#no nevermind (cereal experiments)

[dailyenglishvoca]

Today's song is No Nevermind by Cereal Experiments featuring the Synthesizer V voicebanks Stardust Infinity and Solaria

[cherrylng]

Rockin’On Album of the Year 2002 interview - Coldplay [ROCKIN'ON (February 2003)]

“The album that changed my life is “OK Computer”. And I think the best album is “Nevermind”.”

Coldplay created a legendary moment at a secret one-night gig. Chris Martin honestly reveals his roots and his views on music.

Interview: Yoichiro Yamazaki, Translation: Nobuyuki Takami, Photography: ROBERT ASTLEY-SPARKE

It’s been a long time coming since Summer Sonic two and a half years ago. Moreover, since it was a secret live show only for those who applied, there were many people who are not used to going to live shows but love Coldplay, and the atmosphere was like a Western music concert from a long time ago. Chris Martin and the other members of the band appeared on stage. The members also don't seem to be covered in rock culture, so much so that they seem unrefined. None of that matters here. No one wants Coldplay to have the smell or fashion of a rock‘n’roll band. They are waiting for the band ensemble and the songs, the quiet and intense soul that is to come.

The band started with the song “Politik”, which symbolises the somewhat harder and more multifaceted Coldplay from their second album, “A Rush of Blood to the Head”. There is not a particularly big difference in sound or performance compared to the CD. However, seeing him live, you can see how Chris is a singer who ‘puts wild impulses into quiet music’. Hiroto from the High-Lows lolls his tongue out at high speed and twitches his arms and legs even when he is just singing quietly, and the way Chris puts emotion into his music is similar, although not as extreme as that. Thom Yorke is also similar. His soul overflows from his body. Chris plays delicate chords while rocking his body back and forth in front of the piano.

The later in the show, the stronger and richer Chris's voice becomes. If he plays more shows, he will be able to sing brilliantly right from the start. Their music is even mature, but they are only 24 and 25 years old.

Some people may have imagined a nervous atmosphere from their songs and interviews. Between songs, and sometimes even during the performance, he joked around and laughed at himself, and there were many moments when he was enjoying himself as one with the audience, such as “Green Eyes” without a microphone, “Yellow” where he was jumping all over the place, and “Amsterdam” where he complained to the audience about keyboard trouble. The secret show became definitive when everyone sang along to “In My Place”.

●Today I would like to talk about your musical roots and background. What were your earliest musical experiences as a child? 「There were two, one was my uncle, he used to travel with my family and he used to make me sing. We’d go to a seaside retreat called Cornwall and he’d make me sing as we were walking down the road. Another thing was that my parents bought me a guitar in Venice. In that way, music was always encouraged at home.」

●So, tinkering with guitars and singing was a part of your experience before you bought pop CDs? 「Yes. Actually, it was piano, I suppose. Oh, but there was a cassette tape that came with the cereal, and I used to listen to that a lot, and that’s the first thing I started listening to on my own (laughs). Queen’s “I Want To Break Free”, Status Quo’s “Spirit In The Sky”*. Those were the first music I listened to, and apart from that I really liked playing the piano. And I used to listen to a-ha’s first record and Michael Jackson’s “Bad”. I was also listening to Phil Collins. At any rate, I was well aware that I liked music a lot.」

●Did you ever get into rock music, for example? 「When I was 13, I went to boarding school, and there were upperclassmen up to the age of 18, and they were all listening to cool music. So I started listening to the stuff that the older students were talking about, to see what it was really like. So I started buying records like Blur, James, and Ride. Sometimes I didn’t know why I bought the record other than “this seems cool” (laughs). But some of them I really liked.」

●What kind of music did you get into? 「I really liked Blur’s “There's No Other Way” and James’ “Gold Mother”. I really liked James. And I liked Cat Stevens. But even when I was about 19, I was convinced that I wasn't allowed to like heavy music. For example, when the first Oasis album came out, and when “Nevermind” came out, I thought I wasn't good enough for them, so maybe I shouldn't like them (laughs). So what was really great for me was when we released our first album and I thought, “What the hell, maybe I can listen to whatever I want and do whatever I want too”. So, six years later, I got totally into those records (laughs). That's when I finally felt something fresh.」

●In a way, you’re very serious (laughs). 「But isn’t that the way it is? At school, certain types of music are connected to certain kinds of people in terms of image, and if you're not friends with those people, you feel like you shouldn’t listen to those bands either. So I wasn't close to any of the people who listened to Nirvana, so I couldn't listen to Nirvana.」

●So, what's your favourite record of all time? 「If you ask me which record changed my life, it would be “OK Computer”. And I think the greatest album in history is Nirvana's “Nevermind”. I wasn't really influenced by it when it was first released, but when “OK Computer” was released, for me, for the first time, I felt like I was similar to the guys in that band. And that gave me the confidence to do our own kind of music. I thought I wasn’t good enough to be in a rock band, but then “OK Computer” came out and they were a band of middle-class white British people, and I was like that, and it was okay for someone like me to play rock. So that’s the record that changed my life. And then Bob Dylan's “Blood on the Tracks”, “Nevermind” and “Definitely Maybe” are the greatest masterpieces in the history of rock music. But “OK Computer” is not only a masterpiece, it had a huge impact on me personally.」

●I think there are two main elements to “Nevermind” and “OK Computer”: firstly, it’s good rock music. The other element is that they're symbolic of the times. Which do you think attracted you more? 「For “OK Computer”, it was both the era and the music. But “Nevermind” was where it was created so perfectly, sonically.」

●When you’re working with Coldplay, do you think about things like that? In other words, are you conscious of both the purely musical aspect and what you’re expressing for the times? 「I mean, even with the bands I just mentioned, I think when they were doing it, they were only thinking about the record. But I think the records were so good that they embodied the zeitgeist as well. I don’t think Nirvana were thinking about anything other than making a great record, and I think Radiohead just wanted to make a great record too. But they’re both the greatest bands in the history of music, and that’s why they happened to achieve more than just music. So when we’re trying to make a record, we’re just trying to make a good record. However, we haven’t been able to create works that can stand shoulder to shoulder with those two bands yet, so we haven’t achieved anything that really embodies the era.」

●For example, when you first came out, everyone realised that Coldplay were making very good music, but there was also criticism that you didn’t have a clear sense of values or statement for the times. What were your thoughts on this? 「My first priority in making a record is to write great songs with emotion, and I think that’s what I’ve done. Compared to the second album, the first album is more about the songs. But the second one has more or less an edge compared to that, and it’s not like it doesn’t talk about the times. Well, but I think that the criticisms against us are a fair point (laughs).」

●(laughs) But doesn't that make it hard for you? 「Well, a little bit. But it's a decision on our part to go in that direction. Rather than being edgy, we want to write good songs. That’s actually the point of “Nevermind” and “OK Computer” and “Revolver” as well. They’re great albums, but they’re also incredibly fresh, and we haven't made that kind of record yet. I think we’ve made two pretty good records so far, but they’re not really original in sound, so hopefully one day we’ll make a record that’s edgy but boasts great content.」

●When your first album came out, people often said that your music was melancholic, and while I think it certainly does have a melancholic mood, at the same time there was an energy, as if you were trying to move forward. For example, do sad songs really come from sad times? And are happy songs born from happy times? What do you think, in your case? 「No, they aren’t. If the song springs up, whether it's a happy one or a sad one, I feel happy. If it’s a sad song and it's a good song, I'm still happy because it's a good song (laughs). If it's a fun song and it's a good song, I'm happy because it's a good song and I’m in a fun mood (laughs).」

●So, when you're in love, do you write a lot of songs if the relationship is going well? Or do good songs come out when the relationship is not going well? 「Both (laughs). ……I mean, when I'm in love with a girl, I feel like I can write songs forever. But even when things are going well, I like to worry (laughs). Even when things are going well, I imagine that something might go wrong. So I end up writing anyway. Or even if I try to write a happy song about love, but what I end up writing is a sad song…… So I don't really know (laughs).」

●For example, I really like the song “Trouble”, but how did it come about, and what kind of feelings went into it? 「I think it's typical of our songwriting. Because “Trouble” is now a finished song, it seems like it was written from the start as a piece about someone being anxious, but I wrote it next to a cupboard in the kitchen, and I actually wanted to write a Blur-like song. It was a song that came to me with a punk-like feeling. I played it at first at a very fast tempo and then I was like “♪ Oh no, I see……” Then I tried slowing it down a bit, and our producer, Ken Nelson, said, “No, it would be better if it was slower”. So I tried it. And that's when the song really came into its own. I said, “Oh, so that's it, it was a ballad”. That kind of thing happens, doesn't it? So…… I’m not a genius (laughs).」

Translator’s Note: This is the first time for me to learn that the song “Trouble” actually started out on a faster tempo and had punk-like vibes to it. I’m trying to picture what that might sound like, and it feels odd. Also, Chris sounds like an adorable loser when he was younger. A talented guy with an ear for music, sure, but still an adorable loser. ❤️

*I think this is an error from Chris, since I've checked and rechecked it, and there's no such song in Status Quo's discography. It's in fact a song written by Norman Greenbaum. It was a one-hit wonder that had been covered by other artists, but Status Quo had never covered this song before.

Please do support me via my ko-fi! ☕

[opinated-user]

Catching up on stuff I missed and that whole debacle with Batman’s food just doesn’t make reasonable sense no matter what way you slice. Why do you need to show a receipt for buying cat food? Does this person not know what a receipt is for? It’s mainly for being eligible to return an item if it wasn’t satisfactory to your tastes, but you can’t just do that with food, because you have to have ruined the packaging in some way in order to use it. No store is going to take back a cereal box someone opened up because the cereal turned out to be stale. You keep receipts for shit like buying clothes in case the clothes might not fit, which is actually what happened to me a few weeks ago when buying new jeans so there’s an example right there.

And second, this has to assume that Courtney wouldn’t, you know, feed her cat, like she said she was going to. What kind of person would just intentionally starve their cat, if they weren’t already abusive to their pets? The fact that she considered pawning off her laptop, which is going to have long term consequences in any capacity, just to feed the poor guy shows she clearly was really to take the long term hit just so she doesn’t have to lose her cat.

And third, how the fuck does this relate to Lily using money that was supposed to go to Mikala (not sure if that’s spelled right) immigration fees to buy a new desk. This is a giant stretch to put those on the same levels of seriousness. I can reasonably understand that Courtney’s current situation could mean that she can use some of the money meant for cat food to buy other things, since I can reasonably assume that her Ko-fi was made for that purpose, and Courtney’s character means she would probably be upfront if that’s something that happened, and good on her for doing that anyways, she seems to be tight on money as is. Meanwhile, Lily committed actual fraud. I’m not sure if this could count as charity fraud, but even someone like me, with no law experience, clearly knows taking money meant for something big and spending it on something else is legally questionable.

THERE WAS AN ENTIRE CONTROVERSY LATELY WITH THE COMPLETIONIST HAVING DONE EXACTLY THAT, WHY DID NO ONE QUESTION THIS

Sorry if this is long-winded and redundant at this point, but I saw that whole thing when catching up on the LO drama and I just needed to vent my whole frustrations with that.

i have to thank you, anon, for putting everything i have felt about that particular situation so succinctly. after everything was said and done, i have a strong feeling that sparky was behind those messages. just like i'm almost sure that he was behind all the "apparently" messages that LO is getting with archived links of our posts. why? because that's exactly how he used to talk to me just to hear my response. the only times we talked at all was when he wanted to bring some new thing that LO had said or done. that without even bringing up he confessed to Brittany he just likes to stir the pot to see what happens. that's his way to try to sympathize with you, to show you that he is on your side. "i bring you all this stuff that you can use against the people you dislike, so that must mean that i'm good in your eyes, right? only a friendly person would do that!" nevermind that even back then, i'd find weird the frequency with which he did it because... sometimes he'd share completely innocent and small messages from LO and i'd have genuinely no idea of how to respond because they were completely useless to prove anything. that's the exact same thing he is doing with LO, but he has upgraded now to just completely lie or intentionally misrepresent everything to self that distorted version back to LO. LO's being played like a fiddle, just like he played all of us for a while until he revealed his true colors. i have no doubt in my mind that only an individual acting in bad faith would seriously try to take me trying to talk about LO scamming her audience, literally going out of their way to copy my words, spamming me with multiple messages even after i blocked their IP by using a VPN, as somehow Courtney being the one to scam everyone because she didn't show the receipts for cat food. but of course that LO only cares about having something, anything, against the sibling that is dennouncing her, so she won't bother to use reason, logic or even check if the allegations are true before just publish them for her audience to stick only with whatever she tells them. they already believe that a 6 year old can be blamed for the abuse perpetrated by an adult after all!

[firelord-frowny]

yall these last several days have been THE! WORST!!!!

or idk, not the worst lmao i tend to try to save catastrophic language for actual catastrophes these days and since nobody is dead or maimed, i guess "really really sucked" is the better way to describe it.

but anyway. it really really sucked so bad that i dont even feel like properly ranting about it, so here's a bulleted list of the suckage. -Had (probably) the flu for like two weeks. Missed two weeks of volunteering and one week of work. -Felt better! Volunteered. Went to work. -Throat got sore in the middle of the night. like i literally FELT it get sore in real time. felt it swell. -Sore throat morphed to include an ear ache. -Also felt nauseous several times throughout the day. -went with my mom to go pick up groceries and also one single item to hopefully expedite my recovery (those lil emergen-c supplement drink packets) and somehow wound up getting yelled at about what an inconvenience it is to ~have~ to make a 20 minute round trip to pick up groceries that included something for me🙃 i literally would have just done an instacart order like i usually do but we already needed groceries and that is the only reason i put it in the grocery order so i guess that somehow means that its My Fault the household needed groceries and i guess a 20 minute trip is the worst fucking thing a person can be bothered to do on a sunday afternoon. i mean nevermind the asparagus and the yellow squash and the cornbread mix and the condensed milk and the walnuts and the clam strips and the bananas and the whole grain cereal and the canned vegetables and the frozen berries and all the other shit that aint have JACK to do with me, bc my vitamin c supplement made all of that moot and the sole reason for going to get groceries was because im a needy piece of shit whose better off idk dying of meningitis or soemthing, idfk.

-had a virtual ~urgent care~ visit. got prescribed antibiotics for what's probably a sinus infection gone nuclear. that was yesterday.

-today! throat still hurt like a bitch. couldn't really eat or drink much but I had an apple and some water before taking a dose of ibuprofen.

-went to work. started getting a migraine on the way. benadryl often takes the edge off of my migraines so my dad (who was giving me a ride to work) agreed to swing by a store and pick some up after dropping me off at work, and then swing back and bring me the meds.

-HOWEVER! you know what the first thing i did upon pulling into the parking lot at work was?

-puke. A LOT. big ol pile of puke in the parking lot. disgusting.

-called the front desk and let them know that i in fact made it to work but that i just vomited my guts out in the parking lot and should probably go home. they were like, "yikes, yeah, definitely go home, please feel better soon" and canceled all my students for the day. I'm Extra Upset by this bit because 2 of my students have missed a lot of lessons recently (one because they were on vacation, another because there were no lessons on 4th of july, another because a different student canceled, and one because i was sick) and i really really really want to keep as much consistency as possible both for the student's progression, and for increasing my chances that they'll keep me as a teacher. and i also had one new adult student that i saw for the first time last week and am super bummed that i already had to throw a wrench in his new experience learning an instrument.

anyway,

-throat was still hurting like a BITCH and i obviously needed to eat and drink especially since i THREW THE HELL UP EARLIER so i made another virtual urgent care appointment.

-got through the entire intake process as far as submitting all the forms. all that was left was for someone to call me and confirm all the info.

-i get the call! confirm the info! the lady says she'll send me a link to the visit as soon as we hang up.

-BUT THEN she asks me if i'd had a virtual visit the day before for the same reason, and i said yeah! and then she says! that i can't have a virtual visit because blah blah blah they cant do telehealth appointments for one patient for the same reason in less than 7 days! which like! ok i guess but PERHAPS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN POINTED OUT WHEN I SELECTED THE REASON IN THE INTAKE FORMS 15 MINUTES AGO???

-but whatever! okay fine! so i made an appointment for the in person clinic and was able to be seen relatively quickly.

-everybody was super nice (literally all of the medical people i've dealt with over the last two days have been super nice) and one of the desk ladies told me i have a "really sweet voice" and that made me Happyyyy and so i told her how happy it made me and that it meant an extra lot because i used to have a violin teacher who would tell me my voice was annoying and the lady was like "omg wtf" and i was like "i know right? i was like 13" and she's like "daaaaang wtf!' and im like RIGHT???

-even though i was able to be seen relatively quickly it still took kind of a long time for the nurse practitioner herself to get to me, but once she did, it was smooth sailing from there. covid, flu, and strep tests were negative. prescribed me prednisone for the sore throat. took my first dose in the clinic. picking up the rest of it from a pharmacy tomorrow.

-its now 3am as i type this and my throat is feeling significantly better. took my 3rd dose of antibiotics earlier tonight, along with some tylenol, since apparently ibuprofen can have some reactions with prednisone, and since my throat at that moment was still pretty sore. but i think by now i can finally EAT SOMETHING so thats what imma do, and then imma *samuel l jackson voice* Go The Fuck To Sleep.

[equilibrium-anticipation]

How To Make Peanut Butter Chicken When You Are Studying Abroad

Buy

Chicken, mostly to make box pad thai, but you'll have half left over.

Green onions (seem like a good topping), also mostly for the pad thai.

Tomatoes, two weeks ago, for salad. You did not make a salad.

Lemon, one week ago, to make salmon. You skipped the lemon.

A three pack of onions, two months ago. You will only need half an onion.

Rice-- nevermind, you always have rice.

Peanut butter, duh.

Coconut Milk! You're making it fancy this time!

Cook

The chicken expires today, so this is what you are making for lunch. NO MAKING OTHER PLANS.

Heat the oil, on medium high. Chop the onion, and some leftover garlic. Also a green onion, even though that's not on the recipie. Get down ground ginger. It's cheaper than buying fresh.

Toss the onions in, and stir until they get translucent. Add three cloves garlic, some ginger powder, green onions. Also cumin. You're supposed to add chili oil later, but you definitely don't have that, and cumin is the "spiciest" spice you have. (you own three spices). Stir.

After a minute or two dump in the raw chicken. lay it out so it can cook for-- 3-4 minutes???-- nope, absolutely not. What? Oh, you're supposed to simmer this with a lid for like 20 minutes. You have one pan. It does not have a lid. Cook the chicken until you can't see pink through the skin.

Add-- oops, you were supposed to have ketchup. Oh well.

Add an amount of chopped tomato. Also add like three tablespoons of peanut butter and a teaspoon of brown sugar. Do not add chili oil because you do not have any. Stir.

This does not have enough liquid. It is going to burn.

Add three teaspoons of white wine leftover from when you were making ramen and could not find sake at the grocery store; add a dash of fish sauce, also from the ramen making; this is also not enough; add a few shakes of soy sauce, and also some rice vinegar, both from sushi making experiments; might as well squeeze in some of that lemon juice now. Keep stirring the whole time. This is probably enough liqiuid for now.

Go to the pantry to grab your can of coconut milk. It's time to simmer. Oh. oh no. oh dear. You don't own a can opener. The cans of beans you had for lunch at the beginning of the semester came with pull tabs. You can probably donate the can or something.

Pour in an amount of the skim milk in your fridge that expires in three days anyways. You haven't opened it at all. Maybe you should buy some cereal when you make an emergency toilet paper run tonight?

Set the heat to low and go wash your dishes. Consider making rice. Remember that that takes like half an hour and your chicken will be done in an indeterminate timeframe that's probably less than twenty minutes. Remember to stir once every few minutes.

At this point the sauce is pretty thick and the chicken is pretty tender. It's been less than ten minutes, probably.

Serve yourself half the chicken. The other half is for dinner. You can probably make rice then.

Go to your desk to eat, and try really hard not to think about the lab report you should be writing right now.

It's delicious.

The chicken's gone in three minutes.

There's no way you will ever be able to replicate your own sucess.

[pesterloglog]

Jade Harley, Aradia Megido, Davebot

Page 286-287

JADE: As a point of curiosity-

ARADIA: oh shit!!!!

ARADIA: :(

JADE: as a point of order, you never answered dave’s question.

ARADIA: which one he is very chatty

JADE: you experience time in a way that is woefully unfamiliar to me and it has... piqued my curiosity enough to learn more.

ARADIA: ?_?

DAVEBOT: shes asking how old you are

ARADIA: in this form our bodies stop aging once we reach maturity i think

ARADIA: the god tier keeps our physical form locked in a state of undying

ARADIA: even in death the bodies do not decay

ARADIA: only lay dormant

DAVEBOT: no thats boring

DAVEBOT: like how long have you been alive

JADE: yes, that one.

ARADIA: oh maybe a few hundred years or so

DAVEBOT: what

JADE: what?

ARADIA: well if i had known you were going to be so judgy about it

DAVEBOT: when did this happen

ARADIA: oh i spent some time in other doomed realities and timelines and came back before anybody could tell i was gone

DAVEBOT: oh just out for a bit of fun then

DAVEBOT: just hopped on over to a different reality

DAVEBOT: real casual like

DAVEBOT: oh hello dont mind me just popping in to see if it really is as doomed as they say it is

DAVEBOT: did not disappoint

ARADIA: yes almost exactly like that :)

DAVEBOT: who did you hang out with are they cooler than me

ARADIA: it is complicated to explain

DAVEBOT: oh ok nevermind then

DAVEBOT: all clear

DAVEBOT: a whole alternate universe ripe with the coolest motherfuckers imaginable

ARADIA: you were there too i threw your air conditioner into the sun

DAVEBOT: wow thats fucked up

DAVEBOT: thats not where that goes at all

JADE: these events are not-canonical.

ARADIA: rude

DAVEBOT: i think what the ghost possessing a corpse of my ex is trying to say

DAVEBOT: and correct me if im fucking wrong

DAVEBOT: which for the record im not

DAVEBOT: is that the trope of being hundreds of years old but looking young forever patently sucks ass

DAVEBOT: a plot device an asshole would write

ARADIA: :(

JADE: that is not what i am trying to say at all.

DAVEBOT: hmm wow yeah thatd really be a sort of pot/kettle situation i guess

DAVEBOT: i cant believe im the only woke one here

DAVEBOT: its hard being such a visionary AND such a fine metallic specimen

DAVEBOT: but im an altruist first and fucking foremost

ARADIA: so selfless

JADE: yes, the greater narrative is truly blessed by your beneficent presence.

DAVEBOT: oh so you got jokes now huh

JADE: i have always had the ‘jokes’ of which you speak, but i have heretofore exercised restraint in laying you low.

JADE: i possess knowledge of many of your iterations, as the scope of my powers allows me to exist in several narrative structures at once.

DAVEBOT: but can she see why kids love the sweet cinnamon taste of cinnamon toast crunch

JADE: i do not know, or care, what that means.

ARADIA: neither do i :)

JADE: its cultural significance to you as an earthling is wasted on the two of us entirely, as we have not conflated the misguided notion of clinging to nostalgic cereal advertisement trivia with socially relevant conversation.

JADE: one could say that your reference is lost to

ARADIA: .....

JADE: ......

ARADIA: .......

JADE: time

ARADIA: ouo

[pall0r-mortis]

Quite directly, James was a better person than himself. Sid didn't even need to have the conversation to assume that much, because it was the sort of thing that he could assume about basically anyone. Even in those moments, fleeting as they were, where he was in fact something resembling a good person himself they usually had some sort of underlying selfish point to them, didn't they? Wasn't that why people were good people? Maybe not because they needed to hear that they were good people, although some definitely followed that point of view, so because people did good things when it felt good to do them.

He wasn't looking for sympathy, he didn't actually know fully what sympathy looked like in the first place, or some part of him felt like sympathy was a close cousin to failure and expectation; it was the expectation of making an impact on other people and when it came down to that logic Sid whatever preferred to just not.

"I said I didn't like the things they threw at me," he clarified, "and I don't, because eventually you have to wake up." And he didn't think he was the only one who had that outlook; he wasn't special, life was varying degrees of difficult to face in the morning for everyone. There was shockingly little unique about the human experience.

"And, no, that's not what I mean. I mean I don't get-" Sid's lips drew to a thin line the way they always did when he was thinking, "that. Waiting. Time doesn't-nevermind," he relented to the fact that just because time felt very crushing to him it probably didn't to most people. Anyway.

While he was content to be a metaphorical ghost, other people were not; and when he could hear the frustration and the anger start to bleed into James' voice it was a reminder to both of them that that stubborn idiot was still alive.

"Like what?" It was more James' turn to be angry, to have something to be angry at, since he apparently couldn't allow himself to be angry at the entire world for how truly messed up his situation was or unfair life could be; Sid didn't bother to redirect that anger because it had to go somewhere anyway. "Cereal is a low bar, and obviously you're going to be back on your feet eventually, I don't think either of those really counts as wants."

His shoulders dropped, it was mostly a shrug. "You got on my case at the auction about the date thing, but you're on a date now, so obviously you're wrong about some of your expectations." Not that it was the most shiny example. "Although you might want to lower those on this example specifically right now since I keep fucking it up, this time."

Hell, it was still a matter of principle, even if that principal felt far more convoluted the more that he talked to James instead of just yelling at him from the other side of the street.

"You are out in the social world though. Keep that up and you'll be the life of the party again before long, Princess."

@captainjamesjoneshook

@pall0r-mortis

...jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez, what was wrong with this guy?

Actually, James didn't want to know. It was probably very sad and very heartbreaking. If he heard it, it would no doubt pull at the empathy he unfortunately harbored within and then he would feel guilty for not liking him and– there was always a reason people acted the way they did. It would be easier to believe people were just mean or annoying for the sake of it, because then there was no reason to give it right back.

Or, you could be like his dad and not care what anyone's story was and just be mean to them anyway.

Either way, James figured it was probably better to not get into the nitty gritty. The real nitty gritty, anyway. Not the kid or marriage talk he'd been joking with before– the stuff that would actually strike nerves and turn this into an actual fight rather than a game. Especially with the dad talk. He didn't know that Sid had come prepared for a cage match, but James wasn't sure he'd make it out of it alive. As satisfying as it would be to get the first punch off, Sid seemed like he had reserves for days and James would be reduced to nothing but a smear on the pavement.

Besides, it wasn't like Sid would want him to ask, right? This was a joke. He didn't actually give a shit about James, he was just trying to get James to give a shit about him to have a laugh. Or something. He still hadn't figured that bit out yet.

"You did, you said–!" James started to reply only to stop himself. He breathed in deeply and let it go. "Whatever. Moving on; Yes. I have stuff I want to do in mind, but like I said, when I can do them will depend on when I can recover. That takes a while, you know? I'm– I'm relearning a whole bunch of shit that used to be easy! Sorry I can't have any large ambitions when I'm takes me half an hour to gather everything for a bowl of bloody cereal– it's not as if I don't want to do things but I can't right now!"

And whoops, he'd gotten heated anyway.

[raineydays411]

My Father's daughter pt 3

Tony Stark x daughter!reader

Summary: Back at the Tower, Y/n has a talk with Pepper.

a/n: ohhh another part finished!! some new characters will be revealed next part and i’m so great full for @social-media-imagines-by-me fir helping me create them💕💕

You were furious.

You stormed into your room and slammed the door, finding satisfaction in the loud bang it produced. You then ripped through your drawers and closet, pulling on some work out clothes and some gloves. You then marched out of the room, slamming the door again, startling Sam and Bucky who happened to be passing by.

"Geez kid, slam it a little harder I don't think it fell off the hinges yet." Sam jokes, but you were in no joking mood so you swirled around with fire in your eyes.

"You okay doll?" Bucky softly asks, pushing a frightened Sam to the side. You sigh, knowing it's not fair to take out your anger on them.

"Sorry Sam, it's just...my biological mom is here and wants me to move in with her."

"Oh..." Bucky says, not good with things like this, " Do you want me to like...kill her or..."

"NO" You laugh, " It's just I haven't seen her in nine years and she has the audacity to come up here like it's nothing?!"

Your anger returns, " She thinks that just because she pushed me out of her vagina"

The two men cringe at the words

"That she can just claim me? That's not how it works!" You shout, " And, she brought her fucking husband. The man she left us for! Who does that?!"

Bucky looks at Sam, mentally asking him what they should do. Sam just rolls his eyes and turns back to you.

"Come on kid, it looks like you wanna punch something."

and with that he lead you to the training room where Steve was training with Peter.

"Come on queens, you gotta stay on your feet" Steve k=jokes as he, again, trips Peter.

"Mr. Rogers, do you think we should take a break?" Peter pants.

You stride pass them, not bothering to say hi. They look at Sam and Bucky for an explanation and just get a shake of the head.

"Hey Y/n that's my punching" Steve started to say when he saw you throw a hard punch to the bag, "Nevermind..."

You ignore the group behind you, opting to pummel the poor punching bag in front of you.

Your mind flashes back to your mother and her words.

"A girl needs her mother"

*punch*

"Oh petal I wanted to call"

*punch* *punch*

"Come to Gotham. Meet your siblings!"

*BANG*

You look down to see the punching bag flew off the hook and is spilling sand on the floor. You were confused, as you knew you weren't strong enough to do that, not even when you were angry.

"Wow, I guess Cap didn't secure that hook again."

You jump, not expecting someone to be there, as you heard Sam, Bucky, Steve, and Peter leave. You turn to see Pepper there looking at the bag in surprise. You sigh, stepping away from the mess and taking off your gloves. You make your way to the bench and take a swig of water.

"Did you need something Pep?" You ask, avoiding eye contact.

"Well, i was just wondering if my kid was okay. But given the fact that you punched that bag like it would restore your honor.."

You knew you shouldn't have showed her Avatar.

"I'm assuming your not." She finishes.

You give her a half smile, looking down at your hands.

"Y/n" She says, " Talk to me."

You finally speak, "Why now?"

Pepper frowns, understanding that small phrase, ' I don't know."

"She's not my mother." You state, " She...she might have been once but now?"

Pepper nods," I love you."

You smile, the words reassuring you, " I love you too Pep."

"Come on, your messing up your manicure." She says with a smile, standing and extending a hand towards you. You feel your demnor soften and your mood lighten. Pepper always managed to make you feel better.

"Yeah okay..thanks." You say, taking her hand and letting her pull you from the bench, " Are you hungry? Cause I am>"

"Y/n we just ate!"

"Like an hour ago"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Days went by and you hadn't heard a peep from Christine. It was like she went off to lick her wounds and just decided not to reach out again.

Which didn't bother you one bit.

But apparently the universe wanted to fuck with you because when you came home from a day out with Peter, there was your mother, Bruce Wayne, and all six million of her fucking kids sitting on the couch.

"What the fuck?" You say causing the attention to turn to you.

"Language" Peter says, You smile softly at him before then turning to glare at Tony.

"Don't look at me, it was your moth-uh Peppers idea." Tony stumbled, looking rather uncomfortable sharing a drink with the man that his...wife? girlfriend?... whatever she was left him for.

"Pep what?" You asking, softening your glare because you'd be damned if you disrespected her.

"I just think it'd be best if we clear the air and get everything out on the table." Pepper said in that tone she uses when she's dealing with difficult people or the press. You called it her CEO tone.

"Now, go take your bags upstairs and wash up. And I'll pretend that you aren't an hour late"

"It was Peter's idea..." You mumbled and walking to the stairs that lead to the bed rooms.

"It was not!" Peter shouts following you to the rooms to help with the bags.

Christine watched as her daughter walked out of the room, playfully arguing with Peter. It was as if she were a whole different person, carefree and playful. Totally different from when she was glaring and stiff when talking to her. It broke her heart hearing Tony refer to Pepper as her Mother rather than Christine. But what did she expect?

Damian scoffed catching her attention, "Mother I do not see why you've dragged us here, that girl didn't even acknowledge us."

"Damian, enough" Bruce said, not looking away from his awkward conversation with Tony.

"Gee if only I could do that with our kids." Tony mutters into his drink.

"Does Y/n argue often?" Bruce asks trying to engage in conversation.

Tony laughs before fondly speaking, " Sort of. She isn't the type to back down when she thinks something is right. There was this one time I caught her arguing with one of my business partners about his "condescending tone and misogynistic attitude"."

""And did she apologize after?"

"Hell no. She glared at me and told me apologizing just for his ego would be demeaning her experiences as a woman. Although to be fair he was an asshole."

Bruce chuckles, " She sounds like a well rounded young woman. How old was she then?"

"Ah about 10, it was funny seeing this little girl argue in a Justin Bieber shirt argue about the patriarchy with a full grown man."

Bruce and Tony shared a laugh, picturing the scene.

"You must be very proud of her." Bruce mentions after they quieted down. Tony let a small smile escape.

" I am. She's had a rough life, and I..." Tony trails off, " She means everything to me. Without her...I don't think I'd be the same person I am today."

And with that, Tony downed his drink and stood, " Want another?"

Bruce smiled and accepted, watching Tony leave. He can tell that the man was close to his daughter. A bond that formed due to a loss, they both grew from it and grew closer. He understood, thinking about his own children.

Pepper and Christine were having a somewhat similar conversation, although it was a little more tense.

"So...Pepper-"

"Virginia." Pepper said, cutting her off.

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Virginia. Pepper is a nickname my family calls me."

"Oh. Okay, Virginia, how long have you known Y/n and Tony?"

"Oh about nine or so years. I was promoted to assistant when I saw how much of a mess Tony was." Pepper said casually.

Dick and Jason tensed, overhearing the tense conversation between the two mothers. But before Dick could interrupt Jason sat him back down.

"I wanna see what happens."

Christine continued, " And when did you become a..more permanent around the house?"

"When I saw that Y/n the one taking care of Tony." Pepper said in a serious tone, "She was the one making sure he didn't choke on his vomit and eating cereal as his flings walked out the room. Then he got kidnapped...and y/n was alone. So I made sure she’d never be alone again.”

Christine heart sank. She knew about the whole kidnapping thing. Why she didn't step in, she doesn't know. It's just another thing she regrets to this day.

Before Pepper could continue, she heard two sets of footsteps and voices

"All I'm saying is, if he looks at me funny, I'm fighting him and that's that."

"Yeah maybe not the best impression on..." Peter cuts off when they reach the living room. Eyes again on the two of you.

"Let's get this over with." You muttered, saying bye to Peter and making way over to the couch to sit next to Pepper.

"Y/n!" Christine says happily, " I'm glad you're here. We brought you something!"

She pulls out a box and she carefully hands it over to you.

You look at it suspiciously before getting a nudge from Pepper.

"Thank you." You grit out. Earning a glare from Damian and Cassandra.

You open the box to see...cupcakes.

"They're the peanut butter strawberry cupcakes you used to like. Remember? I used to bring them when I came to see you." Christine says, trying to bring up good memories.

You frown and close the box, " I'm allergic to strawberries."

Lie.

Pepper casts a glance towards you, "They look lovely, let me take them into the kitchen, I'll check on dinner."

And with that she takes the box and leaves into the kitchen. Leaving you and Tony alone.

"So...Stark" Damian started fixing his gaze on you.

"Yes, Wayne?" You said, matching his energy.

"What exactly is it you want from my mother?" He asks, earning a groan from his older brothers.

"Well, I'd appreciate it if she left me alone." You say with a straight face.

Christine frowns but before she says something Damian speaks up again.

"Tt, all this drama for the likes of you? It's honestly disappointing" He drawls, trying to get under your skin.

"Damian!" Christine scolded.

"Well, I apologize for not meeting your standards. I'd try harder if I cared what a toddler thought of me."

Jason let out a surprised chuckle while the rest of the family looked on in shock. Tony just rolled his eyes.

"I do not understand why Mother insists on rekindling her relationship with you. You obviously weren't worth the effort the first time around." He spits, causing the rest of the family to gasp.

You however, just laugh, " When you figure it out, let me know. It's probably the same reason she puts up with you."

Damian glares, about to start in again when Jason cuts him off " Shut up Demon. She got you man."

"Tt"

"I'm Jason, and anyone who can out that brat in check is good in my book." He says sending you a smirk.

You smile back, " I'm friends with Loki and Wade Wilson, I'm hardly affected by anything anymore." Your dad rolls his eyes again, he’s not exactly enthusiastic about your choice in friends.

You like this one. Probably the one you're gonna be able to stand in this family.

"Don't hog her Jason!" Dick shouts pushing him away before turning to smile at you, " Hi! I'm-"

"Dick Grayson. I know, you spilled your champagne on my dress a few years ago at a New Years gala." You say, still a little bitter about it.

"Oh. heh, right, sorry about that. Again." He says sheepishly.

You turn to Cassandra, " You're Cassandra. You and your friend cornered me in the bathroom."

Cassandra scowls and looks away.

Then you turned to Tim, " And you need to learn how to secure your fire walls better."

Tim looked at you confused, "Um excuse me?"

You smirked, " Just a suggestion. I assume you don't want people to know about your...bats in the attic?"

The whole family froze.

You knew? There was no way.

"Kid, are you hacking again?" Tony said exasperatedly, " You promised you'd stop after the last time."

"Hey it's not my fault Shuri didn't think about changing her password." You say defensively, “ and it’s not like you were complaining when you had me hack into SHEILDS databases”

“What was that!?” Pepper shouts from the kitchen.

“Heheh, nothing dear.” Tony shouts back then in a hushed voice scolds you, “ I gave you fifty bucks to keep that a secret.”

“I didn’t say what you had me retrieve.” You said smugly leaning back in your chair.

Bruce didn’t know how to feel.

On one hand, this teen that objectively hates his family, knows their biggest secret. She can singlehandedly destroy their family and expose them. And she has the means to.

But on the other, she’s a perfect fit for their family. She gets along with Jason, doesn’t let Damian get under her skin, and from the looks of it can definitely take care of herself. Only thing is, again, she hates his wife and by association, his family.

“I’m sorry, hacking? You know that’s illegal right?” Tim asks, still in shock that you got past his security systems.

You turn to him and in a bored tone replied , “Yeah? and?”

Tim stuttered for a bit before going quiet with a blush. It was adorable really.

You had to hold back a laugh, it was fun getting this stuffy family all riled up. Especially when you can see the disapproval in Christines face.

“Tony, you let our daughter participate in illegal activities??” Christine asks with a raised brow.

The table goes silent at the tone of her voice. Knowing that when she uses it someone is really in trouble.

But you roll your eyes because how are you supposed to know what that tone means?

“I let my daughter express herself in a ...healthy way. She knows her limits.” Tony replies cooly, taking a drink and looking back into the kitchen wondering where Pepper went.

”Obviously not. Tony she has no regard for the laws at all! You think i didn’t see the headlines last year?!”

Ah yes, last year you had a slight scandal where you may have punched a pap for trying to get a picture up your skirt but who wouldn’t?!

“ And you let her hang around criminals and terrorists?!”

You scoff, “ Oh please everyone in the Avengers was a criminal or terrorist at least once.”

“Not helping kid.” Tony says, “Christine, you and your family have no right to come into my home and judge my family. I’ve been civil. Hell maybe a little too much. Mainly because if I wasn’t, my wife—err Fiancée, would kill me.”

You snicker, earning a few glares.

“Look the point is, don’t tell me how to raise my daughter. Especially because I was doing it all alone.” Tony finishes with a sigh.

The table goes silent. You were getting tired of all the tense silences today.

“ Look.” You turn to Christine, “ I get that you probably feel guilty or something because you ditched me. And I appreciate that or whatever.”

You were not good at this.

“ But I don’t wanna live with you.”

Christine looks down sadly, “ Y/n I just...I just want to get to know you again. You’re my baby.”

Before you could answer you heard a crash come from the kitchen and smoke fill the rooms.

“ Pepper?!” You cough, “ Dad what’s happening?!”

“ I don’t know. Stay here” He says summoning his suit.

“FRIDAY?!” You shout, but not hearing the AI.

The Wayne’s all looked at each other in panic. They didn’t bring their suits, thinking it was just a dinner.

You turn to them and shout “ Come with me, and stay low!”

You start to lead them to the stair case, knowing that the rooms were relatively safe.

“Come on!” you yell when they don’t follow you.

Christine stands from her seat and makes to follow you before being stopped by Damian.

“Mother we cannot..”

“Damian, I’ve had about enough of you. Let’s go.” She says sternly and follows you. The rest of the family following behind as Bruce nudges Damian.

“ Come on son.”

“Father we don’t know where she’s leading us.” Damian says stubbornly.

“There’s nothing we can do right now.” he coughs.

The sounds of punching and the blasts come from the kitchen.

“Let’s go.”

They finally join the rest of the family. You have them crouched in the hallway.

“ This is James’ room. Dad had it modified just incase he was ever triggered into the Winter Solider again. No ones getting through this door when it’s locked.”

You usher them in.

“Come on Y/n” Christine says reaching a hand out to you.

You smirk, “ What? and miss all the action?”

You close the door and lock it before leaving. Laughing at their surprised faces.

The room is silent.

“ She’s awesome!” Jason says with a laugh.

[satans-left-asscheeky]

Hi again! So this is odd but I get told I’m weird for eating cereal out of a cup (like large drink you’d get at McDonald’s size cup) instead of a bowl. So can you have the companions react to a gender  neutral soul eating sugar bombs out of a cup. Thanks!! Have a great day!

Maccready

"....Im not gonna lie, I've done it before too"

Do you think for a second this man does the dishes without being yelled at first? This has lead dear ol' maccready to be bowless on many occasions. Now if soles just doing because they have something against bowls? whatever. I mean is it a little strange yeah, but I mean screw the bowls or whatever if it buys him more time from doing the dishes.

Hancock

"Sunshine I've seen many hangover cures, but you my dear are a fuckin genius"

Hancock really hates spoons and utensils in general, I mean have you seen the state of commonwealth silverware? Ew. He'd much prefer drinking from a cup he knows is clean-ish. Especially cereal it's just faster and more efficient this way.

Cait

*Grabs the cup and downs the contents in one big gulp*

Fuck chewing, fuck bowls and especially fuck standards, especially first thing in the morning. This redhead needs calories and whiskey before anyone talks to her.

Danse

"Soldier surely there was a better alternative than that...." *sigh*

This would be a rare occasion when Danse would role his eyes, though sole did have that effect on him. He'd opt to ignore their antics and carry on with his usual morning routine, though he'd be lying if he said the image of sole eating their cereal that way wouldn't haunt him the rest if the day.

Curie

"Surely this isn't the way people eat cereal now, no?"

Shes perplexed, perhaps not as offended as Danse was but still very confused. She's slightly frustrated when apon questioning sole, their answers only end up leaving her with more questions

Deacon

Deacon would Silently grab himself a cup and begin pouring sugar bombs in it. He's gotten used to mirroring people to come off as more relatable, however its gotten to the point where if he sees someone doing something especially weird he's absolutely trying it out for himself. He'd only talk about if sole brought it up first though letting them think he's been eating his cereal like this all along. In his head they'll either bond over the quirky way they eat or sole'll be slightly annoyed at him for stealing their eating style, either way worth it in Deacons little fucked up experiment!

Piper

"Look I don't care how you eat, but don't let nat see you eating like that.... I don't think I can handle both of you doing it...."

She opts to drink her nuka cola and eat her fancy lad snakes instead of pay any mind to the prewar vaultie who somehow doesn't know cereal goes in a bowl... unless they did know and preferred this way?

Nick

"Kid..... *sigh* nevermind"

He'd wait till sole was finished and wisk the cup away from them and thoroughly washed it under the sinks cool water, as if apologizing to the inanimate object for the way it had just been grossly misused.

Preston

"I mean I guess you could use it like that....."

Hes kinda confused. Not offended but he does have questions.

X6-88

"Ma'am/Sir please do not eat that way in my presence ever again"

He'd relay back to the institute and never bring it up again. He's extremely uncomfortable by it and still haunts his nightmares

[solardrink]

that song is playing again. ranboo jokes about being a mirror for halloween to really scare people. we laugh in parasocial concern but mostly relate. ranboo considers going to a furry convention. he has a gaydar for his fans. we can tell. someone took his cookie. we all know it was tubbo. he has raised over 200 thousand dollars for people in need. he has randomly lost his train of thought. nevermind, its about merch. the ding of collecting ores in minecraft plays over and over. hes leaking merch ideas. it is so late holy shit. this man is going to pass out i dont believe for a second hes going for 10 more hours. he says he has a bunch of hours left but I Do Not Believe him. there is so much love and support here. people talk about their experiences and funny stories and people all over the world, enough to fill a stadium. react and smile. ranboo misses chipotle, poor man misses his tex-mex type food from cali. hes talking about benchtrio and i am Listening Intently. theres a hierarchy apparently. ranboos at the bottom for doing things suggestions. L. tubbo and ranboo are both weak to tommy if he says no to something which is very funny to me. ranboo is talking about their dynamic like rock paper scissors. tubbo and tommy would rather die than go somewhere a mile away. ranboo is most definitely the mom friend. he brings extra battery packs and masks for his friends if they need them. this boy is so endearing. tommy can ask for any of ranboos stuff and ranboo will probably give it to him cause he cant say no. ranboo cant be mad when tubbo ate 3/4 of his chocolate because he didnt say how much he could have. ranboo stares at a piece of iron ore for 3 minutes because he doesnt know where it came from. "nothing and everything is going on." hes asking if a food was made from chemicals but had the same flavor and shape and texture would we eat it? i have no idea it sounds kinda weird but maybe. ranboo says if it tastes good he would and i kinda expected that answer. he is yawning and i am yawning. i feel like this song has played already. i feel like this song has played already. he believes that milk before cereal is obviously wrong but hates arguing his case- a real libertarian centrist i expected nothing less from the man who orchestrates c!ranboo. hes now talking about people yelling about content creators and im lowkey caught offguard cause i wasnt listening. i miss tubbo. his phone fell why does this happen so often. "GIVE US SOME MONEY" hes talking about the mcyttwt thread and i fuckin agree it is the funniest thing holy shit. that also means that he has seen the covid stuff about wilbur and the "white, gay, man, loona stan, pick a struggle tweet" about tubbo and i dont how to feel about that tidbit. i have also read all of it, if you havent please do. i expected nothing less from ranboo to enjoy it. he is permenantly talking in his sleep which is interesting and also concerning. oliver has bought amongus plushies. someones cat is watching the stream. ranboos favorite cat breed are the ones that look. just kidding its black and white ones. his worst recent nightmare is him messing up on a facecam stream which is a bit sad. i put a D: in chat to express the kind of parasocial emotion i feel. he would steal your chips. he would reimburse you because he would feel bad though. ranboo read "effortlessly" wrong which is very ironic and funny. he messed up saying it again. hes quitting the internet. he had a pretty bad nightmare :(. i want tubbo when is he coming back. ranboos getting better at bridging in minecraft. he did pretty well imo. ba bow bow now now now now. thanks for the 25 tier ones. he will paint his nails eventually. one day. one day. im teasing he will most likely do it maybe. he would probably pierce his ears and i am excited about that a normal amount. ba now bow na bow now. ouch facial dysmorphia ow streamer ow. this sucks. i am feeling trauma dumped on but this is okay. dono is asking where would he get chicken nuggets and fries and he doesnt know. i want chicken nuggets. WHAT THE HECKKK THE BURNER WHO

POSTED THE MCYTTWT THREAD DEACTIVATED CAUSE RANBOO TALKED ABOUT THEM :(( crap. ranboo didnt mean that to happen but its ok :( there are so many hearts in this dam chatroom. im glad there are so many hearts here. tens of thousands of people here being sympathetic and kind. ranboo is not sleeping. invisibility and shape shifting are the super powers he would pick if he could. we know why ouch. 100% of proceeds are going to charity: water. people are intimidated by ranboo. i am not. wilbur is a little scary though. ranboo doesnt know his personality type, i dont either i think i took the test at least twice but i still dont remember what i got. this song is playing again. im not mad angry people by lemon demon is one of my favorite songs. pepeDS. ranboo our variety streamer <3 my favorite non-mcyt. but actually can ranboo be considered a mcyt. because all his yt videos are not mc they are in fact cooking/furniture building/internet funnies. ranboo is going to have a gummy. yum. donos cat died and is still dead- which leaves the comical opportunity for the cat to be resurrected. WHAT HE DOESNT LIKE CHEESECAKE THAT MUCH BECAUSE THE AFTERTASTE? this man mustve had dairy free cheesecake wtf where is he getting his cheesecake from. hes very mature talking about his facial dysmorphia in a technical manner and i find that admirable. ou ch he knows what it means to use unconventional methods to fix facial dysmorphia ow ow ow fuck im a poc and i used to be self conscious of my nose when i was younger shit. "i bet you think ketchup is spicy white boy." i am going to sob. hes leaving michael headcanons to the writers/artists <3 i think that is pretty neat. chat he said piglin not penguin, dumbasses. im kidding i love chat this stream they are too hivemind and silly to be anything but well-behaved besides spamming. he is a hufflepuff. so am i. i took that damn quiz three times. he has not tried beans on toast because he is scared. i would be too. dono reminded all of us when dreamworks tried to make sexy fish. ranboo is upset now. im not mad that lady fish was pretty hot. ignore that. he wants us hot fish enjoyers out of his chat. im not leaving. i cant breathe im having so much fun. 5 more minutes until 12 hours. im not sure if this man has taken a bathroom break once. woo theres a hype train. hes talking about that one tiktok audio where theres an edit of minecraft streamers being told by their chat to say ____ rights or else they are homophobic. ranboos right its hilarious. i think i might end this post now smile bye bye :)

[debiteful]

Are you still doin' writing requests? If so, could you write about a giant finding a borrower, with some unintentional fearplay on the giants part?

Content: apparent threat of harm, size difference (Giant/tiny), fearplay, hand held, crying, trapped under a bowl, ends on a positive note

Taking on a renovation by yourself was a monumental task. Thankfully the boundless strength of a giant made it much easier. Will spent weeks planning everything before he was finally ready to begin.

He started with the floors, tearing them up bit by bit. Beneath the boards there were scraps of fabric, bits of metal that seemed to have once been staples, and even an old cereal box. At first Will assumed whoever had built the place had been careless. As he progressed and found more trash, he began to see patterns. Strategic cuts in the cardboard here, nails running in a diagonal line without securing anything, and other such seemingly intelligent designs. 

Though it was odd, it helped click some puzzle pieces together. Rustling in the panty, socks disappearing, and soft yet shrill noises in the night. Something tiny was living in his home. By the looks of it they were taking things for their own purposes too! Nothing important of course, or he might've noticed sooner.

Now he had more planning to do. After all, he was tearing apart their home too!

Skip berated herself for the hundredth time for sticking around after that bean began tearing the place apart. Safe hiding places were growing fewer by the hour it seemed. It was impossible to predict where it would go to next, meaning she had to move all the borrowed things hastily. Already she had left a lot behind, and, to make matters worse, it had been found. Thankfully the bean hadn't seemed to catch on.

On the bright side, the renovation left lots of building scraps. Most helpful was the chunks of insulating foam. They were easy to cut and carry, and they could be used to build all sorts of things.

Presently Skip was trying to move them into the shed across the back lawn. She'd never lived out there because the temperature fluctuated too much. With insulation it might be bearable, and it would certainly be safer than in that madbean's house!

Unfortunately, the main house was still the best place to get food. Skip would wait somewhere secure in the evening until she heard the bean go to bed, then sneak out to get what crumbs she could. 

Tonight, a fallen cracker tempted her, but it was the crushed cereal on the counter that would be doable to bring home. She darted out from behind the toaster towards it, but she didn't get far.

Something caught her leg. As she fell, there was a grating sound. Then darkness. Something had landed atop her! A bowl? Probably.

Skip walked slowly with her arms out as feelers. Upon reaching the edge she tried to get her fingers under it and lift. That failed, of course.

She tried to fight back panic. Her shim and pry bar lay securely at home- this was supposed to be a quick in and out job! Essentially equipmentless, there were very few options. 

She took in a deep breath, releasing it slowly. Mind a little clearer, she searched her memory for what direction she must be facing. Slowly she walked around the edge of the bowl to the side closest to the edge of the counter. At least, she hoped it was. 

Pushing with all her might got her nowhere. Getting a running start for the shove did about the same. Soon, Skip was throwing herself at the bowl in desperation. 

Battered and exhausted, she sunk to her knees. Body and tears fell to the countertop.

The rest of the night was spent filled with tension. Every sound was certainly the giant coming. Paranoid thoughts spiraled, centered around what the giant would do to her.

When at last Will did come, the sound was unmistakable to the trembling borrower. She had heard those thunderous steps a thousand times.

Skip envied the ease with which the giant lifted the bowl which confined her. Tilted up on one edge, it could now shove its gigantic hand beneath. She couldn't help but utter a little shriek as fingers as large as her groped around blindly. She didn't dare try to dart through the gap lest the bowl snap back down on a limb.

Dodging the fingers was difficult with no sleep or breakfast. The tip of one brushed her leg. The whole hand rushed her. A massive thumb pinned her to the pointer finger.

The bowl lifted slowly, so she had ample time to imagine the look on its face while she struggled. Her heart was racing wildly. Tears threatened to well up, but she had spent most of them through the night. Stinging eyes locked on to the enormous face.

The giant had quite the satisfied grin splitting its features. Its eyes flicked side to side as the giant took in its captive.

Likewise, Skip's eyes darted frantically. No sign of a weapon. Then again, with teeth and hands like these, it wouldn't need a weapon. Gracious it was absolutely gigantic up close, larger than she had ever thought.

The thunderous voice she had heard dozens of times was deafening at such a close range.

"Hello there," Will said in awe. The borrower was silent and flinched. He frowned and spoke more softly, "Who are you?" 

Even at a dull roar the sound was too much. Skip growled like an animal and bit at his knuckles. He inhaled sharply and adjusted the hold to pin her head. It wouldn't take much for those fingers to crush it.

Will put her in the jar he had for this purpose. Being moved through the air was a disorienting and unpleasant experience. If she was lucky, she would be too dizzy to see whatever killed her coming. Skip was genuinely surprised when she landed on something soft in the bottom of the glass.

Left on the counter, she didn't dare take her eyes off of her captor. He bustled around the kitchen humming softly. She was familiar with this habit of his- the sound echoed through the walls in the evening. For the first time she heard the lyrics of his little ditty, "Gonna cook you up, gotta cook you right up! First I gotta chop you up, then plop you in the pot to cook you up!"

Hearing the giant narrate his process sent a dreadful chill through her. He was going to cook and eat her!! 

More vigilant than ever, her gaze never left him. Eyes locked onto the shining blade of a knife pulled from the block. Watching the vegetables get chopped up brought to mind terrible images. The ease with which the bean could toss a heap of food into the pot brought to mind just how small she was.

Finally, the tears spilled out. Where they had been held in reserve, she had no idea. Frantic little hands rubbed one eye at a time. Delicate fingers brushed away tears without obstructing her view too much.

By the time the food was filling the air with its aroma, she still hadn't stopped crying. She watched through bleary eyes as he filled a ladle with the sauteed vegetables and brought it over. So she wasn't to be cooked: he was going to heap scalding food onto her! 

Skip scrambled to one side of the jar and slid her back up the wall. That one scoop wouldn't be enough to bury her here. 

Her warped upturned face looked back down at her as the ladle lowered. The giant stuck it right into the jar, then let go. What was its angle? 

Tearing her gaze from his intent face, she eyed the handle of the ladle. Yes, it should be doable. Three bounding steps took her to the ladle. Using her momentum she vaulted over the bowl of it and grasped the flat handle. Like she had done hundreds of times before, she shot up the metal beam.

Just as she reached level with the lip of the jar, the giant reacted. He shouted, a deafening thunderclap. Those enormous fingers engulfed her momentarily, then they knocked her back into the jar. Now one hand lay over the mouth of her prison, effectively sealing it.

Will crouched, bringing the jar to eye level. He spoke gently, "Hey, aren't you hungry? I don't know how long exactly you were stuck on the counter." When she didn't respond he pressed on, "I promise it's good. I didn't know if you ate meat, but I figured veggies would be a safe choice. Hope it's okay that it's cooked- do you cook? Oh nevermind, it doesn't matter. Hey- can you understand me?" As his eyes scanned for any response, he finally noticed the red eyes and wet cheeks, "Oh no, have you been crying? Why? I didn't hurt you did I? Oh- I might've scared you… I'm really sorry little one."

Skip listened to his continuous ramble. It almost sounded good natured… Could she have been mistaken? A small bubble of rage rose up and erupted, "Wouldn't you be terrified if some gigantic brute trapped you and started singing about cooking?!"

Will frowned in dismay, "I didn't think about it like that."

"Beans never think," she screeched, "They just kill."

The frown deepened then flashed to a smirk, "Bean? Is that what you call us? Why?"

Skip rolled her eyes. What a dumb question! ….why did they call them beans? That didn't matter right now. 

She walked over to the ladle and picked up a spear of carrot. One eye still on the giant, she took a bite of the tender veggie. 

He gave a big grin, "Is it good?"

She nodded, honestly a little surprised. "So, why did you catch me? Why feed me too?"

"Well, as you've probably noticed, I'm doing a little work on the house. I found some of your stuff and I worried I might accidentally hurt you. Considering you've never introduced yourself, I figured just asking you to come out wouldn't work. I wanna help you move somewhere safer- whether it's temporary or not is up to you."

"My name's Skip," she piped up.

"Oh, mine is Will," he said with another big smile. His teeth were hardly threatening now.

She smiled back. "Oh! Actually I was already in the process of moving most of my stuff."

"Really? Where?"

There was a moment of hesitation; her distrust of beans ran deep. "Your shed, outside."

"All the way out there?" His eyes widened. 

With a barked laugh, she nodded, "Yeah its pretty far. Not ideal, but I haven't a clue where you're going to strike next."

The harsh choice of words made Will frown a little. He recovered quickly though, "Well now you have the inside scoop! The entire upstairs is going to be left alone. There's also the kitchen. I- well, I still don't know what sort of places you like to live, but I'm sure there's some somewhere around here.

Skip considered her options. The upstairs was rather far away, but it was a big area so safer. The kitchen was prime territory for food and other bits n bobs, but the giant would frequent it. He seemed nice enough, but one encounter couldn't undo a lifetime of learning.

"Up the stairs should do nicely," she trailed off, already scheming on how to move all her stuff.

"Alright! Sounds good. So, is there anything I could help you move?"

The response was an absent nod before she realized what he asked. What was his angle? "Oh! Um, I guess."

They discussed what exactly needed to be moved and where. Though she was on her guard, Skip didn't notice anything untoward. The move went just as smoothly. Soon she was settled into a secluded gap beneath the floor, where she had moved all her stuff herself after he brought it to a nearby location.

By the end of it, Will was very pleased with himself. He had begun to make a new friend. What's more, she was his neighbour! He felt more at ease knowing she would be safely out of the way of the renovation.

[craniumhurricane]

call me, baby, if you need a friend

Cleaning up some old WIPs. This has been in my drafts since end of season 2/around season 3.

Basically 4 times Clarke calls Bellamy and 1 time that Bellamy calls Clarke.

Thank you @casleyislove and @sushigirlali for always reading things before I post them!

[ On AO3! ]

___

(i)

It's a quiet night in at the Blake apartment. Or, at least, for Bellamy it is. He's having a nice Friday night by himself after surviving a truly grueling week of finals. Octavia tried to convince him to go out and celebrate the end of the semester the "right way," but he turned her down… he's still not quite sure how he managed to do that.

His feet are currently propped up on the coffee table with a large bowl of store brand cocoa puffs in his lap. Bellamy may be an adult but damn if he isn’t going to celebrate the end of the term with sugary cereal… nevermind that he didn’t actually make time to grocery shop this week. The TV was queued and ready for the marathon of Ancient Aliens episodes he’d missed due to studying, and he was just about to press play when he hears a short but insistent buzzing sound.  

Glancing around, his eyes land on Octavia’s phone sitting on the corner of the coffee table. She must have left it in her hurry to leave since she was running late to meet up with her boyfriend.

Bellamy keeps his eyes on it for a second before deciding to ignore it, and once again his finger hovers over the play button on the remote. Then the phone lights up again, this time with a phone call; a picture of Octavia and a curly haired blonde that he recognizes, the name CLARKE THE GRIFFIN flashing across the screen. He considers ignoring it for a second time but... if she’s resorting to actually calling instead of texting again then something could be seriously wrong.

Bellamy swipes his thumb across the screen to answer and brings the phone to his ear but before he can even say anything a voice on the other side interjects immediately.

“Men are dicks,” the woman says without preamble. “No! Worse than that. They're weird tumors that grow on dicks," she pauses, seems to think about it, and then adds, "Preferably life threatening.”

Bellamy blinks a few times before he answers, “I'm sure you're right, but don't you think that's a bit harsh?”

The line is quiet. He can hear her shifting the phone, no doubt checking the screen to make sure she called the right person.

“Octavia?”

“Bellamy.”

Clarke huffs. “Where's Octavia?” she snaps. He can hear the annoyance seeping into her tone, which in turn just makes him feel his own frustrations start to rise.

He tamps it down though. “On a date,” he answers.

She deflates at that, “Oh right. One month anniversary with Lincoln.”

He hums a confirmation and then they’re silent for a few minutes. So long that it’s Bellamy’s turn to look at the phone and make sure she’s still there. “Did you need something?” he asks once he sees that the call is still, in fact, in progress.

She takes a deep breath before answering, “I ended things with Finn tonight.”

Bellamy had only met Finn Collins a handful of times; the guy was fine except for a little cocky… and he always seemed to want to show off in front of pretty girls. His hair was too long and always styled like he was some kind of frat boy that came from big money even though Bellamy's 100% sure he never so much as pledged.

And then there was that one time he flirted with Octavia.

Ok, so Bellamy didn’t like the guy. But a break up is still a shitty thing to go through which is why he says, “I’m sorry,” and finds that he means it.

“Not your fault,” Clarke says immediately, “But I was kind of looking for someone to watch me binge drink and listen to me vent.”

He understands that, having gone through the same thing when he broke up with Roma at the start of the term. If you could really call them “hooking up occasionally” the same thing as dating, but still, getting drunk with Miller had been essential in the whole moving on process.

“You want to come over here anyway?” he offers carefully, casually. He doesn’t mind Clarke. She’s younger than him, around Octavia’s age. They aren’t exactly friends, but he would consider them a little more than acquaintances. Enough that it shouldn’t be too weird for him to invite her over even without his sister present. Plus, her getting drunk here is a better alternative than her getting drunk by herself in some bar.

“You don’t mind?” she asks and he thinks he hears relief in her voice, “I was kind of already on my way over to your guy’s place... I don’t really feel like going out and I really don't feel like being depressed and alone in my dorm right now.”

“Nah,” he says and then tries a joke to brighten her spirits, “Sounds like something fun to watch. I’ll order food.”

“Chinese would be great,” and he swears he can hear a smile in her voice so he’ll count his dumb joke as a victory. “Thanks, Bellamy, see you soon.”

He's not even a little bit mad about dumping out his now soggy cereal.

*

(ii)

“So, you’ve been in school for basically forever. Is it normal for a person to experience this amount of stress?”

Bellamy’s lips twitch as he holds his phone to his ear. After Clarke crashed his Friday night in, and spilled on the whole cheating Finn debacle while they did shots, Bellamy figured he should give her his own cell phone number. As much as he hated to admit it, and honestly he never will, his sister and her boyfriend were getting serious, so who knows how much Octavia would be available for late night bitchfests about significant others, fellow students, and the human population in general. Which were just a few of the topics they discussed that night. Hanging out with Clarke ended up being kind of fun, a better night than he originally planned. She even let him watch a little of his marathon and offered her own commentary. Bellamy would do it again… which is something else he would never admit.

It's not like they suddenly talk every day, but it’s a near thing. They would send each other the occasional text when one of them sees something that the other absolutely has to know about. Mostly, he gets pictures of old dogs she sees at the park, asking if this will be him in 20 years. Bellamy responds in kind with memes about college life and rubbing it in her face that they no longer apply to him since he graduated last semester.

But sometimes she reaches out to him if there is something particularly bothering her. Such as dealing with egotistical dickwads that consider themselves professors and shutting down female students in a male dominated class.

Clarke’s probably the only person that ever calls him and can never start the conversation with a simple ‘Hello’. Actually, she’s probably the only person that actually still calls him.

“I just got a job teaching so that insult isn't going to work anymore since I literally will be in a school as part of my job,” is his first response before he turns to one of concern, “Midterms got ya down?”

“It’s just,” she gives an exasperated sigh before continuing, “I want to do something that helps people, I know I want to help people… But maybe I don't want to help people the way my mom wants me to help people...ya know?”

“You’re going to have to give me more to go on here, Princess-”

“I’m thinking about switching my major,” she says abruptly, like she’s ripping off a band aid.

He’s silent, waiting to see if she’s going to say anything else. When it becomes clear she’s waiting for him to say something he responds honestly, “If being a doctor isn’t something you want to do, then you shouldn’t do it.”

“But-”

“What your mom wants you to do shouldn’t overrule what you want to do, Clarke,” he interrupts her. Due to the increasing amount of time he’s been spending with Clarke, he’s learned that the Griffins have always had a capital “P” Plan and he knows that Clarke has a hard time knowing when she can push the boundaries of said Plan.

She’s silent again and Bellamy’s starting to think he’s going to have to prod her a second time. He’s got the beginnings of his big speech all prepared when finally she speaks up. “I’m thinking about going into Art Therapy,” She says thoughtfully, “Or maybe teaching? Helping out underprivileged kids...or hell, even underprivileged adults. Or maybe something for the community?”

His lips twitch on another smile at hearing the beginnings of a hint of passion in her voice. “Teaching can be very rewarding,” he says magnanimously.

She snorts and it turns into a full laugh, “You haven't even started yet! It could be the worst thing you’ve ever done and a total waste of your degree.”

“Your confidence in me really is touching,” he deadpans and then adds simply, “You’re an amazing artist, Clarke. I think doing something with that could be something you'd enjoy and be really really good at.”

She’s quiet when she asks, “You think I’m amazing? You’ve never told me that.” And Bellamy swears he can hear that smile in her voice again. The one he always looks forward to. The one he tries to coax out of her without realizing he’s doing it.

He feels his cheeks start to heat up and even though she can't see him, he feels the need to brush it off. “Yeah, well, I generally try to be as dickish as possible so…”

She snorts again and damn if he didn’t feel a slight flutter in his chest.

“For the record, I think you’re going to be an amazing teacher,” she says it so matter-of-factly but he’ll have to dwell on it later because she sobers and then asks softly, “So, you think I should do it?”

It’s not hard for him to build her up. She spends so much time being there for the rest of their slowly merging friend groups that she rarely takes time to see the greatness in herself. He doesn’t mind helping.

“I think you should do whatever the hell you want.”

*

(iii)

“Women are worse than men.”

Bellamy rubs the sleep from his eyes and glances at the clock; it was almost 3 in the morning. “I thought men were tumors?” he asks around a yawn.

“Yeah, well, women can be tumors too,” Clarke huffs, but she just sounds tired, “Comparing people to tumors is equal opportunity. Strides in feminism are being made, didn’t you know?”

Bellamy pushes himself into a sitting position, suddenly more alert as he picks up the trace of tears in her voice. “You ok?” he asks.

Clarke is silent at first, but he waits her out, he knows that she’ll tell him. “Lexa broke up with me,” she says quietly and then adds in confusion, “Or we broke up with each other? I’m a little unsure. We spent the whole night arguing and then suddenly she was packing up her stuff.” She pauses before taking a shaky breath, “It’s over. We’re over.”

“I’m so sorry, Clarke.”

“She was leaving anyway,” she continues, bitterly, “Some new job. She was leaving in a few weeks and didn’t even bother to tell me. I told her we could make it work long distance, I was willing to try and make it work. That’s when the arguing started. Not just about that but about-,” Clarke abruptly cuts herself off and hesitates, “about... other things. Things I didn’t even know were an issue.” She’s quiet again before she adds, “She didn’t say it but I think she was disappointed that I never suggested going with her...”

The thought makes a quick flash of irritation run through him. “She wanted you to uproot your entire life and go with her,” he summarizes as he tries to adjust the pillows on his bed by beating them, maybe a little too roughly at the thought of her doing just that, before leaning back against them.

“Which is completely crazy, I know,” she hurries to say, “but I wish we could have talked about it.”

“I am sorry, Clarke,” he says again, “I know Lexa seemed like she was it for you.”

“But maybe she wasn’t?” Clarke counters as if trying to reason with herself. “I don’t know. We were both committed to each other, but maybe this was a sign that we weren’t going to be able to make it work long term?” She pauses and Bellamy can hear the gears in her head turning as she processes a way for her to handle this, too explain it to herself. “When we were together,” she hesitates before continuing, and he can imagine her biting her lip, “I was happy... but I felt like a separate version of myself, ya know? Still me, but not completely me?”

Bellamy chews on the words he wants to say and goes with, “Sometimes the person you're with can change you; it's not always a bad thing.” He gets quiet as he adds thoughtfully, “I like to think Gina made me a better person...and she probably did,” he pauses, this time unsure if he should keep going, but Clarke hasn't said anything, so she must be waiting for him to continue, “We tried, tried really hard, to make it work, but eventually you just realize that maybe the relationship isn't going anywhere and what’s best for everyone is just to call it.”

“Wait, you and Gina broke up?” Clarke asks in surprise, “When did that happen!?”

“That's what you got from that?” He rubs a hand over his face as he thinks about it, “About two weeks ago?”

“Shit,” she says and is quiet before asking in a small voice, “Why didn't you tell me?”

“Honestly, I haven't seen a whole lot of you these last few months,” he hears what he said and corrects himself, “We haven’t seen a whole lot of you.” He’s surprised at his ability to keep the bite out of his voice; because the truth was this last year has sucked since Clarke started dating Lexa.

They met at one of Clarke's art gigs. Lexa was cool; fun when she wanted to be, but also a little hard to be around. Most of the time, she seemed to prefer doing things without any of Clarke’s friends.

“I’m sorry,” Clarke says.

“It’s fine,” he answers her and means it. “Gina and I are still good friends.”

“I wasn’t talking about you and Gina,” she says, voice soft.

He realizes what she’s actually apologizing for and he doesn’t know what to say. Because of course he forgives her, he will always forgive her.

The silence lasts too long so he clears his throat and prompts, “Want to come over and get drunk?”

Her laugh through the phone breaks the tension, “It’s like 3 o'clock in the morning.”

“My bar is always open.”

She chuckles. “I really want to hit something,” she says with a determined edge to her voice, “Then maybe get drunk.”

“How about this, we get a few more hours of sleep, wake up at a normal time, and go hit something,” he offers and then adds as if it's an afterthought, “And then get drunk, of course.”

She laughs again, “Oh, of course.” There’s that smile. “I forgot what being single with you was like.”

Bellamy sobers at the thought. It has been awhile since the two of them were single at the same time. “Always here to help, Princess.”

*

(iv)

“Why did I agree to this trip again?”

He’s packing up the essays that are scattered across his desk when she calls, 4 o’clock on the dot. Bellamy tries to suppress a laugh but he’s pretty sure she can at least hear the teasing smile in his voice.

“Just getting back to the hotel?” he asks in lieu of his own greeting.

“Yes!” she exclaims in exasperation. “And if it were up to Josephine, we probably would have walked all of damn Paris tonight,” her voice gets muffled at the end and he can only assume she’s thrown herself face first onto the nearest bed. “I cannot wait for a shower- No! A bath, definitely taking a long, hot bath.”

And now the image of Clarke Griffin in the bath, with just enough bubbles to cover up to her chest, has entered his mind. He shoves it away before anymore thoughts can accompany it.

This used to never be a problem. Sure, he’s always known that Clarke is attractive, but he has never been attracted to her. But ever since he broke up with Gina and she broke up with Lexa, Bellamy has been exceedingly aware of the fact that they have both remained single.

The last time this happened was right after Finn.

Bellamy shakes his head for good measure before responding. “You’re going to fall asleep in the tub and your roommate will find your prune-y, wrinkled body in the morning.” He cringes.  Apparently he wasn’t able to get the image of her completely out of his head.

Clarke scoffs, but he can tell that it’s in an exasperated but fond kind of way. “How is it that you manage to be a buzzkill from over 4,000 miles away?” she asks drily and then pauses before adding, “Actually, Josie would probably just leave me in there for the entire trip and never let on that something was up.”

He turns the key to lock his office behind him and heads for the staff lot. “Don’t worry, if you don’t call to check in, I’ll call the National Guard,” he teases.

“I know you would,” she says simply, like it’s a known fact.

Things have been a little weird after he became aware that they were both single. Mostly because, he’s pretty sure that Clarke has also come to realize it. When he turns to look at her, he often finds her already looking. Their innocent touches are now more frequent and linger just a bit longer.

Bellamy has come to realize that he doesn’t want to be single and the reason he doesn’t want to be single is because he wants his best friend to not be single with him.

There’s just never a right time to tell her.

“So, what did you do today?” he asks.

Despite the exhaustion and jetlag that’s surly setting in, Clarke jumps into an animated retelling of the flight and arriving at their hotel room just in time to change clothes and head back out to walk the streets of Paris to get their bearings before their tours officially start tomorrow.

“I’m a little disappointed that we’re doing the Louvre first thing tomorrow. I was hoping to be a little more alert for that.”

“Your coffee addiction hasn’t stopped just because you’re in another country,” he points out as he gets in his car.

She laughs, “Jeez, you are such an ass.”

He starts the car but doesn’t leave just yet; afraid the long distance call will drop out.

“What are you doing now?” he asks into the comfortable silence.

“Admiring the view,” she admits softly. “It really is gorgeous all lit up. Makes me want to dig out my sketchbook.”

“You have a week, Princess,” he chuckles. “Don’t screw up your jetlag even more by losing track of time in your drawings on the first night.”

She’s quiet again before confessing softer somehow, “It also makes me wish you were here.”

His heart clenches in his chest and he wills himself to sound normal. “Maybe next time,” he tries for teasing but it comes out almost wistful.

“Next time, hmmm?” Clarke hums. “You’d come to Paris with me?” And he’s sure she’s flirting with him.

“Well, maybe not for our first date,” he says, “But maybe, like, our fifth or something.”

Clarke’s quiet for a long time and he’s afraid he’s overstepped, misread the room. He’s about to take it back, play it off as a joke when she finally speaks.

“And what would a first date look like?” she asks with what he thinks is hope in her voice.

He swallows a couple of times. “Well,” he starts, “Since you’re already getting some of the best museum experiences, I’d probably settle for dinner and a movie. Something cheesy that’s playing at the dollar theater; where we’re the only ones there and can yell at the screen.”

She chuckles and his heart flutters, “We already do that, Bell. Quite frequently, actually.”

“Yeah, but if it’s a date then I’d get to kiss you at the end of it.”

“What? No making out during the movie?” she asks and he can picture how cute her face gets when she pouts.

A grin spreads across his face and he’s grateful no one can see how goofy he must look.

“We’ll have to make sure it’s a really bad movie.”

*

(+i)

Clarke rubs some moisturizer on her face before capping the tube and tossing it into her bag on the bed. After ensuring that everything she’s going to need for tomorrow is packed, she zips it up and grabs one of Bellamy’s hoodies to slip on over her clothes.

Ever since he picked her up from the airport when she got back from her trip to Paris, and she ran directly into his arms, giving the other people waiting quite a show, there always seems to be one laying around, waiting for her to find it. She assumes that he gets as much of a thrill out of her wearing them as she does.

She heads down the stairs of their townhouse, passing various pictures and artwork, and shoots Raven one more text not to forget to bring her dress to the venue tomorrow. She’s supposed to help her get ready in the morning along with her mother. In the meantime, Abby has sent a car to pick her up and take her to the hotel. Easier to get ready if she’s already there for the stylist… something else her mother insisted on paying for. No matter how many times Clarke told her she didn’t care what her hair looked like because she was marrying the love of her life.

Clarke locks up the house and greets the driver, slipping into the backseat. She intends to spend the ride lost in thought, going through the checklists that were running through her head.

Their engagement had been on the short side but she didn’t mind. They were both ready to get on with this next chapter in their lives.

Her phone is resting loosely in her hand, face down on her knee, when it starts to vibrate with an incoming call. She holds her breath for a second, praying it isn’t the florist or the caterers. But when she sees the photo of her and Bellamy from New Year’s flash on the screen, she can’t help but smile.

She taps the button and greets him with a sultry, “Hi, handsome.”

“Hey,” he says and she can tell he has a soft smile on his face, the one just for her. “You just leave the house?”

“Yep. On my way to the hotel now, so hopefully you haven’t forgotten anything because it’s too late now.”

“The most important thing is already on its way,” he responds with a teasing lilt.

Clarke can’t help the sharp laugh that escapes her lips, “Oh my god! You are such a sap!”

“I was referring to the ring, obviously, Princess.”

“Oh, obviously,” she says, mock serious.

They chuckle to themselves for a few minutes and she honestly can’t tell if the driver is rolling his eyes or thinks they’re being cute from hearing one side of the conversation.

Bellamy sobers up first only to let out a groan. “I hate whose ever idea this is,” he whines.

“Aren’t you the history professor? Shouldn’t you know where common traditions and such come from?”

He scoffs, “No, I mean I hate whichever of our friends is making us do this.”

The two of them haven’t seen each other since yesterday morning, him having been spirited off by his groomsmen while she was left to spend last night alone in their bed. And now they’re meant to go one more night without seeing each other.

To Bellamy’s point, Clarke isn’t altogether sure why this is a tradition anymore, nor why they are choosing to follow this particular one. She and Bellamy aren’t even that superstitious! And yet somehow they were talked into spending the days leading up to their wedding apart.

“Ah,” she answers him now, “That would be Raven and Miller. Although, I’m pretty sure it had nothing to do with marriage traditions and has everything to do with getting back at us for making out in front of them so much.”

Bellamy scoffs again, “Well, jokes on them, because after tomorrow, I don’t ever have to stop kissing you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she says, “We’ll have to come up to eat at some point.”

The driver pulls up under the awning of the hotel and Clarke gets out and grabs her bag before he’s able to get out and grab it for her. She gives him a wave and a simple thank you before heading through the sliding doors.

“How’s your room?” she asks into the phone as she bypasses the check in desk, her mother having already checked her in and given her the key card to her room this morning when they were getting their nails done.

He heaves a deep sigh. “Lonely,” he answers as she steps into the elevator. From what Clarke knows from his texts, Miller dropped him off here last night and left him to his own devices. Apparently, the best man gets to sleep next to his husband but Bellamy wasn’t allowed to sleep next to his soon-to-be wife.

She makes a split second decision and presses a different button, jolting the elevator to stop sooner than intended. When she steps off she casually offers, “I could help with that.”

“Oh yeah?” He chuckles. “You going to describe for me what you’re wearing?”

“Hmm,” she hums as if she’s considering it. “I could do that… but I was more thinking that I could show you.”

Clarke stops in front of a door and gives it a nice rhythmic knock.

She doesn’t have to wait long before it’s opening and Bellamy is standing in front of her with his phone against his ear and a huge grin on his face.

She lowers her own phone from her ear, pressing the end button without looking.

“Hi, handsome,” she manages before he’s pulling her into his room.

[ateezingbabies]

Regrets

Hongjoong x Reader

College AU

Angst

1.1k

Unedited

The bed creaked and groaned as you spread upon it. Papers, pens, and books covered almost every inch of its surface as you clack the keys furiously on your laptop. 'God, I should have gotten this assignment done sooner. But for now.. I shall pay the price.' With the clock nearing midnight, the deadline of the dreaded paper, a familiar song serenades your ears. Groaning, you check the caller of the boy you have been avoiding for the past week. "God damnit, Hongjoong. I can't right now." You chuck the phone to the side and refocus on the paper as you near the conclusion. 'Almost there. You got this (Y/N),' you check the clock as the digits flip to 11:53 pm, 'You don't got this, you really don't got this..' A familiar sense of guilt builds in your stomach as your cheeks heat up in shame. Rushing faster to the end of the conclusion, you turn it in just as the numbers flash to 11:59 pm. 

     Sighing in relief, you flop down on the bed only to get up from the discomfort of the clutter digging into the soft flesh of your back. Rapidly blinking the sleepiness from your eyes, you get up. Wincing at the sensation of bones popping and cracking from not moving for so long you half-hazardly stack all of the papers and books and set them on your dresser and place the pens into their standard cup. Kicking out of your pants and throwing your shirt to the other side of the room, you slip into an oversized t-shirt and call it a night.

Your eyes flutter open as the shrill alarm blasts through the room. Yawning, you toss your legs over the side of your bed, starting to cram all of your files into their respective folders and binders and sliding them into your bag.

Shuffling your way downstairs into the kitchen, you almost topple over your roommate with your sluggish movements. "Morning, Ms. Zombie~," She giggles, covering her mouth with elegant fingers.

"Shut up, Vi!" You whine to your roommate, Violeta. She begins to cackle, brushing her coiled hair out of her eyes.

The two of you part your ways. You to the kitchen and Violeta to her bedroom to put herself together. Pouring cereal into the ceramic bowl, you check the fridge for milk. Well, the lack of milk. Groaning, you grab a container of yogurt and pour it into the bowl. "Desperate times, call for desperate measures." You agree to yourself.

Once your done with the slightly questionable breakfast, you make your way towards the bathroom to finish getting ready for the day.

"(Y/N)! Wait up!" The oh so familiar voice calls. Freezing in your spot momentarily you pretend you don't hear him and start to walk faster. "(Y/N), please I have to talk to you." Hongjoong whines. Moaning to himself, he starts to jog to your retreating figure. His hand makes it onto your shoulder, 'Damn him for being so athletic.'

Pretending to be shocked, you jump up and turn to the poor boy. "Oh! Hongjoong, how are you?" Crimson starts to stain your cheeks, and before he can answer, let alone question your whereabouts, you excuse yourself, "Oh, sorry can't really talk right now, I have to make it to my class before I'm late. See ya, Hongjoong!"

Leaving the red-headed boy by himself, questioning what he had done wrong.

  Setting your bags down once you make it to your seat, you start to drift off into your thoughts; mainly the reason why you have been ignoring Hongjoong.

Three weeks ago you and Violeta went to a typical college party. Hosted by the fraternity by making it to the playoffs. While Violeta left you to your own devices after seeing her boyfriend amongst the crowd; the only way that you were going to make it through this party is with liquor. Rolling your eyes at the sight of kids getting ready to hook up, you make it to the mini fridge filled with beer. Selecting one at random, you made your way to a couch that only two other people shared. A few hours pass and a noticeably drunk Hongjoong makes his way towards you.

      "H-hey (Y/N)~ You l-look gorgeous tonight," He hiccuped. And you suppose he isn't wrong. In a navy blue form fitting dress, the glitters reflect the strobing lights. Legs clad in distressed fishnets, and little booties framing your ankles.

Raising a brow, "And you look drunk, Hongjoong. How much have you had to drink?"

"Not that much, baby~" At his response you roll your eyes.

"Stay put!" You yell at him. Making your way towards the kitchen, you get a cup of water. Turning around you bump into his chest. "I told you to stay put! Ugh nevermind, here drink this. You'll thank me for it later."

Taking the cup of water he dumps it in the sink. "Nah, I wanna ride the high a little bit longer~" Hongjoong slurs. His hands wrap around your waist and his face buries in your neck. "Mm, you smell nice, (Y/N)."

"Hongjoong, I'm not doing this with you drunk. Drink some water and sober up," You groan.

He pulls away, unamused eyes boring into your own. "You're no fun," he pouts, "I'll go have fun with somebody else." Hongjoong pulls away from you, only for you to pull him back in. "(Y/N), what did I do for you to hate me?" 

You looked at him shocked, "I-I don't hate you, I could never hate you." You bite your lip, "I like you a lot, and I don't want you to do something you'll regret." 

"Life is full of regrets, and you can't learn from 'em if you don't experience them. So see ya around, (Y/N)."  

Standing there shocked, you watch Hongjoong make his way out of the kitchen and into the crowd. 

An hour passes, and you gaze at him making his way upstairs with another girl. Eyes filling up with tears, you stumble out of the house to mourn your broken heart.

Once classes are over, you make your way towards one of the court yards to soak in some of the sun. Pulling out a novel, you're just about to read when Hongjoong's voice breeches your ears.

"(Y/N)! I need to talk to you!" He runs to the bench to sit next to you. "Why the fuck have you been ignoring me?" He pants. "What did I do?"

Huffing out a laugh, you tell him, "You said it first; you can't learn from your regrets if you don't experience them. So, see ya around Hongjoong."

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #297

“crushed, damned, and broken; lost, sick, and left unspoken.”

When was the last time you did clay work/pottery? Not since high school when I made an anatomically correct heart. Do you like art, hate it or just not mind it? I adore it. Is crime a big problem in your area? Oh yes. What's the scariest story/urban legend/creepypasta etc you heard? Maaaan, as a cryptic fanatic, that's hard. Maybe the Rake. What personality trait does nearly everyone in your family seem to have? We're some resilient motherfuckers. What is your favorite soda? Well, it's technically strawberry Sunkist, but I do NOT let myself have it because I will fucking chug it and binge on them if available to me. So, I just consider Mountain Dew Voltage my fave. When you're on the beach, do you throw beached sea creatures back? I've never even seen a beached animal. I would, though. Have you ever thrown food at someone? Yeah, small food fights as a kid or joking with a friend. Have you ever been to a bonfire? Yeah. Do you like orangutans? I love them; such fascinating, enchanting animals that act more human than people half the time. When you see a bug flipped on his back, what do you do? It depends on what it is, but I usually try to help it. Is cereal good? Yeah, I love cereal. Do you like spaghetti? Love it. It was my favorite food as a kid. Is there any kind of weapon in your bedroom? No. Do you like snow globes? I love 'em! Be honest, did Fifty Shades of Grey arouse you in any way? I didn't read it and never will. What does your sibling(s) call you? "Britt" or "(little/big) sister." Do you have any close friends that are the opposite sex that your significant other dislikes? N/A Do you honestly believe everything happens for a reason? Why or why not? Nope, because I want you to explain to me why a child dies of cancer. Why the 11-year-old was raped and forced to bear the child. Why a partner is beaten to death by their s/o, etc. etc. Things just... happen. Do you believe in reincarnation? Why or why not? No, mostly; I DO kinda wonder about it, I just find it unlikely. It would be kinda poetic, though: being given the chance to experience so many unique things. But, I kinda want a conclusion to my mortal life. The Hunger Games or The Maze Runner? I read the first HG and loved it; I started the latter novel while I was in the psych hospital for a while, but I never finished it or got that far in. It did sound pretty good, though. Has anyone you’ve known claimed to be psychic? Well, they believe(d) in tarot readings; does that count? Idk. Did/do you believe them? I wouldn't. Is anything annoying you right now? "Annoyed" is a fucking understatement when it comes to what transpired at the capitol a few days back. Have you ever been ice-skating? No. Does the sound of rain at night help you sleep? It can, depending on how heavy it is. Have you ever seen an albino person, in person? Albino, no, but I knew a guy and his sister in high school who had vitiligo. Have you ever worn a pair of scrubs? Yeah, at the ER and hospital. Have you ever walked into a massive cobweb? I don't believe so. What would you say is your strongest felt emotion right now? Rage. I'm not over "the event." I'm just tired of humanity. Are you talking to anyone at the moment? No. Do you have trust issues? Oh yes. Have you ever found an arrow head? No. Who is with you? My mom's home. What can you not stop thinking about? *points upwards* Then there's Jason because PTSD, that's very normal. Do you forgive easily? I forgive very easily, honestly. In what part of your life so far, have you learned the most about yourself? 2017, when recovery began. I think... or maybe 2018, idk. I've truly come to discover myself quite a lot the past few years. Have you ever been in a fist fight? No. Are your ears pierced? Yeah: my earlobes twice, and then my right tragus has a stud. I want to get my others back... I had to take them all out in the psych hospital, and a lot of my piercings closed up. The only one I don't wanna re-do is my anti-tragus, because mine was *always* inflammed and aggravated. What did you last say out loud? "Okay" to Mom. What are you waiting on? Right now, an opportunity to go to the parlor I'm getting my tat tidied up at to get a price range on it. They just need to be open while we're out of the house. Do you tell people when they get on your nerves? Not really. Are your feelings hurt easily? Yep. What's the most expensive piece of clothing you have? Did you buy it yourself? I dunno... I very rarely get new clothes, nevermind expensive ones. Who is your closest platonic friend of the opposite sex? His nickname is Girt. He's been my best male friend since high school; we even hang out sometimes, but it's been a long while. How do you think your first relationship shaped who you are as a partner now? As a partner, it taught me to not fall head over heels and love more realistically and in a healthy fashion. I don't put my faith solely into them, but myself, too. I also accept "forever" is not always true just because they promise it. Who is your favorite protagonist of the same sex? Oh god, this is hard. I suppose maybe Tyrande Whisperwind from WoW. I love her dedication to her people and that her story has become more interesting in her finally "breaking." I could list so, so many "faves," tbh. Were you popular in high school? What was your reputation like? No; I was just the average teen. Have you always known your sexual orientation or did something happen to make you realize it? Somethings happened. There were a lot of hints building up before I even began to consider the possibility, but a daydream solidified it as fact. What was the hardest part of your last break up? Realizing I still wasn't "ready" or "fit" for a successful relationship. What brought you out of the hardest period in your life? As strange as it sounds, my suicide attempt put it into action. I was obviously hospitalized for a while, and then I was brought into a month-long partial hospitalization program that has a fucking genius psychiatrist, and I also had daily therapy as long as school days during the week. It was the intense help I needed. What's your favorite kind of smiley face? (: Does anybody know your deepest darkest secret? My old therapist and maybe my mom; I can't remember if I told her. Did you ever watch Rugrats? (the babies) I LOVED that show! I even had two of the video games. What about Hey Arnold? Ugh, I hated it, but I think my little sister did, or we just watched it if we couldn't find anything else. Do you like pep rallies? NO. NO. NO. My teachers always understood that they really stoked my anxiety and allowed me to opt out of going. I'd just stay in the classroom and read or something. Have you ever had pneumonia? No. What do you feel about surgeries? Do they worry you? I fear anesthesia awareness, but not to a debilitating degree or anything that makes me panic beforehand or anything like that. Do you play Minecraft? if so, feelings about servers? Never have, and not interested. Do you read creepypastas? Nah. Do you think vlogging in public is scary? It seems awkward as FUCK to me. Even alone. Have you been to an escape room? Was it a success? No. What social class would you say you're in? I think we're actually near the poverty line (or were, idk anymore, Mom slipped it before), so definitely lower. Have you ever recorded a cover of a song? No. How do you feel about guns? They scare me. What's the most traumatizing event that ever happened to you? A very abrupt and poorly-executed breakup while being madly in love to the point of obsession with the person. Are you faint to the sight of blood? No. Do you like spicy food? Yes. Do you have good dreams or nightmares more? Well, considering I was woken up by myself shrieking my lungs out this morning, guess. It seemed for a little bit that my nightmares were chilling out, but I guess not. When was the last time someone insulted you? What was the insult? Does my mother telling me I'm saying too many "f-bombs" count? I dunno otherwise. What’s your second favorite color? Maroon. Do you ever wish you lived in a different country? Hey Canada, mind adopting me? Who’s the last person you “pounded” fists with? Ha, I think my nephew. Have you ever been involved in an affair? No. Wait, maybe? Does the Joel thing count? We never even physically met each other, we were just being idiot kids flirting over text messages. You be the judge, ig. How many times a week do you speak to your boss? I don’t have a job. What do you want for your birthday? Just donate to my tattoo fund lmao. Having to get my laptop fixed fucked up my plans yet again... Have you ever been to a masquerade? No. Is there anybody you think is hot over the age of 40? A handful, yeah. Who in your phone has a heart after their name? Just Sara does. Anything you’re avoiding? Always. After breaking up, what’s the worst? Letting go if you're the one who still has feelings. Does your sibling have a significant other? I don't know if my brother does, or the half-sister I've never met. Another sister is engaged, and two are married. Nicole is single, though. She's smart as hell about who she dates; she's probably pickier than me. Do you use Skype? Just to talk with Sara. Are you a fan of acrylic nails? I wouldn't wear them, but they look fine on some people. Except when they're square shaped. Name one happy song that describes you better than any other. "Get Up" by Mother Mother comes to me first. Name one sad/mellow song that describes you better than any other. Haha I connect with a lot of sad songs and would honestly rather not dig through 'em right now. What is your most used pick up line? None, they're all awful. Do you like the taste of alcohol? Noooooo no no. The only alcoholic drinks I like are very weak and sweet. What kinds of food make you sick? So this probably sounds so stupid, but "fancy" foods, like stuff with a lot of ingredients my body isn't used to, I guess. My stomach is very finicky with foods, so it's easy to make this list.

[its-captain-sir]

Big Surprise

Hey!! I actually wrote something for my domestic AU instead of just vaguely making references to it! Hope you guys like it! :D

Ages: Tup–1, Fives/Echo–2, Kix–7, Rex/Cody–10, Boba–12

~~~~~~~

"Just a minute!" Jango shouted down the hall. He shook the last few raindrops off of his coat and placed it on its hook. It started pouring outside a few hours earlier and he got caught in the rain on his way back from the airport. He was exhausted now, having been on a work trip, but at least his bosses were kind enough to give him the rest of the week off.

The door bell rang again. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" he shouted, making his way to the front door. He had no idea who it could be. He lived alone, except for the weeks he had the kids, and he didn't have visitors often.

The door bell rang one more time as he started unlocking the door. Who could be so impatient that the-

"Kids?" Jango said, looking over them with shock. "What are you doing here?" The wind shifted and started blowing onto the front porch. "Nevermind," he said, shaking his head as Rex opened his mouth to answer. "Just get inside." He stood back in the doorway, waving them through. "Come on, out of the rain." Rex nudged Felix and Eli through the door, followed by Kix and himself, then Cody carrying both his bags and the younger twins', and finally Boba, who carried a sleeping Tup in his arms.

Jango took Tup from Boba and shut the door behind him. "What are you kids doing here?" he asked again.

"Mom told us we were staying with you for a while," Boba answered. There was a hard set to his eldest's gaze as he spoke that worried Jango. He looked out the window and could just barely make out the figure of his ex-wife's car driving away through the rain.

"Go put your bags in your rooms and change out of your wet clothes," he told the other kids. "I don't want you to get sick."

The five of them nearly knocked him over as they raced up the stairs to their rooms, leaving just him, Boba, and Tup in their wake of chaos and shouting. Speaking of Tup...

The one year old shifted in his arms, woken up by all the noise and movement of the last few minutes. Tup blinked up at him with his big, bright eyes and smiled.

"Hey, ad'ika," Jango said, pressing kiss to his soft curls. "You can go back to sleep now."

Tup tucked his head under Jango's and closed his eyes again. Jango smiled as he locked the door and turned back to Boba.

"Your mom's supposed to have you for the rest of the week," he said. "What changed?"

Boba shook his head. "I don't know. She just came to us out of nowhere and told us we needed to pack everything up because we were going to be staying with you."

Jango sighed. What was Kamino up to now? "I'll call her in a bit and find out what happened," Jango said, running a hand down his face. Boba still looked tense though. "She say anything else?" he asked.

Boba sighed, his shoulders finally falling. He may have been twelve, but Jango thought he was way too young to have all this happen to him. "No," Boba replied. "She just- I wish she would have told me what's going on."

Jango patted him on the shoulder. "You and me both, ad'ika." Boba gave him a weak smile then left to go unpack while Jango headed into the kitchen.

Kix was already there, sitting at the kitchen table with some paper and crayons, legs swinging as he worked. Jango wasn't surprised that he was done unpacking, Kix was probably the most organized out of all his children. Cody was the only one who even came close to being as organized as Kix, though he supposed it was too early to tell for the younger twins and Tup.

"Did you have dinner yet?" Jango asked, ruffling his son's hair as he walked past.

"Nope," Kix replied as he batted his hand away. Jango smiled and walked over to the fridge.

"I wasn't planning on having you over so soon, I don't know that I have much in the way of food," he said, scanning the various shelves. He would have to take a trip to the store tomorrow. And find someone to watch the kids while he was out. He'd learned from past experience that it was definitely not a good idea to take all seven of his kids to go grocery shopping with him.

"I might have a frozen pizza and some pizza rolls in the freezer," he said. "Would that be good enough just for tonight?"

Kix nodded enthusiastically. "Pizza rolls!" he exclaimed, jumping up and down.

Jango shushed him, trying very hard not to smile. "You'll wake up Tup if you keep shouting like that."

Kix's eyes darted from him, to Tup, and back again. "Pizza rolls!" he whispered loudly, still with as much excitement as before. Jango couldn't help but laugh and he ruffled Kix's hair again.

"Go tell your brothers dinner will be ready in 10 minutes," he said, pulling the food out from the freezer. Kix ran off, already shouting about pizza rolls halfway up the staircase.

Jango set Tup down in the playpen in the living room and finished putting the pizza rolls in the oven. Then he pulled out his cellphone and moved into the quiet of the back hall.

He punched Kamino's number in, holding the cell up to his ear and waiting as it rang. It went straight to voicemail.

Jango sighed, ending the call. He thought about trying again, but the timer on the oven beeped. He flipped the phone shut and put it back in his pocket. He'd try calling Kamino again after dinner.

Felix and Eli were already sitting down at the table when he walked back in. Felix was rambling on and on to his twin and to Kix, who stood by Rex as they both tried to get the plates down. Jango helped pull them down to a reachable level and left the two of them to pass the dishes out as he pulled the food out of the oven. He set the tray on the table just as Cody and Boba walked in.

"Ulyc, bic nadala," Jango said, right as Cody popped a pizza roll into his mouth.

"Ow, ow, ow, hot!" he exclaimed, nearly spiting it back out onto the plate.

Jango gave a him a look. "What did I just say?"

"N'eparavu takisit, buir," Cody mumbled through his full mouth.

Kix pulled a few off the pan for himself and the younger twins, shaking his fingers and blowing on them afterwards. "Hot, hot, hot!"

"Hot, hot, hot!" Eli repeated back. His son had a habit of repeating nearly everything he heard, earning him the nickname "Echo" from most of his family. Even Felix had taken to calling him by that name.

Said twin was now eyeing his plate carefully. He took a deep breath and tried to blow on the food.

"Udesii, ad'ika," Jango told him as his face started to get red. "You'll make your head hurt.

"Udesii!" Eli shouted. Jango looked over at him and saw that he somehow managed to get pizza sauce all over his hands.

"Alright, come here, my little Echo," he said, lifting the two year old out of his seat. "Let's get you washed up and then you can go back to eating." He turned the faucet in the kitchen on and held Eli over the sink so he could rinse his hands.

"Me and Cody were never as bad as them, were we, Dad?" Rex asked from behind him.

"Oh no," Jango said, shutting off the water and grabbing a towel. "You two were much worse."

"Hey!" they shouted in unison.

Jango smirked. "Well, at least you were better than Boba. The stories I could tell about that kid-"

"Dad!" Boba hissed, cheeks and ears quickly growing red.

"Ooh, Dad has stories about you?" Cody said, resting his chin in his hands and looking more devious than a ten year old had any right to be.

Rex, always following the lead of his twin, moved his chair closer to Boba and grinned. "I bet those stories would be very interesting to hear."

"Dad!" Boba hissed again.

"Adike, gev," Jango replied, sitting Eli back down in his seat. Rex and Cody backed off. For now at least. They would make another attempt at getting dirt on their ori'vod later, Jango was sure.

"Well, Boba, since I came to your rescue," Jango smirked, "mind getting Tup and feeding him for me?" Boba narrowed his eyes, but nodded his head and got up to get Tup. Jango grabbed the cereal from the pantry and poured it into a bowl along with some milk. He set it down in front of Tup's highchair just as Boba walked in with his youngest brother.

They set Tup up in his chair, the one year old watching their movements with wide eyes. "Boba's gonna feed you, alright?" he said. Tup looked over at his ori'vod and grinned, smacking his hands against the table and making happy shrieking noises.

"I'm going to go make a few calls," he said to the rest of them. "Can I trust you to stay out of trouble for a few minutes?"

"Trouble!" Eli exclaimed.

"Nooooooo!" Felix moaned, giggling and slapping his palms to his forehead. "No trouble, Echo!"

Jango smiled and shook his head before walking up the stairs to the master bedroom and shutting the door behind him. He pulled out his phone and tried calling Kamino again.

The phone rang, and rang, and rang. No answer.

He sighed as the pre-recorded message played. "Kamino, what happened?" he said, leaving her a voicemail this time. "You weren't supposed to drop the kids off with me till next week. You didn't call, didn't leave a message to warn me, nothing. A few minutes earlier and I wouldn't have been home for them! You-" Jango cut himself off. This wasn't the time for this. He and Kamino could sort out all their problems later. What mattered now was finding out what happened.

"Just call me back soon," he said, hanging up.

He looked down at his phone, debating on whether or not he should call again. Then he remembered. If Kamino wasn't answering, there was another thing he could try.

He dialed a new number, after a few minutes of searching for it, and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" the man on the other end said.

"Mr. Dyas?"

"Ah, Mr. Fett! Nice to talk with you again!" Sifo Dyas, the landlord of Kamino's apartment building, was a kindly old man, and one well acquainted with their family. He helped them smooth out their arrangements back when he and Kamino first got the divorce, and for that Jango would always be grateful. "Can I help you with something?"

"Actually, you can," he said. "Is Kamino there? I haven't been able to reach her on her cell."

The other end was silent. "Mr. Dyas?" he asked.

"I- I'm sorry, Mr. Fett, I thought you were aware," the man stammered.

"Aware?" he asked, worry seeping into his voice no matter how hard he tried to prevent it. "Aware of what?"

"Well..." the old man paused. "I'm afraid that Ms. Kamino has terminated her contract with me."

Jango nearly dropped the phone. "She did what?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Fett. I thought you knew."

"No- no, don't be sorry, Mr. Dyas, I-" Jango took a deep breath. "Thank you for telling me."

"Of course." The unsaid words hung in the silence between them. Jango realized he wasn't the only one who saw what Kamino might have done. It shocked Jango. Suddenly, everything felt very, very real. "Should I, uh, send any items left in her apartment to you then?" the man asked hesitantly, cutting through the silence and Jango's spiraling thoughts.

He fought to keep his voice even. "Yes. Please. Thank you, Mr. Dyas."

"Anytime." The older man's voice took on a somber tone. "Take care, Mr. Fett."

Jango nodded, then realized Mr. Dyas couldn't see the motion. "Same to you," he replied, ending the call. He dialed Kamino again right away.

It didn't even ring.

"Sorry, this phone has been disconnected from serv-"

Jango didn't bother listening to the rest of the message. He sat down on the edge of his bed and buried his head in his hands, trying to convince himself that this wasn't happening.

Something similar had happened years ago, before Eli and Felix were born. One day Kamino had just up and left, checked herself into a motel, and didn't come back for four weeks. She left a note for him so he knew where she was, but that was it. He called her, attempted to talk to her a few times in person, but otherwise she avoided all contact with him and their family. No matter how many times he pleaded with her, she wouldn't come back. It was probably the most stressful month of his entire life.

Then one day she walked back into the house and pretended like nothing ever happened. Jango didn't know what was up with her. Every time he tried talking to her about it, she'd change the subject. He would have done anything to help her, but she refused him every time, the tensions between them only getting worse and worse by the day. That was when they decided on divorce.

And now it seemed like Kamino had up and done it again. This time, there was no warning or note left behind. She cut off all contact with them. Jango couldn't help but think that this time she had left for good.

He called a few other friends of the family and all said the same thing: Kamino had cut off all contact with everyone she knew, disappearing without telling anyone where she was going.

That was it then. She really had left.

Jango rubbed a hand over his face, falling back on the bed. There were so many things running through his mind. How he was going to deal with her being completely gone, people he needed to notify about the current situation, gaining full custody of the kids-

The kids.

He bolted upright. God, he had to tell the kids. He knew their relationship with their mom recently hadn't been the best, but this news was going to crush them.

"Dad?" a voice came from outside his closed door. It sounded like Kix. "Are you in there?"

"I'll be down in a minute, ad'ika," he called back, grateful for the fact that his voice stayed even. He heard footsteps heading down the stairs and took a deep breath. It was better to tell them now than to have them find out later.

He went back downstairs. The kids were in the living room. Tup was back in his playpen, Kix was playing on the floor with Felix and Eli, and Rex, Cody, and Boba had all taken up spots on the couch as they watched something on TV. When he came in, Rex moved to sit on the floor to make room for him.

Haar'chak, his kids were so nice. They didn't deserve to have this happen to them.

"Buir?" Kix said, getting up and sitting on his lap. "I overheard you talking about Mom." His son looked at him worriedly. "Is she okay?"

"I... I don't know, ad'ika," he replied, heart clenching at the thought of the conversation he was about to have.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Boba asked, sitting up a bit straighter.

"She won't answer any of my calls," Jango sighed. "...her phone's been disconnected."

"Disconnected?" Rex said, tilting his head back to see them better. Even upside down Jango could see the confusion on Rex's features. "Why would it be disconnected?"

"I overheard Mom say something about selling the apartment," Kix mumbled. Kix turned in his lap and buried his face in Jango's chest. "She was acting weird. I didn't like it."

Jango smoothed Kix's hair away from his face and kissed his son's head, holding him tight. "She say anything else?" he asked. Kix shook his head.

"Dad..." Boba said, eyes wide. "Did Mom sell the apartment?"

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He wasn't going to lie to them. He couldn't. Not ever. "Yeah. She sold it. Mr. Dyas confirmed it."

Boba sucked in a breath, looking pained. Tup started whining in the playpen and Rex got up to let him out, looking between them all warily as he did. "Cody," Boba said, nearly shaking as he grabbed his brother's arm. "When you were pulling our suitcases out of the truck, was there another one in there that wasn't ours?"

Cody frowned. "What? There wasn't another suitcase. The only other thing in there was-" Cody stopped, eyebrows raising as something dawned on him. "I think I remember seeing something all the way in the back, covered by a blanket. It.... it could have been a suitcase. Maybe." Cody looked between him and Boba. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

Boba's face fell. "Did she...?" He trailed off, but Jango still knew what he was asking. His eldest was smart, and all the clues pointed to one thing.

"Yeah," he said softly. "I think she did."

Boba bit his bottom lip. He looked like he was trying not to cry. "How could she?" he whispered. Then he scowled, pushing himself off the couch and storming away. Jango let him go.

"You guys aren't making any sense," Rex said, setting Tup on the ground by Echo and Felix. "What happened with Mom?"

Cody moved closer to him, curling up at his side. His eyes held the first traces of tears and the sight made Jango's heart ache. "Mom's gone, isn't she?"

Jango swallowed, nodding. "I'm sorry," he said, wrapping his other arm around Cody and holding him close. Kix started sniffling and Jango pressed another kiss into his hair. "I'm so sorry."

He looked back up at Rex, who was shaking his head like he couldn't believe it. "No, she- she couldn't- how, she can't- she can't just leave us-"

"Ad'ika," Jango said, trying to get his son to stop spiraling. Rex was the type of person who often needed to sort out his thoughts, but sometimes it could get out of hand. "Sushir at ni. It'll be okay, we'll-"

"You don't know that," he whispered. "You don't know that it'll be okay.

"Rex..." Jango tried, but stopped once he found he couldn't think of anything else to say. He didn't know how to comfort his son. Not over something like this.

Rex shook his head, turning and walking away. Cody, after a moment of indecision, got up and chased after his twin. Kix just buried his face further into Jango's chest and Jango rocked them both back and forth. Felix, Echo, and Tup watched them from the floor. They didn't understand what was happening, they were too young. He wondered if they would even remember their mother when they were older.

Because Kamino was gone, and no one knew if she would ever come back. She left them, and now Jango was the single parent of seven children.

Haar'chak, what were they going to do?

~~~~~~~

Mando'a translations:

• Ad'ika– little one, son, daughter, of any age

• Ulyc, bic nadala– Careful, it's hot

• N'eparavu takisit– sorry (literally: I eat my insult)

• Buir– gender neutral term for parent; in this case, father

• Udesii– calm down

• Adike, gev– kids, knock it off (rough translation)

• Ori'vod– big brother, older brother

• Haar'chak– damn it

• Sushir at ni– listen to me

[nth-generation-kpop]

Stupid Cupid

Chapter I 

Summary: Han Jisung introduced Eurydice to Orpheus at a lavish summer festival. He struck fire in the hearts of Odysseus and Penelope. He schemed in the study group of Marie and Pierre Curie and kept Bonnie and Clyde’s drinks flowing. He passed beautiful love letters between Oscar Wilde and Alfred Douglas. He orchestrated passionate love that lasted late into life, aged like fine wine– that “grow together” type of love. And he’d seen men more hopeless than Bang Chan and Seo Changbin. Jisung has a job to do, but he can’t resist taking on some side projects in the meantime.

Happy Valentines day!! <3 

“You’re not old enough to drink, are you?” Jisung gestured at the glass in Hyunjin’s hand as he unwrapped his scarf, sliding into the booth across from the other.

“You know very well that I am far older than that, Han Jisung.” His friend’s face was more youthful than he’d ever seen it before, with big, round eyes and a soft curve to his jaw, though the annoyed expression was the same. “But no, I’m not. I’ve gotten myself assigned to a pair of star-crossed lovers in a high school nearby. I thought the aesthetic of meeting up with an old friend after 2,000 years more important than the details. This is soda.”

“You always loved your aesthetics. Has it really been 2,000 years though?”

Hyunjin smiled. “Nearly, what was it? The 5th century? We crossed paths when you were on Guinevere and Lancelot, and I was finishing up Tristan and Isolde?”

“I did always love your work. It’s a shame humans turn love stories into tragedies.”

Hyunjin snorted, sipping from his glass. “Imagine my surprise 500 years later when I heard the story retold.” The story books never got it right.

“If I wasn’t there for it, I’d chastise you for sloppy work.”

“Trust me, you wouldn’t be the first. What are you working on at the moment?”

The waiter dropped off Jisung’s drink as well and he smiled, waiting for them to be out of earshot before he answered. “Multitasking. I’m cultivating a future Cupid, which was the main assignment, but I’m staying with two boys who are entirely helpless at love.”

“That sounds fun. Low stress, high reward.”

“It is, I’d definitely recommend it. If it wasn’t for the side project, it’d feel like a sabbatical.”

“A future cupid, so that means he’s been spurned by love then? Have you figured out why he’s jaded yet?”

Failed love was most common by far. Future Cupids were broken souls, broken hearts, who went on to be healed by truly remarkable love-- if they allowed themselves to be open to it. In Jisung’s experience they most often did not, which is where the current Cupids came in. He didn’t even remember his own colossal heartbreak, by the time he had his colossal love he probably couldn’t remember it, but he did remember his first love. He thought about it often, fondly.  Bringing that to people is why he loved his job so much, and why he couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Jisung shook his head. “He’s complicated, but I have an idea of what it was. Failed love, not his own, and… shattered faith.” He smiled. “I’ll just have to put it back together I suppose.”

“Playing matchmaker then?”

Jisung wrinkled his nose. It was straightforward. Find a nice person, not a soulmate but a good-for-you short-lived love, work their Cupid magic and restore faith in relationships. Sometimes the best thing for a person is to date someone they’re never meant to end up with. He had a feeling that wouldn’t work with Minho.

“Not exactly. I’m just planning to point out all the beauties of love, make him see that sometimes heartbreak is necessary, and that true love is worth the risk. If that fails, I suppose ‘matchmaking’ is my backup plan. Minho… he just seems too resistant to the idea for such a direct fix.”

Hyunjin raised an eyebrow. “Minho, huh? Your charge?” Jisung made a nose of agreement. “So you’re getting attached.”

Jisung waved his hand noncommittally. “You know how I am.”

“I do, and you’re getting attached. Have the “powers that be” caught on yet?”

Reluctantly, Jisung answered. “Of course not, I wouldn’t still be here if they had. I’m good at hiding it, I haven’t been sanctioned in centuries.” He didn’t want to admit it, but Hyunjin had always known him better than he knew himself. He could hide from his bosses, but never from his friend.

“You get overly attached to them all, I wonder if this will be the one that will bite you in the ass.” It wasn’t judgmental, more teasing. In all reality Hyunjin hoped that it worked out. He could barely even remember the spectacular love that made him a Cupid in the first place, but Jisung had always been irrevocably in love with the emotion itself. Hyunjin wasn’t sure if his friend could distinguish where the love of love ended and everything else began.

“I wouldn’t be the first.”

“No, you wouldn’t. Be careful they don’t pull you off the assignment.”

Jisung grinned at that. “When have they ever figured out what I’m up to before I’ve done it, my friend?”

“Fair point, but as I said: there’s a first time for everything.”

“I’ll be safe. And you as well.”

Hyunjin scoffed, downing his drink as if he were trying to pretend it was aged whiskey instead. “How much trouble can I get into? I’m 16.”

“Take a sabbatical when you’re done! You’re probably due for one, right? Just one lifetime, spend it resting and cultivating love in your spare time. It’s freeing.”

“You might be onto something there. Anyway, I’ve got to get back. I have foster parents.” The accompanying eye roll made Jisung laugh again, standing up to hug his friend.

“Don’t be a stranger. Once every 2,000 years isn’t nearly enough.”

“I was going to say the same thing. Good luck.”

“You too.”

~~~~~

Chan and Changbin didn't usually make a point to meet up for lunch, both too busy with their class schedules and part time jobs, knowing they'd most likely see each other in the evenings anyway. But today was a special day. Today marked the 1-weekiversary of their new roommate Han Jisung.

The two boys had been best friends nearly since birth, growing up as neighbors of similar age-- they knew from living with them could be hard. Their first roommate Brian fared pretty well, but when he moved out he told them that they'd developed habits they knew didn't bother each other, but that they never stopped to consider whether it bothered him. Changbin hated dishes, so he left them for Chan to do whenever the elder got around to them. In turn he did Chan's laundry, a fair trade for everybody but Brian, who was constantly washing dirty cereal bowls and praying he didn’t knock over the towers of laundry all over the living room. They apologized and he waved it away, saying he should have just said something but they seemed to have a good thing going. On his way out, Brian suggested a two bedroom.

The second roommate…. Well, Chan and Changbin had scrambled to replace the second roommate after only a couple months. Everything seemed fine, and then a few weeks in it absolutely imploded and the two were left staring at the rubble of their roommateship (and their sanity) wondering where it all went wrong. It started with Seowoo nagging Chan to go to sleep, saying that the noise and the lights were bothering him-- nevermind the fact that Chan tried his best to be quiet and his room was at the other end of the hall, door shut, with only his desk lamp on. Then it was Chan’s cat, which was actually also Changbin’s cat but Seowoo ignored that and complained constantly to Changbin about how dirty and smelly it was. Changbin promised to clean up after her more, but Seowoo was adamant that she was disgusting and there was nothing Changbin could do to help. Chan is so dirty, Chan is so loud, Chan is so boring-- they weren’t sure what exactly it was that set him off, whether Chan and Changbin’s friendship upset him too, but he latched on to Changbin and… didn’t with Chan. Suddenly he wouldn’t speak to Chan, he simply rolled his eyes and left whenever they were in the same room, and when they finally sat him down and brought it up to him it was the explosion of the century. He told Changbin he felt betrayed and insisted he had done absolutely nothing wrong. Why should he be expected to get along with them all the time? Why shouldn’t he be able to voice his opinions? Why was he being attacked for nothing?

And he was gone the next day. Chan came home from classes seemingly just after Changbin, who he found standing in the doorway of a completely empty bedroom. Seowoo wouldn’t answer their text messages or any of the phone calls. After a couple days, it looked like he wasn’t coming back, and they contacted their landlord-- unfortunately they were required to cover the rent if he didn’t show up, but they promised to take Seowoo off the lease if he didn’t put up the money.  

Which he didn’t.

Enter Han Jisung, a friend of a friend who heard all about their roommate situation on several occasions. Jisung had called Chan directly, saying that he'd been having trouble finding a good place to live at such an odd time in the year, a couple months into when leases normally began. They agreed to meet up and maybe show him the place, and after a short introduction and confirmation from the friend that he was a good kid (read: not an ax murderer), Chan and Changbin brought him over for the very short tour and gave him a copy of the lease to look over. It was actually Jisung who brought up the trial period, though he suggested a full month and they agreed right away. After that he'd sign the lease, as long as they “worked well” as roommates. When he'd left, Chan and Changbin struck up their 1 week no discussion policy, to give him a fair chance without their reservations and past roommate failures clouding their judgment. It turned out to be a good idea, Jisung turned out to be a lot to get used to.

Changbin started it off. “...so the new guy.”

Chan nodded. "He's a bit odd"

“Yeah, just... as a person, a bit strange isn’t he?"

"But he's clean and he paid his rent and he's nice enough," Chan added quickly.

Changbin agreed immediately, and they lapsed into silence. "He bakes, did he tell you he bakes? That's definitely a plus, and he isn't disruptive or annoying."

“I say we have him sign the lease.” There was something off about the guy, Chan always felt like despite seeming completely transparent, he was hiding something. Still, he didn’t seem dangerous, and Chan had a feeling this was a good thing.

Changbin was even less confident, less willing to risk anything after the weeks of being pulled in different directions between his friends, standing on the edge and not knowing whether to take sides as he wanted to or try and keep the peace. Seowoo had left him paranoid and a bit guilty towards Chan. He felt like maybe he hadn’t done enough to mediate the situation, or he was too neutral. Jisung seemed different, though. He seemed more involved, he wanted to get to know Chan and Changbin, but he still understood boundaries and their need for space. He seemed kind-- he really, really seemed harmless. If he shook things up, and Changbin sensed that Jisung might, it may be for the better. In the end, he thought, the risk would be worth it.

“Me too.”

And so Han Jisung became the third resident of their little apartment, and thus began the most eventful year of their lives.

~~~~~

“Changbin.”

The older boy looked up from the pan, where he’d been half-heartedly nudging around bits of chicken in an attempt to ‘stir fry.’ “Yeah?”

“Are you a hopeless romantic?” Jisung’s tone was lilting, almost artificial as if straight off one of those made-for-TV movies.

“Uh, no.” Changbin squinted at his roommate as the latter huffed and pouted, wrapped around a throw pillow that Changbin hadn’t remembered seeing before. “Why, are you? Is anyone actually?”

“Of course I am! Everybody should be.”

“And why’s that?”

Jisung pouted again, gesturing to the laptop in front of him. “Because love is beautiful and wonderful. I love love.”

Changbin couldn’t help but laugh, turning back to his pan. “What are you watching?”

“A movie… you might think it’s dumb, but it’s about a couple who meet by chance in a shop in a big city, and it turns out that the shop is magic and by... the universe’s happy accident they keep meeting, over and over again, until they fall in love.”

To Jisung’s surprise, Changbin answered “That sounds nice.”

“Would you want to watch it with me? I’m only a few minutes in, but I don’t mind restarting it. I’ve seen it a million times.” Changbin wasn’t sure he’d ever heard Jisung sound… well he couldn’t tell if it was shy or nervous. Excited, curious, enthusiastic, sassy-- so much sass-- but genuine vulnerability was new. Changbin always felt like maybe Jisung knew more than anybody else in the room, somehow always a step ahead. Regardless, it sounded completely unlike the polite, bubbly boy he’d come to know over the last month. When he looked up from cooking, he met big hopeful eyes and knew he wouldn’t be able to say no.

“Sure, just let me finish cooking?” Changbin made a face at the pan-- it looked nothing like his mother's.

Amused, and maybe a touch sympathetic, Jisung said “...we could order takeout.”

“Yeah, we should do that.”

They started the movie just as Chan got home and roped him into it as well-- unlike Changbin, he admitted to being a hopeless romantic outright. They’d taken the liberty of ordering Chan’s usual as well, and their food came in the middle of the exposition.

It was a good movie, objectively. The plot was decent, the characters were really well developed, and some of the scenes were cheesy, but good cheesy. Chan loved it, and was very vocal about the fact which made Jisung incredibly happy. Changbin was a bit more non-committal, just shrugging and saying “it was fine” when Jisung asked what he thought. He said it was a feel good movie, and that he was happy to have an impromptu movie night with them. Chan threw a plastic spoon at him and said “humbug” at his answer, laughing when Changbin threw it back and smacked him directly in the forehead. Jisung just smiled at him knowingly-- he could feel how happy the movie had truly made Changbin, and how something suspiciously like hope tugged at the boy’s heart each time the couple met and fell deeper in love. And Jisung didn’t know it, but by the time they split off to get ready for bed that night, Changbin admitted to himself that yeah, he is a little bit of a hopeless romantic underneath it all.

Lying in bed that night, Jisung considered his two… projects, you could call them. His friends. He was pretty sure Chan was ready for a relationship, despite needing a little help with the logistics of getting a boy to fall in love with him. He’d be the perfect charge for a Cupid, ready to fall in love at the first sign of something. He just needed a nice boy, a slightly forward nice boy, to fall into his path. His shyness held him back more than anything.

Changbin would be a bit more difficult. Jisung would have to find someone he could spend a decently long amount of time with, and it would be a slow progression. He needed to warm up to someone before he could even start to fall in love, be friends first no doubt. He’d have to be coaxed into it, subtly because Seo Changbin was the reactionary sort-- if he realized he was falling in love, Jisung didn’t think he’d let it happen.

And he decided that they’d need a little preparation first, or at least a situation Jisung could evaluate them in. They’d been living together for nearly a month at this point, so he had a pretty good idea of how the boys functioned-- frankly, they didn’t go out much besides classes. Both were busy with school and work and the clubs they were involved in. (Jisung considered trying to set them up with people from those places, but after a bit of snooping on the potential candidates, he decided each one was for one reason or another a resounding no.)

Which made objective number one convince them to go to the bars with him.

~~~~~

A soft knock on his door pulled him away from his assigned reading. “Chan?”

“Yeah, come in!” Jisung opened the door, peaking at what Chan was up to.

“Sorry for interrupting,” he said, gesturing to the book, which Chan immediately closed and put aside.

“No, it’s a welcome interruption. What’s up?”

Jisung perched on the edge of Chan’s bed, twisting one of his rings around his finger and biting his lip. “I kind of have a favor to ask you? And Changbin when he’s home.”

Chan smiled. Jisung was incredibly cute when he was nervous. “Yeah, of course. What is it?”

"Well, I'm going out with a guy Friday, not really as a date but as a ‘my friends and I are going to the bars you should come with’ type thing? Or, well he said to bring some of my friends so I thought I'd invite you? We're friends right?"

“Yeah! Yeah, we’re friends. That sounds fun.”

“Really? I know the bars aren’t really your thing but I thought you might have fun… and if you don’t we can leave, I just… I mean it’s the first time he and I are kinda hanging out.”

“And you want some backup? I’m kinda flattered.”

Jisung smiled. “I really do consider you a friend, I’m not just coming to you because…”

“Because we live together and you know I don’t have plans this weekend?”

“Right, I think it’ll be fun.”

“Me too, don’t worry! And Changbin will say yes if you tell him I’m coming. He’s kind of a baby about social situations involving people he doesn’t know,” Chan teased.

“He’s cute when he’s shy! He should use it to his advantage.”

“If he could use it to his advantage, I have a feeling he wouldn’t be as shy or as cute.”

The knowing look popped up on Jisung’s face as he stood up. “He just need a little training.”

With a loud ‘thanks!’ Jisung slipped out of the room to do god knows what, and Chan had to laugh. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was so much more to Han Jisung than he could imagine.

Friday afternoon rolled around and found Chan laying across his bed, mindlessly scrolling on his phone when Changbin quietly opened his door without warning and slipped into his room. Before he even got a word out, Changbin blurted “he’s picking out my clothes” in a whisper.

Chan laughed, sitting up. “What are you talking about?”

“Shh, I don’t want to offend him! You’re coming right?”

“Yeah, of course,” Chan assured his friend, frowning. “Do you not want to go?”

Changbin hesitated. “I don’t know, it’s not really my... scene.”

“Me neither, but he needs friends right now. And maybe it’ll be fun!”

Yuna meowed as she walked into the room, passing through Changbin’s legs and rubbing against his ankle. Being okay with cats had been the first roommate test, and Jisung passed with flying colors. Yuna, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure about Jisung yet.

Bending over, Changbin scooped her up cradled her in his arms as she meowed at him again. “You get to stay home, Yuna. Can’t I stay with you?”

“Nope. Come on, it’ll be fun,” Chan assured him again, standing up.

“He’s picking out my clothes, Chan,” Changbin reiterated, glaring.

“I bet he’s doing a better job than you would be.”

Dressed and ready to head out the door, Changbin had to agree that Chan had been right-- he looked really good. It was still cold outside, so Jisung chose a long sleeve black t shirt under a black button down with silver buttons that must have been his, tucked in with a simple black and silver belt. Paired with dark grey skinny jeans and Changbin’s own red-lined combat boots, his thin frame looked flattering instead of scrawny, and the copious amount of black wasn’t overwhelming. Yeah, he looked really good, so much so that he was kind of excited to go out-- a strange, entirely new feeling.

Chan obviously agreed, letting out a low “damn” upon entering Changbin’s room. “Jisung said to give you these, and to convince you to let him put eyeliner on you. I promised him a 50% success rate.” He handed Changbin a set of silver glasses with circle frames.

“Thanks, and honestly… I’m inclined to let him do whatever he wants after this.” Changbin looked at himself in the mirror again. “Are you sure his major is Literature and not… fashion design or something?”

“That makes me feel better, he’s in with Yuna picking out my clothes too.”

“Yeah, don’t be too worried,” Changbin said, shoving his phone and wallet in his pocket. “Yuna’s warmed up to him?”

Chan nodded. “She’s letting him hold her now, at least. He says she’s helping him, anytime she meows he says ‘no, you’re right he’d look better in something else.’ It’s kinda weird.”

“Yeah, well it’s Jisung. I’m just glad she doesn’t swat at him every time he tries to pet her anymore. I ran out of bandaids.”

“Yeah, I think we’re in the clear with him.”

The two smiled at each other after a second. “Yeah, I think we are.”

Chan ended up dressed… not dissimilarly to Changbin. Jisung apologized, cat in arms, saying he didn’t think they’d look too matchy-matchy, but he could pick something else if Chan didn’t like it. In a long white button down, untucked, with black skinny jeans and a pair of oxfords he rarely wore, Chan waved him off saying that he liked Jisung’s choice and he looked too good to change. Plus they were going to be late if they didn’t leave soon. Jisung hummed, narrowing his eyes at Chan before setting Yuna on Chan’s bed and relenting. As he left the room to change, Chan grabbed his things and gave the kitty curled up on his pillow a goodbye kiss. Somehow, Jisung was dressed and ready to go in less than five minutes, and the three were off.

The bar was loud and crowded, even this early in the night. As he bumped into the third person in less than a minute, Changbin had a feeling that it would only get worse, and that he needed a drink. A glance at Chan told him the other was feeling similarly, if a bit less anxious; and Jisung seemed to pick up on it quickly, making a beeline for the bar. He ordered them a round, opening a tab and telling them to charge it for the night-- they could settle up later. By some miracle they found 3 empty bar stools and sat waiting for Jisung’s boy and his friends to show up, chatting as they sipped their drinks.

Changbin glanced around apprehensively, the feeling in the pit of his stomach growing a bit. He felt out of place. Beside him, his friends sat so casually, not seeming to notice his small inner turmoil. You look hot, a voice whispered inside his head. It’s okay to have fun. You’re not out of place, you certainly don’t look out of place. You’re branching out. And you’re here to have fun, loosen up. You can do this.

Changbin downed the rest of his drink and looked up to find both Jisung and Chan staring at him. “Sorry, what?”

“There’s a guy at the bar and I think he’s checking Chan out but Chan thinks I’m ‘crazy,’” Jisung said, subtly gesturing with his finger quotes. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

Changbin shrugged, casually looking over and catching a guy glancing towards Chan curiously. “Yeah, I mean I think he’s checking you out. He looks like the ‘come here often?’ type though…” Jisung snorted, agreeing. Perhaps Changbin wasn’t as clueless in the matters of love as he’d thought.

“I mean, I look hot. I wouldn’t blame him for checking me out,” Chan teased, winking at Changbin who rolled his eyes.

“It’s the eyeliner!” Jisung almost stood up with the force of that statement. “Changbin I’m telling you, if you would have let me--”

“Are you saying I don’t look hot?” Changbin cut him off, raising an eyebrow.

“Wh-- no! No, no of course not. I dressed you, didn’t I?” Changbin laughed and Jisung realized he was being teased. Fiddling with his straw in his drink and averting his eyes, Jisung mummbled, “Just saying you would have looked hotter if you’d cooperate.”

“Next time,” Chan suggested, and Jisung narrowed his eyes at Changbin.

“Next time, I promise.”

A grin spread slowly across Jisung’s face. “I’m holding you to that.”

Laughing, joking with his friends felt so comfortable that he forgot to be stressed about the bar and the noise and all the people-- yeah, Changbin could do this. Minho showed up not too long after, but he and Chan fell in with some of Minho’s friends, drinking and talking together both with and without the couple. A few drinks, and the group spilled out onto the dance floor-- the apprehension all but gone, feeling confident, Chan and Changbin went willingly and without hesitation.

Jisung, on the other hand, stayed at the bar with Minho, half-heartedly sipping their drinks as they’d both expressed the desire to keep an eye on their friends. Jisung had been put into many of the same classes as Minho on purpose, and had gotten close to him for obvious reasons. When the boy asked him out, he was surprised, but deemed it the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone: learn more about Minho and give his roommates a little test run. They chatted, starting with talking about their friends and how they’d met. Chan had been doing surprisingly well, though Jisung would agree that he was the more social of the two. He wasn’t being flirted with by any of Minho’s friends, and Jisung had been preventing anybody from approaching him directly on purpose-- he wanted to ease them into the experience, so he’d pointed out people checking them out but… deterred them otherwise. It wasn’t control, just influence. Cupids worked with feelings, confidence and happiness and attraction, but the love that they sparked wasn’t the life-altering, earth-shattering variety-- unless it grew that way on it’s own. True love blossomed on it’s own.

Jisung felt Changbin’s panic from the moment they entered, but with a little help he relaxed as well. An artificial boost in confidence from Jisung’s direction even sent them both boldly out onto the dance floor, their newfound friendships with the others from the group helping a great deal.

As they spoke, Jisung gave Minho the rundown on how he’d become roommates with the two boys, and how it was currently his mission in life to get them to go out more, maybe meet some people.

“I don’t mean to make them sound like hermits, they’re just…”

“Shy?”

“Yeah.” Jisung smiled and glanced over his shoulder. “And not particularly confident, even though they’re both amazing! I have the bad habit of trying to play matchmaker with people I care about.”

“What about you? No confidence issues ever?” Minho teased.

“Nope, I’m too confident for my own good.”

Minho caught his eyes, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. “I like that.”

Jisung felt the tips of his ears go red as he looked into his drink. “Good.”

“Good.”

When Minho excused himself to go to the bathroom, Jisung took the opportunity to skip onto the dance floor as well, surprising his two roommates but barging right in between them in the middle of a song. Scanning the dance floor, he decided it was maybe time to push the envelope, selecting a cute boy dancing near them who was clearly interested in Changbin-- one who he could sense had a good heart. He used a little bit of his mojo to encourage the boy to make a move, albeit a subtle move. He had a feeling Changbin would be a bit of a baby deer when it came to being hit on, making anything too forward out of the question.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as the boy inched his way closer and closer, eventually bumping straight into Changbin. His roommate looked up with big eyes at the stranger, who flashed him a sweet smile and began to introduce himself.

Changbin, however, cut him off with a quiet apology, moving away from him to a space on the other side of Chan. Oblivious.

Jisung’s sweet boy frowned, dejected, and moved off the dance floor back to who Jisung assumed was his group of friends, and before Chan and Changbin even came off the dance floor the boy was gone. Dejected himself, Jisung spotted Minho on his way back to the bar and wrapped his arms around both of his roommates, telling them he was having so much fun but he had to get back. They sent him off with winks and go get him’s, still under the impression that his date was the whole reason they were here.

Minho asked how his friends were doing and he let out a huff of air. “Not entirely hopeless, but they don’t inspire confidence. Yet.”

Eventually Jisung shooed Minho off to go dance with his friends for a while, saying that Chan and Changbin were probably dying for an opportunity to come over and interrogate him on how everything was going. He was right of course, and only spent a few moments alone at the bar before his roommates landed on either side of him.

“Is it going well? Do we need to bail you out of here?”

Jisung laughed and shook his head. “It’s going really well. Why, are you guys ready to leave?”

“Not really,” Changbin said as Chan ordered another round. “We’re having a good time. I’m glad we did this.”

“Hey, I saw that guy talking to you on the dance floor? Tall, light hair?”

Changbin laughed, shaking his head. “No, it was nothing. I just ran into him. He was cute though.”

“You should have made a move! I bet he would have danced with you.” Chan seconded him, but Changbin waved them both off.

“I just ran into him! Really, it was nothing.”

“I think he was checking you out earlier, but okay,” Chan added.

Jisung scanned the bar for a beat, then spotted the guy who has been checking Chan out earlier in the evening, still sipping a drink. He wasn’t drunk, and he wasn’t too sleazy-- just forward. He seemed like a good option for Chan, as good as the sweet boy he’d sent to Changbin. Just something to test the waters. A little nudge to catch his attention and a bit of encouragement, and both Jisung and Changbin caught him approaching. Jisung took the full drink in front of Chan saying “you’re not going to need this,” and smiled at a confused Chan as he sipped it, turning to talk to Changbin.

“Hey, uh… I’m Joonho.” It took Chan a second to realize that the man speaking was talking to him, actively trying to catch his attention by leaning on the bar to his left, and holding out his hand. Chan shook it and introduced himself, smiling politely.

“You look really familiar?” To his right, Jisung cringed and Changbin snorted, though Chan was too busy studying Joonho’s face to notice, trying to remember having met before.

“Oh, um… well maybe we had a class together? At the university, I’m a in the International Policy?”

“I’m going for business admin, so maybe that’s it! I just couldn’t place you, so I had to come talk to you.”

“Yeah, that must be it. Lots of business classes…” Chan looked at his friends awkwardly, not knowing how to continue the conversation. “Or… well our classes are probably in the same building.”

“Yeah, maybe I’ve just seen you around… but I feel like I would have remembered someone like you.”

He smiled shyly, wishing Jisung hadn’t stolen his drink so he’d at least have something to do with his hands. “I don’t know, there are a lot of students on campus, especially in the business program.”

“Not many as gorgeous as you.” It hit Chan like a slap in the face and he looked up at the guy wide-eyed, taking in the flirty smile.

“Oh, uh” was all he could muster, with a little laugh.

“So could I buy you a drink?”

Chan nodded, mouth opening and closing like a fish before he choked out a, “Yeah, I’m drinking-- well, I was drinking rum and coke.”

While he ordered, Chan shot a look of panic at his roommates, receiving two unhelpful sets of thumbs up in return. Chan turned back to watch the bartender make their drinks, then picked his up and awkwardly clincked his glass with Jooho’s.

And it all went downhill from their. By the time his drink was half gone, Joonho had made a lame excuse, thrown out a ‘it was nice meeting you’ and hightailed it out of there. Chan groaned as he left, leaning his head on Jisung’s shoulder.

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“No, it was worse,” Chan insisted.

“It was pretty bad,” Changbin supplied, and Jisung glared at him. “What? The guy was cheesy anyway.”

“Binnie, you’re not helping,” Chan pouted, downing a good portion of his drink.

“At least you recognized that you were being flirted with.”

They both eyed Changbin, who shouted “I just bumped into him!”

Chan made a noise of discontent and Jisung could feel his discomfort growing. He and Changbin seemed to take a turn for the worse, neither of them enjoying this quite as much anymore, and Jisung looked at his watch. “We should go.”

“We can stay,” Chan offered weakly, clearly ready to leave but not wanting to drag Jisung down with him.

“No, it’s late! I’m tired, and I gotta play a little hard to get to keep Minho interested. Come on, onto the dance floor for one more song and then we’ll head out.”

Chan left his half-finished drink, and they ended the night on a high note. On the way out, Minho promised to text Jisung for another date the following week, and he planted a kiss on the boy’s cheek in return.

Chan teased him on the way out. “Teach me your ways.”

“Trust me boys,” Jisung said, slinging his arms around both of their shoulders with a grin. “If I can’t get you boyfriends, nobody can.”