#(decided to make a tag for my calligraphy stuff

[deedeeznoofs]

You’re? Correction! I’m Yours 

➺ Characters: Ryomen Sukuna, GN!Reader 

➺ Word Count: 900+ 

➺ Genre: Fluff

➺ Content: Non-Curse!AU, Nerd!Sukuna, Established Relationship (with some pre-relationship sprinkled in), Swearing

➺ A/N: Shout out to my wonderful mutual @heian-era-housewife for this post about Heian Era Sukuna doing poetry. If she’s reading this: I hope you don’t mind the tag but your post seriously inspired a huge chunk of these headcanons 🥹

➺ Synopsis: Headcanons of all the nerdy things Sukuna does because deep down inside that’s all he is and all he wishes to be ❤️

➺ At first glance he doesn’t read as someone who would be super nerdy or all that interested in learning. 

➺ I mean, can you blame anyone? No one really expects the dude constantly looking for a fight to pull up with some textbooks during his free time.

➺ Once you get to know him though, you realize that on the inside he is in fact a giant nerd about basically everything.

➺ It starts off subtly: at first you’d ask him questions and he’d be able to easily come up with answers without even giving it a second thought.

➺It could be a question about anything, regardless of the subject or perceived difficulty, and Sukuna would be able to explain it to you. Not only that, but he’d be able to explain it to you in a way that made it sound like the simplest thing in the world. 

➺ At one point you basically just started playing trivia and just started asking him stuff normal people didn’t know the answers for and he’d answer with ease, albeit he’d get really annoyed with your constant random questions.

➺ Sometimes if he’s really excited about a subject his explanations would turn into full lectures that’d put most college professors to shame.

➺ Although it was shocking at first, it started to make sense when you realized that the main reason why he takes time to learn about stuff is because he’s constantly bored and looking for new things to entertain him.

➺ He’s good at basically everything so long as it piques his curiosity, but his one and only love will forever be literature, mostly because of how infinite the possibilities are with the medium.

➺ He’s well versed in literature of all genres and different cultures, but he is the most drawn toward Japanese works (and let’s be honest, his favorites would probably come from the Heian Period).

➺ Ever since getting with you, he’s been leaning more toward the romance genre. Just in case he needs any inspiration on how to spice up your relationship, you know? 

➺ He’s taught himself multiple languages just for fun and to see how far he could go.

➺ He LOVES poetry, he both writes and reads it a lot and it’s his favorite hobby besides eating.

➺ Other than literature, he also has a huge fascination with art.

➺ He designed his own tattoos because he wanted to play with the idea of turning his body into a canvas. It also just so happened to make him look intimidating as hell which was a plus in his book.

➺ He also has a little journal that he carries around and he sketches a lot whenever he’s bored or sees something interesting.

➺ As for styles, he’s a really big fan of Sumi-e painting because he’s allergic to color but he basically just uses and does whatever he feels like at the moment. 

➺ He’s the type of person who draws what he sees, but he would especially enjoy drawing nature. 

➺ He would go out on hikes whenever he felt the need to draw and would walk until he found something interesting. 

➺ He’s really into meditation while he draws and he uses sketching as a way to keep himself level headed during particularly annoying days.

➺ He isn’t too fond of drawing people, but you’d be the exception. 

➺ He would 1000% draw you while you sleep. It’s the perfect time since you’d be still for most of it. 

➺ Sukuna is able to write really good cursive and also does calligraphy because he got bored one time (shocker) and so decided to see if he was able to do it well and to no one’s surprise, he was eventually able to.

➺ The reason why he leans towards the humanities so much is because they’re both subjects no one can really “master”. With both art and literature, there isn’t a point where someone knows absolutely everything about either subject. Since Sukuna loves a challenge, he wants to be the first person to go “Fuck you, I DO know everything about this”.

➺ One of the little things he does every day includes writing you short little romantic poems on a post it note and leaving them in out random spots for you to find. 

➺ Sometimes they would be in your pocket or other times on the bathroom mirror, wherever it is they would make you smile. 

➺ Though, sometimes he would stick them onto such odd spots that you’d wonder just how he did it?

➺ He has TONS of pride in his writing (to be fair, he’s prideful about basically anything he does) and he always appreciates it when you mention his little notes and complement the work he put into writing them.

➺ Sometimes when the both of you are talking together he’d say some of the most poetic sentences that you’ve ever heard like it’s nothing. 

➺ When you gasp he just goes “What? Why are you staring at me like that?” as if he didn’t randomly drop lines that sounded like they came from straight out of a novel.

➺ He’s a dick when it comes to spelling and grammar, especially during petty arguments.

➺ “How many times do I have to tell you, if your going to the restroom put the damn seat down afterwards” ➺ “It’s YOU’RE*, actually” ➺ “Fine, YOU'RE** a piece of shit Ryomen!”

➺ Don’t fret though, because while Ryomen Sukuna wants to know anything and everything there is to know about the world, he knows deep down inside that the best thing the world could have ever offered him was you.

-

➺ Edit: Okay I made this story quite a while ago but I HAVE ANOTHER HEADCANON TO ADD! I think his observation skills are super on point which is how he’s able to understand things so easily

A/N: Everyone list what you think Sukuna’s favorite book(s) would be 🗣️

A/N: If you enjoyed my thoughts on Sukuna, you’d love this story I also wrote paired with some headcanons! 

[daiourage]

My Take on the TFO Dual Rulers/Two Primes AU (pt.2)

Part 1 here!

Hi. Been practicing watercolor for another post I've been teasing since a few days back, and I don't recall watercolor being this fun???

Anyway, here is more stuff for the AU that I'm definitely not the first person to make, but this is all my take on it.

Warning: Nothing plot worthy happens on this post. It's just designs lmao. Also Soundwave and Bee are besties (not a ship)

(I'm pretty proud of how the colors turned out, but I love how my printer photocopied the wrinkles too??? Also my signature looks like one blob because I used a calligraphy pen wrong LMAOOO)

More deets and other angles of the paper below!!↓↓↓

Cute boys jumpscare!!

Hello!!!! I'm really proud of how Soundwave turned out!! His gorgeousness is based on like,,, everyone else's maskless Soundwave out there, but his big 'ol eyes are based on @dailymothanon's Soundwave specifically (original post here!! Also sorry if you didn't want me to tag you 🙏)

I know he's cool and not very emotive, but I'd like it if he had the most conventionally attractive smile (I wonder what the beauty standards for Cybertronians are);;; I'd like to imagine that him and Bee share work a lot, and he removes his helmet to tease Bee--just like a parent playing "Peekaboo" with their kid. (Maybe I should've made Soundwave look a little older;;;)

I also wanna elaborate on Senator Shockwave as a concept for a hot moment again:

1. Just as written on paper, I couldn't figure out if I wanted to bring back the Senator's design from the original series, or if I was just going to change Shockwave's design a little bit. I wanted to originally draw Shockwave as more humanoid, but I realized that it would take away his uniqueness in shape, so I decided against it. 1-2. I plan to alter everyone else's designs, too! I'm just not too sure how to do it since I'm still not used to drawing robots;;; 2. I also found it funny how he's going back to being a Senator, as in G1IDW, he became a Decepticon after he was a Senator--this is the other way around and it's kinda interesting. Maybe he'll be friends with Optimus again;

Look at how crinkly it is!!! I'm laughing!!! I'm still sad you can't see the sparkles of the gold pen I used, but the calligraphy pen looks great so I'm happy (I plan to use it in a later drawing)

[sztefa001]

Sorry Pery but this is too correct to leave in the tags

Sure my toys are the plushies I sleep with. But calligraphy brush pens count as toys too and doing patterns with them counts as playing. My phone is my toy and taking pics is playing. I play with others showing them cool stuff I photographed.

My tablet is my toy and so is a piece of laminated paper with whiteboard markers. I doodle some blorbos and share them with others and we play with them like with dolls making up scenarios.

Heck, even some things at my workplace count as toys sometimes. The little machine that cuts business cards? Toy. Gives me joy every single time. The guillotine? Some long and thin cut offs are perfect to make origami froebel stars. The engraver? I play with it by making tiny metallic stickers out of scraps.

A fuckin rubber band is a toy if you decide to shoot it from your finger gun.

I've seen "I don't know how to play with toys anymore" a few times lately and just wanted to point out-

Playing with toys looks different for everyone, even actual children!

Playing with toys can look like: 🧸🪁🚂

Taking pictures of your toys and writing captions for them

Brushing or grooming soft toys or toys with rooted hair

Ordering or sorting your toys by colour/species etc

Making up stories, poems or comics about your toys

Dressing or accessorising your toys

Imagining your toys talking to you or each other, forming opinions of their own, etc

Drawing your toys

Taking your toys for a walk outside, even in a backpack or pocket if you don't want to carry them openly

Making lists of the toys you have and where you got them etc

Feel free to add your own ideas

[stimton]

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Sideblogs: @crystal-stims @malice-stims @i-fucking-love-calligraphy-stims @deleted-stim-gifs

Carrd/pinned were revamped 5/8/2024

2025 update: I can't update all my stuff, but I've decided non radqueer transid can interact

[kiragecko]

@shmoo92

“I took a calculated risk, but wow am I bad at math,” in Jellyfish Language!

(Which WASN’T one of the options, but I love you Shmoo, and will gladly play with made up scripts at your request!)

To write in Jellyfish, you need to first transcribe your words phonetically. Here’s how it breaks down:

“ʌi tʊk ʌ kal-kyu-lei-tɛd rɪsk bʌt wau am ʌi bad at maθ”

Hope you like it, Shmoo!

[sugar-omi]

HIII I HAVE A REQUEST!! like maybe like step 3 cove asking fem reader to prom their senior year!! it’s a really nice proposal with a sign and flowers and stuff, MAYBE BY THE BEACH?/?1)?2

but he’s also like rlly nervous and kinda fucks up but reader accepts anyway because they’re in LOOOVEEEE AND ITS JUDT RLLY CUTE AND STUFF

OMG YES<3 I've beent thinking abt prom w cove for days now. this is LONG btw, sm so I will make headcanons/another drabble with cove n reader clothes shopping and at prom <3

tags : fluff, step 3 cove, fem reader (use of she/her pronouns & girlfriend), non-established relationship but yk abt each others feelings n it becomes established

synopsis : cove asks you prom and it goes almost horribly wrong.

cove is totally shitting himself with nerves.

everyone has been asking their crushes, lovers, and friends to prom and cove wants to ask you so bad. he sees you looking a bit longingly at the public proposals and the way you stare at him afterwards with a look of anticipation and want has him reeling.

after a late night of looking at prom proposals and seeing one too many people get rejected at school, cove knew a public proposal was out of the question.

he'd die if you rejected him, and a public display of that would make him flee the country for sure...

cove had enlisted the help of his dad, a willing volunteer after cove almost busted at the seems during dinner last night with anxiety and tears.

they drove all the way to Prism Vista to pick up supplies, the likelihood of you seeing them at the store too high and cove certainly couldn't handle the teasing or knowing eye of the clerks, everyone knowing what time of year this was for seniors.

as his dad pulled into the driveway, cove exhaled shakily, noticing that you were still out with your family.

quickly snatching the stuff in his arms, cove slams the trunk and winces.

cliff laughs at his son's haste and tender nerves and throws the front door open so they can make haste on the board.

it takes a bit of planning, and the only thing cove tasked his dad with was the calligraphy, cove's hands far too shaky for such big letters, but he glues on plastic seashells and sand dollars for awhile before he helps his dad with painting the letters as he becomes more focused and determined to make this the greatest promposal ever.

eventually cliff left, letting cove take over now that he didn't need help with the preparations.

it's a corny poster, with "will you be my mermaid to my merman at prom?" in pretty blue letters and 'prom' in yellow glitter.

cove sits back, a bit hot from being hunched over and moving around as he ogled and analyzed the poster while working.

he wipes his forehead and moves the board to the guest bedroom where he knows you won't see it if you decide to sneak in his bedroom.

cliff notices cove cleaning up, and he perks up at his son's relaxed movements. "hey bud, all finish? how about we order some pizza?"

cove wasn't ready. well he was, he had the bouquet of your favorite flowers and the sign, and he even bought your favorite food from one of the restaurants in Sunset Bird.

instead of his usual way of entry, cove makes his way to your front door and knocks.

your ma opens the door, a sweet smile on her face but with a knowing look only a mother could have, cove pulled at the the collared shirt he wore and he really hoped between this half buttoned shirt and jeans, you didn't know what he was planning...

"cove, sweetie! looking for y/n?" noelani smiled, biting back a snicker.

cove distantly thinks that he hopes the sign doesn't blow away while he's here.

"y-yeah... um, is she here?"

pamela appears from behind, having been laid up in the living room. "I'll get her for you, don't run off!"

noelani hisses a scolding "pam!" at her wife's teasing and smacks her lips as pamela walks up the stairs to your room. "sorry sweetie, you're too easy for her to tease." she says bashful, knowing very well she can't help but snicker sometimes at cove and y/n's romantic fumbles and years of pining.

as cove distracts himself with small talk, you come down the stairs with pamela.

cove feels his heart beat against his chest, like a bee stuck in a window. he hoped you couldn't hear it, and with the way he felt, he hoped you couldn't see it beating out his chest as well..

in cove's hazy state, your moms have left and it's just you two.

"hey cove! what's up?"

cove swallows, wiping his hands on his jeans. you watch his mannerisms, you know them by heart and you see the sweat on his brow even though there's a chill in the air as the night befalls you.

"h-hey y/n.." great. as if he wasn't obvious before. "um, I wanna show you something, i-if that's okay.." cove laughs, and he tries to push away his worry. you never rejected him before, you always agreed with his crazy ideas or encouraged him to a better plan of action that still fulfilled cove's mild (or major, if he's feeling particularly bad) need for adventure.

you agree, and make your way across poppy hill.

before you reach the shore, cove instructs you to cover your eyes and he'll guide you to his surprise.

cove beams as your trust him, your eyes closed and covered by your hands as he takes you by the shoulders and helps you down the hill.

as you approach the park, cove sighs with relief as he sees his preparations are still there, he can even see the board hiding behind the jungle gym.

cove paced, waving his hands in front of you in a 'stay there' motion, as if you'd leave.

"tell me when i can open my eyes!" you laugh.

cove exhales, taking in deep breaths before he held it in anticipation.

he reached for the sign, briefly he thought about how embarrassing this was, he wished he could skip ahead but seeing your hopefully happy expression would make every second worth it.

"okay... open your eyes."

you shed your hands, and blink as you adjust to the light. eventually you beat the glare of the sun, and your mouth dropped in awe and shock.

cove feel hot under his collar, the breeze does nothing to relieve his edge.

while you're silent for the most part, besides a mumbled "what's this?.." that almost washes away with the beating waves of the sea.

cove speaks, "y/n.. i know you've been waiting for me to ask you, and uh.. i'm sorry i didn't ask you sooner. i was afraid you'd say no and that i'd embarrass myself and.." cove sighed, adjusting his grip.

"never mind. that's not what I wanted to say. y/n... i really like you, i have for a long time.. and i wanna go to prom with you. as my date."

cove flushed, his cheeks rivaling the color of the blushing evening sky.

you stood there, silently and shocked, but happiness bloomed on your face quickly. with watery eyes and a blinding grin you brushed cove's hands so he'd drop the poster.

cove drops the poster, smiling shakily as you wrapped your arms around him. "i like you too cove, so much. and i'd love to go to prom with you!"

cove grinned, happy as a peach. buoyed by the new development, he cupped your face. "can i.. kiss you?"

you nod, leaning into each others embrace and your lips meet in the middle.

you break apart, cove's head falls to your shoulder and water washes over your sandaled feet.

wait. water?..

the food! cove jumps up, suddenly remembering how close he'd put the food to the shoreline and the rising tide.

"the food! the flowers!" cove scrambles to the wet blanket he laid out, wishing he'd noticed this sooner.

he picks up the bag of take out, noticing how soaked the food already is. the tide must of washed over the food before cove came back.

thankful for small miracles, the flowers are only damp on one side but not bruised or flattened.

cove holds up the bouquet and presents it yet holds it close. "well... the food is ruined. the flowers are okay though?.." cove smiled sheepishly.

you sigh and approach, curling your hands around cove's trembling worried ones. "thank you for the bouquet, it's beautiful."

"i'm sorry.. i should've known i-" cove rambles.

"cove.." you try to sooth him.

"i hope you still wanna go with me, even after the majority of the surprise is ruined.." cove deflated, looking like a sad puppy who got his treat stolen by the other pup.

"cove! it's okay!" you push back his bangs, "I still wanna go to prom with you, even if our food and flowers almost got washed away for the fishes.."

he leans into your hand, blinking watery eyes.

"i'm glad.." cove brushes his nose against yours, leaning into your body. "so uh.. are we dating now?"

you laugh, "yes cove, if you'll have me as your girlfriend that is."

"of course!" cove kisses you again.

this is a great way to end your senior year.

[guqin-and-flute]

Hahahaaaa I couldn't pick just one, so I hope three is acceptable. ^^;

Xichen having FUN painting something silly /not like normal

WWX and the only vaguely annoying haunting

JGY doesn’t know games and it’s SAD

Oh, I'm totally happy to do more than one! 😁

Xichen having FUN painting something silly /not like normal

Unfortunately, this is one of the ones I don't have anything but the name and the idea. But it struck me that the Lan are so proper and sophisticated about their art that Xichen might not have done anything but calligraphy and whatever type of art style they were taught in school--like landscapes and whatnot. But what if he sketched his partners? What if A-Fu was watching him paint one day like '>:O !! THAT'S SO COOL, DIE, CAN YOU DRAW ME A DOG?' And Xichen is like '...yes, I believe I can!' And though he doesn't have a lot of practice with these things, A-Fu's opinion is that they're all MAGICAL. So he eagerly orders paintings and Xichen equally as eagerly paints them and revels in the ability to not be all dignified and perfect and paints a tiger with duck feet being ridden by a monkey for his son.

WWX and the only vaguely annoying haunting

Another single premise with nothing written for it yet, and I think I wrote it down as I was falling asleep? I think I was imagining maybe a cultivators in the modern day AU where *~sPoOkY~* stuff began happening in his apartment. But, like, lame spooky stuff. Like, the remote keeps being put in the trash next to the couch even though he KNOWS he put it down on the coffee table this time. The thermostat gets fucked with in the middle of the night, and maybe there's noises but it's some dude clearing his throat from down the hall. Not exactly menacing, you know?

He's tried contacting the ghost to see what it wants or if it's plans on passing on any time soon, but he's got no answer. It doesn't particularly seem like it wants to get help or justice or anything? He decides to name it Francis and when one of his non-cultivator friends hears him yell, 'Goddamnit, Francis, stop opening the cabinets!' while visiting, they're confused and ask, 'Don't you basically work for the Ghostbusters?' And he's like, 'Yeah, but it's so much effort to kick him out.'

This is one that I'm not sure I'm ever going to get to, but the premise was funny to me!

JGY doesn’t know games and it’s SAD

This one is an idea that @little-smartass came up with! In growing up in the brothel and being generally ostracized through childhood (and beyond), JGY doesn't know many of the common kids games that a lot of people know. Up until now, it hasn't been too much of a problem as he is an adult, but when his son and niblings ask him to play games with them that should be common knowledge, he's not so quick on the uptake. This happens a couple times and he feels more and more alienated and the kids, being kids, are not necessarily the most delicate about talking about it. They complain that they don't want to have to explain the rules or even just a simple, 'You wouldn't get it, die," andddd he pretty much spirals 🙃 This may or may not be its own little offshoot or it may show up in And A-Fu Makes Four!

From a tag game where I post a tidbit/talk about one of my WIPs chosen from a list of EVERY WIP title!

[hunterrated]

Akaza Headcanons

So, I see the Akaza x Reader tag is pretty lacking of content, and I got tired of checking everyday tumblr hoping for new stuff, so I decided to give my contribute.

I don't know what to call this post, there will be some headcanons, but also basically canon facts about Akaza's character, and a bit a scenarios...it's also my first time writing this kind of format so bear with me. It will be Fem oriented.

I will be cheesy and I will be weird 'cause that's how I am. If you see some ideas from this post that you like and you wanna use it for your story/post/headcanon, feel free to do it, no need to ask!

Also: BEWARE OF SPOILERS!!

English is not my first language, there could be some errors in this post.

•───────•°•❀•°•───────••───────•°•❀•°•───────•

The Character

Let's talk about the character per se. I'll start with a favorite of mine: Akaza is a talker.

Proof:

We've seen him being chatty during fights, talking is in fact a way for Akaza to tantalize his opponent.

Buuuuuuuuut, not many knows that in the Kimetsu no Yaiba Fanbook Two there are two paragraphs that confirm that Akaza just really likes to talk with people. Here's the parts:

So yeah, I just like the idea of an Akaza who can't shut his mouth for his own good.

Also, Akaza is warm. Demon aren't ded, they're mutations, blood flows through their vein. I just think Akaza would be warm, and since in his free time he's doing workout, that would, of course, make him even warmer.

He'd probably do anything to repel any kind of memories from when he was human.

His memories from when he was human reminds him of his weakness, and the promises he could not keep.

Poor Baby™

About Akaza's role in the Upper Moons, which is quite peculiar. Doma says this:

I think this means that Muzan was okay with him getting power his own way, Akaza didn't need to get stronger, and that's because he was deployed to gain intel, just like the informations about the Blue Spider Lily.

Of course, this is closely connected with Akaza's chattiness.

Next: I don't think he knows how to write or read on his own. I don't think someone teached him.

His master teached him how to fight when he was human, but I don't think he received any kind of education.

Now, we don't know how demon's reminiscence of Muzan's memories work, but we know they can share their master's memories.

So I have this headcanon that Akaza can write and read, using Muzan knowledge.

This still means that he has no instruction on how use brush and ink to write letters, so he has a really bad and messy calligraphy.

And maybe he also struggles with some compicated words. Like, he knows how to pronunce them, but he has no idea on the meaning?

Dunnou, I just think it's pretty and funny :3c

Also, following the same idea, he knows how to speak english. I bet Muzan knows how to, so Akaza know's how to. I rest my case.

Also, I'm sure Akaza and Hakuji may share some character traits, but their personality is quite the opposite.

I'd like you to take a look at this baby

And now look at this bitch

I just can't imagine Hakuji aka cinnamonroll doing that-

Also, I have this two different ideas about the type of people he eats. Either, he eats the strong men he defeats in battle or he doesn't, he just kills them and leave their body intact as a sign of respect. Maybe he goes for people who, for him, don't really deserve to live.

I'd like to point out that Akaza most likeky piked up his outfit. Like, the bottom is clearly form a uniform, but where is that top coming from? Or maybe someone picked it for him? Like...to match his hair color...I'll stop now, sorry-

This last thing will be foregone, but I believe Akaza's weight and hight are perfect for what he does and what he is. Not too tall, not too heavy. Like, he just has the right ingredients to be a perfect fighter.

•───────•°•❀•°•───────••───────•°•❀•°•───────•

Thanks for reading!

But I'm not done!

I just found out you can only write 4k characters on a post and I already wrote another part called "First Encounters" that I could not finish because I had reached the max characters.

So I decided to divide this post in several parts, for now there should be 3, but it could be more.

See you later 🌸

[senjuroubby]

HCs for Senjurou

Since the manga barely explored his character, I decided to give him a little more depth. Keep in mind I'm mostly going to relate this on my fic (Indirect Interference)

There will be non-canon stuff (aka Senjurou working as a butterfly nurse) Just a warning before we proceed.

1) He was a mischievous kid.

= Senjurou may be meek, but I could imagine him being a former troublemaker (especially when Ruka was still alive) He's that one kid who takes hide and seek seriously. Shinjuro would always have trouble looking for him. Kyojurou is exemptional, of course.

2) He had a great relationship with Shinjuro.

= Prior to Ruka's death, I could imagine Shinjuro being a dorky father who loves to spoil his children. He's that one father who makes sure to bring home souvenirs after missions. This of course, lead to a great relationship with both of his sons.

3) He was a cheeky kid.

= Something he got from Ruka. Just imagine him and Mama Ruka teaming up to tease Shinjuro. A complete copy paste.

4) He knows how to sew.

= Ruka taught him because she could no longer get out of bed. She used this as a way to bond with her son. Senjurou would later use this to constantly repair Kyojurou's haori. Sometimes, even Obanai and Mitsuri's.

5) His love from tea brewing came from Ruka.

= Again, another skill Ruka passed on as a way to bond with her son.

6) He has a clean penmanship.

= Unlike Kyojurou, Senjurou's calligraphy is on point. Senjurou would scold Kyojurou for his messy reports. When it gets out of hand, Senjurou would rewrite it for his satisfaction.

7) He is often mistaken as a girl.

= This mostly happens at markets. Old ladies would often coo and give him half the price. Teens would try to woo him but Senjurou is too oblivious. If he gets uncomfortable, he won't hesitated to defend himself.

8) He knows self defence.

= He may not be a gifted swordsman, but that doesn't mean he doesn't excel somewhere else. Kyojurou noted that he's good at hand-to-hand combat. He once flipped Kyojurou off his feet.

9) He is a pacifist.

= Senjurou would try to settle disputes with words, but if it gets out of hand, Senjurou will not hesitate to punch/kick the living shit out of you. (That's a last resort ofc)

10) He has a BIG appetite.

= It's not obvious because of his height, but Senjurou could finish at least 5-10 bentos. Everyone wonders where it all goes.

11) He's good with medicine.

= Even before becoming a butterfly nurse, Senjurou already has prior knowledge on first aid. This is because Kyojurou would often skip the butterfly estate.

12) He is FAST.

= Not Shinobu and Zenitsu fast, but he was fast enough to defeat Tanjirou on their game of tag (Rehabilitation arc)

13) He was initially given the white butterfly dress.

= Considering he's the first male to become a nurse, it's no surprise the girls handed that to him. Senjurou, though embarrassed, wore it on his first week out of respect. He later altered it to fit his taste.

14) He drinks his daily Respect woman juice.

= I mean.... He works at a all woman estate. His boss is the insect pillar. He's a literal Mama's boy. Senjurou would not hesitate to call someone if he hears them talk shit.

15) He's very charming.

= Senjurou's gentlemenly personality is one of the reasons why there are less stubborn patients in the estate. The butterfly girls used that to their advantage. He's not aware of this.

16) Some patients have a crush on him.

= Since not all slayers are aware of the pillars (Tanjirou is the proof of that) I could imagine some of them having a wee crush on Senjurou. They would stay longer just to speak with him, much to Shinobu's amusement.

17) The butterfly trio plus Aoi loves him.

= Senjurou adores his fellow nurses. If they're not busy with patients, they could be found playing at the garden. Shinobu finds it adorable. She would tease Kyojurou about. Aoi, on the other hand, was wary of Senjurou at first (given his reputation as the flame pillar's younger brother,) she later toned down. They have a senpai-kohai relationship.

18) He and Kanao are not close.

= For some reason, they don't talk much. That's because Kanao's coin always land on the opposing side. Senjurou doesn't understand his luck.

19) Senjurou is intelligent.

= Nourished by Shinobu's lessons plus the countless of hours he spent reading, Senjurou is not doubt one of the smartest characters out there. When he plans, he really considers everything. He is careful and calculating.

20) Senjurou is adored by the pillars.

= Ever since he became a nurse, Kyojurou won't stop boasting about him. Shinobu would praise him every now and then. Some pillars would tell stories about their encounters with the younger Rengoku. It actually amuses Oyakata-sama.

[sarcastically-defensive17]

Forget me? Forget us. - B. Hargrove

Inspired by ‘Forget me too’ by MGK and Halsey. I love this song and it has been stuck in my head all day and I couldn’t think of anything but a toxic relationship with billy. This isn’t a happy story, but it is a sad reality of some relationships. Some people are so bad for each other yet their love is too intense. “I love you so much that I hate you” describes this perfectly.

Gif is not mine, nor are the lyrics used within the song or Billy Hargrove. Hope you enjoy!

Let me know if you want to join the Billy taglist, or my general tag list!

Original story by sarcastically-defensive17

TW: This story contains an intense description of a very toxic relationship. In no way do I condone this kind of relationship and I recommend seeking help if you are in a relationship like this and you fear for your safety or that of another.

Billy was dangerous. So was Y/N. She was cold, he was burning hot. They were powerful separate, a raging storm together.

They were made to love one another, but not made to be in love with one another. They were furious, passionate, loving, angry, fearful, high on possibility.

They were inseparable, but couldn’t bare to be with one another.

They were purely paradoxical, and they loved every heart aching second of it.

They had broken up once again, their love blowing up in a fury of broken objects and obscenities. One of their distant friends from high school decided to throw a party, despite her status as post-high school adults. Billy was in attendance, obviously.

Y/N had yet to show up. Her absence elated him, and disappointed him. He loved her. He loved her so much that he couldn’t stand to be around her, for he was too scared to lose it.

Their love was temporary, yet the temporary was permanent.

They were always going to fall apart. They were always going to become one again. They would fall apart soon after. It was a viscous cycle of heartbreak and hopeless love.

He waited for her, drink in hand, clad in tight jeans and a white tank top. His staple denim jacket was missing.

Another woman - Bethany, Billy thought her name was - stood awfully close to him, her bony hand resting on his arm as she spoke. He had no idea what she was saying, he had zoned out almost as soon as she approached him. He had little care to listen to her prattle on. His mind was waiting for one person.

Bethany kept chattering and Billy fought the urge to roll his eyes. He was showing zero interest, yet the woman would not shut up.

Well, she hadn’t, until a hand grabbed her hair and yanked her entire body backwards, until she fell flat on her behind.

Y/N stood behind her, Billy’s jacket draped over her shoulders and a look of pure fury in her eyes.

I saw you walk in the room and I tried my best
Not to panic while I'm lookin' for the back door,

I smelled the perfume and it's obvious, i'm gonna stay and put my key in the bag more.

She wasn’t directing it towards Bethany, no. She was locked and loaded right on Billy.

Flight or fight kicked in, and Billy panicked, but only for a minute.

She looked divine. Wearing his jacket, marks on her neck from their last positive encounter on show for everybody to see.

She smelled like perfection, her chocolate scented perfume drawing him in, filling his senses with her.

She drove him crazy, made him more furious than he could comprehend. They would fight, they would love, they would fall apart.

Her hand connected with his face, yet he wasn’t angry. No. He connected his lips with hers, feeling her fingers slide through his hair. All eyes were on them, yet everybody had seen this scene before.

They were possessive, they were horrible to one another and others, but god help anybody who messed with their relationship. Only they could crumble the walls that they build.

She pulled back from him, smirking, watching as he bit his lip with temptation.

“Missed me baby?” She winked at him, allowing his body to pull hers along as he grabbed her hand and started leading her outside.

She may be the reason that his small apartment had a broken window and multiple holes in the wall, but he sure as hell didn’t hesitate to follow her to wherever she led.

The alcohol wore off by the time he woke, his head pounding and his vision spinning.

Her leg was stung over his own, both of them as bare as the day they were born. He rose carefully, moving her body from his as gently as he could.

However, in his efforts to make it out without waking her, he dropped his belt, and the clatter of the buckle on the hardwood floor caused her to snap awake.

It escalated quickly.

You want me to forget you? Okay, forget me too.

You tell me you hate me, baby, yeah, I bet you do

“You’re such a fucking asshole, Hargrove!” She shoved at his shoulder, trying to get past him so she could get to the bathroom. He was blocking her way.

“Oh, of course. I’m the asshole.” He snarled, a smile on his face. You’re the one who starts screaming at me, but I’m the one in the wrong!”

“You’re in the wrong because you ducking broke up with me, then tried to skip out before I woke up.” Her hands were in her hair, grasping at the roots. “You’re so fucking selfish. I’m waiting around constantly for you, but I make you wait one fucking time and you’re throwing a tantrum!”

“You left me waiting for an hour, Y/N! What, were you out with Tommy? What about Stevie? You always had a soft spot for him.” They were malicious. They knew how to hurt one another and they both knew it.

“God, you’re such a joke.” She laughed in his face, shoving her shoulder against his so she could grab her stuff from the bathroom. “Sometimes I wish I could forget I ever fucking met you, Billy.”

“You wouldn’t survive without me holding your hand, princess.” He snarled, perfect lips turning up to show perfect teeth.

They connected once again, pulling at one another, crashing into the wall, the door frame, the bed.

“I hate your fucking guts,” she growled, pulling his shirt over his head.

“I know you do, baby.” He flipped them over so his body was covering her own and connecting his lips to hers once again.

I've wasted so much time waitin' around for your phone calls every night

She would sit by the phone every night, waiting for his call. She would excuse some night, knowing if his terrible home life, but when he got his own place, he rarely called, rarely picked up the phone.

She spent so many days, so many nights, waiting up on him.

She got her own back at him.

He was taking her to see a new movie, planning to meet her at the arcade next to the theatre at 6 o’clock. He had to drop the bratty step-sister off, so he figured two birds.

He waited there until an hour later, the movie already beginning. He was seething. He hated being stood up, and she knew it.

Y/N arrived at the theatre 15 minutes later, but there was no Billy in sight, nor his sleek camaro.

She drove to his apartment, furious yet also proud. She gave him a taste of his own medicine, and she couldn’t wait to see how frustrated he was. She hated hurting him, but he hurt her just as bad.

We'd both be better off alone.

Still think I'd get you on the phone with one last breath in me.

I'd die before I let you leave

He had already downed five beers by the time she got there. It was rare for her to see him sober, and it was rare for him to see her while he was sober.

It escalated as soon as she walked in the door, slamming the heavy wood behind her.

“I was waiting for you and you didn’t bother to fucking show up!” He took a drag of his cigarette, blowing the smoke in her direction. She hated when he smoked, she despised the smell of nicotine on his breath but found the sight of him smoking to be incredibly attractive.

She fell for his bad boy side, and found home in his caring heart and troubled personality. It was a broken home but she couldn’t bare to leave.

The argument grew more and more, she threw a phone book at him, sending it through the window in his living room.

“I’m done. I’m sick of the bullshit, Y/N. We’re fucking better off alone!” He slammed his hand on the table, silencing her shouts of obscenities at him.

She laughed, slumping down onto the beat up couch. They had been saving money every paycheck to get him some new furniture. Y/N had also been putting money away to get her own apartment, despite Billy’s offer for her to live with him.

Such a volatile and temporary relationship couldn’t withstand constantly being in the presence of one another.

“We would die before we ever give up on one another, Billy.”

Tell me why you do the things that make me hate you,

It's an emotional kaleidoscope when I face you,

Permanent calligraphy, I just tattooed your name on me forever, fuck

Y/N and Billy love each other intensely, but they also know exactly how to make the other hate them.

It was a horrible cycle, yet nobody could make them happier than the person they hated the most.

Even if they wanted to forget one another, they could never forget the love they shared.

Tag List: @snookiebrookie (because you’re always so kind)

Let me know if you want to join the billy taglist!

[symphonicmetal101]

Wishlist For Someone Special

Ok, so I'm feeling really sappy and just a little lonely. All my friends are boring and my family members are too young for me to take to do some stuff.

This is kind of a wishlist of things I wish I had someone to do with or look forward to doing eventually...not necessarily romantic, but I wouldn't mind if it was. (broskis, I ain't never been on a date, not even, like, a platonic one, so bear with me if it seems ridiculous)

Stargazing- lying on a blanket in an open field or in the bed of a truck, just watching the stars, pointing out constellations, and making up stories

Watching the Northern Lights- bundling up in our warmest winter clothing, grabbing a couple campchairs and hot chocolate as we watch them dance and flicker.

Laser Tag- sneaking around, just trying to one up each other, or being on the same team and still- try to one up each other😂

Paintball- a little more painful than laser tag, but still fun. Checking up on each other afterwards to make sure there aren't any really bad bruises

Graffiti- I've always liked the way it looks. I would love for someone to teach me, or for us to learn together in one of those public graffiti houses

A Willow Tree- I would love to find a weeping willow tree and climb it's branches, only to sit and read there with my loved one enjoying their company.

Just Drive- just take a roadtrip with someone I love, blasting music, laughing, singing, and snacking as we blaze down the roads. It doesn't have to be long.

Visit an Animal Sanctuary/Reserve- I find animals fascinating, but also find that sanctuaries and reserves are more educational and often more humane than zoos.

Volunteer at the Food Bank or SPCA- just general acts of service. They make me happy.

Pillow Fortress- I didn't really get to make blanket forts when I was younger, so I want to try doing something even bigger! I want to convert the couch into a cuddle palace.

Spontaneous Dancing- idk man, it just makes me really happy. My dad used to twirl and dip me when I was little, so that's probably where it started.

Cooking/Baking Together- so what if we make a bit of a mess? So what if we screw up the recipe? It doesn't matter, it was time well spent.

Cleaning Together- Growing up as an only child for ten years and then becoming the oldest means I've done chores alone for a long time. I want someone's company, maybe we'll talk, maybe we'll work in comfortable silence, or maybe we'll blast music. I don't care. I would be happy just to know I wasn't alone.

Learning One of Their Hobbies- I want to learn something they know!! Please, let me understand a little better, I just need them to be patient with me.

Forest Walks- especially in Fall. I want to walk down an old trail, listen to leaves crunch under our feet as more fall from above I want the blustery weather to give us rosy cheeks and noses by the time our walk is over.

Horseback Riding- I've done it before, but I would love to bring someone with me. You have more experience? Great! I love to see that confidence in you. You've done it a couple times? Yay, we're in the same boat! Never done it at all? That's ok! I'll do what I can to help you!

Outdoor Movie Night- we don't have drive- in theaters anywhere nearby, but give me a sheet, campchairs, and a projector? I've got us.

Indoor Movie Night- let's bundle up and cuddle together while we watch a new movie. Or maybe it's a classic. Idc.

Try New Food- let's go somewhere for lunch and pick something completely foreign...(I am not eating guinea pig again though, thanks.)

The Wharf- if one of us happens to live by the ocean, we'll be frequent visitors. Not necessarily the beach, bit on wooden planks where the salty sea air still reaches you. We can watch the boats come and go. (Fisherman's Wharf in B.C Canada is fun. There's a really good Mexican food place😂 There's a blind seal named Sammy that lives there, and you can buy a bucket of fish to feed him. Be careful though, seagulls are vicious, being pecked by one sucks...yes, I needed a bandaid and my finger was sore for a long time. Idk if it's still like that, it's been a while. Sorry, just reminiscing a bit.)

Painting- let's buy a couple canvases and paint and see what we can do! It doesn't have to resemble anything, just do what feels like you.

Splatter Painting- dear god I've wanted to try this for so long. Just full on globs of paint and flicking it towards the canvas. (I was never allowed to do it because it was seen as a waste of paint. I couldn't even do it with an old toothbrush on a small canvas😑)

Video Games!- Please teach me how to play! Video games are banned in my family. I mean, I've done Just Dance, but that's about it. Mobile games have been kept a secret...basically just teach me to play and don't make me feel bad about playing, and I'll love you forever, mkay?

Ice Cream Date- again, idk. The idea just makes me really happy, whether we're sitting in a small shop, eating and talking. Or maybe we're walking, maybe holding hands, trying to point things out to each other, but our hands are full, but there's no way we're letting go. Or maybe we're sharing a cup of ice cream on a park bench, just people watching.

Thrift Store Outfits- I want to go to a thrift store and pick out the most ridiculous outfits for each other. We don't have to go anywhere, but just humour me when we're alone by wearing whatever I found for you, and vice versa.

Writing- writing a poem, a atory, a quote, or learning calligraphy and just writing their name- I want to write something to you

Books- let's go to the library and choose a book for each other, one that neither of us have read so we can talk and ask questions, come up with theories as we continue to read.

Books pt.2- if you write me a note and give me a book telling me why it's one of your favourites, I'll melt. I'll do the same for you, and soon we'll have a few more things to talk about and enjoy together

Music!- you bet your bottom dollar I'm going to send you music that reminds me of you, and I would be overjoyed to recieve the same.

Music! Pt.2- if you happen to play, sing, or dance, let's make something beautiful together! If not, I'll teach you!

Improv/rp- just making stuff up as we go, not caring if other people hear our conversations.

Trampoline Park/Something Similar- I just want to try it. Don't care if I break my leg, I want to try it. I'll care if you break your leg though.

Plant Shopping- again, idk. Just the idea of choosing a succulent or two to take care of together sounds nice.

Dance Classes- maybe you're already an amazing dancer, I'll let you take the lead. Maybe you just know the basics like me, we can learn together. (I know how to do the basics for, like, salsa, cumbia, bachata, swing, and waltz, that's it. Please teach me more🤩)

Sewing/Knitting/Crocheting/Fabric Work- useful skill! And maybe we can make something for each other. (Spoiler alert: you're getting a pillow case, mask, or a scarf, I can't do much yet😂)

Rage House- let's just let loose! Make a mess! Yell! Doesn't matter, all of it's legit. I just want to destroy stuff.

Weird Cuddles- again, just the idea makes me happy. If you're lying down, I may as well just flop on you, right? Or maybe somehow we end up upside down. Cuddling while we read books or listen to music. Ok so maybe just cuddling but it feels weird because I'm touch-starved👌

Late Night Calls- I've never done this with anyone under happy circumstances. Could you help me change that? It would be nice to have the last thing before I go to sleep be reassurance and happiness.

Calendar/Planning- let's make a calendar together with pictures of the places we want to go one day. Let's talk to each other so we know what we both want and make sure we put it down.

Scuba Diving- this is something I've wanted to do since I was little- actually it was the first job I said I wanted. I don't want to do it as a career anymore, but I would love to try it with you.

Finding Random Things- little things that remind me of you. Maybe I was out and found a heart shaped rock. Or I heard a bird sing and managed to record it. Or maybe there was a cute keychain at the store that reminded me of you. And that would be enough to make me smile.

Ride a Double-Decker Bus- I've done it before, but the excitement that comes with the thought of riding one again makes me giddy. Just being able to see the city and people from a mobile throne😂

Bike Riding- let's explore nearby, just riding together. Maybe you have trails you want to show me. You can lead, I'll follow. Or vice versa. If we get lost at least we can laugh about it later.

Camping- lets share a tent and a campfire together, roasting smores as we laugh and tell each other stories. Maybe we'll try and sing a few songs too.

Punch Buggy- just playing the game properly will make me happy tbh. It's been 8 years of bending the rules😂

Board/Card Games- yes. I will get competitive. But that's half the fun. Also, I would like to play these properly as well lol

Museum Date- maybe somewhere local, or maybe we were driving by and decided to stop, or maybe we actually planned to go. Let's learn something new together, take some pictures.

Comfy- I didn't know what else to call it. Basically, take out, sweat pants, (messy buns), snacks, drinks, and a good show. Bonus if it's storming outside.

Rain- watching it rain, listening tonit rain, going outside and dancing or running in the rain, jumping in puddles- I want to do it all with you.

Little Gestures- little things we develop as we get to know each other, faces that we come to understand, hand movements we start to copy. Idk, I find it really cute.

Ok guys, sorry this isn't what, well, any of us were expecting. I guess this is my Valentine's Day post?? Idk. If you read it, I hope you liked it.

Feel free to put who you thought of in tags or comments, real or fiction. Or add to the list if you want. I would love to know😊 I know there's a lot of "I wants" but that's because for the first time, in a long time, I feel comfortable admitting that.

51. Mutual comfort characters

[borealis-strange]

Chapter 4: Breakthru 

Summary:

Just then they notice the presence of Freddie with two beers in one hand and John's cake in the other, on the door frame and he had heard the last thing Roger had said.

-You did what?! - Freddie said shocked and upset.

-Freddie! I didn't see you were there.- Roger said without any concern.

-What do you mean, you invited Jim to come without my consent!? - Freddie yelled annoyed.

Tag-list:  @whitequeen-ofwillowgreen​ @likesomekindofcheese  @0-primejive-0 @starr1000

The days passed in the queen's castle and little by little they got used to it. They realized that Killer Queen was a warm person, unlike the black queen, who used to be distant and cold. Even, most of the time, the queen sat down to eat with them and talked with them.

The classes were also completely different. While classes with the black queen were in a dark and cold library with the Killer queen they were in the courtyard where they were in contact with nature. Although the atmosphere was much calmer, Roger continued his rebellion.

Freddie's birthday was approaching and they constantly asked him what planes he had for the day, he just laughed and told them that he was not sure and maybe it would just be a reunion with his family just like the year before.

Within a week of their birthday, they were in Freddie's room playing scrabble while drinking beer and discussing various topics.

-Guys, I'm going to the kitchen. Don't you want something? - Freddie asked as got up off the ground with some difficulty.

-Bring me another beer - Roger asked him.

-We are fine, right John? - Brian said.

-I'm fine like that, but if there is any slice of blackberry cheesecake, you can bring it for me?-

Freddie nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. As soon as Freddie's footsteps were heard moving away, Roger approached the bureau that was on the side of the bed. He opened the main drawer and rummaged through it until he found a small notebook.

He turned the pages quickly in search of the correct one.

Brian and John simply watched him without understanding what he intended.

Roger picked up the line phone next to a lamp, dialed a number, and waited.

-Who are you calling? - Brian replied completely confused.

Roger said a finger to indicate silence and passed the small notebook to Brian.

Brian saw the page even without understanding his friend's intentions. On the sheet was written with Freddie's elegant calligraphy a phone number and below the name "Jim" locked in a heart. He looked at him confused and instantly contact was linked

-Hello? -Roger heard Jim's voice on the other end of the line.

-Hello! Jim? I'm Roger, do you remember me? - There was a short silence.

-Ah! Freddie's friend. Yes, sure, how are you? How was the trip? How's Freddie? A-and the others of course. - Jim nervously.

The three of them chuckled a little at Jim's innocence.

-Well, everything is fine here. I just wanted to call you because ... Freddie's birthday is in a few days and he would really love for you to come. -

-I don't know I ... I would like to, but I have to work and I have nowhere to stay. -

-Do not worry. The queen gave us permission to invite friends, so you can stay here. What do you say? Can you come? -

Jim thought about it for a moment.

-I will try to go, I will see what the queen thinks about having some days off.

-Seriously? Thank you very much! You will make Freddie very happy. Bye! -Roger hung up the phone before Jim could say goodbye.

-Why? - Brian asked once the call ended - Why did you do it?

-What!? - Roger exclaimed as if it were very obvious - To help Freddie! -

-Help him in what? -

-With the love of his life! - Brian looked confused and John pretended to be in the same as Brian. - Jim! Don't tell me you haven't noticed. Freddie is hopelessly in love with him and I will make him confess his love. -

-Well it seems like a bad idea. You can't force Jim to like Freddie. We don't even know if Jim likes men. - Brian said.

-Believe me, they have a future. I have an eye for these things. -

-You're an Idiot -

-You will see. When Freddie comes back and I say I invited Jim to come, he will thank me. -

Just then they notice the presence of Freddie with two beers in one hand and John's cake in the other, on the door frame and he had heard the last thing Roger had said.

-You did what?! - Freddie said shocked and upset.

-Freddie! I didn't see you were there.- Roger said without any concern.

-What do you mean, you invited Jim to come without my consent!? - Freddie yelled annoyed.

Freddie left the beers on the table and the cake on the table. John did not get up to take it and Brian feared that at any moment they would hit.

-Oh, come on, it's your ‘friend’. - Roger said raising his eyebrows with a mischievous tone emphasizing the word friend.

-Yes Roger, but that doesn't give you the right to do anything like that! -

-Come on, deep down you wanted to do it-. -

-Maybe I didn't want to! -

-Anyway, it's done. - Roger said indifferently.

-You're a jerk Roger, you didn't even ask me what I wanted. It's my birthday!

-Wait a second ... I never said I invited him to your birthday ... - Roger said turning the matter around.

-Ehm well, I ... - Freddie said starting to get nervous and realizing he screwed up.

-Aha, you did want to invite him to your birthday! - Roger pointed accusingly.

-Okay, maybe I did want to ... but not now!

-I already removed something from your list. - Roger said sarcastically.

-Get out of my room! - Freddie yelled angrily.

-Come on, the game is not over yet. - Roger said still sarcastic.

Freddie folded the scrabble board causing all the letters to drop and the game to be lost. Brian who kept the account in a notebook just dropped it and crossed his arms.

-Now it is over. - Freddie said trying to give an ultimatum to Roger.

-Well, I was winning, so the victory remains for me.- Roger continued, with an indifference that was beginning to make Freddie desperate.

-Get out of here now! -Freddie yelled again.

-Yes, yes of course. But you will thank me later. -

-Now! -

-And if I do not want? -

Freddie thought for a second, turned to the table, took the cake, and tossed it to Roger.

-I think now you have to go wash. - Freddie said sarcastically to Roger.

-Hey, I was going to eat that! - John said reproaching like a little boy.

Roger got up angrily, took his beer and left the room as if nothing had happened. Brian decided to get up and leave too, but John stayed. After a few long seconds of silence, Freddie spoke:

-Sorry for throwing your cake John. - He said lamenting.

-No worries, he asked for it. - John replied sympathetically.

-Do you want us to go to the kitchen for more? -

-Sure. -

They both went down to the kitchen and talked about other things along the way. When they got to the kitchen, Freddie took out the cake and cut two large pieces. After that, they went to sit in one of the gardens while they ate.

-And well, at least you will see Jim ... - John said to Freddie, regretting it almost immediately.

-Yes, that's good ... I just got mad because Roger snooped on my stuff and wanted to make a decision for me, that was it. - Freddie said eating some of his cake.

-Well ... I guess we should plan your party. You know, what you'll wear and stuff. -

-Okay, I guess, but very little is missing and I'm a little nervous. -

-If it's for Jim you don't have to worry, it will turn out well, you'll see. -

They finished eating cake and went back up to Freddie's bedroom. A few hours later they went down to dinner and everything went normally.

Freddie couldn't sleep for the next few days, anxiety consumed him. It wasn't that he didn't want to see Jim, rather the opposite, rather it was that he didn't feel prepared to see him. Every time they were together, Freddie fell in love even more. His smile, his hair, absolutely everything about him was perfect for Freddie and many times he couldn't help but blush every time they were together. Freddie wanted to spend a life by his side but that was nothing more than a fantasy; Freddie did not have the courage to confess his love and would prefer that they only be friends rather than lose him.

His birthday finally came, and the killer queen was more excited than Freddie making preparations. She couldn't throw a big party because no one was supposed to know that they were princes until the coronation was announced, but if it hadn't been for that, nobody would have prevented the queen from having a huge party as only she knows how to give them.

While they were supervising the decorations, the queen told Freddie that his guests would arrive in a few hours and that he should go down to the entrance to check if he liked the flowers she had sent to put. Freddie came down to the castle entrance. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see a black car approaching the entrance. The car stopped in front of the door and when the door opened Freddie couldn't believe what he was seeing. A boy, slightly taller than himself, got out of the vehicle, a medium-broad complexion, with brown hair and eyes of the same color. Bushy eyebrows and light brown complexion. Putting a green backpack on his back, Jim closed the car door and it fell to Freddie like a bucket of cold water. It was barely 11 in the morning and he was waiting for him at 5 in the afternoon.

-Freddie?- Jim asked, apparently not expecting to run into him so suddenly either.

-Jim! - Freddie said forgetting his nerves and running to hug him. He practically lunged at him and Jim was surprised, but he returned the hug with a smile.

When Freddie reacted, he was distressed and separated from him. He was flushed, but to his luck, Jim was too.

-I wasn't expecting you so ... early. - Freddie said nervously trying to change the subject.

-The black queen told me that she would give me a week off, to come with you, so I took the train that left last night at 10 to be able to take advantage of the time better ... - Jim said trying to appear as relaxed as possible. - She also said that the killer queen would send someone to pick me up at that time. -

-I see, but why didn't they tell me that you would arrive at this time? God I'm so messed up, so ... -

-You look good, Freddie. Happy birthday.- Jim said hugging him again. As he parted with him, he continued somewhat confused. - But, if you didn't know, how were you here right now? -

-You see, the queen sent me to see if I liked to see the flowers she put for me at the entrance and ... -

-Flowers? -

-Yes, flowers. -

-I don't see any, unless you talk about the ones in the hedges.

-According to the queen, she had put some flowers for me… -

Freddie turned and interrupted himself when he noticed that there were no flowers except those that grew on plants.

-Weird... - Jim said just as strange.

-Anyway, we better go inside, I haven't finished decorating yet. -

-If you want I can help you ... - Jim said offering support.

-Don't worry darling, I just have to choose what I like and supervise everything. It is also your week off, but if you want you can come join me or I can give you a tour of the palace so you don't get lost. - Freddie replied offering Jim.

-I wish we could do both. For now you have to finish with the decorations. -

-Come on, let's go inside. -

They climbed the stairs leading to the castle's huge wooden door, and Freddie gave way to Jim out of courtesy. Jim entered and Freddie closed the door behind them.

As they walked through the castle hallways to the dining room to introduce Jim to the Killer Queen, Freddie was telling Jim about his experience at the castle and gave him a tour as if he was a tour guide indicating landmarks to locate in the palace. When they reached the huge dining room, Jim was amazed at the neat interior gardens of the Killer Queen, as well as how different the residence of the killer queen was from the palace of the black queen.

They went into the dining room and the queen was still there, looking at food options.

-Queen, I want to introduce you to Jim, he is my...friend. - Freddie stuttered saying the last. He didn't like introducing Jim as a friend and that's it, but that's what they were. Friends

-Hi Jim, nice to meet you. There is no need for me to bow, no problem. - Killer Queen said just when she saw Jim was about to bow.

-Good morning, Queen, thanks for the transport. - Jim greeted politely.

-How was the trip? Could you sleep well? -

-Pretty good indeed, thanks for asking, the black queen offered to pay for my trip and asked me to send her regards to you and Freddie a personal congratulations. She actually sent something with me, but I don't know what it is. She asked me not to open it. - Jim continued.

-Oh! Tell her that we also send her greetings and I hope to see her soon in a meeting outside of labor matters, to talk a little. - The queen said with little laughs. - Okay guys, Jim can't carry that backpack and that suitcase all day, take him to the guest bedrooms to leave his things and then he can accompany you to finish supervising this, eh Freddie, we're not done. - The queen said jokingly as always.

-Come, it's over here. - Freddie said to Jim while smiling and they went together.

-Oh, aren't they really adorable? - The queen said to one of the waiters who passed by once Jim and Freddie crossed the threshold of the dining room door. The waiter just looked at her confused as she gave a graceful laugh.

Freddie led Jim upstairs as they discussed various things.

-Well, does this has no end? - Jim said after several turns and stairs.

-It does, yes, but the guest rooms are somewhat separate from ours. - Said Freddie, who barely knew where they were.

-Okay, but we are almost there, right? - Jim said already tired.

-In fact ... we are here ... now! - Freddie said stopping in front of a door.

He opened it and revealed a large room, with a double bed and several pillows, a rustic oak wood desk, a clothes chest, two bedside tables with a drawer and a lamp on each side of the bed, a beautiful lamp hanging from the ceiling and a large window that looked out on the back garden which was huge, and towards the back could see one of Rhye's seas. In addition to having its own bathroom. As Jim gawked at everything in the guest room alone, Freddie saw:

-I got you the one I thought you would like the most ... -

-Wow, it's really beautiful. Thanks Freddie -

-There is nothing to be thankful for. Thank you for coming. - Freddie said smiling. - Well I ... You can stay here or leave your things and accompany me to the dining room again. I still have to finish doing everything and ... -

-I accompany you. - Jim interrupted Freddie.

-Oh okay ... Thank you. I-I mean, come on. -

Jim laughed, left his things on the bed, and went with Freddie all the way back.

They reached the dining room and left everything in order, then went upstairs to change because the queen told them that Freddie's family would be here in an hour. Freddie put on a red velvet jacket, tight-fitting pearl-white silk pants, and a vest made of the same material. He had a red rose in his hands and his perfectly slightly wavy slightly hair.

Finally Mary and Freddie's family arrived and everyone was surprised to see Jim there. Freddie's mom could see traces of jealousy on Mary's face. They introduced themselves to the queen and began to eat. They discussed various topics, about how the boys were doing with the killer queen, how the family of Freddie was in the first region, among other things. The boys talked to each other, while Jim, Freddie and Mary had a lively conversation apart.

Finally it was time to eat cake and open the presents. Jim pulled out the gift the black queen sent to Freddie. A small black box with a bow of gold mesh ribbons and a card with the queen's delicate cursive calligraphy congratulating him, sending him her best wishes, and saying he hoped he would like the gift. He opened it and it was a gleaming opal ring on a small cushion of soft red velvet. Freddie smiled when he saw it, it was identical to the one he had seen in a store in the center of the first region. He took it out and put it on immediately.

He uncovered it and discovered in its interior 2 pieces of haute couture clothing, quite extravagant. You could tell they were quite expensive and exclusive. Freddie showed them and overlaid them to see how they would fit. Killer Queen perfectly sensed Freddie's likes and likes, since he had loved them.

The boys gave him the 3 the same gift, a bottle of wine of the most expensive that existed. On the black label it was read in gold letters 'Atlas' and on the reverse side that they had been made in the early years of Rhye with grapes from the garden of King Atlas, and in a transfer error, the boat that transported them had dropped 3 boxes deep in the 4th sea of Rhye, and they were aged there until curious divers found them and for a considerable sum of money, they could be recovered by the crown and kept in the special wine reserves of the palace. The boys had sneaked the bottle out especially for that occasion. Roger's idea surely.

Now Jim felt bad about the gift he had brought him. The queens and his friends had given him expensive gifts and his was something more handmade. Although he earned quite well, the vast majority of his income went to his family, his large family. Also, Jim believed that if he gave him something made by his own hands it would be more meaningful, but now he realized how stupid that was.

Freddie noticed Jim's strange behavior and approached him.

-What is that you hide? - Asked curious Freddie trying to observe what was behind him.

Jim moved to prevent Freddie from seeing the gift.

-No ... it's nothing -

-Seriously? It seems to be something very interesting. -

Jim held his breath and finally gave up.

-It is ... something I did for you - He said sadly as he handed it to her - It is glass.

Freddie watched it thoroughly. It was a kind of snow globe, with a white gloss like agglomeration at the base. It was a small glass dome, no bigger than his hand, it kept a small and delicate rose made of transparent glass. It was carved in such a way that it looked open and so finely that each of the petals and the small thorns that rose along the stem could be perfectly distinguished. They looked like diamonds, and reflected light in colors when there was more lighting in the room. He couldn't stop watching it. In addition, he noticed that “To Freddie, from Jim” was engraved on the bottom, in gold letters. Freddie couldn't stop looking at it

-I know it's not a big deal, and it's okay if you don't like it ...

-No - Freddie quickly interrupted him - I mean ... it is perfect -

-It is? -

-It is. - Freddie said while giving him a little kiss on the cheek - I love it -

The meal ended and everyone went up to their rooms. The boys are having a good time, so they decided to continue the party in Freddie's room. They carried several bottles of many types. They were all talking while sitting on the floor, with some background music as they drank. Freddie had become very nervous about being so close to Jim after kissing him on the cheek. He started drinking a lot and the boys noticed it, especially Roger, who had been playing at being a cupid. He didn't miss the opportunity and looked for a way for Freddie to confess his feelings to Jim, but this time in a way that he was less involved than he was that time.

-Hi Freddie! Do you want this? - Roger specified a colorful bottle with a clear liquid inside. -That you can't take more than 10 seconds of this!

Freddie was incredibly nervous, so he agreed to drink the liquid, even though he had no idea what it was.

Roger uncapped the bottle and the smell was pungent. It seem that it was ethyl alcohol because of how strong it smelled, but we did not asked what it was, he could not regret it. He leaned in and Freddie drank 15 seconds until his throat burned. At first he didn't answer anything except the heat going down his throat, but soon after he started to feel dizzy and the alcohol started to take effect. Freddie relaxed and began to loosen. He relaxed, got closer to Jim and the others saw him amused.

Freddie started drinking more and more and more, until he finally started to drop on top of Jim and say whatever he thought.

-Jim ... - Freddie said, dragging his voice a little. -

-What's up Freddie? - Said Jim, who had not drunk as much.

-I love you very much. - Freddie said putting his arm around Jim and dropping his head on his shoulder.

-You're good? -Jim said to Freddie, although he did not remove it. On the contrary, he held it better.

-Darling, I am a-ma-zing. - Freddie replied. - I've never been better. -

-I feel something ... strange. -

-Strange? Me? Oh, what short things. I am phenomenal.-

-I think you should go to bed and sleep ... -

Jim held Freddie's arm still around him and those affected as Freddie laughed at the effects of alcohol. He carried him over to his bed, Freddie settled down and patted his side so that Jim was off him. Jim hesitated for a second, but was finally sent alongside him.

-I love you Jim. - Freddie said pointing to him.

-I love you too Freddie ... - Jim said looking at him, knowing that Freddie probably said it because of the effects of the liquor.

-No Jim, you don't know. I love you. -

Jim was shocked. He did not remember that there were more people in the room.

-You love Me? - Jim said in a low voice.

Yes Jim, I love you!. - Freddie replied,

-But don't scream! - Jim said putting a finger to his lips to lower his voice.

-I'm in love with you. - Freddie said with a laugh.

Nothing he was saying seemed to be true, until he turned to see the others and they all nodded as if they were waiting for Jim's reaction. He felt Freddie's hand approach his, and Jim decided to take it and lie down next to him. Roger cheered silently because his plan had worked, John was happy for his friend and Brian was concerned about Freddie's response the next day, since having decided to tell Jim hat, he might have had industrial amounts of alcohol in his blood.

-Have I ever told you how handsome you are? - Freddie said as if he was about to fall asleep.

-I think you has never mentioned it -

-You're really beautiful. Why do you think I fell in love with you? - Freddie said with a huge smile. . Jim's heart stopped for a second. Was everything he was saying true? Or was it just the effects of alcohol?

-Good night Jim. - Freddie said giving him a kiss on the cheek.

-Jim looked at the time. 3:00 a.m. It was quite late.

-Night Freddie. -

The others after talking for a while about whether that had been a good idea, decided to go to sleep. To Freddie's own bed, because it was too late to get out without being scolded. They fell asleep, although well, they did not wake any of the other two who were already sleeping.

The morning light was beginning to seep into the room. Freddie's eyes widened and he immediately noticed the headache that was forming. When he opened his eyes completely he realized that there was someone next to him, and it was not just anyone, it was THE person. In addition to John on one side of the bed, Brian on his side with his legs slightly bent and Roger snoring with his leg on top of Brian. But who was most surprised to see there was Jim. Jim was asleep a few inches from him.

When Freddie remembered what he did the night before, all he wanted to do was disappear. His way of calming the nerves ended up being a bad move and now everything was even worse. Jim knew of his feelings and when he woke up, he was likely to want to speak. Surely he would tell him that he didn't want to see him anymore and that he was disgusting because he liked men.

Freddie wanted to avoid him at all costs; He knew he couldn't hide forever and the only thing he could do was wait a couple of days until Jim returned home and from there, try to forget him.

Just then, John woke up.

-Hey, where are you going so early? It's barely 8 am -

-Hey I’m going ... To the music room. My head hurts a little and I want to see if I can calm down a bit. - Freddie lied, so sorry for what happened the night before that he did not want to mention it.

-Okay. - John said with a sympathetic smile, who unlike Roger, was not going to try to rush anything.

Freddie smiled back at her and went to the music room, hoping to be there alone for a while. He had so many mixed and stuck feelings that he needed to vent somehow and the best way he could think of was to sing.

“Can anybody find me somebody to love? Each morning I get up I die a little Can barely stand on my feet Take a look in the mirror and I cry Lord, what are you doing to me? I have spent all my years in believing you But I just can't get no relief, Lord Somebody Oh somebody Can anybody find me somebody to love? ”

-Did you write it? - Jim, who had just entered the room to listen to the little song - It is very beautiful.

"It is my end. ” Freddie thought without knowing what to do.

-H-how long have you been here?- Freddie asked nervously. “It can't be, I stuttered, now he knows I'm nervous about his presence”.

-Hmmm, well, I asked about you and they told me that you were here, and as soon as I stood in front of the door, I heard the first chords and you intoning, so I opened the door a little to hear you without going in and deconcentrate you. - Jim said sitting down next to him and playing a couple of keys.

Damn, John had told him.

-So-is that a e-everything? -

-Yes, I heard everything, and it is very beautiful. I came here because I want to talk to you... - Jim spoke softly without any trace of anger. - About last night ... -

-I ... I ... no ... - The words didn't flow, he didn't even know where to start.

-Is what you said last night true? About that you were in love with me. -

Freddie opened his mouth to refuse but just didn't want to lie to him, couldn't lie to him. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled. Jim, noticing Freddie's nerves and concern, placed his hand gently on his and Freddie was simply surprised. It is completely relaxed.

-You ... I also like Freddie and I like you very much. - Jim said taking the initiative.

Freddie froze and felt him blush and the words didn't come out.

-It's ... just a joke, right? - Freddie said puzzled even without believing what he was hearing.

-It is true. Since ... you came to the palace ... I fell in love with you. I always liked your style, your character, your personality ... I saw how you were with the queen, I heard you while humming melodies in the hallways, then with the boys having fun ... I never dared to speak to you because ... - Jim laughed a little - you are a prince , I did not think you would notice my existence someday ... -

-It's true ... What I said last night ... I was always in love with you. I looked at you while you worked and ... I never imagined that you were interested in me. I told John that I liked you and he was the one who encouraged me to talk to you ... And I ... He sent you here, didn't he? - Jim nodded.

-You don't need to say more, Freddie. -

At that point Jim was really close to Freddie. Freddie for his part was nervous and still did not believe that was happening. He felt deep down that he wasn't right, no he couldn't. He didn't know why, but he couldn't. He wanted to, and it was already there, but at that moment he felt Jim's breath so close to his, Jim's heat brushed his body, and he just couldn't hold it anymore. He closed his eyes and finished disappearing the centimeters that were between them. He kiss him. He instantly regretted it, until he felt Jim run his hands behind him and hugged him. He enjoyed that moment like no other, but he still wasn't sure if what he was doing was right. Finally they parted and hugged each other. Freddie's thoughts were interrupted by Jim's soft voice.

-Freddie? -

-Yes Jim?

-Now that you know that I love you and I know that you love me ... I want you to stay with me ... always. -

-A-Always? - Freddie felt dreamed.

Y-es ... I ... I don't want to be with anyone other than you. -

-If that's the case, then I'll always be with you.

They hugged each other and lasted like that for a long time. Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, the boys had heard it all. Brian and John were happy for Freddie, while Roger bragged repeating "I told you, I knew my idea was great" quietly over and over in a mocking tone as he danced presuming he hadn't been such a bad matchmaker in the end.

[pearwaldorf]

I was not tagged to do ten niche interests but @antikate said I could do it if I wanted, so. I am alternately a dilletante and ridiculously hyper-focused, so this list kind of ping-pongs between the two.

1. Embroidery. Not really a niche interest, but it’s new to me and it’s absolutely fascinating. idk why I didn’t think about its universality until I started doing it, but it’s a thing that makes me feel connected to all these people over the centuries and around the world, mostly women, who have decided it’s not enough to just sew clothes, but to make useful objects beautiful.

2. Astrology. it’s a thing I’ve studied on and off since I was a young’un (along with other occult/paranormal nonsense) but I don’t think it really started clicking until I figured out the deeper stuff like specific interactions between planets and houses and stellia. (And as somebody who has taken every major personality sorter and plenty of minor ones, I would say they are as useful and scientific as any other avenue of self-knowledge. Which is to say, you get what you put into it.)

3. Coffee. Look, I grew up and live in the PNW. It’s pretty much obligatory. I’m not going to get all third-wave wanky on you about preparation methods, but I do believe you should get the highest quality beans you’re okay with spending money on and grind fresh. You can explore from there.

4. Arabic/Islamic calligraphy. I haven’t made any actual formal study of it (unless you count that social studies presentation in high school), but that combination of form and function makes something in my brain very happy, and I have fond memories of wandering around museums looking at them. And it can be absolutely whimsical! 

5. Infoviz. As a grad student, I spent actual money (which I had v little of at the time) to take a seminar from Edward Tufte on presenting data and information. And then I have spent pretty much the rest of my life thinking about how almost everybody who does infographics on Twitter needs it because dear god. 

6. Transportation/housing policy. Insomuch as I had a specialization in my public administration degree, this was it. I did my degree project on affordable housing in Seattle suburbs, and it is something I will discourse about at length and very little provocation. 

7. Greek mythology. I was into all sorts of fairy tales and folklore as a kid, but this was the one that fascinated me most, probably because of this book.

8. Disaster preparation. I’m pretty sure it was mostly a self-soothing mechanism after the 2016 election, but I do have a basic understanding of what you actually need to shelter in place (not unlike we’re doing now!). If you learn nothing else, get two weeks’ worth of water for everybody and every pet in your home.

9. Makeup. Maybe not a niche interest, but it felt a lot like one when I got into it? I was not one of those girls who had friends who were into makeup, so it was all incredibly strange to me, to the point where I found guides to makeup for trans women the most helpful at first. 

10. Story construction and analysis. I’m not really sure how else to describe this? Basically picking apart the way people reveal information in narratives, in hopefully new and interesting ways (Knives Out, Birds of Prey, and Yuri on Ice have been ones I keep thinking about).

Would you like to do this? Please consider yourself tagged.

[oh-boleyn]

languages 101

Okay!! I did it!! I wrote fluff!! This is for @six-gifts-exchanges, and I wrote it for @enough-love-stories and I hope you like this!

Have some fluff with Cleves and Parr 💖

words: 2069, language: english. cleves & parr (friendship)

When Henry died, only two of his six wives were alive.

His fourth wife, Anna of Cleves, who he had divorced years prior but maintained a cordial relationship, even inviting her to court and granting her a castle for her own. And Catherine Parr, his six and last wife, who practically acted as a nurse in the last years of his life.

When they reincarnated, the two quickly bonded over being the “survivors”, even if only the final wife had the official title. They enjoyed each other's company, even when things got hectic in the house, they had each other’s back. Being the most relaxed queens left them the ones in charge to act as judges when chaos broke in the group.

Anna was close to Katherine too, happy to see her alive again. The fourth and fifth queens spent much time together, alone or with other queens tagging along. Taking dance classes together, eating ice cream, tea with Jane and binge-watching sitcoms were on their weekly schedules.

Parr had similar close relationships with Anne, after getting through the initial hesitation they were now usually seen together, discussing in French or talking about science. Aragon was another queen really close to the survivor, being her godmother, she had taken the role to take care of the younger woman, taking her into random trips to museums or other not-as-intellectual outings.

But still, the relationship between the second divorcee and the last queen was special. They had breakfast together almost every day, a really special moment for them to share what was going on. They confide in each other, knowing all their secrets and fears, having inside jokes and how to make the other feel better. If either of them had a problem, no matter how close they might be with the other queens, the first person they’d trust would be the other.

Tonight, the house was found with only both of them inside, having both been covered by their alternates.

“Are you in a mood for a round of chess?” Catherine asked, taking away her eyes from the TV.

“Yes, I think.” Anna responds, looking down. “I was actually going to ask you for a favour.”

“Alright, what’s up?”

“Can you teach me Spanish?” she asks.

A bright smile passes across Cathy, already shining with the idea of how to teach her best friend a language that she holds so close to her heart.

“Of course! Do you want to start now?”

Anna nods, and proceeds to say: “I will look for a pen and you go for paper.”

“You know me.” Catherine laughs.

Five minutes later they are sitting at the kitchen table across from each other. Anna covers the table with different pens, including some highlighters and glitter pens that belong to Katherine. Cathy has some white paper sheets, plus a notebook.

“I haven’t used this one yet, I wanted to save it for something important,” she handles it to Anna, “today is the day.”

“Are you sure?” The German queen wonders.

“Yes, teaching for the first time in something like five hundred years is a big deal, and teaching my favourite language to my closest friend is even more important.”

Anna accepts it. It screams Catherine Parr anyway you see it. The blue coloured front is no more than just an advance of the light blue pages inside. It isn’t squared, nor is it lined paper, instead it has dots all over it. The fourth queen appreciates it, the notebook is almost perfect for her friend, but still she decided to give it to her.

“Okay, first things first, persons. First person is yo.”

Cleves writes it down, her letter messy and cursive.

“Second person is tu.” Catherine indicates.

“Isn’t it vos?” Anna wonders.

“I mean, yes, but vos is used in only some countries, you can add it if you want to though.” Parr explains.

The go over all the persons, vosotros, ella, el, ellos, ellas. Once that’s finished, they pass over some common verbs. Yo soy, tú eres, vosotros sois, ella es, él es, ellos son, ellas son. They go quickly over explaining what eñe means, and how to pronounce it, which leads to the word cumpleaños.

“Try to introduce yourself.” Catherine offers.

“It will be a mess; I still don’t know a lot.” Anna contradicts.

“C’mon! I’m so sure you know your name.” The survivor smirks.

“Yo me llamo Anna of Cleves.” The German says, not sure about the language. “Yo tengo quinientos cuatro años.”

“Really, Anna? I am five hundred and four years old? Show off.” Cathy mocks. “Still, it was great, but you know ‘of Cleves’ is in English, like ‘Von Kleve” is in German.”

“So how is it in Spanish?”

“Anna de Cleveris.”

“Are you kidding me? That sounds… so not serious.” Anna laughs. “I refuse to be named that.”

“Whatever you say, Cleveris.” Cathy responds, with a playful look. “You can not change your name if you don’t want to. Catherine still uses Catalina sometimes.”

“She doesn’t anymore, not since Anne found that website that said that Catalina means poop.” Cleves reminds her. “But I think I will stick with ‘of Cleves’, at least for now.”

“Alright, now we continue, with for example ‘like’?” Parr offers. “It’s ‘gustar’.”

Anna checks her notes and before asking: “Yo gusto?”

“Yes, perfect. What do you like? I can give you the translation just so you can add it to your presentation.”

“I like music. And nature.” She stays thoughtful for a while. “And dogs, mate, I love dogs.”

“You can say yo gusto de la naturaleza.” Cathy explains. “Mi animal favorito son los perros.”

“That sounds like English I think I can manage.”

She writes it down, knowing that probably she is confusing S and Z, V and B everywhere.

“What was ‘dogs’ again?” Anna asks.

“Perros.”

“How do you write it?”

Cathy laughs, making Anna chuckle. Learning a new language was harder than she remembered, and it couldn’t be helpful how different Spanish was from German. Luckily for her, Parr was there to help. Walking to her side, she wrote in her distinctly calligraphy –a cursive that was maybe way too curvy, and distinctly renaissance-like– the word, marking the double R.

“There you go, linda.” She smiled.

“What did you call me earlier? A show off?” She parodies her friend.

“Oh, shut up!” Catherine giggles. “Would you mind if we take a break? I’m hungry.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Anna agrees, carefully closing her new notebook. “Do you want something specifically?”

“I was planning to do something quick; you should keep studying!” Cathy insists. “Start exercising in Duolingo!”

“I refuse, to ever, in my life, use Duolingo.” Cleves says, with a death look.

“Then keep practicing verbs. I have a dictionary in my bedroom.”

“I think I’m fine for now, I need a little break.”

They fall into casual conversation, talking about how excited they were for spring to begin, and different ideas for a summer road trip. They discuss their favourite places from the tour, and where they would love to be back.

Talking with each other feels natural, normal. They know each other's humour, how to make the other laugh. Friendships were not something they were used to in their past lives, everyone having an ulterior motive. Allies were not friends, and in court everyone was just that, nothing more than a power relationship.

“What made you want to learn Spanish?” Catherine asks, already serving the food.

“I don’t know.” Anna answers, trying to play it cool.

“C’mon! I know you have a reason,” she insists, “but it’s okay if you don’t want to tell me.”

“It’s just a silly reason, Cathy.”

“If it was you would tell me!” Parr laughs. “I keep up with your silliness all the time.”

“Rude?” Anna mocks. “It’s just that I wanted to make you happy.”

Catherine stops for a moment, processing the information. Cleves takes the opportunity to continue.

“I know how much you love languages, and you love to teach. I just thought it would be a good way to spend our time together.” She smiles. “I also think it can be fun, plus I would like to also speak in Spanish with Aragon at some point, I know how much nostalgia she holds to it. But I also don’t want to overstep, if that’s something just between you and Aragon then that’s alright but-“

Catherine interrupts her: “It’s really thoughtful of you.”

She leaves the plates, to quickly embrace Anna into a hug.

“You think so?”

“Yes! Really, it’s just an amazing gift.” She breaks the hug. “I know I can be a lot to handle sometimes with my ranting about random things, so I’m more than happy for you to get interested in languages. Nonetheless, if you want to stop learning I won’t get mad.”

“You are never a lot to handle.” Anna insists. “You are my best friend. And I don’t think I will want to stop any time soon, I like learning. Plus, maybe I can teach you German one day.”

“Maybe not now, I already get too mixed with languages.”

Anna laughs, conscious of how many times she would drop a word in another language while trying to speak English.

They have dinner while watching a Spanish show –Anna wanted to watch some sitcom that had been sitting on her list, but Catherine insisted on watching this show about time travel, plus “you have to get used to the accents, Anna!”–, laughing at their commentary. Before they can finish the episode, the queens burst into the house, tired after the show.

“How did it go?” Cleves asks, taking her plate and Catherine’s to the dishwasher.

“Tiring.” Anne says simply, falling on the sofa. “I fell during the Megasix, now my whole being hurts.”

“I hope someone filmed it! I was singing and didn’t see her!” Katherine complains.

“I did, it was funny.” Aragon laughs.

“Mate!” Boleyn protests.

“Anyway, girls, how was your night off?” Jane wonders. “What’s up with all these pens and paper?”

“Nothing.” Anna quickly shouts from the kitchen.

“It’s just me writing stuff, Anna was helping.” Cathy explains. “Do you want ice for your butt, honey?”

“Funny.” The second queen mocks.

The six queens stay talking for a while, before finishing eating and excusing to their bedrooms. Cathy takes the notebook and pens, and takes them to her room, aware that Anna apparently wanted to keep the secret of their Spanish lessons.

She decides to give the notebook back to her friend once the rest of the queens are already in their bedrooms, going slowly up the stairs, mindful of not making too much noise. Cathy knocks the door twice, before getting it, not bothering to get Anna’s permission.

“This belongs to you.” The writer leaves the notebook on the fourth queen’s desk.

“Thank you,” Anna smiles, “I just want to get better at it, before telling the others. I don’t want to feel rushed into learning.”

“I get it, we can be a lot to handle.” Parr laughs. “I also wanted to say thank you again. It’s been so long since I taught and I haven’t realized how happy it makes me. I was afraid that it might make me remember bad moments, but I actually enjoyed it a lot.”

“You are a good teacher, maybe a bit of a jerk though.”

“We already knew that, Cleveris.”

“Whatever you say, tonta.” She playfully replies.

“How did you learn that word?” Cathy asks, confused.

“Oh, Aragon once called Anne that. Kitty and I looked it up on the internet, she also called her tarada, but I think that one is a tad more aggressive.” Cleves explains. “Also, who doesn’t know curse words? I think it’s like the first thing you learn about a language.”

“Really Anna? That’s how you learn languages?” Catherine inquires teasingly.

“Maybe.” She giggles. “What’s your favourite word in Spanish?”

The last queen thinks for a moment, before responding: “I don’t know if I have one. But there’s one I like because I don’t think there’s a real translation of it.”

“Which one?”

“Querer. It means want, but also it means loving. It’s like amar, but I like the idea of a word that is mostly directed to friendship. Friends are really important.”

“Yes, they are.” She hugs Parr. “Te quero?”

“Te quiero.” She corrects.

“Te quiero, Cathy.”

“Te quiero más, Anna.”

[acelikesturtles]

“What’re You In For?”

Prompt: #22 (Two Miserable People at the same Wedding) - Raphael x Olivia

Warnings: Light Alcohol Mention, Cursing (duh, its Raphael)

Word Count: 1,568

A/N: This is from an ask game that I reblogged a couple days ago. It took me a while to finish editing it because I really and truly prefer quality of my work over quantity, plus I needed to find the right soundtrack for this so I could focus 110%. I hope you like it @headhalfling!

As much as Raphael cherished April as a friend and Casey as his “fourth brother”, he had despised almost every last moment of the last 8 hours. The tie around his neck was too tight and the suit that April requested be tailored to his exact measurements still felt like it was smothering him. When he had finished the first suit fitting at the lair he had figured that all it would take to break free from this prim and proper prison was a well-timed stretch. That is, until Leo had very gently patted him on the shoulder and reminded him that they were putting all these fancy trimmings on for April and Casey, and that after the "incident" at their engagement party, Raph would likely do better blending in.

Oh yeah, that.

As if the clothing and the standard wedding formalities weren't enough to bother Raph, he had promised April he would only have one glass of champagne after the last time. Out of respect (and maybe a fair deal of embarrassment) following the unforeseen events of the engagement party, he decided that it might be best to stay alert, especially since being a ninja and all doesn't really pay in hard cash. Or at least...not enough cash that could cover the fees associated with a professional carpet cleaner.

One finger lazily circled around the brim of his empty champagne glass. Amongst all the chatter in the room his eyes remained fixed on Casey and April. He couldn't tell if he was trying to read their lips and decipher whatever lovey-dovey conversation they were having or perhaps just trying to understand the ins and outs of the event in general. He couldn't really say that he'd ever felt in love, and maybe he was just being incredibly cynical, but this felt like a strange way to celebrate it; stuffy outfits and distant cousins you've only seen twice in your life didn't seem like a celebration of love or a union of two families but like a strange ritual that he couldn't quite wrap his mind around.

Just as his brain was finally translating something admittedly pretty juicy happening between the happy couple, someone shuffled past him and took a seat beside him, drawing his attention reluctantly away. She didn't seem to be paying him much attention, instead tapping away at her phone rather furiously with one hand while brushing stray strands of blue hair away from her eyes. A deep sigh escaped her lips as she set her phone face down on the table and grabbed the entirely unclaimed glass of champagne sitting in front of her place mat, then tapped her fingers rhythmically on the sides.

"What're you in for?" She said playfully then took a small sip from the glass.

He laughed, then leaned back in his chair. "Does 'best man' count?"

"Hey, sure, I'm not the police. Besides, I knew that already." Once again pushing her hair from her eyes, she crinkled her nose when she smiled. "You guys were, er, I guess--you are--kind of distinct. Kinda cool if you ask me."

She set the champagne glass back down, before gazing up at her new conversation partner. Her striking hazel eyes connected with his own and caused him pause for a moment. Again, full of surprises, she didn't seem to react in fear or shock so much as intrigue at his physical appearance. He couldn't say that this wasn't a first, all night long at both the engagement party and this reception he and his brothers had been getting unwarranted looks that definitely indicated the unspoken feelings of the person staring. This, however, was different. As for how, he wasn't quite sure, but for now he simply felt unusually awkward and unable to figure out what he was supposed to say next. Mikey was always the better one at socializing. It was in his blood. Raph on the other hand, despite all the time he had to learn, was about as good at talking to humans as a fish was at flying.

He glanced down at the name tag that had been so carefully placed in front of where she sat before taking a shot in the dark that maybe she was the table-mate that hadn't showed up yet. Awfully late for her to arrive now...but not impossible.

"Umm...are you Lorraine Bri-...Brinch-...you know what, fuck, not even trying to pronounce that."

"What?" She followed where his eyes led to the cutesy black and gold calligraphy neatly engraved on a piece of folded card stock. She frowned and shook her head. "No, that's not me. My name's Olivia. Does make me wonder who that is though, and why they didn't show up. Kind of disrespectful, to not even RSVP honestly."

"Well what about you?" Raph countered. As if he even cared about this random other woman's dignity when he didn't even know who she was beyond her impossible to pronounce last name. "I didn't see you until just now."

"I’ve been here,” she responded. She broke eye contact with Raph and began picking at the skin surrounding her fingernails. She had noticeably callused fingers which matched the overall aesthetic of her chipped and unpainted fingernails. “I just don’t really want to be here. I don't typically like stuffy events like this, as much as I'm really glad to see Casey and April together. These things make me anxious, and I would drive home, but that wouldn’t be cool because I’m the photographer’s ride." She gestured vaguely towards the woman in a pantsuit with long black hair that had been tirelessly capturing every last angle possible of the bride, groom, and bridal party.

"Hey, uh...me too." He answered. He was starting to feel anxious too seeing the way that she picked at her fingernails. “These events, they aren’t really for me. This tie ain’t doing it for me either, its kinda been choking me,” He gave her a small smile, hoping that it might ease her mind to have someone sympathize with her, even if it wasn’t entirely on the same page. Again, Mikey would’ve been better at this kind of thing than he was, but it helped that the connection between them was already sort of going well. Well, aside from him accusing her of being late to the wedding, that is.

Olivia’s eyes narrowed on his black and white striped tie. She pressed her lips together, holding back a smile while a short breathy laugh escaped her nostrils. “Well, there’s your problem. You tied it too tight, dummy. Here-”

Her callused hands reached up and began loosening the fabric fastened around his neck. Earlier when he had tied it himself he hadn’t bothered to ask for help, assuming that this was just how ties were supposed to feel, but the gradual feeling of relief that came with the freedom to move his neck like normal was ethereal.  While she couldn’t fix the constricting fit of his suit, having the tie a little looser was already helping him feel more relaxed and adjusted. Their eyes locked again as she gently pulled her hands away from the satin, although this time something felt different. Like he was sweating. Everywhere.

With the relief of one discomfort came the creation of another. He cleared his throat.

“Thanks.”

“Hey, anytime, I learned how to tie those for a friend of mine a couple years ago. You should’ve asked for help from somebody sooner.”

Now he was beginning to feel really embarrassed. Did she think he was stupid? Or incapable of learning how to do normal human stuff like tying a goddamn tie? “Nah, they’re busy, didn’t wanna bother ‘em.” Now that made him at least seem noble.

“Well you weren’t bothering me.” She smiled and raised an eyebrow. “I doubt you would’ve bothered your brothers by asking for help, their ties don’t seem to be bothering them.

Fuck.

Still feeling sweaty, Raph shrugged and chuckled. “Awright, fine, then I’ll call you next time I gotta wear this damn thing, yeah?”

Once the words had escaped his mouth he realized how silly they must’ve sounded, but he didn’t take them back. He wasn’t an entirely socially inept fool, that was Donnie’s job. She paused for a moment at his words and began searching his eyes for an answer that he didn’t know he had in him. This was uncomfortable and sweaty and hot...but he kind of liked it. Raph swallowed and broke eye contact with her unceremoniously then twisted the watch on his left wrist back into center position.

“Maybe I will.”

Olivia reached into her silver crossbody that until now, had been closely kept by her side entirely untouched. She uncapped a black ballpoint ink pen and scribbled a string of numbers onto a blue sticky note that had already been lightly doodled on (likely during the ceremony) with rough sketches of motorcycles juxtaposed against delicate daisies and baby’s breath she had likely seen in April’s bouquet. She tore the sticky note off and nervously stuck it onto his placemat. With a quick swig of the rest of the champagne left in the glass she had claimed, she stood up from her chair and gave him one last smile before hurriedly heading off in the direction of her photographer friend, leaving Raph with more questions than he did answers.

Maybe this whole lovey-dovey shit wasn’t so dumb after all.

[cowboy-crimez]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Umbrella Academy (TV) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Dave/Klaus Hargreeves Characters: Klaus Hargreeves, Dave Katz, Diego Hargreeves, Luther Hargreeves, Number Five, Allison Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, No Apocalypse, 5 Times, luther has Stupid Bitch Disease and its terminal :/, dave is a closeted dumbass, Fluff Summary:

the 5 times the hargreeves siblings don't understand why a guy like dave is with klaus, plus the one time that they do

or:

dave is a closeted dumbass

  -5: Luther

It’s not that people never expected Klaus to date someone, like really date someone. It isn’t even that they were shocked that Klaus was dating a man. Hell, if Klaus wasn’t dating a man, that’d be more surprising. It’s just with how he behaves and his history, everyone expected whoever Klaus was dating to be, well.

A little fucked up.

When Klaus tells everyone that he would be bringing his boyfriend to their monthly family brunch, everyone braced for the worst. Allison leaves her wallet at home, Diego keeps his knives on him, Vanya takes extra puffs of her inhaler, Grace gives Five a stern talking to about being polite to guests, and Luther goes through the list of ‘ Things Not To Say ’ that Diego and Ben made him a few days before.

So when Klaus throws open the door to the house and strutted inside, twirling around and calling out, “Hello, mi familia!” everyone cranes their necks to see the man who followed, and the shock of seeing a handsome man who looked, well, normal, almost stuns them into silence.

It was almost comical, the clash in appearance between the two. While Klaus was wearing a denim vest over what looked to be a silk nightdress and yoga pants with flip flops, the man who stood slightly behind him had on a pair of good fitting jeans, a dark blue button-up shirt, the top two buttons undone, a leather jacket and combat boots that looked well worn but not neglected. The man’s hair was curly but neat, whereas Klaus’s curls were messy and unkempt. His face was clean shaven and bare and Klaus still had smudges of eyeliner that could have been applied yesterday, last week, or maybe even last month.

“So this is Dave,” Klaus says said, motioning towards the man. Dave smiled and everyone noted with approval that he didn’t seem to be missing any teeth. “My boyfriend!”

After perhaps a moment too long of silence, Grace clears her throat and says, “Hello, Dave, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Would you like to sit down? Brunch will be ready in about ten minutes, and coffee is on the table.”

When they go to sit down, Dave continues to surprise them by pulling the chair out of Klaus and pushing him in, before taking his own seat.

After a brief introduction, they try to have a normal conversation but every piece of information that Dave reveals about himself only confuses everyone more.

He’s a social data analyst for a marketing company, he has a master degree, he speaks two languages, he’s the youngest of four kids and he gets along with all of them, he’s from Palo Alto, and in his spare time he likes to travel, go on hikes, practice calligraphy, and paint.

Nearly every part of Dave seems to be fundamentally at odds with Klaus, as someone who never had a real job, never went to college after he almost flunked out of high school, who didn’t speak to any siblings besides Ben for a few years, and who never really dedicates enough time to get a hobby, despite having nothing but free time.

The real kicker is when Grace brings out food - Dave offering to help before even Diego could pipe up - and everyone starts loading up their plates.

Dave helps dish out food to Klaus, who sighs dreamily when Dave has to reach across him to grab orange juice for him. But when Klaus reaches for bacon to put on Dave’s plate, Dave says, “No, thank you, baby.”

“Oh, not hungry?” Klaus asks, looking concerned.

“No, it’s just that I can’t,” Dave motions to the scrambled eggs on his plate, “I’ve already decided to eat eggs.”

Klaus makes an ‘ohh’ noise, before nodding, which doesn’t help anyone else understand.

“Are you on a diet or something?” Luther asks, trying his hand at small talk. It makes sense, kinda. Dave seems to be in pretty good shape. When he took his leather jacket off and draped it on the back of the chair, Luther could see the fabric of his shirt stretch over his biceps.

“No, I’m just not allowed to eat both right now.” Dave says, smiling patiently, “It wouldn’t be kosher.”

And Luther knows he should leave it at that, but nowhere on Things Not To Say List did Diego or Ben ever anticipate Klaus bringing home a religious person.

“You’re Jewish?” Luther asks, and maybe his tone his a bit too surprised, or confused, or maybe just loud because instantly Klaus’s head shoots up and he glares at Luther, shaking his head.

Dave, for his part, seems slightly unnerved by the question but politely says, “Yes.”

“And you’re dating Klaus?”

“Yes.” Dave smiles as if being reminded of the fact brings him great joy.

“Doesn’t being around Klaus make you a sinner, like, by proxy?”

It says something about how bad the question is because even Five’s mouth drops in disbelief at what Luther has said. Dave just blinks, unable to think of how to respond, while Klaus loudly pushes his chair back.

“I can’t believe you sometimes.” Klaus practically hisses, “Why would you ask something like that? You know what, it doesn’t matter, we’re leaving.”

And at those words Dave stands up, grabs his jacket and follows Klaus out, not before turning and saying, “Thank you for cooking, Grace, it was nice to meet you.”

Once they hear the front door slam, they turn to Luther and glare.

“Why would you say that?” Allison asks. “That was so mean towards Klaus, and probably offensive to Dave!”

“It’s a valid question!” Luther insists. “Klaus and the religious have never gotten along before!”

And maybe that is a valid point, one to tack onto the growing list of reasons why no one can understand why Dave is with Klaus. Because as much as they all love their brother, they know how much of a mess he is better than anyone else. And Dave, well, Dave seems so put together, with his good family, and high paying job, and post-secondary education, and Luther would wager that Dave has a good apartment, in a nice part of town, and with those facts alone it’s hard to imagine Klaus fitting in. When they add in the fact that Dave is religious, even to a minimal extent, it seems almost impossible.

Still, they berate Luther until he relents and sends a heartfelt, apologetic text to Klaus, and extends it by apologizing to Dave.

Klaus responds with a text that says, “fuk u”, but when Diego texts him about a makeup brunch a week later, Klaus says he’ll come and Dave wants to come again too.

  -4: Ben

Out of all of the Hargreeve’s siblings, Ben has the best relationship with Klaus. When they were kids they used to be glued at the hip, always trailing behind one another, always getting in trouble because of a dare that the other had said. Out of all their siblings, Ben should be the one who understands how Klaus started dating Dave.

He doesn’t.

By all accounts, Dave is the type of guy who used to call the cops on Klaus when he fell asleep on a public bench. He has the kind of ‘upstanding citizen’ vibe that Klaus always seemed to repulse.

So Ben was more than a little surprised when a month after the fabled family brunch, Klaus invites him over for lunch and sends him an address to an apartment that’s in a part of town much nicer than any of Klaus’s previous residences.

The apartment building is modern and looks expensive. The elevator works, and the hallway carpets all look clean. When Klaus opens the door for Ben, even from the doorway he can see that the apartment has a nice view.

Ben takes his shoes off, and Klaus is already prattling away about something, hands moving through the air rapidly.

Half of the apartment looks rather normal, clean surfaces, tasteful yet unique decorations on the walls, minimalist bookshelves in the living room to house some plain looking books. The walls are a pale grey.

The other half looks like, well, it looks like Klaus happened. There are strange articles of clothing thrown over the modern looking sofa. An old floral armchair sits out of place in the living room. There’s a beaded curtain hanging in front of the doorway to the bedroom, and hanging crooked on the walls are canvases with random splashes on colour, some still dripping paint onto the wooden floor.

Ben makes the assumption that Klaus just moved himself in, and decides not to comment on it.

Finally, he tunes into the conversation that, until this point, Klaus has been having with himself. He finds out that Dave is at work - since it is noon on a Wednesday - and that Klaus is cooking chicken to make quesadillas.

It’s towards the end of the meal that Klaus says, “Dave is helping me find a job.”

“Oh?” Ben says, mouth full of chicken and bell peppers.

“Yeah, he’s teaching me how to make resumes and how to fill out applications and how to send them out and stuff.” Klaus smiles, a bit bashfully.

“Do you know what you want to do?” Ben asks. Klaus hasn’t had a path or a goal in life since he was eleven and wanted to be either a princess or a mime.

Klaus shrugs. “Not really, but Dave says I can try different things out until I find something I like or something I’m good at.”

And then he’s off talking about how he applied to Hot Topic, and wouldn’t it be funny if I worked in Hot Topic, Ben?

And Ben nods along and laughs, but mostly he’s wondering what’s Dave’s angle. Other men that Klaus has ‘dated’ either wanted him to go out, get a job no matter what and pay bills, or they wanted to keep Klaus at home as their own little kept boy. At first glance, Ben assumed that Dave was the latter; a well-off man who wanted Klaus around to be eye candy and to be fun, until he got bored or found someone more respectable. But instead, he’s encouraging Klaus to get a job - not one that just pays the bills, but one that Klaus likes - and is actively trying to help him.

It throws Ben for a bit of a loop. He wonders again what’s Dave’s angle in all of this, and more importantly, how did Klaus manage to rope him in.

He doesn’t ask, instead, he just smiles and laughs with Klaus, and hopes that it all works out okay.

 -3: Five

It is Five’s considered opinion that Klaus’s taste in men is poor. More than once Five has run into some of Klaus’s… less desirable partners in the early morning, as they tried to leave Klaus’s room, or sometimes on the street as he’s walking through town (often they’re too strung out to recognize Five, which he’s more thankful for than repulsed by).

In general, Klaus’s taste in men seems to be those who are aggressive, self-centered, uneducated, mean, and, often, heavily intoxicated. Five really doesn’t want to know where Klaus found all of his previous partners.

Despite meeting Dave a few times with his family present, and him seeming the picture of chivalry, Five is still wary of him.

Dave is sitting on a sofa in the mansion, Klaus on his lap, both of them watching a tv show when Five stomps into the living room and flops on the opposite couch with a groan.

“Aw, did mom finally shut down your evil lair?” Klaus asks, and Dave snickers a bit into his shoulder.

“Shut up.” Five says though the sofa cushion makes it come out as a grumble. He rolls over. “That stupid receptionist made a mistake, so instead of going in for my fitting at four o’clock on Sunday, I have to go in at two o’clock on Wednesday, and mom isn’t able to pick me up, and Diego and Allison are both busy, so I have to bus all the way there from school, and it’s going to take me, like, an hour.”

Klaus gasps and says, “Oh, the tragedy of it all!”

Dave looks over at the annoyed teenager.

“What’s the fitting for?”

“My eye.” Five says, poking at his left eye without flinching and moving it around a bit. “My prosthetic is loose now, so I have to go in to get a new eye fitted.”

Dave makes an “Oh.” sound, and Five is already waiting for him to ask, ‘how did you lose your eye?’ if nothing else so he can snap at him.

“Do you want me to drive you?”

“It’s none of- what?” Five asks, eyebrows furrowing.

“Do you want me to drive you?” Dave repeats, “It sounds like it’ll be a hassle for you to bus, and I can’t promise I’ll be able to drive you home or to school after, but I can probably drive you there.”

Five blinks a few times. “Are you sure?”

Dave shrugs, jostling Klaus a bit. “Yeah, I’ll just go in early or stay a bit late at work and take a long lunch or something. It won’t be a problem.”

Five agrees, and Klaus says, “Aw, my little bro and my beau are bonding.” before kissing Dave’s cheek.

If that doesn’t aid in bettering Five’s opinion of Dave, the fact that when he picks Five up from school on Wednesday and hands him a cup of coffee does. It doesn’t even matter that it’s Starbucks.

As the doctor is poking around Five’s eye socket with gloved fingers, Five’s mind wanders and he wonders how did Klaus’s taste in men get so good all of a sudden.

 -2: Allison

Allison is perusing the dresses in the department store when she hears a familiar laugh. She looks up and is surprised to see Klaus bouncing up and down the aisles, an amused Dave following closely behind, arms full of different garments.

She waves and catches Klaus’ eye.

“Hey, Allison!” He says, maybe a bit too loudly for the store’s atmosphere. He walks over and gives her a hug. “What’s going on?”

“Not much, just looking around.” She eyes the pile in Dave’s arms. “What about you?”

Klaus - ever the dramatic - flings his arms around Dave. “My three-month probation has ended, so my darling, dear Dave is buying me a gift to celebrate!”

Allison's eyes widen. “Your what?!”

“My probation,” Klaus repeats, “at work.”

For a few seconds, Allison just stares. “You have a job?”

Klaus nods his head excitedly. “Yeah! I work as a receptionist for this yoga place. Dave knows the lady who owns it and helped me get it.”

“All I did was give her a call and asked if she was hiring, you got the job all by yourself,” Dave argues, looking at Klaus lovingly.

Allison congratulates Klaus, and the three of them look around the floor for a little bit, before Klaus goes to the changing room to try on the mountain of clothes that Dave was carrying. After a few moments of silence, Allison turns to Dave.

“Listen, Dave, I just wanted to say thank you for helping Klaus,” She sees Dave open his mouth to interrupt, but she presses on, “and I’m really happy that you and him seem to be getting on, but, well, don’t let him take advantage of you like this.”

Dave furrows his eyebrows. “What do you mean ‘take advantage of me’?”

She motions to the fitting room. “Buying him all these things, getting him jobs, Ben told me that you’re pretty much living together now.”

Dave looks at her with a confused and vaguely insulted face. “We live together because we like spending time together. He got his own job, all I did was call my friend and ask if she was hiring. I didn’t even tell her Klaus’s name. I’m buying him gifts because I love him and he’s been working hard.”

Allison is about to respond, but this time Dave interrupts her. “You should think better of Klaus.”

At that, Allison is almost stunned into silence. She opens her mouth a few times to try and formulate a sentence, but nothing comes out. Instead, she just looks ahead.

After a few minutes, Klaus steps out of the fitting room, twirling and showing off one of the outfits that he and Dave picked out.

“You look gorgeous, baby,” Dave says, voice laced with love and affection. “Do another spin!”

And as Allison watches Klaus spin himself dizzy at Dave’s encouragements, she wonders what Klaus did to meet a guy like Dave.

 -1: Vanya

It’s Vanya’s turn to host the bi-monthly family dinner, and it’s always a tight squeeze around her dining room table.

Most of her siblings are already on their way to being pleasantly drunk, with Klaus already there. He’s told her that he’s cut out the harder things that he was addicted to, and has cut down on the less serious ones like weed and alcohol. For that alone, she decides not to comment on how he’s already drunk an entire bottle of wine by himself.

She goes to pour some more white wine into Dave’s glass when he puts his hand over the top and says, “No, thank you, Vanya. One’s enough for me for tonight.”

Vanya almost startles at that response. “Oh, uh, want some water then?”

Dave smiles and says yes please, so Vanya goes to the kitchen and gets a glass of water, wondering,  Seriously. How the hell is this guy with Klaus?

 +1: Diego

He’s at a bar with Patch and some of her police buddies when they see a kerfuffle across the room. It doesn’t seem to be a fight, but they still peer over, trying to see what the commotion is.

They see a man stumble as he tries to stand up off the floor, apologizing to the people he tripped over. Diego squints and lets out a surprised sound when he recognizes the man, despite his dishevelled appearance.

It’s Dave.

Ignoring the confused glances of Patch’s colleagues, Diego walks over to the clearly drunk man.

“Hey, Dave,” Diego says, causing Dave to look up. For a second he squints, confused before a wide smile breaks out on his face.

“Diego! Hi! Wow, hi, Diego,” he stumbles forward a bit to meet him. “What’s poppin’, my guy?”

“Are you good?” Diego asks, ignoring Dave’s slurred question.

“Oh, yeah, man, I’m fucking great! I’m just super drunk.” Dave laughs, and Diego sighs, starting to lead him back to where Patch is looking at them, strangely.

“Who’s your friend?” One of Patch’s friends asks. Diego stumbles a bit under Dave’s weight.

“This is Dave-” Diego starts, but before he can finish Dave chimes in.

“I’m fucking his brother.” He snorts as Diego looks at him in horror, but after a second, Dave’s face gets very serious. “Wait, Diego, are you just finding out now? Klaus is like.. Super gay, dude. We’re both super gay.”

“I know you’re both gay.” Diego snaps, trying to grab his stuff from the bar. Patch’s friends are laughing maniacally, and despite her best efforts, Patch is too. “What are you even doing here, man?”

“Some of my friends from college are in town. Klaus didn’t want to come, but that’s fine, because one of my friends used to be my coke dealer, except I was super broke in college so I would just suck him off, and that’s a really hard relationship to explain.” Dave blinks a few times. “Actually, it’s not hard to explain, ‘cuz I just did it.”

It’s Diego’s turn to laugh as Patch’s friends fall silent. “I’m going to take you home, Dave.”

“Mkay, Diego,” Dave says, almost entirely leaning against him. With some difficulty, they get outside.

“Wait,” Dave says, pushing Diego away. For a second, Diego thinks he’s going to go back in because he forgot something, but instead he vomits on the sidewalk. He coughs a few times, before standing up again. “Okay, I’m good now.”

Diego gets Dave into the passenger seat of his car and wrestles his seatbelt on. It only takes a few minutes to get Dave to remember his address and some vague directions. When the car starts moving, Dave closes his eyes and leans against the window.

“Did you really do coke in college?” Diego asks, trying to keep Dave from falling asleep.

“Of course I did,” Dave mumbles. “Who doesn’t do coke in college?”

“I didn’t.”

“Yeah, well, you hang out with a bunch of narcs now, so I’m not surprised.”

Diego laughs at the seemingly uncharacteristic response. There’s a few moments of silence, and Diego can hear Dave sigh and slide further down the seat.

“So how did you meet Klaus?” Diego asks. Dave seems to instantly perk up at the sound of his boyfriend’s name. “I don’t think either of you have ever told us.”

“We meet in Vietnam,” Dave says, a dopey grin on his face. Diego furrows his eyebrows and takes a left turn.

“When were both of you in Vietnam?”

“I was there for a month on vacation. Klaus showed up about a week into the trip. I was staying at a hostel near the A Sầu Valley with some friends I was travelling with. They went out to a bar but I didn’t want to go. Instead, I went for a walk outside, in the moonlight. And then, Klaus found me…” Diego is once again surprised by Dave’s romantic nature, the seemingly endless amount of affection he holds for Klaus in his eyes and tone, and how much adoration he- “trying to eat moss.”

“...What?”

“He found me trying to eat moss. I read that some were edible and it looked cool so I wanted to give it a go.” Dave laughs a bit to himself. “And then I just pulled him around the country with me and my buds. And then it was time to go home to Palo Alto, but the thought of leaving without Klaus made me want to die. So I called my landlord, got my sisters to pack up all my stuff and ship it, quit my job, and came back with Klaus.”

Diego stops at a light and uses the opportunity to stare at Dave. “... you moved across country… to be with Klaus… after three weeks of knowing him?”

“Would’ve done it after one week, but we both wanted to see Ha Long Bay.”

Diego is stunned into silence for the remainder of the drive. When he pulls up to Dave’s apartment building, he sees him struggling with the seatbelt, so Diego figures he’ll need to help him get to his apartment.

There’s a few minutes of struggle to get Dave out of the car and into an elevator. He stumbles the whole way. They get to his door, and on principle, Diego refuses to rifle through his brother’s boyfriend’s pockets to find keys. He knocks on the door.

After a few seconds, a sleepy looking Klaus opens the door. His hair is longer than the last time Diego saw him, and he’s wearing a hoodie that Diego is pretty sure belongs to Dave.

“Babe!” Dave croons, throwing himself at Klaus, “I missed you so much!”

“Aw, I missed you too, sweetie-pie,” Klaus replies, grinning wide as he presses a kiss to the side of Dave’s head. “Hey, Diego? What are you doing here?”

“Ran into him,” Diego says, staring as Dave seems to try to burrow into Klaus’s neck. “He was pretty wasted so I gave him a ride home.”

“Oh, thanks, bro!” Klaus wraps his arms tighter around Dave.

“No problem,” Diego pauses for a second. “He told me how you guys met.”

“Oh, in ‘Nam?”

“Yeah. When did you go to Vietnam?”

“Like, eight months ago.” Klaus shrugs and pets Dave’s hair, ignoring his brother’s shocked expression. “I think I got to get my darling dearest to bed. See you at brunch next week, Diego.”

“Yeah, goodnight.” Diego mumbles, as Klaus closes the door. Even after the lock clicks, he can hear his brother laughing and Dave stumbling around.

For the first time since he met Dave, Diego thinks,  Maybe he is perfect for Klaus .

 ++1: Everyone

“Okay, so don’t be mad, but Dave and I got married on 4/20, so that our fiftieth anniversary would be 4/20/69, and I know that none of you were invited, but don’t worry: we’re going to throw a party soon to celebrate!” Klaus says as he and Dave walk into the mansion on Brunch Day.

Everyone stares at the grinning couple, both of them almost vibrating with excitement.

“You got married on 4/20?” Five asks, in disbelief.

“It was my idea!” Dave almost shouts, voice filled with pride.

“Yeah, it was, baby!” Klaus raises his hand for a high five, which Dave enthusiastically returns.

And  yeah  , everyone thinks,  maybe they do make sense together.