I finally decided to make this. Might fine tune as time goes. For now, I only have my LADS works on tumblr but I've written quite a few on AO3 and you can find it here :)
Love and Deepspace
Zayne
Bullet to the Heart Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 (Final)
Sylus
Cigarettes After Sex Part 1 Part 2 Part3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9
"He surged and flew, his sleeves fluttering open like the wings of a butterfly, then landed gracefully, light as a feather. (...) In his arms there was a child, his head wrapped in bandages, dirty and unkempt."
Summary: You're an independent woman working as a lawyer that is stuck in the capitalistic grind to support your son - Artem the black cat and your reading addiction but quite content with her life. What happens when you run into Sylus with his charm in a chance encounter that is dead set on courting you. Or, in other words, what happens when an unstoppable force (Sylus) meets an immovable object (Non-MC)?
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8
A/N: Two chapter in one day is unprecedented even for me lmaoo but I just couldn't help myself because I love these two way too muchh!!
True to your word, you stayed with Sylus until he started feeling like his normal self but to say that your head was all tangled up like a drawer filled with cables would be an understatement. But the time you had whenever Sylus was sleeping did help you untangle the mess slowly.
Once Sylus felt better, you went straight to your apartment and started analysing and overthinking all of your interactions from start to finish.
Deciding that you need outside counsel, two days later, you finally left your apartment and here you were, knocking on Caleb's door.
"Hey baby." McKenzie welcomed you in with her usual warm smile. "You doing okay? You don't look so good."
"Kennie, I'm fucked." You said sitting on the sofa, hugging your leg.
"Talk to me. What happened?" She sat beside you, looking worried.
"I think I'm falling for Sylus." You muttered, burying your head between your legs.
"Oh." You could hear her smile in just that one syllable and you wanted to bash your own head through some glass. "You think or you are?"
"I am." You admitted, your voice muffled but you knew that she heard you very clearly.
"Is that so bad?" She asked, patting your back.
"I don't know. I don't think so? I hope its not." You were spiralling and it was becoming obvious to the both of you.
"Only a fool would think he is not into you. I have not even met this man and even I can tell that he likes you - a lot." She stated as Caleb walked into the room.
"Uh, what's going on here?" Caleb asked sitting on the single chair adjacent to the sofa.
"I like Sylus." You finally said those words aloud.
"And the sky is blue." Caleb countered which made you and McKenzie each throw a cushion at him.
"What the fuck?" He exclaimed. "You like him. Okay? I don't see what the problem is?" Caleb reasoned.
"I don't know, the fact that we don't really come from the same world or the fact that I am a decade older than him?" You deflated as you started listing all the reasons why it might be a problem. "We don't like the same things. I never want to have kids and what if he does? I'm not even young enough to fuck around that way. He is a somewhat known personality and what if the news blows up and then what happens if we break up? What if his family doesn't accept me? They have the money to do pretty much whatever. What if mine doesnt like him? I mean I'm already the disappointment. This is just the tip of the iceberg."
"Oh your head is a war zone right now." Caleb commented as McKenzie pulled you into a hug.
"I tried, okay? But its just so hard to stay away from him." You said, starting at the wall.
"Darling, I know you know this but you're overthinking this. More than usual if I might add." McKenzie said, rubbing your back. "You need to talk to him because no matter how much try, you're only going to talk yourself into an even bigger spiral."
"From what I've heard, he seems to be the kind of man who calculates pretty much everything before deciding. You think he would not have done the same for something as big as a relationship?" Caleb pointed out.
"I mean, yea, that makes sense." You muttered. You knew it made sense. "Do you guys think its a good idea?"
"Does he treat you well?" Caleb inquired.
"Yea, he does. He is sweet and understanding. Stupid guy stayed up all night with me at work on a Saturday." You answered honestly.
"Do you think he can handle your spirals?" Caleb added.
"Bitch?" You were starting to be offended at this line of questioning.
"Look at yourself now and tell me that question was unwarranted." He challenged you.
Sadly, you had to agree that he was probably right. You let out a sigh, "Yea, he seems to be able to read through me and has in the past stopped me from spiralling."
"It's settled then. You have to marry this man." Caleb stated, leaning back on the chair.
"What the fuck? Who said anything about marriage?" You were now close to yelling because he put the mental image in your head and you knew that your face is bright red.
"Seems like you like the idea." McKenzie was now laughing like it was most funniest thing ever.
"You guys are honestly the worst." You said, getting off the couch to just walk around because you just couldn't sit still.
"Just talk to him. Do the same word vomit and if he walks you through it, its good and if he doesn't well, I can think of a few ways to deal with him." Caleb shrugged.
"What? Why are you suddenly talking like an extra in the Godfather movie?" You smacked his head with barely any force. He says shit like this out of blue to show that he cares and you never know how to react to that.
"When did you watch Godfather?" Caleb was more surprised at that information than your hit.
"I don't know a few weeks ago with Sylus." You shrugged.
"That man is really making you watch all the movies you've procrastinated huh? Wife material right there." Caleb stated like it made sense.
"What weird gender norms are you imposing on him?" McKenzie asked chucking another cushion at him.
"So, what? I just talk to him?" You asked, ignoring them, now that you released some pent up energy by walking around the apartment like a dog inflected with zoomies.
"Yep. That's unfortunately the only way ahead." McKenzie stated.
"Okay. I'll go talk to him." You stated with clarity shining through your eyes.
"Now?" Caleb asked, looking at your like you were losing your mind. Which, to be fair, you were.
"If I don't do it now, I'll lose my mind and kill myself." You retorted like it made sense. In your head, it made perfect sense.
"Honey, why don't you do it tomorrow? It is pretty late today and you did say that he was sick until a few days ago." McKenzie tried convincing you, almost approaching you like she would a wounded animal. "That will give you time to prepare and come up with ideas on how to approach this."
"You know what? You're right. I do need to prepare. I'm gonna go home and make a list." You said as you got your jacket to leave their apartment ignoring Caleb's 'that's one way to do it' comment.
The next day around noon, you called Sylus asking him to meet you at a restaurant that evening and hung up before he could ask for more information. You figured doing this at a neutral spot would be a good idea and it was a good thing that this restaurant offered secluded rooms even though it cost a pretty penny.
You were at the restaurant a whole 15 minutes before the agreed meeting time, your legs bouncing like you were about to face a boss battle when in reality you were just waiting for Sylus to talk to him about you liking him. Thankfully, he arrived a 5 minutes early, saving you some anxiety.
"Hey, sweetie, is everything alright?" Sylus asked as took the seat across from yours.
"Yea. Everything is just fine." You said unconvincingly, your legs still bouncing under the table.
"Okay. What did you want to talk about?" You were thankful that he was not prying into your state of mind because you didn't think you could handle that.
"Right. Yea. I wanted to let you know that I've finally decided." You stated simply as if it was meant to explain everything.
"Okay?" Sylus looked confused at your declaration.
"I need you to not interrupt me for the next - I don't know how many - minutes." After seeing him nod his understanding, you pulled out the list you prepared last night.
"Okay, here goes. Sylus, I think I like you. No, wait, I know I like you." You started, looking at him and as soon as you said those words, the smile he gave you made your already racing heart speed up. But true to his word, he did not interrupt you. "I tried pretending like I was not falling for you but I'm tired of all the pretending and would rather have it out in the open. But at the same time, there are some concerns I have about this potential partnership and I wanted to address them with you."
Sylus looked like he wanted to say something and gave him the go ahead. "You can say something now."
"About time, I'd say." He reclined back in his seat with a cocky smirk.
"Say something that's not cocky." You stated unamused at his confidence and cockiness at display.
"Well, since you insist. I have waited for this day for as long as I can remember and If it wasn't already obvious, I've liked you since probably the first time we met. I cannot tell you how happy I am to hear you say these words to me." He said, not once looking away from you with as utmost sincerity that you almost felt like you wanted to cry.
"But I am curious though. Why are you talking to me like you are writing a corporate email?" Sylus asked, reverting back to his very amused self.
"If you must really know, my brain switches to corporate language whenever there is conflict or whenever I'm trying to avoid any misunderstanding." You said letting out a sigh that helped release some of the tension from your shoulders.
"That is a weird quirk." He noted, the amusement not leaving his face.
"Well, it's a package deal. Take it or leave it."
"Well, you drive a easy bargain, sweetie. I would be honoured to take it." He stated, giving you an easy smile. "What were the concerns you had about our 'potential partnership'?"
"Right. Yes." You passed him a paper with the list you had prepared earlier.
"Why does it feel like I've walked into a negotiation?" Sylus commented after reading through your list.
"Well, that is one way to put it." You stated simply. "I would like to go through this list in the very same order."
Once Sylus nodded his assent, you began. "First item on the list is obviously one of my deal breakers. I have never wanted to have kids and I don't think I will ever want to."
"That's an easy one. If you don't want kids, I don't want them either." Sylus stated it like it was obvious.
"Just like that? You're not going to ask me why?" You were surprised because you've heard a number of stories where this point almost never ends well.
"I don't care why you don't want to have kids. That's your personal preference and as a man I don't think I can dictate anything about what can be categorised as just 'reproduction'." He stated, almost looking nonchalant.
"Oh." Was all you were able to manage. "What if your family wants you to? You know what with you being the oldest son and all? Don't they do these things in your ultra rich families?" You tried again.
"Well, tough luck for them. My father has never been able to get me to do what he wants anyway and I'm not going to start now. You don't have to worry about that." He told you, looking at you like he was staring into your soul and it made you feel exposed.
"Okay." You were the first to turn away and proceeded to jot down things on your sheet of paper.
"Are you taking notes, sweetie?" Sylus asked, amusing dripping in this voice.
"Yes. I don't want there to be any misunderstandings so I'll give you a copy later."
"This really is a negotiation, isn't it?"
"I never alluded to it being otherwise." You stared at him as you said that.
"Ever the practical woman. Shall we then move to the second item on the list?" Sylus asked, sitting straighter on his chair as if taking this just as seriously as a investor meeting.
The two of you spent the rest of the evening going through all the 15 items on your list one by one as you took meticulous notes and arriving at what could only be said as consensus.
"Now that we discussed it all, would you say that we are finally officially dating each other?" Sylus asked he leaned back on the chair.
"Yea, I would." You agreed with a smile.
"Good." He called for the wait staff to finally order some food. "My girlfriend and I would like to order." The two of you placed your order with a glass of wine to celebrate.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" You asked after they left with your order, feeling a little embarrassed.
"What? I can't stare at my girlfriend now?" He asked with a smirk.
"You seem to be enjoying this way too much." You muttered, hiding your smile behind the glass of water you pretended to drink from.
"I very much am." He confirmed just as the food arrived.
"So, what would you like to do for our first date?" Sylus asked when you were both halfway through the meal.
"What do you mean first date? This is our first date." You stated with a smirk.
"Are all your first dates this long and exciting where you're negotiating?" He asked, setting his glass of wine back on the table.
"Nope, its only for those dates where I am extra serious about."
"And how many of those have you had before?" Sylus asked, trying to pretend to be nonchalant.
"Are you jealous?" You chuckled at his expression.
"Why would I need to be jealous when I have you?" Damn this man and his smooth lines. You took another sip of your wine to hide your embarrassment.
Once you were done with the meal, you excused yourself to the bathroom to sneak away to pay the bill because you knew for a fact that he would want to fight you on it. Just as you predicted, he was not happy that you had already paid for the date but he had no choice but to suck it up. Besides, you just liked the thought of spoiling him for a change.
The two of you walked out of the restaurant, hand-in-hand while Sylus looked like and was treating the whole thing as if he was holding something that was very precious.
Before you entered your car, you turned around to look at Sylus to wish him a good night. You hadn't gotten a single when Sylus placed his hand against your cheek looking at you with what could only be described as 'heart eyes'.
"May I kiss you?" He asked, leaning in closer waiting for you to give him your approval.
Instead of using a verbal response, you decided that you would rather provide a tactile one. You leaned forward and closed the gap between the two of you and kissed him, your hands finding its spot in his hair.
The kiss was not explosive or any other violent adjective you had heard people use. It was just right and just perfect and very Sylus.
When the two of you pulled away, he rested his forehead on yours, catching your breaths but still not wanting to leave this bubble. All was good and you couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
"What is so funny, kitten?" Sylus asked, pulling away slightly to look into your eyes.
"I was just thinking about how everything is good now and contrasted that with me spiralling for the last few days." You answered honestly.
"You only need to have asked me instead of spiralling." He stated sincerely.
"I now know that." You agreed, leaning forward for another kiss which he met you halfway.
After what felt like eternity but probably was only a few minutes, you pulled away again. You bid each other a good night with the promise of texting after going home.
Once you were settled in your bed, you quickly sent him a text to let him know you made it safely and then 30 minutes later, it was followed up by a document that summarised your negotiations today with your signature.
Ten minutes later, he sent you the document back with his own signature.
Summary: You're an independent woman working as a lawyer that is stuck in the capitalistic grind to support your son - Artem the black cat and your reading addiction but quite content with her life. What happens when you run into Sylus with his charm in a chance encounter that is dead set on courting you. Or, in other words, what happens when an unstoppable force (Sylus) meets an immovable object (Non-MC)?
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7
You had just gotten out of a meeting when you got a call from Sylus's assistant. To say you were confused would be an understatement. Why was she calling you on a Tuesday?
"Is everything alright?" You asked in lieu of a greeting.
"No." Ava replied with a sigh. "Mr. Qin is sick and he refuses to go home or see a doctor. I was hoping you could help us out here."
"What do you mean sick? What happened?" You inquired as you walked to your office.
"We are not sure. He has been vomiting and seems like he is also running a temperature. Can you please come and maybe talk to him? I understand you must be busy but we are out of options at this point." It seemed like she was close to pleading with you. But you didn't require too much convincing. You were starting to be worried about Sylus.
"Are you guys at the office? I'll be there in 30 minutes depending on traffic." You said before hanging up.
You quickly packed your laptop and all the important documents you might need and stepped out of your office.
"There's an emergency. Tell anyone that asks that I will be working remotely for the next few days. If you can't convert the meetings online, just cancel them. I'll handle it when I come back." You told Elijah as you fished the keys to your car from the bag.
"Okay. How long will you be gone?" He asked snapping into his professional self.
"Not sure. Let's just say this whole week for now." You replied as you adjusted the strap of your bag on your shoulder.
"Do I want to know what the emergency is?" He asked, slightly concerned at your worried expression.
"Sylus is sick." Was all you had to say for the man to have the most shit eating grin on his face. "Shut up." You said with a roll of your eyes and speed walked to your car.
You tried to not violate any traffic laws but thankfully you didn't have to because there was not a lot of traffic. So, you did make it to his office in the 30 minutes you promised Ava.
As you stepped inside the office, you walked to the reception to ask for directions hoping she had already informed them of your arrival. Which she did, like the diligent woman she was.
You quickly made your way to Sylus's office and just from the outside, you noticed that he was in a reclined position on the couch looking pale and sweaty. Ava was the first to see you coming and she let out a sigh of relief.
"He has been sitting there looking like that for the last 10 minutes. That was when he last puked." She let you know before you could enter the office.
"Thanks for letting me know. I'll take over from here." You finally entered the office and Sylus shifted in position slightly, still not opening his eyes.
"Is it time for the meeting?" Sylus asked, probably assuming it was Ava.
"No. It's time to go home." You said, approaching him slowly.
"What are you doing here?" Sylus asked cracking his eyes open slightly as realisation dawned on him. "She should not have called you."
"Well, I'm already here and you're clearly in no position to attend meetings and be the boss right now." You sat beside him on the couch.
"I'm fine." He said turning his head to look at you. "I'll be fine." He corrected at the stern look you gave him.
"Don't be stubborn. You look like you'll keel over when there's a strong breeze." You shifted closer to check his temperature on his forehead and noticed that he was indeed running a temperature. "Let me take care of you."
He stared at you for a good minute before he let out a sigh and leaned his head on your shoulder. "Okay." He mumbled.
You turned around, making sure to not disturb Sylus and asked for Ava's help to grab his stuff back to your car. And an empty trash can.
"Can you walk?" You asked Sylus, lowering your voice and he nodded once before pulling away to slowly get off the couch. You were right beside him to either support him or catch him if he falls but thankfully he managed to stand up right just fine.
You made it to your car without any incidents - well other than all this employees staring at their sick boss be escorted out of the office by this random lady. You made sure Sylus was strapped in safely with the trash can on his lap. As much as you worried for him, you were also worried about your car.
You quickly drove to his penthouse apartment and thankfully there was no puking even though he almost came close.
You walked him to his room and helped him change out his work clothes into a more comfortable pair of sweats. You had an idea about how fit he was and that he worked out a lot and while the sight could indeed surprising, you were more concerned about his well-being that you didn't notice it until he teased you about it.
"If you wanted me out of my clothes, all you had to do was say." He joked with what was a poor attempt at his usual smirk.
"Well, aren't we still full of ourself, even now." You chuckled as you helped him sit on his bed. "Where is your medicine cabinet?"
"In the kitchen. In the draw near the dishwasher." Sylus pointed out and you went to quickly grab some paracetamol and handed it back to him with a glass of water.
"Get some rest." You said once he took the meds.
"Will you stay?" He asked, looking vulnerable. You've been many sides of him and this is the first time you're seeing this side of him and that did things to your heart. You didn't know what did it but it did do something.
"Yes. I'll be right here until you get better." You reassured him, brushing his hair off his forehead.
He nodded before he laid back down and closed his eyes. Once you were sure he wasn't going to get back up, you went to your car to grab your laptop and documents and made yourself comfortable in the kitchen.
A few hours later, you were starting to feel hungry and you figured Sylus would as well. So, you started cooking some rice in the rice cooker and went back in to check-in on him. He was still asleep, but the trash can you left beside his bed was no longer empty. You decided to get back to work until the rice was done.
Once the rice was done, you added some to a plate to let it cool while you made a quick gravy for yourself. Once the rice cooled down, you mixed in some Greek yogurt with a pinch of salt and transferred it to a bowl and went to Sylus's room.
He was snoring away and as much as you didn't want to wake him up, he needed to eat something. You slowly pat his shoulder to wake him up, trying to not startle him.
"You should eat something. I made something that would be agreeable to your stomach." You said as he opened his eyes and helped him sit up on the bed.
"What is that?" Sylus asked eyeing the pearly white rice mixture in the bowl.
"Just some curd rice. We eat this in India to help with the gut bacteria." You told him as you handed him the bowl.
"Can you feed it to me? My arms feel so weak." Sylus asked, staring at the bowl and then back at you.
"Scooch over." You said with a chuckle. "You're like a child when you're sick, huh?" You joked as you sat beside him and fed him small spoonfuls of the rice.
"You wanted to take care of me." He reminded you with a smile as he leaned his head back on the headboard.
"How are you feeling now?" You asked, touching his forehead to check if he still has a fever.
"Like shit." He mumbled, his eyes closed.
"Fair. Does your stomach hurt?" You inquired as if cataloguing all his symptoms.
"Yea and I'm still puking and I feel so cold." He told you like a diligent child.
"I need to check your temperature and you should take another paracetamol before you go back to sleep again." You said before grabbing the thermometer from where you left it on the bedside table earlier. "Open wide."
He obeyed and you placed it under his tongue and a minute later, it told you that he had a fever of 38.5℃. That was not good. You were wondering if you should call a doctor but you decided to monitor the situation for the night and postpone the decision for tomorrow. After he took the paracetamol, you once again helped him lie down on the bed.
You knew that you had to deal with the vomit-filled trash. So, you rummaged through his closet to grab yourself a change of clothes and a scarf. You placed the clothes in the bathroom and tied the scarf around your nose before you grabbed the can and carried to the bathroom keeping it an arm's length distance before you cleaned it up not removing the scarf until the job was completely done.
You placed it back on his bedside and quickly jumped into the shower to clean yourself off the whole aura and slipped into his sweater and sweat pants you grabbed earlier.
You were mentally and physically done with work. So, you were now deciding where you would camp for the night. You decided against the usual guest room you occupy because you were worried you might not be able to hear him calling out to you and the living room posed the same problem. All that left you was his own room.
There was a comfortable looking arm chair in one of the corners which you promptly occupied with a throw blanket and a book you borrowed from his bookshelf.
You don't know when you fell asleep but you woke up to the sounds of a phone ringing and based on the ringtone, you could tell that it was Sylus's. You saw that it was only 9PM.
You usually were not the in the habit of answering other people's calls but you decided to make an exception since it was Kieran who was calling.
"Hey." You greeted him as you walked out of the room.
"Where is Sylus?" He asked, hearing your voice.
"He is resting. He is not feeling so great so I'm keeping an eye on him." You told him.
"What happened?" You heard Luke ask and you figured they were on speakerphone.
"I'm not sure. He has been puking all day and has a fever. Might be the wings from the arcade." You saw no point in keeping the twins in the dark. They were teenagers after all.
"We want to come over. We wanna be there with him." Kieran said causing Luke to parrot his sentiments. You kinda understood where they were coming from. They were worried about their brother but you were also worried about them disturbing Sylus.
"It is pretty late at night and he is already asleep." You told them and was immediately met with protests.
"How about this, you guys still have school tomorrow right? Why don't you come over after that? I don't think Sylus would be too happy if you missed school because of him." You reasoned with them and that seemed to pacify them, somewhat.
"Fine." Kieran accepted but you could still hear the pout in his voice. "Will you tell us how he is doing until then?"
"Of course. Why don't you note down my number? That way it would be easier because I can't text from Sylus's phone."
With that number exchange, the twins reluctantly hung up and immediately created a group chat for the three of you.
You went back to the arm chair and made yourself comfortable. Well, as comfortable as you can trying to sleep in an arm chair and dozed off soon enough.
The next morning you woke up to your alarm and quickly turned it off and checked-in on Sylus. His fever seemed to be breaking with all the sweat on his forehead.
He looked younger in his sleep and not like the terrifying boss/investor he has the reputation of being. You brushed his hair back and before you could stop yourself, you leaned down to place a soft kiss on his forehead.
Not wanting to dwell on it for too long, you quickly showered while hoping that Sylus wouldn't mind you making yourself comfortable with adopting his wardrobe while you did the laundry.
You went back to the kitchen to get some work done. An hour or so later, you heard noises coming from his room and quickly made your way there to check-in on him.
Sylus was missing on the bed and you figured he was in the bathroom. So, you quickly made him another serving of the curd rice like last night and placed it on the dining table waiting for him to come over.
He walked in looking like a soldier who had just about conquered his bowels.
"Good Morning." You greeted him as he sat beside you. "You feeling a little better?"
"Yea, I think so." He muttered, leaning to the side to rest his head on your shoulder.
"That's good. Let me check your temperature to see if you broke the fever." You tried to move to grab the thermometer from the room but he grumbled, leaning closer to you, clearly not wanting you to move.
"Later then." You conceded with a chuckle. "Feeling like you can eat?"
"If you feed me." You mumbled making you chuckle again.
You shifted slightly to grab the bowl you prepared earlier and once again feed him slowly.
"The same thing?" He asked after the first spoon.
"The same thing until you start feeling better." You said as you continued feeding him.
Once he was done, he still refused to move from your shoulder. So, you tried working around him.
After around 30 minutes, you got a message from Luke asking about how Sylus was doing and you started typing a response.
"How do they have your number?" Sylus mumbled into your neck.
"Oh I forgot to tell you. They called you yesterday - sorry I answered your call - and I told them you were sick. I gave them my number because they wanted updates on how you were doing." You told him and set your phone back on the table. "They wanted to come over last night but I convinced them to come see you after school."
"Thank you." He said with too much sincerity that you didn't know what to do with.
"Your neck must hurt sitting like this. Why don't you sit on the couch while I change your sheets?" You offered, patting his cheek.
"Leave it be. The housekeeper will take care of it when she comes over later today." He said, still not moving.
"Okay, then why don't the both of us move to the couch? It'll be more comfortable for you and me that way." You had a feeling that being sick made him clingy and you did not have the heart to rebuke a sick man.
Finally, agreeing to this proposal, you shifted all your work related items to the couch and Sylus once again sat closer to you, leaning his head on your shoulder again but not before you gave him another dose of paracetamol.
The housekeeper came around noon to clean the entire apartment and not once did she bat an eye at the scene in front of her and left after restocking the pantry and cooking some dishes that he could eat when he recovers.
That was how you spent the whole day and even though you wanted to move to ease the soreness of your muscles and a smoke, you couldn't move because of this 6 foot something hunk of a man leaning entirely on you.
Thankfully that changed when the twins finally walked in, this time not making too much noise but their presence still woke Sylus up.
Their worry was obvious on their face but Sylus reassured them that he was doing much better than yesterday. At the same time, you had to leave the room because of a work call and by the time you came back, you saw that they were setting up some video game on the TV.
You figured having a sense of normalcy like that might do Sylus some good and let them go at it until it was time for the twins to go home. That was when you stomach let out a loud growl reminding you that you had eaten nothing that day.
"Are you hungry?" You asked as you checked the fridge to see if the housekeeper had made something you could eat and thankfully found some vegetable stir-fry.
"Is it going to be the same thing?" Sylus asked with a pout.
"Yes." You said, heating up the stir-fry for yourself as you moved to make him another bowl of curd rice.
"But its so bland." His voice almost sounded like he was whining.
"You stomach can't handle spices now." You placed the bowl of rice in front of him. "Since you have the energy to fight it, you can feed yourself."
Once the stir-fry was ready, you grabbed yourself a bowl of heated up rice and sat beside him as he was finding something to watch on the TV.
Dinner was a quite affair and once he was done with his bowl, you gave him another dose of paracetamol and sent him to bed. His appetite seemed to be getting better as well.
A few hours later, you were done with your work and went back to the arm chair from last night with the same book as last night. As you were a few pages into the book, you noticed that Sylus was stirring on the bed.
"Are you planning on sleeping there?" He asked when he saw you sitting there.
"Yeah. Did you want something?" You placed the book on the table beside you.
"Is that where you slept last night?" He, now sat up on the bed.
"Yea, I wanted to keep an eye on you." You walked closer to his bed to check his forehead. "It seems your fever will break once and for all tomorrow."
Before you could pull away, Sylus grabbed your wrist without much force. "If you want to keep an eye on me, why don't you lie down beside me?"
"I don't think that is a good idea." You stated simply. You would be lying if you said you hadn't considered it last night. Sleeping in the same room is one thing but sharing a bed was a line you were not sure you were ready to cross.
"Why not?" Sylus asked, still not letting go of your hand.
"Because I toss around a lot in my sleep and I don't want to disturb your sleep." That was not entirely a lie but you were also not going to admit the real reason.
"I've been doing nothing but sleep even through your meetings. I'm sure I'll be fine. Besides, sleeping on that arm chair can't be good for your back."
"Are you calling me old?" You asked, trying to look offended.
"If I say yes, will you lie down beside me?" Sylus asked with a smile.
"Fine." You conceded with a sigh. Your back was starting to hurt from the arm chair last night and not moving much today and it seemed like he was not going to let this go anytime soon. "Scooch over. I like to sleep on the right side of the bed."
"Already claiming sides of the bed, I see." Sylus said, his voice indicating how hard he was fighting his sleep.
With a roll of your eyes, you turned the light off, hoping he could not see how red your face looked and laid on the bed beside him.
You were very conscious of your every movement and that kept you from falling deeper into sleep but somewhere during the night, your brain had given up and pulled you deeper into sleep.
When you woke up the next day, not because of your alarm but because of warmth that was enveloping you on all sides. The first thing you noticed as you opened your eyes was the sweater that Sylus was wearing yesterday. It took you another few seconds to realise that Sylus was hugging you close and the warmth you felt around you was him.
You leaned back to check on him and were relived to find that he was still deep asleep. You took this moment to take a closer look at him. The way he was holding you felt so protective - as if nothing wrong could possibly happen as long as you stayed right there in his arms. This feeling unsettled you a bit.
You had a lot of friends and you didn't think you would drop everything to take care of them if and when they fell sick. Why had you done it for Sylus? Why had you willingly let him cross every single boundary that you had laid very carefully across the years? Why were you acting in a manner that was so unlike you but also very much like you at the same time whenever he was around?
Deep down, you knew the answers to this question but the bigger question around it was - were you ready to admit it to yourself?
Summary: You're an independent woman working as a lawyer that is stuck in the capitalistic grind to support your son - Artem the black cat and your reading addiction but quite content with her life. What happens when you run into Sylus with his charm in a chance encounter that is dead set on courting you. Or, in other words, what happens when an unstoppable force (Sylus) meets an immovable object (Non-MC)?
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
You were not avoiding Sylus. Not at all. You were just busy at work and then busy with meeting and socialising with your other friends when you had the time. You were still responding to his texts just like you would except for the fact that the responses were few and far between.
It still does not mean that you were avoiding him. Were you embarrassed to face him? Probably.
Was it avoiding him if you still made it to the usual movie night on Saturday and you staying over that night because you're either too tired or drunk to drive back home?
So, that was how you found yourself sitting on his couch, leaning on the armrest while facing Sylus, on Sunday explaining this very weird and scary nightmare you had where you were being chased by what could only be categorised as a body horror experiment gone wrong or rather very right.
"It's the feng shui of your apartment." You stated as you were munching on a grape.
"Is that so?" Sylus enquired with a lazy smile on his face.
"Yea. I never have these kinds of dreams when I'm at my apartment." You shrugged popping another grape in your mouth.
"Or maybe you have these dreams because you're weird."
"How dare you?" You exclaimed in mock offence, extending your leg to nudge him slightly. But before your toes could make contact, he caught your leg and placed him on his lap.
Before you could process what happened, Sylus carried on as if nothing had happened and said, "Or maybe it was because of the movie we watched yesterday."
The two of you finally watched the surprise movie from last week which turned out to be the movie 'The Thing'.
"Probably. I don't really do horrors or thrillers." You informed him. "They don't usually give me nightmares but when they do they're horrific. But I also still think its your feng shui."
"Noted for future reference, sweetie." Sylus said, patting your knee. Before you could say anything, his phone rang and he seemed to just say yes and sigh at the end of the call before he hung up.
"Everything okay?" You had never seen him this speechless on a call before and you were worried that maybe something was wrong or urgent.
"Yea, it was just the twins letting me know that they are 5 minutes away and want to go to arcade with me." He said with a smile on his face.
"Oh. I should probably get going then." You said, sitting straighter on the couch but Sylus stopped you with a slight squeeze on your calf.
"Stay." He said with a smile. "They've been asking to meet this friend that I've been hanging out with all this while."
"Are you sure?" You were not sure why you were protesting, if you can even call it that. Like he said, you are just friends and meeting his brothers shouldn't freak you out as much it did. But then again, there's their age.
"Are you really nervous about meeting two teenagers, kitten?" Sylus taunted you with a smirk.
"Have you not met teenagers? They are brutal and ruthless when it comes to expressing their opinion. My nervousness is entirely warranted." You huffed, turning to look at the view outside the floor to ceiling window.
"What kind of teenagers have you met, sweetie?" He looked so amused like it was his weekly entertainment television.
"My nieces and nephew. Some one might say resemble angels but the resemblance stops at their physical appearance."
"I am so intrigued." Sylus stated with the same amusement.
"No." You stated simply. The thought of him meeting your family was scarier than any opposing counsel you've met all your life.
"What?" He asked, as if he could see what was going through your mind.
"Nothing." You cleared your throat just as you heard the door open followed by two very loud boys calling Sylus's name and fast footsteps approaching the living room.
"Oh." They paused looking at the scene in front of them. You and Sylus lounging on the couch looking more intimate than a pair of friends. Before you could shift to pull your leg off his lap, Sylus once again caught you by squeezing your calf.
"Are you the friend he keeps talking about?" One of them asked as he sat on the couch adjacent to the three seater you were occupying.
"I guess? He must have a quite a few friends." You stated.
"No, he doesn't." The other twin stated like it was an obvious fact. "If he did, he wouldn't be hanging out with us as much as he does."
"Luke." Sylus warned the boy with no bite.
"It's true." The other twin - Kieran, you assumed shrugged rummaging through the kitchen cabinet.
"You don't look like you're 40." Luke stated with a straight face and you gave Sylus the 'I told you' look.
"Thanks. It's good to know that the ritual is working." You said with an innocent smile.
"What ritual?" Kieran asked, his hands filled with a lot of snacks.
"Sweetie." Sylus warned you this time with another squeeze to your calf.
"Oh it's just this thing I do - drinking the blood of a teenager every month during full moon." You shrugged like it was the most normal thing ever.
"Wait? Teenager? Not girls?" Luke asked looking part intrigued and part scared.
"Gender doesn't really matter as long as they are healthy and young. You guys look like you'd be good candidates." You clarified, trying your best to not laugh.
"Gege?" Kieran looked really terrified when he was looking at Sylus.
"She's not serious." Sylus informed them, letting out an exasperated sigh. "This is why you should not be rude when you're meeting someone for the first time."
"So, no blood drinking?" Kieran asked you as if wanting to hear from the source.
"Yea, no blood drinking. No teenagers or full moon. Sorry." You apologised after letting out a chuckle. "But it is nice to meet you guys."
"We like her." Luke announced to the entire room and his acceptance did loosen something in you.
"I am glad to hear that." You told him with a smile.
"Why don't you come with us to the arcade?" Kieran offered, looking shier than his twin.
"I don't want to intrude on your brothers time. But thanks for the offer, though." You were not sure if the others would appreciate your presence - especially Sylus.
"Noo. You should comee. He never lets us win. We need someone to beat him!" Luke exclaimed pulling out his very effective puppy eyes. You turn and look at Sylus who was looking at the whole scene with something that resembled a content smile.
"Come with us, sweetie. Maybe then they will taste victory." Sylus encouraged you and you were only a weak woman at the sight of three boys wanting you to join them. So, you agreed.
The trip to the arcade was just as lively as you expected it to be. Luke and Kieran were telling you all the stories of their previous visits to the arcade and how they suspect Sylus was cheating to win. Based on how they narrated it, you were inclined to believe the twins.
As soon as the four of you entered the arcade, Luke immediately announced that he wanted to team up with you and thus began the competition between the two teams.
Even though you hadn't been to the arcade in a really long time, you were a quick study. It also helped that you were a competitive person that was fuelled by Luke's persistent encouragement. You guys played through several rounds of racing games, shooting games and even pinball. Soon, the wins between your team and his was very close to one another, with your team at the lead.
You were all finally at the air hockey table with high tensions. You and Kieran were facing each other and you hit the puck with as much force as you could muster. In a surprising twist of events, the puck flew off the table and hit the Sylus who was just standing at the side as a spectator. On his crotch.
"Oh my god! Sylus, I am so sorry!" You started apologising profusely as the man made a sound mixed with both surprise and pain. It did not help that both Luke and Kieran were laughing their ass off behind the two of you.
"I'm fine, sweetie." Sylus tried reassuring you as you were hovering over him, unsure of what to do.
"I really am sorry. Is there anything I can do to make the pain go away?" You had no idea what you were saying. You had not caused bodily injury to anyone in years despite wishing you could.
"You could kiss it better." Luke mumbled before the twins started giggling among themselves.
"Luke." Sylus scolded them but that did nothing to stop them from laughing.
"Why don't I go get some ice from the food court?" You offered with a strong urge to flee the scene.
You were embarrassed at the whole situation and you just wanted the earth to swallow you whole. There was no recovering from this.
But you did return to the boys with an ice pack wrapped with some tissues and you found the boys sitting on the bench towards the side, seeming to be in a serious discussion that ended when they spotted you.
"I feel so bad. I'm sorry, Sylus." You apologised once again as you occupied the only available seat beside Kieran.
"I'm really fine, sweetie. There is no need to apologise. I've faced worse when playing with these two gremlins." Sylus reassured you as the twins let out a 'hey!' in protest.
"We should probably call it a day." You suggested with a smile.
"Sure, I don't mind. I won today!" Luke exclaimed with a triumphant smile.
"Next time you should be on my team." Kieran declared looking at you.
"Not happening! I picked her first" Luke refused to give up on you as a teammate.
"Why don't you guys let her pick who she wants on her team? Maybe she would want to be on my team the next time." Sylus added to fuel the fight even further because now , there was a full blown verbal argument between the twins on why you should be on their team.
"What makes you think I want to be on your team?" You joked, looking at Sylus but the twins were no longer paying attention to the two of you.
"You wound me, sweetie." Sylus feigned being hurt by your words. "First physically and now emotionally."
You winced at his words but before you could apologise again, he just shook his head and gave you a smile.
"Hey, how about we decide that the next time we are back at the arcade." You interjected the twins before the situation escalated. "How about we go grab something to eat from the food court?"
Hearing the word definitely seems to make them pause the fight and follow you and Sylus. You made Sylus and Luke take a seat while you and Kieran ordered the food. Before you left, Sylus tried to give you his card but you shot him down without even a second glance.
As you were waiting for the food, you noticed that Kieran was the shy one among the twins and seemingly following Luke's lead. He was not quick to start a conversation, now that it was just the two of you alone. You understood him - one fellow introvert to another.
"Did you have a fun today?" You tried initiating a conversation.
"I did. It's always fun here at the arcade with Luke and Sylus. And now with you too." He admitted with a shy smile.
"I'm glad to hear that. Do you guys come here often?" You asked wanting to know more about not just Sylus but also the twins.
"Sylus always takes us to the arcade after every exam, no matter how small. He says its a good way to unwind from all the stress."
"I have to agree with him. I had a bit of a stressful week at work and having fun with you guys really helped me unwind." You told him, thinking back at the nightmare of a week you had.
"He is right most of the time." Kieran admitted.
"Is he now? What else is he right about?" You were curious at the statement and at the blind trust they had in him.
"He was right when he said that I am good at math and that I should join the math club and participate in the Olympiad. That I would enjoy it and like the people there." Kieran said with a soft smile.
"Wow, that's amazing. Can I tell you a secret?" You asked, your voice turning into a whisper. Kieran looked curious and gave you a cute nod. "I suck at math. Can't solve a polynomial equation to save my life, forget trigonometry or calculus problems."
"Wait, seriously?" Kieran looked genuinely shocked at your admission. "But polynomials are so easy."
"Maybe for you, Mr. Math prodigy. I chose law and humanities for a reason." You chuckled at his reaction.
Before he could say anything more, the food was ready and you guys went back to your table to find Sylus and Luke bickering about some video game.
"What are you guys arguing about?" You asked as you sat beside Sylus because Kieran had already claimed the seat beside Luke.
"Sylus thinks Skirk is no longer meta." Luke looked offended and ready to defend her honour.
"Wait, what? Why would you think that?" You asked looking at Sylus because for once, you knew what they were talking about even though you hadn't played the game in ages.
"Because, look at all the characters that have been released since. They have the region specific fighting mechanism and that is what is required for the imaginarium theatre and the stygian onslaught." Sylus reasoned with a shrug. "She might be important lore wise but that is also debatable."
"That might be true but at the same time, she can be paired with a lot of regional characters to create the elemental reaction that can boost the damage, because of that unique abyssal cryo thing she has going." You would defend Skirk to the ends of earth because of just how much you loved her.
"Yea but why would I want to do that when I can have other cryo characters or other elemental reactions from the regional characters?" Sylus responded with a look that clearly told you that he was challenging you.
"If that is the basis of your argument, then there is a multiple combinations of team you can have that makes even Alice or Nicole not be meta." You shrugged, taking a bite of your fries.
"You guys seem more into this than we are." Kieran noticed.
"I just can't stand Skirk slander. My girl has already been through enough." You said, feeling a little embarrassed talking about video games with people significantly younger than you.
"Thank you! I like you even more right now." Luke gave you a stronger seal of approval that just made you chuckle.
"Why aren't you eating?" You asked Sylus because he had just taken a bite of his wings and not touched them since.
"I think it tastes a bit weird." Sylus said, with a frown.
"Oh. Do you want me to get you something else? Or replace it?" But before you were done, Luke and Kieran descended like wolves on the wings and disagreed with his assessment.
Taking their word of approval, Sylus decided to continue with his food and the four of you were talking about the different video games you all play and convincing each other to try the games that you play.
The sun was already setting by the time you guys made it out of the arcade and Sylus decided to drop you off at your apartment, promising that he would make sure your car was delivered to your apartment before you had to leave for work.
With that you bid them farewell and one part of you hoped that you would get to have another fun day with all three of them some time soon.
Scientists invented a fake disease. AI told people it was real: Nature.com
I'm a bit frightened for the time when someone less ethical than the person that did this decides to repeat the experiment but leave out the part where they come in later and announce that it was fake and people wind up diagnosed with the fake condition and all kinds of wacky hi jinks ensues.
“Because the truth is, tech doesn’t have an image problem. It doesn’t have a message problem. It has an intention problem. What’s wrong with the axe murderer who broke into my house is not that he hasn’t successfully persuaded me to buy into his narrative. What’s wrong is that he’s trying to kill me with an axe. Similarly, when you launch a product that’s designed to put millions of people out of work, block access to sources of verifiable truth, replace human creativity with slop, and lower the barriers to every sort of atrocity, the problem isn’t that you haven’t told the public a good story about those things. The problem is that you are trying to do them.”
"Kill your local sex offender!" Oh, you mean the guy who went streaking at his local college football game on a dare one time? That's a sex crime.
"No, I mean-"
Oh, maybe the woman who had to pee in a public park that only had pay toilets, so she tried to hide behind the bushes but got caught? Public urination is a sex crime.
"What? No, I mean-"
Oh, maybe you mean the homeless guy who had to strip down to get his clothes in the laundromat to clean them for the first time in weeks? He tried being subtle, but someone called the cops on him, and now he's on the sex offender registry for public nudity.
"Rapists and pedophiles! Kill rapists and pedophiles!"
Oh, like the trans woman who got called a pedophile groomer for helping a trans kid escape her abusive parents?
Or maybe the black man who got labeled a rapist because he came on to another man's wife, and he decided to get back at him by charging him with rape?
How about the 17 year olds who were fooling around, fully consensually, in one of their bedrooms? That's still technically underage sex and thus rape of a minor.
Oh, or maybe you're talking about the doctor who performed genital reconstructive surgery in a state that just voted to get that classified as rape?
People will do everything they can to get you convinced rape and pedophilia are the worst crimes possible, then accuse whoever they like the least of being either a rapist, a pedophile, or both, counting on you turning on them just for being accused of the crime.
"Oh, so you're saying you don't want to kill a serial rapist?"
That's exactly what I'm goddamn saying.
Once we decide a group is okay to kill, the government will do everything they can to convince you that their political enemies are either part of that group, or just as bad as that group, to get you to kill their enemies for them.
The only way out is to accept every life as worth saving.
EDIT: If you're going to go on this post to say that no, you think you really should be allowed to kill people you decide are rapists and/or pedophiles, I'm going to block you. I have already been blocking you, because it's clear that you aren't willing to engage with what I'm saying.
Also, if someone says something like that we'd be better off with rapists being dead BUT that they won't let that opinion shape their stance on public policy, and you reply to that person to accuse them of wanting to murder people, I'm also going to block you, because what the fuck that's a completely different sentence.
EDIT 2: Since so many people seem to fail basic reading comprehension, let's state it again, in different words:
1. Killing people is bad.
2. Killing someone can never be undone by any means we have.
3. If the government can kill people, they will want to kill their political opposition and other undesirables (WHICH CAN INCLUDE YOU PERSONALLY AND ANY IF NOT ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY).
4. If there is a class of people OF ANY TYPE who the government can LEGALLY KILL, they now just need to convince you their enemies count as that class (ever wondered why there's so much emphasis on claiming gay people are pedophiles? Now you know!)
5. If there is a class of people OF ANY TYPE that the public can LEGALLY KILL, murderers just need to convince people that their victims counted as that class (I murdered him because he's a rapist. Anyway now his job is free promote me into that position plz.)
6. As pointed out in the notes (thank you everyone pointing this out!), if the penalty for a crime is death, people are much more willing to silence witnesses to that crime (for example, murdering their rape victims), which is EVEN WORSE than just committing the initial crime.
7. THEREFORE the only way to keep those from happening is to have NO category of people it is considered okay to kill FOR ANY REASON.
mia (not just in name) @lazypostfandomer - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
