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nuclearanomaly · 7 months

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9 – Fair

wc. 1389 | Post Endwalker, pre 6.1

Ninira Nira, Warrior of Light, hero and saviour of the world does everything within her power to keep the people she loves safe. Tataru Taru, fashion designer, coin keeper, and notorious blackmailer, keeps Ninira safe.

Tataru Taru sat patiently in the elaborate sitting room. It was impressive, she thought, that they had been able to find and furnish such a property in such a short period of time. Though, knowing Ul'dahn merchants it was probably more likely that they had simply maintained ownership of the property despite being out of the country for the better part of 30 summers, give or take. Tataru still hadn’t found exact documentation of the couple’s leaving.

She had only begun to make her move once she had finished wrapping up her details with the disbandment of the Scions, and once she had established where exactly the merchant couple had settled. She was pleased, and if not grateful, they had chosen a return to Ul'dah. She had briefly considered involving Estinien; an intimidating presence would have only helped her cause. But involving him required explanation. While she may have been able to get him to keep the details of this excursion secret, prying him away from Radz-at-Han would surely have caught Ninira’s attention. And beyond anything Tataru knew Ninira could not be involved in any way.

She had sent the letter requesting an audience a fortnight past. Fortunately, with a few extra string-pulls her request from Tataru Taru’s Boutique for the organization of a deal for a supplier of dye for her skyrocketing fashion business had been worded in such a way that was sure to catch their eye, and catch it it did. Approval of the meeting, and a time had been sent back to her, exactly as she expected. And though she had been waiting a while in the sitting room, that was also to be expected, it was part of the game. The game that Tataru Taru had fooled them into thinking she was playing, a game that she was going to turn on it’s head.

The Lalafellin couple entered, dressed in elaborate clothing and fine silks they radiated exquisiteness, perfection. Though Tataru felt smug knowing she had seen them a little more frazzled in Old Sharlayan after their arrival amidst the other Thavnarian refugees. Understandable, after the ordeal they went through, though she knew they deserved none of her sympathies.

They took seats in the elaborate chairs across from her, impassive and professional as they regarded her. “Tataru Taru, of Tataru Taru’s Boutique I presume?” The lady spoke her voice cool, her tone suggesting she had perhaps expected more of the owner of a fashion business.

Tataru smiled pleasantly. “Yes, what a pleasure it is to finally make your acquaintance. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with me.”

The discussion began, amicably enough. Tataru laying out what she was looking for and what she expected for her business, while they responded in kind. What Tataru was waiting for, however, was the right question, the perfect opportunity to spring her trap and finally it came.

“If I may ask, how you happened to hear of us?” Tataru had learned quickly that the lady handled most of the talking. “We were not long back in Ul’dah when we received your letter, not many clients had heard fully of our move. It is impressive you knew where to find us.”

Tataru smiled. “While my business may be newly budding I have been keeping an eye on potential collaborators for a while now.” She admitted sweetly. “I happened to hear about you from… another under your employment at the time. Rurutsu Rutsu I believe her name was.”

This gave them pause, and though they remained mostly impassive Tataru clocked the brief look of shock on their face.

“I encountered her a while back now. Poking around in my business looking for answers regarding her clients missing daughter.”

The Lady’s eyes narrowed.

“If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard from her, fret not. While she came to no harm we came to a very quick understanding that should she continue to try and follow through on her clients request she would meet dire consequences. I compensated her for her work, as was deserved. Her contract with you is now void and she will not be speaking with you in the future.”

“You dare interfere with private–”

Tataru cut her off. “Hardly private. Apparently your contract contained no requests for privacy in the matter of your search for your daughter, so Rurutsu was very kind to disclose what details she knew of the request and you, to me.”

“The bitch.” The lady had gone so red faced with anger that her fake tan appeared splotchy, Tataru noticed, amused.

“She seems very capable, you hired a good hand so I suppose you don’t need me to tell you how foolish it would be to try and track her down. After that encounter, however, I started conducting some very thorough research. About you, your move from Ul'dah to Radz-at-Han, your attempts to exploit and control the import market on alchemical goods, your profits, your work ethic, your reputation and regard for your employees and clients, and of course your daughter. Incredible how she went missing so long ago and how unphased you seemed by that news of her disappearance, or even possibly her death.”

They both regarded her coolly.

“The only puzzle I admit I have not yet figured out is why the sudden reinterest in her wellbeing.” Tataru shook her head. “Not that it matters. You’re not stupid and I suspect you have puzzled out a few new possible answers for her on your own. This is where I come in. I’m not here to talk about my business or yours. I’m here to strike a much different deal.”

“The Warrior of Light,” Tataru was not about to hand them Ninira’s name. True it would be easy enough to find if they wished it. Many people knew her identity, but Tataru was not about to let it be known from her. “Blessedly, remembers nothing about either of you. And I intend to keep it that way.”

“As you may be aware from your brief stay over in Sharlayan—yes I was aware of you then as well—The Scions of the Seventh Dawn, saviors of the star, are a group of powerful individuals.” While the disbandment of the scions was official in the public eye she highly doubted either of these individuals had heard the news, or paid it any mind if they had.

“Even more powerful are their connections. We have a well established repertoire with the city leaders, their soldiers, merchants, craftsmen, spanning the entire star. As official secretary to the scions I have dealt with many of these individuals personally and have their favour should I ever need to call upon it.”

Neither of the other Lalafell had so much as moved while she spoke, though Tataru suspected that should the lady narrow her eyes much further they would be reduced to slits.

“I’ll cut to the chase. Consider this a cease and desist. If I catch so much as a hint that you have started to take action in the search for your daughter again. If I catch word that the Warrior of Light has become even marginally aware of your existence. I will not only end your business but I will crush your finances and scrape you for every last Gil of your worth.”

The lady’s hands had balled to fists in her lap, knuckles white. Even the man furrowed his brow at this remark.

“You may think my threats are hollow but I have it on good authority that the Saatrap of Radz-at-Han, the place you called home for so long, is willing to bring any and all documents of your time there to light. Whatever is needed to ensure the protection of the Warrior of Light.”

This made the man pale slightly and the lady sucked in a sharp breath. “You would do no such thing.” She hissed.

“I would. You have my word.” Tataru smiled sweetly. “My demands are simple. You will never talk to, try to talk to, reach out to, or attempt to communicate with the Warrior of Light. Aside from that I have little care for what you do. Grow your wealth and bask in whatever comfort it brings you. But do so knowing that I will personally take every last bit from you should you ever break my terms. A fair deal is it not?”

#ffxivwrite2023 #Tataru Taru #Ninira Nira #(mentioned)#and then I went as vague as I could bc I really don't feel like trying to name Nini's parents right now #you do not fuck with tataru taru #I love her and I especially love the idea that she is quietly keeping Nini safe from her nasty parents #meanwhile Nini is oblivious and will never know #I've been uh ignoring new prompts while working on a different one #and had initially ignored this too but it really said look u can do this with it and then I blacked out and wrote my longest fill so far #sorry no proof reading we post and die like men #writing: mine

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vinca-majors · 1 year

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after the storm | chapter 11

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andipxndy-writes · 11 months

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crushes

fandom: abbott elementary warnings: none requested by: @nyx101sthings word count: 6.7k

cross-posted to ao3

summary: Let's be honest: Gregory's crush on Janine was obvious to everyone. Or, rather, almost everyone. But that didn't mean they were all going to talk to him about it. No, instead they were just going to sit back and watch, maybe get some popcorn, act as though they didn't know a thing when almost all of them were also aware of Janine reciprocating the crush and neither of them realising. The one person who didn't know? Well, he's obviously determined to get them together. In other words: how the teachers at Abbott realised that Gregory and Janine liked each other.

crushes

1: Melissa

Melissa first noticed Gregory’s looks a month into his first year there. Sure, he was only a sub, covering for someone who wasn’t there, but the way he was looking at Janine made her think that he was going to be there a lot longer than just the year.

Of course, she wasn’t the type to voice her suspicions, considering that sort of gossip was the sort of thing that could absolutely embarrass a teacher and make the rest of their career absolute hell—

Oh who was she kidding.

“So what’s up with the lovesick puppy?” she asked as she sat down next to Barbara. The two were on their lunch break in the staff kitchen and, for some reason, there were no other teachers in there. Not that they were complaining. They were likely all on lunch duties or going out for lunch or something like that.

Barbara looked up from her sandwich at Melissa’s question, raising an eyebrow at her. “Lovesick puppy?”

“Yeah, you know.” The redhead unwrapped her sandwich as she spoke, not once taking her eyes off her co-worker and best friend. “That boy can’t keep his eyes off Janine whenever she’s around. Like he’s never seen anyone that small, but he actually likes it.”

“Well, considering the young man’s height, it may very well be the case that he’s used to being around tall people anyway,” Barbara pointed out, and Melissa scoffed.

“We’re all used to being around taller people in general,” she pointed out. At Barbara’s raised eyebrow, she corrected herself: “Taller adults. But that doesn’t mean we stare at Janine all day wondering how she could be so small.”

“We’ve had two years to get used to it.”

“There is something up with that kid,” Melissa insisted. “He just… he stares at her. Like he can’t stop staring at her. It’s so—”

“Weird?” Barbara offered, and Melissa knew that the woman was probably hoping to stop her from saying anything else.

She wasn’t going to give her that luxury.

“—freaky.” She ignored the way Barbara rolled her eyes at her. “I’m serious! He just always stares at her, like there’s nothing else he’d rather be looking at! It’s concerning! He might walk into a door or something.” Which would be more entertaining than concerning for Melissa, if she was being honest, but she still had to show that she cared at least a little bit for the other teachers. Or she would look like a real bitch.

And she was only a bit of a bitch.

Barbara’s lack of response simply told Melissa that her work bestie was thinking the exact same thing, but she believed she had the decency to not say it out loud. Or, at least, that she liked Gregory enough to not go around saying those kinds of things.

Such a godly woman.

“Come on, you can’t seriously be telling me that you don’t find this whole staring thing as creepy as I do.”

“Well.” Melissa raised her eyebrows at Barbara. The other woman was clearly considering her words carefully. Which only made Melissa want to laugh, really, because there wasn’t any way that you could consider your words carefully in this situation without sounding like you were calling Gregory a creep. Not in her opinion (and she knew that her opinion was right).

“Well, what?”

“Is it really that bad to have a man admiring you? Not that I can really see what Gregory admires so much in Janine,” Barbara added on quickly, only for Melissa to hold her hand up to stop her.

The redhead knew that was an outright lie coming out of the kindergarten teacher’s mouth. “Come on, you know the kid’s at least attempting to be good at her job despite her shortcomings.”

“If that was meant to be a pun,” Barbara let the empty threat hang, making Melissa laugh. “Regardless, if it isn’t harming anyone for him to do a bit of admiring—”

“Sure, sure, as long as it isn’t interfering with his job.” Melissa waved off the argument. She supposed Barbara had a good point. If it wasn’t getting in the way of him doing his job, and if it didn’t get in the way of Janine doing her job either, then there wasn’t any point bringing it up as an issue.

——

Melissa noticing that Janine had a crush on Gregory took longer than it should have for her, admittedly, but she wasn’t surprised by it in the slightest. Considering how long she’d been with that tool, Tariq, Melissa got the feeling that any piece of decent meat would be good enough for her.

Gregory, though? The guy was nice, but Janine had to have better standards.

The only thing that Melissa would commend her on was not being obvious about it as the guy who was so obviously crushing on her — Melissa didn’t know whether the young woman knew it yet, considering how dense Janine could be, but if she did know then she was setting good boundaries and standards. And if she didn’t know, well. Then Gregory had to open his big mouth and say something.

“That little knock thing they do is kind of cute,” she commented to Barbara over a little girlfriend coffee date. Her coffee mug steamed in her hands as she glanced out of the window, as though she could see Janine and Gregory walking past right then. Except she couldn’t because neither of them would come to this side of Philly on a weekend unless they’d planned to meet up with someone, and as far as she knew their dating lives were either uneventful or not the type to come down this way.

(Not that she was complaining about that — those bubbly upstarts could leave this side of Philly for the rest of them.)

Barbara raised a single eyebrow as she sipping on her cup of tea, watching Melissa. “Knocking thing?”

“Yeah, knocking thing.” Melissa rapped on the table as if to demonstrate. “Becomes a bit of a pain in the ass when you realise they’re using it to ask each other for conversations during class hours.”

That was what made Barbara roll her eyes. “During class hours?”

“Yeah.” Melissa watched her friend carefully, recognising that steely look in her eye. The look of a mother who wanted to tell off her child. “Barb, don’t. Don’t interfere with that little cutesy thing they’ve got going on. It’ll either blossom or fade.”

“They’re asking each other for conversations during class hours.”

“Blossom, or fade.”

The repeated phrase was enough to get Barbara to deflate a little, and she sighed into her tea. “Fine.” She took a sip of her hot beverage. “Let’s hope they pick one soon.”

For the safe of their classroom wall, Melissa hoped for the same thing.

***

2: Barbara

Contrary to what she’d told Melissa, Barbara had noticed Gregory’s affection for Janine within two weeks of him being at the school.

It wasn’t like he was hiding the whole thing. He probably thought he was doing a whole lot better at it than he actually was, but Barbara absolutely knew that the man looked and acted like a lovesick puppy.

That sort of thing was hard to hide from onlookers. (Particularly when some of those onlookers were camera crew specifically paid to watch every hour of their working days — she hadn’t seen the footage yet, and doubted that she would see it anytime soon, but she got the feeling that the majority of those longing looks that Gregory was sending Janine’s way were being caught on camera.) It was sweet, though, if Barbara was being honest. It reminded her of her younger days, when men had tried to date her (or rather, court her) and she’d turned them down but had still received those longing looks. Longing looks that remained even after she’d got married.

That sort of thing had been unavoidable when she was younger. When people had found her undeniably attractive, a brand-new teacher ready to take on the education system and make the world a better place through the nation’s children.

Looking at Janine, she idly wondered whether it was the optimism for improving the educational system that had made her attractive all those years ago.

Instead of trying to gossip about it, though (like she knew certain teachers would), she decided it would be better to let the whole thing run its course. After all, as with most of the men that had crushed on her in the past, it would most likely fade over time.

She could definitely pinpoint the first moment she’d noticed it, though. Heading to Janine’s class to ask her for something (she’d borrowed a pen from her that morning, and Barbara wanted it back), she’d almost bumped into Gregory standing in the corridor. He was standing there to make sure his kids were walking into the classroom properly, of course, but his eyes weren’t focused on the kids. Barbara could easily see that his eyes weren’t focused on the kids.

No, they were focused on the young teacher with her back to him, who was guiding her own kids into her classroom.

Barbara decided to wait for a few moments to see if he would notice that there was someone else there, before clearing her throat. The way he jumped and turned quickly to her was entertaining to a couple of the kids until Barbara glared at them.

“I would advise that you keep an eye on your children instead of watching how other teachers do it, Mr. Eddie,” she chided lightly, hoping that she sounded more like she was offering advice than telling him off. “Some of these kids know how to make you… work for your money.”

He stared at her for a few moments, before nodding. Not even an appreciative smile on his face. “Of course. Thank you for the suggestion, Mrs. Howard.”

She continued to watch him for a few moments, to see if he would follow her advice straight away, but he was still staring at her, so she nodded. Like she was finishing the conversation. “Fantastic. Now, if you’d just let me past? I need to speak with Miss Teagues.”

“Oh!” Gregory quickly moved to the side, forcing the last of his kids to walk in a wider circle around him to get into the classroom so that Barbara could pass. “Of course. I apologise, Mrs. Howard.”

“It’s no problem at all.” She gave him one last smile before passing him, giving one of his kids a high-five as they passed her before heading over to Janine. Even as she walked over, she was very sure that she could feel Gregory’s lingering gaze on herself and the younger teacher before he followed his kids into his classroom and started the lesson.

That boy really had to practice getting better at hiding his feelings.

——

What took her longer to notice was the fact that the feelings weren’t exactly a one-way thing. No, they were reciprocated.

“Are you still with that boy?” she asked, and she knew that the expression on her face was some sort of mix between disgust and surprise. She also knew that Janine’s reaction to her comment was a very poorly veiled offense that she quickly tried to cover up with laughter.

“Who, Tariq?” the younger teacher laughed, scratching her arm (a nervous habit, Barbara had noticed) as she glanced away. “No, no. I, uh… we split up.” She gave half a shrug. “We thought it would be, you know, better if we went our separate ways. He had his path in life, I have mine.”

Barbara wasn’t exactly convinced that Janine was so sure about that herself, but she nodded anyway, offering the young woman what she hoped was a comforting smile. “Of course. Everyone has their own path in life, and that means that someone you may have known for a specific period in your life needs to leave. Not everyone needs to be in your life all the time.”

“Of course, I know that.” Janine was still laughing a bit, and it sounded more forced now, like she was trying to convince herself more than Barbara. “But I’ll be fine! Really. I just need a bit of time to adjust to paying the rent, and I’ll be perfectly okay.”

Barbara wasn’t sure what to think about the language that Janine was using, but if it was the sort of language that convinced her that things were going to be okay — if this sort of positivity was what was helping her through this breakup, then she wasn’t going to tell her to stop using it. God knew that she didn’t need the girl being all negative on her anytime soon.

Before she could say anything, though, she spotted Gregory coming out of his classroom from where she and Janine were standing outside the second grade classrooms. The man was very clearly getting ready to leave, briefcase in hand and coat on as though he was completely done for the day and ready to go. But the interesting part wasn’t even Gregory coming out of his classroom and getting ready to go.

It was the way Janine watched him as he left the classroom, her eyes focused on him. It was the way her hand moved from scratching her arm to gently playing with her necklace, the way she ever so slightly bit her lip as she stared at him. It was the way her lips curved up the slightest bit, as though she wanted to smile, but didn’t know what exactly she was smiling at, so decided against it. It was the way she watched him keenly, as though she was waiting for him to turn around and talk to her.

It was the same way Barbara had watched Melissa stare at Gary when he’d first started coming in and sorting out the vending machine for them. It was the same way that she’d seen her daughter stare at Gregory the first couple of times that she’d seen him.

It was the same way her sister had described her looking at her husband when they’d first met.

She barely hid the smirk that threatened to grow on her face when Gregory turned towards them, and Janine’s face lit up.

“Hey, Janine, you good?”

“Yeah!”

“Your car still in the shop?”

Barbara’s eyebrows rose as she looked at Janine. “Your car’s in the shop?”

“Yeah, it’s in the shop.” Barbara didn’t know whether Janine had intended to ignore her or not, but she had.

“You want a ride home?”

Barbara could practically see the blush on Janine’s face. “Sure! Let me just grab my stuff.” That was the point at which Janine seemed to realise that Barbara was still there, and the smile she gave her this time was ten times more realistic than the forced laugh from earlier. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mrs. Howard!”

Barbara simply watched Janine rush in and grab her stuff, and then glanced at Gregory. Gregory, who smiled awkwardly at Barbara, as though he felt as if he knew that she knew he was crushing on the woman getting her stuff ready. She simply chuckled as she popped her head into Janine’s classroom.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Janine,” she said, before turning to walk back to her classroom. “You too, Gregory.”

Even as she walked back to her classroom, though, she shook her head.

If those two were as oblivious as they were behaving, then this whole crushing thing they had for each other was going to be their entertainment for the rest of the academic year.

***

3: Ava

Gregory’s crush on Janine was obvious. Too obvious. Ava was pretty sure she’d spotted it super early on, but she also knew that she couldn’t let on that she knew about it. Because as fine as that man was, he also had a sense of pride and she wasn’t going to hurt that.

No, no, a man with a wounded pride simply made him less attractive. She had to keep the one good looking man on her staff as attractive as possible.

Still, the looks were pretty obvious. Aside from the fact that almost everything was on camera (and she got access to that footage, mostly to make sure they caught shots of her good side), that man spent way too many working hours staring at the shortest teacher in the school. And that was a long way down to look, in Ava’s opinion. (She was much closer to his height and probably better looking, too.)

All jokes (and shade) aside, Ava didn’t realise all his staring was because he actually liked Janine until she spotted the way he hung out around her after school. Like some sort of cute little lost puppy looking for someone to give him a good cuddle. In fact, from the look on his face, Ava was very much tempted to head straight over to him and offer him those cuddles (knowing full well that the offer would make him uncomfortable but would also stop him from feeling so lost), but then she realised that he wasn’t just staring into space. He was staring at someone.

She slowly turned, following the direction of his gaze, and almost choked.

Like yeah, sure, he was standing near the door to Janine’s classroom and watching her help a kid out in getting their coat on before they ran out to find their parent or whatever, but what about that warranted staring for hours when you could be doing literally anything else?

Still, she had to admit, whilst him standing there was a little creepy… it was a little funny. Cute. Interesting, even. She didn’t get why a guy like him would stoop down to Janine’s level—

“What’s up, hot stuff?”

The way he jumped and turned to face her was entertaining. The look of shock on his face was pure gold. The way he wasn’t immediately fawning over her was a little disappointing but they could work on that. She had other people who did that already anyway.

“Ava.” She ignored how he still didn’t refer to her as Principal Coleman when he wasn’t around any of the other students — so whenever he didn’t have to. Which was valid. It meant that she could relax around him, right?

“Mr. Eddie,” she greeted with a grin on her face. She shifted to lean on the wall beside the doorway to Janine’s classroom, so that Gregory had no choice but to look at her if he also wanted to look at Janine. Just so that she could feel as though he was paying some sort of attention to her. “Your class all gone? What are you still doing here? You could be going out, taking a lucky lady out on a date.” She flipped her hair. “I could even be that date. You wanna take me out on a date?”

Gregory cleared his throat, folding his hands together behind his back. “I don’t really think that’s appropriate, actually.”

She just grinned at him. “Oh that’s fine. I’ll just ask you again when we get out the main doors. It’ll be appropriate then, right?”

“Hey, Gregory.”

Of course, at that moment, Janine thought it would be a very smart idea to interrupt the conversation — her kid had left through the other door, and she’d grabbed her things to get ready to head home (or to the staff room to grab her stuff before heading home, Ava didn’t really know what her leaving routine was but that was likely because she had a tendency to ignore it). When the tiny woman noticed that Ava was also there, she gave her an equally bright smile — one that made Ava want to roll her eyes at least a little bit.

“Hi, Ava!” Her brows furrowed a little in concern. “Did you need to speak to me about something? Should I go and put my stuff down? Are you calling an impromptu meeting or something—”

“No.” Ava scoffed. “Hell no. I have plans. Sales to make, people to see. Important stuff. Nothing to do with you.” She waved her hand around casually, gesturing vaguely to Janine (no matter how vague she tried to make it, it was obvious that it was aimed at Janine anyway). “I just want to make sure you actually leave the building. Don’t need any squatters.” The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them, and she saw the look of irritation flash across Janine’s face, but before the smaller woman could say anything (and before Ava could think about trying to apologise), the principal turned towards Gregory and shot him a sweet smile. “Good night Gregory. Make sure you get home safe. I want to see that gorgeous ass in the morning.”

She knew for a fact that he was staring with some sort of horrified look into one of the many cameras scattered around the school, but she didn’t care. Because she also knew that those two would probably stand there chatting for hours if they had it their way, and she’d warned them about leaving the school. Glancing over her shoulder, she almost smirked at the way Gregory had physically relaxed around Janine, hands in his pockets as they chatted.

Hmm. She’d have to ask Gregory how long they hung around for tomorrow. Couldn’t have teachers loitering around the school after everyone else has left. That was her job.

——

Realising that Janine liked Gregory back was easy. Stupidly so, in Ava’s mind. That woman was about as bad at hiding her feelings for the incredibly sexy tall man as she was at reaching things on high shelves.

Like, sure, maybe it wasn’t the totally obvious staring that Gregory did when he thought the cameras weren’t watching him, but that tiny woman gravitated like the moon to a planet. With emphasis on moon to planet because moons were small and planets were large… right? (See, Ava did learn something at school.)

If Ava was being honest though, at first she thought that Janine was doing that incredibly annoying thing of picking a person and sticking to them like glue until they either befriended her or got annoyed with her. She’d watched her attempt to do it with Barbara, Melissa, and that whole slew of new teachers she started teaching at Abbott with. (Jacob was the only one who seemed to go along with her stupid method of making friends, which made a lot of sense to Ava. Weirdos attracting weirdos and all that.)

It was when she realised that the two of them talked just as much alone as they did around the other teachers that she realised something was up. Yeah, yeah, she’d always seen the chemistry between them that was there before and all that, but talking? Alone? Janine cornered people, but that look on her face when she was talking alone with Gregory was a different sort of look.

It was the same look that Iggy gave her when he thought she wasn’t really paying attention to his expressions during a conversation. Which at first she’d thought was creepy, but then she realised it was cute because he was paying attention to her and she definitely appreciated having someone paying attention to her at all times.

But it was the look of someone who believed that the person they were talking to way important, and Janine very clearly thought that Gregory was important. Important enough to have conversations with alone instead of with the group, and long conversations at that.

Of course, when she mentioned this in passing to Iggy, he told her that she was probably reading too much into it. Like her snooping wasn’t the sort of thing to get the right results. Except Ava knew she was brilliant at snooping and retrieving the right information and she knew for a fact that something was up with Janine.

Her suspicions, of course, were only confirmed when she overheard Melissa and Barbara talking about it in the staff room one lunch time, when Gregory and Janine were out on lunch duty. She paused in making her coffee to overhear the conversation.

“Are they still doing the knocking thing?”

“Yeah, I can see them doing it from across the corridor.”

“…Don’t you think it’s getting disruptive now?”

“If it was disruptive, it would’ve been disruptive from the moment they started doing it.”

“So are you saying it’s not disruptive?”

“I’m just saying that it’s… well, it’s them being them about it.”

“Flirty?”

“Those two don’t know how to flirt.”

“So you two have noticed the little looks and talks between those two as well?” Ava suddenly asked, turning around to face them with her coffee in one hand and the sugar in another. “It’s about time! I thought I was the only one!” She put the sugar down as she made herself welcome at their table, ignoring the way the two women stared at her. “That man’s been staring at her like he was thirsty from the moment he arrived in this building, and her? That girl wants to glue herself to him like her life depends on it.” She grinned at the two women. “I knew I couldn’t be the only person who noticed.”

Barbara and Melissa glanced between each other, almost as though they were having a silent conversation, before Melissa slowly leaned closer to Ava.

“What else have you seen?”

Ava could not deny that her eyes practically lit up when she heard those words. Now was her chance to spill.

***

4: Mr. Johnson

Mr. Johnson prided himself on being the person who knew anything and everything around the school. Sure, he knew that all those teachers gossiped and spread news and couldn’t keep secrets between them, but he saw everything happen first-hand. He had eyes and ears everywhere. He knew what was going on.

He also knew that the other teachers knew this, so he suspected that was why they tried so hard to gossip amongst each other first so that they didn’t feel like he was spying on them. He was fine with that. He let them believe that he didn’t know everything first. He was willing to let them fall into that false sense of security.

He knew that there was something about Gregory liking Janine before they ended up sitting by the computer screen trying to catch the deskers. Sure, it had been a lot more interesting seeing Gregory’s reaction to Janine up close, watching that young man’s eyes glue to her on the screen like a man seeing an angel. But the way he looked at her from afar? The way that man watched her? That was too obvious.

Pinpointing the exact moment he realised that man was fawning over Miss Teagues was difficult, though, because it was more like you didn’t know and then you knew. At least, that was the way it was in Mr. Johnson’s mind. One day, he had no idea — he just walked around, pretending he was minding his own business whilst snooping on all the teachers and kids, and the next day he just knew that Gregory liked Janine. He knew there was something about her that he was obsessed with. He knew there was something about her that meant Gregory couldn’t take his eyes off her when she was in the room.

Of course, it then became Mr. Johnson’s mission to figure out exactly what it was that made Gregory tick. What made him like Janine? What made him pick Janine over any of the other female teachers? What were that young man’s turn ons and turn offs? It was like his own personal research project, and the results? They were just for him. Like his own personal private research project.

Snooping on the other teachers didn’t exactly help him to figure it out.

What it did help him to figure out, though, was how bad Gregory was at hiding his little crush on Miss Teagues. Staring at a woman for hours on end because you liked her was not the way to go, but clearly Mr. Eddie hadn’t worked that out yet.

The day he realised exactly what it was that made Janine stand out from the rest, he was mopping the end of the corridor. A couple of the kids had stayed behind after school because their parents couldn’t come and pick them up, but he couldn’t wait for everyone to leave before starting on his cleaning, or he’d be there until the morning. That was why he started at the very end of the corridor, beginning his mopping with his Beats headphones covering his ears. But not even LL Cool J could distract him from what was going on at the other end of the first floor corridor.

Gregory was, as usual, standing outside of his classroom and doing his usual staring. Borderline creepy, but he had a soft smile on his face so it seemed a little less so. There was a camera on him, of course.

But his eyes were drawn to the young woman standing across the corridor from Gregory, knelt in front of a child as she helped them to sort out their coat zipper. The way she was talking to them and smiling at them, even though Mr. Johnson couldn’t hear what they were saying he had an idea of what was going on. Something about that zipper being difficult to sort out, so it’s not their fault that they couldn’t do it up, or something like that. Or maybe she was showing them how to do their zipper so that they could do it next time.

Either way, whatever she was doing or saying was enough to have that young man’s eyes glued to her. Which was more than a little interesting.

And then, suddenly, she was done. The zipper on the coat was up, and the kid was grinning at her with that huge gap in their teeth, probably from a tooth they’d lost or something. Maybe one of the other kids had even punched it out. But the little gap-toothed angel bid his teacher farewell before running off down the corridor, massive backpack on their back bouncing along with them as they headed in the direction Mr. Johnson assumed their parent would be.

The moment he focused on the teachers again, he watched as Gregory quickly looked away when Janine turned towards him, as though he hadn’t been staring the whole time, and smirked to himself, continuing to mop.

That boy was head over heels for her.

——

You would think that, after figuring out that Mr. Eddie had a crush on Miss Teagues, observing the opposite would be the same. And in the case of Mr. Johnson, you would be right.

Maybe she wasn’t as obvious about it as Mr. Eddie was, but he could still see it. He could still see the way she tended to linger around him and talk to him more than with other teacher. She smiled more when she talked to him. She always found a way to sit next to him in meetings, and he didn’t get annoyed like the other teachers.

She even forfeited sitting next to Jacob for some of those meetings.

The moment he first noticed it, though? He was in one of the school’s many rooms, looking out of the window across the school parking lot. He watched as Janine arrived in her car, the tiny teacher’s vehicle recognisable in the parking lot as the only one that regularly needed work done on it. Like she couldn’t afford to go to a garage or something. The body looked good today, but the exhaust? Sounded bad.

But then she didn’t get out of her car. Mr. Johnson stood at the window, watching her, waiting for her to just… get out of her vehicle and come inside. Like the usually did. All peppy and excited about her teaching day, irritating the rest of them with her positivity at that time of the morning without coffee. But she was sitting in her car, not moving. Maybe even waiting for something.

That was when he realised that she was waiting for someone.

And the only reason he realised that was because a couple of cars down, a certain Mr. Eddie parked his car. Obviously it was a smoother ride than hers, and his exhaust definitely didn’t sound like shit, but as soon as his engine turned off and his car door opened, Janine’s car door also opened. And she was climbing out at the same time as him. And she was smiling brightly at him.

Mr. Johnson didn’t need to have the windows open to know the conversation they were having. He just watched the two of them with a smirk as Janine closed and locked her car, before heading over to him, still chatting and smiling brightly. He shook his head a little as the two of them spoke for a bit, before heading towards the school building together.

There was no way in hell that those two could be less subtle about their crushes on each other. But waiting in that car for him to arrive before walking into the building with him? That was dedication. And a dedicated woman was a strong candidate for a good partner, if Mr. Johnson did say so himself.

He watched them as they walked towards the main entrance, nudging each other playfully and laughing. Like they were more than colleagues.

More than friends.

“Those two couldn’t be more oblivious if they tried,” he muttered, shaking his head with a smile.

“Mr. Johnson?” Ava’s voice came from the door to the room, but he didn’t bother looking over at her. “What are you doing? The ground floor toilets need cleaning before the tiny menaces come in and wreck them.”

He wanted to sigh, but Ava had a point. Those kids sure knew how to wreck a toilet.

“Just keeping an eye on the lovebirds,” he commented casually as he moved to head out of the room, pulling his mop along beside him. “Someone’s gotta make sure those two are keeping that little game they play interesting.”

He didn’t say much else as he headed out of the room, but he knew that Ava headed over to the window to see what he was talking about.

He also knew that Ava already knew about Gregory (that much was obvious), and probably also knew about Janine as well. And he knew that he didn’t need to wait around for any comments that she was going to make about them to the open air.

He’d probably overhead everything again later, during lunch time in the staff room. Those women could spread some juicy gossip when Janine and Gregory weren’t there.

***

5: Jacob

Jacob was oblivious. To everything. That was what he realised when he found out that Gregory liked Janine.

He was oblivious to his own friend liking his work bestie.

He wanted to claim that it wasn’t obvious. After all, it wasn’t as though Gregory had told him that he liked Janine in that way, and everyone had a habit of staring at Janine. Granted, most people only stared when she was saying or doing something that was kind of stupid, but Gregory’s staring wasn’t out of place. He was looking at Janine for good reason most of the time that Jacob noticed. Like, a good, valid reason that was relevant to the situation that they were in.

And Gregory never seemed to stare when Janine wasn’t talking about something important or valid.

Besides, he was a good teacher. Whenever Jacob hung around them both, he didn’t feel ignored by either of them. Gregory let him be his friend, and they talked. He was a good guy.

In other words, there was no way that Jacob would’ve been able to tell that Gregory had a crush on Janine until he’d been told outright.

And apparently every other teacher knew about this whole crush situation, meaning that he was the last person to know. He’d been left in the dark.

Clearly.

When Gregory told him, though, things started to make sense. They all shared the same staff room and parked in the same car park, but somehow Janine and Gregory walked into the building together every day. They all sat at the same table, but Janine always offered Gregory food first, and Gregory always gravitated towards talking to Janine over anyone else.

Of course, that led to his next discovery.

Janine liked Gregory too.

“Why doesn’t anyone tell me any of these things?” Jacob demanded, looking between all of the other teachers in the room. And by all of the other teachers, he meant Barbara, Melissa, and Ava. “You all knew that he has a crush on her, and that she has a crush on him! And no one thought to tell me?”

“We thought you knew!” Melissa argued back. “It was pretty damn obvious! Those two ogle all over each other and have their own little… knocking thing they do to talk to each other during classes.”

“They talk to each other during classes?” Jacob looked like he was about to cry because of a major case of FOMO. “Neither of them talk to me!”

“You’re on a different floor,” Barbara pointed out. “What are they going to do, climb the stairs to have a conversation?”

Jacob’s mouth opened and closed a few times as he really thought through what he had said. Huh. She had a point there. Even as he watched Ava literally pour have a tub of sugar into her coffee, he realised that there was no way he could ask for his friends downstairs to come up and talk to him when they had whole classes to keep an eye on.

But Gregory and Janine liking each other?

“We need to get them to start dating.”

“Absolutely not,” Barbara cut in, stopping Jacob in his tracks, at the same time that Melissa said, “Those two would be absolutely unbearable together.”

“If those two are going to get together, it needs to happen naturally and without us interfering, or it could go terribly wrong,” Barbara pointed out patiently. “We need to let them figure it out themselves. Besides, this has been a big growing year for Janine, and we don’t want to interfere with that by taking over her love life.”

“Plus, I can’t just have two teachers start dating because y’all start shipping them or whatever,” Ava commented casually, sipping on her coffee. “If they date, it’s not going to start on my premises. Can you imagine the kinds of things the parents will say about me if I let two teachers start dating? I’d rather they think they’re doing it behind my back when I actually know what’s going on.”

Jacob looked between the three of them incredulously, his brows furrowed. “You’re just going to… let this go? You’re not going to help them out?” he asked slowly.

“Absolutely not.” Melissa pointed her finger in his face. “And we forbid you from helping them out too.”

“Let it grow organically,” Barbara encouraged. “It’ll be much healthier for them both. Trust us.”

Jacob looked between the three women. Two of them were significantly easier to trust than the third, admittedly, but he supposed Barbara had a point. It would be better for them if things grew organically, if they just let things happen instead of forcing them between the two.

But that didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Fine,” he muttered, sitting back in his seat with a sigh. “We’ll let it grow organically.” The idea of those two not getting together because they didn’t do anything to help their relationship along kind of worried him, but he pushed it aside. Just to prove to himself that he could listen to them and let the relationship grow organically.

The moment he saw Mr. Johnson walk past that staff room door, though — the moment he saw the man give him a smirk and a little wink — he knew he couldn’t just sit around and wait for them. He had to help them out.

And if that meant talking Gregory into asking Janine out, then so be it.

Now to just find a time to talk to him about it in private…

#writing: mine #writing: fanfic writings #abbott elementary fanfiction #fandom: abbott elementary #Abbott Elementary #gregory x janine #melissa schemmenti #barbara howard #ava coleman #mr. johnson #jacob hill #written for: nyx101sthings #oneshot

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wickedlittlewordsmith · 11 months

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Gonna Swallow You Whole

Chapter 1: He Left it all Behind Rating: Mature Word Count: 1169 Status: WIP

Summary:

One week.

It’s been one week since anyone’s seen or heard from Steve Harrington. One week since The Incident as he’s taken to calling it in his mind. One week since “Don’t let anyone see you like this.”

And in that one week, no one’s come to check in on him. Not even Nancy.

Read on ao3

#stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #steve harrington #punk steve harrington #gonna swallow you whole #writing: mine #I live!#And have returned to this story!#anyways have a thing #also it's chapter 1 bc the first 'chapter' on ao3 is technically meant to be the prologue

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moonless-if · 2 years

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sneak peak.

“And I will wing it.” “Sure,” Rainn says and you can practically hear the low rumble of a chuckle building in their chest, even if it never passes their lips. “So glad we decided on the plan was to just wing it.” “We talked about this,” you sigh. “Planning is great for once we’re inside, but trying to plan for how we’ll get past the guard is just gonna make us overthink everything.” “Seriously?” “Yep.” “Alright then.”

#snek pek #writing: mine

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thankyoufortoday-if · 2 years

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✐ for A Vinter?

❨853❩ ❛ It’s my game. And no one can help me. Not even you. ❜

Nights spent at A’s house are always a quiet affair. You cook dinner together, eat and go for a long walk in the forest surrounding their house to let Samson tire himself out for the night. Then, while A gets themself ready for bed, you watch some late-night tv before you take over the bathroom once they’re done.

You take your time, enjoying a nice, long shower to wash off the sweat and dirt of the day. You brush your teeth, and as you do, you can’t help but smile as you notice all the small ways A has made room for you in their home.

The extra towels are for your use only, separate from their usual guest towels. An empty shelf for you to keep any products you might bring, letting you keep them here rather than having to bring them with you each time you stay over. An additional hook on the bathroom door where a brand new bathrobe had been added, soft and warm, now worn by you.

The spare toothbrush they had ready for you when you realised you’d forgotten to pack your own.

Spitting and rinsing your mouth with mouthwash - poured into the extra glass next to theirs on the sink - you leave the bathroom to head to bed. But on the way, as you pass by the kitchen door, you notice a light still on, and as you peek inside, you see A seated at the dining table, staring intently at something in front of them, Samson at their feet.

Approaching slowly, you soon get a peek at the deck of cards laid out in front of them in a game of Freecell Solitaire. You halt your steps once you’re half a step behind them. Though neither of you speaks, you feel fairly confident that A is aware of your presence, their back not as tense as it seemed a moment before, their shoulders less hunched.

After watching them for a minute, you lean in over their shoulder, pointing at one of the cards. “You know you can move that one over there and free up that eight, right?”

They pull a face, a small frown appearing between A’s brows, lips pouting, even as you can tell they try not to.

“It’s my game,” they grunt, “and no one can help me.” They peek up at you from under their frown. “Not even you.”

You thin your lips to hold back a laugh. “Alright. Well.” A small breath and you try to school your features, but the grin is still on your lips when you move around the table to sit down on the chair across from them. “I’ll sit here quietly until you’re all done.”

A lets out a wordless grunt and turns their attention back to their cards, but their expression softens as they do.

A minute later, they shift the card you had pointed out to free up the eight.

Another few minutes pass, and they get stuck again. While A intently stares at their cards, you keep your eyes on their face, chin resting against your knuckles.

“Alright,” they breathe, a small smile tugging at the corners of their mouth. “You can help. I hope.”

#c: a vinter #writing: mine #writing: drabble #anon asks

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whatsarasaid · 11 months

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ever the survivor got translated in Chinese! Take a look!

A huge thank you to LiAriadne1029, who wanted to share this fic with the Chinese fanbase. AO3 is blocked in China, but through translation and cross-posting, it's been smuggled past censorship (lol).

#resident evil #aeon #writing: mine #i'm so flattered someone wanted to show these <1000 words to more people

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latefrequencies · 2 years

Link

In which Ford decides what he wants out of therapy.

This is the final chapter of A Month’s Worth of Opening Up (although it is far from the final entry in this series)! It’s a pretty long one (like 11k words). Content warning for alcohol withdrawal.

#this has been a self related post #hitchhiker's guide #h2g2 #ford prefect #arthur dent #forthur #fanfic: mine #writing: mine #mine #alcoholism /#withdrawal /

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forthelanterns · 2 years

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WIP Wednesday: Under The Rainbow

So, I mentioned Dahl a few times today, but now I'm also introducing Cilla! She's the usual bartender, and yes, she is completely and utterly in love with Dahl.

Cilla tells herself she isn't in love, that she can't be. that feeling in her heart, fluttery and light? That's not anything. The way her hands want to reach out, take hold and never let go? Yeah, that's just a nevous tick. Because she can't. She can't be in love, can't imagine what her life would be like, stretched out on the couch with her head in Dahl's lap, or making out with her in the back room while the music from the club wraps around them, drowning both their hungry little noises in a sea of rhythm. Because see, she knows what Dahl is, knows how long she's been there and how small Cilla must look to her, how childlike. So she tells herself she's not in love, even as the lights go low, and Dahl steps on stage, smirking in that playful, wicked way of hers. Cilla can watch her, she can crave and want and need her from now until eternity, but she knows that is all it's going to be.

#wip wednesday #writeblr #current wip #work in progress wednesday #story in progress #story: under the rainbow #Writing: mine #utr: snippets #rambles from within the vale

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crimeronan · 4 months

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i think about this tweet Every Time i see people scared to write women with flaws bc they think it'll come off as sexist. cannot believe this is nearly a decade old. Ahead Of Its Time.....

#not just fandom writers. this also includes some very sweet very anxious people in irl writing group #clutching you by the shoulders. Make Your Women Crazier.#For Your Health And Mine Alike .

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nuclearanomaly · 8 months

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1 – Envoy

wc. 737 | Heavensward MSQ

In order to make the Moogles of the Mists reveal themselves plans are made that Ninira does not care for much.

“You seem displeased.”

Ninira turned, prying her gaze away from the distant looming structures that made up the Churning Mists’ horizon, as Alphinaud approached.

“With the plan.” He continued when she didn’t respond. He had finished packing what supplies he had and was clearly ready to depart.

She bit the inside of her lip. So it had been that obvious. She needed to get better at controlling her emotions so they weren’t so blatantly plastered on her face for all to read.

“I am…” There was no point in lying. Not to Alphinaud. She wouldn’t lie to Alphinaud, not after all they had been through, not unless she needed to…

“I know it’s our best chance at getting these Moogles to reveal themselves but…” She averted her gaze, “I just don’t like the idea of you going alone.”

His expression softened. “I know, however I am not the one accused of regicide.”

This was true, as was the fact that none of their other companions were viable options either. While Ysayle might not be as quickly identified as the leader of the Ishgardian Heretics within the forests of Gridania, the risk was still there. And as she had already pointed out her skills were better served trying to find and petition the aid of amiable dragons. Estinien was also out of the question. He was not about to leave, not with the Eye allowing him to confirm Nidhogg’s presence nearby. For him to accompany Alphinaud to Gridania would leave Ishgard even more exposed than before.

“I still don’t like it. You might not technically be as wanted as I am but they’ll know you were with me. I don’t trust what’s left of–” She hesitated, not wanting to re-open old wounds too badly. “–the deserters from the Crystal Braves to leave you be, if they come across you.”

Alphinaus shifted at the mention of his old, failed, peacekeeping movement but didn’t seem too discouraged as he continued. “We can simply hope that most, if not all of them, are stationed in and around Ul’dah. With any luck my arrival in Gridania and potential talks with the Elder Seedseer will go relatively unnoticed.”

Ninira’s mouth twisted at that comment as well and Alphinaud smiled. “It is also probably for the best that I am the one performing such talks as it is clear you are still, stung, from the Banquet.”

“And you’re not? They walked out on us!” Alphinaud opened his mouth but Ninira knew what he was going to say. “For political security, and safety.” She sighed, “I know… I know… but it was still insulting.” A few moons prior and she was hailed the Hero of Operation Archon, how little it clearly mattered now.

“Perhaps it was, regardless we must move on. Fortunately, the talks will also give me the opportunity to clear those tensions with the Elder Seedseer.”

Ninira sniffed. But this was off topic from her real worries.

“What if something does happen?”

Alphinaud could only shrug. They had been avoiding Linkpearls for extra security after their escape to Ishgard. They could opt for them now but there was no way to know if it was worth the risk.

“Give me a week.” His gaze was distant, contemplative. “I estimate, with the travel time from Gridania and taking into account what access the Seedseer can get us to speed things along, I can be back here well within a week.” He looked at Ninira. “If I’m not back by then you may do what you wish to come find me. Burn things down and what have you.”

This made Ninira’s mouth twitch into a smile. “I don’t think that will help with our current reputation.”

Alphinaud smiled slightly in return. “No, I suppose not.”

She sighed, though her apprehensions still fizzled under the surface she was mostly reassured. “I will hold you to that. I can wait a week.” A week would feel long, A week spent watching Ysayle and Estinien to make sure they remained friendly enough to not ruin all of Alphinaud’s plans while he was gone would feel longer, but she would do it.

“Thank you, Ninira. I promise to be as quick and discreet as I can. And to return sooner rather than later.”

She nodded, and watched as he adjusted his belongings, giving her a final nod in send off before focusing on the spell and teleporting from sight.

#ffxivwrite2023 #Ninira Nira #Alphinaud Leveileur #sometimes Ninira can be miffed about things as a treat #but yeah Nini doesn't go back to recruit forest moogles #there's literally crystal braves in the aetheryte plaza #and you what? walk past them like sup assholes like u didn't go hide in Ishgard bc ur eorzea's most wanted #they could have played that up more so in my sandbox I do hehe #writing: mine

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vinca-majors · 3 months

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adore | lady mary wimsey x charles parker

The first thing she notices is that he radiates calm, as though he is the eye of the storm and no matter how winds rage and debris flies, the chaos cannot touch him. The second thing she notices, though it will be some time before she realizes she knows it, is that his eyes are brown. If Mary cared anything for kindness she might have taken a closer look at him, but she has no time for the romance of kindness, and her starving, brittle, betrayed heart rejects it outright. Kindness never killed a dragon. She is fighting for their lives. Lady Mary Wimsey falls in love with her life, her family, and Detective-Inspector Charles Parker.

#lord peter wimsey #dorothy l. sayers #mary wimsey #charles parker #wimseys #fic: mine #edit: mine #writing: mine #fanfic #the truest angst is in imaginative character x unimaginative character #one wishing and hoping and praying #the other sternly telling himself 'not in your wildest dreams!!' exactly 1x & never reassessing the situation bc not in his wildest dreams #and that is what dorothy sayers gave to me with this ship

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andipxndy-writes · 3 months

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will you be my maybe

fandom: abbott elementary warnings: tw: injury; tw: blood; tw: hospital requested by: anon 1 & anon 2 word count: 2.4k

cross-posted to ao3

chapter summary: “Gregory, there hasn’t been a single year when I haven’t made it,” Janine pointed out, rolling her eyes a little at him. As though he was supposed to know that. “Not even when my car broke down and I had to pay, like, a thousand dollars to get it fixed up on the same day.” She decided to conveniently ignore the look of slight horror he was giving her. “Look, I’ll rest. I’ll get some sleep. But when I wake up, I’m gonna clean that carpet, and then we’re going.” He definitely looked like he wanted to argue, like he wasn’t happy at all with that ultimatum, but then he sighed. He sighed and closed his eyes and gestured for her to lie down. “Fine, but only if I’ve decided you’ve slept enough.”

Janine is finally on her way home from hospital, but Gregory isn't happy with her determination to keep going.

will you be my maybe? chapter 3: recovery

It took a few more hours before the doctors discharged her, and even then, they conducted more tests and made sure she was actually starting to recover and not getting worse. Janine, obviously, was getting a little impatient in this time, but she tried not to let it show.

All she wanted to do was get home and pack and probably convince Gregory that it would still be a good idea to head for that family barbecue this weekend — it wasn’t as though it would involve anything strenuous, and she would be so much better off seeing people she hadn’t seen in ages instead of just… sitting in bed and sleeping or whatever her doctor wanted to do.

And not just that, but she’d already agreed to going. She couldn’t cancel now. Not the night before, and certainly not when her mother and sister were going to be there. Someone had to act as the mediator. Or, at least, someone had to be there that would talk to them both when they were in the same room. And they were expecting two mouths to feed, and people would be calling her non-stop if she didn’t turn up.

She loved her family, but she didn’t want that.

When the nurse finally came by with the discharge papers, Janine was literally ready to jump off the bed and grab them from her, get everything signed so that she could go home. It was only because Gregory was still there that she didn’t, because she got the feeling that he would have plopped her back onto the bed to make sure she stayed there until all the papers were signed.

Or maybe she wanted him to do that.

Anyway, soon enough the discharge papers were signed (by Janine, not Gregory, and she did them efficiently and correctly so that he didn’t have to do them over for her so she could go home faster but anyway) and she was heading out of the hospital with Gregory slightly behind her. She didn’t know why he was walking slightly behind her, and she could imagine that his hand was hovering at the base of her back as they walked out of the hospital.

Only imagined, because his hand wasn’t actually there.

Eventually they reached the exit, and Gregory called her a cab to head back to her apartment.

Well, he called them a cab. (And she texted her mother to say that she wouldn’t be heading to the barbecue tonight.)

She leaned back in the seat when they sat down, closing her eyes briefly. “God, it’s nice to sit somewhere comfortable again. That hospital bed was the most uncomfy thing I’ve ever sat on, and my couch is hard as a rock.” She turned to Gregory with a smile. She wasn’t sure he’d even sat on her couch, or maybe he had and didn’t want to talk about it, but he only gave her a smile in return.

In fact, he was pretty quiet for the whole ride back to her apartment, not saying much of anything. Whenever she looked over at him, he was looking out of the window — or he was quickly turning away from her, as though he’d been looking at her just before she’d turned to look at him. It wasn’t exactly an awkward silence, not really, but Janine sort of wished that they spoke at least a little bit on the ride back to her place.

When the cab arrived, though, Gregory practically leapt out of the car, heading around to open the door for her before she could even get her seatbelt off. Pulling herself out of the car, she realised she shouldn’t have been surprised when Gregory held a hand out to help her out of the vehicle. She took the offered hand and used it to leverage herself out of the car, moving aside as Gregory shut the door behind her. It wasn’t long before he’d paid the driver and the two of them were heading back up to her apartment.

Stepping back in, she didn’t know what to expect. She supposed she shouldn’t have expected the place to look any different from the way it had been when she’d left it the last time, but it still surprised her that everything was in its place.

Well, until she got to her bedroom.

She stopped short at the door when she saw the mess that was her bedroom. Her suitcase on the bed, open with her clothes either folded inside or sitting on the bed. That didn’t surprise her, considering she hadn’t finished packing before everything had happened.

No, what surprised her was the blood that was now soaked into her carpet, and was probably dry by now. Blood that would be near impossible to get out.

She wanted to cry. Her landlord was going to kill her, she was so sure of it.

She didn’t know whether Gregory sensed her horror, or maybe she looked like she was about to cry or something, but he was putting his hands on her shoulders and slowly steering her away from her bedroom door and back towards the couch. She wanted to turn back around and head back to her room, look at the mess and try to start cleaning it because she couldn’t have her landlord finding out about that when he would absolutely charge her extra for not only cleaning it but probably replacing the whole carpet, but Gregory’s hands were firm, and soon enough he was turning her around and sitting her on the couch. She opened her mouth to say something — she wasn’t exactly sure what — but then he picked up her knitted throw and held it up, looking at her expectantly.

She pursed her lips. She knew what he wanted her to do.

“You should get some rest,” he told her, predictably. She didn’t know how she could have thought he’d say anything else, really. “You’ve got a concussion, you’ve had a long day, and your body needs rest to recover. And you can’t do that by standing at your bedroom door and staring at the carpet.”

She huffed out through her nose, even though she knew that he was right. He was very right. She couldn’t just stand there at her bedroom door and stare at the carpet, otherwise she’d just worry and worry and worry… and she needed to rest.

“We’re still going to my family’s barbecue this weekend, right?” Even if she’d planned on those words coming out of her mouth, she wouldn’t have stopped them. She’d planned to go — she’d told her family that she’d be there. She wasn’t going to skip out on it because of a little bump to the head. That was a minor inconvenience. She could get over the concussion in like a day, right?

The look on Gregory’s face told her that he absolutely was not going to give her the answer she wanted.

“You need to recover, Janine.”

“No, what I need to do is go to see my family and show them that I’m okay,” she responded simply, “and eat some killer ribs.”

“They don’t even know you’re injured.”

“But they will when they call asking why I haven’t turned up.” And she knew that they would. They all pried like that. Especially her mother. (And she’d already texted her to say that she wouldn’t be turning up tonight.)

Gregory sighed through his nose. “Then you can just tell them you’re busy. That you can’t make it this year.”

“Gregory, there hasn’t been a single year when I haven’t made it,” Janine pointed out, rolling her eyes a little at him. As though he was supposed to know that. “Not even when my car broke down and I had to pay, like, a thousand dollars to get it fixed up on the same day.” She decided to conveniently ignore the look of slight horror he was giving her. “Look, I’ll rest. I’ll get some sleep. But when I wake up, I’m gonna clean that carpet, and then we’re going.”

He definitely looked like he wanted to argue, like he wasn’t happy at all with that ultimatum, but then he sighed. He sighed and closed his eyes and gestured for her to lie down.

“Fine, but only if I’ve decided you’ve slept enough.”

She scoffed with a smirk as she lay down. “What, are you going to knock me out if I wake up too early?” It was only a tease, words that she didn’t really mean.

But the look on Gregory’s face at the suggestion made her wish that it wasn’t the last thing she saw before closing her eyes to get some rest.

***

As much as Gregory hated the smell of bleach, he knew for a fact that it was necessary. It was clean, yes, but it was strong and it hurt his nose.

The bleach had not been for the carpet.

In fact, the bleach had been for Janine’s sink, and the majority of her kitchen counters, which were far dirtier than he had expected. He’d only come in there for some dish soap and water to clean the blood out of the carpet (which was now gone, thank goodness) but coming back to the filth had made his skin crawl. He’d had to clean it.

And he didn’t blame Janine for being dirty. In fact, he didn’t think she was a dirty or messy person at all. She was just busy, someone who always like to be doing something, and had a lot on her mind. Some things just slipped through the cracks. Maybe she’d planned on cleaning the kitchen later. And if anything, the dirtiest part of the kitchen was on top of the kitchen cupboards, which she couldn’t reach anyway, so he couldn’t really blame her for that. The kitchen window was as open as he could get it, to let some fresh air into the apartment, but it didn’t really do much to get the smell out of his nose. It didn’t do anything at all, really.

Now that the kitchen was clean, though, he was just tidying it up, putting everything back where he found it. He hadn’t known how long it would take to clean the place, but it had taken quite a while longer than he’d anticipated, really. Maybe once he was done putting everything away, he could get some rest—

“Gregory?”

His head turned when he heard Janine’s sleepy voice by the kitchen archway, and he smiled a little at her. She was still wrapped up in the blanket, her eyes bleary and the band-aid still on her head, with her curls all over the place. And she looked absolutely adorable like that.

“Hey,” he greeted softly, turning to put away the last of the mugs and shutting the cupboard door before turning to her fully. He gave her a small smile. “You look rested.”

“I am.” Her voice was croaky and full of sleep, and he was almost tempted to tell her to go back to bed, but then her eyes were wide as she looked around the kitchen like she was suddenly fully awake. “Did you clean in here?”

He scratched the back of his neck, letting out a small laugh. He didn’t know why. It wasn’t as though he was embarrassed about cleaning her kitchen — it wasn’t like it was her bedroom or anything. “Uh, yeah. It was a bit of a mess and I needed something to do whilst keeping an eye on you…”

“And you used bleach?” He couldn’t quite register the tone in her voice as she blanket dropped from her shoulders, and she wandered around the room, looking at everything. “The counters look spotless! Like, cleaner than I could make them!” This time, when she turned to him, her eyes were wide and full of wonder. “Can I hire you? To do this for me? Like, regularly?”

This time he laughed genuinely. “Janine, I already have a job.”

“Extra cash wouldn’t hurt though, right?”

He pretended to think about it. “Yeah, you’ve got a point about that…”

Her laugh was cute. It wasn’t even something that Gregory had to try particularly hard to admit. He just thought it was cute, the way she giggled at his comment. And it led them into a few moments of contentment, just standing there, in her kitchen. Her kitchen that was now a whole lot cleaner than it had been just that morning.

The contentment only lasted until Janine spoke again.

“Anyway, I need to get back to packing—”

“I haven’t decided whether you’ve slept enough, yet.” The call back to their earlier conversation earned him a small scowl from Janine, but he was serious. He didn’t want her going if she couldn’t take care of herself. And he knew that if he refused to go with her, she would just go on her own — and that would be even worse. He took one good look at her face.

She still hadn’t slept enough. He could see it in her eyes, she clearly needed more rest. But he also saw the determination in her eyes that absolutely meant she wasn’t going to be backing down anytime soon. The band-aid on her head clearly needed replacing, and the wound probably needed cleaning as well. She, overall, did not look completely ready to be meeting people, especially her family.

“Gregory, I’ve slept enough,” Janine said, as though her saying it would convince him of what his eyes weren’t seeing. “Trust me, I really have. I feel awake, and refreshed, and ready to go. Just let me go. It’s only for the weekend.”

He let out a sigh through his nose, regretting it when the smell of bleach from the kitchen replaced the breath he’d let out. She had a point, though — it was only for the weekend, and then they’d be coming back and returning to their normal lives. Aside from the very obvious head injury, would it really be so bad to let her go and see her family?

“You can go,” he relented, and then held up a finger when she started cheering, “but I’m driving. The whole way. And the whole way back.” So that she could sleep in the car.

She visibly deflated. “Can I at least pick the music?” she asked quietly.

Driver picks. Driver always picks. Gregory pushed that thought aside. If that was the only way that Janine was going to be cooperative for this whole thing, then so be it. “Fine.”

That got enough of a little cheer from her to make Gregory smile, and he could only watch her as she ran off to start packing again, continuing from where she’d left off.

He could only hope that this time, everything went off without a hitch.

#writing: mine #abbott elementary fanfiction #fandom: abbott elementary #abbott elementary #gregory x janine #writing: fanfic writings #gregory eddie #janine teagues #tw: injury #tw: hospital #multichap: will you be my maybe #i semi-lied #there's mention of the hospital and the injury in this chap too #but only at the beginning #i promise

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