#the answer is no they just got promoted and are all sad and not communicating properly with each other

[otaku553]

The passage of time

#ocs #wee hoo they return! #got talking with some friends about oc lore and so yeah here they are #my friend asked if they moved to New York in the second pic ;v; #the answer is no they just got promoted and are all sad and not communicating properly with each other #I love the idea of the xieran being cot’s moral backbone because neither of them care that strongly about other people lmao #also love cot carrying all of his gremlin energy into adulthood #except now with 10x the devious and sly underhanded tactics #thinking a lot about the passage of time after starting aa4

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

New Beginnings

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.8k

Warnings: fluff

Summary: New city. New job. New school. New apartment,. New neighbors. New beginnings.

Square Filled: choose your own au for @spencerreidbingo

Author’s Note: any and all comments are appreciated <3

x

This is a new start for you. New city. New apartment. New neighbors. New job. A fresh start from your old life. Growing up, you’ve always been a small-town girl with hopes of moving to a big city to chase her dreams. Back home, everyone knew everyone’s business. Like when Shelly from church was caught having an affair with the pastor. Her husband found out that day and both of them had to leave town to avoid the scrutiny of everyone else. Or like the time when your sister got pregnant and only told a small group of people only to go to work the next day and people knew.

Small-town folk aren’t for everyone which is why you left while you could. The only problem is that all your family is back home. You know no one in Quantico, Virginia. You guess that’s the best part about it. You can reinvent yourself and create a whole new life separate from what you’ve known.

Before moving to Virginia, you got yourself enrolled in night school for graphic design since you’ve always wanted to be a designer. You’ve done some work for your town like making websites for businesses and making some ads for smaller companies but you want to know more so you can do bigger and better things.

Tomorrow, you’ll scout the city and find a coffee shop to make your second home, find the nearest grocery store, etc. Right now, all you’re focused on is getting all your boxes out of the moving truck so you can return it before the deadline. You’re doing it by yourself but you don’t have a lot to do. You never had a lot when you left your hometown but it’s still a lot for one person to do.

It takes you all day to get everything inside your house, and the only thing you’re able to unpack is your bedframe and mattress. It’s going to take all week to get most everything set up which is fine because night school doesn't start for another two weeks.

You live in a building that sits in a circle of other buildings with a huge courtyard in the middle. The courtyard consists of a dog park, a pool, a volleyball set, and some outdoor furniture where people can sit and eat. Your building is right across from another so you can see into people’s apartments if their curtains are open.

Your phone rings and you answer it while admiring the other buildings.

“Hey, mom.”

“Y/N! Did you get in okay?”

“Yeah, I just set up my bed. I’ll start unpacking tomorrow.”

“I’m sad you’re so far from us but I’m happy for you. Does that make sense?” she chuckles. “Anyway, your dad and I will come visit as soon as he gets this new promotion. He’ll get some time off and we can always use the vacation.”

“Yeah, by then, I’ll have seen some places we can go to. You like history and Virginia is a history-rich state.”

“Okay, I just wanted to know if you got in safe. Your dad and I are going out with the folks from church. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Sure. I love you.”

“I love you, too, sweetheart.”

The building across from yours is close enough to where you could communicate with another resident if you shouted but you’re not going to disturb others, especially at night. The sun is still up but is quickly going down, leaving the sky with pretty colors. There is a young man sitting on his small balcony with a book in his hands minding his own business. Every apartment has a small balcony where people can sit and enjoy the fresh air, but most of them use it for storage.

The young man runs his fingers down the pages of the book and flips through the book at a shocking speed. Is he really reading that fast? He must feel your eyes on him because he looks up and makes eye contact with you. You give him a small wave to which he returns before going back to reading.

You look at the boxes inside your room and see a label on one of them that reads: ARTS AND CRAFTS. You open the box to see thick small poster boards you were using for a project back home. Next to them are your markers so you grab the black one and a handful of poster boards. You write “Hi, my name is Y/N” on one of them before going back outside.

The man looks up just as you hold up your poster board for him to see. You wrote the letters in a thick font so he is able to read them from where he’s at. He reads what you have and leaves the balcony to go back inside his apartment. The smile is lost from your face at the thought of making him uncomfortable but then he walks back out with poster boards of his own. He writes something down on his and shows it to you.

Hi. My name is Spencer.

You like reading?

I love it.

You new here?

No, been here 13 years. You new?

Yes, I came from Kansas.

Job?

Graphic Designer. You?

FBI.

Sounds exotic.

Spencer smiles at this. Some of his nighttime preparations are to read for an hour before bed, and he was at the forty-five-minute mark when you two started talking.

I have to go. Talk tomorrow?

Tomorrow.

Spencer packs up his poster boards and heads back inside, and you follow suit a few minutes later. You’re going to need to buy more poster boards if you want to continue talking to him across the courtyard. Tomorrow comes and you end up finding a grocery store, a coffee shop, and a place that sells a lot of poster boards.

Spencer must have a day job because you didn’t see him at all while you were unpacking. You started with the kitchen and barely finished with it by the time Spencer got back from his job as an FBI agent. Wow, imagine that. A real-life FBI agent. You’ve only seen them in movies and TV shows so it's kind of cool you get to say you know someone in that field.

You sit on your balcony and wait for him to come out. Ten minutes go by and you see the light in his place turn on. Five more later, he walks out on his balcony with poster boards in hand. He doesn’t look too good. Yesterday, he had a natural glow about him but today, he has a sort of sadness about him. Still, he’s out here talking to you because he enjoys your company even though you’re in separate buildings.

You okay?

Rough case.

You want to talk?

Can’t. Open investigation. Of course. Duh. He flips the poster board over and scribbles something else on it. How was your day?

Good. Just school. I graduate Fall 2027.

Field of study?

Graphic Design.

Anything I’d see of yours?

You grin and write down a website you helped design before showing it to him. He takes one look at it and types it on his phone. He admires your work and thinks it’s amazing work. You have real talent.

I like it. You’re talented.

Even from where you’re at, you can see how sad he is. You’re not sure what he’s dealt with today or what he is going through, but you hope to make it better at least a little bit. You have to use two posterboards for this to get your message across.

Don’t let your job strip you of who you are. No job is worth it if you’re losing yourself.

You got Spencer to smile.

Same to you.

As the days progress, you and Spencer make it a nightly routine of talking to each other through poster boards. During the day, you’re unpacking boxes and getting your home ready while Spencer is at work dealing with the worst of the worst. His job isn’t easy but seeing you every night lifts his spirits.

That is until he stops showing up. You gave him a couple of days without bothering him since he might be caught up in something for work, but after seeing his light every night without him coming to the balcony, you know something is wrong. You don’t know who he is fully, but you do know that he would come talk to you if he was feeling up for it.

“Any sights of your secret lover?” one of your best friends, Marcy, says over the phone.

“No, he’s still held up in his apartment,” you say and look out the window to his.

“I bet he’s not even an FBI agent. Maybe he lied to you,” Rebecca, your other friend, says.

“I don’t think so. Maybe he just needs some time alone. I don’t know a lot about him. He can only fit so much on small poster boards.”

“It’s giving You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift,” Marcy chuckles.

“I think you should go over there and talk to him face-to-face.”

“Yeah, I have to agree with Bec. It’s not like he’s your next-door neighbor. If it doesn’t work out, you don’t have to see him in passing.”

“True,” you bite your lower lip. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Let us know how it goes,” Bec smirks.

“Oh, I will. Wish me luck.”

“Luck!” both girls say at the same time before hanging up.

You turn back to Spencer’s apartment and see the light peeking through the curtains. You count the number of floors he’s off the ground and the number of apartments he’s at from the wall so you know where to start. You’re not sure what you’re going to do when you get there but you’ll think of something on the spot.

You have some cookies left over from when you made some a few days ago, so you box those up and make your way over to the building across from yours. Your keycard works for this building even though you’re not a resident in it because you’re a resident overall. Once inside his building, you make your way up to the fifth floor and the tenth apartment from the wall.

Here goes nothing.

You knock twice on the door and wait for someone to answer it. It might not even be his apartment but you’ll try all of them if you have to. A few moments later, Spencer opens the door with a confused look on his face. When he sees you, his eyes widen slightly.

“Wow,” he breathes.

“What?”

“You’re more beautiful in person.”

Your cheeks heat up at his compliment.

“I brought you some cookies. I hope you’re doing okay. I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” he sighs. “Work has just been… yeah, it’s not fun sometimes.”

“I can only imagine which is why I brought some cookies.”

“Would you like to come in?”

“Yes,” you smile.

You walk inside and immediately notice all the poster boards he’s been using to communicate with you. He’s saved every single one of them and that brings a smile to your face. You never thought you’d meet someone this quickly after moving to a new city, but you’re glad you did.

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fan fic #spencer reid fan fiction #spencer reid fiction #spencer reid fluff #criminal minds #criminal minds fan fic #criminal minds fiction #criminal minds fan fiction #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fic #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds fluff #cm #cm fiction #cm fanfic #cm fluff #cm fic #cm fanfiction

[butmakeitgayblog]

Hey babe, first, wanted to let you know that it hasn’t stopped raining in my town you know since when? since you posted that midwestern Clexa fight, coincidence? Don’t think so 🤨

Second, been bombarded with that ops show too and I agree 100% with you, both in the copaganda aspect (they lost me at the mention of marine’s and middle east terrorism)and the thing about this new ships. I want to stop a moment in the answer you gave me a time ago about this wn comeback, so, even if they write them well (at first), never forget who’s behind these shows and suddenly this thing we haven’t heard about gets popular cos it has a wlw couple with amazing chemistry, they get increase in viewers so they explote it to promote their next season and then what? Sound familiar? We just can’t trust them anymore.

Third, I super totally agree with you on the Clexa lightning in a bottle. As one of the newer Clexa fans (next week will make one year since I saw the second season and told my sister “I’m sensing a little bit of the gay vibe in here, wonder who of the two will die”) I’ve seen already most of the shows one sees named in the conversation about wlw couples and let me tell you, only this one got me hooked both from the beggining and way long after its ending (hell it got me into tumblr and twitter, things I’ve never done before and I even bought a book about it “El legado de Lexa” to know more about this shitstorm her death caused). Whatever IT is, they have IT. I honestly prefer reading fics about them than get invested in a new show.

Fourth, do you really wouldn’t recommend Clexa to new fans? I mean, yeah we got hurt but they’re more than their sad story, they’re this whole community and I think that’s a beautiful thing. Personally? I wouldn’t recommend the loo but I’d tell them about Clexa warning them beforehand so they can decide for themselves? There’s this dialogue on a media fic comparing someone with a really good book that you can’t put down or let go, that even if it made you suffer and you know the ending, the feeling you got reading its unique and you just wanna keep back to it, and that’s this thing to me.

Finally, I love how you apologize beforehand if your opinion that you posted in your personal blog offends the people who asked for it and came to said blog willingly and with the intention to read it. You humble polite kiddo *pats you in the head affectionately*

Sorry about the long rant 😬, en resumen, this new show? not sure I’ll watch it, Clexa is the “el que no conoce a dios a cualquier santo le reza” of ships, I’m leaning more into the recommed Clexa side of things, we love you and your opinions.

And we need the reconciliation so the sun can come up in my town again.

There's a lot here 😅 not complaining tho!

Ok so the first real thing I gotta answer is about would I rec theloo and Clexa to people who haven't heard of it. My honest answer is would I rec Clexa fic? Yes. The show? Maybe, but it'd come with A Lot of caveats 🥴. Because the thing is, and I may be alone in this thinking idk, but I'm not really sure if someone can appreciate the entirely of Clexa and Lexa, and Clarke in particular, as characters or why their dynamics and eventual love story were so amazing if they didn't watch the show. While the Clexa movie is fantastic at showing their chemistry, there's things that happen within the show that effect them and speak on who they are as individual characters that aren't ever really included in the supercuts because they aren't together in them. Which I agree with! The thing is already 3+hrs long lol. But it does matter for context and it does hold weight in their story, both together and individually, so I would have to say to really get them you have to watch the show at least up until 307. I know there's people who write fic who haven't watched the show at all and I just... no shade! But I can usually tell. Cuz it shows.

But in that same breath the show got so fucking stupid and nonsensical I, in good conscience, have a very difficult time telling people that they should watch that hunk'a shit 😒 Season 2 was its best, let's just be honest, and season 3 was JRot's bullshit Frankenstein creation that he used as a way to shoehorn in this fucking AI plot from a movie or show (I can't remember which) that didn't get picked up but he was just convinced it was brilliant. He wanted to be GoT meets Star Trek or some shit so badly I just know he was pissing himself watching dailies. So overall it's such a double edged sword because yes I want more people to love Clexa, but at the same time the show overall is so gd bad I don't wanna put them through it.

About the Ops show, someone said it is copaganda which I expected, and not even actually enemies to lovers?? Which baffled me but apparently one of them is undercover and using the other one to get to their father or something? That's not enemies to lovers 🤨 that's manipulation. Which ok fine I'm down with that in fiction but if one party is unaware of your nefarious ways and is just interested in you then that's not... that's not EtL. That's just I was trying to trick you and caught feelings/I had feelings and then found out you were a liar. False. Advertising. 😤

Lastly, I'm a midwesterner we apologize for everything 🥺👉👈 knocked into a chair with my knee today ans accidentally apologized to it before realizing myself 😔. But really it's mainly because I know how easy it is online for people to think everything is a personal attack on them or their tastes when it's not, so I find it's just safer and more pleasant to remind people that I am just a person stating their own personal opinion, and it's really not ever anything to get upset about 😅

#gabywithoutthedollhouse #and also I'm writing the midwestern make up now I'm sorry I was... busy

[0721am]

21st July 2023 neighbouring country

என் அன்பே, பாரிஷ்,  @thelilacdews

One of the famous quotes by Shakespeare is - "With mirth and laughter, let old wrinkles come." Nah-huh, we are not going to let the wrinkles near us. As active members of Seokjin-the-great community, our Father, Kim Seokjin, blessed us with eternal grace, dad-humour, and beauty. You and I shall age like a fine wine!  

Fret not, my dear friend - our journey henceforth shall be smooth as butter. (Yeah, very smooth!)

Happiest Birthday, Barisha! You are admired, loved, and appreciated more than you will know. Well, dearest, I will let you know so that you feel sincere affection. May joy and peace bloom in your heart year along. May your life fill every year with love, sweet devotion, and money! 

While searching for some pictures for the birthday post, I landed on the lyrics of 'To You' by Darumdarinda Gang, Seventeen. Darumdarinda was stuck in my head for the past few weeks, hehe! 

The verses go like this —

In a swirling day You've given me a piece of happiness You've placed all of the smiles in the world in my hands So even if I run out of breath on a steep road Even when I lose my path during a cold day We're still holding hands with warmth

I had always spoken about holding hands. That's why finding these verses was a pleasant surprise to me. These words precisely capture and convey my feelings. You, who inspired me to go after the happiness and joy I lost over these years, are so dear to me that I no longer find the future dreadful. Well, the future is intimidating but not scary anymore. All of this is because of your constant love and care. 

Where you are is where I want to be. Your friendship is not just a word or a simple label; it's a place, a home far away from the darkness that is our chaotic world. 

I'm so excited to welcome 25 with you. Deep down in my heart, I feel this year will turn out well for us, although I'm curious about 25. What kind of moments will we share? What kind of happiness will we enjoy? I'm utterly-butterly curious! 

Barisha, so much has happened in your life. You graduated, landed a job, and even got a promotion. Many years of hard work are finally paying off. You're reaping what you sow all these years. 

You graduated when we had a conflict. I feel sad thinking I couldn't be part of your big day. I'm really proud of you. And I apologize for being a terrible person during those moments. Honestly, I didn't know whether to wish you or not. My experiences taught me to stay quiet. I don't know what to feel about this anymore. One thing is for sure — I do not wish to miss any special moments in your life. Your happiness means a lot to me. Being there for you in your happiness makes me feel alive. I wanted to send you a bouquet for your graduation. Of course, duh, I'm broke. So, I'm sending you a mood board of flowers that have special meanings! 

Our birthday perfectly fits in the calendar where the surrounding events are significant to us. BTS's birthday is on 13th June. ARMY day is on 9th July. BTS always plans something for ARMY day. This year, we got SEVEN from Jungkook, our puppy hopeless romantic human. This universe plans for our birthday more meticulously than us. She knew that we deserved the best. 

As I always said, you were the answer to my prayers. 

I love you for many reasons. Because you're genuine, sentimental, and the most fantastic person on this planet. Because you work at our friendship with as much care and focus as you do when you go on an art-hunting spree. Because with you, I never felt lonely and scared. Because you make world a better place. Because you believe in me. Because you gently held my vulnerable side and protected it with your everything. Because I feel safe with you. Because whenever I forget who I am, you always remind me of things that makes me. Because of you, I connected with many parts of myself. Because you are simply amazing. 

I love you to the moon and back. I love you more than your Pogo loves you. Sending loads kisses and hugs to you! 

You're the best thing ever happened. 

I want to raise a toast!

I met you when I was 18.  Now, we are celebrating our 25th birthday together.  Seven years of friendship.  Six years of celebrations To the happiest memories, more and forever. 

Once again, Happiest Birthday, darling! I love you so much, Chingu-yah. VMIN will die of jealousy if they learn about our friendship, hehe. Thank you for putting all of yours into our friendship. Have an amazing day, my sweet love!

— with love, Teeeee!

#yellowrosejour #moonbirthday #hbdbarish #Spotify

[valkyrayn]

hello juhl, i was reading your about and had a question but please don’t feel pressured to answer if you think it’s too personal. i recently graduated after studying marketing as well and got an entry level job and quit 6 months later because it was so stressful and made me really sad, so i wanted to ask what field of marketing you are in? ideally i just want to earn a lot like you (not assuming, just from reading your about page) but i know that takes time. thank you so much i know it’s not a tot qs but after a lot of job rejections i feel so directionless

hi hi! no dw that’s totally fine ☺️ also heads up this is gonna be a long reply lmao

i am in digital marketing, specifically as an Operations Manager. we don’t work with traditional marketing media, so we do mostly ads on social media. and tbh, my degree is in Communications. I learned like 10% of Marketing in uni, most of my knowledge came from working at the company I’m in now (for like 5 years now).

honestly, i’ve received questions like this a lot—about what kind of work they should venture into to earn a lot of money. and while I can give you suggestions like ‘digital marketing’ and etc, it all really comes down to two things—your attitude and finding a workplace that appreciates your effort.

which essentially means you don’t need to be in a field that you think you’re supposed to. i graduated thinking i should look for a job in a communications field—and i did that, in a magazine company but the hours and pay were shit so i quit after i landed my new (current) job.

i applied, with little to zero knowledge about marketing. but i was hired for my attitude—my willingness to learn and to prove to them that i can excel in that role; 5 years later i’m so good at what i do, i’m now promoted to manager. and now, i am too in charge of Hiring and tbh, we look for attitude first more than anything. so if i can suggest anything, find a company that values attitude first before skill. of course companies like these are unicorns, hard to find. but you can almost always tell by looking at the job vacancy they posted.

so here’s a checklist that i go by on companies that you should avoid when i look at job vacancies (entry level—not manager positions):

- are they hiring you for a single focused role or is it something like Graphic Designer/Data Entry. if it’s the latter, it’s a no from me. cus you’ll end up doing a 5-person job

- are they asking for your degrees and says you must have a 3.8 gpa and above? goodbye. unless they’re hiring you for professions like doctor, engineer etc then okay but for marketers, not necessary. 3.0 above is good enough.

- are they listing the role and responsibilities clearly or is it very vague? if it’s the latter, you can try asking them at the interview. if they can’t be fully transparent, red flag.

i also actively avoid companies that say—we are a family. that’s my #1 red flag lmao. we’re not supposed to be a family.

tldr; try other fields—you might be surprised that you’d end up doing something entirely different than what you plan to. i gotta be honest, when you’re looking for a job initially it will be about wanting to get the best pay; that’s totally understandable. and tbh, you’d be lucky asf if you’re able to find that but don’t be scared to settle with little first as long as you know that company can appreciate your effort and give you salary raises in the years to come. give them 2 years, by then you’d be able to know if it’s worth for you to stay or ditch the company. but of course if they’re toxic, leave within the 1st year, don’t waste your time if it takes a toll on your mental health.

and attitude wise, i can go at length about this but maybe another time. but really, this is the game changer for me. once i shifted my mindset and removed my ego, tendency to self-pity but not doing anything about it and stopped blaming others but OWN my mistakes, failures and success—i did nothing but strive at my work and life overall. and the abundance just kept coming for me, monetary and other things.

cliche but i truly believe in manifesting for good things as well. manifesting AND doing something to achieve it. and if you ask me what’s my secret to success—attitude and mindset. fix these first and the rest will come easy.

gosh this went to so many places. became a whole ass motivational speech too lmao i’m sorry but i hope that helps!! 🥹

and i’ll manifest for good things to come to you!! and that you will soon find a job that you enjoy that also pays you good money 🫶

edit: i just realized i probably only half answered you. but before i go into details of what field in marketing that might suit you or skills you might need, i gotta ask—what part in your previous job that stressed you out?

#anon

[alyjojo]

The Person On Your Mind in May 👁‍🗨 2022 - Virgo

Whole of their energy towards Virgo: Ace of Pentacles

This is either a friend or a family member, or that’s what it seems like anyway. They have a new opportunity, something they’re very passionate about and successful at doing. They could be being promoted or following a dream, they’re overcoming obstacles and telling you all about it with the Page of Wands.

Feelings: 4 Cups

They either feel rejected by you, or are rejecting you in some way. Ghosting, not picking up the phone, not showing up, no clear answers being given. They’re not saying no, but they’re not really saying anything. This is clarified by The Star rev & Death rev. They could be battling depression in general and it has nothing to do with you. They’re happy with whatever they’re setting off to do, but they don’t seem all that happy with you. They don’t want it to end either, they’re avoiding making any permanent decisions. There is no hope or optimism, maybe you two just don’t have anything in common. Or they feel that way. Very pessimistic energy here, but that’s how they feel. They may be going through something you don’t know about, or they don’t have hope this can get better, but they don’t want it to officially end and you two go separate ways. Could be family.

Intentions: The World

They’re intending on an ending, which could be the dissatisfaction too. They know something has to end, they don’t want it to, but with this particular ending being The World, there probably isn’t much choice in the matter...it’s inevitable. What’s ending is friendship, celebration, good times, happy memories, they’re walking away from this in order to be victorious someplace else or in some other way. It’s a natural growth process, The World shows it being a necessity, or at least they feel so. But they’re very sad about it.

Actions: 2 Swords

This is no action. They’re stuck in their head. They think about you a lot, they just don’t know what they could do or if they can do anything, so they do nothing. Clarified by 10 Pentacles. You could work opposite schedules and never have time. You could be family or a friend, in which case they care deeply but don’t know what to do. They’re where they are and you’re where you are, and there doesn’t seem to be a bridge to connect the two. Not even communication. Either they feel you’ve “succeeded” and left them behind, or they have done this to you, there’s a large gap between you that this person doesn’t want. Rebel without a cause shows up in the messages, showing there is no particular reason for any ick feelings between you. Rejection maybe. Things got weird, you two are very different and on different paths, but whatever it is doesn’t seem that deep.

Hidden Messages:

- I want to grow with you.

- Rebel without a cause.

Possible signs:

Aquarius, Virgo, Libra, Cancer & Capricorn

If you’re dealing with:

The Hanged Man rev shows you coming out of a time you’ve been staying more to yourself. You’re ready to be more social again, let people into your thoughts and emotions, be more open with those around you, maybe even sharing what you’ve learned or how you’ve changed in the time you’ve been away. Even if “away” was just staying to yourself.

Aries - burdened by a lack of growth

Taurus - independent & giving up on this, or something you two are involved in

Gemini - taking care of home, family, and finances, because there’s nothing else they can do....they feel helpless with you, or they’re not speaking to you at all

Cancer - isn’t speaking and is getting over a time where you really stressed them out

Leo - not committed and leaving, feels there’s more out there that’s suited for them

Virgo - could be being very kind to you about a situation that’s ended, or is no longer willing to give financially/emotionally to this relationship, either one

Libra - has a new opportunity to travel, or otherwise leave you behind in some way, or with you for some, could be this person

Scorpio - has a lot of dreams and little follow through or actual planning going on

Sagittarius - a cruel argument is causing a Tower moment either with you or them, could be someone that plays mind games

Capricorn - very ambitious and wanting to move fast but progress is halted for some reason, could be due to illness or injury

Aquarius - very nostalgic about you and disappointed with how things are currently, or about whatever happened in the past

Pisces - a new love opportunity, they’re indecisive about it, but it’s there & possible

#virgo tarot reading #person on your mind #May 2022 #virgo #tarot

[henriettasyarn]

The Scientific Method Turning Thirty: Chapter One - Part Three of Three, by @henriettasyarn

According to the internet, there are generally seven steps to the scientific method: 1. Discern the burning question, 2. Research said question, 3. Determine a hypothesis to answer said question, 4. Test your hypothesis, 5. Analyze the results, 6. Form your conclusion, and 7. Communication. In 2008, when I was in ninth grade, I distinctly remember there only being five steps. The research in step two came before the method. This implication promoted unhealthy perfectionism for those of us who struggled with executive dysfunction. Your burning question has to be perfectly tailored before you can even start your method. There’s no room for change after you begin; you must know exactly what you want to discover in your project before it even begins. Of course, this isn’t true, nor has it ever been true; it's just the story I told myself. Regardless of the order or number of steps in the scientific method, for a 14 year-old girl with undiagnosed ADHD, my story was the gospel truth.

            I recently read a book called “There Are No Grown-Ups,” by Pamela Druckerman. I came across her work after reading her debut title, “Bringing Up Bébé,” during my second round of motherhood hyper-fixation. I love her writing style. It’s research based, yet forgiving. It’s personal, yet experimental with serious topics cloaked in everyday humor. Druckerman’s work is methodical and I could relate, even as a decade off from the targeted audience. Upon completion, I immediately started looking for similar titles made specifically for thirty-somethings. I was left wanting. According to the numerous podcasts and self-help titles for our demographic, we are unsatisfied, paralyzed with anxiety and need constant uplifting, radically optimistic,  reminders that our lives are not coming to an end. The cyclical theme of thirty-something literature and media is, “you’ve got plenty of time!” God forbid a newly ordained thirty year old expresses any sort of regret over their current accomplishments in front of a forty-plus-er. Scoffing will undoubtedly ensue.

            The world of thirty-something-coming-of-age-not-so-midlife advice is frustrating and dishonest, to put it simply. I listened to a podcast this past week that was formed as a new kind of community for thirty-something girlies. It’s mission statement is, “to help those in their late twenties and thirties break free from what society says turning 30 should look like, accept where they are and to feel empowered to take positive steps forward at this pivotal time.” It sounds good, right? It sounds real, I think. The album cover is a picture of the host, a cute, tanned blondie, who just heard the most hilarious joke of her life, standing in front of a rustic, wood paneled wall. She is doing great and I’m happy for her, so please don’t misconstrue my criticism as fellow female bashing. This woman speaks with confidence and poise. She is helping many women overcome the struggle and doom of thirty-hood and she is very clearly a boss-bitch. I started with the most recent episode and turned it off after twenty minutes. It was the same fucking bullshit I hear all of the time; Nikki was so sad because she was single and didn’t think she would be able to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a mother. Finally, after a maximum of eighteen months of desolation, Nikki takes control of her life by freezing her eggs and traveling to Bali to rediscover herself. However, within two years from the lowest point in Nikki’s life, she is married and has a baby. Wow! You never know what’s around the corner! So, girls, don’t get discouraged, prince charming will be waiting for you after you finally make the decision to be a strong, independent woman.

            What a load of horse shit. Nikki has a story to tell, but this is not the one that I need to hear, this is vomit inducing. I want to hear how she maintained, or did not maintain, her independence after meeting her new spouse. I want to know why she immediately jumped in to having a baby as soon as she met this guy. After all, what was the rush? She just froze her eggs and got out of a very serious, long-term relationship that caused her to hit rock-bottom, so was that just erased from her consciousness the moment she met a guy willing and able to impregnate her? Was it an accidental pregnancy? And if it was….was it really?? My assumption is that she never really became a strong independent woman, content with the possibility of intentional single motherhood. I think she was coping with her sadness over unfulfilled expectations, and independence was the only way through. She was let down and grieving a life she thought she had — a life she still wanted and never truly moved on from. That’s the story I want to hear. I want to hear about Nikki’s reconciliation journey and about the intense relief she felt when she met her now husband. I don’t want to hear the, “you never know what’s around the corner, keep that chin up, girl!” story. It’s exhausting and photoshopped.

            My sister-in-law, Janelle, got divorced in 2020. In 2018, her first husband, John, underwent major weight-loss after learning of his status as a type-2 diabetic at the ripe age of twenty-nine. It was a wake-up call for him. He started exercising and eating healthy. For reference, John was nearly 400 lbs when he started turning his life around. By the time they divorced, John was closer to 200 lbs and had a new-found confidence that none of us had ever seen. I’ve never heard the story directly from John, but, allegedly, he met, and started a relationship with a girl from his hometown in Pennsylvania while playing online video games. In 2019, instead of spending Christmas with his wife, John lied and said he needed to go home to his family, when in reality, he was visiting the gamer girl. John came home to divorce papers. Several months after the divorce was finalized, as Janelle was becoming a strong independent woman and ignoring her deep, clinical depression, Sprinkles shared some encouraging words. She said, “Janelle, you never know what could happen. This time next year you could be remarried and pregnant, don’t get discouraged.” And guess what? By that time the following year, Janelle was pregnant and engaged. It was a miracle. Thank God she didn’t have to enter her thirties as a childless spinster, oh the horror.

            This is the story she tells; she shares the story of her miracle soul-mate and surprise baby boy. Is she happy, though? I don’t know, I can’t tell. Did she overcome the inner-demons and personality faults she discovered during her divorce that drove her into a deep depression? If she did, is that the reason she had the clarity to know that her new husband was the right man for her? Or, like Nikki, was she overcome with relief the moment she met someone that was able and ready to impregnate her and get her life back on the right track? Neither story is inherently wrong. Somewhere, in the depths of the life-stories we tell ourselves and others, is the truth. I am not interested in waiting until I’m forty to be comfortable with the truth.

            In her “Midlife Coming of Age Story,” Druckerman wraps each chapter with a Jeff Foxworthy-esque social commentary, predicating to aptly coined phrase: “You know you’re in your forties when…”. Some traits and tidbits are practical, like “You know you’re in your forties when…hardly anyone you meet is twice your age,” or “the only songs you know all the words to are at least twenty years old.” While others are full of wisdom, only learned through lived experience, like: “You know you’re in your forties when…you are capable of listening without judgment,” or “when you recount how someone has wronged you, you now add, this is from my perspective, of course,” and, “You no longer accept one sided accounts of relationship agonies or obediently validate friends’ stories.” The most poignant in my life, however, is: “You know you’re in your forties when you stop blaming your parents for all of your problems.” The commonality between these trivial and profound realizations is knowledge of self. It’s general awareness. There is truth in the story. I don’t want a decades’ long bandage that constantly reminds me to wait for what’s just around the corner. I want awareness and peace. I want harmony and joy. I want to find my unapologetic self now.

#chapteroneparthree #henriettasyarn #author #female writers #writers on tumblr #writers and poets #writerscommunity #evangelism #divorce #turningthirty #thirty #pentecostal #episcopalian #toxic christianity #original post #original work #original story

[writteninscarlet]

hc + 🏠 for a home-themed headcanon && hc + 📱 for a media-themed headcanon

Thematic Headcanon Meme ;; accepting

home;; also answered here

"Home is where the heart is. That's what they say, right?" An amused smile played across her features. "I suppose that's right, because there's not been many buildings or places I'd call home but a lot of people that I consider my home."

"My current home is a little apartment in Lotkill, New York. It's by my shop. It's... pretty sparsely decorated. Turns out living above a shop I own has it's hazards, you know? No point decorating when it's likely to be destroyed." Of course, she had magic to 'fix' things, putting them back together, but it simply wasn't the same. She also spent only a short amount of time within her home these days - most time was at work, out on a job, or round someone elses' place. It was home, it just wasn't where she spent a lot of time. Was her heart there? "I enjoy Lotkill. It's a community. I'm near enough the city to be able to help, which is nice. But I also feel like my own person. It took me a while to settle in, but I know most of the local community now in Lotkill. I help out with fundraisers. Some of the local shops and I do trades. We help each other out - I feel welcome. So yes. I feel that Lotkill is home."

bonus;; there really have been very few places or buildings wanda would call home. growing up with romani adoptive parents, they were always on the move as a child. in total, any building she's lived in as an avenger (the tower, the mansion), the house she shared with vision, and where she is now are 'home'. she's had a few other apartments, nice places. good places. but there was no 'pang' or sadness in leaving them except perhaps a slight feeling of being sad to lose some sense of freedom having her own place. she enjoys living by herself because there is that freedom to do as she pleases; whether it's her own time schedule because she's often nocturnal, her own eating habits and relaxing habits, just all those bits and pieces. but she actually misses living with other people. she loved her home with vision, though she doesn't long for that back exactly. and she loved staying with the team even if there were arguments and it can be tough to be around so many people. she enjoyed the companionship. wanda won't easily give up having her own place, but she wouldn't mind having a room with the avengers again either.

media;;

"Darcy has set the store up with it's own instagram page. She wanted to do TikTok but decided against it." Wanda didn't really care either way. She understood the value of different advertising schemes, knowing the power that social media held. She wasn't against it. She just didn't feel it necessary. "She posts more than I do, though I've been in a few pictures."

"But personal social media? All the Avengers had to set up an 'official' account. Promote... I don't know, connectivity, make us easier to reach or seem more approachable? I hardly used it. Then we got hacked. It... uhm, it wasn't great." Probably some things said that no one should say, let alone heroes. She just messaged people she knew anyways these days, and magical means for some others. Plus she didn't have the time. It wasn't that Wanda was against social media. She watched things with Darcy now and again, and she could value staying connected. It really was the time more than anything else. "I do have my own instagram, but I can't remember when I last posted. And twitter, uh, X, too. But again, I haven't posted in ages. Sometimes I watch funny videos."

bonus;; wanda used to have a problem, sometimes still does, with people impersonating her on social media. it's one reason why she does have her own actual accounts. she doesn't always mind, if it's fun or isn't anything big - but she knows the power and sway heroes can have. some people follow the crowd. so she does make some posts now and then, or has it at least verified in some way so she can show that the fake accounts aren't hers. she really doesn't have anything against it, but she's more of a browser than posting things herself. she values her privacy, for one, but also has no idea what she would even post. do people want to see her doing yoga? spell practice? outfits? hairstyles? travel out to places? when she meets friends? she isn't so sure.

#ᗢ .｡ headcanons

[just-my-type-x]

i mean i got tired of saying what a shitty job they do, but it's so sad when a lot of us come up with ideas to promote the band and their music and they don't lift a finger. the band lost a lot bc of them and the crew Joe and the rest decided to hire// u keep talking about this and marketing strategies but on what basis? They know what they're doing, u're just assuming stuff because the outcome isn't the preferable one for u/u all

No need to come off bitter first, second, I'm finishing with a college degree in communication and pr, that should be enough to answer ur question on what basis i comment on "professional" takes when it comes to strategies. I've also done multiple marketing strategies for different brands, from construction retail to hospitals and makeup brands and I've also worked on advertisements. And to back up my marketing knowledge, I'm planning on getting a master's degree in social media and brand marketing. So i know what I'm talking about when a 3 year of college student comes up with better strategies to promote something than people who have at least 10 years of experience in the domain

Thirdly, I'm obviously not pleased with the outcome. They should work harder, it's 4 men's lives on their line who, if they lose the spark to the public, it's very hard to gain it back in case u fall off the market. The people the vamps work with can always work for somebody else. And i will not be pleased until i actually see an improvement in their skills of promoting and advertising a band that deserves it.

#brad simpson #the vamps

[sugareey-makes-stuff]

1, 10 and a wildcard of your choice for the questions pls and thank youuuuu!!! xox

Hey neighbor! I’m just catching up on things, so forgive my lateness. These look like some fun q’s, so I’ll give it a go. Be prepared for some long, rambly answers! 1. What are 3 things you’d say shaped you into who you are?

Fandom: Okay, so I’ve been in fandom for a longggg ass time. I think we’re going on to 19 years soon? I have no idea where I would be without fandom because the person I was before that was unsure, lost and intimidated. Fandom has helped me cultivate so many long-lasting friendships and that was what turned me into a creator. I don’t know how people know this, but I started off as a fic writer before becoming a fan artist. I used to write weekly drabbles, long fic and I did write a BB (44k!) once upon a time. The community I joined then was super wholesome and welcoming. The writing from those days makes cringe like hell now, but I really appreciate what I learned from that time. Then a couple of years later I jumped into making art, and for a while I was writing and drawing at the same time (don’t ask me how I did that while in uni either). I actually made my first HP art pieces while still in school, and I was thinking about pursuing art for uni. I had one piece that was accepted into an art gallery for a HP convention, and that was when I also made my first Drarry piece for a fest. I have not looked back ever since. Since I recharged my batteries and I’m now writing and drawing at the same time again, it’s amazing to see how much has changed and how my styles have matured. Processes have changed, and quality is way more important than quantity. But also, seeing how all of these things have reached other people and brought them joy has been pretty awesome. Art: See above. I am 10000% sure if it wasn’t for fandom, I would not be making art right now. And I know that would be super sad, because art has been part of the reason why I’ve always gotten hired for jobs, even though it’s not the premise of any of the roles I’ve had/have. But it’s the methodology and thinking out of the box that counts. Taking risks and seeing what sticks. That’s what has made me stick out every time I meet new people and I tell them I’m an artist.

Original art (which I do make too) is fun, but fanart has always given me a liberty to play in one or multiple sandboxes and has allowed me to take things to the next level in some crazy ways. I’ve found that it’s almost like journaling or milestoning things and ideas whenever I make something for a fest/event. It’s super different from making art to be sold for online or at conventions. Since I’m part professionally-trained (traditional) and part self-trained (digital) and I’ve been making art for quite some time, I also can’t see myself not making art. That’s just how I express myself...when visuals are easier to portray than words are. Life without would be like be cutting my limbs off. Tea + Tumblr: Okay, so here’s a fun story! I got into loose leaf teas and became a tea blender because of Tumblr back in 2013. Yeahhh. Adagio Teas introduced fandom teas at the time (where you can make your own blend of teas), and since I was using Tumblr to promote my art biz when that was the thing to do, I met some other artists who were making teas and I jumped on the bandwagon. It was such a pleasure meeting some amazing tea blenders (like Cara McGee or Aun-Juli Riddle), because we all were putting so much love in making these dumb teas about characters we loved. We’d illustrate all the labels and figure out tea percentages that suited each person. There’s actually some strategy around this (feel free to ask more if you’d like :P). Sooo, yeah, I’m still making teas to this day. Selling fandom teas somehow became a big foundation that has kept my art biz going. Local cons know me as the tea person, I have regulars who come back for more, and when I do come out with something new, people get really excited about it. I’ve sort of turned tea into an experience for people. And you can probably guess it...mentioning this in job interviews has gotten me some major kudos. :D 10. Would you say you’re an emotional person? YESSSS. 1000000% This doesn’t need a long answer, but I’ve always been a sensitive person since I was a kid (my mom actually had to read books on how to deal with that), and given my answers above, I pull from emotions when it comes to creations, listening to music, and pretty much everything. 6. What’s the best and worst part of being online/a creator?

Best: Ummm, I have to say, seeing people lose their shit about something you’ve had to keep quiet about is kind of fun and amazing. I’ve been participating in anon fests for a long time, and it’s always fun to see people guess who made what. I know that my style for art has changed a lot over the years, and it’s way more obvious whenever my art does get posted (since I have yet to find someone who draws so crosshatchy like I do). I’ll take that as a win though. People will either leave comments of squee, or they’ll reblog the crap out of it (something that wasn’t as easy to do back in the LJ days).

Worst: Imposter syndrome is so realllll. I know we’re our own worst critic, and sometimes, it’s difficult when I have days where I think my work sucks, or I have to ask why I’m making something. I’ve definitely learned over the years that it’s super important to enjoy not just the end result of something but also the process of making it. Because at the end of the day, we should do what makes us happy.

Thanks for the ask! ___ Previously answered: 11 and 17 Want to know more? Ask a q for questions I think would be fun to be asked!

#ask meme #asked and answered #q's that would be fun to ask #about me

[bettyrobin5]

The Power of Mental Health

Mental well being is something many of us want for yourself, whether we understand it by brand delete word. There are usually no easy answers here - psychological fitness is the cumbersome stepchild you delivered away towards the state hospital in the land and even visited every year. Within fact good mental health is an integral part of good general health intended for people with HIV. Primary Care Mental Condition is a new new, peer-reviewed log on research, training, development and delivery of mental health and fitness in primary health care. But Tranquil Haven is far even more than merely the particular a shortage of mental illness. Depressions are the particular greatest Trouble Men and women are four times more likely to be able to break off a romantic relationship if their own partner is clinically diagnosed with severe major depression than if that they build a physical handicap. Overall, the a couple of strongest predictors for thinking about destruction were depression in addition to substance abuse. Through compelling personal stories told through tv, video, the World wide web, and print media, the campaign motivates men to recognize major depression and its influence on their work, residence, and community existence. However it can also enable Cam-mind to launch the project designed to be able to help employers take on stress, anxiety in addition to depression in the workplace. But what's the difference among "normal" feelings regarding sadness and the feelings due to depression. Topics covered change widely, from healthy and balanced self esteem in adolescence and signs of depression to helpful diagnosing mental medical problems in children. Problems about Mental Problem Those with schizophrenia are extremely likely in order to face problems: even just the teens of women explained they would crack up with the help of a partner who was diagnosed with the disorder. The study team have also come across that stress at work is associated with a 50 per dollar excess risk involving coronary heart disease, and there is consistent proof that jobs with high demands, minimal control, and effort-reward imbalance are danger factors for psychological and physical health and fitness problems (major depression, anxiety disorders, plus substance use disorders). The Mental State and Poverty Task called on typically the SAHRC to take into consideration establishing up a fee that could primarily emphasis on the needs of people with mental health problems. Still the best-trained psychiatrists do not necessarily have an internships within the problems of normal living. "What lots of people don't realise is the fact we almost all have mental well being - just like we have physical well being - and that will mental health problems can affect any individual, whatever their grow older or background. Emotional therapies are based on talking plus working with men and women to be familiar with causes and triggers of mental health conditions and even on developing sensible strategies to offer with them.

Searching for Information The first step is to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illnesses, using targeted public education routines that will provide typically the public with factual information about emotional illnesses and in order to suggest strategies intended for enhancing mental physical fitness, much like anti-smoking campaigns promote physical health. It as a result makes good sense for people with HIV to have got information about the ways in which HIV will affect their emotional health and about common mental health and fitness issues such since depression, anxiety in addition to emotional distress. This kind of comprehensive information resource for child mental Condition and being a parent information includes posts, resources, a glossary, an Ask typically the Expert section, the disorder guide, magazines, and FAQs. Provides useful information detailing educational evaluations, and in addition lists interventions which may be used to handle various mental fitness conditions, including panic, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, and more. Mental Situation is more important than physical well being. Mental fitness is somewhat more than the deficiency of mental conditions Mental health could be conceptualized as a state of health in which the particular individual realizes his / her or her have abilities, can cope with the regular challenges of life, could work productively and fruitfully, and is in a position to make a contribution to his or her community. In this positive sense, mental health is the foundation for wellbeing and effective performing for an person and for a new community. Don�t be tired with regards to your Mental Distress, fight against using Binaural Beats [http://stuff4humans.com/Binaural-Beats.html] You�ll see the Effect found in Seconds!

#holistic

[mypoisonedvine]

Seeing Red | bodyguard!Bucky Barnes x reader (part 7)

(part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5) (part 6)

series summary: bucky used to brag that he didn’t have a celebrity crush, or really care about famous people at all, which is what made him the perfect person to start working for a celebrity like yourself.  except, of course, it’s just his luck that he’d fall for you.  

word count: 2.5k

warnings: um just implied smut and fluff and a reference to bdsm I guess?? but it's pretty chill overall

Liked by starkcosmetics and others

y/n.y/l/n okay first of all, it takes an act of god to get a picture of this guy smiling, but it’s always worth it.  he really changed everything for me and I can’t thank him enough for that.  so happy ❤️ 

View all 9,208 comments

caroldanvers 😍😍😍

flowercrowny/n oh my god this is so sweet i’m gonna cry

1 HOUR AGO

He smiled as he stared down at the post you’d made, remembering how much effort you’d put into finding the perfect picture (in your opinion; he thought he looked kinda dopey in it) as well as writing and re-writing your caption.

The speed at which your post gained likes and comments was inconceivable to him; even more impressive was the speed at which gossip rags were picking up the story.  Sure enough, his phone’s alerts to new headlines about you were not only going off like crazy, but had started to include news about himself as well.  

Y/N Y/L/N Shocks With Romantic Instagram Post, Confirms Dating Rumors

You’ll Never Guess Which Hollywood Starlet Is Dating Her Driver

Who is James Barnes?  Everything We Know About Y/N Y/L/N’s New Beau

Skimming one of the articles, he was impressed at how much information they’d managed to get without actually getting anything from you or him.  Born in Brooklyn, disabled Army veteran, worked a list of odd jobs before becoming your driver and bodyguard.  ‘No social media presence, prefers to keep a low profile’ one of them said; you can say that again, Bucky chuckled to himself when he read it.

He found another from People and didn’t particularly appreciate that it spent half the time going through all your past exes and rumored partners (turned out ‘rumored’ is a fancy word for ‘a bunch of fans deluded themselves so hard that it somehow turned into news without any proof necessary’).  But he still smiled when he got to the part that was actually about you and him.

‘The relationship is pretty new but they’re so happy together,’  a source close to the couple reported.  

Close indeed; that statement came from your publicist, who he’d never even meet.  

‘He’s a very private guy and she’s got this huge following, so they’re sort of an odd couple in that way, but she knows her fans are respectful and will let them have their own life outside of the spotlight.’ 

Bucky wasn’t sure that the respectfulness of fans was such a given here, but he hoped you were right.  To be fair, they’d been very sweet on your original post insofar. 

However, when he scrolled to the bottom of the celebrity magazine articles and realized they had their own comments section, he discovered that they were a little less forgiving than the ones on your Instagram.  

Is this the best she thinks she can do?  So sad tbh :(

a military guy…. yikes, she could get any guy she wants and she goes for a murderer. 

He looks like a hobo that found a coupon for a free haircut lol

I don’t buy it, I know she’ll always love Pietro!

Pietro being your former co-star that so many of your fans were convinced was actually your soulmate.  From what he’d heard from you, those speculations had made things so uncomfortable between the two of you that it killed your friendship.  Those were nothing, though, compared to the comments about someone you actually had dated.

she’s obviously not over sam… they were so good together

He’d better watch out for her ex, he still likes tweets about her and they have so much chemistry

Wait, she’s not still with Sam Wilson??  I could’ve sworn they’d been dating for, like, five years.

You were scrolling through your phone with a smile as you walked past where he was sitting on the couch, and he just couldn’t help himself from asking even though he knew it wasn’t the best idea.  “Do I need to worry about this Sam thing?” he blurted out, trying to play it cool and not sound too anxious.  “People are really obsessed with you two…”

“Sam and I…” you sighed, staring off into space for a second.  He made himself anxious imagining what you were thinking about in that moment.  “I haven’t talked to him in… years?  I think it’s just because our relationship was so public that people are still talking about it.  And it had a lot of gossip material— we did a movie together, people thought it was sweet that we got together during production, it was great promotion for the picture… and from the outside, we made a lot of sense for each other.  But he has his own problems.  I loved him, but… he wasn’t ever going to be a one-girl kinda guy.”

“But you’re not just any one girl.  You’re… you know, you,” he emphasized.

“You’ve been reading too many headlines,” you shook your head as you sat down beside him.  “Please don’t turn into one of those guys who thinks of me as a celebrity first.  Before that—” you pointed to your own name where it was bolded on his screen in the trending topics page of Twitter— “was popping up on movie posters and in gossip magazines, it was just my name.  And I’m not perfect.  Not even close.”

Bucky sighed and wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into him and holding you tightly.  “And before I knew you were famous, or rich, or incredibly talented, I was totally obsessed with you just for who you are.”

“You’re too fucking amazing,” you sighed as you held his face and gave him a gentle kiss— the kind of kiss that instantly melted his heart and banished his worries.  When you pulled back and looked up at him with a smile, it was like everything else just… faded away.  “Don’t read the comments, okay?  None of them matter.”

He smiled and brushed his thumb over your cheek, overwhelmed by not only the softness of your skin but of your spirit as well.  In all his life he’d never been handled so… gently, with so much care.  “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” he mumbled, not even really realizing he’d said it aloud until you gave him a beaming smile.

“I can’t believe you’re my boyfriend,” you giggled pridefully.

“Seriously?  I can… very easily believe it,” he scoffed.

“I just mean… you’re so…” you searched for the words.  “You’re actually good to me, that’s the thing.  I’m not used to that.”

“You deserve the world,” he assured.  “I’m just gonna keep trying to give you as much of it as I can find.”

He watched his hand trail over your face, down your neck and to your chest where he played with the hem of your t-shirt.

"It's odd to know there are millions of people who are jealous of me,” he admitted quietly, remembering some aggressive comments from some very angry dudes who had apparently also watched your nude scene a few too many times.

"Do you like it?  Do you like how it feels to know you're making them angry every time you touch me?"

"Couldn't care less," he refuted.  "Nobody else matters when I'm touchin' you."

“Do you maybe wanna… touch me a little more about it?” you smirked, opening your legs slightly in invitation.

“Always.”

//

Bucky had, thankfully, not let the newfound fame get to his head.  In fact, he had demanded that the two of you hunker down in the house, since he feared that going out would lead to being recognized.  What he apparently hadn’t anticipated was that that might not be enough.

“Will you get that?” you requested when the gate buzzed, too wrapped up in the book you were reading to answer the intercom.

He hopped up and held down the button to communicate with the gate speaker.  “Who is it?” he asked.

“I’ve got a delivery from Anjappar Chettinad on 23rd?”

Bucky didn’t even reply before hitting the green button and granting access to the driveway.  BEEP BEEP BEEP! you heard the gate signal its opening, and the car pulling around up to the door.  Bucky didn’t open it until there was a knock, greeting the delivery guy with a smile and the necessary cash.

“I’ve got a lamb korma, hyderabadi mutton dum biryani and an order of— woah,” the man suddenly stopped, staring at Bucky’s face.  “Are you—?’

“Hungry?  Yes,” he frowned.

“You’re the guy dating— holy shit, congrats man,” he beamed, smacking Bucky on the shoulder pridefully before leaning in with a mischievous smirk.  “Say, is she a freak or what?”

“She is,” you piped up from the couch, making both men turn their heads; but one was chuckling while the other looked mortified.  “You better not have forgotten my paneer pakora or I’m gonna chain you up and whip you.”

“Uh, I— no, I got it right here,” he promised weakly, handing the bag over to Bucky and starting to dash away before Bucky grabbed his arm, making the smaller man whimper fearfully.

“You forgot the money,” Bucky reminded him gruffly, stuffing the bills into the driver’s front pocket.

Finally, he let go, and the delivery man instantly pulled away, rubbing his arm and looking a bit like a kicked puppy as he went back to his car and drove away.

“You didn’t need to scare him that bad,” Bucky chuckled.

“I could say the same to you!  Grabbing somebody with the metal arm like that will put the fear of God into them pretty fast.”

“I didn’t mean to grab him that hard,” he admitted, examining the prosthetic hand as he came back to the couch with the bag of food, handing it to you while he focused on watching his motorized fingers curl and uncurl.  “I think I need to get this thing recalibrated… it’s been bugging out lately.”

“I dunno, it was working just fine last night,” you smiled, remembering how delightfully cool those fingers felt inside you.

Bucky seemed to miss it entirely, though, as he stared off into space.  “I can’t believe I got… recognized.”

“You’re a star,” you winked.  “And not just with random delivery drivers.  I’ve had a lot of press requests, everybody wants to be the first one to get nice pictures of us together— we’ve had a dozen event invites as a couple.”

“Seriously?!” he scoffed, snapping back to reality slightly enough 

“Yeah, and look what came in same-day mail this morning!”  You leaned over to shuffle through the mail on the side table before finding and handing him a letter in a gold-embossed envelope, watching him read what you knew was inside.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association extends an invitation to Y/N Y/L/N and James Barnes to the annual Grant Banquet in support of the Young Artists Fund.

“It seems like a good first event for us,” you explained.  “Relatively small and low stakes, it’s for a good cause…”

“Are you sure I’m ready to be, you know… seen?  By people?” 

You scoffed, hardly believing how insecure he could be sometimes.  “You look great, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Will I have to talk to anybody other than you?” he asked, grimacing as if that were a form of brutal torture.

“Probably,” you admitted.

His frown deepened.  “What if I say the wrong thing?”

“I’m not that worried about you,” you smirked.  “You’re a lot better at this stuff than you think you are.”

“I don’t have anything to wear…”

You smirked, a little too proud of yourself, when you remembered the email your publicist had forwarded to you just this morning.  “Hugo Boss will pay you $1500 to wear one of their suits on the carpet.”

“They’ll pay me to wear free clothes?” he repeated with wide eyes.

“Yeah, that’s one of the cooler things about fame,” you laughed.  “I make a grand every time I wear this watch outside!”

“I guess I should send them my measurements then…” he trailed off.  “Any chance I can get in on that watch deal?”

“No, but you can make $50 by getting papped at Jamba Juice.”

He paused for a moment, scratching the back of his neck as he thought.  “Is the smoothie comped?”

“I don’t know.  Do you want me to ask?”

“...kinda…” he admitted with a shy smile.  

“Well, I will, and I’ll RSVP to this invite saying we’ll be there next week,” you decided as you started to open up the food, but Bucky stopped you by reaching for your hands.

“Are we really doing this?” he asked.

“If you want to,” you mitigated.

“Of course I do.  I guess I have to accept that you’re actually willing to be seen with me,” he chuckled.  “It’s just sort of hard to believe.”

You leaned in and kissed him; it was meant to be a casual, reassuring peck but he held you closer and you melted into him, moaning softly at his touch as you started to climb into his lap.

“The food’s gonna get cold,” he reminded you with a mumble against your lips.

Unfortunately, your literal hunger was a bit too strong to ignore, even with the growing intensity of a metaphorical hunger for Bucky.  “Alright,” you relented, getting off of him and returning your attention to the meal on the table.  “Just know that I really, really want to be seen together, in public, just in case anybody missed the news about us already.  I’m not embarrassed by you or afraid you’re going to do something dumb.  I…”

One of those words that can’t be unsaid started to bubble up in your throat and you coughed, banishing the thought.

“I really like you.  I think we have something special.”

He smiled gently, giving you one more kiss on the cheek.  “I think so, too.”

//

Since this was slightly less of a big deal than a premiere or press tour, you had managed to convince your styling team to let you dress yourself, which was why he was laying on the bed and talking to you through the bathroom door while you put on your gown.

“Do you want me to hire a new driver?” you prompted him, voice muffled slightly as he imagined your head covered in the fabric, trying to navigate through the dress.  “I don’t want you to feel… I don’t know, like a servant?”

“A servant?  You’re still paying me,” he reminded you.  “You are still paying me, right?”

“Yes,” you laughed, “but still, I would hate it if you felt like staff.  You’re my boyfriend!”

(His heart still fluttered every time you said it.)

“No new driver,” he decided.  “I can drive just fine, and considering how things went between us… let’s not open the door for anybody else,” he smirked, making you laugh in that way you did when he made a stupid joke but you still liked it somehow.

“Okay, sure, but what about being my bodyguard?  Is that too weird?” you continued.

“God no,” he scoffed, “if anything I’m gonna be better at my job than ever.  As your boyfriend, keeping you safe is my job, but since keeping you safe was already my job… it’s, like, doubled-up now.”

He lost his train of thought when you opened the door.

“How do I look?” you asked as you stepped in and gave him a spin in your new dress.  Your whole body was draped in red silk, with the exception of your back which was almost entirely exposed, as if it were begging him to run his fingers down your spine.

“Like everything I ever wanted,” he blurted out before he could stop himself.

And it was so odd that you questioned his desire to drive you, because those moments where he could steer with one hand and rest the other on your thigh, when he could catch a glimpse of you looking out the window at the city rolling by, when he got to listen to you ramble about something to kill the time during a drive; those were his favorite moments, and he wouldn’t trade them for anything.

After a relatively brief trip, you arrived at the venue, and all of a sudden he was doing what he’d fantasized about more than he’d like to admit: escorting you down a red carpet.  It was almost overwhelming— yelling, chattering, reporters speaking into camera, flashes going off in every direction—

“Hey,” you whispered, bringing your hand up to his cheek and instantly taking all his attention.

“Hey,” he returned.

“Just follow my lead,” you instructed.

“That was the plan.”

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n

[applerubyy]

Ciao Adios

Summary: When you find your boyfriend cheating on you yo decide to expose him in the pettiest way you can think of.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader (some Loki x Reader if you squint)

Word Count: 4k

Warnings: Cheating and cursing (I think that’s it?)

A/N: Hi! So this is my first time writing and posting anything here so if its terrible please tell me nicely :). This is some AU where everyone lives and all is happy ok? Also english is not my first language so I apologize in advance for any grammar or spelling mistakes. Anyway, if it turns out that some of you like it I think I’d be willing to do a part 2 if you like. Hope you enjoy it! <3. Btw, the gif is not mine so credit to whoever made it.

Crack. That’s the sound of your heart breaking, ripped to pieces in just a few seconds. And no, you were not exaggerating. Seeing your boyfriend kissing someone else while taking off their clothes would do that to a person. And in his office of all places.

How did you not see that coming? They had a lot in common and they did spend a lot of time together but you were just so naïve thinking that he was the most trust-worthy person ever that you looked the other way and believed him when he told you she was “just a friend”. 

Just a friend my ass you thought as you calmly walked to your room. No running, that would draw attention to you and you didn’t need that. No crying either, because once you started you wouldn’t be able to stop. Walking down the hallway and taking the elevator to your floor feels like it takes forever. 

Time is funny that way. It has that annoying tendency to slow down or speed up at the worst times. Like when you were in college and the clock seemed to literally stop, you would look at the time and it was 10:20 am and check again after what felt like half an hour for it to be 10:25 am. Or like when you are having fun with your friends at a club and you see it’s 12:30 but when you look again a few minutes later it’s 2:40. Right now it feels like the former, time seems to have slowed down. Maybe Dr. Strange did something to it? No, that’s stupid, he wouldn’t play with time that way.

Finally the elevator pings open and you rush to your room. Well, it’s not only your room anymore. You share it with him and everything is a reminder of what you just saw. The art supplies on the desk by the window, the famous shield leaning against the wall near the door, the messy bed where you sleep together every night …

And every single thing brings tears to your eyes until finally, the dam breaks and you let the tears fall down. You bring your hand to your mouth to muffle a sob that brings you to your knees. Crying is the only thing you can do right now because your brain is stuck on a loop. All you can see is Steve kissing her, unbuttoning her shirt with one hand while the other grabbed her ass. And all you can hear are their moans, Sharon’s whimper when he touched her and his groan as he did so. 

And now you are full on crying and choking on air because that scene keeps replaying itself over and over no matter how much you want it to stop. And you do, Gosh you do because there is so much your heart can take and this is too much. It shatters you in more ways than one. It makes you question everything you thought you knew about him, about her, about your relationship and about yourself.

You remember the first time you met him. You were already in college and looking for an internship. Luckily you happened to be the niece of the one and only Pepper Potts. And who wouldn’t want to work near Earth's mightiest heroes? You sure did. You were studying journalism and communications in New York and working with the Avengers was the ultimate dream, one that was about to come true.

Your first day was uneventful, it consisted mainly of coffee runs, delivering files and passing messages along. That was until your third coffee run where you ran straight into a wall, well actually it wasn’t a wall but it felt like it. The coffee spilled everywhere, on your clothes and his, and you were going to fall on your butt if it wasn’t for him grabbing your arms to steady you. Imagine your surprise when you looked up to see Captain America himself.

And that’s the moment your love story started. It seemed like something straight out of a romantic comedy and you loved it. It started with flirting, a date and then another, him asking you to be his girlfriend and finally asking you to move in once you graduated. It felt like a fairytale.

Tony wasn't very happy about you and the Capsicle but he saw how happy you were so he tried to be happy too. Tony was your uncle even if you didn’t share any blood. Growing up you would visit your aunty Pepper in New York and he was always around, you even stayed at his house when Pepper and him had to work. So, you two became really close even before he became Iron Man and started dating your aunt. 

The same thing happened with Rhody. Your close relationship with Tony meant you were close to him too, seeing as he was one of the most important people in his life. Rhody treated you like his niece and was the only one he didn’t make fun of which you took as the ultimate compliment. 

So those three you knew before you started working at the compound and before Steve. But once you started working there you met the rest of the Avengers. Being Pepper and Tony's niece and Steve's girlfriend meant they all wanted to get to know you. 

You met Bruce Banner, the Hulk, and you became really close. But that was thanks to his close relation with Tony and all the time you spent with him working on his social media presence to make sure people saw him as more than just the green monster who smashes things. After a while of working there they promoted you and now you manage the Avengers social media.

Nat and Wanda became your best friends from the moment you met. You just clicked and hung out as much as possible, being the only girls on the team meant they were really happy to have another female added to the mix. As for Vision, he liked you because Wanda did, simple as that.

Bucky and Sam were the funniest people ever, their constant bickering always brought a smile to your face and they welcomed you with open arms. Happy that their friend had finally found someone to be with.

Thor and Clint were like the fun uncles you got to see every once in a while. The God of Thunder was like an excited puppy and would hug you till you couldn’t breath every time he came to Earth and Clint would joke around with you and FaceTime you when he was with his kids because they loved you (“best babysitter ever” that called you).

You met Peter when he started working for your uncle. He was a sweet kid and your love of memes, vines and pop culture made you instant friends. He would ask you for advice on girls and tell you science jokes.

But we all know not all fairytales have a happy ending and this one definitely didn’t. You’re feeling so many things at once. There’s anger, sadness, jealousy and something else you can’t put your finger on. You keep crying and are unable to move from your kneeling position on the floor. Checking the clock you realize you’ve been on the floor crying for an hour so you stand up.

Taking a shower seems like the best thing to do, your head is pounding and your face is all puffy. As you shower it hits you, that other feeling swirling around is inevitability. In a way you always thought he was too good for you, you always thought he would eventually get tired of you and trade you for someone else. 

It just hurt too much that it was her, the woman he shared so much with. The niece of Peggy Carter, his first love. An agent of S. H. I. E. L. D.  Someone who risked their life for the world like he did. Someone prettier. Someone better than you.

Yeah, you were definitely on a self-pity party. But you needed to be miserable for a while, to cry it all out, to hurt so that you could move on to the next stage of grief: anger. And when that came, there was no stopping you.

You weren’t a mean person, or a petty one. You gave everyone countless opportunities and forgave way too easily so you never really got angry. But when you did, when you said enough is enough, yeah, you better watch out. That could be the meanest bitch you ever met and she had no mercy.

So you got out of the shower, dried yourself and started getting ready. Tony was throwing yet another party about who knows what and you were not missing it. You liked parties, they were the perfect excuse for wearing pretty dresses and putting on make up. And tonight you were going all out. 

Your inner bitch was concocting a plan and you were going with it.

You hear the door open and prepare yourself to put on the best acting of your life. You take a deep breath and in the sweetest voice you can muster say: “Steve is that you babe?”

“Yeah doll it’s me” you hear him say. A few second later he pops into the bedroom and gives you a peck on the lips as you continue with your makeup.

“How was your day?” Steve asks as he takes off his clothes, probably to take a shower. “I missed you today, i went by your office but you weren’t there” he says with a small frown between his eyes. You could stare at his blue eyes forever but snap out of it when you remember what he did. 

“Oh not much, i left work earlier to get ready for tonight” you answer. Shit your work. You really did leave like that, but after tonight hopefully they’ll understand. “You should start getting ready, the party starts in thirty minutes”.

He smiles at you and tells you he’s going to take a quick shower before getting dressed. He goes to the bathroom and you feel like breaking the mirror but instead take a few deep breaths and remind yourself he’s getting what he deserves later on. With that in mind you finish applying you makeup and smile at yourself, you look good. Moving on to your hair you decide to do some loose waves and that’s it, you really don’t know how to make those complicated updos.

Steve gets out of the shower and starts putting on his suit. Men really do have it easier you think to yourself when you see all the work you had to do and he just showers and that’s it.

You take your dress out of the closet and admire it. It really is beautiful. It has a deep plunging neckline that shows a lot of cleavage and is skin tight with a slit on one side. The fact that it is silver with sequins makes it even better. Pepper helped you pick this dress. 

You put on the dress and admire yourself in the mirror. You look good. Behind you, you hear a whistle and turn around to see Steve watching you lust in his eyes. He comes closer and grabs you by the waist, pulling you to him.

“You look stunning” he says as he wets his bottom lip. “I can’t wait to take it off of you when we get back”. Lying cheating bastard.

“Can't wait” you lie as you wrap your arms around his neck and kiss him. This is just a kiss goodbye you tell yourself. One last kiss before he’s out of your life and probably runs to her. Tears threaten to fill your eyes but you hold them down. Not now.

You break the kiss when the need to breathe is too strong. Grabbing his hand you start walking towards the door and say: “Come on, we’re already late”.

——————————————————————————

The party had already started once you walk in and in true Tony fashion it is elegant and extravagant. Everyone is there: S. H. I. E. L. D. agents, the Avengers themselves, politicians and a few famous people. 

You and Steve walk to the bar and order drinks. A whiskey for him and a strawberry daiquiri for you, yes you are that basic but hey, it tastes awesome. He offers you his arm and with drinks in your hands you start looking for your friends. A lot of people stop you on the way, nobody wants to miss an opportunity to talk to Captain America.

One thing, or rather on person, catches your attention: Loki. He’s sitting on one of the cushions alone with a drink in his hand. It’s weird to see him there. Sure, he was redeeming himself for what he did in 2012 and Thor said he was doing better but he rarely left Asgard (he “hated mortals”) and when he did come to Earth it wasn’t for a party.

As if he could feel you staring he turns his head and locks his eyes with yours. You weren’t going to lie, he was gorgeous. He was incredibly tall, had those charming green eyes and was actually funny (but you’d never admit that to anyone). But you were in love with Steve and never saw him as anything more than Thor's hot brother. And everyone in the Avengers was hot so that’s not saying much.

You turn away from him and see Nat and Wanda on the dance floor and you tell Steve you’ll see him later and to go find his friends. He’ll need them after tonight you think to yourself. You greet the girls and start dancing with them, for a moment forgetting about what you saw today and putting Loki out of your mind.

The three of you decided to take a break and order some more drinks. Once at the bar Wanda orders for you and when your drinks arrive you go back to the dance floor. You spend the next few hours dancing, talking to your friends and pretending that nothing's wrong. Talking to Steve and pretending that nothing's wrong. Hugging Steve and pretending that nothing's wrong. Kissing Steve and pretending that nothing's wrong.

The fact that Sharon is at the party doesn’t help at all. When you see her talking or touching him you feel like you’re gonna lose it but you remain strong. You remind yourself of your plan and try to keep them out of your mind.

There’s a small stage at the far end of the room and you see your uncle Tony step on it and grab the microphone.

“Hello everyone and thank you for coming to another one of my amazing parties. I hope you are having a good time and taking advantage of the free bar over there” he points to the other side of the room and continues, “Now for what we have all been waiting for: karaoke! And yes, i want everyone to sing something because that’s the whole point of this. I'm looking at you Manchurian Candidate, you’re singing”.

With that he gets off the stage and passes the mic to Sam who decided to sing a Marvin Gaye song. He’s pretty good actually but you can’t fully concentrate on him because your mind is going a thousand miles an hour for what it’s going to happen later.

More people go up and sing their songs and you applaud when they’re done. Nobody is talking much, they're all too busy either laughing at the others performance, drinking or actually listening to the songs. You’re sitting with Steve to your right, Bruce to your left and the rest of the Avengers nearby. You’re your own little group.

It’s finally your turn and as you walk to the stage you can hear your friends whistling and cheering you on. Once you’re up on the stage you choose the song and start singing. 

Ask you once, ask you twice now

There's lipstick on your collar

You say she's just a friend now

Then why don't we call her?

So you wanna go home with someone

To do all the things you used to do to me

I swear, I know you do

Used to take me out in your fancy car

And make out in the rain

And when I ring you up

Don't know where you are

'Til I hear her say your name

Used to sing along when you played guitar

That's a distant memory

Hope she treats you better than you treated me, ha

As you continue singing you get more and more confident and take the mic. You walk off the little stage and over to your friends while dancing and you can see them smiling, clapping and having fun. They have no idea how much i mean all of this you think. You look at Steve and he’s completely oblivious. Good, you want to take him by surprise. You arrive at your little circle of friends and start singing the chorus.

I'm onto you, yeah you

I'm not your number one

I saw you with her

Kissing and having fun

If you're giving her all of your money and time

I'm not gonna sit here wasting mine on you, yeah, you

Ciao adios, I'm done

Ciao adios, I'm done

Ciao adios, I'm done

You keep dancing and go back to back with Wanda who’s also singing along. You then turn to Nat and she grabs your hand and makes you do a little spin. 

After three, after four times

Why did I bother?

Tell me how many more times

Does it take to get smarter?

Don't need to deny the hurt and the lies

And all of the things you did to me

I swear, I know you did

And now you take her out in your fancy car

And make out in the rain

And when she rings you up

She know where you are

But I know differently

Now she sings along when you play guitar

Making brand new memories

Hope you treat her better than you treated me

You go up to Tony and he starts dancing around you busting out some dad moves. You laugh and keep on singing and dancing.

I'm onto you, yeah you

I'm not your number one

I saw you with her

Kissing and having fun

If you're giving her all of your money and time

I'm not gonna sit here wasting mine on you, yeah, you

Ciao adios, I'm done (I'm done)

Ciao adios, I'm done (no, no, no, no)

Ciao adios, I'm done

If you're giving her all of your money and time

I'm not gonna sit here wasting mine on you, yeah, you

Ciao adios, I'm done

And now you take her out in your fancy car

And make out in the rain

And when she rings you up

She know where you are

But I know differently

Now she sings along when you play guitar

Making brand new memories

Hope you treat her better than you treated me

You walk back to the stage as you sing and step up. You put the mic back into place and sing the last part of the song.

I'm onto you, yeah you

I'm not your number one

I saw you with her (with her)

Kissing and having fun (and fun)

If you're giving her all of your money and time

I'm not gonna sit here wasting mine on you, yeah, you

Ciao adios, I'm done (I'm done)

Ciao adios, I'm done (you get on with your life, I'll get on with my life)

Ciao adios, I'm done

If you're giving her all of your money and time

I'm not gonna sit here wasting mine on you, yeah, you

Ciao adios, I'm done

When you’re done people are clapping and cheering and you look to your friends to see them all smiling. You look at everyone and make a little mock bow and when you straighten you see Loki sitting on the same couch as before. But this time he’s looking at you and he’s laughing, not smiling and cheering but actually laughing.

You look back at your friends and say “Thank you, thank you” with a smile on your face. You continue , “I wanted to dedicate this song to my boyfriend Steve” you point at him.

“In case it wasn’t clear enough, i wanted to tell you that i saw you with Sharon”. You could hear a pin drop. No one was talking and all eyes were on you. This is what you wanted, to humiliate him as much as he did you. And what better way to do it than publicly? Oh but you weren’t done.

You could see Steve's face going pale and nobody knew where to look, if at you or at him. Tony look ready to murder him as did Rhody, Pepper, Peter and Bruce. Thor, Clint and Vision looked shocked. But Bucky, Sam, Nat and Wanda looked guilty.

Your heart breaks a little more when you realize they knew. You can’t really blame Bucky and Sam for not telling you, they were Steve's friends after all. But you thought the girls were your friends, that they would have told you. Apparently you overestimated that friendship.

You keep on smiling and continue “So… I’m breaking up with you. Hope she was a good fuck and wasn’t uncomfortable with the fact that you were once in love with her aunt”. You do a dramatic pause and make a little disgusted face. “Anyway, if I’m lucky i´ll never see you again. Have a great life!”

And with that, you walk off the stage and make your way to your friends. Steve is rooted to the spot and his face is red with embarrassment. You walk up to him, look him straight in the eye and give him an evil smile. He gulps and opens his mouth as if he’s about to say something and then closes it. He does is two more times and still nothing comes out.

You turn to your group and look at Wand and Nat, who can’t seem to be able to look you in the eye. You sigh and say: “Who want enemies when they can have you as their best friends right?”. They look up then and start talking. Telling you how sorry they are and to please forgive them. You raise your hand to silence them and they do.

You go to your aunt and uncle who look like there should be smoke coming out of their ears and say: “I’m gonna stay in a hotel for the night, can’t stand to be here anymore”. Tony scrunches his eyebrows and look at you like you’re crazy.

“Hell no. You’re staying here. We can find him another room to sleep in but you’re not leaving. If anyone’s leaving is Mr. Star-spangled over there” he practically screams the last part as he points at Steve.  

You take a deep breath and hug him. It takes him by surprise but he puts his arms around you. “I appreciate it uncle Tony but i can’t stay at the compound, it just hurts too much” you say as you let go. Turning to your aunt you hug her as well and say: “Thank you for everything but I quit”.

The moment those words leave your mouth everyone starts talking at the same time telling you how crazy you are and to think about it. You just smile at them and tell them you already made up your mind. “I'm gonna go pack a bag and ask Happy to take me to a hotel nearby. Please make sure he doesn’t follow” you say as you point to a still red-faced Captain America. 

With that you turn around and leave. The room is silent for a few seconds before you hear your friends all screaming at Steve. You look around for a second and notice that Loki is staring at you with a smirk on his face. When you look him in the eye he raises his glass at you ant takes a sip. 

You give him a small smile and walk through the doors towards the elevator.  

#steve rogers x reader #captain america x reader #steve rogers imagine #captain america imagine #avengers #avengers imagine #loki x reader #loki imagine #tony stark #steve rogers x y/n #captain america x y/n #steve rogers fanfiction

[xwing-baby]

New Opportunity (Javier Peña x f!Reader)

Summary: You and Javier fight over a new job opportunity as it threatens to take you away from him.

Warning: Angst, swearing, hints at smut (nothing descriptive), happy sad vibes, fem!reader (no y/n but use of pet names)

Word count: 2.6k

A/n: I will never give Javi a break, I refuse. Sorry baby but you’re too fun to hurt...

--

“Hey pretty girl,” Javi smirked as you walked into the office, “Is it my birthday?” He looked you up and down greedily.

“Didn’t know office wear was your thing,” You laughed ad shook your head at him, putting a lunch bag down on his desk before wrapping your arms around his neck.

“Never see you in dresses. I like it,” He pulled you in for a kiss, his hands immediately going up your skirt, “and I know what’s underneath,” He added, flicking the band of your stockings. You yelped as the elastic stung your thigh.

“Hey! Hands to yourself, pervert,” you slapped his hand out from under your skirt. Javi chuckled and kissed you again softly, his hands around your waist instead. You sighed into him, allowing the moment to roll on until you broke for air. “I have a job interview today actually,”

“That promotion you were on about?” He asked.

“Uh no, actually,” You took a deep breath knowing his reaction wouldn’t be the best, “A CIA position,” You bit your lip and watched him carefully. He frowned, creasing his eyebrow, searching your face for signs you were serious. You were.

“CIA?” He repeated, raising a brow, “You don’t mind moving back to Bogotá?”

“It- um the jobs not in Colombia,” You said, slowly removing your hands from around him, nervously wringing them together.

“Where is it?” He bristled, taking his hands off you.

“I can’t say,” You said quietly, “it’s classified,” Javi shook his head disapprovingly, and leant back on his desk, crossing his arms.

“Well, it’s only an interview, maybe you won’t get it,” he shrugged going straight into denial. You cringed again.

“It’s the final round,” you admitted. Javier looked away, your heart sunk, “Javi- “He moved away from your quickly, shutting you out faster than you could blink.

“I’m busy, you need to leave,” He said sternly, moving back behind his desk. You tried to protest again but he ignored you. You sighed, this was the reaction you had feared, the entire reason you had not told him yet.

“Sure,” You gulped down your anxiety, trying to remain unaffected. You had only come in to have lunch with him as being around him calmed you down, “I- uh I’ll take my lunch out then,”

“That would be a good idea,” Javier said sharply. You nodded, eyes filling with tears. You pulled out the lunch you had brought, placing his on the table which he gave no reaction too. You rolled your eyes and walked out, slamming the door for good measure.

“Hey sweetheart,” Steve smiled as you walked by. You did not stop to talk, blinking back tears as you left the building. He frowned but didn’t press you, “Do I want to ask what that was about?” He asked jovially as he entered the office. Javier scowled, ignoring him as he tucked his gun into his jeans, and didn't answer. “Guess not,”

The argument, or lack thereof, threw you off your game. You were nervous going into the interview and even worse answering their questions. You could only think of the look of betrayal on Javier’s face, the bitter tone of his voice and how quickly he’d shut you out. You bombed it.

Javier would usually be the one person you would go to in times like this, but he was out of the question. You didn’t want to talk to him either, if he didn’t understand why, you wanted this job so badly, he obviously didn’t understand you as well as you thought he did. You weren’t going to not go for a job you really wanted because he hated the CIA, it wasn’t his job, it wasn’t his life!

You went to a bar and tried to drink away your sorrows but everything tasted bad and just made you nauseous. Your friends, fed up with your moping, left you alone at the bar. You had had enough and decided to walk home, except you turned in the opposite direction and gave in to your sadness and took yourself to the one man that you really wanted.

You stood in the hallway of his apartment block for a few minutes, deciding whether to knock. You had known Javier for a long time before you ever got together and knew that when you got in a fight, he had turned in on himself and ended up at a brothel or drunk himself into a gutter. That was before you’d gotten together, now you had no idea what he would have done. You prayed he hadn’t given up on you entirely and gone to see some of his old ‘friends’. You could hear the television inside his apartment. He was home at least.

You knocked on the door and waited. The television turned off and a few moments later it opened. Just a crack, enough for him to stick his head out but nothing more. He wasn’t happy to see you.

“Hi,” You said sheepishly.

“Hi,” He said, straight toned. He wasn't angry or upset but he wasn’t happy either.

“Can I come in?” You asked.

“I don’t know,” He continued to stare at you, coldness in his eyes you only ever saw him use with criminals.

“I want to talk to you, please,” you added.

“What’s there to talk about? You already made the decision,” He snarled, shutting the door. You stuck your foot in the gap and barged in, your patience wearing thin.

He paced around the living room, seething in anger. You followed him, standing above him on the step.

“For fucks sake Javi! What is the matter with you?” You exclaimed.

“What’s the matter with me? What do you think the matter is? You betrayed me!” He yelled.

“Betrayed you?” You scoffed, “It’s just a job Javi, not some personal attack,”

“It’s not just a job though is it? It’s the fucking CIA and you’re leaving and you never told me. I didn’t even know you were looking for a new job!””

“I was going to tell you when there was something definite,”

“So, you were just going to take it without discussing it with me?”

“I- I Uh,” You stuttered. He had you there. You had rationalised your decision to keep the interviews a secret as a way to protect your relationship but you didn’t think about the consequences, that if you got it you would be springing a finalised move like that on him with no warning. You had got so excited about the prospect that you’d forgotten about him. Javier realised this too and scoffed, disgusted.

“You were the one who insisted we become a couple,” He pointed at you. You shook your head bitterly glaring at him.

“You came to me!” You exclaimed, “You were the one who crossed that line first,”

“Six months together, years of friendship and you were just going to fuck off somewhere classified at the earliest convenience without thinking to consult me?” He asked, a dry laugh biting at the lunacy of your situation.

“Because you would never do the same, huh?” You snapped, “You told Lorraine you wanted to come down here and waited for her opinion, right?”

“That was different,” He snarled.

“How? Because this time it doesn’t benefit you?”

“Get out,” He said coldly.

“This is a great opportunity, Javi,” You changed your tone trying to reason with him, “You know this was never what I wanted, I did what I had to but I-,”

“So, you never wanted me either? You were just doing what you had to?”

“That was not what I meant!” 

“But you’re not denying it!”

“You’re being irrational,”

“Me? Irrational?” He shouted, “You’d rather join those twisted assholes, than stay here?”

“Your personal opinion of-,”

“It’s not opinion! They parade the death and destruction down here like it’s a fucking job well done. They deal with the same people we fight because its advantageous at the time. They are disgusting hungry fascists!”

“Like the DEA is any better,” you rolled your eyes at him.

“No, you’re right, they’re fucking not. All of its a joke, but you know what? There are some good people here trying to make things work without bulldozing entire communities for it,”

“Don’t pretend like you’re a good person. Neither of us are,” you spat, “What difference does it make what three fucking letters I wear? Either way I am still the same person doing the same shit protecting innocent people from people like Escobar or fucking Cali or whoever else wants to try and take over,” You yelled at him. Javier curled his lip and turned away, no long willing to even marry your argument with a retort, “What? Did you really think I was going to stay here forever? Even if I stayed with the DEA, they would move me on eventually!”

“I know!” He shouted, his anger falling in on itself as he knew you were right. “I know,” He repeated much quieter. He was being ridiculous. He pulled his hands over his face and huffed before bringing them back to his hips, defensive but not attacking you anymore.

“I care about you, I do,” You said softer now, “And I apologise for not saying something sooner I just didn’t want to get my own hopes up, talking to you would have made it real. I didn’t want to think about what that meant for us and I should have thought about it,” You sighed, “This is a big deal for me Javi I just wanted your support. But I blew it anyway so I guess you don’t need to worry,” You sat down on the couch heavily, looking up at the ceiling.

Your admission broke his anger and he loosened up immediately.

“What?” He asked, there was no anger in his voice anymore. He spoke softly, concerned and confused, “How?”

“I was flustered going in there. You shutting down like that earlier really freaked me out,” you admitted, still not looking at him.

Javier frowned. He didn’t want you to go but he didn’t want you to fail at it, especially if he was the reason. He dropped his scowl and stepped closer to you again, a softer sympathetic look on his face.

“S ’fine. Argument over right,” you waved a hand at him in defeat, “I am stuck here until the end of my contract. But at least I’ve got you,” you forced a small smile to your lips, trying to convince yourself that missing out on the opportunity was actually okay. He sighed and sat down next to you.

“They’d only be proving me right by not hiring you. Idiots. The lot of them,” He pulled you into a hug, kissing your hair, “And I’m sorry for being a jerk,”

“I forgive you,” you whispered. You stayed in his arms for a while, the two of you calming down together. As the anger slipped away, Javi relaxed into the couch. You curled your legs up, leaning into his chest. You shut your eyes, listening to his slowing heartbeat and grounding yourself in the rhythm.

“I’ll talk to Stretchner,” Javier finally spoke, breaking the silence.

“What?” You sat up and frowned at him.

“I’ll talk to Stretchner. I’ll get you a do over,” he said again.

“Javi, I don’t want any handouts from you. If I failed, I failed,” you protested.

“It’s not a handout. I’m not getting the job for you but I’ll make it fair. I fucked up the interview for you I should fix it,” He said, brushing his fingers through your hair, “If this is what you really want, and if it's what will make you happy, then that's all I want for you,”

“But I’ll have to move,” your bottom lip wobbled, eyes filling back up with tears again.

“I know,” he said softly, running his hand down your jaw to cup your cheek.

“And we won’t be able to be together,”

“I know,” His voice barely audible as he too tried not to cry.

“Javi,” You whimpered. He stopped your protests with a kiss. Desperate and sad he clung to you, hand tight on your arm holding you in place so you couldn’t move, so you couldn’t leave him.

“All I want is for you to be happy,” He whispered, resting his forehead on yours. His eyes were closed so you couldn’t see the tears in the corners of his eyes, “You’re wasted here, but you can do good with those assholes. Maybe make them less awful,”

“I am only one person,” you chuckled quietly.

“But the best one I know,” He smiled, “the only one that I want in my bed and at my side in a gunfight,” You sighed, closing the gap between you again and kissing him softly, “There's no one like you,” He said seriously, “If anyone is going to make a difference it’s going to be you. I mean it,” 

You didn’t know what to say, tears falling freely down your cheeks. Javier brushed them away with his thumb. 

“Come here,” He grumbled, pulling you into his lap, “Let me make it up to you,”

His apology felt horribly like a goodbye. Every kiss he gave you felt like he was trying to make it memorable, make sure your last was as good as the first. You fell into him, giving every single inch of you to him hoping if you gave enough, he would have a piece of you permanently. He took it all, drawing your souls together in what could only be described as an act of love.

Love. That one word would be left unspoken for the rest of time but you didn’t need to say it, you both knew it and there was no use uttering it now. This was the epilogue to your relationship, there was no use starting that new chapter. That would have to be left for a new book entirely. Someone else's book.

Your heart shattered into a million pieces, but you didn’t let him see it. You didn’t cry until you got into the shower the next morning, purposefully locking the door so he couldn’t get in to join you. You cried, covering your mouth as you sobbed so he couldn’t hear you. But he knew. He felt it too, the way you clung to him was different, the way you’d looked at him. It nearly broke him but he didn’t want to upset you anymore. He sat in bed hand on the sheet where you’d lay trying desperately to commit the feeling of your warmth to memory. Then, he did his one last good deed to you and called Stretchner to set up a redo meeting. He would do anything for you, even if it meant having that weasel have a hand up on him.

He left before you got out of the shower, leaving a cup of coffee and a meeting time on a post with a promise of dinner to congratulate you on the kitchen counter.

You tried to get on with your day as normal. You did all your usual tasks, even ones you’d been putting off for weeks, as you tried to distract yourself from the meeting with Stretchner. It wasn’t until the end of the day, you had to keep yourself busy or you’d cry again.

You let out a sigh of relief as you exited the room. You’d done it. You didn’t even need the do-over. They wanted you. The confirmation should have scared you, you thought you’d be more upset but you were happy. Things were about to change dramatically but it was for the better, you hoped.

The building was empty now, Friday’s everyone left early anyway but even the usual hard workers had left. You grabbed your jacket and gun from your desk, ready to head out and work out how you were going to tell Javier the good news.

“L/n,” Javier called as you walked down the hallway. You stopped walking and turned back to him. He had his jacket in hand, standing in the doorway of his office. He'd waited for you. “So?”

“Turns out I didn’t need your do over,” you said, a proud smile pulled at your lips as you couldn’t wait to tell him.

“Seriously?” Javier could help but copy your smile. You nodded earnestly moving towards him.

“Offered me the job right then and there,” You grinned.

“I’m so proud of you,” He smiled but he didn’t move to kiss you like you expected. He stopped still, moving away from you if anything.

“What?” You searched his face for any sign of an issue.

“Well, if you’re taking the job that means-,” He said sadly, looking at his hands.

“I have to stay here for at least a month,” you were quick to interrupt him, “Get things wrapped up and liaise with the new kid taking my job,” Javi rolled his eyes at that, making you laugh. He was going to hate your replacement. “Got a lot of paperwork and a lot of meetings to go through,”

“A month?” He asked, turning his gaze back up to you.

“A whole month,” You smiled softly.

“A whole lifetime to fit into a month,” he mused. That should have broken your heart but the sly smirk picking at his lips changed your heart. You smiled, looking left and right. The corridor was quiet. Nobody was around. Everyone had gone home.

“Want to start on the desk?” You smirked, pushing him back through the office door.

“You read my mind, baby,” He grinned.

-- 

tagging: @hunters-heathen​ @peterssweetpea​ @beskarbabs​ @wille-zarr​ @all-hallows-evie​​

#javier pena x reader #javi x reader #javier pena #narcos #agent pena x reader #javier pena x you #javi x you #javier pena x y/n #javi x reader angst #angst #narcos x reader #javier pena imagine #javi imagine #pedro pascal character #pedro pascal character x reader #javier pena angst #x reader angst #x reader #x you #x yn #javi x yn #javier pena x yn #netflix narcos #molly writes

[nctsjiho]

Always Together

warnings: the slightest bit of angst and some lore (this isn’t a warning really, but I’m not ready to change the layout for my writings so here ya go)

era: end of March 2021

❀ Taeyong makes sure that JiHo knows NCT is always there for her

There was a silent knock on the door before it opened with a creak. Taeyong opened the door to the youngest’s dorm room noticing how her back was turned to him. Headphones resting on her head, one of the speakers somewhat moved back so it wasn’t fully covering her right ear. This made him believe the girl had indeed heard him walk in, yet decided not to acknowledge him.

“What are you doing?” Taeyong started carefully. “Playing a game.” Her answer was short and her focus stayed on her computer. The leader tried not to sigh and approached the girl a bit more. “Is it fun?” This time he only got a hum as response.

Kneeling down on the floor and resting his elbows on the desk, Taeyong took his place next to JiHo who had still decided not to look at him. He stared at her, hoping that maybe - just maybe - whatever façade JiHo was putting up would break. When that didn’t happen Taeyong sighed and stood up again. “You’re constantly gone and whenever you get back to the dorm you’re just behind your computer playing games. I know times are a bit tough right now but the least you could do is say hello to us and eat with us whenever you’re home. We’re all worried sick over you.” Somewhere during his scolding, Taeyong noticed how the clicking of the mouse and keyboard had stopped. JiHo let out a breath finally looking up at Taeyong, but she still didn’t say anything yet. “JiHo, I only know what the manager has told us about the situation and I’m not asking for any more information, I’m just asking for you to talk to us and hang out with us like usual. We barely see each other even when we live together and visit the same building everyday.”

There was something in JiHo’s eyes. Something Taeyong wasn’t really familiar with, but it didn’t look like a good thing. For some reason the young girl seemed so helpless and lost, but there was nothing Taeyong could do as one of their managers had told them not to meddle with the situation.

JiHo pushed herself up from her desk chair and walked over to her bed where she sat crossed legged on top of it. Taeyong followed her and sat on the edge of the bed facing her. “JiHo-” “I know and I’m sorry, but oppa…” She wasn’t looking at him rather just staring off to somewhere in her room, but her eyes were completely unfocused. ”It’s not that easy. I hear you guys laughing together in the other room and hanging out, but the thought of joining you guys just doesn’t feel right. I do want to hang out, but there’s just too much on my mind that I can’t get rid of no matter what. I feel like it would be unfair to you guys if I’d join, because I can’t be like I usually am. I would just ruin the mood.” She explained. It evoked this heart-wrenching feeling in the boy’s chest and he was at a loss for words.

Both of the NCT members sat in silence as they thought of what to say next. The silence felt so suffocating that Taeyong didn’t even want to breath too loudly as that might be too distracting. He knew JiHo was having a hard time with what was going on right now, even if he only knew a minimal amount of information.

Just about a week or two earlier one of NCT’s managers had come up to the members who were in the practise room at the time. He had explained to the boys that there were some problems with JiHo’s contract not only with the contract she signed to be in NCT, but also for her being in SM in general. It wasn’t a surprise that it caught the boys completely of guard and got them worried sick about JiHo. Luckily the manager had told them that it wasn’t because the higher-ups in SM wanted to get rid of the female member. It was almost shocking, since after how NCT 2020′s promotions went some were almost sure SM had something against JiHo. Rather than it being an SM thing they found out it was one of their previous managers - the manager in question had been fired since the truth came out - that had communicated misinformation about JiHo to the higher-ups and sadly, even though it wasn’t JiHo’s fault, she now had to suffer the consequences.

The whole explanation was kind of vague and made the boys more confused. They were nevertheless instructed not to ask any further questions and not to ask JiHo about it either. More so, they weren’t allowed to talk about JiHo on any social media, live streams, group and or personal schedules.

This had sparked more questions than the manager was able to answer, but Taeyong still vividly remembered Johnny’s question. “If we’re not allowed to talk about her, wouldn’t fans get more worried? You’re telling us JiHo’s going to be fine, so if she is, why aren’t we allowed to talk about her?” The manager had lowered his head and sighed in a defeated manner. “I’m sorry boys, I wish I could tell you, but I don’t know too much about it either. I-” “Wait. Is it possible that JiHo isn’t going to be fine?” Jungwoo asked with a worried tone, his voice almost a whisper. The leader knew what the question implied, JiHo possibly having to leave NCT and probably SM as well, but that wasn’t something he wanted himself or any of the other members to think about.

Taeyong noticed how their manager’s expression dropped for a second before he composed himself, trying to come up with a good answer. The leader was first however, trying to keep the boys’ hopes high. “Let’s not think like that okay?” He patted Jungwoo on the back a few times and sent a hopeful smile towards his fellow members. “JiHo is going through a hard time right now, we should be there and support her and we can’t do that while being sad right? So let’s stay positive.” The members all agreed, though hesitantly.

JiHo noticed how the older boy had completely spaced out which made her frown. “Taeyong oppa.” His head snapped to look at the girl. “I’ll be okay. Let’s just wait until this is all over.” She said. The light touch of JiHo’s fingers on the back of his hand sent a shiver through Taeyong’s spine. “It’ll be over soon. Right?” Her voice barely, over a whisper, made his heart feel heavy.

He wished he knew how much longer JiHo had to attend these meetings, sometimes a handful a day, until the situation was cleared up. He whished he knew what was going on during those meetings which had her leaving the meeting rooms looking completely drained. He whished that she would open up and tell her how she felt, but it was possible she wasn’t allowed to talk about that to them either. There was this thin line between the secrecy of the situation and JiHo’s toxic habit of keeping all her feelings and hardships to herself. The line was so thin and blurred that it became a grey area, which didn’t allow him to bring it up.

Taeyong switched his hand with JiHo’s which made it so he was gripping hers, he noticed how her hands were slightly trembling. The trembling was something Johnny had noticed during her debut stage 3 years ago. The tall boy had told Taeyong, Yuta, Doyoung and Taeil about it after noticing it happening more often when she was either extremely nervous or stressed. They always found it hard to tell how JiHo was actually feeling since she could hide it so well in her face and eyes, but the trembling hands were a dead give away that something was up. That’s how they notice something’s wrong, occasionally even before JiHo does herself.

Giving her hand a little squeeze he made eye contact with the girl. He nodded as a response to her previous question before speaking up. “Whatever happens we’ll always be NCT, we’ll always be together. Don’t forget that.” He whispered and noticed as JiHo blinked away a tear which then rolled down her right cheek.

Taeyong reached out with his free hand, his thumb wiping away the tear and the trail it had left behind on her face. His hand then reached up to her hair which he pushed behind her ear. “We need you more than you think we do.” He smiled which JiHo tried to mimic, but her lips ended up pressing together in a thin line trying her best to keep herself together. “You don’t oppa.” “No we do, who else will keep Dream in check huh? Who else will keep us from being complete idiots without that smart brain of yours? Who else will keep Yuta from exposing us for something embarrassing?” A flood of moments pertaining to those examples came to JiHo’s mind which had her laughing a little.

“Who’s going to comfort Doyoung when we are all teasing him? Or who’s going to fly over to China just to support a WayV member who’s having personal schedules? Who-” “Okay! I get it.” JiHo giggled trying to stop Taeyong from continuing. Seeing JiHo laugh made the leader feel a sense of pride and happiness. “Fine, but the point is that we really do need you. And whatever is happening behind the scenes, whenever it comes to it we’re all ready to fight for you, but you need to be ready to fight for yourself as well.” JiHo’s smile disappeared but she gave the boy a firm nod as a promise that she was ready to do everything she needed to do when worst comes to worst. They exchanged a look which spoke more than a thousand words before Taeyong stood up and excused himself from JiHo’s room.

#jiho.writings #nct 24th member #nct addition #nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct 127 imagines #nct taeyong imagines #nct 127 scenarios #nct angst #nct fluff #nct female member #nct extra member #nct additional member #kpop!addition #kpop!oc

[lovelivingmydreams]

The worst possible thing.

*stares at this long and hard.* Fine!

@kingcreativityau you know who is responsible for what comes next.

Yes @hunter-with-a-tardis I'm looking at you

Janus was pacing the floor. He didn't like this one bit.

“What's taking him so long?” he wondered aloud.

It was a rhetorical question and the sides who were sitting here waiting couldn’t answer him even if it wasn't. No one liked this plan. It hadn't even been a plan. It was half an idea Logan and Janus would have dismissed at once if Virgil hadn’t been in the room  and overheard Janus mumble about it. Harnessing Virgil’s given powers and undo what king had done.

It was too risky to even consider. Janus didn’t need Virgil to point out all  the ways it could go very wrong. To everyone’s shock Virgil came with a solution though. He'd take king up on his offer and finish the gallery, ask him to teach him to get control over the shadows. If king took a liking to teaching, which Virgil thought he might, he'd keep doing it and eventually Virgil could lift the curses and they all could get back to helping Thomas.

Janus had wanted to argue. Sure king enjoyed instructing others in skills he felt more proficient at. He recalled King teaching him to duel not too long ago. He also remembered what happened after the student caught up though. King storming away and then, after he'd managed to get out of king's obstacle… how he'd been cornered, the panic the punishment for daring to upset the king in any way. No this was their mess. Virgil was not yet on king's bad side. That was a card they couldn't waste on something that risky.

But Logan had been writing and Janus was convinced he'd say something similar. And Virgil was more likely to listen to Logan so he'd waited.

He should have known Logan would never just dismiss any idea out of hand.

Somehow they'd all agreed to see if Virgil could get a first lesson. And soon Virgil left them to practice with the king every day. Which should be a comfort right? King clearly enjoyed the activity and he was not suspicious of anything. That was exactly what had Janus worried now.

Because king wasn't the only one enjoying the lessons. Sure Virgil still seemed terrified of the man, but whenever he returned he was deep in thought, sometimes with a small smile on his face. The one that said: I just did something right.

He'd been looking at them oddly too, like he was figuring out a complicated puzzle.

Something was off but Virgil refused to talk about it. Something about a promise he made.

A click of a pen echoed through the mostly empty space and Janus' head snapped up.

Logan needed his attention.

He was scribbling down something as fast as he could and handed it over. Janus read it over. It was a long ramble, but it came down to one thing.

“I do have faith in Virgil. It's king I’m worried about. One perceived slight and…”

Janus touched the mark on his face. The memory of it's creation very vivid in his mind.

“Aw, you do care,” Virgil's voice came from behind him. Janus whirled around.

Something about what he saw took him back, to a time when he had two misfit friends who didn't hate him. Before the fight.

Maybe if was that mischievous smirk or the way he carried himself as if he couldn't care less what other people thought. Except now he really seemed to mean it.

His clothes weren’t back to normal by any means. They were upgraded though. From a dark version of Roman's original outfit to one reflecting the fitting in upgrade. Except Virgil wore a few medals pinned on his vest. As well as applying Virgil's black and purple with white detailing color scheme.

He also wore a dark purple hooded cape instead of a sash.

Most startling of all, he looked genuinely comfortable with it all.

“Virgil? Is that you?” Janus asked.

Virgil nodded, still smirking. “Indeed it is,” the deep terrifying voice of the King boomed and suddenly he stood behind him hands delicately resting on the youngest side’s shoulders.

But Virgil didn’t even flinch.

“Dear Anxiety made so much progress, I felt he deserved a promotion. I offered him the title of Prince,” king summoned a dark crown in his hand only to immediately clench his fist and make the image disappear. “but he is so loyal to those he considers friends he wouldn't even consider to take my light half’s title,” King praised fondly. He stroked Virgil's hair for a moment. “So he is my head counselor now on top of creative minister. And you should all be happy to know, he made a plea on your behalf.” King waved his hand and suddenly Patton was six years old.

“Wha… I can talk?” Logan gasped astonished.

“You explain the conditions to them. I have to get back to work.” And just like that, King was gone.

“You did it?” Janus asked perplexed this was too good to be true.

“King did. Don't take his generosity for granted,” Virgil warned sternly.

“Virgil, kiddo…”

“You shall not address me like that!” Virgil hissed, his voice booming, twisted and sinister, a dark aura flaring up, making them all step backwards in shock.

Virgil took a deep breath. “Names are for friends and allies. After what I heard… you’ll have to earn my trust back,” he explained a little calmer. They all froze in horror. King told him… of course he did. He'd have to be a fool not to.

“These gifts have conditions attached. Morality you can get back to your own age with good behavior, the reverse is true as well though. Logic your voice can not speak ill of the king and what you do say about him will find it’s way to us.

Any and all communication to the king must go through me. You remember my shadow?” the creature in question appeared next to Virgil.

“He'll… assist you when I am with the king. Ask him if you need to ask me or king something. Oh and fair warning….” Suddenly they all fell to the ground. Crushed by guilt and fear and desperation.

“I’ll do anything to protect Thomas from having to live without us ever again. I won‘t permit you to anger the king. Understood?”

They all nodded as they whipped at their tears.

“Good. Dismissed.” When they looked up Virgil was gone. Only his shadow remained. The creature stared back at them looking heartbroken. “I’m sorry,” it whispered.

“This… might be the worst possible thing,” Logan muttered as he helped Patton up. While the two oldest sides discussed their situation Janus stared in horror at the tragic looking shadow.

How could he have let this happen?

 Janus opened his eyes. He was sweating, his heart was racing. What was real, what was a dream? He looked around. He was in his room. He got up to his knees and tapped a rhythm neither he or his neighbor had heard in years. Virgil used to wake up from nightmares like this. Not sure about reality and scared to leave his room. So they came up with a system. Notes weren't an option when you didn't want to turn on the light and alert Remus someone was awake to play with him. So they made up their version of Morse code.

‘What is going on' was always the start of such a conversation. It was just a long series of rapid light knocks. The first reaction, ‘I hear you' was a flat palm against the door. Then you wait for the other to respond. Virgil's response was quicker than he expected.

‘Patton. Small. Logan. Silent. Twins. One.’

Janus nodded. He hadn't dared to hope that all of it was a dream.

‘you?’ he asked. Though he doubted if Virgil could know what to tell him to assure him he wasn't currently being tutored by king. ‘Scared. Confused. Angry. Sad.’

Janus bit his lip. Virgil didn't use the code for pupil. If there was any real plan like in his nightmare Virgil would mention it. He’d been on the other side of these conversations often enough. Yes, everything was… well not fine but not as horrible as he'd feared. All he had to do to keep his dream from happening was not leave Virgil alone with the king. And… maybe figure out how to tell Virgil what had happened all these years ago.

Janus got ready to knock. There was a knock that meant to convey empathy. To be a comforting reminder that Virgil was not alone. But halfway through he remembered another pattern. One Virgil would always close the conversation with. It was almost an alternative for goodnight in these conversations. But it meant ‘Sorry’. Janus' scales stung with the thought of that word. But if he knocked the pattern… it wasn't the same right?

He took a deep breath and started out with: ‘Thanks.’ He readied his hand it was just three knocks long… But the very thought was agony

‘Welcome. Good night.’

Janus sighed as he heard the reply. Perhaps another time.

‘Good night.’

@moonlightshow00 @naturallyunstablegamer @alias290 @meowthefluffy @antiredhuman

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