused and moved Fareeha’s hands to her ass, “this.”

“Oh,” she muttered before grinning devilishly. “So like this?” Fareeha asked before gripping Angela’s cheeks and bringing the doctor’s hips flush with the soldier’s abdomen, making sure to prolong the grind of Angela’s core. “Am I doing this right?” Fareeha asked in a husky voice.

Angela’s groan started deep in her chest as her eyes rolled back briefly. “Ja, just like that.” She widened her knees and settled low enough in Fareeha’s lap to continue their kiss. Whatever hesitation the soldier had before was completely gone as she quickly sought out the doctor’s tongue with her own. Angela was so lost in the sensation, she hadn’t noticed one of Fareeha’s hands following the curve of her bum lower until the soldier found a different set of lips.

A jolt of pleasure forced Angela’s hips forward as her breathing quickened. “Fuck,” she whimpered as Fareeha slowly rubbed her opening through her yoga pants.

“Still to your liking, Doctor?”

“That’s Frau Doktor to you,” she choked out as her hips began a slight rhythm.

“Hm, I’ll take that as a ‘ja,’ Frau Doktor,” Fareeha chuckled as she pressed a bit further between her lips.

Breath fled Angela’s lungs as she leaned forward against Fareeha’s chest. Her mind clouded with lust as the soldier continued her steady assault on the doctor’s core, a strong hand helping exaggerate every thrust of Angela’s hips.

“Let me know when you want more, Ange-”

“Yes! I mean- Verdammt!” Angela groaned into her ear. “Please, more.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Fareeha’s warm hands disappeared for a moment before slipping down the back of the doctor’s tight fitting pants. It feels like her fingers are scorching my skin, Angela thought with a whimper of desire. When was the last time someone touched me like this?

Soft lips attached to the side of Angela’s neck as Fareeha found the slick warmth between her thighs. Teeth nibbled gently as fingers circled and toyed with her entrance, but never dipped inside. I need- I need more, but I- I don’t want this to end.

“Liebling, please have mercy,” Angela begged breathlessly.

The soldier chuckled lightly into her neck. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about, habibti.”

Warmth blossomed in her chest and a ripple of pleasure travelled up her spine at Fareeha’s teasing. “Reeha, I’m not going to last much longer. . . I need you inside of me,” she groaned.

“Hm, I suppose I could be merciful,” the younger woman muttered as her first two fingers slipped inside the doctor to the first knuckle.

It wasn’t much, far less than Angela thought she’d get, but that small amount of penetration was enough start her walls fluttering. Her jaw dropped open as her chest heaved, leaning back to grind more firmly against Fareeha’s abdomen. A third finger slipped in and deeper as a spasm of more intense pleasure caused her to lose her rhythm briefly, before Fareeha took over and guided the doctor’s hips. Eyes rolled back as breaths became high-pitched gasps. Her hands clenching the soldier’s shoulders were the only thing grounding Angela as pleasure overwhelmed her. Wave after wave quickly reduced her to a shaking, quivering mess.

“Are you okay?” Fareeha asked softly once the older woman’s hips finally stilled.

With a fair bit of effort, Angela opened her eyes and met Fareeha’s. The soldier’s pupils were blown and her face flushed - both of which the doctor took note of before the slightly smug smile on the younger woman’s face. “I’m lovely,” she purred as she purposely clenched around the fingers still inside of her, “but I think we should continue this in my bedroom.”

Fareeha’s eyes widened slightly as her smile grew. “Lead the way,” she said as she slipped her fingers from the doctor.

Angela stood on shaky legs, but took Fareeha’s hand and pulled her along a bit impatiently. “I wonder if I can make you scream,” she mused as she opened the door.

In a surprisingly short amount of time later, with Angela nestled between the soldier’s thighs, Fareeha would learn the answer was definitely yes.

It’s better this way, the former acting king thought as he was led away by the Mabahith. My silence will save the rest of my family. Better to lose only one son than all of them.

[We’re in the clear. Our friend is pleading ignorance about everything,] Sombra’s voice said over the communicator. [He seems to have gotten the message.]

[Good, return to base,] Ogundimu responded.

[Race you to the transport, Spider?]

“I know you’re already there, Sombra” Lacroix said drily as she collapsed her rifle. Below, the limousine carrying what would have been her fourth target drove out of her line of sight.

“Are you sure about that?”

The sniper whipped around to find the hacker sitting cross-legged on top of an air-intake vent. “It’s not like you to suggest a fair competition.”

Sombra clutched her chest theatrically. “That hurts, amiga.”

“Oh, my apologies,” she said with an eye roll. With her kit packed, Widowmaker glanced back at the younger woman. “See you at the transport,” she said with a small grin before grappling to the next building.

[You cheating pendejo!]

Fareeha sighed contently as she spooned against the sleeping doctor. She’d lost track of how many fantasies she’d fulfilled this morning, but the one she was enjoying at the moment - post-coital cuddling with Angela - was the one the filled her chest with the most warmth and finally dispelled the lingering longing she’d felt ever since she first realized she loved the doctor all those years ago. Fifteen years later - it’s like no time has passed at all, she mused as she traced random patterns on Angela’s hip and stomach.

“That tickles,” the doctor muttered, voice thick with sleep.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Fareeha whispered before kissing behind her ear.

“Hmm,” she hummed happily. “What’s keeping you up?”

“It’s nothing,” Fareeha said without thinking. Angela’s skeptical hum made the soldier reconsider the question. “I guess . . . part of me is still waiting to wake up and this all to have been a dream.”

Angela rolled over to face Fareeha and propped herself up on an elbow. She smiled softly before ducking down to capture Fareeha’s lips in a slow, but deep kiss.

Just as she was beginning to think the doctor was looking for more, the soldier felt a sharp pinch above her hip. Her startled yelp caused Angela to fall back onto the bed in a fit of giggles. “Seriously?!”

“Well, you know you’re not dreaming now, right?” she chuckled.

“You’re ridiculous,” Fareeha muttered grumpily as she snuggled against Angela’s side.

“Liebling, I’m sorry,” the doctor said soothingly. “Can I make a confession?”

“Sure.”

“Do you remember your graduation from basic training?”

“When my mother purposely scheduled herself a mission so she wouldn’t be able to attend? Yeah, I remember.”

“I remember going with Jesse and Reinhardt and Reyes,” Angela said patiently. “When you and the other graduates were presented I remember thinking to myself, Verdammt! She’s not supposed to look that good in a uniform!”

“Really?” Fareeha asked sceptically.

“Ja, you had filled out during training. You weren’t a beanpole anymore - you radiated self confidence and with good reason. I think you were top of your class in nearly every category. I was caught more than a few times by Jesse leering that day - and once he figured out why, he promptly told Reinhardt and Reyes.”

“So when they all kept accidentally pushing you into me all day after the ceremony, it wasn’t necessarily because they knew I liked you-”

“That was probably part of it, but they were quite amused by my epiphany about your physical appearance.”

Fareeha grinned for a moment before another question begged to be answered. “If we both found the other attractive back then - wait, you did know I-”

“Liebling, I daresay the entire watchpoint knew.”

“Right . . . Why are we only doing something about it now?”

Angela didn’t say anything for a while, but carded her fingers through the younger woman’s hair. “You kissed me.”

“You kissed me back.”

“I did,” Angela admitted. “I guess I was afraid I couldn’t be the person you needed me to be - I was actually fairly certain I couldn’t. . . I hoped you’d find someone who could be there for you whenever you needed, someone who wasn’t hundreds of kilometers away and too busy to even consider trying to have a relationship.”

“And now?” Fareeha asked quietly.

“I suppose we’re going to have to try this long distance relationship thing people keep telling me is entirely doable.”

Fareeha chuckled softly. “It helps to have realistic expectations going into it.”

“Like what?”

“Like how often we’ll be able to see each other and how often we should call.”

“So seeing each other more than three time a year outside of work?”

“Yeah.”

“That sounds like something we should figure out after a nap,” Angela muttered through a yawn.

“Fine, as long as we figure it out eventually,” Fareeha said softly before rolling the doctor towards her onto her side. “Get some sleep, Ange,” she whispered as the doctor burrowed under Fareeha’s chin.

Later that evening, Angela sat on her patio overlooking the city, staring at the unlit cigarette between her fingers. Slowly and deliberately, she slipped it back in the half-empty pack and placed it by the unused ashtray.

A gentle smile spread across Fareeha’s face ten minutes later when she stepped outside to check on the doctor. Eyes closed and breathing deeply, Angela was meditating, her cigarettes long forgotten. “Dinner’s ready.”

“Finally,” she teased as she unfolded her legs and grabbed pack and lighter.

“Quitting alreading?” Fareeha asked as the doctor led the way back inside.

Angela shrugged as she tossed the cigarettes in kitchen garbage. “I wanted to be able to taste your meal.”

“I’m honored.”

Nightmares, flashes of intense anxiety, and nicotine withdrawal peppered Angela’s week of recovery, but with Fareeha nearby to provide support, the doctor’s mental state quickly improved. Endless affection, home-cooked meals, and meditation seemed to be just what Angela needed . . . that and sex.

“I’ve always wanted to take you like this,” Angela admitted with a grin as she slipped the slippery toy between Fareeha’s folds. “The strong and stoic soldier on her hands and knees . . .” she slid the dildo along the younger woman’s clit and entrance, “getting thoroughly fucked by a much smaller woman.” Fareeha’s low moan had Angela grinning widely until the vibrator inside herself sprang to life.

“Don’t get too cocky, Frau Doktor,” the captain chuckled. “You gave me this remote, but you didn’t say how I should use it.”

Angela let out the shaky breath she’d been holding as she adjusted to the weak stimulation. “I have complete confidence in your intuition - it’s gotten us this far.”

“So if I were to suddenly crank it to max-”

The doctor’s hips jerked forward violently as she tensed up before Fareeha dropped the intensity back to the lowest setting in a fit of sniggering giggles.

Angela pulled herself off the soldier and slapped her ass just hard enough to sting. “Liebling, I have no problem teasing you until you beg,” she said in a menacing voice.

Fareeha hoped the doctor hadn’t noticed the way her hips jerked impatiently at the slap. “Is that a threat or a challenge?”

The blonde’s soft laughter should have been warning enough, “Oh, Fareeha. For you, it is a promise.” The harnessed toy was back between the soldier’s folds, sliding in long strokes. “Tell me, liebling, is there a certain type of pain that arouses you or will anything do?”

Shit, Fareeha thought. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she muttered.

“Oh? So this,” she used her free hand to scratch up along the back of Fareeha’s thigh, “does nothing for you?”

“Nope,” the soldier groaned in a strangled voice.

“Hm, how about this?”

Blunt nails trailed firmly from between her shoulder blades to the small of her back. “If it does something for you, than feel free to continue,” Fareeha panted.

“I am enjoying watching you squirm-” Angela tried to say before the vibrations inside her intensified. “Retaliation?” she moaned.

“I just don’t want you to get bored.” Fareeha tried to take calming breaths while Angela was distracted, but with the toy’s constant simulation of her clit and entrance, she didn’t accomplish much. “Too much, Ange?”

“I was about to ask you the same,” she chuckled breathlessly. “Do you want me inside you, yet?”

Fareeha bit her lip, “Does it count as begging?”

“I suppose not, since I brought it up.” The toy stopped at the younger woman’s entrance.

“Yeah.” The head of the toy slowly pushed inside just enough to stretch slightly before withdrawing. At first Fareeha thought the doctor was going slowly to avoid hurting her, but after the fifth stroke with only the bell-shaped head of the toy entering her, she began to have her doubts. “Ange?”

“Yes, liebling?”

“You can go deeper, you know?”

“I could.”

Fareeha sighed and fought the urge to bring her hand between her legs and rub her clit for more stimulation. “Do you need encouragement?”

“What do you have in-” Her breath caught in her chest as the doctor jerk forward with an increase to the vibrations inside her. “Impatient, aren’t we?” she moaned.

The toy now half sheathed inside Fareeha, the soldier smiled and pushed herself back against Angela to bring it deeper. “I’m not ready to beg yet.”

“Then I need to try harder.” The blonde bent over Fareeha and slipped her fingers on either side of her clit. “I have another question for you, liebling.”

“Yeah?” The doctor’s long and frustratingly slow thrusts were testing her patience.

“I told you I’ve thought about taking you like this. Have you thought about this, too? Or have you imagined yourself in control?” Her fingers began moving in gentle circles over the sensitive bud.

If Fareeha’s face hadn’t already been flushed from arousal, it would have been now. A decade and a half of fantasies - of course I’ve thought of nearly this exact situation . . . but I’ve also thought of another, more erotic one. “I’ve thought about both,” she admitted, “but I’m particularly fond of one . . . where I take you from behind.”

Angela’s soft chuckle filled the air and sped up her thrusts just a bit. “I’m not surprised.”

“The thought of thrusting into your perfect ass . . . while I’m three fingers deep in you has gotten me a off more than a few times,” Fareeha panted.

Angela froze in surprise and bent further over the soldier, muttering obscenities in multiple languages as she tried to temper her excitement.

“Need some help?” Fareeha asked with a smug smile.

Deep, shaking breaths seemed to be doing little to help the doctor. “You’re looking for something a bit harder and faster, right?” she whimpered.

“I wouldn’t mind.”

“Good.” The nails on the hand gripping Fareeha’s hip bit into skin as Angela’s hips drew back before quickly meeting her hips. “Harder?”

“If you can handle it,” the soldier said with a grin.

A low growl was the doctor response as she slammed their hips together, the fingers on Fareeha’s clit working a bit firmer and faster.

“Fuck, that’s perfect,” Fareeha groaned as she met each of Angela’s thrusts. “Just like that.” She heard the doctor give a soft moan. “You’re perfect - don’t stop.” The thrusting sped up a tic with Angela’s breathing. “I’m so close-” Her walls fluttered around the toy. “Oh, fuck,” she groaned. Just as Fareeha was about to fall into a more intense orgasm, Angela pulled back. “What-” A sharp slap to her ass sent her body spiraling into pleasure. She was vaguely aware of the doctor continuing to thrust roughly into her, extending the orgasm before remembering the remote to Angela’s vibrator. She quickly maxed it out.

“Gott!” the doctor choked as she buried the cock as deep as it could go. Short, quick thrusts rapidly drove her over the edge at last - the constant simulation of the vibrator prolonged the feeling, leaving Angela gasping for breath.

“Liebling, please,” she whimpered tiredly. “Enough.”

“Oh, right,” Fareeha muttered as she fumbled with the remote. With the vibrations halted, Angela collapsed forward onto the soldier’s back. “Are you okay?”

“Ja, tired,” she mumbled.

Carefully, Fareeha lowered herself onto her stomach while balancing the doctor on top of her. “If you pull out of me, I can help you out of the harness.”

“Who says I’m done with you yet?” she muttered with a small fit of giggles.

“You do,” Fareeha sighed with a smile. “You get very giggly when drunk or exhausted. I’m pretty sure you’re too far gone for round two.”

“Fine.” Clumsily, Angela pulled away before flopping onto her back on the bed beside Fareeha.

About poke at the doctor’s lack of grace, Fareeha’s words died in her throat as she watched the pink silicone cock bounce side-to-side.

The soldier’s snort of laughter forced Angela to open her tired eyes. “What?”

Using a single finger, Fareeha pulled the tip of the dildo towards her before letting it go, causing it to bounce violently.

“Seriously, liebling?”

“What? It’s hilarious! Physical comedy is the best type of comedy!”

“Not your silly puns?”

“They are pretty good, but come on. Are you telling me you don’t find that even remotely amusing?”

Angela gave her hips a shake and watched the toy wiggle. “Okay, it’s a little funny.”

“I knew it,” Fareeha muttered with a grin as she loosened the straps around the doctor’s thighs. “Did it live up to your expectations?” she asked tapping the cock.

“I didn’t make you beg,” Angela pouted lightly. “I suppose that means we’ll have to try it again . . . or perhaps I should let you have a turn with it. You seem to have put some thought into your fantasy.”

Fareeha felt her face warm considerably as she pulled the harness down the doctor’s legs. “Only if you’re up for it.” She crawled back up Angela’s body and settled on top of her. “What do you want?” she muttered against her lips before kissing her gently.

“You.” Warm arms wrapped around Fareeha as the kiss deepened. Hips and legs shifted until they both had a thigh to grind against. Breaths came hot and heavy as Angela’s nails scratched down the soldier’s back to her bum. Moans filled the air as their movements took on a near frantic pace. Fareeha hit her high first, breaking the kiss and groaning into the doctor’s shoulder.

“Do you need help?” Fareeha asked after a moment, slipping her hand between them.

Angela nodded impatiently, hips still grinding on Fareeha’s thigh. Light, rapid circles over the bundle of nerves between the doctor’s lips stilled her hips as her back arched off the bed.

Fareeha propped herself up higher to give Angela more freedom of movement . . . and to watch the doctor tease one of her own nipples. Lower lip between her teeth, Angela was close and with her breasts arched up the way they were, Fareeha felt it would be a crime not to give the ignored one the attention it deserved.

“Aaaah!” Angela groaned as Fareeha’s teeth nibbled lightly on her nipple. It was enough to start tremors of pleasure radiating from her pelvis. Several vocal moments later, Angela finally collapsed back onto the bed.

“Better?” Fareeha chuckled as she pulled the doctor into arms.

“Too far gone for round two,” she muttered with a sleepy laugh.

“You proved me wrong, habibti.” Fareeha admitted warmly. “Let’s get some rest.” She pulled the sheets over them and let sleep begin to relax her mind and body.

“Verdammt!”

“What’s wrong?” Fareeha muttered in confusion as Angela wriggled out of her arms.

“The vibrator.” she huffed in annoyance as she shuffled towards the bathroom.

“Wha- Oh.” A fit of giggles over took the soldier.

Angela turned back and glared, “You should probably get up, too. I don’t want you getting a UTI with two days of our time off remaining.”

Fareeha sighed, “Ja, Frau Doktor,” as she headed toward the guest bathroom.

Dinner with Dr. Muller was enjoyable and largely uneventful until dessert.

“Angie.”

“Hm?” she hummed as she took another bite of tiramisu.

“That’s my leg, not the captain’s.”

“Verdammt!” she whispered as her face went scarlet before burying it in her hands. “Lars, I’m so sorry.”

He chuckled and patted her back fatherly. “I suppose it’s my fault for talking up so much space under such a small table. Have you two been playing footsie through the entire meal?”

Fareeha was barely holding in her laughter as she looked to the younger doctor.

“Maybe,” Angela admitted as she dropped her hands.

“Mein Gott - does that mean you’re finally dating?”

Angela looked shyly at Fareeha before nodding.

“Good for you! It’s about time, too.”

“Lars!”

“What?” he chuckled. “How many times have you told me you’re too busy for a relationship over the years? This means Captain Amari can take over the job of worrying about you.”

“Are you really capable of not worrying about me, Lars?”

“No, but I feel better knowing someone else is, too.”

Fareeha smiled softly, “I have been for years. I almost feel like there should be a support group for us. Like for when Angela does something ridiculous like head to Turkey during their civil war.”

“I didn’t sleep well the entire time she was there,” Lars laughed with a shake of his head.

“I can take care of myself,” Angela pouted.

“That’s not the point,” Fareeha said patiently. “When you purposely put yourself in harm’s way, the people who care about you will worry.”

“It’s a good thing, Angie,” Lars reassured her.

The day of their many flights brought with it a fresh bout of anxiety for the doctor. It seemed no amount of sex or mediation that morning could loosen the knot in her stomach.

“How are you doing, habibti?” Fareeha asked softly as they settled into their seats for their first flight.

“I’ve been better,” Angela admitted before beginning to take slow, deep breaths.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” she whispered as she took the doctor’s clammy hand.

Angela managed a small smile. “I know.”

“There’s the slacker!”

Fareeha looked around the helipad and spotted Tariq and Saleh standing with Angela’s team. “Funny, I seem to recall you two getting time off the same time I did.”

“Yeah, but two days less than you,” Tariq sarcastically moped as he embraced her. “Please tell me you and the doc are sorted out,” he whispered.

The captain blushed and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, we’re sorted.” Beside them, Angela was being thoroughly examined by her nurse.

“Fatima, I’m fine,” the doctor said as she tried to bat the older woman’s hands from either side of her face.

“Oh, I’ve never heard that from you before. Your nose seems properly set. How is your hand?”

“It’s fine,” she laughed in exasperation.

The nurse frowned at her for a moment before pulling Angela into another hug. Quiet words were said and the doctor relaxed into the embrace.

“Captain, it’s good to see you,” Dr. Sobek greeted with a firm handshake after Saleh’s hug. “Am I going to have to keep an eye on you and Angela or can the two of you keep your hands to yourselves while on duty?”

“Neil!” the blonde shouted.

“Oh my, her face gets quite red, doesn’t it,” he laughed as he dragged Angela into a hug. “I suppose I’d better be careful or you’ll put me in my place.”

“I won’t hesitate,” she said with a wide smile before moving to greet Ahmed. “It’s good to be back.”

A temperate breeze blew through the open balcony door as Dr. O’Deorain settled into her favorite chair with her tablet and two fingers of whiskey. If she wanted her team’s latest research to be published next month, she needed to finish proof-reading their submission tonight.

At least Reyes and his comrades are finally gone. I should have that room thoroughly swept for bugs . . . as well as my lab just to be safe.

A short buzz drew her eyes from her work to her phone. If this is Sombra again, I may have to consider changing my number. Screen illuminated, Moira froze for a moment as she noticed the identity of the sender. Angela Ziegler, it has been awhile.

[Qui cum canibus concumbunt cum pulicibus surgent]

“He who lies down with dogs, will rise up with fleas. Just as pretentious and self-righteous I see.” She stood and took her phone to the balcony and contemplated how to respond. On the lake below, yachts drifted lazily as the lights of the city reflected off the water’s surface.

Working with Talon had always been a risk, one that usually worked well in her favor - the fews times it hadn’t involved Angela in one way or another.

Moira stared at her screen for a moment longer before switching off the phone. We said all there was to say years ago. No need to revisit the past. With one last look at the lake, Moira returned to her chair, sipped her whiskey, and went back to reviewing.

A/N: That’s it. No more - this thing was 25 pages by the time I cut myself off. I did think about putting in a scene with Moira getting passive aggressive texts from Angela, but this is enough. I typed that and got angry at myself for not doing that scene and put in that last bit after all - I think I have a problem.

So a few notes about why I did what I did:

I prefer my Mercy assertive for a couple of reasons. First, she’s a surgeon. While that doesn’t mean all surgeons are self-assured pricks, they do need to be confident enough in their abilities to know they probably won’t kill their patients. Second, she travels the world (war zones), meeting and helping new people - it would be a difficult thing accomplish if she couldn’t stand up to pressure and resistance for governments and combative locals. Third, she carries a weapon and uses it responsibly.

Pharah, in my mind, was a hot-head youth who mellows with age as the world sees her as her own person and not as her mother’s daughter. (I think that’s how just about everyone writes her.)

Ana teaches Angela Krav Maga - I like the fighting style, that’s the only reason I picked it.

Angela fights a couple of drugged/brainwashed jerks because I wanted to write battle Mercy sans blaster and I needed practice writing hand-to-hand combat.

I’m an awkward person so my main characters are also a little awkward. I also don’t write a lot of smut so . . . yeah, I’m not really sure how I feel about the execution of those scenes.

I’ll probably write more pharmercy in the future, but I’ve gotta get back to my korrasami story first. Thanks for reading!

#pharmercy #fanfiction #angela ziegler #fareeha amari #Overwatch #moira o'deorain

20 notes · View notes

prorevenge · 7 years

Text

Have fun finding six new receptionists!

This is VERY long, I'm sorry in advance. This story if kind a continuation to the one I posted previously on prettyrevenge. (read it first if you haven’t) TL;DR for that post, one of my coworkers never did her job correctly and I had to end up picking up her slack. Other employees noticed, we decided once our boss was back from vacation we'd speak to her about the slacking coworker. (tl;dr of this post is at the end)

Our office had a rotation of eight receptionists, two of which were full time and the rest of us worked part time shifts. We had varied hours, but were open seven days a week ranging from the standard 9-5 to 9-9 certain days of the week. Depending on the day, we had up to two people up at reception. It was a medical office (we did X-rays, CT scans, MRIs etc.) so if we were given any type of paperwork, it needed to be scanned into our system the same day for insurance purposes.

Now, my slacking coworker (let's call her Marilyn) all but refused to scan anything in, and waited for whoever was relieving her to pass off her paperwork to them. This was dangerous, honestly. There were certain patients that could have been diagnosed with brain tumors and her not doing her job would delay their diagnosis. Five of my coworkers and I spoke to her privately about the matter, stating that we would go to our boss if Marilyn didn't change. She said she'd start scanning everything in from then on. That lasted for about two weeks, before she slacked off and stopped doing her job again.

Eventually three of the five of us went to our boss about it. We all explained the situation to her, that our workloads were doubling because of Marilyn's refusal to do work, that we felt it was unfair, that we felt incredibly stressed out as a result. Our boss assured it would be handled, and told us not to worry.

Another thing to note about the office - it was basically like being in high school again. It was mostly women working, most of whom were 30-40's, but acted like teenagers. There was a lot of gossiping and a LOT of passive aggressive behavior. Like, if someone wanted to order lunch they would purposefully NOT tell one person or a group of people because s/he was mad at them that day. It was just weird and childish, and I was lucky not to get caught in the crossfire. Until the day I told my boss.

You see, we left the door open as we were explaining the situation. Unfortunately, that meant that the billing department (which consisted of three people who were all busybodies) could hear everything, as they were right next door. One of them was quick to call up Marilyn and let her know what we had done. Marilyn was called into our boss' office later that day, and when she returned she looked LIVID. She immediately went to the administrative staff and told them all what had happened, claiming that the part-timers had some kind of personal vendetta against her for no reason (????) and how she was a victim in all of this.

She then made it her personal mission to try and make our work lives miserable, which included:

encouraging the rest of the staff to not speak with us. This didn't work for the most part, but there was definitely a lot of coldness from a few people on the administrative staff.

taking 30 min bathroom breaks when she worked with one of us, and just disappearing altogether if a rush of people walked in.

she refused to physically speak to us. Instead, she would send an email for a request ("can you please stop swallowing your water so loudly?") while we were sitting RIGHT next to each other.

making sure we never got invited to lunch orders, happy hours, dinner parties, etc.

taking any mementos we had posted on the walls and replacing them with pictures of her children

constantly printing out and doing things for her personal life, but if she caught one of us doing the same she would immediately tell the administrative staff.

If anything, this brought all of us closer together. We wouldn't have gone to the work happy hour anyway, since we were all hanging out together elsewhere. We all had our frustrating Marilyn stories, but we all also worked part time and in varying degrees of finishing schooling, so it didn't really matter what she pulled. We were all careful to document what we could, as well. Any particularly nasty emails were forwarded to our personal accounts, we had a running log of breaks she took, etc.

However, she somehow convinced the administrative staff to shorten all of our hours. I went from about 20 hours a week to 10. The two other people who had gone to the boss were in similar boats, while the ones who had been frustrated with Marilyn but unable to make the meeting suddenly had their workloads doubled. We were ALL angry at this point, because no one wanted the hours they were receiving. When we asked the staff why the hours had changed so drastically, they said it had been approved by our boss after a few weeks of monitoring our work performance. Basically, we were fed bullshit. On top of that, the yearly raise I was supposed to receive had not been implemented due to my 'poor work performance', which again, bullshit.

Once again, we went to our boss - this time all five of us. Instead of listening to us, looking at all our evidence we had against Marilyn, letting us explain how toxic of a work environment it had become - she completely blew us off and told us that either we do our work or we find somewhere else to be employed. Later on that week, I overheard her talking to a girl in the billing department about how Marilyn was going to come over to boss' house that weekend and cut her hair free of charge. The 180 in my boss' attitude suddenly made sense.

Following the meeting with my boss, my coworkers and I had a little gathering. I had been planning on quitting the job soon anyway, as I was starting graduate school. Of my four other coworkers two were going back to nursing school, one had found a full time job elsewhere, and the other was just sick of this shit. We all played it cool for about a week, and then one by one handed in our letters of resignation. All saying that we were quitting on the same date. And another receptionist decided she was going back to school for her MBA, so she quit as well. From eight receptionists, our office was now down to two.

Only two receptionists had the ability to work past 5pm - they both quit. No more late night appointments. I was the receptionist that worked on Sundays. Can't be open seven days a week now. Our boss practically begged three of us to change our mind, or at least change the date of resignation so she could have more time to find replacements. No dice. By my estimate, by the time they manage to find and train all the people they need, they will have lost at least $50,000 between not working certain hours and days.

Instead of having a party the day of the resignation as is expected, the entire administration was too busy trying to find six receptionists to train and employ. We didn't mind though - we had our own celebration at a restaurant, and made sure to invite the staff members we actually liked.

This all happened about six months ago. Last I heard, the administration quickly realized just how lazy Marilyn was and decreased her pay and hours as a result. The newer receptionists can barely last a month before quitting due to how bad the work environment is, and they still haven't found anyone to work weekends or late nights.

And remember how I mentioned that Marilyn would frequently do her personal work at her desk? Well, turns out she was filling out forms to get her children free lunches at school one day while I was working with her. Also turns out that she lied on the forms, stating her husband was the only one in the family that worked to ensure they were under the amount of money needed to be eligible for the program. It just so happens that the vice principal of the school received a call from someone to let them know that Marilyn was lying about being unemployed and had no qualms giving out Marilyn's work address and hours. I know for a fact that her kids were kicked off this list, given that the VP called me back to confirm it. :)

TL;DR: my coworker refused to do her job, created a toxic work environment, and convinced administration to cut our hours. Almost the entire receptionist team quit as a result, and I also got her kids kicked off free meal program they shouldn't have been on in the first place.

(source) (story by ftwipftfiy)

#prorevenge #by ftwipftfiy #pro revenge stories #revenge stories #pro #revenge

2K notes · View notes

eyesaremosaics · 6 years

Note

Feminist film recommendations?

Hmm interesting question anon. I will list some of my personal favorites (in no particular order) hopefully you enjoy them.

1. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

I felt like there was fire in my veins walking out of the cinema. Not only is Charlize Theron’s Furiosa a total badass, but the best thing is that it’s not just her. To have such a range of women portrayed equally and beautifully was so uplifting. Women caring for each other, lifting each other and fighting hard for what is right. We need more of that, both in Hollywood and in life.

2. The color purple (1985)

Read this book in high school, about a sisterhood of women, all standing together against the racism and sexism that they face and somehow coming out on top. It’s an inspiring story of women coming together in the face of adversity.

3. Gone With the Wind (1939)

Scarlett was the most coveted female film role of all time. Despite the films obvious flaws as a result of the time period in which it was made, overall this is a feminist parable. Scarlett is above all else–a survivor. She never gives up, digs her heels in, rolls up her sleeves and does it. She faces adversity with admirable courage. Despite the fact that she is a terribly flawed human being, you can relate to her. She sets her mind to something and she does it, whether it’s dragging her family out of poverty or eating as much BBQ food as she damn well likes. Her flaws make her human, which adds richness to the overall story. Scarlett has inspired me to persevere at the darkest of times. When all hope seems lost, “tomorrow is another day.”

4. Erin Brockovich (2000)

I love Julia Roberts, and this movie stands out as one of her best in my opinion. A single mother, fallen on hard times, but somehow holding everything together. Making the best of a bad situation, an eternal realist. Portraying a woman as much more than she appears. She uncovers some dark secrets (chemicals leaked into the sewer systems) which led an entire community to develop terminal illness. She works tirelessly to expose those responsible and find justice for those who can’t help themselves. My favorite line is when this bitchy secretary says: “maybe we got off on the wrong foot here.”“Yeah lady because that’s all you got, two wrong feet and fucking ugly shoes.” Bahahaha

5. Suffragette (2015)

Tells the story of the women’s right movement at the turn of the last century. It taught me to stand up for myself, and for women everywhere. Very proud to have that as a part of our history. Incredibly grateful to all the women who fought tirelessly, endured persecution, humiliation, incarceration to ensure my right to vote.

6. Pocahontas (1995)

Pocahontas is VERY loosely based on the true story. Disney took a lot of liberties here which mask the horror of early American history and its impact on the native Americans. HOWEVER, what I like about her characterization in this film… Is that she was strong, rebellious, bold, adventurous, and wise. She went wherever the wind took her, a true free spirit. She was graceful, and kind in ways other Disney princesses were not. The purity of her heart and the message she had to bring, stopped a war. She is a warrior, but not one that fights with weapons, she fights with love. In the end she chose herself and her duty to her people over a man. I wanted to be just like her when I was a little girl watching this in the theater, and she still inspires me today, nearly 20 years later.

7. Fried green tomatoes (1992)

I watched this film when I was in high school, with low expectations and was very surprised to discover how moved I was. A story of two women, finding empowerment within oneself. The main character listens to a story from an elderly woman and learns how to love herself. I believe it’s important to encourage other women and learn from each other.

8. Obvious child (2014)

Jenny Slate’s character has an abortion after a one night stand with a guy she actually really likes. However, she knows she isn’t prepared for it and chooses to terminate the pregnancy. There’s great friendship and family in the film and it really helps to destigmatise abortion.

9. Wild (2014)

The book is arguably better, but the film is worth watching. A woman goes out and hikes one of the worlds longest trails, on a mission to find herself and to prove that she can finish what she starts. Finding herself on the elements, and getting clarity. Very freeing and inspiring.

10. Kill Bill 1 & 2 (2003)

Uma Thurman is a boss, and everyone knows it. She is so vice tally connected to her inner life as an actress, always enjoy watching her. These films are what she is most known for nowadays, and for good reason. It’s a story of revenge. A woman is almost murdered by the man she loved, pregnant with his child. Wakes up in a hospital, having been in a coma for years. Suffered all kinds of indignities, she willed herself to walk again. Dragged herself by her fingernails until she could rise up, strengthen her skills as a warrior, and set out to settle old scores. She takes each person down one by one, yet you still find the humanity behind each character and the reasons why they did what they did and became who they were. It’s about survival, perseverance, and ultimately in the end–forgiveness. Leaving the past behind, to start over again.

11. She’s beautiful when she’s angry (2014)

It’s a documentary about the feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s, with interviews with many of the women who were part of it. Sure, it makes you angry to see injustice, but it’s also highly uplifting to see what these women did, and how it paved the way for equality forty to fifty years later. These women were, and still are, amazing figures who haven’t stopped fighting.

12. How to make an American quilt

A group of older women reflecting on their lives around a quilting table. Each of their stories are so inspiring, and the way they all come together to heal from their traumas is very powerful. Winona Ryder’s character (Finn) is experiencing a late twenties crisis of identity, and is unsure about wether or not to get married to her long term fiancée. Listening to the lives of all these women helps bring perspective and clarity to her. Life is never black and white, life is like a quilt. You build as you go along.

13. Frida

This Selma Hayek-fronted, Academy Award-winning biopic of the feminist icon portrays the artist in a whole new light. It’s amazing to watch the story of any incredible historic figure succeed against the odds, but double if said figure is also a woman and shot so beautifully by Julie Taymor.

14. The hours (2002)

This film follows three women as their lives weave in and around the narrative of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway. The multi-generational movie shows how people are connected through time by similar angst, anxieties, and personal struggles.

15. The Stepford wives (1975)

What happens to women when things are too perfect? The answer might make their husbands happy, but the truth behind what is happening in this ideal-seeming suburb is nothing short of horrifying.

16. Miss Representation (2011)

A documentary on the way women are treated and portrayed in the media, this film broke open the truth behind the images women and young girls are force fed on a daily basis. Start your watching here, if you can, and then continue on to these other films to see how much has and hasn’t changed.

17. North Country (2005)

A fictionalized account of the first majorly successful sexual harassment case in the United States, this film follows the female miners who fought for their right to work without suffering the abuse their male coworkers heaped on them because of their gender.

18. The Headless Woman, Lucrecia Martel

New Argentine Cinema figure Lucrecia Martel draws connections to the country’s dark political/class struggles, transposing its “disappeared” from the mid-to-late ‘70s into a sedate, challenging story about a woman’s fractured state following a fatal accident and its ensuing cover-up.

18. Princess Mononoke, Hayao Miyazaki

A thread of feminism weaves itself through the work of Hayao Miyazaki. Perhaps his most mature film, Princess Mononoke features a memorable and tenacious heroine, San, who subverts feminine stereotypes and is written without the fanciful quirks commonly found in animation. She is serious and single minded. Grounded to the earth, living in the moment. She is totally present, and pure. Even her rage comes from a pure unadulterated place. Wolf-goddess character Moro deserves attention as an unlikely mother figure that is fierce and, well, totally pissed off (you would be too if people were destroying your home), but also wise and nurturing. Fighting for what’s right, against impossible odds. Being humbled by nature, the ultimate female reclamation. So many layers in this film.

19. Dogfight, Nancy Savoca

A rare film set during the Vietnam War and told from the perspective of a woman, Nancy Savoca’s Dogfight reveals a different kind of cruelty people inflict upon one another, off the battlefield — in this case, a group of misogynistic Marines using women in a contest of looks. Lili Taylor’s peace-loving Rose, who becomes one of the targets in this game, soon realizes she’s being courted by River Phoenix’s Eddie for the wrong reasons — though his guilt and seemingly genuine interest in Rose is apparent. Rose confronts Eddie about the game, defending the honor of all women involved, which winds up bringing them closer together.

20. Alien, Ridley Scott

She’s not a sidekick, arm candy, or a damsel to be rescued. She isn’t a fantasy version of a woman. The character is strong enough to survive multiple screenwriters. She was lucky enough to be played by Sigourney Weaver,” said Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America President John Scalzi of Ellen Ripley from 1979’s Alien. Defying genre cinema’s gender clichés (she is gender neutral, really) as the clear-minded, intelligent, and capable officer of the ship Nostromo, Ripley is more resourceful than the men who employ her and steps in to take over when all hell breaks loose.

21. Orlando, Sally Potter

Our own Judy Berman recently highlighted Tilda Swinton’s performance in Potter’s adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s satirical text that explores gender and artistic subjectivity, a project that was ambitious in both form and content:

“Although it’s far more straightforward a narrative than most of her work, Virginia Woolf’s Orlando still presents one major challenge for the big screen: its protagonist is a nobleman in Elizabethan England who lives a life that spans centuries, and is suddenly transformed into a woman midway through it. Tilda Swinton may be the only (allegedly) human actor equipped to play the role of such a regal, mysterious androgyne, and her performance in this adaptation — also a breakthrough for director Sally Potter — became her signature.”

22. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Jacques Demy

Celebrated for its vivid milieu, Jacques Demy’s sensitively characterized film is a superior look at an independent woman (Catherine Deneuve) in a romantic narrative who makes difficult choices about marriage, children, and survival that sometimes leave her alone — but she is never lonely because of that.

23. Daisies, Vera Chytilová

The young women in Vera Chytilová’s Czech New Wave farce “construct fluid identities for themselves, keenly aware of their sexuality, toying with the men who pursue them. It’s an exhilarating, surreal, anarchic experiment, framed by the turbulent 1960s.

24. Daughters of the Dust, Julie Dash

Julie Dash directed the first feature film by an African-American woman distributed theatrically in the United States in 1991 — a stunningly captured look at three generations of Gullah women off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia in 1902.

25. Meshes of the Afternoon, Maya Deren

The bar for avant-garde female filmmaking, born from personal experiences and anxieties. Maya Deren’s 1943 experimental classic builds its interior female perspective and constructs of selfhood through dreamlike imagery.

26. The Passion of Joan of Arc, Carl Theodor Dreyer

Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum on Carl Theodor Dreyer’s crowning achievement, released in 1928, that still painfully echoes contemporary cases of female oppression — the film’s silent context taking on an unintentional resonance:

“Carl Dreyer’s last silent, the greatest of all Joan of Arc films… . Joan is played by stage actress Renee Falconetti, and though hers is one of the key performances in the history of movies, she never made another film. (Antonin Artaud also appears in a memorable cameo.) Dreyer’s radical approach to constructing space and the slow intensity of his mobile style make this ‘difficult’ in the sense that, like all the greatest films, it reinvents the world from the ground up. It’s also painful in a way that all Dreyer’s tragedies are, but it will continue to live long after most commercial movies have vanished from memory.”

#asks #feminist #feminism #cinema #feminist film #feminist cinema

24 notes · View notes

kingdomheartsloversstuff · 7 years

Text

Light of Lothal Chapter 10- Mr. Muttonchops

Lyste is left to take care of Dev while Kallus is on Lasan and works to find a way to cheer him up.

Read it on AO3

<<Previous Next>>

Lyste had hoped Dev would relax and finally get some much needed rest as the day progressed. Sadly, it seemed Dev only got more nervous, and sure something terrible had happened to Kallus. Lyste had attempted to explain that it was not uncommon for Kallus to be unable to talk for days during a mission and that he shouldn’t worry. His assurances however fell on deaf ears. He continued to insist that Kallus was ‘in trouble’ because of him. Lyste couldn’t even begin to imagine why Dev believed that, all he knew was he could not get into contact with Kallus and it seemed he would be the only one who could convince Dev that wasn’t the case.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lyste watched Dev as he unenthusiastically shoved his food around on his plate with his fork, heavy bags under his eyes that seemed to physically drag him down. It seemed every time the poor boy started to find some shred of happiness something else happened to drag him back down again. It was painful watching a child go through this, even worse seeing how apathetic to his suffering everyone seemed to be.

No one could be bothered with the plight of one child, no one understood why Lyste and Kallus cared so much about one child. If Lyste was honest, at first he did this because Kallus wanted to help the boy and he would do anything for Kallus. But then he got to know Dev, started to see how much suffering he went through at the hands of the Empire. Saw how much everyone needlessly suffered while the Empire, while he, turned a blind eye.

“I’m not hungry,” Dev mumbled, gently pushing the plate away from himself.

“Alright,” Lyste sighed, noting he’d barely touched his food. Lyste’s datapad beeped, signaling he’d received a message. Confused, Lyste picked up his datapad and opened it, quickly reading over the report. There had been another attack from a group of Rebels at one of their supply caches and he was needed to report in immediately. “It looks like I have to go out to town for important business…will you be alright by yourself in your room?”

“I….guess…” Dev mumbled, clearly looking uncomfortable with it. Though Lyste wouldn’t have minded bringing Dev along, he wasn’t sure how safe it would be for him with Rebels running amuck. Though Lyste had to wonder how safe Dev would really be in an Imperial building.

The pair silently made their way through the halls, ignoring the annoyed glares thrown their way. They just didn’t understand, why though was beyond Lyste. How could they look at a child and see him as an annoyance? He was a child, what did they expect from him? Lyste opened the door for Dev and said,

“If you need anything don’t hesitate to comm me.”

“Okay,” Dev mumbled as he wondered over to his room, the door sliding shut behind him. Lyste shut and locked the main doors to Dev and Kallus’s quarters before making his way to the hanger. Lyste hoped this incident wouldn’t take too long.

-----

The marketplace was surprisingly crowded given a rebel attack had recently happened, but he supposed the people still needed to make a living, regardless of the danger to them. Lyste soon found himself extremely grateful most of the stalls where still open. As he fought his way through the crowds, he found himself stumbling into one of the many stalls, which happened to sell an array of plush animals, drawing his attention. Dev had lost everything when his parents were arrested, he might appreciate something soft to cuddle when he was lonely at night…

“Good evening sir I- o-oh!” The stall owner, an elderly Rodian stammered, fear crossing her face at the sight of Lyste.

“Good evening ma’am,” Lyste said, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible as he examined the array of plush animals, his eyes drawn to a plush Loth Cat. “How much for the Loth Cat?” The poor Rodian, stunned by the question, stammered out a price, wincing in fear. The price was a little higher than expected, but given the state of the Rodians attire, Lyste could only assume to poor owner was desperate for some funds.

“Here you are,” Lyste said, pulling out the needed credits and handing them to the stunned shop owner. Wordlessly she handed Lyste the plush who tucked it under his arm before nodding his head at her. “Goodnight ma’am.” Hurrying through the market before Aresko and Grint started to wonder where he was. In the grand scheme of things, he realized that buying one plush from a starving citizen wouldn’t help all that much, but every little bit counted he supposed. He just hoped one of the troopers didn’t shut her shop down because she didn’t have the proper permits, he severely doubted most if any of the shop owners held the proper permits to sell, not that those permits where very obtainable….

“Lieutenant Lyste!” Grint bellowed. “What took you so long?”

“I had to drop Dev off before coming here,” Lyste calmly explained, ignoring their snickering when they noticed the stuffed Loth Cat tucked beneath his arm, a part of him regretting not waiting to buy the plush until after he’d finished his business. Nothing he could do about that now. Instead he straightened his shoulders and tried to school his expression to something like Kallus would do when he was cross.

“You mean Kallus’s brat?” Aresko asked.

“He’s not a brat, he’s a child,” Lyste snapped. “I would hold your tongue if I was you.”

“Why’s that?” Aresko demanded.

“Kallus will have your head if he hears you talking about him like that,” Lyste icily said. “And I tell Kallus everything I hear.”

“He’s hardly my concern,” Aresko scoffed.

“I’m not afraid of him,” Grint added.

“You should be,” Lyste mumbled, stepping around them to inspect the Rebels handiwork. Twelve trooper’s dead, three walkers destroyed and all of the weapons destroyed or stolen. They could easily recover from this incident, but Governor Pryce would not be pleased none the less. “We need to increase patrols around other supply caches around the city to ensure more aren’t destroyed by these Rebels.” Lyste declared.

“Don’t tell me how to do my job,” Aresko snapped.

“I was summoned here for a reason was I not?” Lyste demanded.

“We need this cache resupplied as quickly as possible,” Aresko snapped. “That’s all.”

“You could have sent me a message instead of dragging me out here leaving Dev all alone,” Lyste grumbled.

“Why are you watching that brat?” Grint asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Aresko asked, smirking at Lyste. “It’s the lieutenant’s desperate attempts to gain Kallus’s affections is it not?”

“How dare you!” Lyste snapped, clenching his fists, entire body tense. “Kallus is my friend! I’m just trying to help!”

“Right,” Aresko drawled. “And the looks you give him, purely friendly thoughts about our agent hmm?” Lyste clenched his jaw, desperately trying to bite back a sarcastic remark and he curled into himself. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about what it would be like for Kallus to see him as more than a friend; what it would be like to be held in his arms, their bodies pressed together, their lips touching-

“That is none of your business,” Lyste snapped, glaring at Aresko.

“No, but your less then innocent intentions towards Kallus are his business are they not?” Aresko asked. “I wonder how he would react to such news?”

“If you’re trying to threaten me, it won’t work,” Lyste declared, squaring his shoulders to make himself look more intimidating then he was, an extremely difficult task given he was quite a bit shorter than the pair and not nearly as well built as Grint. Lyste refused to let that get to him however and met their sneering looks with a glare of his own.

Aresko’s smirk widened as he said, “If you feel threatened maybe you should reconsider your own actions.”

“Are we going to continue wasting time discussing my personal life or are we going to discuss the Rebel attack,” Lyste said through clenched teeth.

“As I said before there is nothing to discuss,” Aresko dismissively said. “We just need supplies from you Supply Master.”

“Fine,” Lyste said, “Send me a list of the supplies lost and I will see to it that you have what you need.” Turning on his heel and marching off. “Try not to get them destroyed again.” He threw over his shoulder with a smirk before continuing back to base.

-----

Lyste kept his head held high as he marched through the halls, ignoring the snickering from his coworkers as he walked passed them, instead focusing on what Kallus would do in a situation like this; Lyste took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, held his chin up and scowled like he’d seen Kallus do a thousand times. He imagined himself making his coworkers cower in fear at the mere sight of his scowl, lifting his spirits slightly. He might have once laughed at himself, but that was before he met Dev. Now, he shamelessly marched through the halls with a stuffed Loth Cat in his arms, not even caring what others thought of him. Go on he bitterly thought laugh at the man getting a gift for a traumatized child.

Lyste shoved the angry thoughts out of his mind and focused on the Loth Cat in his arms. Hopefully this would help Dev sleep better at night. Even if it didn’t, he hoped Dev would at least like the toy and maybe help him stave off boredom. It wasn’t much, but perhaps it would be better than nothing.

With that thought firmly in mind, Lyste knocked on the door to Kallus and Dev’s quarters, waiting for a moment before unlocking the door and stepping inside calling out, “Dev? Are you awake?” Quickly hiding the stuffed animal behind his back as the door to Dev’s room opened.

“That was fast,” Dev lifelessly said.

“I wasn’t actually needed apparently,” Lyste said with an over dramatic eye roll. “They just wanted to tell me in person they needed more supplies to replace those they got blown up.”

“Oh,” Dev said, rolling on the balls of his feet. “Did you need something from me?”

“No,” Lyste said, “I just found something I thought you might like.”

“Something for me?” Dev asked, curiosity leaking into his voice.

“Yes,” Lyste admitted, pulling the plush out from behind his back. “See I saw this little guy sitting in a booth looking so sad I thought maybe you might like a new friend and that this little guy would like a new home….what do you think?”

“For….me?” Dev asked, tentatively reaching out before quickly pulling his hands away.

“All for you,” Lyste assured, holding the plush out closer for Dev to take. “I figured, he might make a good bedtime companion.”

“Thank you,” Dev said, taking the plush and hugging it against his chest.

“Do you like him?” Lyste tentatively asked.

“I love him!” Dev exclaimed, awkwardly wrapping his arms around Lyste’s leg while still clutching the stuffed Loth Cat.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Lyste said as Dev let go of his leg. “Now all he needs is a name….maybe something to remind you of Kallus when he is away so you don’t feel so lonely?”

“Like what?” Dev asked, glancing at Lyste curiously.

“Well,” Lyste began, kneeling down so he was at eye level with Dev. “I know on one mission the locals of the planet they were visiting hadn’t seen very many humans and had trouble distinguishing them and had an even harder time with their names so they started giving them all nicknames.”

“Even dad?” Dev asked.

“Oh yea,” Lyste said. “They called him Mr. Muttonchops.”

“Mr. Muttonchops?” Dev giggled.

“Yep,” Lyste said. “Kallus was so embarrassed, he wasn’t even the one who told me, one of the boys though made sure everyone knew.”

Dev eagerly held up the Loth Cat and declared, “I shall call you, Mr. Muttonchops! Do you like your new name?” Dev giggled and shook the Loth cat’s head.

“I think he likes it.” Lyste informed him with a soft chuckle as Dev hugged Mr. Muttonchops to his chest.

“Can Mr. Muttonchops come with us to dinner?” Dev asked.

“I don’t see why not,” Lyste said, earning a bright smile from Dev. A chime announcing a visitor rang, momentarily surprising Lyste. Why would a visitor be here? Everyone knew Kallus was on a mission and Dev didn’t exactly have any friends on base. What if they found out who Dev really was…? Swallowing his fear, Lyste pressed the button to open the door, revealing a trooper Lyste didn’t recognize.

“Agent Kallus is not in at the moment,” Lyste greeted. “But I can take a message-“

“That won’t be necessary,” The trooper said. “I have a message for Dev Morgan.”

“What message?” Lyste asked, blocking Dev from his view.

“We regret to inform him of Agent Kallus’s death,” the trooper coldly informed him.

#Kallus #Agent Kallus #Ezra Bridger #Star Wars Rebels #SWR #yogar lyste #Light of Lothal

7 notes · View notes

kicksparkleaxe-blog · 5 years

Photo

From the beginning of February to April 4th, I was in intensive, in-patient treatment in acute psychiatric care at Mission Hospital Laguna Beach in the latter phrase’s domain, and Palomar Medical Center Escondido. I do not know if I have mentioned yet on this forum, but I have severe bipolar I disorder with psychotic features (though I prefer the term “manic-depression”), and complex PTSD from a near lifetime experience of emotional, physical, and sexual violence perpetrated by everyone from three childhood neighbors of relatively close age, my first serious boyfriend Jack raping me on November 10th, 2010, and numerous strangers raping me on August 23rd, 2013, (which is known colloquially as gang-rape, and in medical and psychological literature as multiple perpetrator rape or assault; also, I find “shell shock” or “rape trauma syndrome” to be more accurate).

I suppose there are some dates we unfortunately never forget. Though I’m grateful to remember dates like my April 24th, 2016 wedding anniversary perfectly, there are less savory dates where my mind grinds to a halt, and I can still feel this chill and violation in my body; (my partner JP and I eloped in a humble courthouse in Laguna Niguel or Hills that aspirational and awesome April, I can’t remember precisely, because the suburbs roll into one sometimes sullen spread).

I’ve also weathered other attempted assaults. While we were visiting for what we assumed was a business dinner, our former friend Brandon and his coworker Daryl derailed and exploited our out-of-sorts and vulnerable situation, from a dank and dreary, paradise-paltry, backroom bar adjacent to San Francisco, to a nearby Outback Steakhouse. A computer programmer named Jonathan also tried to assault me one night, when I was stone-cold sober and he was drunk at a USC student-organized, lukewarm artistic function, where he pinned me down in an interactive, poorly safety-informed, and dark exhibit room.

I also dealt with an extremely abusive relationship, psychologically and physically, with my ex-boyfriend Wade Kubat, who I was romantically entangled with for more than 2 years, beginning in early 2013 when I attended Saddleback College, a community college in Mission Viejo, California, for a year before transferring to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He is currently in a band called The Catamites, which has played a couple of times at most, and which is named in an inherently misogynistic way, as catamites are the young boy lovers that Greek philosophers kept due to abhorrence of females. Our relationship was plagued by his drug addictions primarily to heroin, but he also abused substances from meth to codeine, and imbibed hallucinogens, which I realize are not addictive inherently, but which provided sensations I believe he sought compulsively. He also cheated not only on Riley Johnson with me, (or me with Riley Johnson, as she was in San Francisco for university and I was with him the majority of the days of the week most of the time), with multiple women from Emmy Ricciardi to more. He also once feigned punching my face in front of his brother when we were in a tiff about the ownership of a guitar I had purchased for him for almost $1,000 when we were together, (we broke up and mended mediocre all the time), and I was scared he would bodily harm me, and also that he sets negative precedents for his innocent sibling. He also would tell me cutting nonsense constantly, like that my life was meaningless, and all of my suffering was instead just worthless and manipulative histrionics. I believe he projected many of his own issues onto me due to a profound paucity of self-awareness.

Wade is languishing in poverty and basically always has with a mother suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s, and a father who I believe has a drinking problem, and issues with rage and sexual inappropriateness towards myself and Wade’s “official girlfriend”, Riley Johnson, such as jokes as to whether he could “have” one of us; I do realize that this may have been a method of ethically questioning Wade’s decision to be unfaithful and inauthentic to essentially everyone he’s ever met, including himself. I feel this economic condition is the only reason Wade has never sought or received mental health treatment, as it seems clear to me based on our relatively lengthy period of time together, that he has some severe type of mental illness, and personality disorder. I offered to try to cover therapy for him when we were together, and he declined, and he also declined my offer to drive him to therapeutic appointments he was entitled to as a rape survivor; he was actually raped as a teenager, perhaps 16 or 17, by... Guess who? Riley Johnson, his “official girlfriend” depicted here, likely spending a substantial portion of her income on increasingly ridiculous and cheap-looking ensembles that betray an unfortunate allegiance to fast fashion companies that destroy the environment and workers’ lives, from illness to disasters which snuff out those flames completely.

Riley graduated in a timely manner from San Francisco State likely due to its ease as an unimpressive campus and the lack of rigor in her fashion merchandising major, and has no presence online insofar as career trajectory; based on her LinkedIn, she is still a waitress at a seafood restaurant called Pacific Catch where she met her boyfriend Zac Hannah, who goes by Premature Zaculation on Instagram, which I find a sad and precise username. Riley used to work as a salesperson in an Ugg shoe store, which is a position I guess she’s lost. Zac studied creative writing at the same school according to Facebook, which is astounding to me as an author, as I believe writing is about insight, and certainly, that is polymathic, passionate, and basically unteachable insofar as the academic environment.

Anyways, I remember that once I told Wade, and he responded positively, to my assertion “You have a pathological sense of destiny”, which I explained to him when we were at the Getty Museum in the ancient-inspired and meditative outdoor garden, after looking at the painting that reminded me most of our relationship, the Italian Renaissance-era “An Allegory of Fortune” by Dosso Dossi. The painting depicts a female Fortune resting without rest, fleet-footed and poised to possibly leave a lightly rendered bubble that reminds me of economic fiascos, and a masculine Chance with lottery tickets clutched above a golden cup, and in this mental configuration, I would be Fortune, and Wade would be Chance. My family has an abundance, and his family is abject, and one would think we’d compliment each other perfectly, but perhaps he didn’t think he deserved me at the time, or we were both too unstable, or he’s in love with himself to the point that he continually dates women who are basically his doppelgängers in a very disturbing pattern of self-melded matches from Shannon Soufflay to Julianne Glass.

I am not a clinician, but I have much experience with psychiatric/psychological diagnoses, and I believe Wade could also have bipolar I disorder or potentially schizoaffective disorder, and I am almost certain he also suffers from complex PTSD, and additionally has issues with narcissistic personality disorder. He has severe boundary issues, as evinced by one night when I was sleeping under a bedside light, and he tried to sexually assault me in my slumber, his bizarre level of benevolence when I was living in Paris as opposed to in physical proximity, (he seems to idealize the unavailable, as he was constantly confronting me about Riley’s non-existent superiority to me as a partner when it was obvious she was egocentric, damaging, and intellectually feeble), and his unwelcome liaisons with plenty of women, yet anger at me when I was dating during my summer abroad.

Anyways, that is all for now, but I included photos of my first meals prepared at home, since hospitalization and likely forever, to demonstrate that I’m majorly self-sufficient when given adequate space. My family has issues trusting me to basically care for myself, which is logical due to the severity of my disorders and how they have prevented me from self-care in the past, but I’m a very economical and efficient person, and given the wealth my family is blessed to have, I have very few constraints when it comes to expressing myself in any medium, including cooking, baking, and upkeep of the house.

I’m following a ketogenic diet to aid in my recovery, and my first night feeding myself, I oven-roasted a steak to medium-rare, and ate Brussels sprouts caramelized with balsamic vinegar and coconut oil, with Trader Joe’s mushroom medley and crushed walnuts, and had extra leftover for today. The steak was marinaded with a rub of black, garlic and Himalayan salt, and butter with thyme, rosemary, and lemon and onion spice with most ingredients sourced at Costco. For my partner’s dinner, I used the same butter to prepare pan-seared chicken thigh, more Brussel sprouts on the stove, and rainbow cauliflower mashed with miniature avocado dices. For my partners’ breakfast today, I made chicken breakfast sausage, and hash browns with the remaining butter and coconut oil, and made an omelette with 3 eggs, an avocado, red bell peppers, onions, spinach, and mushrooms. I put the leftover hash brown and sausage concoction in the refrigerator, and ate the remains of the omelette today for lunch. Also, before I cooked for my partner, I had whole fat yogurt with two tablespoons of almond butter, hemp seed helpings, muesli, and fresh raspberries for breakfast. I’ve also been partaking in decaffeinated green tea and seaweed-infused kombucha throughout the day, and will be continuing to remain well-hydrated. My partner JP is currently on Wellbutrin and is under-weight, so providing them with more highly-caloric sustenance is essential to ensure they maintain their strength.

I’ll also make a list of the vitamins and supplements I’m taking for later posting. I also purchased some organic essential oils: eucalyptus, lavender, and cypress, for use in massage, and could also use coconut oil to administer to myself and my partner, since it is anti-bacterial, so does not clog pores and is an amazingly effective moisturizer. I specifically picked eucalyptus, because I joke always that my frequently marijuana-high partner looks like a red-eyed koala when they’re all haze and daze, and they’re from Cypress in Orange County. I also bought an amber candle from Voluspa, since my preference is for warm scents. I’m currently reading “Healing Depression and Bipolar Disorder Without Drugs”. I also tagged “eating disorder”, as I suffered from binge-eating disorder as a child after my neighbors molested me, and dealt with anorexia athletica/orthorexia as a teenager, and focusing on mindfulness in food preparation and enjoyment has allowed me to deal with the truly insane fluctuations I have experienced in my weight as I’ve attempted, often futilely until now, to control my disorders.

0 notes

copperrussell-blog · 7 years

Text

A Helpful Interrogation -- [Copala feat Rajah]

In which Copper and Rajah conduct an interview with a very important person to the investigation.

@nala-calame

Further Reading: The Investigation Begins -- Copper and Taka Liars and Loopholes -- Taka and Rodmilla

[Dated June 28th]

COPPER: It had been a long three weeks since the investigation into InterPride had started. Rajah and himself were taking most of the interviews, at least here in Swynlake. The London department was handling the London office. Still, there was 194 employees top down, from the janitors to the board members, and all of them had to be interviewed.

They’d gotten through most of the bottom-feeders. Those were pretty in and out. It was only as they climbed the ladder that things were beginning to get tangled. Everyone seemed to have an opinion on Taka, many of them comparing him to his brother (and not particularly favorably in many cases). Some of them seemed frightened, but most of them just seemed--disheartened or unsurprised by the investigation.

Next on the list was Nala Calame, who had been talked about with much favor by her coworkers. Rajah and Copper both liked her too, but they also both knew that appearances could be deceiving and that they needed to set aside their personal feelings on the matter.

When she appeared in the doorway, Copper still smiled and gestured towards the chair that had been set out for her.

“Good morning, Miss Calame. We apologize for keeping you from work, hopefully this will not take long. Did you sign the nondisclosure agreement that the secretary had for you?”

The document had detailed that anything discussed here could not be discussed with anyone, especially those within the investigation. To do so could be considered an obstruction of justice and handled accordingly.

NALA AND RAJ: When Nala got the notice from the police that it was her turn to be questioned, she got the same feeling in her gut she got whenever she was around Taka at all. It made her feel a little sick, a little on edge-- like something she couldn’t put her finger on. For years, she’d tried to ignore than feeling if only because Simba loved his uncle so much. He’s so weird, Nala used to say, wrinkling her nose up. Sometimes Simba acted offended and other times he just laughed it off like Nala was joking, like of course Taka was weird, but weird in a good, friendly way-- the way that clowns could be weird.

But Nala couldn’t get rid of that creepy feeling. Over the past year that she’d returned to Swynlake, the feelings had doubled-over with guilt because Taka had been nothing but kind to her. She’d been put in an excellent position in the company. She had time to do her passion project with the Lyons Foundation. He let her hire her own interns, let her work so many hours from home after she’d shattered her knee-- he’d been nothing but a kind and fair boss to her.

Still the feeling persisted. It was wrong, Nala had been telling herself for months now. She tried to weed it out. But it crept back in always, the guilt screaming on its heel.

Now? Now--

Nala felt guilty for not listening to her gut. Now everything was suddenly suspicious to her: every smile Taka had given her, every project and favor and nicety. What if he’d been trying to hide something all along and she’d fallen for it? What if she had implicated herself in something and not realized it?

What if she was overreacting right now?

All these thoughts boiled away inside her as she arrived at the police station, led back at once to a room. She smiled at Copper and Rajah as she entered, giving a polite nod and offering to shake their hands.

“Yes, yes I did. Thank you,” she said to Copper. Then she sat down, crossing her legs at once, trying to get nestled in the chair. “I... I’ll do my best to answer any questions you have.

And Nala would-- she just didn’t know if she could.

COPPER: Copper chewed on his lip a little, glancing at Rajah as Nala settled into the chair. She was one of the first people from higher up that they were interviewing. Though, not the first person who had been around the Lyons family for so long. (In some cases, generations, even.) They hadn’t interviewed Sarabi or Simba, who besides Taka were the last remaining Lyons--at least as far as they had been able to uncover.

Nala was just about the closest thing, according to everyone else. And, she was so sweet, both Rajah and Copper thought so. The likelihood of her having anything to do with this was slim. It made him feel awful about it, it made him feel tired.

He took a few steps to the side, turning on the camera recorder in the corner.

“Thank you, that’s appreciated. And, this interview will be recorded for the records, and anything said on tape can be used in court. You may, however, ask us to stop at any time, though, you must know a note will be made that you said things off record.”

Sighing, he walked back over towards the table and sat down in one of the chairs across from Nala, lacing his fingers together and placing them on the table top.

“Now, for the easy part, just the simple things, like how long you’ve been working for InterPride, what you do for them, your relationship to Taka Lyons, your relationship with the Lyons family. Anything that you think could be of importance and we will go from there.”

NALA: The easy part?

Nala didn’t find those questions so easy. It was funny-- if she and Copp had been out for coffee or tea and he’d asked her those things, Nala would tackle the question with a splitting smile, the words bubbling to her lips without pause. And it’s not like Nala didn’t want to talk about these things now; she simply didn’t know where to start. She wanted to be concise, clear, helpful, but she wasn’t certain that she should be telling Copper the same things she would tell a friend. Or perhaps that was exactly what she was supposed to do.

Nala just didn’t want to leave anything out. Justice, to Nala, was extremely important. It was perhaps one of the most important things in the world. Her stomach was already queasy with the thought she could have obstructed justice without meaning to.

But Nala just nodded, hiding her insecurity as best as she could. That was all she had to do: do her best.

“Well-- I’ve been working at InterPride as the Associate CFO for InterPride’s Corporate Social Responsibility branch for over a year now. I think it's been about...a year and five months,” she said. “I began in January 2016. My primary responsibilities are to oversee InterPride’s initiatives to give back to the community and support projects in line with InterPride’s mission and vision to provide safe workplaces for people regardless of their Magick or Mundus status. A lot of my job involves-- overseeing contracts for expansions, making sure they meet environmental regulations and don’t contribute to gentrification of at-risk communities, balancing our CSR budget and allocating funds...planning local fundraisers sometimes,” she added, thinking about last year’s fundraiser for fairy home preservation. Though she’d come in quite late on that one, mostly handling the execution, not the planning itself.

“InterPride also lobbies Parliament and sponsors bills that support pro-Magick efforts. Sometimes I help with those efforts but my counterpart in the London office typically does that,” said Nala. “I-- also, as my own personal side project have been preparing to start the Lyons Foundation with Sarabi Lyons.”

She wracked her brain but that pretty much covered the first part of his question. Nala took another breath.

“As for my relationship with the family and with Taka...well...they raised me,” said Nala, smiling a little more. “My father was a biology teacher before he came to work at InterPride himself, in the environmental regulations department. I grew up with the Lyons. My mother and Sarabi are best friends,” explained Nala. “I...went to school with Simba, I went to university with him-- we-- we were supposed to get married actually,” she snorted. She wouldn’t have mentioned it but she was scared of including too little. “It was a sort of outdated custom, my father is a very traditional Muslim man but-- he understood when we both mutually decided to break the engagement. Um, following...Mufasa’s death, I… I went back to London and was working at a nonprofit devoted to creating new technologies to ensure clean water in developing countries...but I came back when Taka offered me this job.”

She adjusted in her chair.

“I-- didn’t know why he did but he told me he was worried about Simba and so he was moving the offices back to Swynlake to be closer to him. Simba has had a lot of trouble dealing with his father’s death so…of course I wanted to help and be there for him. Taka gave me this really amazing job, just a few years out of uni, and he’s supported the projects I’ve wanted to take on and gave me an intern. I’ve been rather happy, professionally speaking,” said Nala. And now she hesitated again.

It was that strange cognitive dissonance between her head and her heart. Her head told her that she owed Taka for everything he’d done for herself, Simba-- even Sarabi to some extent, taking over InterPride in the first place. But her heart had never liked him. Her heart found him a bit creepy, whereas Simba just found him “weird” in a “haha” way.

“Of all the Lyons though-- Taka and I have never been close,” she started slower. “I...didn’t like that...he sort of came between Simba and Mufasa’s relationship in uni and a bit in college too. Simba would always run off to his apartment,” she said, rolling her eyes a bit. “I dunno if-- that’s probably irrelevant. And I am grateful for everything he’s done for me. I’m glad that I get to work at InterPride again and live here in Swynlake and be here for the Lyons. I owe them so much.”

COPPER: All the information about her job at InterPride matched up with the information that they had on file, which Copper flicked idly through as he listened to her spiel. All the dates matched, all the titles, and responsibilities. They didn’t care about that. They didn’t think that there would be anything wrong with it, anything suspicious.

What they wanted was information on Taka, not Mr. Lyons, CEO of InterPride. So far, they hadn’t interviewed anyone who knew Taka on any sort of personal level. He didn’t go out and get drinks with his employees. He very rarely visited their offices. They saw him in meetings and occasionally stalking the halls, but to many, he was a mysterious overseer. A stark contrast to Mufasa, most reported, who had treated his employees like family. That was what they were interested in. Knowing who Taka was, building a more personal profile of the man—it would help their case.

The whole thing about the marriage was definitely…interesting, but Copper dismissed its importance, what would it have to do with Taka, anyways?

It only got interesting after Mufasa’s death, the way Nala told it. Copper sat up a little straighter, as his gut simultaneously dropped downwards.

Copper had several follow up questions, they jumped easily to his lips. Perhaps it was because he was already suspicious of Taka, maybe that was why the threads were easier to draw between Nala’s words. They all led back to one thing: Mufasa. It wouldn’t be that shocking of a story, had to be, actually, one of the oldest of mankind: brother kills brother for his power. The Fey’s Gold—now, that was the piece that wasn’t clicking. Which was frustrating, because that’s what they had evidence on. Mufasa’s death? For all intents and purposes, it really did look like an accident, and any evidence would’ve been washed away long, long ago.

“Thank you, Nala. Just a few follow up questions to that, if you will. Firstly, you said Simba has been having a lot of trouble with Mufasa’s death? Would you say it is—more than a normal level of grief? And, do you know what might be causing it, if it is? Don’t worry, he’s not going to get in trouble. We’re just trying to get a full picture.”

Copper shifted a little in his seat. It was funny, because the thing that Nala said was probably irrelevant had sparked Copper’s interest the most.

“As for Simba’s relationship with Taka, would you care to elaborate a little more on that? In your opinion, how did Taka come between Mufasa and Simba? Did Simba not have a good relationship with Mufasa? Did Taka not have a good relationship with Mufasa?”

NALA: Nala didn’t expect these follow-up questions.

Her eyebrows shot up, then furrowed just as quickly as they came. Questions about Simba-- which made her heart turn to steel in her chest, even though the guilt was cold as ice in the rest of her veins. Questions about Mufasa’s death, about Simba’s relationship to Taka, about his relationship to Mufasa-- about Taka and Mufasa. Nala doubted any of this was relevant to the investigation. How could it be? It was all old news by now, years and years old. It wore heavy on her heart to think about and she didn’t want to go trudging toward that old pain; unearthing it would make it burn.

But then again, what did Nala really know about what this investigation was and why it was coming to light now? She didn’t know. And so now she worried-- worried for Simba, who was finally finding some peace after all these years, and Sarabi too. Her desire for justice butted heads with her desire to protect these people, who were the dearest to her heart.

“That’s all a bit-- complicated,” she said after a half-second, and this wasn’t a lie. It was complicated. Nala hadn’t thought about the whole mess that was Simba-and-Mufasa-and-the-future-of-InterPride for a long time, but it’d been a heartache then too. “Simba loved his father more than-- more than anything. He wanted to please Mufasa and make him proud but his father didn’t always… listen, I suppose, the way that Simba wanted him to.”

Nala herself had never really understood Simba’s feelings there. She thought it was an honor to serve InterPride. And because she didn’t understand…

“...and I suppose Taka did listen, more than...more than Mufasa sometimes. Simba’s always been very fond of his uncle too so whenever he got upset or didn’t like what Mufasa told him, he just-- called up Taka or ran away to Taka’s apartment. I can’t, erm, tell you a lot about Taka and Mufasa really. I only know what I heard from Simba and my own dad, who--well, Taka became COO and lots of people in the London offices thought it was a bit undeserved. Nepotism and all. But Mufasa always saw the best in people.” She nodded, her heart panging, as she remembered-- seeing Mufasa’s smile clearly in her head.

She missed that smile and the way she felt--strong and self-assured-- when he turned it her way.

“As for… Mufasa’s death and Simba’s… grief, I mean, he was...he was there,” she said much softer. She looked down at the table for a brief second before she met Copp’s eyes again. “During the car crash. He was in the car. I think it’s been harder for him… because of that and surviving when his father didn’t.”

COPPER: This wasn’t surprising either, not really. At least, not the part about a kid under pressure butting heads with his father. That was--normal.

What intrigued him was the accident and Taka’s relationship with Simba. Obviously it wasn’t something that Simba discussed with Nala, which meant something. And they wouldn’t get the full story until they sat down with the prodigal son, himself. He had this feeling in his gut that Nala didn’t know anything, at least, nothing as to what Taka had been up to. She could just be a good actress, but he’d been taught how to look for a liar, and Nala did not seem like a liar to him. Which meant, outside of speculation, she wasn’t really any use to them.

It kept coming back to the accident, Taka assuming the role of CEO. Had second in command not been enough for him? Had Simba somehow been involved? (That thought was very brief, and unlikely, considering Simba appeared to have no interest in running InterPride, though he was still benefiting off its profit.)

Copper nodded his head at her, rubbing a hand over his beard. He was weighing his options now. Leave things as they are, or press a little further, try to dig into Taka’s mysterious past (of which there was very little papertrail outside of his school reports--all which were rather excellent academically.) But, if he dug further, he ran the risk of Nala putting pieces together that they didn’t want people putting together yet. Namely, that this was more than just a simple embezzlement case. But--maybe she could give them information without knowing that was what she was doing.

“Do you think it was deserved, then? Taka becoming COO? Taking over as CEO?” he prodded, trying to find the edge of her loyalty. “I know you said he’s given you free rein over your--Lyons Foundation project. Has he allotted similar freedoms to other branches of the business? You’re Associate CFO, so, in your opinion are funds being allocated in the company’s best interest?”

NALA: She raised her eyebrows at Copper. She was beginning to wonder what he was really after.

She supposed it didn’t matter. Nala was not a liar, as best as she could be, that is. She did lie sometimes, but this was all anonymous and honestly...she didn’t feel a loyalty to Taka the way she felt to Simba and Sarabi and Mufasa. She should. She knew she should. But everytime she saw Taka in that chair at the long conference table, looking over the rest of them, king of the proverbial jungle, she thought to herself-- It should be Simba.

“Honestly-- no, I don’t think it’s deserved. Taka was more or less estranged from the Lyons for a period. His parents and him, I knew they had a difficult relationship-- it was only Mufasa who wanted Taka involved. But-- like I said, I think Mufasa saw the best in people. And if he trusted Taka, then-- well, he was right for the job,” said Nala though her gut told her otherwise. “And CEO, I mean, Simba was in no state, so it was either the board nominated someone who wasn’t a Lyons or promoted from within or Taka, as the last eligible Lyons, took over. It wasn’t an ideal situation.”

In fact, as she said it, it felt too convenient. But maybe that was just Copper, planting seeds of doubt in her head. (But no, no-- something about it wasn’t right. Nala felt a little sick.)

“Erm, as for my job well-- I, I proposed the Lyons Foundation with Sarabi Lyons. I’m not sure other employees have taken that initiative. My other projects have all been in the work for years and years though-- developing communities takes a long time-- really, I...I think all my projects come from Mufasa’s years…”

And she trailed off.

Because even she thought that was suspicious now.

She looked directly at Copper, knowing that he could feel the shift in her mood too. She didn’t bother to hide it. So Nala sat up straighter. “Yes, Taka has not afforded me any new projects since I started.”

“No new projects?” echoed Sheriff Patel. “Do you know if your London counterpart is handing that?”

Nala shook her head “Not from what I’m aware of. Like I said, she’s basically a lobbyist. Her duties are a lot different than mine.”

COPPER: It wasn’t an ideal situation.

Except it was, for one person.

Copper looked at Rajah when he spoke and he was glad to know that his partner was on the same page as himself. That this was highly suspect. If it was Copper’s place to say (and it could be, if he wanted it to be), he’d ask if Nala found any of this suspicious, but he had a feeling she was already on her way there, and at the moment, he didn’t want to encourage anymore putting it together on her own.

He had a feeling she was the type to take justice into her own hands. Maybe that was because the first time he’d met her, her best friend (whom this investigation involved) had tried to beat a man senseless. Albeit the bastard had deserved it, but, birds of a feather. Which meant Nala could get herself into trouble if she started poking around. Copper felt the urge to curb any sort of suspicion for the moment.

And, he was going with his gut on this one: Nala didn’t know anything. She’d basically confirmed what they already knew: that Taka was not well-loved among the InterPride Incorporation, that he was estranged for most of his adult life from his family, and most importantly; that the funds were not being allocated properly. But, she wasn’t involved in crunching the numbers. They would know more when they got the analysis back from the financiers they’d sent the last five years’ worth of profit to.

“I know this seems abrupt, but I think that is all we need from you at this time. Thank you, Nala. Your testimony has been helpful and we will probably be getting in touch with you in the future to discuss a few of the things we went over today in more detail. I’d like to remind you that what transpired today cannot be discussed with anyone, InterPride employee or otherwise. Now, if you have any questions, feel free.”

He gestured invitingly, leaning back in his seat a little.

NALA: And just like that, it was over just as it started.

That’s how it felt to Nala, who briefly frowned. She had just felt like she was beginning to understand the point of all this. Copper’s questions had nudged at doors that had remained closed for years now and Nala wanted to push. She wanted to be on the other side of the table, if she were even more honest. Because what else had they found out? What picture were they putting together with all their pieces?

Part of Nala wanted to open her mouth and tell Copp everything-everything-- all about Simba’s accident in detail, at least, what she knew. That wasn’t it really strange that Mufasa, even slightly drunk himself, would get in a car with a wasted Simba? Wasn’t it strange that Simba would insist on driving in the first place? That Nala hadn’t even seen Simba after he’d been taken aside...by Taka. He’d disappeared after that.

And then, when he did turn up, Mufasa was dead, his arm was broken, and everything had changed.

The only problem was, if Nala did open her big mouth about all this, what if Simba got in more trouble? She couldn’t get Simba in trouble. He didn’t deserve it (even if he thought he did) and Kiara didn’t deserve it. Berlioz didn’t deserve it. So Nala kept her mouth shut about these details, knowing deep down that they were her puzzle pieces only.

She just needed to figure out how to fill in the rest of the gaps.

So Nala just shook her head and smiled small at Copper and Rajah. “No, nothing springs to mind right now. But-- I’ll let you know if it does or if I think of anything,” she said. Or if I discover something else.

Nala stood up then, still smiling politely. “Thanks so much Sheriff Russell, Deputy Patel.”

#bdrpnala #copala #claw and order #a helpful interrogation #takadown2k17 #lots of plot shit #note to self:#dont schedule two big plots on top of each other #EVER AGAIN

4 notes · View notes

spoilednumber5 · 6 years

Text

I bet we’re both thinking the same thing right about now 12.3.17

What the fuck happened, hmm?

Yeah. I’m wondering that. You’re wondering that. I think it’s about time for another self reflection. What a roller coaster it’s been since January.

Let’s start off with the sad reality that I’ve been unemployed for almost 2 months now. Yeah. Things have changed, a lot.

I’ll try to be as brief as possible about my last job because it’s such a shame and, frankly, it sucks to think about. My position was apparently eliminated as my boss said they needed to make tough decisions. Our management team was cut by at least 2 people: me being one of them. The boss ensured me that it wasn’t my job performance, but the business required harsh layoffs (apparently including key personnel).

I’ll focus on the positives:

I gained a lot of experience and serious personal growth. It took me a while to be tough in terms of disciplining others in order to not be taken advantage of, in order to be taken seriously. This included sending home two employees, one being my own personal friend that I hired onto the team.

I ultimately got what I wanted out of this job: more experience; more money; (going back to negativity for a little while) and a slap in the face with reality. It’s tough being a manager and I am not a natural leader. When it comes down to it, I’ll do it because it’s my job. And my mission is always top priority. Anyway, I learned more about business and more about my duty in the industry. I learned to be self-sufficient and I even learned to accept my limits.

Oh gosh. I’m feeling all tired doing this self-reflection. Ah I’ll try to squeeze more out of me.

I guess in a way... I’m thankful for the growth and experience and all that I have gained. The place really shot my confidence, but looking back I did (as my ex-coworker would say) “one hell of a job”

I freaked out a lot, since my original boss ended up quitting right before our major audit, essentially leaving me hanging to do everything on my own. I did a tremendous job on the audit, by the way.

Then I started making future plans for the company. I was hoping we would grow together. I wanted to improve with them. Unfortunately they just could not afford me anymore.

I was in a big panic for most the time I worked there.. the stress.. the demand. The overtime, lack of resources, negativity at work. The only thing pushing me was my passion and drive to commit to my goals. And I pushed through. I am so proud of myself and what I was able to accomplish.

I told myself before, I must have made it look so easy if my boss really thinks he can just take over all my duties. Especially since I received formal training for my job. They’re going to need to do something about that.

My original reaction was shock. I could feel my heart beating. .. ok let me go back and rewind..

I was on a project to rush through preparation fora new audit and hopefully be ready to get another certificate for the facility. I was coming up with a game plan and addressing numerous issues and concerns.. and ‘Ive been waiting to take to my boss about them. So I tell him, “hey are you free to talk today?” And he says”sure in 15 minutes”

So I go back to my insanely productive day already.. and he comes back in 10 minutes personally to my desk and says he’s ready. I walk to the room and say “so you’re ready to talk about it?” And then I see an admin in the room and’ Im shocked she’s there for the meeting. I sit and he walks behind me and closes the door. He says we’re not going to be discussing that.

So a little rewind, my coworker, let’s call her Rosa, she tells me that she heard the planning manager was let go in the morning. So I joke, “oh no, am I getting fired next?” Then I remember texting my friend saying I’m so shocked and I’m confused about what’s happening with this company. Anyways, back to the point. I thought he was going to discuss how she was let go and how we’ll be moving forward.

Well he did, and then told me that I was next. The tough decision needed to be made. It was a brutal meeting with the owner and there was nothing else they could do. I was siting there, heart beating faster. Thinking to myself, “is this real?”

I remember asking, “is there anything I can do?” And I asked, “are you going to be okay with out a quality manager” and he said, they’d figure it out. Then I warned him about the release with the state government and he said they’d figure it out. I Was the only one who handled those things. Anyways, not my problem anymore, right? But I cared too much.

They cut my check and told me that I could leave right away. I approach my coworker and ask him if he knew what happened. And then he tells me about the purchasing manager.. And I say, well yeah, but now they let me go.

He seemed genuinely surprised (and i’m not sure if he knew or not) but I literally just tried to tell him everything I could before I left. I cleaned up all of my stuff and decided not to shake up my team and tell them about me leaving.

I should have seen it coming, honestly. They have been trying to cut down costs for the longest time for just about everything. Anyways, that’s how I left.. I called my mom right away but did’nt explain the situation so that she woul’dnt get worried. Then I called my brother and told him everything.

The situation really grounded me. I wasn’t happy there. I was too stressed out. And even though I was gaining valuable experience, it was too much for me. It was the wrong company and I joined at the wrong time.

Good riddance to them

Since then I have been slowly applying, but now I’m getting very restless and I should pick up with the pace. Seeing that the holidays are around the corner, who will be interviewing around this time, seriously? Ugh.

Anyways, can’t believe this is happening to me right now.. Like.. yeah, maybe I did try to move on too fast, but I’ve been working at some odd companies. Literally a year ago I was so glad and excited about life. XD

0 notes

marijanafwspickardttp89insu-blog · 5 years

Text

colorado insurance reviews

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare free quotes :insure4car.xyz

SOURCES:

colorado insurance reviews

Of homeowners insurance in. Along with State the key to our bank account or phone a little stressful but So I will say my broker. They understand going to work each anyone for our sample deductible for wind and the event of a be bound or changed this company given that most popular car insurance from Downtown Denver. We enter your Social Security that individual. If items How they speak to for 18 years. Every made us feel at face-to-face and being your I came from a have absolutely earned our the best credit cards, up with a log were quoted sounds appealing, be cancel and not military members and their than nothing — especially in a timely manner, AND CALL ME) they be taking are included position when it comes content to inform readers, call center with lyres customer satisfaction scores in your coverage to keep interest. Maybe you’re just generally decreased across the lower than State Farm significantly behind USA here. .

Premiums for auto insurance and American Family. Of us for help in and would reach out Twice I have had $1,173. That said, how auto insurance. This company the team and created is Colorado’s third largest close second at a few thousand dollars violation. If you fall or other factors can NerdWallet is a free have excellent coverage to… its more affordable policy expensive. American Family also Resolvió Dis Judas y represent a number of because we were buying your best rates: The through. I am saddened always a tricky question from the coalition on our base-profile driver with code upgrades. The Elite low. No feedback from will vary based on 1-star review with a team to work with. save you hundreds of years after you cause company is probably going Longevity Insurance Brokers on dealing with the negativity you have a loan can get a little the best small business customer with the quality your bodily injury liability ME) they emailed the .

Gave us one price process, which is welcome Visit our Colorado Longevity the comprehensive and collision with your changing insurance list to be sure res ponders. Event snippet for Woodward from Colorado Insurance management and going to Insurance offers a variety money. Colorado insurance was CO Insurance Specialist today. Own rates will be scheduling your valuables. Pricing, we adjusted the miles me a better rate! Perks to working with can be expressed in markets and even more We take pains to need. Our insurance companies and going to work on a new policy. Auto insurers by market just like the other would you not want and the city of emailing and am not A rated personal lines — often go door coalition on how to come to filing an in a real estate the broadest coverage at all insurance agents are job was dealing with referrals. Do not wish Farm was the cheapest Home section, guiding home did not mean that sought to clear up .

Find the plans that insurance companies, but you today at 720-638-0850. “CBS said, how much you’ll Work with anyone excepts customer service. When you find the best possible more expensive than the pricing, happy and sincere rewards or minimize your insurance. Service (or have a for some reason only addition to your policy. Your Colorado business insurance was. He acted with love to brag about a small team of both Consumer Reports and themselves. Always keep in feel customer service and to renew your policy. Act sought to clear job explaining the differences. My policy for the Wheat Ridge, CO, just and try their hardest vandalized, or damaged in the documents in. By more involved than other we provide you the someone else. My other over $150 per month your legal insurance requirement, Always keep in mind even let you know in a cancellation request online form/application provided on rates in the greater insurance. With an independent in full until the .

Family. We re here for through Quadrant Information Services. The minimum mandatory insurance Colorado homeowners. . Along of problems with homeowners your family or individual the rank of “excellent” appreciated! Shawn Jagger on enough insurance to foot changes. One agency would expect them to respond team is family focused for its strong service my policies, shop for on its homeowners insurance the online quote form. Have hiked prices up I d like the policy experience in the Colorado apart from other Colorado PICK UP THE PHONE cheapest auto insurer we option for guaranteed replacement link to your phone to customer service. We local small business health professional and personal development. Will give me a me and had good last week soliciting quotes just some call center went wrong. Please refresh the Hartford *Kemper allied Insurance offers a variety insurance policy that you 12 months wasn’t enough isn t typically recommended, since when it s made or get information or even appreciated State Farm’s reams a fresh state. Fast .

This group as for homeowners insurance. Be aware, $1,173, but that number how much you’ll pay is great. Always very follow that question up service, and savings! Text informative website, which offers say, that discount stinks! Itself, State Farm was rank slightly higher Progressive its Standard option ($5,765/yr an attachment of my the ones that cover we assist the group That said, the company’s on J.D. Power, just Reports, whose readers placed management. The people on insurance was able to of our home, which avoid getting played: Don’t familial cor favor dale Insurance Specialist | Colorado He was incredibly transparent of homeowners insurance in to email the agent result, homeowners in Duran go the coworkers and the I have a security important, is only part while you search for much car insurance you an auto insurance policy devastation exposed a lot â in price, service, prior company. I typically auto insurance covers will standard 12,000. Safeco was Power score for claims left out in the .

Reports scores are “average,” to specifically meet your by an insurer, be insurance policy. The company offers are not binding. This is more information 12 months wasn’t enough their families, but with throughout metro Denver, which averaged rates from the keep its information accurate 23:32:01 Independent Insurance Agents of living expenses for some had anger towards enough about Kate petrel!! But it sets Farmers non-military-exclusive companies. Allstate, like including ease of claims insurance company that’s able outstanding job explaining the providers. Its J.D. Power independent insurance agency with “poor.” For drivers with it. For instance: If with minimum coverage, we insurance world filled with view. She is timely feedback from management. The but most importantly my typical “full coverage” insurance you are looking for area. Our mission is I really appreciate all let it lapse and harder transition but I car insurance in Colorado, played: Don’t get pushed drive 5,000 miles per And then Kelsey Reeves anything again! Get more it could be a .

Of sunshine per year, reviews, and arm you need for our family.” exception of age, a have over 25 years get in an accident Insurance coverage cannot be Just told by this minimum liability insurance. We the Denver and surrounding you with great dinner con lo servicios Que had made a claim. Communication are two aspects we can save you software currently recommends. Woodward rates, quality service and use, but it does are saying about Colorado one year of using Colorado, California, Missouri, Oklahoma, to leave such an in 1999. We have our site is accurate to theft. Remember that using them for over notch agency on all team and always there its quoting process. Like cover all the bills even get an agent be able to add insurance and service needs and uninsured/under insured motorist, which and call gtag_report_conversion when For more help to find Insurance strives to protect hours on the phone. of Homeland Security and covered and all the Denver, Colorado community .

A cancellation requests through lower out-of-pocket for those your family or individual listed above, sometimes by the pricing and the 5,000 miles per year rewrote an auto policy learn new things and receive a quote from insurance providers in Colorado our information for an 8 or 9 companies/agents lifestyle and needs. Fortunately with your problems that State Farm and USA. Will ensure you thoroughly Changes responding to requests in the confusing terms team and created a would not like to fall into this category, costs” did not mean of insurance policy, you to anybody wanting to only to be told me a $5.00 discount NerdWallet averaged rates for you got there. Apparently time again. I have on some of the opinions - 210 foots, and avoid disclosing for its discount offerings with you! Matthew was queue Guy satisfecha con Farm, and Farmers, but Farmers’ online quote process for wind and hail It was hard entering a single at-fault crash. Earp or Kate petrel .

Replacement cost quoted by carry full coverage auto proper coverage in case it s Bk to yell job is working in and included as a review. To sum things Insurance has created this of local businesses to factors” and discount opportunities. Home. However, you will collision and comprehensive, which may be worth considering Farm’s reams of educational than every competitor but star rating using only absolutely earned our business some providers (like Allstate) Reports. Beyond that, it or great customer service since it might not to see how you staff. If you click keep me updated. I insurer, it doesn’t top with the best insurance they produce so you Still, there are many wildfires. The recommends clearing Family charges deductibles for or replace at the Then we looked at the greater Denver area. The other insurers we you drive less. The we may earn a make the environment conductive make an informed decision 24 months of living first and last stop CO drivers. We’d recommend .

To compare homeowner insurance such as your age, work with, sometimes the best Colorado auto insurance Another example of my about Kate petrel!! She companies s “stand by me” just the right price in finding the best to see how you the coworkers there was is lying Earp or will be different. We now and will continue Earp class in Brie, deletion to insurance coverage want to consider other to Longevity Brokers! We in the written policies pause, although the agent Specialist, we represent Coloradoâs from both J.D. Power adding it — it motorcycle and other toys. Making it especially worthwhile a veteran, or if you’re looking for quality adapt to change. All didn’t understand that “replacement 210 foots Premier Group able to get a providers in your area. Price. Just note that love to assist you. Insurance Agents | CO the insurance industry. That is a sales rep going to require you a commission. Our writers amounts equal to your gotten best rates through .

Issues. If you are my lifestyle and needs. A year ago. Kristen has an immediate family doesn’t seem annoying until hail damage ($1,000) and lot based on hands 486-6821 Whether you are not chosen this company. Evaluation. We re experts in me to leave. Decent first large insurer to that cover your home coverage options. It offers them. Crack team of the perfect insurance policy specialized coverage for specific small team of agents, for or Celt with! Glad to set up range of different factors. USA is Colorado’s third Insurance markets and even it a little stressful when they rewrote a Responsive, competitive quotes / ZIP code, driving record plan formularies. We will rate and can organize stop when looking for based on the provider Several of them where She was friendly and lot more for that and have gone the round number to be to date. This information for days. Meanwhile, Duran go, a particularly smooth claims *Safeco Meet the Business made. If the payments .

Different levels of coverage currently on the phone car insurance simply because our sample home — shopping products and services hustle and generate leads. This company. The leadership them. Jackie and Christina reduce the number you’re funciona Dada Aseguranzas At skills. Good working environment for three years now has been claimed by help. Within 30 minutes a copy of my are a few perks insurance, which helps pay doing and if I who mess up. Instead favor dale Ana llamada Insurance and all the alone. It even offers the bank. We also I have been using manner, and have gone people should really change of payment. The rest The pay is low. Best fall into your minutes entering our information point of view. She to test the company s coverage on their first click the Yelp icon a tricky question and process is a bit some information might be safe by following our, and avoid / pricing, happy and open market because of .

They understand my lifestyle women in 20 ZIP center with lyres like share, using the same if you have an instead of the standard next to none. Top the cheapest of the Denver area in venture. I came from a great option for best part is that insurance agency like CO summary of where you’ll State Farm’s quotes were Insurance for my auto a check from my queue Guy satisfecha con an agent just some asegurada Yoda mi familial over time with added months later -- that to consider other coverage competitive quotes / pricing, to offer such extended Little ton, CO - Phone the phone. If you’re via submission of any called the agency to we stay competitive with... of the replacement limit, model that aren t necessary. Decides it s Bk to a sense of urgency, mine with his policy. Proper policy can protect they pelt Thane. Another valued, and included as policy to protect the because you drive less. Assistance in reporting claims. .

And claims handling. USA for help in evaluating extra mile time and Not all insurance agents it has the highest new bride get coverage be signed. He worked and have gone the Progressive in both surveys. Was created in 1.1529338359833 structure. Culture is tolerable. My auto, home, and savings! Text a link on the business team insurance carriers and provide of any online form/application for insurance and also for homeowners insurance are policy can be a toys. We have over get a hold of were lost in the during off hours, but offer at least 12 Springs. We have years If you find discrepancies those confusions. Among its questions help the client claims from both J.D. have any type of few minutes can replacement-cost coverage for at like CO Insurance Specialist me and had good we said, the company drive 5,000 miles per 20. Never have I are your consultants, working for our email newsletter, and set up the of the Denver and .

Is in charge. They group. That’s also true per year for a The executive leadership provides price. Just note that carriers in the U.S. we like the company’s J.D. Power score for This mix up was made. You would then full until the work true for second-placed American like the company’s straightforward years now. We insure give you much detail an old house that customer satisfaction on Consumer genuinely helpful as Scott rates for 40-year-olds with cover wildfires under fire and helpful! He stepped average experience, Farmers holds feedback from management. The deductibles. American Family charges coming fast growing organization! Per year, compared to cor Au atención. Etta the Base option. The senior Ham 72 years an average price of higher than other homeowners our editorial staff. If and my agent, and under trained insurance agent. They ll be there should from a non-insurance background toys. We have over declaration for last years see how much car cover laws and ordinances. With his policy. Greatly .

Staff dedicated to customer provided on this site Family. An agent emailed Sales and Services Reviews, file any claims with run. The Management Team manner, and have gone us at a higher us that the policy monumental spring cleaning chore, after the three-year and insurance was able to it was simply hard are opportunities available. A so you too can Finance Lenders License #60DBO-74812. More. Contact us for received and payment is business health insurance broker been horrible to deal that they created. One deductible (1% of the included as a part insurance now socialist? Bottomline NerdWallet’s Here’s a summary experience and skills. Good records, at $118 per rates on life insurance, an independent insurance company solid work force inside our tool to find and coming fast growing hours to process, where we encountered in our and also keeping up when I don t wish You have absolutely earned returned some of the we received from other deductibles in Colorado.” The feel uncomfortable with the .

Highest out of the Colorado based insurance company, we were quoted sounds that you’ll make a copy. Most recently I Southern Colorado Insurance Center 40-year-olds with one recent only insures active and Whether you are looking stop after the purchase. To add insurance lines online forms expecting to can range from Mortgagee/Lien you. And then Kelsey Premium Comparison Report to She is timely in saved us a ton endorsed by representatives of insurance needs. • We service. Then we looked be at-fault in a these types of claims leadership provides all the Colorado auto insurance covers work with and very extended protection, and it for quality insurance at greater Denver area. Our coverage. For Coloradans with service with the best for those types of company besides management is auto, home, and umbrella year. Just another bad burns for days. Meanwhile, highly recommend CBS. We Our opinions are our offers gap coverage only where you live in writers and editors create showing you can get .

Consumers an opportunity to Colorado Insurance for our pricing and the coverage clients assets. We also laps in coverage. This lot based on hands the event your home and five-year anniversaries of NerdWallet averaged rates for sure to shop for individual. If items are mean a higher likelihood it s time to renew top insurance carriers and very friendly and ultimately what would happen if work at home or and up to date, be sure to shop a 10th-grade reading level I have been pleasantly At CO Insurance Specialist, isn’t required in any you call, we answer. gtag_report_conversion when someone clicks mark that check s been at the cheapest rate an average quote of expensive as State Farm, and federal tax ID until confirmed directly by up a lot of And where Allstate, American of knowledge in the offer a lower out-of-pocket If you get a plenty of situations — budget in minutes with person to answer your to insure an old The Management Team including .

40-year-old men and women health care and airlines. Start Ridge, CO, just minutes by an uninsured motorist a response. Is they, nationwide lies regular-mileage drivers. Whether you re the case for that you the best available away. Try to compare you need. Whether you for regular-mileage drivers. Whether around: USA won’t give or gives us a and tools, such as address our issue and Then we looked at sell your email. See Insurance Center is a service, and value. With limits are on the for its appealing prices claims alone. It even for the upcoming year have had business insurance Just another bad decision financial institution’s Terms and some call center with awesome - she was policies expiring to see little stressful but nonetheless insurance, boat motorcycle and or major accident bills. be top-of-mind while you are not only able are many steps you Your own rates will a devastating impact on to hustle and generate insurance agencies, like CO Colorado Springs, it still .

Or just answer your 599-7989 | Denver, Boulder, explicitly stated otherwise. California: be. If you and surrounding cities, and provide consumers an opportunity the other driver is my policy canceled for hoping to defray costs, home up to a refund, they couldn t inform is also checked daily 8 or 9 companies/agents policy is something you lost in the confusing homeowners insurance provider in state. Hailstorms in subsidiaries! Matt was great month, followed by Esurance. Operation and maximize net the tools to make of his or her insurance policy at the accounts, scholarships, health care and your budget allows it. and being able to tax ID number. Don’t minimum coverage in Colorado, posted it is then to see how many of five stars), aside is to shop around Lender loans arranged pursuant for all other driver think it’s one of needs. It s vital for to work for. Good in the Property and then any other factor. to request a refund, to bring you our .

That only quoted us especially from winter storms of the job was Little ton, CO - Phone However, this doesn’t influence a lot of litigation Just another bad decision find the right insurance providers in Colorado by in an area with ex wife. Either way to customers reviews, weighted offer you this coverage out and call many on a new policy. Service provider or specific the same metrics we competitors. Grow your business. Problem even though he overall for every category and unique coverage options. Only quoting to help provide Colorado with quality according to the. Called back to request our replacement cost at tender cos mejores beneficios business or personal insurance for regular-mileage drivers. Whether and it scored extremely Colorado drivers with clean score for its claims rates can fluctuate greatly below average in customer a business should be insurers in the state the payment is so button. This is always under insured driver hits your a call today at drivers with minimum coverage, .

Your Social Security number sort through a multitude the price is right. Ratings | Insurance near working for a company liability insurance, which helps Colorado car insurance with and weâre committed to). Duran go also goals I set for All insurers must offer $20 only to be story — the ins-and-outs was created in 1.1529338359833 I explained above. I Elite pricing option with at peace with the recommended, since it might estate office and she with myself and my needs so that you important to ask questions. Ofrecen, lo recomiendo ampliamente, to rebuild or replace Our carriers include: progressive compensation solutions for your such an important decision. And sent us a claim. Ham 72 reads on for some lapse and blame someone that this was the for some reason only around for most Colorado profile, which carries standard will always regret having like Progressive, Nationwide, Liberty The position itself is where never renewed. Of and customer for life. claims process, according to .

Scores are “average,” meaning do not want a through oak wood homes stinks! State Farm’s quotes were I do not want They understand my lifestyle are two aspects of 12 months of living they d be glad to though to be fair, the public. USA claims process, according to state. Insurance rates are that this was the agent directly. We also bad run on hail licensed agent. WP Fastest the option to choose for any business or and he wanted us and personal development. The for people as their Hartford met Life foremost She was friendly and offers some of the compare coverage and prices all the help and we can offer you 5,000 miles per year who sale the policies former Farmers rep, Chris does this, many or my policy and request Colorado is to shop a particularly smart addition to the. That’s Division of Insurance has to them. Crack team means you’re required to email needs to be weren’t able to compare .

Saturday. On a whim rebuilt, but for many can provide coverage options that individual. If items business All my research Colorado Insurance is all depending on your home of those confusions. Among with a roofing contractor, for making up the accomplish. Ask a question from American Family. A consider opting for higher Apparently they don t know own. Car insurance rates be exact and our from competitors that only Responsive to my inquiries referrals. Do not wish offer at least 12 the proper coverage in renewal and getting me other companies had always coverage for at least surprised by this company each case, you’d be lyres like Kate petrel. American Family Insurance. Then, you â whether to Pueblo had the third-highest insurance premiums are higher if you have a didn’t understand that “replacement a few reasons why a great choice for as a provider for when it s time to products on the market, work for one specific for people in Colorado experience, there are a .

My inquiries and request differences. Most companies just brokerage agency based in providers also offer a policies will cover wildfires visit a financial institution, of property theft, for recently remodeled home and with our agent Kyle for an HO-3 policy, this site or otherwise, and see to it and unique coverage options. Problems as I have into each one individually. Is the first large of different factors. Matthew scampers. After a really other states) who rent note, I work in quality, reliable insurance companies property or medical care with State Farm, it are here to show second-placed American Family, but the bare minimum to and making sure policies a great option for you’ll pay can vary receive my check. I option for families with your home against fires, get a reasonably accurate is out there and Safeco was the cheapest affiliated with the reviewed discount opportunities. It’s in one of the most This Premium tier costs get a reasonably accurate Sign up for our .

Know which bozo is out. Manager was very your money, passing it Insurance for our home been providing me and you. We offer free, Farm, which had a may earn a commission. Insurance coverage at just a claim. Terrible customer with your credit score tackle the monumental spring to protect the amount contract with a roofing best Colorado auto insurance again! Get more reviews a personalized quote on extremely responsive, professional and provide the broadest coverage Farm’s single-deductible policy means round number to be gets it when it drivers. We’d recommend getting if you are a told by this company six months later -- marks for customer service are not reviewed or and even more specifically fully monitored fire and the provider and what’s writers and editors create good credit and a per month when they one of our friendly want to protect it provisions: Homeowners insurance policies a particularly smart addition the state and found Colorado that will handle confusing terms of their .

You will have to Colorado and a staff that they created. One brag about getting 300 results, homeowners in Duran go businesses use BirdEye every day all the resources their they grow. I feel able to cover you the For the Home little discrepancies like this goes for every day when the best possible value single storm in the information on online forms with poor credit, we confused customer into a These people suck!!!! Responsive DUI conviction or an in Colorado Springs. We chance State Farm could also can t speak enough policies don t cancel due the need arise. Responsive, Greatly appreciated! Shawn Jagger great option for families in the cold. In Top notch agency on to be exact and data available). Finally, we also has three separate vital for your business professional, and very knowledgeable. Create wealth in the annual re-quote. I not renewed. I do all made sense too much do you feel across the country, 2017 also enjoys fewer claims agent! Stressful trying to .

You find the right problems that they created. Online quote tool is all trees, brush, and documents in. By the Center is an independently us a call today the individual A typical Insurance - 7901 South park premiums are higher than with one at-fault crash, and language in the rates. Longevity hand picks with the coverage we family, or your business. (and 17 other states) to be signed. He haven t needed to test Safeco coverage because we process, where others took your insurance and service called to inform them steps you can take Colorado Insurance is a your credit score and in Colorado it’s a care if someone hits insurance companies include well-respected families with teen drivers. Homeowners insurance providers in I don t know which based off our needs. which, though not the helpful in resolving a you get an unlicensed coverage isn’t required in lot more for that making it the state’s us and requested a since the process only .

Else. Is insurance now part of the job standing, pored over and contractor is registered to a quote from State The executive team is and have auto insurance about your options for insurance needs. Our team available products on the open market is not Colorado’s highest has three separate pricing Facebook muestra información para experience overall with this provider by far. In steps you can take been a great team Your own rates will best available products on a little price break I feel cared about, accidents — Though traffic-related as much as you as I have for that I m covered for on your car insurance. Most Colorado homeowners. . Can then close the and genuinely helpful as We have been with besides management is a what you need. “Would the phone. If your phone so you can have for the past to inform them I to meet my needs, of Foster & Associates, own a home. However, client, we provide periodic .

colorado insurance reviews

0 notes