ok… strap in, because it’s going to be a WALL of text as @kalm5 and I came up with Rally racing modern!AU
The idea is “split” into 2 parts:
1. Anakin meets Rex and they form a rally race team (Anakin – driver + Rex – navigation)
2. Ahsoka begs Anakin to mentor her + Rex becomes the young woman’s navigator to see if she’s any good.
The bullet points (that are under the cut/read more) are for the “1st part” of the plot, and are NOT everything @/Kalm5 and I came up with (I might add more stuff if I decide to draw more artworks for this AU)
Enjoy!
BACKGROUND INFO:
ANAKIN:
As a teen Anakin worked in a Watto’s junkyard part-time
He used to illegally race to win cash because of a gang (the Hutts) that had a choke-hold on his neighborhood .
He worked on the junkyard as a cover up for his illegal racing so when his mother would question about the prize money he always excused it for working extra shifts.
Anakin enjoys driving and loves cars with manual gearboxes
Obi-Wan is Anakin’s former driving teacher (when Anakin was getting his driving license, Kenobi used to warn him that he’ll loose it almost immediately if he won’t change the way he drives, as Anakin is very good but pretty reckless driver)
somewhere along the lines Anakin starts to take part in desert rally races (something akin to Dakar rally)
(Obi-Wan hates to admit it but he always has the radio on when he teaches driving to hear how Anakin’s race is doing. students are so confused why this very calm and collected gentleman is so engrossed with rally races)
Unfortunately due to his racing team being up to the neck with some shady stuff. They decided to use Anakin as a scapegoat, since he is a loose canon. He got blamed for a stuff he didn’t do – unfortunately the whole affair went viral - forcing Anakin step away from racing, moreover - his sponsors pulled the plug on him so he had to “retire” and "go into hiding”.
Anakin basically stepped away from racing altogether but he loved it so damn much he couldn’t let go. Every time there is any mention of any racing he gets extremely distraught.
Anakin starts to work part-time as a mechanic. He meets Padme at the workshop. Fixes her car. They fall in love and get married.
REX/FETT FAMILY:
Fett household had very military upbringing as they were like 99% boys and their father was prominent solider/always on the missions.
Their eldest brother - [99] - who is terminally ill - is filling-in for a legal guardian for his younger brothers, so the older brothers kept younger in check so [99] was “parental figure” mostly on paper.
Most of the Fetts choose military careers because it pays very well and they had easy to get into the ranks due to their father’s „legacy”
every brother has a trade: some are carpenters, wielders, plumbers, roofers, chimney sweepers and so on… Kix is a paramedic, Jesse’s a cop, etc. Most of the guys have a hard time finding employment/contracts, due to the fact that they spend many years in the military, thus lost/have no contacts to spread the word about their skills.
as every Fett, Rex went to the military, but retired after AU!Umbara mission - it left him scarred, full of PTSD and depression.
once he got back from the military all his neighbors started to force him to find that “special someone”/a partner/wife.
He tries his best to find SOMEONE… anyone?
STORY:
Anakin still works as a mechanic.
Padme works at the city hall.
One day Cody’s car breaks down and he needed a quick fix, Obi-Wan gave him contact to Anakin who lives nearby, to check the car as he has all the necessary permits as a car mechanic. As he was fixing the car Rex came back from work and just helped him by giving him tools and stuff.
Next think they know they went for couple of beers in a local bar.
As they talked it turned out that they were both taught driving by Obi-Wan, like most Fetts were, to the point Kenobi even had a discount for Rex’s family. (Obi-Wan knew the struggled with money, thus the discount, as having a driving license opened up more job options)
then there is a broadcast of some racing stuff and Anakin gets sentimental, talking about how he misses rallies but he has no car, team, sponsors and stuff and also… eh.. it’s complicated
Anakin learns Padme is pregnant and he himself is conflicted as he doesn’t know what to do with his life. he really wants to pick up his rally racer career… but maybe his mechanic gig might not be good enough? so maybe he should put on a shirt and tie and go to regular work?
drunk, Rex encourages Anakin to maybe try once, agreeing to be his navigator… heck they can start “some Internet fund-riser or like clean windshields of cars at intersections like bunch of kids” for cash.
despite being excellent driver on a sandy dunes, Anakin refuse to drive on deserts anymore. So both him and Rex decided to pick the half-forest, half-mountain and plenty of mud scenery.
They kind of find a connection, they leave on the good terms, sealed the deal of being driver-navigator team.
The buggy Rex and Anakin use was build by Anakin. Parts provided by Watto’s junkyard (Anakin past-employer).
Watto dared Anakin that he will get a hefty discount for the parts IF the vehicle passes the necessary tests and he allowed to put a sticker of his junkyard onto the car.
Anakin is still conflicted despite the fact that Padme, in fact, believes he SHOULD take part in the rally race once again, as then he’d be able to make a decision on what to do (as in → at the finishing line he’ll know if it’s his last hurrah or he’ll revive his racing career).
Anakin basically build whole house Padme and him live at and he is the handyman of the house, so he was afraid that Padme would end up without no-one to help her around the house when he is away ← Rex’s gives her a whole contact list to his siblings so whenever she needs help with leaking faucet or roof, she can phone any of them for help.
(at work, a lot of Padme’s colleagues are complaining at various firms that butchered jobs… carpets, plumbing, tiles in the bathrooms etc. So Padme just gives those people Fett brothers business cards and suddenly they guys have like those better paid contracts from city hall people, no less!)
Rex has a tendency to bump his head at the frame of his and Anakin’s buggy. He once hit his head so hard, he started to bleed. Kix (who got a gig as a paramedic at the Rally) at the time run out of band-aid, but thankfully Anakin had some… Which were rainbow themed as Anakin was in this “upcoming dad hyper-mode” so the bought them because he though they were cute and didn’t even though someone might feel any less manly because of the colorful band-aid. of course Rex is manly enough to not care - he just doesn’t want his helmet smeared with blood!
Someone took a photo of Kix applying the bright rainbow-themed band-aid onto the navigator and it became instant meme + many people started to “ship” Anakin and Rex as their developing friendship was misinterpreted by certain parts of the Internet which made Rex super confused (not to mention Anakin LOVES Padme)
The first part of the race went… very bad!
Rex is by the book – giving very precise coordinates, while Anakin has „hunches” so he mostly wings it and plays it by the ear.
Since they didn’t understand how each other operate - they butt heads constantly and get lost.
they had a major screaming match that ends up with Rex falling off the small landslide and face planting into a mud (Anakin tried to catch him), it’s recorded on a dash-cam of their car and it became a part of some sort of Rally-race highlights compilation that became extremely popular on the Internet.
but after that fight, as Rex was spitting mud, they kind of started to understand each-other better.
Rex decided to start trusting Anakin’s hunches, and as it turned out… Anakin’s “sixth sense” saved their asses in the end so they barely made it to the finish line in time to be qualified for part two of the race
barely but they did it!
The second part of race is much better - they are both more in-tune with eachother other.
however they never finish that part as they have a terrible accident…
… after which Anakin has to have his arm amputated!
Hakuouki modern!au (no not the game high school, a new high school lol)
Sen talked Chizuru into dyeing her hair, and she’s showing her all the pictures she’s taken of her now! ‘Look how cute you are! And you still look like you!’ ✨
Warning:Strong Language, Graphic Depictions Of Violence & Smut
Words: 4.3k
[A/N]: I’m thinking of randomly posting little snippets of Isabelle’s and Thomas’ relationship, which don’t directly have much to do with the plot but will give us more of a deeper look into their behaviour around one another. (aka wrote lot of smexy scenes and they don’t fit into the main plot but I still wanna post them hehe) So if you have anything you wanna see feel free to request :3
The morning sun peaked through the wide windows covering most of the walls of the grand room. The rays of sun moved from the empty space in the room to the bed in the middle of it, covering two bodies, tangled in one another with the sheets covering their bodies only partly. Thomas was laying on his back, his hair covering his forehead like bangs. His hand was wrapped around her shoulders like an inborn pattern of tendency. Isabelle was laying on her chest, her body resting against his chest, hair spread around her and the sheets like a fan. By the looks of their hair and bodies, which were covered with love bits and marks in various shades of pink, red and purple, it was obvious they were in for a long sleepless night. Despite all that, they looked very peaceful, as if it was just another morning for them.
Although they would have probably needed much more sleep to catch up with what they missed last night, they were business people, who were used to waking up early in the morning. The first one to do that was Thomas. Sleeping in was not a term known to him. His morning routine started early in the morning, so he could catch up with all the news. That morning was no different, or at least that’s what he thought.
As soon as he opened his eyes, all he wanted was a cigarette. But once his eyes caught the mess of brown hair laying on top of him, he forgot about the cigarette immediately. Most people would be uninterested in a woman that looked like her that morning: make up smudged all over her eyes and lips, hair resembling more of a birds nest than actual hair and the little bit of droll peaking at the corners of her lips. Unlike them, Thomas could not stop staring at the woman who caused him so many problems yet caught his interested like no one before.
His fingertips gently moved a loose strand of hair from her eyes, catching a peek at her peaceful face. His face expression would not expose any of his feelings, yet his heart beat a bit faster than usual when he was around her.
He just laid there for a few more moments, enjoying the silence and the view, before he had finally had to get up and probably head out home to change. Yet something held him back, and instead of leaving with his clothes, he decided to just skip that and take a shower at her place.
Gently lifting her upper body, he slid out of her grip and got up just after he placed her gently on top of some pillows, covering her naked back with her sheets. He wanted to stay with her, but he knew he had work to do. Lighting up a cigarette he took her in one last time before heading out to find her bathroom in her apartment. On his way there he realized the extent of the mess they left behind them from undressing last night. Panties hanging on lampshades, shoes chilling in the middle of the living room. It looked like they had quite a blast last night.
While Thomas was busy with his shower, Isabelle slowly woke up. Probably because of the lack of warmth in the bed or because she heard the water running. But her body denied her enough energy to get up. So, she just slowly opened her eyes and looked around herself. She was at home, yet naked and with a messy bedroom. After she rubbed her eyes and realized she slept with her makeup on she let out an annoyed groan, knowing she would have to change all her sheets because the makeup was most likely all over them. Yet the main reason why she would have to change them is the other stuff that was all over them.
She did not wake up with amnesia, she knew very well what happened last night, but she would have wished for nothing else but to forget that accident and move on with her life. Despite it is most likely the best sexual experience, she has ever received, she wanted to forget about it. Her being with him was a bad idea, it would cause her even more problems than it did when she first saw him.
Isabelle slowly sat up on her knees, the sheets falling down her naked body on a pool in front of her. She looked around herself and ran a hand over her messy hair. It was still too early and she was not late so there was enough time to send Thomas off and home that he would wish to forget about everything like she wished.
“What a view from up here.” the male voice made her gasp. She quickly pulled up the sheets and covered her naked chest as she looked at the man that just walked out of her bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist, “oh don’t cover on my account, it’s nothing I haven’t seen already.”
“What are you still doing here?” she glared at the gorgeous man, still wet from his shower, which was made obvious by the water drops glistening on his skin.
“Showered, figured it was quicker to do that here than to go home and then to work.” he shrugged and picked up his boxers and pants. His towel dropped soon afterwards, and Isabelle gasped once more, quickly covering her eyes with her hand: “nothing you haven’t seen already, love.”
“Something I wish I could forget.” she peeked through her fingers to check if he was decent or not. And while he was already in his pants, she could not stop staring at his still naked chest.
In the meantime, Thomas frowned at her statement: “you’d forget about it? If I remember correctly you were screaming my name last night, on more than one occasion, so I don’t see the reason why you’d want to forget that.” with every word he came closer to her until one knee rested on her bed and his fingers found the sheets.
“Thomas-”
“See? Doesn’t that sound much better than Mr Shelby?” he chuckled and tugged on the sheets.
“Thomas, this never happened. You caught me by surprise once, I won’t let it happen again.”
“You think this is a onetime thing?”
“Yes. This was a mistake. We were drunk and tipsy.” she held tightly onto the sheets, trying to cover some decency she has left.
Thomas chuckled and got up: “think whatever you want, love, but we both know the truth. This was the best night of your life and you knew very well that you could not resist me.” he put on his shirt and jacket.
“Oh, we’ll see about that.” she spat, sitting up straight.
“We will, indeed.” Thomas finally finished getting all his stuff and was about to head out when he stepped back to have a last look at her, “really, a view to die for.” he winked at her before he vanished behind the corner, leaving a hot mess behind him, ready to either kill him or kiss him.
Once he was out of her sight, Isabelle crashed her whole body back onto the bed and let out a loud groan. Running her hand over her face, she closed her eyes and wished she could forget about the night. Though that would be rather hard considering the little token he had left her on her nightstand: his cell phone.
As soon as she spotted it from the corner of her eyes, once she opened them again, she shook her head and glared at it: “mother fucker.”
Despite the wish to run downstairs and throw it in his face, she could not afford to make a scene so early in the morning. And besides, she had to get ready for work herself, which would take a while, considering the mess she was left in.
After an excruciatingly long shower and even a long period where she fixed her hair and make-up, Isabelle was finally ready to head out to work. That ended up being almost an hour late, but as the boss of her own company, she could probably afford to come in a bit late here and there. As she made her way to work inside of her car, she was surprised when an unfamiliar ring tone buzzed. Reaching out into her bag, she pulled out Thomas’ phone. On the screen appeared to be a name: Arthur. A side of her thought it would not be the best idea to get involved with even more Shelbys, but the other side of her wanted to know if all of them were such assholes, like the one she fucked the night before.
Answering the call, she put it on speakers and switched her focus back onto the road: “Hello?”
“Would you believe it? I happen to forget my phone at your place.” instead of an unfamiliar voice, she was greeted by the one she heard one too many times.
“Thomas. What a surprise.” she did not even try to make it sound like she was genuine with what she said.
“My mind must have been focused on other things.” she could hear the smirk from the other side of the call, and she wished she could punch it out of his gorgeous face.
“Don’t worry, I will send it to you, safe and sound.” she rolled her eyes, throwing a fake smile onto the road.
“How about you come and bring it to me, love?”
“What am I? Your fetch dog? I will get it delivered.”
“Oh, well since you don’t want to bring it, I can get it myself. You wouldn’t mind me coming back to your office, right? I mean I already know where it is and your receptionist knows I’m your husband, so it’s pretty easy. Or better yet, how about you and I grab some lunch once I come over?” the bastard was casually sitting in his seat in his office, enjoying the view of the city skyline and knowing damn well how annoyed Isabelle was in that moment, yet he could not help himself but continue the teasing.
“Fine. I will bring it to you. And no lunch and no receptionist lies.” she sighed, “I will just bring it to you and that’s it.” with that, she ended the call and threw the phone back into her bag.
“That son of a Shelby.” she hissed and turned the wheel around, having to make a detour instead of heading straight to her office. She would probably be more than fashionably late that day.
The minute she stepped foot into the building she knew she was in deep shit. Not only will she have to face Thomas again, but she will also risk being seen by someone else she knew too well and that was the last thing she needed. Though she had to admit that the walk-in process was quite easy. Before she could even pronounce her name, she was already let through by the security guards. It seems like Thomas did not wait a moment to announce her to her whole staff. She went immediately up to his floor, without having to hand out her belongings to the receptionist or needing a guest pass. That asshole was quick and witted and knew exactly what he wanted. And unfortunately for her, she was what he wanted.
Her heels clicked over the wooden floor as she stepped out of the elevator and made her way to the double door that was most likely his office, only because it was the only office with a double door. For a moment she just stood by at his door and questioned her decisions, but she had no other option at that time. Fixing her dress, she cleared her throat and stood straight.
Without knocking, she opened the door and walked confidently in. She did not announce herself nor did she greet him as she walked inside. All she did was walk straight to his desk, while feeling a bit intimidated by the size of the office and his choice of furniture inside, yet she could not let it show.
“Here.” she threw the phone onto his desk, not even waiting for him to turn around from looking out of the window to look at her, “bye,” she added and turned around, heading to the door, to leave just as quickly as she walked inside.
Thomas chuckled at her entry and quickly got up, chasing after her and catching up on her before she could reach the door. He wrapped his cold hand around her wrist and pulled her back so swiftly that she lost her balance and slipped forwards, right into his chest.
She steadied herself by placing her hands onto his shoulders and he took that opportunity to wrap his hands around her waist, holding securely onto her waist. The moment Isabelle realised in what situation she was literally pulled into she slapped his chest and pulled away: “Oh my God, stop that. You can’t keep on doing that!”
“Excuse me, love, but you’re the one with the weak balance.” he smirked at her, keeping a small distance between their bodies.
“You have your phone, now fuck off!” she hissed through her teeth and threw a deadly glare at him.
“Is that what you want, love?” he leaned in, cupped her jaw in his palm.
She slapped his hand away as soon as she felt it on her skin: “yes!” she knew very well that once he touched her, she would become weak again and fall into his trap, and unfortunately for her, he apparently knew that as well.
“I must disagree with you, love.” Thomas’ moves were sudden and unexpected, he grabbed onto her hips and pressed her one of the double doors. Her back firmly pressed against the hardwood, a load noise pointing out that she was now trapped between the wood and him. She swallowed hard as she felt him being inches away from her. One of his hands moved down her hip to the hill of her butt, while the other cupped her chin, making her look at him. A smirk was glued on his lips, while she kept a serious expressionless face. She did not show him any weakness. As soon as she would do that, she would lose once again.
“Thomas let me go. I will scream.” the stern look in her eyes would scare most men, but Thomas is not like most men.
“Out of pleasure I presume.” he leaned in, his nose pressed against her jaw, taking in that intoxicating smell of her perfume. His lips soon pressed against her delicate pale skin, exactly against a spot that he learned from last night was her most sensitive spot. Her lips opened just slightly, eyes closing slowly, as she was once again dragged into oblivion with him. Her hands were pressed against his chest, still somehow hoping that by pushing strong enough he would let go, but he would not.
“Thomas, I saw you literally hours ago. You got what you wanted last night. What the fuck else could you want?” Isabelle’s head rested against the door, waiting for Thomas’ reply, but he was busy pressing gentle kisses down her neck, that is, until he could not resist anymore and bit into her neck, creating a little pink mark. Isabelle gasped at it, jumping out of her trance, “okay that’s it.” she grabbed onto the top of his head and pulled at his hair, pulling his face from her neck, “what the fuck do you want Thomas?” she asked him once his face was at the same height as hers, her fingers still holding onto his hair.
“Mmm I like it when you’re rough.” he chuckled at her, both of his hands holding onto her ass.
“Thomas, you got my fucking business. Sadly, we kissed. Unfortunately, we fucked as well. What else could you want?” she snapped at him and studied his face, trying to find reasoning in his eyes. But the usual icy blue eyes did not give out any secrets. He just bored holes into her soul.
“You. I want you, Isabelle,” he spoke up, leaving her off guard. She just stayed there, not moving, yet still holding onto his hair, but not tugging harshly on it anymore.
They just kept staring at it each other for a few moments, until someone busted into the office even harsher than Isabelle did: “Oi Tommy! You done with my phone? I need to call-” he stopped and stared as he realised in what position Thomas was and with who, “…Linda…”
“Hello, Arthur.” Thomas greeted his brother while still being held by his hair by Isabelle.
The woman quickly let go and escaped Thomas’ grip. She stood a few steps away from the brothers and felt her cheeks growing a dark shade of red.
“My my brother, I did not expect you to be into such rough shit reminds me a bit of John.”
Thomas just raised his eyebrows waiting for the point of Arthur’s comparison.
“I would have never guessed brunettes were your type. I always thought you were more of a blonde chicks dude.” he laughed before walking up to Isabelle and taking her hand, shaking it quickly and roughly, making almost half of her body shake with her hand: “hello there, love. I am Arthur, Tommy’s older brother.”
“Isabelle.” she simply replied.
“Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?”
“The party last week.” Thomas lit himself a cigarette and replied instead of Isabelle.
“Ah yes! I knew I don’t forget such a pretty face. You know I have quite the memory, dad always said I was quite the brain, like a bloody database.” now it was Isabelle’s turn to raise her eyebrows and wait for the point of Arthur’s talking. At some point, she even looked at Thomas with a questioning look on her face, wondering if he knew how to make him shut up.
Coming to her rescue, Thomas stepped in: “Arthur your phone’s on the table.”
Looking at his brother, Arthur grinned widely and ceased his storytelling: “Ah yes, my phone!” he moved swiftly with long steps towards the desk and picked up his phone, before looking back at the not-really-couple that was staring at one another uncomfortably, most of the uncomfortable part was done by Isabelle. Thomas was not one to show many emotions with his facial expressions, besides anger or annoyance.
“Well, I’ll leave you to your business then.” he slid his phone into the back pocket of his pants and headed to the door, but before he left, he looked back at Isabelle and added, “how about you join us for dinner tonight? Ada is making us a little family feast before me and my wife head back home tomorrow. I mean she isn’t really making the food, she just ordered some catering but it’s the closest we will come to home-cooked meals in this family.”
Instead of looking at Arthur, Isabelle’s eyes focused on Thomas: “I think I had enough Shelby dinners.”
“Oh, come on love, I’d love to hear how you capture the attention of this grumpy head over there.” he pointed with his thumb over his shoulder towards his brother who just rolled his eyes and looked aside, focusing on his cigarette, “everyone will be there, Ada, Finn, Michael, Gina…oh I hope Ada will get some American food, don’t you people deep fry butter? Such crazy bastards, you Americans.”
Isabelle’s eyes widened for a moment and ended their focus on Arthur for a moment, her breath stuck in her throat for a second. That by itself was suspicious enough, therefore, she had to quickly cough it out: “Yeah…I don’t think so”
“Oh, come on love, Thomas can pick you up, he knows where Ada’s place is.”
“I’d rather poke my eyeballs out, but thanks.” she threw him irritated smile, yet not fake enough for Arthur to get it.
“Too bad, maybe we will see each other when I come back to the States. Cheers, love!” he waved quickly before vanishing behind the door.
Isabelle’s eyes met Thomas’, somehow hoping he would explain to her what just happened. Yet all he did is shrug, raise his eyebrows and close his eyes in uncertainty. Isabelle opened her mouth, thinking of some reply to all that, but once she realised, she had none, she just nodded her head at Thomas, pressing her lips into a tight line with the corners of her mouths pointing downwards, another evidence of her oblivion. And with that, she left his office. The situation was awkward enough even without Arthur bursting in like that.
Work has not been kind on her. Throughout the day she was faced with various problems that she would have managed with ease if it was not for the whole Shelby thing constantly happening in the back of her mind. As any tech company, it was a necessity to be sufficiently good in using a laptop or computer, which she was, however, that day whatever could go wrong, went wrong. Her lack of concentration mixed with the tapping of her feet against the floor and the chewing of her knuckles and fingers ruined all the work she was working on.
She was not someone that had any boy trouble. Isabelle was undoubtedly a gorgeous and seductive woman that could cause distress to any man standing in her way, yet Thomas Shelby seemed to have hit a nerve in her, no one else hit before him. Men to her were easily played with and used for her own win, but Thomas was smarter than that, he was smarter than anyone.
To that comes the fact that he was the target of her best friend. Or so-called best friend. Gina.
Isabelle’s connection to the Shelby family was a complicated one. One she does not like to look back. Too deep were the wounds. Still, Thomas had no direct involvement in that. However, Isabelle would have preferred if she did not have to spend time with the son of a woman that caused her pain.
Thankfully, she declined Arthur’s offer and therefore could avoid Thomas as long as possible. And despite her needing a few days to return to her previous work ethic and speed, she was as happy as she could be with every day, she could live her life without having Shelbys always around her. Her office hours were back to normal, filled with the usual activities, including meetings, business lunches and lots and lots of programming, just as she liked it. Yet, despite all the things she loved on her work, she was somehow missing Thomas, his fingers over her skin, his lips on hers. Maybe it was just a feeling, a temporary feeling that will pass away…or at least that was what she hoped it was.
But as soon as she stepped inside her office after a too long business lunch with an obese elderly corporation owner, who wished to interact more with her than he wished to interact with her company, she was left speechless. Those types of meetings were sadly from time to time the case with such men. But Isabelle learnt to control those types of situations and politely turn them down, together with their whole business proposal, even if she wished she could just slap them across their face in front of the whole restaurant, but simply ordering the most expensive drinks and meals was revenge enough.
Once she returned from one of those lunches, there was an unusual yet lovely situation happening in her office. Since the door of her office was wide opened and her secretary nowhere to be seen, she just walked inside and there she saw that particular secretary helping two men carrying bouquets and even more bouquets of red roses around her office, looking for any free space to put them.
“What’s going on here?” Isabelle left her coat and bag on the coat rack next to the entrance of her office.
“There’s been a delivery for you Miss Datcu.” her secretary giggled as she poked her head out from behind a massive bundle of roses.
“I see that,” she commented as she walked around her room, admiring all those flowers. Until she finally spotted the one bouquet with a white note sticking on top of it. Her fingers wrapped around the little piece of paper and read it out loud: “Couldn’t get you nor that night out of my mind. For each hour I’ve been thinking about you a red rose.”
“Oh for fuck’s sake.” she read the note with a disgusted look on her face. She tried so hard not to cringe at something so cheesy, yet she felt a warm sensation happening around her stomach, making it spin around. However, as she turned the card around she noticed another text, “P:S: this was Ada’s idea. I just wanted to send you whiskey.” she scoffed at the part that seemed to be the real Thomas writing and shook her head.
Her secretary left her in peace once the men left the room. “That bastard wanted to get me with booze,” she whispered to herself as she grabbed a random rose in between her fingers, placing it in front of her nose and inhaling it.
To her unknowledge, there was someone else as well in her office. At this point her office was more like an opened field than a private working area: “Calling me a bastard isn’t the politest thing, now is it?” the man hiding inside her chair finally turned around from the view through her windows and looked at the woman standing next to her desk with the rose in her hand. The day just could not get any better, now could it?
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Isabelle breathed out with a sigh.
You’re Ed. The man who smokes out here. Occasionally hides from work. And you don’t get annoyed by my ramblings. — “Like a flower in bloom, how the ink flows over your skin” by wonderful @changethecircumstances on AO3 [x]
Thorin wasn’t sure what to say. His jaw clamped shut as his eyes went downcast. He felt awkward and exposed and vulnerable. Change was hard, just as it was terrifying, and he didn’t feel quite as authoritative as he normally did. There were no furs to protect him, no mass amount of layers to make him feel armed, but if this was what it took to blend in for a night on the town…then so be it. He’d be back in that fur-lined coat of his before the night was over.
“Do the buttons on the vest offend you? If you glare at them any harder, they might just pop off.” Bilbo asked, approaching cautiously and swatting Thorin’s hands away to finish out the buttons.
“I feel like I belong in a fucking circus.”
Thorin was more of the ringmaster of this particular circus, but Bilbo kept his mouth shut on that one. Low-hanging fruit like that wasn’t nearly as fun to grab a hold of when it came to sassy commentary. “Well, I’ll say it again. I think you look nice.” The words came out far quicker than he anticipated, but there was a strong level of truth to them.
Raising his eyes and finishing off the last button, Bilbo aimlessly was plucking at the dress shirt. “Besides, you might feel better once you have it paired with something to go over the top? I know how much you pride yourself in that big ridiculous coat you wear.”
“It’s not ridiculous.”
“It is, but you wear it like armor. It makes you feel safe, I understand that. Though I can assure you, there are no dangers here.” At least not any immediate dangers by Bilbo’s standards. “There, now you look like you’re ready to hit the town.” The buttons were all fastened, the dress shirt no longer was awkwardly tucked in places around the neck of that vest, and Thorin looked rather sheepish beneath Bilbo’s gaze. Odd as it was to see such a look, Bilbo admired it greatly, even if it did nothing for his blossoming feelings towards one grumpy nut.
Thorin wasn’t sure what to say. His jaw clamped shut as his eyes went downcast. He felt awkward and exposed and vulnerable. Change was hard, just as it was terrifying, and he didn’t feel quite as authoritative as he normally did. There were no furs to protect him, no mass amount of layers to make him feel armed, but if this was what it took to blend in for a night on the town…then so be it. He’d be back in that fur-lined coat of his before the night was over.
“Do the buttons on the vest offend you? If you glare at them any harder, they might just pop off.” Bilbo asked, approaching cautiously and swatting Thorin’s hands away to finish out the buttons.
“I feel like I belong in a fucking circus.”
Thorin was more of the ringmaster of this particular circus, but Bilbo kept his mouth shut on that one. Low-hanging fruit like that wasn’t nearly as fun to grab a hold of when it came to sassy commentary. “Well, I’ll say it again. I think you look nice.” The words came out far quicker than he anticipated, but there was a strong level of truth to them.
Raising his eyes and finishing off the last button, Bilbo aimlessly was plucking at the dress shirt. “Besides, you might feel better once you have it paired with something to go over the top? I know how much you pride yourself in that big ridiculous coat you wear.”
“It’s not ridiculous.”
“It is, but you wear it like armor. It makes you feel safe, I understand that. Though I can assure you, there are no dangers here.” At least not any immediate dangers by Bilbo’s standards. “There, now you look like you’re ready to hit the town.” The buttons were all fastened, the dress shirt no longer was awkwardly tucked in places around the neck of that vest, and Thorin looked rather sheepish beneath Bilbo’s gaze. Odd as it was to see such a look, Bilbo admired it greatly, even if it did nothing for his blossoming feelings towards one grumpy nut.
