#A halfway point update it is while I finish working through things! <3 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kaleidescopebite · 2 months ago

Text

Chapter Three: Day Six

The rest of their night had gone by in a flash; they'd watched a bit of TV, Evan did his Spanish lessons, and Shuang got to learn a bit more about him, like the fact that he enjoyed making jewelry, and loved to paint. Both activities were things she wouldn't have thought of him, considering how he looked, but she found that the contradiction actually sort of suited him; she'd slowly been discovering that, underneath his big, scary appearance, Evan was actually very tender and meek, almost to the point of insecurity. It— he— was so fascinating, and as a consequence of the newfound intrigue, attraction began to form inside her; it overtook her mind all throughout the night, and starting from that night, she began having dreams about him.

Obviously, she knew that saying or doing anything about it was completely out of the question (she did plan on staying here for a while, after all, and trying anything would just make it awkward), so she did her best to keep it to herself, and out of the front of her thoughts; over the next few days to a week, she busied her mind and hands with keeping house, cooking meals, and checking in with her social worker, Xinyan. Shuang was only a little hesitant to update her about her new arrangement, given the rather unconventional way it happened, and the fact that Evan was a stranger to her; not to mention, she wasn't sure if she'd still be allowed to keep her food stamps or insurance, now that she had someone to help her financially. If she lost her medical benefits, how would she ever keep getting her hormones?

So, against her better judgement, she decided to keep Xinyan out of the loop regarding it— until, of course, one particular Thursday, a week or so after she'd moved in.

It was around 11 in the afternoon when Shuang got a call from her out of the blue, while she was preparing lunch for herself; she’d been busy singing (badly) along to the music playing from the stereo in the living room, and only noticed her phone ringing because she went to queue up another song to play. When she saw who it was, she quickly washed her hands and answered it, almost dropping her phone in her urgency. “Hello!” She greeted in Mandarin, “Sorry, I was making lunch.”

“Hey, it's okay, no big deal,” Xinyan replied, “I was just calling to remind you about our meeting today. Same time, same place as usual?”

Meeting..? Oh, wait, fuck, Shuang completely fucking forgot about the three month check-in. Without her car, she couldn't go meet her at the homeless shelter, nor could she ask Evan to take her— he didn't get off work until five today, she was pretty sure. Shit.

She nibbled on her fingernails, her mind racing to try and come up with an excuse, until, when she glanced over at the fridge and saw the picture of Kellen in his baseball uniform stuck to the side, an idea popped into her head. “Actually…” She began, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “I have something to tell you.”

“Oh, okay! What is it?”

“Uhm, I'll tell you more when you get here, but I'll send you the address.”

“Address? Okay… Is three still a good time?”

“Yeah, that should be okay. See you, Xin-Xin.”

“Yeah, see you, girl.”

Call ended.

Turned out that three was not a good time, because no more than fifteen minutes before Xinyan was scheduled to arrive, Kellen was home from school.

It was only when she heard him come through the door as she was getting ready in the bathroom that she remembered, mascara wand frozen halfway to her eye, that school let out at 2:30 and not 3:30— ugh, she was such a space case.

She quickly finished applying her makeup before shoving everything back into her bag and leaving the bathroom, nearly colliding with Kellen outside the door. “Oh! Sorry Kel, I didn't hear you,” She apologized.

Kellen blinked hard a few times and took a couple steps back, his gaze wandering over her frame before settling back on her face; she didn't ponder on it any harder than the initial awareness, instead offering him a small, nervous smile. Well, now she had to involve him. “Uhm, sweetie, I have a favour to ask you,” She said, wringing her hands. “I'm— I'm going to have someone over in a little bit, a friend of mine named Xinyan. She's a social worker, do you know what that means?”

Kellen nodded slowly. “Okay, good. I have my three month check-in with her today, and when she shows up, I want you to stay in your room and keep quiet, alright? Can you do that?”

A small pause, and then Kellen nodded again, fidgeting with the bottom seam of his shirt. Shuang sighed with relief, her head dropping on her shoulders. “Thank you, Kellen, really, I owe you.”

She smiled at him again, and then moved past him towards her room so she could put her new makeup bag away and finish getting ready.

And of course, because she didn't already have enough problems, five minutes before Xinyan was set to arrive, while Shuang was waiting outside for her, Evan came home early from work— the second she saw his truck pull up, her heart dropped to her feet. He wasn't supposed to be here!

She stood from the steps as he got out of the driver’s seat, distress oozing from her every pore to coat her face just like the makeup she was wearing. “E-Evan! You're home early!” She almost squeaked.

Evan looked up at her as he came around the front of the truck, a couple bags of fast food clutched in one hand. “Hey—”

He faltered and froze in place as his voice died in his throat, his eyes going slightly wide. Shuang frowned, fidgeted with the ring on her finger. “What is it? Are you okay?” She asked.

A blink, and then Evan ripped his gaze from her and to the ground, a heavy breath exhaling out of him. “N-Nothin’, yeah, uh—” He stammered, a bit of redness spreading underneath his freckles. “You— Why’re you all dressed up?”

Wait… Did he think she was pretty?

Before Shuang could even try and contemplate that possibility any further, movement down the road drew her attention towards it, and once again, her heart fell from her ribcage. Xinyan was here.

Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she said quickly, “Evan, I have a favour to ask you. Promise you won't get mad at me.”

“Huh? What d’ya mean?” Evan asked.

“My social worker is about to pull up, and I need you to play along. I didn't want to have to involve you, but—”

Xinyan's Nissan parked at the curb right as she said that and they both turned to look, watching as the engine was cut. The door swung open and Xinyan climbed out, clipboard in hand; her black eyes found Shuang’s browns and she beamed bright, giving a wave. “Hiii!” She greeted, bubbly as ever. She looked to Evan as she walked up, asking, “And who is this?”

“Xin-Xin, this is Evan, my uhm—” Fuck, what should she say? “My… boyfriend.”

The word fell out of her mouth before she could stop it, and the second it did, Evan stiffened and whipped his head towards her, shock evident in every inch of his expression— she didn't let herself react to him beyond a tight-lipped smile. What the hell was she thinking, saying that?! “Aww, Shuang, is that what you wanted to tell me?” Xinyan cooed, clutching her clipboard to her chest. “I'm so happy for you! I'm guessing this is his place?”

“Uhm, yeah,” Shuang replied, dropping a couple steps on the stairs towards Evan where he stood near the bottom, her hand finding his bicep. “Don't be shy, hun, say hi.”

She felt his muscles tense under her fingertips, in time with his voice speaking, strained and uneven, “Wh— Uhh, s-sorry, I… I just got off work.”

“Oh, that's okay!” Xinyan flapped her hand, smiling at the two of them. “I won't take up your time, I'm just here to make some notes. So how long have you two been living together?”

“About a week,” Shuang answered.

Xinyan wrote on her clipboard. “And how long have you been together?”

What would a good number be to give her? Shuang wasn't sure…

Turns out, she didn't have to be— Evan answered for her. “Three uh, three months.”

Xinyan raised a brow as she wrote that down, looking back up at them. “Really?” She focused on Shuang. “Why haven't you told me?”

Shuang shrugged, clung tighter to Evan's arm. “It just never came up, I guess.”

“Hmph. I would've thought I'd be the first to know,” Xinyan pouted. “But, I guess it's good you're telling me now. Let's get on with the interview.”

Most of what Xinyan asked about was directed at Evan, since he was the provider: his occupation, birthdate, wage, and education level, along with a brief overview of his personal history, which he seemed less than pleased to provide. He was vague about it, kept his answers pretty surface-level, but it was apparently enough for Xinyan, as after about 10 minutes of interrogation, she decided that was enough and tucked her clipboard under her arm, a pleased expression brightening her features. “Alright, well, that should be everything,” She said, looking up at Shuang. “I'm happy for you, girl, really. I'm glad you found someone that supports you.”

Shuang nodded, slightly apprehensive over the wording— don't bring up that she's trans, don't do it. “Yeah, me too.”

“Okay!” Xinyan hopped in place. “I'll see you two in three months. Have a good day, Shuang, and it was nice to meet you, Evan.”

“You— You too,” Evan muttered.

And then she was off, Shuang watching her go as she got back into her car and drove off; once she was far enough down the road, she detached herself from Evan and stared up at him, disparagingly apologetic. “Evan, I am so sorry about that, I-I didn't really get the chance to tell you, I forgot about our meeting until she called me earlier, and I thought you'd be getting home later, and—”

Evan sighed heavily and held up a hand, which was slightly trembling. “It's—” He attempted, gently clearing his throat before continuing. “It's aight, I get it.”

He wasn't looking at her, and that brought her to realise that he actually hadn't been, the entire time they'd been out here; his expression was skewed, brows spooned and lips a thin line, but she couldn't discern what it meant. The shaking, too… He said it was okay, but did he actually mean that? “Are you sure?” She asked, toying with her ring again. “Really, I'm sorry. My plan originally was to just tell her I was working here as a nanny or something, but then you and Kellen came home sooner than I thought you would, and it threw me off. I never meant to involve you.”

“‘s fine.” Evan said, voice as soft as the gentle breeze that ruffled her hair. “Sorry I messed with yer plan. It's Thursday,” He motioned towards the house. “Kellen’s got group today.”

“Group? As in therapy?”

“Yeah, fer his autism. Speakin’a which—” He checked his watch. “Should go get him, we'll be late if we don't leave soon.”

“Oh, of course, yeah,”

Shuang turned and headed back up the porch towards the door, reaching out to grab the knob, but as she did, she noticed that it was slightly ajar. Had she left it open, or..? Frowning, she pushed it the rest of the way open and stepped through and aside, allowing space for Evan, which he murmured thanks to. Kellen was nowhere to be seen, which must've meant that he'd done what she asked of him and stayed inside his room. Evan shuffled over to it and knocked on the door, announcing through the wood, “Hey baby, time t’ head out. I got you some food, too.”

Silence from the interior; after a good few seconds, Evan tried the handle and peeked inside, his gruff voice taking on that sweet, lilted tone he seemed to always use with his brother. “Kel? We gotta go, baby, c’mon, it's Thursday.”

Shuang lingered by the entryway, watching and fingering the cuff of her blouse; knowing that Kellen and Evan had already had plans prior to her visit made her feel even worse about this whole thing, especially considering the fact that she knew Kellen hated when his routine was interrupted. She just hoped that he wasn't too upset, she'd hate to be the one to put him in a bad mood…

The universe must've been listening, because no sooner had she had that thought that Kellen could be heard moaning in that displeased way he did, and Evan fully entered his room at the sound. Her expression fell, then dropped even more when there was commotion from the inside; she could hear Evan speaking gently to him, could hear rustling and what sounded like, to her, hitting. “It’s okay Kel, I know you're upset, but nothin's changed, we can still go to therapy, I still got yer food,”

That was followed by aggressive, angry groaning and more hitting, and Shuang started to get a little worried. She knew that Evan was bigger than Kellen, that was a given, but he could still get hurt, or Kellen could hurt himself in the process. She wanted to do something, help in some way, but how?

Chewing her lip, she slowly tip-toed towards the room to try and peek inside, but just as she got within a couple feet of the doorway, Evan stumbling through it made her stop and jump a little, clutching at the front of her blouse. Evan shut the door behind himself, the exhale he released shaky and uneven, his expression matching it just the same; he was disheveled, his coveralls crooked and a couple more buttons undone, and there was a big red mark on his left cheekbone that was starting to swell. Oh… She felt so, so guilty. She couldn't stop herself from reaching out to him, finding his chest and the side of his face with ghosting fingertips. “Are you okay? That looks like it hurts,”

Evan flinched away from her touch. “Fine, don't—” He snapped. “Just— ‘m fine. Kellen needs some time t’ calm down.”

Shuang quickly drew back, her stomach twisting into a knot. “I'm sorry.”

Evan squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed a hand over his face, sighing heavily for the third time that day. “No, I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean t’ snap at you, I'm just… kinda on edge. Ain't yer fault.”

“Still…” She murmured. “I am sorry, for this, and for upsetting Kellen. I honestly didn't mean for this to happen.”

“Not like you did it on purpose,” Evan said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. “Don't worry ‘bout it.”

She looked down at her hands, played with her bracelets. That was true, but… she wished it'd make the guilt go away.

Some seconds passed of them standing there silently, until Evan broke it with, “You uh, you hungry?”

She looked up at him. “Hm?”

“If yer hungry, I still got this,” He waved the two soggy brown bags of fast food he was still holding onto, a gentle scent of grease and potatoes wafting from them. “Kellen decided he ain't want it.”

Mm… To be honest, she wasn't really all that hungry, having eaten just a couple hours prior, but she did kind of want a beer… “Not really. I'd like a drink, though.”

Evan scoffed light, his hazel eyes almost seeming to shift and glow where they peered down at her. They really were very pretty. “Yea, think I'd like one, too.”

While they waited for Kellen to come out of his room, Shuang and Evan spent the intermediary drinking a few beers together in the living room. Evan had some music going; it was grunge (she was pretty sure that was what the genre was called), not really her thing, but she didn't comment on it— she knew Evan rarely got to listen to his own music.

Although they'd spent time together fairly frequently over the past week, and had gotten to know each other pretty well, Shuang still didn't know that much about him; just like she'd noticed earlier, when it came to his past, he was very, very vague. He'd opened up some, like about his drug use, the fact that he'd dropped out of high school, and had been hospitalized for a few months, but that was pretty much it. His parents, how he grew up, what his life was like before Kellen— all of that was off-limits.

Yes, apparently, there was a “before Kellen”; according to Evan, he and his brother CJ didn't grow up with him, although he was their biological brother. He'd lived somewhere else (Evan, in his usual fashion, didn't specify what that meant) until he was, verbatim, dropped off at their doorstep when he was 13 years old. Evan had been 23 at the time, and in the process of getting his life together after getting out of the hospital, whilst CJ was finishing up his last year of college. What he was in there for, he didn't elaborate on, beyond that he was mostly reformed— whatever that meant. Shuang tried not to pry, even though her burning curiosity was eating her alive from the inside out. What could've been so bad that he had to be hospitalized? Why had Kellen not lived with them before? Why were their parents not in the picture? What?

She wanted to know, so fucking badly she wanted to know, but unfortunately, there were boundaries, and she had to obey them.

Her own life, however, she readily shared with him— beyond her transness, of course. She'd already indulged fully everything there was to know about her past, as there honestly was not much to share; being a homeless woman, and a trans one at that, went about as well as you'd expect (though she'd always tried to be optimistic); she was on the move a lot, sometimes couch surfing at other transfem’s houses when she had the opportunity. She'd kept to herself as much as possible to avoid trouble or drama, though there had been, unfortunately, some close calls with men who decided they cared more about using her than helping her, especially after learning she was trans. She tried not to think about it too much.

It made her miss China; life had been simple on her family's farm, with every day basically plotted out and very little drama, beyond the occasional death— there'd been many elders in her extended family.

Tonight, however, as they drank their beers, listened to music, and talked, Shuang managed to unlock a new option in Evan's dialogue tree, completely by accident.

“This is cute,”

She'd been standing over by Evan’s crafting desk perusing his handmade jewelry when she'd spotted something she hadn't seen there before: an origami tiger. She picked it up and held it out. “Did you make this?”

From where he was sitting on the sofa, tuning his guitar, Evan looked over, pausing in what he was doing. “Oh, uh, no, Max made that fer me yesterday.”

…Who? “Max?” She asked.

Evan nodded. “Friend’a mine, works with me at my shop.”

“Oh. I didn't know you had a friend, you've never mentioned them.”

“Yeah, she likes t’ keep to herself. Hangin' out ain't really her thing,” Evan said, going back to tuning his guitar. “If it wasn't fer the fact that we work together every day, I doubt I'd even see her.”

“Hmm,” Shuang's brows dipped even more than usual, and she set the paper tiger back on the desk. “Are you guys not close?”

“Nah, it ain't like that,” Evan readjusted himself, dropped his head to the side. “Just like Kellen, she's got autism, but hers ain't as bad. She just likes t’ do her own thing,” Then he smiled halfway, his features going soft. “It's nice when she wants my attention though, like yesterday. She wanted t’ have lunch with me. Ain't done that in a while.”

A pang of something ugly stabbed into Shuang’s diaphragm, and after a second, she realised what it was: jealousy. “That's— That's nice,” She choked out.

Evan smiled wider, his eyes sparkling and fingers fumbling over the strings, and when he spoke, his voice was edged with a giddiness she'd never heard before. “I always go t’ the park to eat, ‘n she came with me. Normally I'd sit in the truck, y’know, on the tailgate, but since there wasn't nobody around we sat in the gazebo. She'd made food fer us, since she knows I don't ever bring a lunch. I can't remember what it was called, but it was good as hell. She's definitely gotten better at cooking. After that we walked around, went on the trail. We must've spent like two hours out there.”

So this happened yesterday… Was that why he'd been in such a good mood when he came home? Shuang had noticed it somewhat, over dinner, that he'd seemed to be much more relaxed and chipper, but she hadn't really thought much of it, beyond the fact that it was nice to see him in better spirits. Now, though, with the context, it… It felt bad, like she'd just been gutted and left out to rot. What did this girl look like? Was she prettier than her? Pfft, of course she was, if she was cisgender…

That thought twisted the knife of jealousy even deeper into her core, so intense that she nearly doubled over. Fuck, she felt like she was gonna throw up.

She didn't, though, just sipped her beer, her grip on the bottle gently shaking; she had to say something, she couldn't just stand there and not reply, that'd be even more awkward than the screaming and crying she actually wanted to do, so, with a clear of her throat, she croaked, “Sounds— Sounds like you guys had fun. I'm happy for you.”

Inside, though, she was dying.

They didn't speak any more on it and Shuang spent the rest of the evening watching Evan play his guitar and talking, doing her best to ignore the writhing black mass of despair sitting like a millstone in the bottom of her gut.

Prologue

Obviously, Shuang knew that her coming out wasn't going to go over well, but being completely shunned by every person she'd ever known to the point that she had to leave the country, wasn't exactly what she expected to happen.

Every single cent she'd had to her name was spent on a plane ticket and somewhere to live in America, the only place she felt she could be herself; she'd done some research, through watery eyes, prior to buying a ticket on the best areas to live in the country as a transgender person, and Washington State was what had come up— not the cheapest place to live, but the cheapest to fly to, so that was what she chose.

Since she hadn't yet secured a job (and was on a temporary visa), she came to the unfortunate conclusion that living in her car (which she got from some guy on Facebook) would be her best, and frankly only, option for the foreseeable future; it wasn't helped by the fact that her English was passable at best, and without any American friends to help her assimilate, the prospects of a living situation were slim. But, at the end of the day, she had somewhere to rest her head at night, so it wasn't like it was all bad.

Another positive, too, was that she was able to begin her transition fairly easily, thanks to a place called Planned Parenthood. She'd found out about the clinic online, and had gone to see about starting estrogen; not only had they done that, they'd also helped her get a social worker that spoke Mandarin to assist in getting her her citizenship, medical insurance, and basic necessities like access to a shower at the local homeless shelter.

Thanks to that, she, for the first time since she'd come out, felt like maybe she was going to be okay.

Chapter One: D-Day

If Shuang didn't get to this interview, she was screwed.

Five years, it had taken her five years to finally get off the waitlist for this halfway house. They'd called her to schedule an interview to potentially get a room the week prior, but of course, her car decided that today was the day that it was going to break down on the way there and strand her on the side of the freeway, miles from the next off-ramp to anything helpful. Why, why today, of all days?

“Come on, Lǐ, don't do this to me!” She whined as she fruitlessly cranked the ignition for the fourth time— to no avail. Lǐzǐ spluttered, his lights flashed, but nothing.

And then the engine started to spout smoke.

Gasping, she scrambled for the hood release and popped it, punching her hazards on as she climbed out of the car; more metallic-smelling smoke was billowing out, completely shrouding the hood to the point that, when she made it around to the front, she couldn't see a thing. This was bad, this was really, really bad!

Her hands found her hair, tears welled in her eyes, and as she stood there and watched her one and only possession sizzle and die before her, one thought crashed into the front of her skull: I'm never making it out of here.

Wheels over pavement and motion out of the corner of her vision tugged her attention away from her car to whatever had pulled up behind her on the shoulder; it was a sort of beat-up black truck, a Ford. The hazards came on as it slowed to a stop, the door swung open, and—

Oh.

Shuang’s stomach leapt into her throat at the sight of who got out of the driver's side: a tall, broad-shouldered, wide-chested man with scars and freckles marking the surface of his rugged face. He was dressed in a plain grey Tee and well-worn jeans that had a chain hanging off the belt; there were bracelets and a necklace, but she didn't get to examine him any further, as he started talking as he drew closer. “Looks like you could use some help,” He said, offering a small, crooked smile.

Shuang lowered her hands to her sides, chewed her lip— his voice was just as intimidating as his appearance. Though… he didn't seem to want to cause her any harm, but that didn't mean anything in the moment. She'd been duped by men too many times to fall for that as easily anymore. “I am,” She answered, motioning vaguely to the still-smoking engine. “It just… gave up on me, and then started doing that.”

“I can take a look at it, if you'd like,” The guy told her. “Though, if it's spewin’ smoke that colour, could only be two things.”

With a nod, Shuang stepped aside and allowed the guy to come closer, which he did, striding around to the front of her car to unlatch and lift the hood; he waved the smoke away with a big hand, took one glance at the engine, and sucked air in through his teeth. “Damn,”

Uh oh. “What?” She asked, peering over the side.

“Cracked engine block,” He informed, flitting his eyes up to her. “Pretty bad, too.”

Shuang checked her phone— she was running out of time… “Well, can you fix it? I really, really need to be somewhere important, very soon,” She shifted her weight, worry sitting heavily in her gut.

“Nah, there's no way I could fix this, ‘specially not here. It needs to be welded, and I ain't certified fer that yet,” He dropped the hood and it slammed shut, his bushy brows quirking upwards. “Not t’ mention, it'd cost ya more’n the price of yer whole car. Better off buyin’ a new one at that point.”

Those words punched Shuang in the stomach and she groaned, burying her face in her hands with a shake. This couldn't be happening, not now, not when she finally was about to get her life together! Burning built up in the back of her throat and pressure formed behind her ribcage, travelling up to strangle her as she felt herself start to cry. And in front of a stranger, too… “為什麼是我..? (Why me..?)” She whimpered.

“But uh…”

A small sniffle, Shuang lifting her head; the guy had his hands in his pockets, his eyes cast down at the ground. “If you want, since you said you had t’ be somewhere, I could take you,” He gave a half shrug and looked up at her. “Could tow your car, too.”

“Really?” She quipped, only a little hesitant; if this were any other situation, she probably wouldn't be as trusting, but… she was more than just desperate— she was out of options. This was literally life or death.

The man nodded. “Ain't no thing. Won't take long, neither,” He smiled out of the corner of his mouth. “since you seem like yer in a hurry.”

Shuang bit down on her lip, then nodded, fiddling with the ring on her finger. “Please. I'd appreciate it.”

Wiping his hands on his jeans, he started back towards his truck. “Just lemme get my brother.”

Brother?

Sure enough, as they walked towards the truck, Shuang spotted a young male, a teenager, sitting in the passenger seat; he wasn't paying attention, instead looking down at something in his lap— a phone, maybe. As they drew nearer, though, he looked up and met Shuang’s gaze for all of a split second before he darted it to his brother’s, keeping it there as the other opened the driver’s side door. “Kel, help me get her car hitched up. She needs a ride.”

The brother— Kel, apparently— didn't reply verbally, instead turning to climb out of the cab and onto the pavement; he paused in front of Shuang for a brief moment and dragged his striking, blue-gold eyes up and down her frame in a way that she could only classify as analyzing, a bit of discomfort tingling in the base of her spine at it— could he clock her? She thought she passed pretty well today…

No sooner had she had that thought that Kel moved on to do what he'd been told, falling in line behind his brother as they headed towards her car. She wasn't really sure what to do, so she sort of just stood there as she watched them do their thing: the taller brunet pulled his truck around and in front of her car whilst Kel sat in Lǐzǐ’s driver's seat, doing something she didn't know. After that, they both got out and lifted the front of the car so they could attach it to the hitch, which was done in a matter of minutes.

She checked her phone again— fuck, she was running behind. Urgency bit at her insides and she bounced on the balls of her feet, tucking her phone away just as the brunet called out, “We're all set, c’mon!”

“Finally,” She hissed under her breath.

Quick as she could, she rushed over to the truck and tugged open the rear door to find Kel already in there, once again on his phone. “You can sit up here,” The older male told her, peering back at her from the driver’s seat. “Ladies first.”

A bit of warmth rose up in her cheeks at that and she looked away, shutting the cab door in favour of the passenger; she hopped up with help from the grab bar and buckled in, just as the guy shifted into drive. “I never got yer name,” He said.

“Oh,” She replied, “It's Shuang.”

“Pretty. I'm Evan,” He shot her a quick glance, that gentle simper still toying about his lips. “In the back is Kellen.”

The compliment both warmed her cheeks and tightened that small bundle of unease in her stomach, but she tried to ignore it. “It's nice to meet you both. Uhm, and thank you again for helping me.”

“‘Course, babydoll,” Evan assured.

And again with the flustering coil of distress. Well, at least she seemed to pass with this guy… “So where you headed?” Evan's voice cut in. “You'll have t’ guide me.”

Oh, right; she pulled out her phone and navigated over to Maps, bringing up the directions as she spoke. “It's the Housing Authority building in Everett, if you know where that is. It's not far.”

“Nah, never been. Just lemme know where t’ turn.”

And with that, they were off, only the sound of the stereo breaking the silence.

Although they had to drive slower than she would've liked due to the fact that they were towing another vehicle, they eventually pulled into the parking lot of the Housing Authority, with one minute to spare.

Shuang rushed out a “thank you” as she clambered out of the cab, running to her car around back and the passenger side door to snatch her purse off the seat. As she passed by the hood of the truck, Evan called through the window, “Hey, you got a ride home?”

Shuang paused, shifting her weight. “No, uhm, probably not. Why?”

Evan held something out to her, and she moved a couple steps closer to take it— a piece of paper? “There's my number. When yer done, gimme a call, or text me, whatever. I'll come take you where you gotta go.”

She blinked. “...Really?”

“Well, ain't like you got a car,” Evan stated, “And I ain't got nothin’ t’ do today. Just lemme know, aight?”

As much as Shuang wanted to stay and discuss just why exactly Evan wanted to help her, she was going to be late if she didn't leave, so instead she replied, “Yeah, okay.” And took off towards the building, running across the lot, up the steps, and through the double doors.

She really hoped she made it in time…

Well, she'd made it, but it wasn't like it mattered, anyway— all the stress, all the waiting, the months of preparation, and she didn't even get the room.

Shuang sat on the steps outside the building with her face buried in her hands, full-on sobbing into the sleeves of her shirt; her mind was utterly incapable of thinking of anything besides the one absolute she had hoped she had left behind on that freeway shoulder: I'm never making it out of here.

Car was fucked, leaving her with nowhere to stay, she had no job, no one to turn to, and now… no promise of a better life. She usually tried not to be negative, she really did, but the past, fuck, three years had just consistently been beating all the optimism out of her, to the point that, as she sniffled and dried her wet eyes with the back of her hand, she found herself contemplating if it was even worth continuing to try— really not a good sign.

But then she remembered…

Sniffling again, she wiped her nose with her sleeve and then dug into her beat-up purse for that slip of paper Evan had given her earlier, the one that had his number on it; once she found it, she pulled it out to stare at it, indecision clouding her expression.

On one hand, asking a complete stranger for help was a terrible idea, not to mention dangerous, especially considering her track record with men, but… On the other, this was, again, the only option she had left. It was Evan, or nothing.

A deep sigh, and then she called the number.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

“Evan.”

“Hey, uhm, it's Shuang,”

“Oh, hey. You need a ride?”

“Yeah, and uh, I had something else I wanted to ask you, too. It— It can wait though, until you get here.”

“Sure thing, babydoll. Text me the address, I'll be right over.”

“Okay. Uh, see you.”

“Yup.”

Call ended.

Roughly half an hour later (as far as she could tell, anyway, she hadn't exactly been paying close attention to the time), Shuang spotted Evan's truck pulling into the parking lot, her vehicle no longer in tow; he'd told her on the drive up that he would be taking it to his auto shop for storage, so she assumed that that was where it was. Hopefully, anyway.

She stood from the steps and descended towards the curb, Evan pulling up right as she landed; as she climbed in, she noticed that he was alone. “Did your brother not want to come with?”

“He’s at baseball practice,” Evan told her, that crooked smile painting his lips once more. “And nice t’ see you again, Shuang.”

“Oh,” She muttered. “Nice to see you, as well…”

“So,” He faced forward and shifted into drive, turning the radio down a couple notches after. “What'd you wanna ask me?”

Fuck. “Right, uhm…” Shuang hesitated as she buckled up, a heavy exhale blowing out of her; she'd long since lost her ability to be any kind of embarrassed or ashamed of asking for help thanks to the whole homeless thing, but that didn't mean that she couldn't still be uncomfortable, especially when it came to talking to men. Wasn't like Evan was making it any easier, either, with the way he spoke to her…

Chewing on her lip, she twisted the strap of her purse in her grasp and looked at him. “I wanted to ask, uhm, since… the reason I had to go to the Housing Authority is because I was having an interview for a room at a halfway house, but I was denied. And since my car is dead, I don't have anywhere to stay anymore.”

“You were livin’ in yer car?” Evan interjected, shooting her a widened glance.

“Yes,” She affirmed, looking down at her lap. “So, I wanted to ask if… you could help me. I know that fixing my car is really expensive, but I don't really have any other options, and—”

“Hold on a sec, Shuang,”

They came to a stop at a red light and he turned to face her, concern etched into his features. “I can't help you by fixin’ yer car, ‘cause I don't really got the ability t’ do that. But maybe I can do somethin’ else fer you,” He told her. “I’ll have t’ talk about it with my brother, but you could crash at my place, if you want.”

…Wait, what?

Shuang blinked wide, her mouth flapping. “You— You want me to live with you?”

The light turned green and Evan began to drive again, shrugging as he returned his eyes to the road. “It doesn't seem right t’ me to let a woman live on the streets when I can do somethin’ about it. I'd hate fer anything bad t’ happen to you.”

Shuang felt her stomach flip over itself, all of her thoughts running at a million miles an hour in every direction, because there was no way this was real. People don't just… open up their homes to random strangers like that, that wasn't how it worked, at least not in her experience. But… Evan seemed genuine, had certainly acted as much in the short amount of time she'd known him, so… maybe he was being legit?

Then again, he was a man, and a big one, at that— what would happen if she said no? Would he get mad? Physical? Wouldn't be the first time. “I appreciate the offer…” She meekly began, wringing the strap of her purse.

“It's aight if you ain't wanna, I understand,” Evan said carefully, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. “If you wanna stay in yer car, and since it's at my shop, I could let you live there. Could use the bathroom ‘n stuff whenever you want. No shower, but… it'd be somethin'.”

Honestly, Shuang didn't know what to say, so she kept quiet; he seemed so adamant about it, like her plight was hurting him personally— it almost made her feel bad that she had so much cunctation. Not like she could really help it, after everything. She wondered if there was some kind of ulterior motive… With men, there usually was. “You’re being very generous to someone you've just met,” She commented lightly, looking over at him. “Almost makes a girl wonder if you're expecting to get something out of it.”

At that, Evan promptly blushed and scoffed under his breath, his head ducking. “N-Nah, I uhm… I just like t’ help, is all. I know what it's like to be on yer own, with no one t’ turn to and nowhere to go. Ain't fun,”

She hummed softly, analyzing him as she mulled over his words; if that, the mere insinuation of something sexual was enough to fluster him, then perhaps she didn't need to be as scared of him as she thought. She'd be cautious still, obviously, but she felt she could at least kind of trust him. For now, anyway.

Yeah, that sealed it.

Just as she opened her mouth to say as much, a phone went off— Evan’s, it seemed, as he dug around in his pocket for it. He came up with a smartphone, a nice one, too, eons moreso than her own cheap chocolate bar; it'd been provided to her by the state along with her food stamps, so it wasn't the best, but it was better than nothing. “Looks like Kel’s ready to get picked up,” Evan announced as he quickly tucked it back into his jeans.

“Then I guess that gives you the chance to ask him about me staying with you,” She said.

He darted his eyes over to her, a brow rising. “So you do wanna?”

She nodded. “Well, it'd be stupid of me to say no, in my position. Besides,” She let slip a smirk. “I like you enough.”

To her surprise, that visibly flustered Evan, his broad shoulders coming to tense. “Ah, well…”

Interesting… Shuang hummed to herself and leaned back in her seat, a bit of intrigue tingling in the back of her mind.

About twenty minutes later, they arrived at the park where Kellen was having practice.

Evan had barely slid into a parking spot before Kellen was materializing on the other side of the passenger window, making Shuang jump; she only got a glimpse of his wide eyes before he averted his gaze.

Evan rolled her window down. “Sorry, Kel, I ain't get the chance t’ tell ya she'd be here,” He projected from the driver's seat. “Can you hop in the back, baby?”

Kellen nodded and did what he was told; once he and his sports bag were loaded up, they were off. “How was practice?” Evan asked.

No answer, at least not a verbal one, which Evan must've expected, because he continued, “That's good. So listen Kel, there's somethin’ I gotta ask you. I know this is kinda sudden, but Shuang here needs a place t’ stay fer a while, ‘n I was thinkin’ she could crash with us.”

Kellen made a little noise, a low, almost moan of displeasure; at it, Evan went on, “It's aight, baby, nothin's gonna change. You can still keep doin’ yer thing, she's gonna be in my room, ain't gonna bother ya. It's okay.”

Another little noise, but this time Shuang looked in the side mirror to see what Kellen was doing in the backseat; he had his brows furrowed and was rocking back and forth, his gaze seemingly fixated on nothing. Strange. That was really strange. “Don't worry, baby, if it gets t’ be too much fer you, I've got another plan. Let's just try it, aight? Can you do that?”

Kellen was still rocking back and forth with that displeased expression, but he nodded, anyway, which earned him a cheery, “That's my boy.”

A bump to her shoulder jerked Shuang's focus from the mirror to Evan, looking up at him to find him doing the same. “You hungry?”

Her stomach must've heard that question, because after he said it, it growled and panged angrily. Kind of embarrassing, but, well, it had been a few hours since she'd eaten last. Thanks to her interview, she'd been too nervous for breakfast. “Yes, actually, I am,” She replied.

Evan turned his attention to Kellen in the rear-view. “How ‘bout you, Kel, you hungry?”

A nod in response. “Then let's get food.”

Where they stopped was a Jack-in-the-Box; Shuang had only been a few times, so she got something simple, as she wasn't overly familiar with the food: a medium chicken sandwich meal with a cherry Sprite. Kellen got four tacos and fries, and Evan also got a chicken sandwich, but he swapped his fries for onion rings.

Only a couple minutes later, they were turning into a mobile home complex, and then two streets and a stop sign after that, they were pulling into the driveway of a blue, new-build, single-wide trailer. They all got out, Shuang sipping her soda as she trailed behind the brothers up the porch steps to the front door and inside.

To her surprise, the interior was clean and rather orderly, with only a few knickknacks scattered about the space: LEGOs and a couple books on the living room floor, a few jackets thrown over the rear of the sofa. The air smelled nice, like jasmine, and it had her feeling a bit better about her decision to say yes— this almost definitely wasn't the home of a serial killer.

The instant that he was inside, Kellen toed off his shoes next to the others in a row at the entryway and took off down the hall, his sports bag and food in tow; after a second, a door opened and closed, and Evan let out a little scoff. “Don't take it personally,”

Shuang turned to him, her head slightly cocking. “What do you mean?”

Evan set his wallet and keys in a little tray on the breakfast bar, that easygoing simper still on his countenance. “Him runnin’ off like that. He’s not too good with new people, or with changes in his routine. He’ll come around.”

“Oh, it's okay, I don't mind,” She said. A brief reminder of how the younger had acted when they picked him up came to her then, and she contemplated not saying what she was about to next, but her mouth moved before she could stop it. “Earlier, in the car… I saw him rocking back and forth.” She stated. “And I noticed that he doesn't talk.”

Evan kicked off his shoes, grabbed his bag of food from the bar. “If yer gonna be here a while, you might as well know. He has autism.”

Oh. Well. Now she felt bad for thinking him strange. “Ah, I see. Thank you for telling me.”

“Sure,” He nodded towards the dining room. “Let's go sit and eat, huh?”

Yeah, they sat and ate, but that wasn't all they did.

Shuang had only just taken a second bite of her chicken sandwich when Evan prodded, “So Shuang, I was wonderin’... How did you get t’ be homeless?”

She slowly chewed her food, glancing up at Evan as she did— how honest should she be? So far she hadn't been clocked, and it would probably be in her best interest to stay stealth, considering…

A swallow that she followed up with a sip of soda, and then she answered. “I'm not originally from America. I grew up in a small village in Tongxin, in China,” She began, “But when I… came out, to my parents when I was 18, they kicked me out. America was the only place I felt I could uhm, be myself.”

“You’re a lesbian?” Evan asked, his brows dipping.

Shuang laughed softly. “I wouldn't say that.”

Evan blinked in confusion, then slowly nodded, the corner of his mouth tugging upwards. “I'm bisexual, too,” He grabbed an onion ring. “Not that it matters. I ain't been with anybody in years.”

Wow, she actually had not expected that at all.

This new knowledge made her diaphragm flutter, her cheek being bitten between her molars; thoughts and ideas she knew would get her into trouble tried to run wild in her mind, but she just as quickly shut them down, munching on her sandwich to distract herself. Don't even start, Shuang. “Any reason why?” She decided to question.

“It's…” Evan started, looking down at the onion ring he still hadn't eaten. “It's a long story. Mainly that I just… got bigger, more important things t’ be worryin’ about right now. Like Kel, my shop, shit like that,” He shrugged. “Just easier not t’ bother.”

“Mm, I understand. You do have a lot of responsibilities for someone your age,” Another sip of her soda as she paused, her brows quirking. “Actually, how old are you, anyway?”

“27,” He answered. “You never told me yer age, neither, now that ya mention it.”

Much younger than she thought he was… “I’m 24,” She said. “I honestly thought you were older. Not that you look it, just… you give off a sort of—” She waved her hand vaguely. “—experienced energy. Like you've lived an accomplished life already.”

Evan ducked his head in a rather cute way and cleared his throat, still fidgeting with the onion ring. “A-Accomplished is kinda a strong word for it, but yeah, I-I guess yer right.”

His freckles stood out even more against the scarlet backdrop of his blush, and it took literally everything inside of Shuang not to comment on it— keep it to yourself, you know better. “Well, we can agree to disagree,” She said laughingly.

“S’pose so.”

She returned her attention to her food, Evan doing the same.

The rest of the evening was spent moving Shuang and her stuff into Evan’s bedroom, which wasn't exactly labour intensive, considering she had almost nothing to her name; it didn't take very long to get it all moved from her hatchback and set up, and by the time dinner rolled around at 7:30, she was fully moved in.

Dinner was burritos, which were, according to Evan, Kellen’s favourite. Shuang helped him in the preparation, even though he didn't ask and she didn't know how to make them, but from the brief explanation he'd given her, it didn't seem like it'd be that hard— it was just filling in a tortilla. She'd made spring rolls and baos before, so she felt she had a pretty good idea of the methodology, and after she and Evan finished cooking and prepping all the fillings, that seemed to ring true for the most part during assembly, as by the time Evan finished setting the table, she'd managed to actually wrap four good-sized ones. She smiled to herself as she looked down at them all nestled together on the plate, her hands finding her hips. “Not too shabby for yer first time,”

She cocked her head up to Evan where he now stood beside her and simpered. “I think the saying goes, ‘this ain't my first rodeo’.”

Evan laughed. “Yeah, seems like it.”

Creaking of a door opening drew their attention towards the hallway, whereupon Kellen appeared out of the darkness, unfocused eyes pointed at the floor, a stray hand fidgeting with his eyebrow piercing. “Hey, baby, I was just about t’ call ya fer dinner,” Evan greeted.

Kellen didn't say anything, just stood there with a slight waver to his frame; after a couple seconds, though, he mumbled something so low Shuang couldn't even hear what it was. To it, Evan replied, “Yup, yer favourite.”

Shuang frowned slightly. How the hell had he even heard that?

Kellen quickly sat down, rocking back and forth in his chair with his hands shoved between his thighs, his head hanging low. As she watched him, an idea popped into her head: Maybe… this could be her chance to be friendly. She knew that he was shy, so perhaps using food would be a good neutral approach. Couldn't hurt to try.

She took up the plate of burritos and walked with it over to the table, the corners of her mouth lifting into a soft smile as she came near him. “I made you two, since your brother said you have a big appetite,” She told him, setting the plate down in the middle. “I did, too, when I was your age. It was like I couldn't eat enough.”

Obviously, she didn't expect a response from him, and of course, didn't receive one; Kellen stayed quiet, but didn't stay still, instead reaching out to grab two burritos off the plate to place them on his own. He had that same listlessness to his expression she'd noticed earlier in the car, sort of like he was dazed, yet there was a rather strange, material intensity behind his pupils. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it…

Wait, she was staring. Don't make it weird, Shuang.

Looking away from him, she served up the rest of the food before taking the plate back to the kitchen, and then grabbing a few cups along with a 2-liter of soda from the fridge.

She returned to sit in her seat, a small, wriggling pit in her stomach.

#my works #my ocs #queer story #transfem character #writing

23 notes · View notes

crescencestudio · 2 years ago

Text

Devlog #33 | 07.26.23

Hi everyone!

It's only been a month (per usual) since the last devlog. But it feels like so long ago! Very weird that last devlog I hadn't even released Intertwine yet. But here we are, back with another one!

Before we get into things, I want to extend the biggest thank you to everyone who has played and supported intertwine!

if you havent played yet, here it is. this is me on my knees asking because i am quite proud of it and what our team accomplished in two months!

in the almost month it's been out, we stand at almost 15k total plays and 200+ reviews which is so crazy to me. i never would've expected that kind of reception for our little game and when i say it has been so motivating for alaris!!! u dont even know!!!

thank you again for all the kind words---i know you are all Sick of me talking about it but i don't know how else to express my gratitude <3 it means so much to me ;_;

I wanted to make sure I inserted an official section for it in the Devlog just to really thank you all for the support. But with that, I shall get into the updates!

But not before a quick belated happy birthday to Fenir!

Writing

I posted it earlier this week, but I HAVE!!! THE MOST EXCITING NEWS!!! At least for me.

I FINISHED DRUK'S FIRST DRAFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We all know how long this has been in the making. I've been talking about his route for what feels like an eternity. Evidently, it's Very Normal to experience burnout, struggles with motivation, creative ruts, etc. etc. at this point in development. The initial and final stages of development are easier because your motivation is up. In the beginning, it's like Wow!! This is Fun!! And towards the end, it's like Wow!!! I actually Fckn Made It!!!!

And so the middle part of development, aka the stage I just entered with Druk's route, is the slog.

Now that I've overcome that initial hurdle, while I'm not near the end of development, I do feel like I will have a better handle of progress on the following routes since I have a better set of expectations and tools on how to get through this stage (compared to when I initially started Druk's route, and I was like what are all these Feelings?? Why am I Struggling so much??).

That being said, WE ARE OVER HALFWAY DONE WITH THE SCRIPT! It currently stands at 200k words including the demo, and with how each of the routes have been shaping up, we have about 150k left to go. Wow!!!!! It is crazy to know I've written that much for Alaris, and this feels like such an exciting milestone to know that I'm over halfway there for the script!

We also have just about wrapped up Fenir's developmental edits, so that makes Kayn and Fenir's foundational versions of their routes done (all that would be left at this point is line tweaking and/or revisions based on beta feedback)!! Overall, this was a really exciting month for writing updates, and I'm so happy to feel back on track with Alaris development <3 I also finished my dissertation proposal in case anyone is keeping track of that HEEHOO

Art

Most of my attention for art was (un?)fortunately on Intertwine this month AGAIN. I really had anticipated being able to dive right into Alaris and irl work this month after Otojam ended. But the reception to Intertwine made it so I needed to dedicate some time to "marketing" artwork aka the artwork I like to make when reaching certain milestones of support (e.g., 1k downloads, etc.). Obviously these aren't necessary, but I like to show my thanks and appreciation in some way, and the artwork is what feels best conveys my gratitude.

Because we hit milestones relatively quickly, I ended up having to make those pieces faster than I anticipated prior to release. So I spent the first half of this month mostly on intertwine "promotional/apprecation" artwork. Near the tail end of this month though, I've prioritized Alaris artwork and have made progress on both the Kickstarter physical rewards and some CG sketches!

sneaky peeky of pretty mermay Aisa

Vui continues to hit it out of the park with the backgrounds. Most of them are spoilers at this point. But I do have one that isn't too bad of a spoiler! And because you all have been so supportive and patient with me, I show hehe

vui and his bg mastery: a preview of the dragon springs

The demo mentions dragon springs (I..... think......... LMAO), and here is a preview of what those dragon springs can look like. Wonder what the context will be in which we visit them, teehee! I'm in love with the way Vui brings the fantasy world of Alaris to life. I am so grateful for him ^^

Market Research

My wrist was feeling ~delicate~ this month due to Otojam crunch and then post-release pieces. So I don't have any actual art pieces to showcase this month for market research. I did play Otojam games and started Cupid Parasite (ryuki and allan my beloveds). But crescence's wrist needs to relax LOL. So no art pieces more than necessary for this month!

I will send some love to my besties over at Ravenstar Games though! If you haven't heard, they have a game currently in development called Lost in Limbo. It looks sick as hell, and the team is unbelievable talented and hardworking. This month to celebrate Barbie, they were able to sneak this promotional piece in, even while working on their Master's ((Do you see...... a familiar group of people..... heh))

Alaris x Lost in Limbo x Barbie the collaboration of the century

That's all from me for now. Thank you again for all the support and love on Intertwine! I've truly cherished all the fanwork, reviews, kind messages, etc.

That being said, while it was a bit of a struggle getting back returning to the Alaris world initially (I was literally like what.... was the plot of this again... LMAOsazodujf), it's been so rewarding to return to my OG gang. The intertwine release and return to Alaris work has also been strangely sentimental since it's reminded me how far I've come in the two years I've been in this dev Thang. As always thank you for your continued support (and for supporting Alaris since it's inception when I was a Wee Dev), and I look forward to bringing you more updates in the future <3

See you all next month, and stay safe!

#devlog #alaris

68 notes · View notes

chayscribbles · 3 years ago

Text

chayscribbles’ monthly writing update ☆ october 2022

☆ STATISTICS.

words written: more than last month. that must count for something

projects worked on: Andromeda Rogue, Andromeda Rising

proudest accomplishment: hit 100k words written since the beginning of 2022 across all my wips!!!

books read: Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir; The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri; Memoria by Kristyn Merbeth (in progress)

☆ GENERAL COMMENTS.

(i know i said i was gonna make a separate post for reading updates but then i didn't oops. if more than like, 5 people say they're interested i'll make an effort. maybe.)

(both Nona and Oleander Sword were 5 stars btw.)

writing continues to be hard (both for writing reasons and also Life reasons) but on god imma do it. i'll emerge shaking and covered in blood perhaps but imma kill this draft before it kills me.

more specific wip-related comments + featured excerpt below.

☆ COMMENTS: ANDROMEDA ROGUE (rereading)

i'm about halfway through this reread! i sort of stopped near the middle of the month as i switched back to AR3 but rereading this draft right away was actually such a good decision. it's been nearly a year and a half since i finished it so i'm constantly finding little things i'd written and forgotten about. like finding 5$ in the pocket of an old jacket.

i've been pleasantly surprised at how... not bad it is lol. obviously it's a first draft, there are plenty of things that need patching up, but while i thought i was gonna have to carve out its guts in the second draft, turns out it only needs a bit of a facelift. maybe even just a new haircut. if anything, it's motivating me to keep going.

one of the most jarring but amusing things is being reminded of how all the characters have developed since the beginning of their story. ESPECIALLY the dynamics between Finn and Petra hehe. let's say they've come a long way from being begrudging, mistrustful teammates.

☆ COMMENTS: ANDROMEDA RISING (drafting)

this is probably the worst decision of my life but i'm gonna try to finish AR3 for nano and just. clenches teeth. get it over with. lord help

at least i've figured out .... something for the rest of my outline (climax + epilogues). deciding what the gang is up to after everything was really hard and i'm still not sure i'm satisfied with it. oh well it can always be changed later! (<- repeated to myself under my breath as i rock back and forth on the floor hugging my knees to my chest)

hopefully i can take advantage of the collective writer energy of nano to blitz through it before i start doubting myself and paralyze myself with fear! head down eyes closed full speed no regrets !!!! (please give me all the encouragement, i'm gonna need it😭)

☆ FEATURED EXCERPT.

it is literally impossible to post AR3 excerpts at this point bc even if i find something that's not spoilery, it would require 3 books of context to understand, so here's some AR1 i rediscovered in my reread.

this scene is SO funny to me for some reason. for context this is Petra and Finneas within about fifteen minutes of knowing each other.

Petra placed her hands on her hips, hoping it would make her look more authoritative. “All I’m asking is for you to not insult anyone at team meetings.” “Do I have to attend team meetings?” Finneas groaned. “I’d like for you to,” Petra replied, although she was pretty sure her scowl said otherwise. “You’re part of the team.” “I don’t do teams.” “You could at least try.” “Mm, hard pass. You may have your job, but I have mine,” he said finally. “And I’m just the pilot.” With that, he whirled around and started for the exit. Petra wasn’t sure what it was, but something prompted her to call after him. “Pilot.” He paused in the doorway without looking back. “I’m not expecting you to like me,” she began. “I’m not planning on it,” he replied curtly. Petra bristled, but chose not to engage. Now was not the time for a fight. “But as long as we’re on this ship together,” she went on, “I need you to try to respect me, and I’ll do my best to respect you. Alright?” Finneas remained silent for a moment, his back still turned to her, and Petra wondered what was going on in that hard head of his, behind those cold green eyes. Finally, he said, “Whatever you say, Commander.” From his tone, Petra had little reason to believe he meant it at all.

...and we all know how THAT'S gonna turn out 😏

🦇thank you for reading and happy halloweeeen!! 🦇

☆ TAGLISTS. let me know if you want to be added/removed to either.

general taglist:

@nicola-writes @dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthorr @stormharbors @quilloftheclouds @ashen-crest @writeblrfantasy @celestepens @stardustspiral @pepperdee @extra-magichours @avi-why @lefttigerobservation @chazzawrites @bardolatrycore

andromeda trilogy taglist:

@bebewrites @nicola-writes @dgwriteblr @the-orangeauthor @stormharbors @akindofmagictoo @quilloftheclouds @nora-theteawriter @ashen-crest @corpsepng @writeblrfantasyy @toboldlywrite @celestepens @stardustspirall @pepperdee @cheerfulmelancholies @extra-magichours @writeouswriterr @cilly-the-writer @lefttigerobservation @rose-bookblood @drowsy-quill @chazzawritess @cynic-and-chief

#chayscribbles writing update #wip andromeda trilogy #wip andromeda rogue #wip andromeda rising

19 notes · View notes

mr-jaybird · 2 years ago

Note

🎁🌻🎯

🎁 Have a piece of a WIP you want to share?

I actually don't 😭

One of my insane behaviors is that I usually sit down and write an entire chapter/one-shot in one sitting, or if it's a long one two days in a row, but usually just one. I don't like doing a bit here and a bit there although maybe if I did I'd update faster ripppp. However the net result is that I don't have any pieces available for this sadly :(

🌻 How often do you read your own fics?

It honestly depends. I do read my own fics, though I almost never go back to ones that from special interests I've moved on from. I write the things I want to read so I really enjoy rereading my own work, especially if it's been long enough I've forgotten details, but some are also so achingly personal that I've not gone back to them for fear of ripping open emotional wounds that have since gotten a bit scabbed over! There is one particular She-Ra one shot I wrote that I'm not sure if I'll ever read now because of what was going on in my life at that time that I poured into it. I often translate personal pain I'm going through into the experiences and emotions of characters I write.

For Choosing Life specifically I have reread the earlier chapters a few times, and I plan to get it bound in an actual physical book when I finish it. It's gotten too big for a complete reread while in the middle of writing it now but like. That fic particular is the culmination of everything I personally would want to read in a fic. Though my Horizon special interest will likely move on at some point, I don't think Choosing Life will ever not be important to me because of how much love and work I've poured into it, and it's part of why I'm so devoted to finishing it.

🎯 Do you have a writing milestone you’re working towards?

Yes! Finishing Choosing Life, which I estimate will be around 300k words when done. It's just past the halfway point, I think, and today is its one year anniversary of its publication! Not sure if it will take me a full year to write the rest--I hope that the crisis I've been dealing with at work abates by June and that I'll have more free time again. We'll see! It WILL be finished before Horizon 3 lmaoooooo

#(to any wondering horizon 3 hasn't even been announced though i'm sure it's in development that's part of the joke 😂)

4 notes · View notes

nocaffeineforlevi · 1 year ago

Text

Bonus Quest - Personal Project Reflection: COMPLETE

Notes:

Achievement Unlocked! I forgor II - You really should have worked on this earlier, but it's okay, at least you finished it on time.

Achievement Unlocked! Good Breakdown - You managed to get through this one without any crying, but you did get a little choked up at a section you were writing.

Achievement Unlocked! If it works for you? - You stopped halfway through the essay, paused the ambience, listened to Diggy Diggy Hole, and then turned the ambience back on and started working again. It wasn't even a procrastination thing, you fully decided you needed to take a quick break to listen to Diggy Diggy hole and do nothing else, and you stuck to it. Good job?

Skill Level Down! Procrastination - You did, however, spend two hours that you could have been working reading fanfiction instead before you finally started writing. You were yelling internally at yourself the entire time though, so I'll give you credit for that.

Skill Level Down! Poor Judgement - The Mechanisms are good, however, you are fully aware that you cannot write anything while listening to them. It might be the storytelling, it might just be Jonny Sims voice, whatever it is, you know there was no point struggling for half an hour before giving up and going back to the ambience.

Quest Log Updated:

2.5/3 Complete

Begin Quest: Homework (Don't mind me, trying to help the ADHD)

Quest Details:

Complete the Following:

Chemistry Homework

Econ Homework

Math Homework

Current Buffs:

Good Vibes (Gained via Archives Ambience playing in the background)

Good Vibes II (Gained via Space Video Screensaver)

4 notes · View notes

ptergwen · 4 years ago

Text

web of lies

take a leap. if you start to fall, the net will appear to catch you.

photographer!peter x journalist!reader || masterlist

w/c: 7.1k

warnings: swearing, one drinking mention, descriptions of anxiety, and angst if ya squint

summary: peter can’t stop holding your hands, betty and ned are the modern day bonnie and clyde, ned is a terrible guy in the chair, the osborn’s are up to something, and mj hates you all

a/n: y’all i’m super excited about this series like i haven’t had an idea i’ve really loved in months? so it’s good to be back !!! there are tons of things i have planned and i can’t wait to share them with all of you hehe i really hope you enjoy part one <3 happy reading

to be honest, which is what you do best, you’ve had a thing for peter parker your whole time at the daily bugle. you actually almost told him once.

a couple months ago, peter walked you home on a night you worked overtime. he’d came in last minute to leave some pictures on your boss’s desk. no one else but you was there, hunched at your computer in the dim office lighting. peter was pleasantly surprised to see you, yet concerned for your well-being. you had to put your finishing touches on a story.

he didn’t feel comfortable letting you travel alone at that hour. so, he went with you when you were ready. his company was more than welcomed. you told peter about your article while you two sat on the subway. he’d listened intently, your head resting on his shoulder and his arm around you. he made sure you got to your apartment building alright as well.

“hey, peter?” you’d asked, halfway up the steps. he was waiting until you were inside and safe to leave. “hm? you good?” he’d smiled sort of expectantly. “yeah. i... i wanted to say...”

your words got caught in your throat when he gave you the softest puppy eyes you’ve ever seen. you couldn’t do it. for some reason, you were too scared to confess how you felt. “thanks again for walking me home,” you’d settled on. he’d seemed disappointed that was what you wanted to tell him. nevertheless, he said not to worry about it before taking off.

that one moment perfectly captures it all; how yours and peter’s narrative plays itself out.

—

“we’ve got an update on hydra v. the people!”

“those freaky giraffes escaped the zoo... again.”

“shoot one more spitball and it’ll be your last.”

“does anyone have an aspirin?”

welcome to the daily bugle, where the chaos never ends and the calm never starts. you’ll find new york’s finest writers, publishers, and creatives of all kind right here. that would include you. you’re one of the top journalists in the whole building, according to mr. norman osborn. he’s the brilliant and slightly insane man who runs this place.

although it’s rare for someone in your field, you were hired straight out of college. norman read a few pieces you’d written and loved them so much that he offered you a job. full time, full benefits, no questions asked. there was something special about the way you wove your words together. your writing had its own voice. a strong voice, one the paper was severely lacking.

you’ve been with the bugle for just over a year now. it’s not the quiet, nine to five gig you were initially expecting it to be. you’re each very unique individuals in your office, and there’s never a dull moment because of it. your coworkers can be found hosting debates on the riskiest topics or tackling each other for blueberry muffins, and that’s just a regular tuesday. the place is stranger than strange. but, it’s become home.

thanks to mr. osborn being so accommodating, you actually settled in rather quickly. another big help has been the friends you’ve made. your first was michelle jones, who prefers to be called mj. she’s a fellow journalist with a wickedly dark humor that trickles into her writing. if you had to describe her in one word, it would be blunt. mj is as real as it gets, and also eternally loyal. she keeps her circle small, so you’re honored you get to be in it.

mj sits right next to you, which means you’re always talking through your days. that’s due in part to the way your office is set up. there aren’t any cubicles, tables and swirly chairs taking up their space instead. norman heard it was more progressive, probably from his son harry.

harry is about your age, only a couple of years older. he hangs around quite a lot, but doesn’t do much with his time besides that. according to norman, he’s still seeking out his passion. he’s banking on him finding a suitable career at the bugle. he’d like to pass this all on to harry some day, hopefully sooner than later. either way, you don’t mind having harry here. he’s super funny and friendly with everyone.

there’s also ned leeds, who’s an editor and reviews most of your pieces. he’s sweeter than candy, even when he’s ripping your grammar to shreds. on the rare occasions you’re not discussing breaking news, you two talk about movies. ned is a film buff and gives you the best recommendations. you’re convinced he was a critic in his past life.

last but so from least is peter parker. he only works for the bugle part time, since he’s still in school. you both graduated from your respective colleges the same year. peter wants to get his masters degree, though. he’s a photographer who’s aspiring to be a cinematographer. him and ned have their passion for the industry in common, and that’s what makes them such great friends.

you learned this and more from the times you and peter have partnered up on stories. he’s one of your best friends not only at the bugle, but in your entire life. the many long nights you’ve spent collaborating have brought you close to each other. they consist of drinking and deep talks, along with some actual work. he takes the pictures, you do the writing. you’ve been told you make a lovely pair.

peter says it himself, too. you’d like to believe he means it as more than coworkers. he’s so caring, and smart, and pure, and peter. yeah, you like him an awful lot. you can hardly stand the feeling of it sometimes.

the fact that you you haven’t come clean already is ridiculous.

“goddamn. not again,” you mutter out. “em, you better come look at this. it’s bad.” mj wheels over to you in her chair with a puzzled look. her eyes follow yours, landing on your computer. “leeds just sent this? to everyone?” she questions, your reply a short hum. you’re both staring daggers at the email your screen displays.

ned is responsible for assigning each journalist their own topics to cover. he’s been lacking a bit recently, having you write up think pieces on fluffy things. in other words, stuff that no one cares about. he asked you to compare oat milk and almond milk just last week. you’d hoped this week would be better, but here you are.

“this is ass. who does he think we are, buzzfeed?” mj scoffs at her own words. the daily bugle prides itself on being a reliable news source, on paper and tv. you’re starting to stoop down to the low level of your competitors. “he assigned me some tiktok dance trend. i’m not writing a single word about that app.” she sets her elbows down on the table, head in her hands.

“aw, why not? grandma mj isn’t down with the kids?” you tease and click out of the upsetting email. “i don’t write for kids,” mj deadpans. she pushes her glasses up on her nose. “what’d you get?” “the evolution of memes,” you gloomily reply. you’re surprised norman has been approving these topics. then again, ned is the head editor. he can do whatever he wants regardless of approval.

mj glares over at the kitchen, where betty brant currently resides. she’s making two hot chocolates instead of her usual one. “i blame her,” mj mumbles to you. your eyebrows furrow. “dude, what? betty is an angel. she doesn’t even work in editing.” betty is the bugle’s highest rated anchorwoman. her and her news team are on people’s televisions every night.

“no, but she has been spending a generous amount of time with leeds,” mj grumbles. she’s admittedly very nosy. the upside is that she tells you any juicy office drama there is. “my theory is betty’s making him give us crap stories so she can report the good ones.” she glances over at you to see what you think. “no way. that can’t be allowed... or legal,” you laugh back.

as if on cue, ned appears next to betty in the kitchen. he takes the extra hot coco that’s piled high with whipped cream. betty tucks a sheet of paper into his suit pocket and kisses his cheek, then he’s gone. you can only gasp as you watch this unfold. what has she done to poor, clueless ned?

“not such an angel anymore, huh?” mj smirks in satisfaction. “suddenly, she has red horns and a pitchfork,” you bitterly agree with your tongue in your cheek. betty waves to you two on her way back to broadcasting. mj gives her a fake nice finger wave, you ignoring her. “we can’t sit back and let this happen, em. we have to do something,” you decide. “let’s tell norman.”

uninterested, mj takes off her glasses and starts to clean them. “like he’ll believe us. yeah, golden girl betty brant is sabotaging the writer’s room,” she rewords her previous statement to put its stupidity in perspective. you throw your hands up. “she is, though! we literally watched it happen!” mj puts her freshly wiped glasses back on and sighs.

“i doubt norman would care, y/n. every newspaper to ever exist is corrupt somehow.” your pessimistic old pal has a point. however, you’re not so willing to accept it. “why can’t we be the first one that isn’t?” you offer a small smile. mj snickers, wheeling back to her own computer. “those are words of the innocent.” she’s already tapping her fingers across the keyboard.

“i thought you weren’t doing the tiktok piece,” you say under your breath. you’re slightly pissed mj turned you down, since she’s the reason you know about betty’s meddling. “i’m not,” mj answers sharply. “i’m gonna email quentin and ask if we can change our topics. happy?” quentin beck is another editor in the building. he’s not bad, but he is intimidating. no one typically goes to him as their first option.

“i’m thrilled,” you confirm and grin at mj to emphasize it. “thanks for stepping up. you’re forgiven.” “i didn’t realize i had to be sorry,” mj notes, this time in a playful manor. she shakes her head as she begins writing. “you and your morals.”

what you value most in your career is honesty, under any circumstances. of course, the other daily bugle writers are the same. norman strictly prohibits clickbait and crazy headlines because that isn’t real news. you leave that to companies like buzzfeed. you’re honest in the sense that you say whatever has to be said, what everyone else is too afraid to. you’ll speak your truth no matter who tries to stop you.

it didn’t used to be that way. there’s some childhood trauma that remains deep in the back of your mind. you’ve left that behind you now, having over a decade to cope with it. hey, they say the past is in the past. what’s important is your takeaway, that you would never let yourself or anyone else be silenced from there on out. never again.

quentin ends up giving you the okay to write different stories. he lets you and mj choose choose your own because he’s got “better things to do” and you’re “big girls.” what a peach he is. mj goes with how capitalism is continuing to provoke global warming. she has something to say about every major world issue, and you admire the hell out of her for it.

you’re a bit stuck when it’s time to write your article. it’s terribly ironic because you pushed for this. you aren’t too worried, though. the city is crawling with material, so you’ll find what you’re looking for eventually. lucky for you, some much needed inspiration comes skipping out of the elevator.

“morning, peter,” you hear liz greet him at the front desk. she’s your floor’s receptionist. her wisdom and patience keep this place going. “hi, liz. how’s it going?” he asks. “things have been quiet... mostly. can i do anything for you?” liz peers up at him. peter sports a shy smile. “uh, yeah. mr. osborn wanted to see me?” “right. hang on.” she nods, dialing his office phone number.

it’s endearing how peter calls him mr. osborn, seeing as the rest of you go with norman. he’s probably the politest guy you’ve ever met.

grinning, liz puts down the phone. “you can go in whenever you’re ready. good luck!” peter laughs nervously and turns to leave. “thanks, you too.” his face falls when he realizes his mistake. “wait, i- i didn’t mean to say that. that was stupid. you’re not-“ “it’s fine, peter,” liz reassures him. his anxiety makes him trip over his words sometimes. that, and he’s a bit dorky in general. you find it rather adorable.

you also wonder what exactly he needs good luck for. he’s not even supposed to be working today, so your curiosity as to what’s going on has been piqued.

“um, i’m gonna go now. bye!” peter rushes off, his face tinted pink from the embarrassing encounter. you’re hoping he’ll stop and talk with you for a little while, but he heads straight to norman’s office. your whole body deflates at that. mj notices from her peripherals.

“what’s the matter? missing your hubby?” she coos, her words dripping in sarcasm. “no,” you lie. “i’m... i don’t know what to write about.” ok, there’s some truth. mj gives you a couple pats on the shoulder. “ask parker for help. you two work... well together. don’t you?” this must be the zillionth time you’ve heard that.

“we do,” you murmur and glance at norman’s closed door. peter is hidden behind it. “i just don’t wanna bug him. he has finals soon, and whatever norman is putting him up to. it’s my job, anyway.” mj pokes your arm. “those sound like excuses to me,” she concludes, still jabbing at you childishly. “you really just don’t wanna tell him you like-“

“can you keep it down?” you hiss, yanking your arm back. “he’s literally right over there.” peter stands up and shakes norman’s hand. you catch it through the blinds on his window. “y/n, you were drooling over his mere presence only minutes ago,” mj prefaces, a smile pulling at her lips. “you can handle three little words. i like you, that’s it. spit it out already.”

you’ll never admit this to mj, but she’s right. you lost your momentum after your first failed attempt to say the three little words. you’re still not sure what stopped you. you’d shared the details of that faithful night with her, and she’s been pushing you to try again since.

the door to norman’s office opens, and out walks peter. he’s beaming after their conversation, which seems like a good sign. harry passes peter on his way in to pay his dad a visit. he claps him on the shoulder, peter happily accepting before continuing his stride back into the main office. it takes a moment to register that he’s coming towards you.

you quickly set your focus back on your computer so he doesn’t think you’ve been watching him. even though, you definitely have.

“y/n!” peter calls your name. he’s on the opposite side of your table, in front of you. “peter!” you match his tone. “i was just dropping by. i thought i’d say hey while i’m here.” he’s still grinning. “what’re you doing?” he looks cute as ever in an oversized and cream colored sweater. his curls are slicked back with a tad too much product, cheeks rosy. you gaze up at him when he rests his arms on the table.

“pretending to be productive,” mj answers for you, pressing her lips together. peter cocks his head to the side. “pretending?” “ignore her. she’s being a shit stirrer today,” you explain. “like every other day,” he jokes, earning a laugh from you. mj just tuts and keeps writing. “talk about me like i’m not here,” she mumbles to herself, then gets back into her article.

“anyways, i thought you didn’t work today?” you ask to take the attention off yourself. also, because you’re curious. “oh! get this.” peter perks up even more, if that’s possible. he has energy like no other. “you know alex in broadcasting? betty’s camera guy?” “what about him?” you wonder. “he called in sick earlier this morning, with the flu or something.” he’s oddly excited to announce this. that prompts you to make a funny face.

biting back another smile, peter elaborates. “mr. osborn needed someone to fill in for him, so he picked me. i’ll be here all week.” it makes sense, since peter knows how to work a camera and does so wonderfully. you give him a celebratory push at his chest. “peter, that’s amazing! this is the perfect way to transition from pictures to film, right?” he’s nearing his finals at school, which consist of more movie-like projects. the news will be great practice.

then, he’s off to hollywood. you’ll put that out of your mind for now.

“exactly! i think it’ll be a good place to start. the pay isn’t bad either.” peter wiggles his eyebrows at you, you giggling once again. you do a lot of that when he’s around. that’s going to be more often now. “plus, i get to see you. everyone wins.” he squeezes your hand that was just on him. your heart begins to thump. “except alex,” you challenge, playing with his fingers. “but, for real. i’m happy you get to do this and that we’ll be spending more time together.”

“thanks, y/n/n. me too.” peter grins and leans over, taking a peek at your computer screen. there’s a blank word document on it. “you never told me what you’re up to,” he chuckles. “guess mj was right... nothing.” “i’m always right,” she chimes in from next to you. you look between the two of them with a scowl. “i haven’t found my story yet. i don’t know, this never happens.” peter nods as you share your dilemma. “no good ideas are coming to me,” you murmur.

“they will. you have a way of attracting things.” he licks his lower lip, your heart completely stopping this time. “well, i gotta go set up for rise and shine with betty brant.” he waves his hand like he’s presenting his words. that’s what betty calls her morning news segment. “be careful with her. she’s being really sketchy these days,” you warn peter, mj grunting in agreement.

confused, peter purses his lips. “really? ned says she’s a sweetheart. they’ve been going out for a while.” mj pops her head up and adjusts her glasses. “did ned also tell you she’s bribing him to give her all of our scoops?” she’s asking rhetorically because she already knows the answer. of course he didn’t. “it’s one thing to not like her. you’re just making things up now,” peter huffs.

mj kicks your foot under the table. “i told you no one would believe us. not even peter gullible parker.” “it’s benjamin,” he corrects her. “whatever,” she brushes it off, resuming her work.

peter does tend to be sort of naive, to only see the good in things when there’s plenty of bad. you’re the same in that way, unless you hang around mj for too long.

“is that true? betty’s stealing your stories?” peter turns to you and asks. you gesture to your screen. “i don’t have one, so you do the math.” he hums sympathetically. he’ll listen to you, never mj. “i’m sorry. thanks for telling me, y/n. i’ll watch out for her.” he bends his fingers to look like goggles, putting them around his eyes. you sigh lightheartedly.

“are you twenty two years old or twelve?” mj remarks, but not without a comeback from peter. “you’re, like, eighty five. worry about that.” they’ve had this type of banter for as long as you’ve known them. it’s equal parts amusing and exhausting. “don’t be late on your first day.” you snap peter out of it with a knowing smile. he returns it.

“i hope something crazy happens so you can write about it.” he’s walking backwards now, towards the elevator. “see you later, pete,” is all you say back, yet another laugh threatening to escape you. “see you. bye, michelle,” peter says just to bug her. “it’s mj,” she groans without looking up. he shrugs. “not so fun, is it?”

after peter is gone, you try to get back into work. or rather, you try to start your work. what he said about you having a way of attracting things keeps ringing in your head. was he flirting? no, he couldn’t have been. peter parker doesn’t flirt. words aren’t his strong suit, and you have countless memories that prove this to be true. earlier with liz, for example.

you’re probably reading way into this. peter was simply doing what any good friend would do and gave you advice.

it’s late in the afternoon when anything worth mentioning happens again. peter is still with betty, as far as you know. they’re probably preparing for the nighttime news now. all you’ve done since seeing him is nibble on snacks and bug mj, who’s almost done with her story despite your distractions. this is really bad, considering your deadline to submit is at the end of today.

you’ve never missed a deadline.

mj emails her work to quentin while you repeatedly bang your head on the table. she hits send before deciding to entertain you. “whatcha doing over there?” she cautiously prompts, powering off her computer. “trying to get an idea. i’m desperate, if you couldn’t tell.” your voice is muffled. “i could.” mj grabs your shoulders and pulls you back so you’re sitting up. you childishly pout.

“y/n, the only thing that’s gonna give you is brain damage,” mj says sternly, then softens her tone. “why don’t you ask for an extension? norman gives me them all the time.” whining, you slump down in your chair again. “yeah, but you’re you! we do things differently, have different expectations put on us.” she’s back to cold mj after you say that. “alright. at least i did something today besides pine over that little-“

mj’s insult for peter is interrupted by harry. “ladies, what’s shaking?” he comes up to you two with a the hint of smirk on his face. you manage a nod to acknowledge him. “oh, hey... harry,” mj unenthusiastically replies. she’s the one person who isn’t really a fan of him. “not much. y/n was just having a tantrum.” “she was not,” you dismiss her. “it’s work stuff. you know your dad.”

harry clicks his tongue in a teasing way. “yep, the grind never stops in this joint. boss man is...” he does the sign for cuckoo with his finger. you laugh a little at that. “in a good way,” you add on. mj only watches you two, blinking blankly. harry gives you a definitive pat on the back. “before i forget, he wants to see you.” that gets mj talking. “norman?” she questions. “your dad?” you choke out at the same time.

“who else? he said you two have to talk.” harry flashes you a weary smile. “have fun in there, old sport.” you’re too busy biting the skin off your bottom lip to respond. “mhm... she will,” mj speaks on your behalf. even she sounds worried. saluting you both, harry leaves to go pester your other colleagues. you’re completely and totally fucked.

“that’s it for me!” you grin sarcastically, freaked out by harry. “i’m fired, aren’t i? i’m definitely about to get fired, and it’s all because-“ “relax!” mj cuts off your rambling. she reaches down and grasps at your wrists. “get it together, y/l/n. you’re the best we have, okay? you aren’t going anywhere.” your grin becomes a frown. “then why does norman wanna talk to me? and, why don’t i have a story?”

mj always has the answers, but this time is the execption. she lets out a breath. “i don’t know. you’ll go find out and tell me what happens.” there’s no use protesting. you’re going to have to face whatever you’re about to at some point. “ok,” you give in, defeated. “i’ll be back soon, i hope.”

the walk to norman’s office feels like a walk of shame. mj can do nothing but sit back and observe it. if this ends the way you think it will, you’ll be collecting your things and won’t ever return. norman is a kind man, and he’s usually pretty understanding. he doesn’t mind the workplace shenanigans as long as you get your job done. unfortunately, you haven’t today.

you hear your boss’s booming voice when you approach his door. inhaling deep, you knock on it, and the room goes silent. “come in,” norman responds after a few seconds. mustering up a smile, you open the door to be met with your doom. “hi, am i interrupting something?” you check. “not at all! you’re just the person i wanted to see. sit, sit,” he beckons you over. he’s not using his angry voice, so maybe you’re in the clear. you enter the room as told.

you’re shocked to see a terrified peter is already in one of the chairs. he visibly relaxes a bit now that you’re here. what the hell is happening? whatever you were expecting, this was the last thing.

taking the armchair next to peter, you sit facing norman’s desk. you nudge his arm to get his attention. his big brown eyes lock with yours. “what’s going on?” you whisper. “no idea,” peter whispers back. the two of you turn to norman again when he claps his hands. he’s plopped down into his cushy leather seat.

“so,” he begins, gaze flicking from peter to you. “you kids know why you’re here?” “is it because i missed my deadline?” you blurt out. you’re once again a nervous wreck. peter doesn’t speak, just winces. “not that. although, i did hear from ned that you turned down his assignment.” norman flicks at a post-it on his desk. “i asked quentin for one instead. me and mj,” you explain, peter’s eyes going wide.

“you talked to quentin? that guy’s bad news,” he murmurs to you. “how so?” norman questions, since it’s his employee. “he- he, um,” peter clears his throat before answering, “he’s super critical, you know? hates all my pictures.” “i love your pictures,” you assure him, the corners of his lips turning up. “your style is so cool. yeah, though. quentin’s pretty bitter.”

considering this, norman drums his fingers on the desk. “i’ll look into that. but, that isn’t why you’re here. i’m letting you off the hook this time.” your whole demeanor changes and a huge weight lifts off of you. “really? you are?” “i have a scoop of my own that i want you to cover,” he continues, peter bumping your knee happily. a toothy grin takes over your face.

“since peter will be sticking around for a while, i want him to join you.” norman waits a beat in case you have any questions. it’s been a minute since you last worked together. peter laughs in disbelief. “you want me to take over for alex and do this?” norman nods proudly. “y/n will need the extra hands, if you have them.” “yes, sir. i do,” peter immediately confirms. “my last class is next thursday, so i have the time.”

“wait, so you’re almost done? that’s awesome!” you bump peter’s knee this time. “yup, all that’s left is finals... and studying.” he mindlessly takes your hand, lacing your fingers together. you’re enjoying his gentle touches. “thank you so much, norman. seriously, i appreciate this a lot,” you tell him and mean it. “hey, no problem,” he chuckles at your eagerness. you grip peter’s hand tighter.

“what’s the story?” “ah, yes. the most important part,” norman starts, peter sharing an excited look with you. “how familiar are you two with spider-man?” his excitement fades at the question posed. it’s unbeknownst to you, caught up in the moment. “uh, same as everyone else, i guess,” you casually reply. “how come?” “he’s your subject.” norman points at you both. “you’re gonna study him over these next few months.”

peter’s hand goes limp in yours, and he gulps hard, throat feeling dry. “you mean, like, an exposé?” “no, no. there will be no exposing,” norman clarifies. “i’m sure he wears the mask for a reason.” that settles peter only slightly. you’re not sure why he’s so tense all of a sudden. “what’s our aim here, then?” you steer the conversation.

“see what new york’s favorite hero gets up to every day, how his life is beyond the crime fighting,” norman further describes your task. peter exhales a shaky breath, shifting away from you in his seat. the golden sun hits his face and reveals a bead of sweat dripping down it. you stare at his figure in worry. “you okay, peter?” “fine. i’m just... hot,” he murmurs back. his sweater does look pretty heavy, so you concede.

getting back to norman’s story, you grimace at the idea. “do you really think people will want to read that? for lack of a better term, it sounds kind of...” you pause. “basic.” “i thought the same thing at first,” he surprisingly agrees with you. “harry pitched the idea to me this morning. you won’t believe it! the other night, he caught spider-man hanging outside his window.”

“harry... harry saw him?” peter squeaks out. he uses the wool material that feels like it’s swallowing him to dab at his forehead. “he stopped on his balcony. must have been pretty late, the kid’s a night owl,” norman says about his son. your face lights up as you listen to him. “he took some shots of spidey in action, when he swung off. i saw a few. they were pretty great.” he’s grinning at his son’s success.

“maybe he’ll get into photography with you, pete,” norman suggests. peter gives him a weak smile in return. “we’d be happy to have him.” he usually has a lot more to say about his career than that. his behavior is starting to genuinely concern you. “anyway,” norman gets back on topic, “it got me thinking. how much do we really know about this guy? we’re supposed to blindly put our trust in him?”

you’re beginning to see the appeal now. you’ve written your share of pieces on the avengers and their methods, tackling the same questions norman just asked you. spider-man shouldn’t be overlooked, especially when he operates so close to your home. this could be another revolutionary superhero story in the making. and, you get to bring peter along for the ride.

“you know what? this has a lot of potential,” you smile at norman, then peter. he has his phone in his lap, fingers flying across the screen. it must be something important. you’ll discuss with norman while he takes care of that. “we could make it a weekly thing, about spider-man’s adventures. find out what we can about the man behind the mask...” peter shoots up in his seat. “without taking it off,” you finish, putting his mind at ease.

“see, i knew you were gonna love it! it was a blessing in disguise, you missing that deadline.” norman bangs his fist on the table with a hearty laugh. “what do you say, peter? you still in?” peter slips his phone back in his pocket. his tongue pokes out to wet his lips. “oh, of course. i can’t wait to work with you, y/n/n,” he speaks in a monotone voice, adding on, “again.”

something is definitely bothering him, and it isn’t the weather.

“i gotta go. betty needs me upstairs, so,” peter moves to get up, his body stiff. you assume that’s who he was texting. “thank you again, mr. osborn.” he’s rushing out of the room just like that, until you call after him. “um, don’t you wanna set a time to meet up? so we can get started?” you reasonably ask. “i... i really gotta go. find me later,” peter tells you, giving you both a tight lipped smile and running off.

“the dynamic duo is back!” norman announces to you. you’re disappointed you can’t share that sentiment with peter.

he’s absolutely booking it down the stairs, not bothering to wait for the next elevator. this is bad. this is a nightmare.

peter went from having one of his best days in a while to the worst in not even a full round of work. today started off fine, and got better when norman promoted him. it got way better when you came along. he saw your smile that makes his insides tingle, heard your laugh that’s the prettiest sound to grace his ears, held your hand that he never wants let go.

things went a bit downhill after that. betty was pushy and yelled at him a lot, demanding he only film her good angles for the segment. you and mj weren’t wrong when you told him to be careful.

later on when he saw you again, everything was okay. he was physically shaking as brad told him mr. osborn requested to see him. brad is mr. osborn’s assistant. a try-hard for sure, but good at his job. why did mr. osborn call him in? did betty complain already?

they’d been sitting in mostly silence, save for small talk until you came knocking on the door. simply being next to you was enough to ground peter and his racing thoughts. it was enough, then it wasn’t.

the whole day had gone to shit after he found out you were going to be writing stories about his alter ego. not only that, but he was helping. during the pitch, he’d texted ned to meet him in the bathroom. he was really anxious and needed a friend who understood why.

ned accidentally found out peter is spider-man last year. it’s a long story that involves peter hiding from some bad guys in the building and ned shrieking so loud the lights flickered. they’re cool now that peter talked things through with him. his secret has been kept, from what he knows.

pushing open the men’s bathroom door, peter is a mixture of sweat and ragged breaths. he’s panting from his fast descent down the staircase. he takes in his disheveled appearance using one of the mirrors. his styled hair is now damp and undone, hands trembling and palms sweaty, chest heaving. here’s his daily reminder that anxiety is not cute. as if he didn’t know.

his stupid, gigantic freaking sweater is only making things worse. it’s suffocating him. no one else is in here, so peter pulls it over his head and tosses it to the ground. he’s got a t-shirt on underneath that happens to be black. what a convenient day for him to wear the hottest material there is.

peter splashes his face with some cold water next to try and cool himself down. that doesn’t do much for him. his face still feels like it’s on fire, but now it’s wet. he takes his hands through his mop of curls, backing away from the sink.

“fuck. fuck, fuck, fuck,” peter repeats to himself. he’s silent for a moment, then rage overcomes him. he kicks open a bathroom stall. “shit! i can’t do this. what am i supposed to-“

the door creeks open, so peter shuts up in case it isn’t ned. it thankfully is, and he wears a deep frown at the sight of his best friend. “dude, what happened? you look...” “terrible. i know,” peter finishes for him. he tugs at his locks in another attempt to tame them. ned approaches him carefully. “you’re not, like, dying... are you? because betty was telling me you have to-“ “of course you were with betty,” peter exhales in frustration. “no, ned. i’m not dying.”

in ned’s defense, the text he received was very alarming. all peter wrote was, ‘EMERGENCY. SOS.’

“i mean, yeah. it was my break.” ned sits on the ledge by the window, close to peter. “you do the same with y/n.” the mention of your name upsets peter all over again. he hides his face in his hands as ned watches. “if you’re not dying, then what’s the problem?” ned finally asks. “me and y/n...” peter removes his hands from his face, meeting ned’s worried eyes. “mr. osborn wants us to do a project together.”

“uh, peter? you’ve been saying how much you miss her forever, dude! you’re not excited?” ned snorts at him. he means well, but he has no clue what he’s talking about. “no. it’s supposed to be about spider-man,” peter answers angrily. this isn’t the support he was hoping for. realizing the severity of the situation, ned gets serious.

“oh... but, you’re still doing it?” he questions. “i didn’t have a choice,” peter scoffs out. “i can’t let either of them down.” “you’ll expose yourself!” ned escalates things further. “it’s not like that. we’re gonna follow spider-man around and post updates on him,” peter says, technically in the third person. he’s given an are you insane? look from ned.

“you are spider-man! and, no offense, but you’re not so good at hiding it,” ned refers to himself finding out. “how are you gonna be in two places at once?” damnit, peter hadn’t thought about that yet. he can’t be taking pictures of spider-man and swinging from building to building simultaneously. “i- i’ll figure it out,” peter stammers, unconvincingly.

ned looks him over in a disapproving way. “jeez. you’re really putting your life on the line for this girl-“ “woman,” peter interjects, not loving ned’s attitude towards you. “have some respect.” unfazed, ned gets up from the windowsill. “speaking of women, remember betty? you’re still on the clock,” he changes the subject. peter nearly forgot he has to go film her segment.

“i’ll head up to her now,” peter gives in. he scoops up his discarded sweater, not bothering to check his appearance again. ned follows behind him to the door. “we wrote her script together, you know,” he gladly informs peter, who already knows from you. “not really a flex,” peter mumbles his response. “peter, lighten up.” ned hits at his shoulder. the two of them exit the bathroom.

“you’ll figure this out later. i can always help.” he shoots him a sugary sweet smile. “thanks, ned. for talking with me and everything.” peter doesn’t smile back. they do a quick bro handshake, then they’re going their separate ways. “have a good show, dude!” ned yells back, to which he doesn’t get a response. peter doesn’t have it in him.

he allows himself to take the elevator back up to broadcasting. he’s so drained from the several anxiety attacks he endured. while peter waists for the elevator, he contemplates all the issues he’d better solve. it’s a relief to hear it ding because it brings him back to earth. that doesn’t last long because both you and betty are there when the door opens.

you’d each had the same idea, to find peter. unlike betty, your intentions were good. you asked liz if she saw peter leave. she told you he went downstairs, so you did also. betty was already in the elevator when it got to your stop. she was looking for him because, you guessed it, he had to record the news. the small space was filled with tension as you and betty occupied it.

“perfect. we’re going right back up,” betty beams, motioning for peter with her index finger. “hop in!” “coming,” peter does as told, going to stand between you and betty. she presses the button for your floor and theirs. the doors close. “pete?” you speak up, voice soft. “you kinda ran off earlier. i thought you were with betty.” “clearly, he wasn’t,” betty sneers.

you’re less concerned with her and more with peter. the sweater he looked so huggable in is now folded in his arms, his face splotchy and jaw clenched. he must have gotten triggered by something back in norman’s office.

“are you sure you’re okay? you... you can talk to me about it.” you take a step closer to peter, your doe eyes searching for his. he meets them with a tiny smile. at least, it’s real this time. “i’ll be fine, y/n/n. ‘s nice that you came to check on me, though.” “don’t mention it.” your arms loop around his neck and bring him into a hug. peter hugs you back by your middle, chin resting on your shoulder, breathing out in relief.

you keep your hands on his shoulders when you pull back. his stay on your sides, a lopsided grin now crossing his features. “spider-man...” you quirk an eyebrow. “how are you feeling about that?” “should be cool,” peter somehow maintains himself. “i’m mostly looking forward to doing it with you.”

listening in, betty joins the conversation. “what’s happening with spider-man? anything i should know?” her hand reaches into her bag and emerges with a notepad. does she ever think of her own content? “she’s nothing if not persistent,” you grumble to peter. chuckling, he pulls you into his chest. if he didn’t hold you back, you would’ve pounced on her.

“we’re gonna do a piece on him,” peter tells her. “you can’t copy or steal this one because it’s already been approved,” you contribute, smiling smugly as peter holds you tighter. betty is taken aback. “are you accusing me of stealing? who said i-“ “ned ratted on you... sorry,” peter says in a sing song voice. squealing, you jump away from him. “he did? we were right?”

“mj’s never wrong,” he reiterates. “mj knew about this? oh my god, i can’t believe her!” betty stomps her foot. “we got you on candid camera.” you make a clicking noise with your mouth. peter mimes taking a picture to back you up. “alright, alright. i won’t do it again,” betty mumbles, turning away from you two in annoyance.

“finally!” you hold up your hand for a high five, which peter gives you. “we really do make the best team,” he hums. your fingers intertwine with peter’s, and he lays his palm flat against yours. he prays extremely hard you don’t notice that it’s sweaty. you do, but you couldn’t care less.

“i was wondering when you’d wanna start our... research?” peter asks you, his lip between his teeth. “you were saying something earlier. maybe we could make a schedule.” “how elaborate of us that would be,” you tease. that earns a breathy laugh from peter. with a knowing smile, you put your free hand back on his shoulder.

“what are you doing tonight?”

peter parker taglist

@saturnpeter @tpwk-grande @itstaskeen @missyouhollnd @becicamina @dummiesshort @zspideyy @watchitimreadinghere @my-patronus-is-mabel-pines @dpaccione @karispotters11 @theofficialzivadavid @thehumanistsdiary @kelieah @aayaissaa @petersgroupie @annab-nana @tayyx @swtltlmrvlgrl @magicalxdaydream @haoluvver @kjune113 @captainamirica @marvel-dork98 @emmastarz @killingbxys @viriditie @misshale21 @veryholland @liliswifts @tommydarlings @rebelemilu @peterspideysense @cr-uelsummer @dreamy-clousds @quaksonhehe @quxxnxfhxll @blackbat2020 @babyblue19 @falconxbarnes @zachary-s @dirtytissuebox @dracoswhore007 @heavenlyholland @thsquad @etheralholland @dhtomholland @awh-lilies @tomshufflepuff @multifamdomfan12

if i forgot you please lmk!

#peter parker #peter parker fluff #peter parker x reader #peter parker x y/n #peter parker x you #peter parker imagine #peter parker fic #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker smut #spiderman #tom holland #tom holland fluff #tom holland smut #tom holland x reader #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x you #tom holland imagine #tom holland fic

461 notes · View notes

solarsavoy · 3 years ago

Text

WIP Wednesday, Magic Shuu, again

My muse decided to latch onto this idea and run with it, so now I've got all of it planned out, at least the first season. I may or may not do season two through five with mini stories based off the movies in between (when my muse runs with things, it runs halfway around the world. With scissors. 😑) However, I currently only have solid plans for the first season/first work. I may or may not have already chosen who I want for each of the scouts though (as in it's subject to change in some cases). Including the gender bending Sailor Starlights. 😏 And the love between Uranus and Neptune will most definitely be intact regardless of who I choose. 😏😏

So here's the plan so far!

Magic Shuu, inspired by the first season of Sailor Moon, will be a total of thirty chapters long, each based off particular episodes from the first season. The episode number is in relation to the Japanese version, but I'll be listing the English titles when possible because they're shorter. Here's the list.

Chapter 1, A Star is Born, is based off episode 1: A Moon Star is Born Chapter 2, Love Radio, is based off episode 3: Talk Radio Chapter 3, Definitely a Cat Person, is based off episode 5: Scent of a Monster! Chanela Will Steal Your Love Chapter 4, Cram School Blues, is based off episode 8: Computer School Blues Chapter 5 is based off episode 7: So You Want to Be a Superstar Chapter 6 is based off episode 9: Time Bomb Chapter 7, No Prince Charming, is based off episode 10: An Uncharmed Life Chapter 8 is based off episode 13: Fight to the Finish Chapter 9 is based off episode 14: Match Point for Sailor Moon Chapter 10 is based off episode 19: Who is That Masked Man? Chapter 11 is based off episode 16: Wedding Day Blues and episode 21: An Animated Mess Chapter 12 is based off episode 23: Wish Upon a Star: Naru's First Love Chapter 13 is based off episode 24: A Friend in Wolf's Clothing Chapter 14, Make Way for the Mad Scientist, is based off episode 25: Jupiter Comes Thundering In Chapter 15 is based off episode 26: The Power of Friendship Chapter 16 is based off episode 27: Mercury's Mental Match Chapter 17 is based off episode 28: An Artful Attack Chapter 18 is based off episode 29: Too Many Boyfriends Chapter 19 is based off episode 30: Grandpa's Follies Chapter 20, Kitty Karma, is based off episode 31: Kitty Chaos Chapter 21 is based off episode 32: Tuxedo Melvin and episode 33: Sailor V Makes the Scene Chapter 22 is based off episode 34: A Crystal Clear Destiny and episode 35: A Reluctant Princess Chapter 23 is based off episode 36: Bad Hair Day and episode 37: Little Miss Manners Chapter 24, Prince of the Ice, is based off episode 39: Ice Princess Chapter 25 is based off episode 40: Last Resort and episode 41: Tuxedo Unmasked Chapter 26, ___'s Tragic Love, is based off episode 42: Sailor Venus' Past: Minako's Tragic Love Chapter 27 is based on episode 43: Fractious Friends Chapter 28 is based on episode 44: The Past Returns Chapter 29 is based on episode 45: The Tragic Final Battle And finally, chapter 30 is based on episode 46: Eternal Wish: A Brand New Life

It may seem excessive to list all of my outlining here chapter by chapter, but the reason I did is so that you can prepare ahead of time and watch the anime, if you so choose. I plan on twisting and changing a lot of stuff to make it fit the new characters while still honoring a lot of the stories and how they play out in the original anime. So, I highly encourage everyone to watch the first season, but in case you've already seen it, you can just watch the episodes listed here as the chapters come out, which will be every other Friday.

Next update is this Friday, 8/5, and I also plan on doing a picture with each one. Hopefully the updates are slow enough that I can keep up with them along with Life in Retail. And Kristmas Karma II when that starts posting daily in December. Yikes. O.o But it's worth it! It hurts so good!! (Please send help.)

If anyone would like to guess which Assassination Classroom character is which scout, I will answer truthfully, but you only get 2 guesses total, and they have to be for different scouts (this only counts for you. Others may take a guess for the same scout if you don't guess correctly). You may guess for the following: Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mini Moon, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Pluto, Sailor Star Fighter, Sailor Star Healer, Sailor Star Maker, Tuxedo Mask

All of them should be surprising, but there are hints among the chapter names for at least the inner senshi. Any guesses? Thanks for joining me for WIP Wednesday!

#daily delivery #WIP Wednesday #assassination classroom #solarsavoyfics #ao3 fanfic #sailor moon au #asano gakushuu

11 notes · View notes

reinerispretty · 4 years ago

Text

warm hands. (mako x f!reader) rewrite.

hello everyon!! a while ago i wrote a request called warm hands that got deleted by tumblr when i tried to edit the post on mobile :/ i’ve been on this hellsite for years and it still sucks but ANYWAY. as a thank you for supporting me and also as an apology for not updating lmao i wanted to repost a better version i wrote <3 much love to u and to mako

She turned to the man standing just a few feet away from her, surprised at how familiar his face had looked. His jet black hair, thick eyebrows, and golden eyes were from somewhere, but (Y/N) couldn’t place if she had dreamt about someone like him or had actually met him.

It would bug her the rest of the day if she didn’t say anything to him, so she had. “Excuse me,” She said, lightly touching his arm to get his attention. “Sorry to bother you, you just look really familiar to me.”

He had stared down at her silently, his brows furrowed, and in normal circumstances (Y/N) would have felt absolutely mortified...

There were dozens of libraries within Republic City, yet so far none of them had what (Y/N) was looking for. She had spent her entire day off trekking through the busy streets and bustling sidewalks, hailing cab after cab until her resources ran just low enough where she would have to be very picky about what groceries she picked this week. Sweat dripped down the back of her neck as she walked toward her destination. Summer was in full swing and it felt like the sun was after her specifically. She wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. So far, she had visited fifteen libraries, and was walking up the steps of the very last, hoping that someone inside would be able to help her with her request.

She passed through the double doors and was met with a rush of cold air that sent a chill down her spine. She must look ridiculous, she thought, as she approached the information desk. An old woman was positioned behind it, her back hunched over a book. She hadn’t heard (Y/N) approach, so the young girl rang the bell that set on the counter. The old woman jumped back, a startled expression on her lined face.

“I’m sorry!” (Y/N) exclaimed, then clasped a hand over her mouth. This was a library, she had to watch her volume in here. “Sorry,” She said again, her voice lower. “I was wondering if you could help me with something? I’ve been looking all over town for books on firebending and I can’t seem to find any.”

“We’ve got some!” The woman chirped, seeming to have recovered from her startle. She rose slowly to her feet and grabbed her cane. “Although they’re not technique books, if that’s what you’re looking for. My grandson has a great firebending academy just down the street if you’re interested.”

“Oh, no,” (Y/N) said as she followed the old woman through the enormous stacks of bookcases. “I don’t need any training, I’m just looking for a fact book or something like it.” The woman nodded and silently led (Y/N) to a very dimly lit section of the library. Just as (Y/N’s) feet began to ache from walking, they stopped, and the librarian pointed her cane up at the top shelf. It was out of her reach, but just within (Y/N’s).

“That’s the one you’re looking for,” She said, smiling pleasantly. (Y/N) looked up and found an enormous book, bound in red cloth with the Fire Nation emblem on the side. She reached up and took it into her arms, nearly toppling over at its sheer weight.

“Thank you,” (Y/N) strained herself to say. The librarian nodded once more before disappearing into the stacks of books. (Y/N) waddled herself over to a table in a more well-lit section of the library and sat down.

She had never cared much for bending. Being a nonbender herself in a nonbending family, she had watched indifferently as some of her classmates developed their bending skills. (Y/N) was always able to get through life without bending, so she had never thought of it as something important. Even probending, which rocked the city with its competitions, had never interested her.

(Y/N) sighed as she turned to the first page. To think, she was going to all of this trouble for a boy.

(Y/N’s) older brother had known Mako first, when they were just kids. Both worked for the Triple Threat Triads for a number of years. (Y/N) had remembered Mako as the serious (and slightly intimidating) friend of her brother’s that would stand outside waiting while her brother tried to convince her to cover for him. He might not have been a bender, but he was as strong as a platybus bear for a boy of fifteen, so the Triads made great use of him. (Y/N) had never liked it, but she always lied to their parents on his behalf. Sometimes, she had glared down at Mako from her bedroom window, and it seemed like some nights he frowned right back up at her.

This was all years ago, of course. Once her brother went off to join the United Forces, (Y/N) had forgotten all about Mako. It wasn’t until this past spring that she had seen him again. They had been waiting for their food outside of a soup shop. It had been the lunch hour, so (Y/N) had known they would take a while, but she didn’t mind, because she liked to people watch in order to keep herself occupied. She turned to the man standing just a few feet away from her, surprised at how familiar his face had looked. His jet black hair, thick eyebrows, and golden eyes were from somewhere, but (Y/N) couldn’t place if she had dreamt about someone like him or had actually met him.

He had stared down at her silently, his brows furrowed, and in normal circumstances (Y/N) would have felt absolutely mortified to be having this exchange with a total stranger, but something about him was different. She felt calm around him.

“I know you from somewhere, too,” The man said then, a small smile appearing on his face. “Did your brother used to work for-“

“The Triads!” (Y/N) finished, whispering the words excitedly because you couldn’t just shout the name of one of the leading gangs in Republic City in a crowd full of people. “You’re…Mako, right?”

“You must have a great memory, it’s been years since I’ve waited outside your house for your brother to come down.” (Y/N) laughed. “If I remember correctly, you used to give me the evil eyes from your bedroom window.” She smiled.

“That was me!” She extended her hand. “I’m (Y/N). It’s nice to officially meet you.”

“Same here,” Mako said, shaking her hand. “How’s your brother doing?”

“Very well, I think! He’s with the United Forces now, so I don’t hear much from him, but his last letter sounded very promising.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“How are you doing? I’ll have to write to him about you, I’m sure he’ll be so excited to hear it.”

“Oh, I’m fine. Joined the Republic City Police, so I guess I’m arresting the people I used to work with.” He shrugged.

“Beats getting arrested,” (Y/N) offered, and Mako cracked a smile.

“It sure does.” Her order was called from the counter, and (Y/N) scurried over to pick it up. When she returned, Mako had his own food in hand.

“Before you go,” (Y/N) started, and it was like the words would come out of her mouth before she had the chance to stop them. “Would you like to get a cup of coffee with me sometime? I’d love to give my brother a detailed description of what you’ve been up to.” She was never this bold, but it was like something else entirely had overcome her. He was handsome, and it was just a cup of coffee. Nothing too scary.

Mako had agreed to the cup of coffee that week and one cup had turned into three before turning into dinner. It had been nearly eight months since they met and the majority of their free time away from their jobs was spent together. Things were surprisingly easy with Mako. He was a fantastic listener and offered her the advice that she needed to hear. He had a bit of a rough shell on the outside, but (Y/N) worked tirelessly to break through it and revealed a man capable of so much love that she came to learn very few had ever actually given him it in return.

She was always completely lost when he talked about his probending days, but she enjoyed hearing him talk about his youth so much that it had set her on a course of research. (Y/N) was at the library today to better understand firebending. It was part of Mako, and she loved Mako (even if she hadn’t admitted it), so she would learn to love firebending as well.

She read for hours, until the sun had set outside and lanterns were lit within the space. (Y/N) looked up from her book, eyes heavy and dry from reading so many pages. She had only made it about halfway through the book, so she checked out the heavy title from the librarian at the front and made her way home. Mako would be working the night shift that night, so she didn’t have to worry about any interruptions.

---

Mako wasn’t quite sure what had gotten into his girlfriend. (Y/N) couldn’t bend. Not that there was anything wrong with that of course, Mako respected nonbenders just as much as benders (except for, y’know, the Amon thing), but lately (Y/N) had become a walking fountain of knowledge on firebending. At first he hadn’t thought anything of it, but as it continued on he started to sense that something was up.

The first time it had happened was on one of Mako’s days off. He had slept in late even though (Y/N) had promised to wake him up. With disheveled hair and his eyes squinting at the bright late morning light, he shuffled into the kitchen to give his girlfriend a very soft piece of his mind. She was scrambling eggs in front of the stove, turning to look back at him with a smile brighter than the sun. Mako allowed himself a smirk before his face turned stern.

“You were supposed to wake me up,” He had said, his voice gruff from having not been used. (Y/N) shrugged.

“I don’t think an earthquake could’ve woken you up,” She said in her defense. “Plus, you deserve extra sleep.” She had poked him in the stomach. “Firebenders can’t firebend if they’re exhausted.” Mako had chuckled. It sounded like the sort of thing mothers told their children in order to get them to go to bed.

But a few days later, she had mentioned something similar. They had been walking down the streets of Republic City, on their way to go visit Korra and Asami for lunch, when (Y/N) stopped suddenly in front of a store display. Mako jerked backward, unaware that she had paused.

“Do you know what that is?” She asked, looking up at him with an expression that indicated that she was testing him. Mako stared at the storefront.

“A clearance sign?” He questioned. (Y/N) had rolled her eyes.

“Not that,” She sighed, and pointed her finger at the tapestry that was hung in the back of the store. How she had spotted that from the corner of her eye, Mako had no idea, so he shrugged. “It’s the symbol of the Sun Warriors,” She explained. “They were the first firebenders, after the dragons, of course. They’re extinct now, I think.” (Y/N) smiled up at him while he raised an eyebrow at her. He cracked a smile before tugging at her hand.

“I’m about to go extinct if we don’t get some lunch.”

The biggest indicator by far had been the other night, when he was getting ready to leave for work. (Y/N) had sat on the bed as he stood in front of the mirror and buttoned up his uniform. He kept spares at (Y/N’s) place now, since he spent nearly every night there anyway.

She was looking at him with an expression he had never seen before. It was like she was analyzing him. Mako turned around as he finished the last button, but before he could speak, she beat him to it.

“How do you do it?” She asked, and Mako furrowed his dark brows.

“Do what?”

“Bending.” She looked into his eyes at this point and Mako had felt his heart swell. He had a hard time transmitting the emotions that he was feeling inside to his appearance outside. If he could, he would have melted into a puddle on the floor for this girl. In a matter of a few months she had become something to aim toward, to strive for. Catching criminals and solving cases mattered to him, but not nearly as much as returning to her apartment in one piece.

He cleared his throat. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t understand it, you know? How does it happen? Do you just think about it and it happens? Or do you have to focus?”

“A bit of both, I guess,” Mako said. “When you’re first learning, it takes a lot of focus to master a new move. But once you’ve got it, it kind of becomes second nature.” He sat on the bed beside her to put on his work boots. “It’s like writing something. When you were little, you had to think about how to hold the pen, how to form the letters, what the letters meant. Now you just know.”

“Do you have to think about using lightning rather than fire?” Mako shook his head.

“It’s different movements.” She hummed, staring down at her hands as she contemplated what he just told her. Mako checked his watch for the time. “I’ve got to head out.”

“Okay,” She said as she turned toward him. “Be safe! And don’t forget to invite Bolin over for dinner this weekend.”

Mako let out an exaggerated sigh, at which (Y/N) frowned. “I’m serious Mako,” She continued. “I’ll call Bolin myself to make sure you ask him!”

“Why don’t you ask him?” Mako asked as he packed his badge and wallet.

“It’ll mean more if it’s coming from his big brother.” Mako leaned down and cradled the back of her neck with his hand, leaning for a kiss to which she happily obliged. Mako had many favorite things about (Y/N), but perhaps his most favorite was how she smiled into every kiss he gave her.

“I’ll be sure to let him know,” Mako had said as he ran out of her apartment. If he was late again, Chief Beifong would kill him.

Mako contemplated these instances as he walked back to her apartment. (Y/N) had never expressed very much interest in bending, pardoning recent weeks. He wondered what had gotten her so curious. Perhaps she listened to a new radio show that talked about it. Mako never really listened to the radio anymore—he used to, but Bolin talked over all of the stations so he just turned it off whenever he was in the car.

He hadn’t told her that he would be coming back to her place tonight. He hadn’t entirely been planning on it, but one of the rookies was somehow put in charge of the schedule and put Mako and a kid named Lee on the same shift. Considering Mako had the seniority, he had gotten the night off, but not before completing the copious amounts of paperwork that had piled on his desk. It was nearing one in the morning, so (Y/N) would be fast asleep, but he figured she would enjoy seeing him again. Or at least, he hoped so.

To improve his chances of not facing the wrath of disturbing her slumber, Mako stopped by a late night dessert shop and picked up some of her favorites before returning on his way. When he finally opened the door to her apartment, Mako was unsurprised to find that every light was off, save for the light that peaked underneath her bedroom door.

Mako took his shoes off at the front and dropped the desserts on the kitchen counter before quietly making his way to her bedroom. (Y/N) lay curled up underneath her covers, fast asleep, with the biggest book Mako had ever seen lying beside her. He lifted the heavy book into his arms and thumbed through the pages. Each and every chapter was about firebending. Its origins, its practices, and its faults. Mako smiled to himself. So that’s how she had become a walking encyclopedia.

He changed into his pajamas and slid into bed beside her. Startled, she opened her tired eyes and furrowed her brows at him. “Chief let me go early,” He whispered to her, reaching over her body to turn off her lamp. “Go back to sleep.”

Instead she moved closer to his body and took his hands in hers. “I was reading,” She whispered slowly, as if her brain was cranking back to life. “That firebenders can control the heat in their bodies.” She placed his hands just below her bellybutton. “My cramps are really bad tonight, can you—”

Mako pulled her into his body and kissed her shoulder, spreading his hand wide so that it would cover as much surface area as possible. She hummed as she felt the warmth emanating from his hands. “Thank you.” After a few minutes, her even breathes indicated that she was asleep.

Mako wondered then if he had been the reason that (Y/N) had a newfound fascination with firebending. While he was a great detective, he was absolutely clueless. She had gotten a whole book about firebending, had shared her knowledge to let him know that she cared about something that she had never cared about before. Mako pressed his face into the crook of his neck to hide the wide smile that no one would see.

(Y/N) wanted to know more about firebending because it was part of who he was. No one had ever taken such an interest in Mako’s passions. He had figured before, but was now certain, that he loved the girl in his arms so, so dearly.

---

TAG LIST

@beifongsss , @aroyaldarknessblr , @musicalkeys , @thefandomimagines , @blondie0458 , @kairiririri , @awesomelupe , @zukosvice , @tomshollandz , @lavendercrystals , @astralsaf , @realimbo , @mycollectionofnuts , @wingeddemonclub , @gingersnap126126 , @aangsupremacy , @marvel-ing-at-it-all , @davnwillcome , @someoneovertherainboww , @sokkashonour , @breadqueen95 , @buttholland , @noodlesfluffy , @busyforkuvira , @error-loading-sorry , @bombardia , @la3divine , @just-a-teal-android , @theeavtrkyoshi , @brokennerdalert , @sukifans , @sunflower-mami ,

#mako x reader #lok #legend of korra #korra x reader #asami x reader #bolin x reader #bolin #mako #korra #asami #writing #fanfiction

740 notes · View notes