#what a great prompt to be the halfway point in this challenge :3

[gay-for-the-snz]

Day 7: Borrowed Hoodie (F, cold, induced)

@sicklyfruit was so generous as to let me borrow Sasha again, so he has been requisitioned for more snzfucker shenanigans :3c

Mild nsfw (they're in between fucking), induced, intentional contagion, Florence's general nastiness towards other human beings. 2.1k

⁂

She's lounged on his bed in nothing but the bathrobe she stole out of his closet, still sweaty in a way she can't blame entirely on the way they put eachother through their paces. She slowly exhales the smoke from her cigarette, her legs stretched across his lap. "Hey."

"What?"

At some point he'd grabbed a pair of boxers, leaving them both at least semi-clothed. "Go get me water."

"You've got legs, go get it yourself."

She huffs, leans harder against him. "Why are you such a bitch? Don't you know how to treat a lady?"

"If you wanna be treated nicely, maybe you should do something to deserve it."

"I am very deserving of it. I treat you well. Better than you deserve, even."

"Yeah, okay."

"I am a highly generous woman."

"Name one thing you've ever given me."

She looks him directly in the eyes, rolls over to straddle him and loop her arms around his neck. "This cold."

She knows she's hit her mark, because he doesn't even respond for a second, just stares at her in surprise--and something else. "What?"

"Oh yeah."

"You didn't say you were sick."

She leans in to whisper in his ear. "My little surprise for you to enjoy. It hasn't hit yet, just a little sniffly and throat sore, but it will. And then it'll hit you, too."

"You're lying."

"You think I would lie to you?" He snorts in response, so she pre-empts his actual reply with a sniffle that's barely liquidy at the edges--but is liquid nonetheless. "This is all yours in a couple of days."

"You're such a bitch." He doesn't seem mad at all, though--and she knows he isn't. She can see the flush on his cheeks, the fact that he's already grabbing the collar of the robe to pull it open and kiss her shoulder. "How do I know I've caught it? We might not've guaranteed it."

"Oh? You don't think I did a good enough job the first time?"

"It would be a shame to make me a promise like this that you couldn't keep."

"Then I guess you should beg, because I was already generous the first time. Why should I give you another chance?"

"I'd never beg. I'll just command you."

She laughs, pushes him down against the bed. "Why would I ever respect your authority?"

He whines. "What will it take, then?"

"I'll be good to you, just this once." She lets her fingers brush through his curls, not quite as wild as her own but threatening to encroach on his face nonetheless. "If you want this cold, you'll have to work for it."

"What do you have in mind?" He already knows what she's implying, reaching back on the nightstand to grab the box of tissues, and rolls one into a tight point.

"You've got a beautiful opportunity here--you've just got to take it."

It's more of a challenge than it is for him--she swears she just thinks too hard about touching his nose and it has him sneezing, those desperate, fittish things that tumble out of him like they're stacked on top of one another. Her nose is more temperamental, requiring a lot more coaxing and effort to actually make any real difference.

"Switch me positions."

"No. I wanna be over you."

He doesn't fight her on it at all, just cups her cheek in one hand to hold her steady as he carefully brings to tissue to her nose. She scrunches it in discomfort, the feeling not really ticklish so much as annoying.

"Stop moving."

"It's not my fault you're not doing a good job."

She tries to hold still nonetheless, closing her eyes to focus solely on the sensation of the point carefully worming its way deeper into her nose, trying to find the spot that will actually produce some results here.

"You know Elliott gave this to me."

"Fuck, yeah. He looked horrible when I saw him last week."

"You know he's never been good at keeping anything to himself. He--hh-!--ugh, fuck--he was so apologetic about it, but I don't know how sorry he can really be if he's never any better about it."

"Stop moving, you're making this more difficult."

She begrudgingly acquiesces, letting him hold her face more steadily. She takes a shaky gasp when the tissue prods deeply into the back of her nose, and it heaves her (meager) chest with the effort of a false start that goes nowhere. She scrunches her nose hard in response, trying to do something to actually make it do something in there.

"Your nose is such a fucking drama queen." He huffs when he twists a new corner into a point, the previous one now too sodden to really do anything of consequence.

"Yeah, well--snf!--you're in direct control of the amount of my cold you're getting here. I'm not kissing you just to give it to you--you've gotta tease it out, or you're not getting anything."

She pushes his hands away just long enough to pull her hair back into a ponytail, to keep the curls out of her face so he can have clear access--and so it stops distracting her from the potential sneeze.

The tissue reacquaints itself with the back of her nose, and she lets her jaw fall slack as the feeling mounts. "Hh...hh-! ...ugh." She sniffs again, but he's got enough sense this time not to move the tissue away. He's lamented, before, that he would prefer to use something like a clothes tag so that it doesn't get too wet and limp to actually be of any use. But, unfortunately for them both, it's never been as good at actually teasing something out the way the tissues are.

He finally seems to be on the right track--and his efforts are rewarded, even minimally as it is. "Hh-! 'chu!" It's a soft and breathy thing, but it's more than she usually gets. He knows he's got her in the right space if he can keep going, and doesn't pause to give it a chance to start dying out.

"Hh...h-hH! 'chu!" Ugh, fuck. It scratches that itch a little, but her nose is buzzing now with the need to sneeze, and he's hardly doing a thing about it. It SUCKS how hard her nose makes her fight for it, but unless he wants to drag her sorry ass down to the local pool in the fall when it's closed, or pay to go to whichever local gym's got one, he's stuck with trying to induce it himself if he wants any results.

Her brows pinch together when he manages to jab at some spot that draws an involuntary gasp and a snarl of irritation at the feeling. "Hh'CHyuu! Hih'GSchyu!"

She doesn't open her eyes, but she can feel that he's clearly enjoying this by the way he squirms a little underneath her, her palms flat against the mattress on either side of his head and practically locking him in place.

She can imagine the view he's got--she's induced in front of a mirror before for him and for Rhoda. The flare of pretty pink nostrils, damp from the way her nose is being teased. The way she wrinkles it against the feeling, making the tip scrunch from side to side with the effort. The way the freckles that adorn it are slowly getting more difficult to see, blending into the pink that's creeping into it the longer he's at this.

And him, laying beneath her and taking the brunt of it all. He occasionally makes a show of complaining, if only because Sasha is incapable of doing anything without complaining. She knows if she offered to swap the positions around some, he'd adamantly refuse. He wants to be here, he just also wants to piss and moan like a little bitch.

"Hh-! ...ugh! Can't you do anything right?"

"It's not my fucking fault that the only thing that works for you doesn't last long."

"Yeah, well, neither do you, so I guess you've got something in common with that tissue: wet and useless."

He scoffs, but when she cracks her eyes open halfway she can see how hard he's blushing as he rolls another corner into a point.

Clearly he's feeling like a brat, because he takes his sweet time actually negotiating the point back to where it was starting to do some damage, leaving her in hitchy, miserable limbo of false starts and an itch that's actually getting uncomfortable without any relief.

"What are you doing, taking your pet tissue for a walk? Do something."

"Oh, I'm sorry, you know how I am. Useless. I'm trying but, you know me: can't do anything right!"

She braces herself on one hand, using the other to grab Sasha's wrist like a vise and forces it back into position--

" 'GSChyuu! Hh--hH'GSSHhyue!"

She can feel the spray on her hand, and grimaces as she wipes it off on his boxers.

"Toy with me again and I'll just go do this in the bathroom without you. Do I make myself clear?"

Those dark eyes are locked on hers when she leans down so they're practically nose to nose. "Yes, sir."

She sniffs sharply. "Then get to it before I change my mind and my patience and generosity to share run out. I haven't got all day."

It's a lie, of course. She doesn't have anything going on all day--and they both know she's going to be spending it with him, no matter his behavior right now. But the posturing is all a part of the game.

"God, you're so hot like this."

Her voice falters as she feels him honing back in on that sweet spot. "I'm always hot."

"Shut up."

It actually earns a whine from her when he finds his mark, so tantalizingly close to making her sneeze. She can't do anything else but to hitch, and she hates how precious and girlish it comes out. She's hardly a delicate or girly person--she's a woman, sure, but not a girl in any meaningful way--and certainly not a lady. It's embarrassing that this aspect of her is so infuriatingly delicate in comparison to the rest of her.

So perhaps she's overcompensating when she rarely bothers to cover, when she refuses to stifle it in any way--after all, she always has to work damn hard for it to happen in the first place--when she swipes a hand beneath blushed nostrils as if she dares anyone to challenge her on it.

" 'GSCHyue! Hh'GSCHyue!" She freezes, hanging on the precipice of a third, and she's absolutely not letting this one get away from her, not when she's so close to meaningfully scratching that itch. She makes a grab for his hand again, but he's quick enough to catch her drift before she actually makes contact with him. He shoves the tissue in further, and she curls in on herself with it before she can do anything else. "HihGSSHhyue! 'GSCHue! Hh-! HH-! Hih'GZZHhyue!"

She whines as she pushes his hand away, the bedraggled tissue still clutched so hard his knuckles are whitened from it, and goes to paw at her nose. It makes that gross, wet clicking sound as she rubs hard at it, abusing her skin with how roughly she's scrubbing back and forth, and sits up, still straddling his waist.

"Oh my God...bless you..."

It leaves a dark streak on the sleeve of his robe where she uses it to mop up the trickle of thin liquid. "Fuck off."

He doesn't, he just takes hold of the open collar of the robe and pulls her closer by it, practically tries to climb under her skin with how hungry he is when he kisses her. She pulls away just to try and take a breath, the congestion settling in enough to make it difficult to balance breathing and Sasha's apparent approval over their little performance.

"Are you satisfied you're catching this now?"

He's already shrugging the robe off of her shoulders, his teeth ghosting over the skin it bares as the fabric falls away. "I can think of ways we can guarantee it."

She runs her fingers over the scars that across his chest, the robe pooled around her elbows like some luxurious evening wrap instead of some cheap thing he got off a Target clearance rack. "Get me another tissue, then. I'm still itchy, and you're not allowed to start a job without finishing it."

He's grinning like a fool as he grabs the box off his nightstand. "Yes, sir."

[liquid-luck-00]

Leave Her Alone

This is Part 4 of 10

#10: Leave him/her/them alone @zambie-trashart Prompt List

Part 1 *** Part 2 *** Part 3

SuperSons x Miracilous

~~~~~~~~~~

Two summers have come and past and she could genuinely say she considered Damian a friend. The last time they were together he called her a minor inconvenience, so she'll take that as a win.

She however wasn't expecting to he back in Gotham so soon. She along with seven others were chosen to represent D’Argencourt School of Fencing in an international competition. With challengers from eight total countries. Seeing as it was during the fall recess her parents allowed it, so long as she stayed with the rest of the fencing team and chaperones. They also knew that her Uncle wasn’t far and she had friends in Gotham, that and Ma and Pa invited her for thanksgiving. Having gained a sort of sixth sense when she would be in the states.

So here she is on a flight she makes usually once sometimes twice a year but now she knows her uncle and cousin weren’t waiting for her. She wasn’t going to metropolis she was going to Gotham. Maybe she should have text Wayne, if he refuses to call her Marinette, she refuses to call him Damian, call her petty. But she didn’t even know if he was free or even competing, so she hadn’t bothered.

What was a surprise was that Adrien, their best male fencer, was allowed to come, apparently his father was super strict, only letting him do specific activities. They had chatted a bit on the bus and then on the plane.

“Who would have thought that seeing eight kids walk into an airport with fencing foils would have caused so much commotion.”

“That would be the no weapons laws in place,” she answered not looking up from her reading. “No cutting or thrusting weapons are allowed on the plane and have to be properly secured.”

“That’s why they were put in that case M. D’Argencourt had?”

“Yes.” She stopped the flight attendant who was passing, and luckily it was one that she recognized. “Hello Miss Catalina.”

“Oh, if it isn’t little Mariposa. Wake you up for breakfast?”

“Yes please.” She smiled. “Thank you.”

“Mariposa?” Adrien asked after she walked away.

“Butterfly. Float like a butterfly sting like a bee. Right.”

“That defines your fighting style.”

“Now unless you’re a fan of jet lag, good night.” She fell asleep and ended up waking him up after Catalina woke her. They ate and had a bit of small talk until they landed and made their way to their hotel.

Okay Gotham isn’t the nicest place to ever go but they were in the nicer part of the city. They got settled then went to train for the upcoming three-day tournament. During the first day everyone only had one match but with four matches going on, two for each gender and one for each bracket, it was busy and quite a show. Mari was lucky enough to be one of the first to compete, so she spent the rest of the day watching the other competitors. The third match she noticed something eerily familiar from one of the male competitors.

“Figures you’d be here Wayne.” She snuck up behind him, making him turn.

“Surprised you would come at all.” He lighted his helmet. “Does Kent know you are here?”

“Probably by now he would have.” She shrugged. “Go change,” she shooed, “that way we can over critique everyone else.” He rolled his eyes while his teammates stared at her. “What’s your deal.” She rose a brow.

“Nothing!” Several of them shouted and scattered. If Damian Wayne listened to this girl, and they didn’t know who she was, she must be scary, because Damian is, and he doesn’t listen to just anyone.

“Should I be grateful that you managed to get rid of those leeches?”

“Seriously, manners Wayne, those were your teammates.”

“So?”

“Never mind I am not going to get anything through that thick skull of yours.”

“My skull is thicker than most but that nearly means it is more efficient for head butts.”

“Definitely not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean Dupain?”

“It’s not important just that I can’t change your mind.” He was about to shoot back but she literally put a finger up to silence him. “Did you see that.” He looked towards where she was looking.

A female fighter, in all red, part of block D mercilessly attacked her opponent. In under fifteen seconds she scored each time, quickly accumulating her points.

“They are from the Tsurugi school in Japan, based off the uniform.”

“Figure that on your own Batman.” She rolled her eyes. “But I meant her form it was…”

“Exceptional for a competitor at this level.”

“Must you always be so condescending Wayne.”

“Mariiii,” they both heard a familiar voice drawing their attention away from the red fencer. If they hadn’t, they would have noticed that the same fencer was focused on them.

“Jon/Kent.” A body slammed into them, bu quickly pulled her in a hug spinning her in a circle.

“You should have told us you were competing here. I knew Damian was but you that’s surprising.”

“Come on it’s not that surprising.” They moved away from the crowd, making their way to the entrance hall.

“So, I heard there is going to be a demonstration match after all the preliminary matches are done.”

“How do you know this?” Wayne asked. At the question her cousin claimed up and would not meet their eyes. If both she and Wayne muttered ‘of course’ they figured the answer.

“So, what’s it supposed to be about?” She decided to ask.

“I don’t know I saw you and tuned that other conversation out.” She quite frankly face palmed while Wayne tsked at him. “What you only come once or twice a year and Damian was hogging you.” He whined.

“I was not hogging her, in fact…”

“We didn’t even know the other was competing. It was just a chance that I saw him and then we started judging the others.”

“You are ruining her!” Jon began to pout.

“Oh, quiet you, I want to scope out more of my competition.” She pulled her cousin while Damian walked slightly behind them. That was how they spent the rest of their time watching all matches. When all bouts were over, they split and went to their respective team.

“Now, I would like to begin with a round of applause for all competitors and especially for those moving on.” A judge took the stage. “Now as a demonstration match, every school has given two names which were placed into this lottery. The two called will hold a match, no matter the gender or their block. It will not affect their placement in this competition. Now let’s see.” He reached in and pulled two slips of paper. “Mr. Damian Wayne of Gotham and Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng of Paris will be our competitors. If you are not yet dressed, please suit up.”

Soon after they faced each other.

Usually her fencing was quick, her foot work light, but against Wayne she knew she had to change tactics. She foot work still light but was grounded, she used more power than she normally would to be in the defensive letting him fall confident. But she alternated between her styles leaving him guess. The score was 7-7 the next touch wins, unknowingly this was one of two inter sex pairs to fight it out. Both of them were panting, neither ready to give up and neither willing to accept defeat. Mari knew that if she was to win against Wayne, she had to be sneaky. Halfway through her lunge she switched forms quickly thinking on her feet, becoming light, quick movements to heavier steps with quick jabs and even stronger swings with light steps. Being creative and spontaneous in her movements.

“Winner, Miss Dupain-Cheng.” A voice announced. Both of them stepped to the center of the mat and shook hands, then lifted their masks.

“You won.” He seemed slightly miffed.

“Oh, don’t look that surprised Wayne.” They walked off and she lightly bumped him. They both left for the day afterwards. She didn’t even pay attention to the whispers around her, ate and went to her room to sleep.

The next day was uneventful, they both had two bouts winning theirs, respectively. Unfortunately, they both had matches when they other was off. Jon would scramble between the blocks to cheer for each of them.

The last day they were given a reprieve before the finals. So, she was meditating along with Wayne, while Jon talked about something or another.

“Marinette!” She heard a cry coming towards her. She opened her eyes and there was was Adrien. “Iv3 been trying to find you all morning. I’m up against that guy you fought on the…” he went quiet probably finally noticing one of the two next to her. “You aren’t going to give me any hints, are you?”

“Just like I’m not giving him any on you.” Adrien looked like he was going to beg, and Wayne quirked a brow. “Thank goodness my match is before yours. Look I think of both of you as friends and I will not sell one out to the other.” She stood up. “Now if you’ll excuse me.” She went off to get ready for her match.

She was up against the same red fencer that she watched with Wayne. Kagami Tsurugi, competitor from Japan, they saluted one another and got in formation. They fought hard and she fought quick striking opportunely, but this girl fought like Wayne. Marinette knew that everyone was talking about the exhibition match, so she knows this girl saw it too. So, she decided to match her strength list of the time. The match was long, but Mari managed to hold a lead before again fighting on instinct, earning the win.

“That was a great match!” She extended her hand.

“I demand to see my opponents face.” Kagami ordered.

“Only if you show me yours.” Mari took off her helmet, but most had figured already. Kagami also removed her helmet.

“It was not good enough.” They shook Kagami turned on her heel and walked away.

“That was…” she saw Adrien come up next to her. “Amazing!!!”

“Okay, okay.” She giggled from under him. “Now go get ready.”

“Yes madam.” He rushed off. But as he did, she saw her opponent and a woman, and she was being scolded. Sure it wasn’t the nicest thing to snoop, but this one time shouldn’t hurt, right?

“Now what made you lose?” The woman asked.

“My opponent was unpredictable and her steps and swings contradicted one another.”

“That much was notable, but that does not answer the question, what made you lose?”

“I lost because I was unworthy of the blade in my hands.”

The woman was going to say something but she could not hold her tongue any longer. “First off leave her alone, second the reason she lost was not due to any technical or observable trait.”

“What are you doing, child?”

“I’m sticking up for the best female fencer here. The only reason I got the touch first was because I wasn’t thinking I was reading my opponent, until she couldn’t read me. I changed my forms so often during the match that if their was no impartial judge I would have lost.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that Tsurugi is the best technical fighter I have ever fought. That I would have certainly lost if I wasn’t spontaneous. That if I wasn’t so good at reading others, Tsurugi would have won.”

“What is your school, if I may ask?”

“The D’Argencourt School of Fencing in Paris, France, Madame.”

“Interesting, well we hope to see such a formidable opponent again.” The two turned and Kagami sent her a small wave before turning around.

“Why do I feel like I’m forgetting something… the match!”

“The Winner Mr. Damian Wayne.” The two shook hands and walked off.

She would have followed had she not spotted one of her favorite people in the states. “Dicky!” She jumped and he caught her on his back.

“Hey Mari, we saw your match earlier good job.”

“Thanks.” She then noticed Barbara, Alfred, and Bruce. She gave them all a nod and a smile.

“We would have talked to you sooner if we had known and if you and Damian didn’t disappear.”

“We would not have disappeared had you not have been so grating.” Wayne returned.

She shimmied off of Dick and stood next to him. “They aren’t too bad.” She stuck out her tongue.

“Yes, just as you are not a dolt for having missed the match.”

“How did?”

“Like I said a dolt.” He poked the center of her forehead.

“Oh har dry hard har Mr. ‘what did you say to my opponent about me’.” She bumped him slightly. “So where I’d Jon go?”

“Your Uncle Kent called him, he had to leave.” Bruce answered. “If you are worried on who is taking you we offered.”

“Okay. Let me just tell my coach about the change.” She rushed off to talk with M. D’Argencourt, because she was not about to miss thanksgiving with her Ma and Pa Kent.

~~~~~~~~~~

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[lunaverseimagine]

Escape

Prompt:  I’ve had a rough day and honestly all I want right now is a drink and someone to cuddle with from @masterofthedarkness‘ 300 follower writing challenge! Congratulations again Val, I hope you like it <3

Pairing: Sirius Black x Reader

Summary: You’re having a bad day and your crush seems to notice

Warnings: Mention of injury (not your own), mention of alcohol

Word count: 2k

A/n: So I had a complete brain flop writing this and forgot that Snape was not, in fact, teaching potions in the Marauders era. However, I’ve written the fic now and don’t have the energy to change it, so consider this an AU of sorts? (Putting in bold bc I keep getting comments about it)

Fic:

It started the moment you woke up. You couldn’t explain why but all you wanted to do was crawl back into bed, wrap the duvet round you, and hide from the world. It was as though your energy had been sucked out of you, leaving a shell that felt too heavy. And yet you were a good student, you couldn’t stand missing lessons, plus you didn’t want anyone worrying about you. Which is why, in spite of your body’s groaning protests, you heaved yourself out of your dorm and down to the Great Hall for breakfast. 

Your friends were talking animatedly around you, occasionally trying to get you to join in the conversation, but all you offered in response were weak smiles and one word replies. As a last resort your best fried Beth tried bringing up your crush, Sirius. The topic normally excited you, but today it was just a reminder that nothing would happen between you, and you became even more withdrawn. Luckily your friends understood - you wanted to be near them but weren’t up to their early morning gossip - so they stayed with you but didn’t try to get you to speak anymore.

As always, halfway through your meal the owls swooped into the hall, bringing newspapers, letters, and the occasional parcel. Mild surprise filled you at the sight of your own family’s owl Lolly settling in front of you. You stroked her head before gently untying the small, crumpled letter attached to her leg, and she nipped your finger affectionately. Your parents didn’t send you letters very often, and you were stumped as to what could be written inside. You took a deep breath. Only one way to find out.

Unfolding the parchment carefully revealed your mum’s scrawled handwriting. Odd. Normally your dad would write the letters; he found it calming to sit with his parchment and special quill after a long day as an auror, pondering his words for a while to make his messages as concise as possible. He said the process was therapeutic. But when you read the words inside it made sense, and you felt your stomach drop.

“Y/n, I’m sorry to tell you like this, but I thought you should know. Dad was injured at work. The healers say it’s treatable but he’ll be in St Mungo’s for a while. Hope school is going ok. Love Mum xx”

Swallowing your tears down, you let the letter fall from your hands and settle on the table. You forced your eyes to look up, away from the words, and you could’ve sworn you caught Sirius watching you from across the hall. As soon as you’d thought it, he’d already turned back to his friends, and you shook your head at yourself. So desperate that you were imagining interactions with your crush. Pathetic. You lay your hand in Lolly’s warm fur, focussing on how soft she felt between your fingers, trying to push the rest of your thoughts to the back of your mind. Breaking down in the middle of the Great Hall was the last thing you wanted to do.

Your lessons did nothing to help your mood. In transfiguration you were supposed to be turning rats into clocks. By the end of the class most students had done it perfectly, but your clock had a tail instead of an hour hand, and instead of ticking it squeaked with every passing second. You felt so deflated, the only thought that kept you going was getting back to your dorm at the end of the day and hiding in your bed. Maybe finding some firewhiskey too to dull the aching you felt when your thoughts drifted to your dad in a hospital bed. In fact, what you really wanted, the one thing that might bring you peace, was to have someone hold you. Not just someone. Sirius. But you knew as well as anyone that he wouldn’t be interested in the likes of you. You couldn’t event transfigure a rat, you’d never be good enough.

You had mixed feelings as you made your way to your last lesson of the day. After this you were free for the evening, but first you had to endure an hour of Snape’s teaching, and his judgement of you. Potions was your worst subject and Snape made a point of noticing every little thing you did wrong. Begrudgingly you approached the dungeons, the echo of your footsteps was all that filled the empty corridors. Most of the time Hogwarts felt familiar, but in times like these it felt cold and unforgiving, emphasising the loneliness that was building in your chest. Wait- why was no one else in the corridors? With a jolt you realised that you’d spent so long lost in your thoughts between lessons that you were late. Your steps sped into a run, and when you finally burst through the door to Snape’s dungeon, he stopped mid sentence to scowl at you. Everyone else turned towards you too, so many pairs of eyes drilling into you. You willed the stone floor to swallow you whole.

“I will not tolerate students showing up late to my class.” You gulped, trying to suppress your heavy-breathing as you awaited your punishment. “I’d have thought you of all people would want to be present for the whole lesson. Then you might finally brew a decent potion. Alas…” he trailed off, a thoughtful expression on his face. You felt your cheeks burn, your head hung low. “Detention. After class you will scrub everyone’s cauldrons clean. No magic allowed.” It was all you could do to nod. You felt so defeated as you stood at the table beside Beth that you almost didn’t notice the small explosion a few tables behind you. You whipped your head around, and- no, you definitely weren’t imagining it this time- Sirius winked at you as Snape stalked between the desks towards the commotion. He glared down at Sirius.

“Looks like Y/L/N won’t be alone in detention.” He sneered, and weaved his way to the front of the class without another word. Your jaw was slack and Beth nudged you with her elbow. 

“He did that on purpose!” She whisper-yelled. Your jaw was slack, not quite sure if you believed her.

“Well- well maybe it was an accident? Or he did it for fun?” Your excuses were weak even to your own ears. But why would he want to be in detention with you?

Seconds stretched into minutes as you willed the time away. Thankfully Beth was good at potions so she did most of the work, telling you which ingredients to chop and when to add them to the cauldron. Snape still found things to fault but you just tuned his voice out, feeling like you were watching the scene through a window instead of being in it yourself.

Eventually the class was dismissed, and Beth gave you a sympathetic smile and mouthed “good luck” as she left the room. When it was just you, Sirius and Snape left, he held a hand out to each of you.

“Wands.” Reluctantly you and Sirius both placed your wands in his hands, not quite meeting his eye as you did so. “I want the equipment spotless.” With that he left the room. Despite feeling as bad as you did, you couldn’t help your heartbeat quickening at the thought of being alone with Sirius.

Avoiding his eye, you crossed the room to the cupboard full of cleaning supplies, dirty cauldrons being the only thing that stood in the way of you and the relative peace of your dorm. You felt his gaze on the back of your head.

“What?” You kept your focus on the cupboard, rummaging through the supplies to find what you needed.

“Are you ok?” After a moment, you turned to face him, throwing a sponge which he caught effortlessly, without breaking eye-contact.

“I’ve been better.” You didn’t elaborate, instead getting to work scrubbing the grime off the cauldron closest to you. Sirius abandoned his sponge, coming to stand on the opposite side of your table, watching your determined face as you tried to get one particularly tough spot of dragon-bogey off the side of the cauldron. He found himself admiring the way you furrowed your brows as you concentrated, the way your tongue poked out slightly from between your lips. Those lips. You, on the other hand, were thinking about how it would take double the time to clean if Sirius didn’t do his half. Subconsciously you squeezed your sponge tighter until your knuckles turned white.

“I bet I could make you feel better.” You huffed. Sure you had feelings for Sirius, but he could still be infuriating.

“I bet you could.”

His eyes twinkled, surprised that you’d joined in with his flirting. “Oh yeah, how’s that?” His hopes were soon shattered as you replied.

“By helping me clean so we can leave this bloody dungeon.” Sirius was taken aback. You never normally snapped at people, and he was just trying to be nice. Godric, he’d got himself a detention just so you wouldn’t be alone.

“You know what? Fine.” He stormed back over to his sponge and started cleaning the cauldron furthest away from you. The two of you scrubbed in silence for a while, making decent progress on the cauldrons, but you felt guilt creeping in at the way you’d treated him. The guilt, the tiredness, the worry about your dad, all of it swirled through your thoughts in a perpetual loop until you couldn’t help it anymore. You let out a small sob, trying your best to be quiet, but in the otherwise silent room Sirius heard it perfectly. He abandoned his cauldron, rushing over to embrace you in a hug, rubbing soothing circles on your back. He had no clue what to say, but the silence didn’t bother you. It gave you a chance to work through your feelings. 

After a while you pulled away, wiping at your eyes with the sleeve of your robes. “Oh Merlin, I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for darling.” He rested his hand on your arm for a moment, waiting to see if you wanted to say anything else. When you just smiled, he returned the smile, before going back to cleaning the cauldrons. This time the silence that filled the room was comfortable, both of you lost in thought. Finally, arms aching, the two of you finished your last cauldrons, and Sirius went to Snape’s office to collect your wands. You sat on the floor outside the classroom waiting for him, picking at a loose thread on your robe. When Sirius returned he handed you your wand, and slid down the wall so he was sitting next to you. You rested your head on his shoulder, whispering into the corridor.

“Thank you.” 

Sirius wrapped an arm round your shoulders. “What for?”

“I know you got that detention on purpose. Just- thank you for being there.”

“Not a problem darling.” His fingers traced tender circles on your shoulder, and you felt yourself melting in to him. Being so close to him you thought you’d be nervous, but instead you felt peaceful. Safe. 

Sirius broke the silence. “What’s going on?” It was almost a whisper, as though he wasn’t sure whether he should’ve asked, but he couldn’t bear the thought of you suffering on your own. He needed you to know that he was there to listen.

“It’s just- it’s a bit of everything, y’know? I’ve had a rough day and honestly all I want right now is a drink and someone to cuddle with.” You laughed at how stupid that sounded, but Sirius took your hand, lacing your fingers through his.

“I’ve got some firewhisky in my room?” It came out as a question.

You turned so you were face-to-face.

“And the cuddles?”

“I’m sure I’ve got some of those to spare too.” He lifted your hand to his lips, placing a kiss on each knuckle in turn. You closed your eyes, savouring the sensation. Then he stood up, helping you off the floor after him, and your hands stayed connected the whole walk back to his common room.

End

A/N: I hope you liked it (regardless of the Snape/Sirius timeline error oopsies)! If you did feel free to give feedback or check out my other stuff, and also give Val (@masterofthedarkness) a follow if you haven’t already! <3

[snarkwriteswrasslin]

15.12, le tits now, trent baretta

Title: le tits now ( let it snow wrapping paper used wrongly, ftw.) 

Theme: Wrapping paper

Fandom / Character(s):Trent Baretta, AEW

Warnings: It’s flirtatious and a little comedy. Oh and definitely over the top fluffy. That’s p. much it. 

Word Count: uhhh... roughly 2k.

This is my entry to @champbucks 12 Days Of Christmas Challenge for the day.Listen.. I was shown a picture by my bb @schizoauthoress​ that I immediately took and ran with. So.. thank them for the inspo. The wrapping paper is supposed to say let it snow, but instead, it’s wrapped horribly enough that it reads le tits now. Annnyway. I went full on sexy rom com funny with this, so I really hope ya’ll like it? I had way too much fun writing it.

BTW>. i made the banner thing. No stealing.

Tagging:

@kyleoreillysknee​​​

@rampagewriting​​​

@writertoo18​​​

@thatnerdwriter​​​

@wrestlingismyguiltypleasure​​​

@chasingeverybreakingwave​​​

@waywardwrestlewritingwaif​​​

@sassymox​​​

@champbucks​​​

@hungmanhorsecarriage​​​

@wardl0w​​​

@ryantaylorgirl​​​

@dilfmoxley​​​

@hotyeehawman​​​

@gabbynorth98​​​

@bec0m​​​

@irish-newzealand-idian-dutch​​​

@daddyslittlevillain​​​

[ about page | masterlist | tag list ]

The baseball cap was being passed around Catering and for the most part, I ignored it. Only vaguely noticed it. Hell, if I’m being honest, I was only halfway listening to Brandi Rhodes as she explained the ‘rules’ that went along with Secret Santa.

Kris leaned in and elbowed me, whispering with a soft laugh, “I hope I get OC.”

“I don’t care who I get as long as it’s not Hager. Because I can’t punch him in the dick and call it a present to humanity.” I mumbled, shrugging lazily as I scrolled Twitter.

More to the point, I may or may not have been scrolling Trent’s Twitter… For the fourth time that day. As soon as Kris caught onto it, she smiled and teased quietly, “But you’d really like it if you got Trent’s name.. Right?”

“I mean.. I wouldn’t exactly complain.” I answered Kris, putting down my phone and looking up at her, laughing softly. I could feel someone staring at me but I didn’t bother turning around. It was probably Hager again, being gross.. Again.

The baseball cap made it’s way to our table. Kris went first, pulling out a slip of paper.

“Ooh.”

“What’s ooh? Did you get OC?” I asked, teasing a little. 

“No, actually.” Kris was giving me this smug little smirk. I pretty well knew she wasn’t going to tell me just yet. And it didn’t really bother me.

I eyed the baseball cap. “Well, here goes nothing. Please baby Jesus in the manger, don’t be Hager. Don’t be Hager..” I reached in and grabbed at two slips, letting the first one settle back in the hat and pulling out the second. I opened it, eyes scrolling over the writing on the page.

“Oh thank god. It’s not Hager.” I may or may not have said it a little too loud, because at the table behind us, I heard Chuck Taylor start snickering, immediately launching into an impersonation of Hager that prompted me to turn and laugh as I nodded and gave him the thumbs up.

“You have to sound dumb as a brick next time though, Chuckie.. Man’s as dumb as a brick.”

“Noted, darlin. Who did you two get, huh?” Chuck asked Kris and I. 

“We’re not supposed to tell! That ruins the whole surprise!” Kris’ eyes went wide. I laughed and shook my head. I nodded my head subtly towards Kris when she was preoccupied and Chuck smirked, leaning in to whisper, “Just shove her in a room with Orange. Pretty sure it’ll make both their Christmas real jolly.”

“Noted, Chucky boy.” 

Knowing that Chuck was one of exactly 3 people who kind of knew about my little crush on Trent, I leaned in a second later and whispered, “Any idea who got Trent’s name?”

Chuck shrugged but he waited and leaned across the aisle when everybody else was occupied or talking and muttered quietly, “If I find out, I’ll send ‘em your way.”

“Yeah, that’d be great. I got Kris, but I’ve already got her a present or two.” I explained. And honestly, after that I totally forgot about the whole thing.

XXX

“Who did you get, man?” Chuck asked the question because Trent was.. In deep thought mode and hadn’t been listening to at least the last ten minutes of the conversation currently going on around him. The question was enough to pull Trent out of his deep thought and Trent chuckled, raising his hips so that he could dig around in the pockets of his jeans to find the slip of paper he’d drawn earlier that night in Catering when they all drew names.

Chuck took the slip and looked at it, promptly chuckling.

“So you’re going for it, huh?”

“Mhm. Was there any doubt though, Chuckie?”

“Good. Good, man.” 

Orange spoke up from the back. “I got Trent.”

Trent chuckled.

“Thinkin about tradin though. Found something I wanted to get Kris.”

Chuck rubbed his chin thoughtfully and filed away what Orange revealed for later. Maybe he’d run into his friend again later, when he didn’t have Trent and Orange hanging around.

Orange eyed Chuck and asked, “Who’d you get?”

“Stunt. I’ll get the kid some guitar strings and a few picks or something. That’ll be a damn breeze.”

“Excuse me, did you say you were trading my name, Orange? I thought we were buds.” Trent pretended to pout and Orange rubbed his chin, smirking as he shrugged. He sank back against the backseat and dragged his fingers through his hair. “We are. Just thought it was time I did something.”

“Yeah, same thing with me. I get it, man.” Trent explained. And he smirked to himself, because he had more than a few ideas just how he could go about what he had in mind. 

XXX

I’d just stepped into the hotel lobby when an arm shot out from behind the christmas tree tucked away in the corner. I’d been just about to start swinging when I realized it was Chuckie.

“Dude, what the hell?”

“I have news.”

“Yeah?” I eyed him, wondering what the hell was up. When he explained that he knew who’d gotten Trent’s name and that this person might be willing to trade, especially if I had Kris’ name… I nodded, smirking and giving Chuck a high five. “Take me to this person. Let’s do this. I’m ready for things to… Finally come out.”

Chuck gave me this smirk that gave me the distinct feeling that there was more that he wasn’t saying, but instead of pressing him for it, I chose to follow along. We wound up by the vending machines and while I waited and Chuck texted whoever he was telling me about just a second or two ago, I got myself some junk food and a few sodas for the night, promptly popping the top on a wild cherry Pepsi and taking myself a seat on the floor, my back to the machine.

About a minute later, Orange Cassidy appeared, leaning lazily in the doorway, smirking as he rubbed his chin. “She’s the one, huh?” and he went quiet again, as if he were in thought. “You have Kris’ name?”

“I do, yeah. I already got her presents that I want to give her… Hey, wait… Are you looking for her name specifically?” I flashed Orange a teasing grin and he shrugged, answering with a quiet “Maybe.”

I dug around, producing the slip of paper, holding it out. Orange dug the slip of paper with Trent’s name on it out of his jacket pocket, but before he handed it over, he gave a teasing smirk. “At least you’re cool.”

“I,uh.. Thanks I think?” I dragged my hand through my hair and gave a soft laugh and as we switched names, I asked, “This stays between us… Right?”

“Definitely. See ya around. Chuck, Trent’s looking for you.” Orange nodded towards the check in desk. After another second or two of Chuck teasing me and saying that he should have known I had a thing for Trent because apparently I wasn’t as good at hiding it as I thought I was, Chuck and Orange left, leaving me sitting there to finish off my Pepsi in silence as I waited on the line at the check in desk to die down just a little.

And as I did that, I scoured a few shopping sites, trying to settle on what exactly I wanted to get Trent for Christmas, while mumbling to myself audibly, “I should just show up on the night we’re to meet up face to face in a big red bow…”

From behind me, I heard Kris giggle.

“So you did get Trent…” Kris mused, flopping down to sit beside me. I smiled and nodded. There was absolutely no way I was going to ruin the whole surprise where Orange willingly trading around til he wound up with her name was concerned, so for now, I saw no need in mentioning that I’d traded.

“It might be a little cold for your idea just now.” Kris cautioned and I gave a laugh, shrugging it off. “It was just a thought. I think I’m gonna get him a gag gift the first night.. Something that’ll make him blush.. Oooooh.. Hey.. do you feel like going to that adult store in town with me in the morning before we hit the gym?”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Massage oils. And a new neck pillow for flights. He gets the worst tension in his neck I’ve noticed..”

“Flavored massage oils?” Kris taunted, poking her tongue out at me.

I pretended to be shocked and gaped at her. “I.. Never said that… I mean, not exactly...”

“I know how your mind works, A.”  Kris teased me gently and I gulped, blushing a little over how well she managed to call me out just now. “That is an idea to file away for the future… I mean.. If this all doesn’t backfire in my face.” I pulled myself off of the floor that I’d been sitting inappropriately on, and I reached out, grabbing for the heels I’d pretty much abandoned upon entering the building.

“Still think those new stilettos were good for tonight?” Kris was teasing me again and I laughed it off as I debated on whether I actually wanted to put them back on and have my feet screaming at me in sheer agony. 

I quickly decided that no, no I did not feel up to that tonight.

“They made my ass in these jeans look amazing, so yeah. Yeah I do, Kris.” I taunted, making her laugh and shake her head as she remarked, “Opposites attract is definitely true in your case, huh?”

“God, yes.. And speaking of opposites, there he is now..”

I stared like a helpless idiot as Trent walked past with Orange and Chuck flanking him. Chuck managed to look back and catch me staring, holding up two fingers. To anybody else that would’ve been a peace sign. But to me, that was a reminder.

I had two nights until I was face to face with Trent, revealing myself and probably, everything I felt for the guy.

XXX

“You’re actually giving her the present.. Wrapped like that.” Chuck was trying his best to hold in laughter. Almost failing miserably, but he was trying. Trent eyed the box he held in his hand and smirked at Chuck, nodding. “I am, why? What the hell is wrong with my mom’s leftover wrapping paper, huh?”

,, for starters you wrapped it so bad it reads le tits now, but hey.. You do you, buddy.” Chuck could’ve said it, but what Trent was doing was a huge deal. It was something Trent probably should’ve done a while ago, as opposed to just keeping his feelings to himself and going above and beyond to kind of keep his distance from the girl in question unless they had to interact.

Because yeah.. While all the quiet staring and the pining going on was cute as hell between the two, it was getting to a point where the sexual tension was so heavy that literally everyone around them was suffering for it also.

“Tonights night one, man.”

“That it is, Chuck.” Trent took a long and deep breath, almost as if he were centering himself. He waited until no one was looking and made his way into Catering, over to the decorated tree that sat on top of a table in the back already loaded down with presents.

And when he knew the coast was clear, he stuck the box on the nearest pile and quickly, he walked out of catering.

XXX

Everybody was already crowded into Catering when Kris and I made our way into the room and found a seat close to the door. I let the stilettos on my feet hit the floor with a soft thud and tugged my hair free. The blazer I’d been wearing that evening to conduct my two backstage interviews was sitting on the tabletop in front of me, right next to my travel bag.

Britt named herself Santa for the night, so she was calling out names. I was talking quietly to Kris, only half listening for my own to be called.

We were trying to anticipate who we might have gotten. I was trying to resist the urge to tell Kris that Orange had gotten her name. I was more than a little excited for her because just the sheer joy that she had over having managed to get his name was enough to make me truly happy.

I wasn’t terribly worried about who might have gotten my name, because the important thing here was that I’d taken steps to make sure I wound up with Trent’s name. That I was finally doing something I should’ve done months ago.

Britt must have called my name more than a time or two, because I looked up to find Brandi standing over me, trying not to double over laughing as she held out a hastily wrapped gift.

The wrapping paper caught my eye immediately. Whoever wrapped it had chosen wrapping paper that was pretty.. Shiny and sparkly, with silver snowflakes and pale blue lettering. The bow tied on the package somehow did not fit the packaging itself, but honestly, I just couldn’t stop staring at the way Let It Snow was turned into Le TitS now because of the way my Secret Santa had hastily wrapped the box.

I swallowed hard, getting a bit of a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach because at this point, I was at least 90 percent sure that the wrapping paper itself was a clue of some sort.

“Le TitS now, huh? Hager, are you the secret santa? Because if you’re behind this, man.. I can personally assure you, you dumb fucking Okie, you are.. Not even on the bottom of the very short list of men I’d willingly show my tits to.” I mumbled aloud.

“Well? Are you at least going to open it?” Kris asked from beside me. Brandi was watching expectantly too and under the pressure, I tore into the gift after neatly removing the way the bow had been tied so pretty and so carefully.

I wanted to keep that.

“Ooh, you’re gonna keep the bow, right?”

“It’s beautiful, Fuck yes.” I answered Kris as I gaped at the black velvet box in my hand. The other hand raised, catching in dark waves and tousling as my mouth opened and closed. “This is.. Okay.. Let me breathe here, I…”

I was at a complete and total loss for words suddenly.

And when I opened the box and spied the silver necklace with a shooting star pendant that I’d probably made 3 trips past a certain jewelry store in the mall in town just to stare at it…

Jake Hager spoke up from behind me.

“If you want, darlin. I can fasten it.”

“Ew, no! Fuck right off, you dumb Okie. Oh and if you’re the one who got me this, thanks but… This is as far as it goes, Hager. You’re not, nor will you ever be… Seeing any tits.”

Jake gave me a blank look and shrugged, wandering off. Kris was trying not to die laughing from beside me, as were Chuck,Trent and Orange from the table across from ours. I turned to Kris and held it out carefully. “Will you put it on? You’re probably the one other person I trust to do it without trying to cop a feel at this rate.”

“Except the guy you wish would cop a feel.” Kris muttered, making me gaze briefly at Trent, watching as he opened the tiffany blue and white wrapped gift box that contained what I’d gotten him. 

When I saw the way his eyes lit up, I let out a ragged breath. Somehow, I got the feeling that he’d enjoy the controller. And the neck massager pillow that he was putting around his neck already, a goofy grin playing at his lips as he sank back against the booth and muttered aloud, “Nobody talk to me. I’m takin a nap.” 

I couldn’t resist saying something.

“It’s.. heated, I think? There’s a little button on the back to turn on the heat. I..”

,, you absolute goof, what the fuck are you doing, A?”  my mind shrieked as soon as the words left my mouth. I covered quickly, the words tumbling out of my mouth almost breathlessly as Trent’s eyes fluttered open and locked on me intently. When he licked his lips while still staring, I had to cross my legs under the table.

“It does, huh? Awesome.” Trent flashed me that cocky grin and I wanted to melt. If I thought forming words was a bit of a struggle before, compared to now, it seemed so much easier.

“Yeah.. I uhh.. I have a pink one.” I finally managed to stammer, going back to my own conversation and gushing over the necklace sitting around my neck out loud and excitedly with Kris.

I mean, it wasn’t a lie. I did have a pink one exactly like it. And a red one. And I’d actually said a lot more than usual to him tonight. Without stammering or saying the wrong thing entirely like I tended to on occasion.

XXX

“Did you see her face light up?” Trent was still on cloud 9 after watching her open the secret Santa gift earlier in the night. Now he was texting his mother to see if the gift he’d gotten her for the last night of the gift exchange had shown up yet.

Chuck spoke up, chuckling. “Was funny as hell when she told Hager he didn’t stand a chance in hell, man. And then when he tried to sneak up on her under that mistletoe that Brandi put up earlier, her threatening him with her shoe.”

Trent chuckled, even though his jaw set firmly and he grumbled. Right after Jake had tried pulling that stunt, he’d gotten the guy off to himself and quickly told him if he caught him attempting it again, he was going to take him outside.

Lucky for Jake, Chuck and Orange managed to get between the two. Because Trent was personally beyond fed up of the disgusting way that Jake behaved around her all the time. She shouldn’t have to threaten the guy with mase or a knee to the nuts to make him leave her alone.

No woman should.

“You know.. You could’ve done it, man. You could’ve snuck up on her.” Chuck teased his best friend as he glanced over at him.

“I’m saving that for tomorrow, Chuck. I have a plan, remember?”

“Says the man who wrapped the gift so that it read ‘le tits now’.” Orange chuckled from the backseat.

Chuck and Orange burst into laughter and Trent grumbled, smiling and laughing as he flipped them both off. “Yeah, well neither of you saw to point it out either.”

“I assumed you could read the damn packaging? My bad, Trenty.”

“I was just too caught up in getting to the arena and giving it to her, man. You know I’ve been waiting to do this a while!” Trent groaned as he let his head fall back against the headrest behind it and laughed.

“Maybe you should just let Sue wrap it this time, huh?”

“That’s not entirely a bad idea.” Trent chuckled as he said it, texting his mom to ask if she’d mind wrapping the present for him when it finally got to her place the next morning.

“She knew it said that too?” he grumbled aloud a few seconds later when his eyes scanned his mother’s response text.

[ mama bear ] I wanted to tell you before you left but you were so excited…

[ mama bear ] Did she like the necklace, son? I thought it was beautiful…

[ trentylocks] She loved it, mom. Was excited, doing that cute thing where she talks loud and giggles a lot, talking with her hands. Just wish me luck for tomorrow, please? I’m gonna need it.

[ trentylocks ] She loved the bow you tied just as much, by the way. ;) She kept it. When I saw her leaving the arena, she had it tied around her wrist.

[ trentylocks] Did you still want me to invite her over for dinner?

[ mama bear] You talk so much about her, of course! I have to meet her. Make sure she’s sweet enough for my baby.

[ mama bear ] I see you, trying to get her brownie points. But I’m glad she liked the bow. Says a lot about her that she kept it.

Trent slipped his phone back into his pocket and started to nod off, awakening when Chuck cleared his throat and asked aloud, “So what did you get her for tomorrow night?”

Trent smirked. “For the actual present, I got her a photo album. Because remember that time we were in the airport and her luggage burst? And the pictures inside it went everywhere?”

“Awww, for a cranky jerk, you can be sweet sometimes, Trenty.”

“Look who’s talkin, bigger cranky jerk. I also got her an actual warm blanket. Because she’s always walking around with that fuzzy pink thin one draped around her like she’s cold as hell. And roses. But I’m not givin’ her those until we’re face to face.”

“You giant sap.” Chuck teased his best friend as he grinned. “If it helps, man.. I don’t think you have to worry about tomorrow night going south. I think things might surprise you with how they turn out.”

“Oh you do, huh? What are you now, a psychic, Taylor?” Trent asked, giving Chuck a raised brow, wondering why he got the feeling that Chuck definitely knew more than he was saying.

“No, I just know how to read that particular girl, Beretta.” Chuck smirked, not even having to look over to know that Trent was giving him a dirty look at the reminder that Chuck had become friends with her first.

XXX

[ dad] Well, how did the secret santa go, sweetpea?

[dad] did this Trent like his present?

I smiled as I read the texts from my dad while standing in line to check into the hotel. After a second or two, I answered.

[sweetpea] He did! I’m glad I took your advice and didn’t try to go overboard. Now it leaves the romantic part for tomorrow night. Thank you, sir!

[sweet pea] remember that necklace I told you I was thinking about getting myself? The one like mama’s? I don’t have to… apparently, my secret santa knew somehow that I liked it and got it for me?

[ sweet pea ] But the way they wrapped the present, oh my god. I nearly died laughing.

[dad] you should call around. Find a restaurant. Your mama.. She liked cozy candlelit dinners. Just a thought.

[ dad] they did, huh? That’s good! Be careful driving to the hotel, sweetpea. The news said snow for your area tonight.

[sweetpea] Night, daddy. Don’t stay up all night watching the news or Blue Bloods. Go to bed, sir.

I put my phone away and at the tap on my shoulder, I turned. I found myself body to body with Jake Hager. I raised a brow and bit my lip, stepping away from him as quickly as possible. “What’s up?”

His eyes settled on the necklace and he chuckled. “Do you really think I’d have bought you that cheap lookin crap if I were the guy, princess?”

I glared and started to turn around, rolling my eyes. But Jake produced roses from behind his back. I eyed the roses and him and laughed as I shook my head no. “Life pro tip, Jacob.. Save the flowers for your actual girlfriend? Stop wasting your time with me. I have an ideal man and you sir, are not it. And you never will be.” 

“Yeah? How about given a guy a chance?”

A throat cleared from behind us and a look around Jake revealed Trent standing there, muscular arms folded over his chest as he smirked at Jake. 

“Do you have a fucking hearing problem, Hager? Or are you really that damn dense? She’s told you a thousand times to get bent by now.” 

Somehow, in the midst of all this, I wound up right between Trent and Jake.. with my back pressed right against Trent’s chest. I gulped and tried like hell to hold myself together, but it just wasn’t working.

“Hey, whoa.. Can we just not, boys? Please?” I knew Jake would ignore me because he always does, so when I asked the question, I chose to turn.. Body to body with Trent.. And lock eyes with him, biting my lip and giving him my best pleading look.

Because holy hell, is it awkward when people make a scene like this.

Trent was glaring, tensing up all over. But at my question, he seemed to un-tense just slightly, tearing his eyes off of Jake to gaze down at me. “Yeah. He’s not fucking worth it anyway.”

“Exactly, Trent.” I muttered quietly, swallowing hard because I was lost in deep brown eyes and I knew it. And I couldn’t pull myself away from him, either. 

The clerk’s throat cleared and gingerly, I managed to finally break gazes with him and stepped back, pouting before I turned to face the front and check into the hotel.

XXX

“You ready for this, man? Tonight is the big night.” 

Trent chuckled, nodding. “It is. My mom came by earlier and dropped this off. Already wrapped.”

“You got the roses right, buddy?”

“Mhm. Over there.” Trent nodded to a dozen long stemmed red roses. Almost the same vibrant red as the lipstick she always wore.

He smoothed a hand over his hair and eyed the stupid jacket he was wearing. “This is a bit much.”

“It kind of is, man. A isn’t.. She’s not into male model types, man. Just dress comfortable.” Chuck shrugged as he chuckled. Trent took off the jacket and tossed it lazily at the second bed in the room and after he grabbed his key, he started out the door.

“I won’t wait up for you, man.”

Trent paused and gave him a laugh and shrug as he stepped out and into the hallway.

On the surface, he seemed calm, but on the inside?

An actual nervous wreck.

He knew she liked the presents she’d unwrapped in Catering earlier in the night, she hadn’t been without the blanket that he’d gotten her to unwrap there for the duration of the show. And as soon as she’d opened the photo album, she got the softest smile on her face, trailing her fingers over the cover.

She’d looked around the room and then gone back to whispering to Kris. But he’d managed to over hear her say that she knew it wasn’t Hager, because Hager had the emotional depth of a teaspoon and never would’ve thought to get her something as thoughtful as an actual photo album as opposed to her just tossing her photos in her luggage every time she went on the road.

Trent took a deep breath and made himself focus as he stood waiting on the elevator, goofy grin on his face.

He was meeting her at the town square because there was this huge christmas tree there and he liked the way her eyes lit up every time she saw it. It felt like time dragged at a hellish and slow pace from the time he was out in the parking lot, waiting on the Uber he’d called, to the time that Uber was pulling to a stop at the little park.

When he got out, he caught sight of her, approaching from the opposite direction. So he hung back, watched her walking past as he worked on getting himself reasonably pulled together and mentally prepared to reveal himself to her.

He let her settle in on the bench closest to the lit up tree and after a few deep breaths, he stepped out, roses in hand, clearing his throat.

XXX

[galaxybae] well? Is anyone there?

[galaxybae] are you sure this dress I borrowed was a good idea for tonight, A? I feel so damn naked right now…

[galaxybae] answer your texts woman.

[brunettebarbiedoll] not yet.. What about on your end? See anybody familiar?

I typed in the response to her first text and briefly, because i felt the sensation of being stared at intently, almost to the point of literal eye-fucking… It had my thighs clenching. It had me sitting up, alert and looking around, then pouting when I didn’t see anyone right away. I wandered over to the lit Christmas tree, a soft smile coming as the warm twinkle of soft white lights shined on me.

I felt good about tonight. Tonight’s secret santa gifts had pretty much blown my fear and theory that Hager was my secret Santa out of the water because Hager lacked the emotional depth and the practicality to pick out the gifts that my secret Santa had chosen for me.

At the thought, I snuggled tighter into my jacket, wishing I’d lugged the oversized plush winter white throw blanket along with me for both warmth and the comfort it made me feel.. As if I were being wrapped in a warm embrace whenever I had it wrapped around me.

And it didn’t go amiss by me that it smelled familiar somehow. Like a cologne I’d smelled somewhere, on more than one occasion.

And that thought further had me giving a soft and sappy smile over the thought of the gift. My fingers drifted upward, lingering at the shooting star charm that hung from the necklace that had been my gift the night before.

And I realized that I still hadn’t answered Kris’ two other texts. I sighed and looked around again, still seeing nobody around and yet, still feeling as if I were being visually fucked somehow.

Not in bad way though. Just… hungry, maybe.

,, it’s just the frenzy you’ve got yourself worked up into.”

I eyed my watch. I hoped my secret Santa showed themselves soon, because I still had to get through revealing myself to Trent.

And boy, was I ever a bundle of raw nerves over it.

[brunettebarbiedoll] Still nobody. I guess my secret Santa is gonna remain a secret? Either way, I’m kind of starting to get really nervous because I still have to wait on Trent to get here and reveal myself.

[galaxybae] Don’t you dare leave!

[galaxybae] Oh.. Oh.. i.. I think my person is here. Gotta go, bye!

I smiled to myself and put the phone away just as I felt my eyes being covered with something and then felt myself being turned around, what felt like flower stems being placed into my hands. I caught a whiff of the same cologne that I’d smelled on the blanket earlier and I swallowed hard. “Hey, no fair. You’re supposed to reveal yourself, sir.” I managed to get the words out as my body brushed against hardened muscle when I was pulled closer. So much closer. And arms wrapped around my waist.

I gaped as the fabric that had been placed over my eyes was lowered and it gave way to me standing body to body with Trent. Who was staring down at me intently, this soft smirk playing at his lips.

“Trent?”

“Mhm.” he chuckled quietly, a hand moving from it’s resting spot across my lower back to drag through thick dark hair. 

I couldn’t help the fit of giggles that came. He eyed me with a brow raised and when my giggle fit finally died away, I explained with a teasing smile, “I was supposed to be meeting you here to reveal myself to you.”

His eyes widened and he chuckled. “Vanilla massage oil, hm?”

“In my defense, you always seem tense?” I bit my lip as I laughed softly. I was melting into him, awestruck at the realization that my forehead hit almost perfectly at the center of his chest. He used his grip on my body to pull me up a little and I wrapped my legs around his waist, making him laugh as our mouths brushed against each other clumsily.

“Was it an offer though, hmm?” Trent questioned, licking his lips as his eyes locked on my mouth.

“Possibly. I mean, I am pretty good at massages...” I teased, daring to trace the outline of his mouth with my tongue. Which only had him tangling a hand in the hair at the back of my hair and pulling my mouth against his completely. 

The kiss broke and we pulled apart. I climbed out of his arms and leaned against him, raising to tiptoe to press another kiss against his lips as I muttered, “Are you hungry, Trent?”

“I could eat, yeah.. Why?”

“Well, there’s this cozy little place about a block away, I.. Kind of thought that maybe if things went okay when I had to meet you here, I’d ask you if you wanted to go with me?”

He grinned and slipped an arm around me, pulling me into his side as we made our way down the sidewalk.

“Did you wrap the first present the way you did intentionally?”

“No, I didn’t actually.” Trent answered, giving a sheepish laugh. “Did you think I did?”

“Well, when I thought was Hager, I didn’t think it was a stretch to imagine that yeah, he’d purposely done it. For the record.. If you wanted to see my tits, all you had to do was ask.” I teased, not stopping to think how suggestive what I said actually sounded until it left my mouth and I saw Trent’s jaw drop, and a flash of hunger flash in his eyes as he leaned down and muttered against the shell of my ear, “Ya know… I might actually take you up on that, doll.”

[homeformyheart]

the perfect gift (part 1) - noah harris x mc (mtfl)

author’s note: the idea of noah of hearing how proud his dad is of him and how important emma is to him just came to me randomly in the car and it’s the fastest fic i’ve ever written (~5 hours)! this is considered a sequel/follow-up to first choice and takes place about 3 years after. noah’s roommate “sean” is “sean gayle” from endless summer 😊.

copyright: all characters owned by pixelberry studios. series/pairing: my two first loves - noah harris x mc (emma price) rating/warnings: 18+; swearing, descriptions of drinking, smoking; smut will come in part 2 word count: 3k based on/prompt: gift for day 14 of choices september challenge summary: emma spent months carefully planning noah’s 21st birthday gift and drove up to surprise him at hartfeld for the weekend, but things go south after a big fight makes them both reevaluate their relationship after three years together. 

read first choice to learn how they got together in the first place.

the perfect gift (part 1)

emma locked the car, put the keys in the ignition, and turned on the radio. she rested her forehead on her hands that were gripping the steering wheel as the fight replayed itself in her mind and she heard noah’s hurtful words on repeat. she closed her eyes and let the tears fall, her body shaking with sobs.

emma walked down the hallway toward her boyfriend’s apartment with a spring in her step, a large package hidden in a shopping bag swinging with each step. it was the last suite on the floor but even halfway there she could hear loud music blasting from inside. she wasn’t aware they were having a party, but she figured she would still be able to surprise noah for his birthday. she spent months putting together the perfect gift for him and was excited to give it to him. she felt a slight twinge of guilt for lying to him about not being able to visit this weekend and blowing off his texts and phone calls today but only so she didn’t accidentally let her plans slip.

she knocked on the door and one of his roommates greeted her before pointing toward the balcony. the apartment was packed and already reeked of both beer and fruit juice, half full cans and empty plastic cups littered almost every available surface, including the beer pong table set up near the balcony. she used the key noah gave her at the beginning of the year to drop off the shopping bag with his present in his room, locking the door behind her before going to find him. he was standing over the railing with his back to the balcony door, but emma easily recognized the leather jacket and bounced excitedly over.

she stood on her tiptoes to put her hands over his eyes and said excitedly, “guess who?”

instead of guessing, noah pulled her hands down and turned around. “you didn’t tell me you were coming. i thought you were busy today,” he said, his voice neutral and his face stoic.

“i wanted to surprise you for your birthday! come on, don’t look too happy to see me,” she teased, nudging him playfully.

noah didn’t even smile. the excitement emma felt up to that point quickly changed to a combination of dread and worry. “what’s wrong, babe?”

“i thought you had better things to do than spend your weekends driving 8 hours roundtrip to spend a day and a half here? you shouldn’t have come,” he said, looking away and chugging down the rest of the beer in his hand.

emma finally noticed how dilated his pupils were and the smell of beer and whiskey radiating off him. noah never got this drunk, especially before they had a chance to talk on the phone to say goodnight. she couldn’t help but wonder if he got drunk because she blew him off today after telling him she wouldn’t be visiting.

“i thought you’d be happy to see me. you know the best parts of my week are when i get to spend time with you. i was hoping to surprise you for birthday and I have the most amazing gift for you!” emma said carefully, trying to keep the mood light.

noah didn’t respond right away, taking out a cigarette and lighting it first. emma frowned; noah knew she hated it when he smoked and he had promised her he wouldn’t make a habit of it and that he wouldn’t smoke in front of her. something was definitely wrong.

she crossed her arms over her chest. “what is going on with you?”

“you want to know what’s going on? here’s what’s going on – you’re wasting your time with me. there is no point in being in a long-distance relationship where we see each other once or twice a month if we’re lucky and we’re both pursuing potential careers that will make it so we see each other even less,” noah spat out angrily, turning away to take a long drag of his cigarette before continuing.

“what kind of loser spends their time in college driving 400 miles roundtrip to spend time with a deadbeat? you should be making friends and having the time of your life, maybe even dating someone who can better provide for you. you deserve so much more. why are you wasting your time with me?” noah turned back toward her, his eyes blazing with anger.

tears started to fill emma’s eyes. she had no idea what triggered noah’s outburst but knew she couldn’t have a rational conversation with him while he was drunk. “i’ve never felt like i was wasting my time with you. every moment we have makes me so happy i feel like i must be dreaming! i don’t know what is really bothering you that you’re lashing out like this, noah, but you’re drunk. let’s go to bed and talk tomorrow when you’re sober.”

“no, emma,” noah took a final drag and threw the cigarette on the floor, putting it out with his foot. “i don’t think we should talk tomorrow. i think you should go back. i’m sorry you wasted your time driving down here.”

emma watched the sparks disappear from the cigarette before responding, her voice barely louder than the noise from the party inside, “you don’t mean that. if i leave, you’re telling me our three-year relationship is over.”

she gave him a longing look, willing him to apologize and take back what he said. he looked back at her and emma saw only a glimpse of the sweet and sensitive noah she fell in love with three years ago. the noah in front of her looked at her with a broken and haunted look in his eyes. a split-second later, his gaze hardened and he shrugged.

emma had made her way out of the apartment as fast as she could and ran to her car. she was still sobbing uncontrollably 20 minutes later but at least her body wasn’t shaking as much. she was wracking her brain, thinking back to the last few months to see if she could figure out where and when things went wrong. they did feel a bit more distant as football, midterms, and applying for internships kept them preoccupied but emma didn’t think it was a problem; they were still able to see each other at least once a month and they talked daily. they had similar fights and conversations during freshman and sophomore year, when insecurities about making a long-distance relationship work and trusting each other were more prominent. but after making it through all that, emma thought they were stronger than ever.

she grabbed tissues from her glovebox and cleaned herself up. she leaned back against the seat, closed her eyes, and tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down. everything he had said felt like a dagger to her heart but what hurt the most was the way he exploded at her. he was always really good about bringing up his insecurities about their long-distance relationship and his concern for the toll it might take on her in a productive way. they agreed they wouldn’t push each other away but talk through any problems calmly like adults. and he did the exact opposite.

it was already late when she arrived at hartfeld and it would be really late by the time she got back to her own dorm. but going back to noah’s apartment was out of the question. she debated whether she should stay in the parking lot a little longer on the off chance that noah would come to his senses and come after her, however small a chance that was. she was rational enough to know that it likely wouldn’t happen given how drunk he was, and the later she stayed, the more tired and emotional she would be during the drive back, and she didn’t want to risk getting into an accident. she took one last look at the lack of new messages on her phone, lingering on the photo of her and noah at the beach as her wallpaper before turning the key in the ignition.

* * * * * noah groaned at the bright sunlight streaming through the window of his room. his head was pounding and his body felt like he had lost a boxing match outdoors in 90-degree heat. he struggled to open his eyes and immediately regretted it when the sunlight nearly blinded him and seemed to amplify his headache. he couldn’t remember the last time he had been this hungover. certainly not since before he and emma became serious. oh god, emma.

he bolted upright in his bed, wincing at the sharp pain in his head and tried to rapidly blink away the dizziness he felt. he chugged the pedialyte and took the ibuprofen that was on his bedside table and forced himself to look around the room for his phone. the battery was dead. just great, he thought, plugging it quickly into the charger. he slowly stood up, trying to keep his nausea at bay, and grabbed his shower caddy. it surprised him how handy it was, especially considering he shared a bathroom with two other people, and couldn’t help but smile as he remembered how cute emma was when she was explaining why it was important for him to have his own caddy while they were picking out things he’d need for the apartment at uskea before school started.

he could feel the ibuprofen working to alleviate some of his headache, but knew he’d need to eat something too. noah stood still under the shower, letting the hot water run over his hair and face and down his body for a few minutes, trying to collect his thoughts and remember the events from last night. bits and pieces kept coming back to him while he got dressed and made himself a sandwich but he still wasn’t sure if what he remembered had actually happened or if he was replaying the “what if” scenarios about why it felt like emma was distancing herself from him. these scenarios had been going through his mind before the party and was the primary driver for how drunk he got.

“look who’s finally up after his crazy birthday rager! happy birthday! how you feelin’ man?” his roommate and football teammate sean came over and gave him a hard slap on the back.

noah flinched and swallowed before answering, “like crap. i’d forgotten what it felt like to be hungover.”

“i’m sure emma’ll take good care of you. is she up yet?” sean asked, turning away to set up the coffee maker.

noah felt his stomach drop. “emma? she told me she couldn’t come this weekend, too much stuff to do,” he replied apprehensively. please let it just have been a dream, he begged inwardly as he held his breath waiting for sean’s reaction.

sean gave him a quizzical look. “she was definitely here last night. i let her into the apartment and told her where you were hanging out on the balcony. she even had a present with her. maybe she stepped out before you woke up?”

that meant the nightmare fight he had with emma wasn’t a dream. shit. he heard her voice in his head say, “if i leave, you’re telling me our three-year relationship is over” and everything came flooding back to him. “no, no, no, crap! i think i fucked up last night. i need to call her.”

noah closed the door to his room behind him and picked up his phone. he saw that he had a single, new text message from emma timestamped at 1pm, two hours before he got up:

[emma: happy birthday]

his thumb hovered over the picture of her smiling face he used as her contact photo in his phone. maybe i’m misremembering, maybe if i explain i was so drunk i don’t even remember what i said she’ll forgive me. he dialed her number and held his breath as he waited for the familiar dialing sound to start, but it didn’t. instead he heard her automated voicemail and hung up. he tried to send a text but it was clear that she had blocked his number. he put his head in his hands and let the tears he felt prickling behind his eyes fall silently. what have i done?

after a few minutes, he wiped his tears and looked around his room. he saw what was probably the present sean mentioned and picked it up off the floor. the box was at least as wide as his laptop and maybe just as heavy, wrapped perfectly in bright pink, sparkly wrapping paper. noah chuckled softly; emma always did like trying to embarrass him. he unwrapped the paper carefully, folding it neatly and tucking it away in his bedside drawer before opening the box to reveal a beautiful leather-bound scrapbook, a card, and an envelope. he picked up the envelope first, since it seemed out of place, carefully cutting through the seal on the envelope and unfolding the letter inside.

[dear emma,

i’m sorry for the delay in writing back to you. thank you for the beautiful scrapbook you sent. i was so overwhelmed and grateful to you for reaching out and ashamed that i wasn’t enough of a man to write to my own son. not a day goes by that i don’t think about him and his siblings and it’s wonderful to see and hear about how well he’s doing. it’s clear that you care very much for him and that he must be someone special to you.

please tell him how proud i am of the man he’s become. despite having a deadbeat father who can’t hold down a job and needs alcohol to numb the pain, noah has really done well for himself. i am so proud of him – seeing those photos of him playing football in high school and college and those of the two of you together made me really happy.

one day i hope to be worthy to be in his life again, but until then, thank you again for bringing joy back into my life and showing me what a wonderful man my son has become. if it isn’t too much trouble, i have also included a photo that i would like you to give to him – it’s one of my favorite memories of him as a kid. i hope he treats you as the treasure you are and keeps you close. it’s special and rare to have that kind of love and support in your life and you both mustn’t take it for granted.

i move frequently due to work so please do not send anything else to this address.]

it was signed with his father’s signature. noah blinked rapidly a few times to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. even though the letter was addressed to emma, noah understood the message was intended for him. he pulled the photo out of the envelope and his eyes widened with recognition. his dad had taken him to a boxing gym and taught him how to wrap his hands and the photo was of them sparring after. given how harsh his dad was when he was a kid, noah was surprised that he would hold on to a photo like this. he opened the card next.

[hiiii babe~

noah traced her familiar handwriting with his finger. emma drew little hearts instead of the dot on top of the letter “i��; it was a habit she kept since high school for when she wrote him letters and notes after he told her once that he thought it was cute.

i can’t believe you’re turning 21! you’re practically an old man 😉 kidding! not a day goes by where i don’t miss your sexy, brooding face and your cute butt. your personality too, I guess ;P. i hope you get everything you wanted today because you deserve all of it and more! you’re the best boyfriend a girl could ask for (and even after 3 years together, i still can’t believe i’m your first choice) and i can’t wait to celebrate with you!

i love you with all my heart <3

your first choice, emma

p.s. there are two parts to your present! the first is a scrapbook with photos of my favorite memories of us and the second is a letter i got from your dad (please don’t be mad). it took me a while to track him down, but i did and sent a similar scrapbook to him too. i wasn’t sure if he would respond to me, but he did and i wanted to share what he said with you.

p.p.s. i love you!]

noah froze and re-read emma’s card. she sent her dad a scrapbook? to say he was stunned was an understatement. he wasn’t sure how to feel about hearing from his dad for the first time in over a decade but he definitely wouldn’t have been mad at emma. in fact, he felt the opposite – overwhelmed with love for the amazing woman whose kind and honest heart continued to surprise him even after three years together.

he opened the scrapbook and found page after page of pictures emma had taken throughout their relationship, with handwritten captions and little sticker notes all over the pages. he felt a lump form in his throat and his eyes sting as he looked at the photos of her smiling face and the selfies they had taken on various dates. how could he have pushed her away like that last night? he quickly repacked the box and put it inside his backpack, which always had a weekends’ worth of essentials. he grabbed his keys, wallet, and phone before heading out to where his motorcycle was parked. he still felt like crap but it didn’t matter, he needed to apologize in person and prove to emma that she was still his first choice. he only hoped she would be able to forgive him.

* * * * * mentions: @khoicesbyk​; @nyastarlight​; @chetachisblog;  @robintora; @shows-simp-card; @brycesgirl;

[marilearnsmandarin]

Honest September report + plans for October

Keep reading for full report + October tracker.

This month I’ve been 很忙, especially for the past two weeks, and we can see that reflected on my tracker. I haven’t been writing much, but at least I got some practice on weekends. I’m trying to think of ways to practice some more without feeling overwhelmed, but if I can keep practicing at least once a week I guess that’s not too bad...

I still like the Rosetta Stone lessons but, as I mentioned before, starting a lesson on that app feels like a bigger commitment than HelloChinese or Duolingo so I’ve skipped several days, especially on these busy weeks.

August me was very optimistic about my reading speed.

I’ve been reading Welcome to Beijing (still). I usually only manage to read 2 or 3 pages during breakfast, and until very recently I had to look up every other word on Pleco; my character recognition is that bad! A couple weeks ago I started using Anki, and either that helped or I got past a critical point in exposure to the characters but a few days ago I read two whole pages without having to open Pleco 🎉 (each page has like 5 sentences on average though), and now reading just feels less exhausting overall. I have 10 pages to go and intend to finish it tomorrow (and write a post about it for you guys). 去吧！

Also, as my followers probably know, I’ve been participating on the 30 Day Record Yourself Challenge. I haven’t got halfway through yet, my most recent recording was “day” 14, but it’s been great practice and I really really recommend it. I also marked two days when I didn’t record something for the challenge but I recorded something on Busuu - I didn’t find the lessons there helpful, but they put up weekly prompts for speaking or writing and native speakers can comment on what you post.

I’ve also been doing at the very least a review lesson on HelloChinese every evening and listening to podcasts every morning while I get ready for work. Those habits were well established before September, so I’m no longer tracking them. However, I’m still looking for a podcast for Chinese learners that I like as much as I liked Coffee Break Chinese. I think I’ve tried every single one I could find on Spotify, and I kept listening to ChinesePod and occasionally to The Chinese Sayings Podcast, but I still haven’t found what I’m looking for...

I expect things to be similar in October, and then to have more time in November and December. I will continue doing the 30DRYC recordings and when I’m through with those I’ll choose another speaking challenge to join or create my own because I’m really enjoying doing that. This coming week I will start reading My Summer in China, which has more text per page than 北京欢迎你, but I expect it to be more motivating as it will have a story. It’s written in the form of a diary, so hopefully it will motivate me to write more on my Chinese journal as well.

Hope you all have a great October!

[kuiinncedes]

guess who keeps writing random quinntina drabbles in completely unrelated aus and refusing to expand on any of them :D so yeah i wrote a shadowhunters!quinn and tina thing (that i actually might expand on bc i was working on a klaine shadowhunter thing and it’s not super different or anything ANYWAY) idk if i need to explain shit to make it easier to understand or anything but here’s some explanations :P

shadowhunters = demon killers born with angel blood, they draw runes on themselves to do things like heal or give extra agility, strength, etc. also shadowhunters usually have compound last names it’s a whole thing but i kept their last names anyway it doesn’t matter lmao

iratze = healing rune, when a shadowhunter uses one it heals them :P

parabatai = platonically bonded shadowhunters basically, and runes given to someone by their parabatai are sometimes more powerful

Behemoth demons = gross slimy demons with like a giant mouth or something and they’re really hard to kill bc they reform and stuff lol

witchlight = a stone that shadowhunters can use that lights up when they hold it

and i think that’s it, if anyone reads this lol and is confused about any of the shadowhunter aspects feel free to ask me about it :P

also kinda took some things from this prompt list that came across my dash - “you’re bleeding” and “There’s people chasing us and I pulled you into the alley with me and wow your close.” idk it doesn’t really stick to that tho

oh but yeah that means there’s description of blood and stuff not a lot at all and it’s not graphic or anything but yeah just fyi :3 

ANYWAY YEAH I KINDA REALLY LIKE THIS LDFJSLFJ maybe one day i’ll stop adding this random stuff at the beginning of the ficlets i post lol

---

“You’re bleeding.”

“News flash, Fabray, we’re Shadowhunters. It happens.” Tina rolls her eyes, then returns to scanning the surroundings for the Croucher demons that just disappeared. “I can’t believe I got stuck on a patrol with you,” she grumbles.

Quinn scoffs. “I’m not too happy about it either, hon.” She rubs her forearm, bare to the chill of the night air, and examines the wound on Tina’s leg, as best as she can given the distance between them. The blood has already soaked through her gear, the material itself slashed viciously halfway up her thigh. “Let me give you an iratze, at least. It looks bad,” she says, trying to keep the biting in her tone to a minimum. It’s hard, though, around Tina. She thinks she at least succeeds at not sounding like she’s actually going to kill Tina if she gets close.

Tina looks at her with an indecipherable expression, somehow different than the contempt and anger that she usually directs at Quinn. “It’s fine, we don’t have time for that. Mercedes can do it when we get back.” Tina seems to swallow, then looks away. “You know, being my parabatai, it’ll be a lot better than anything you could do.” The insult doesn’t carry half the heat of anything Tina usually says to her, which confuses Quinn. But she doesn���t have time to think on it when Tina’s eyes widen at some point behind her and Quinn whirls around with her seraph blade to meet the dark face of a demon, Tina coming up beside her, stabbing one demon and effectively causing another to vanish with a perfectly-thrown dagger.

Try as she might, Quinn can’t ignore just how insanely good of a Shadowhunter Tina Cohen-Chang is. And it annoys the fuck out of her.

Together they easily kill the demons in the group -- Croucher demons are not the brightest by far -- and Tina is retrieving a dagger from the ground when Quinn sees them. 

Three Behemoth demons, moving sluggishly, and not towards them, but they are going to have to take care of them. 

“What the fuck are Behemoth demons doing in a group…?” Quinn mumbles. They need help for this; no matter how exceptional of a Shadowhunter Tina is, and although Quinn is far from bad herself, two Shadowhunters can’t take on three Behemoth demons. 

“Fuck,” Tina whispers, coming up beside Quinn again. She can’t help but notice how Tina’s dark hair has fallen out of her bun a little, messy strands surrounding her face but of course she still looks so good --

“How do you feel about Behemoths, Fabray?” Tina says quietly, her tone challenging. They’re still just watching the demons, who haven’t done anything yet and have given no indication that they’ve noticed the two Shadowhunters.

Quinn scowls, “Hate them.” Which is an understatement. She and Kurt had a terrible experience with one a few years ago and she prefers not to think about it.

Tina nods. “Same.”

Of course, one of the demons finally turns their way and spots them. “Fuck, we gotta run,” Quinn hisses. She can already see that the demons are dispersing their slimy, disgusting bodies -- she really doesn’t like Behemoths -- to reform somewhere else, no doubt somewhere significantly closer to where they’re standing --

Or behind them. Quinn is yanked sideways by Tina and they sprint down a small road, dark but for the dim street lights reflecting off the wet asphalt.

It doesn’t take long for Quinn to notice something is wrong. She hasn’t patrolled with Tina before, but she’s trained with her, she knows Tina is somewhat faster than her. So why isn’t Tina way ahead of her right now… 

Quinn spares a glance over and right, her leg. Before Quinn can think about it, she’s pulling Tina into a small alley off the side of the road. 

“Shit,” Tina breathes, clenching her jaw and leaning against the wall in this really very narrow alley, they barely have enough space for the two of them, each against one of the walls -- 

Quinn looks at the wound on Tina’s thigh and hisses, “You idiot. You should’ve let me put a damn iratze on you, or you should’ve done it yourself, Angel’s sake -- ”

A Behemoth slides past, dispersing and quickly reforming further up the alley. The other two follow close behind. Quinn presses herself into the shadows of the alley, lessens her breath and tries to force her heart to stop pounding so loudly. She doesn’t think Behemoths have a sense of smell, she’s never learned that, but if they do, she and Tina are screwed and she will need to have a little chat with her demons instructor Will Schuester because this would not be a good time to find that out.

The demons pass. Quinn lets out a slow breath. 

“Lost my stele.” Tina’s breath is coming in shallow gasps; Quinn can tell she’s trying to minimize the sound. The gash on her thigh is way deeper and longer than Quinn realized. It’s hard to see anything with the lack of light in the alley and lack of contrast between Tina’s blood on her skin and the black gear she’s wearing.

“Fuck, do you have a witchlight?” Quinn asks. 

“No.” Tina’s muscles are tight and her body is wound. “It doesn’t matter right now. Call the Institute, we need someone to get rid of those Behemoths.”

Quinn wants to argue, wants to ask Tina if she’s seen her leg, but Tina’s right, infuriatingly. She quickly presses the number for her parabatai on her phone while Tina closes her eyes, resting her head against the brick wall, seemingly trying to calm her breathing.

“Quinn!” Kurt exclaims when he picks up. “What happened? Mercedes said she felt something happen to Tina and you guys have been out longer than you’re supposed to -- ”

“We’re fine,” Quinn interrupts. “Tina’s mostly fine, just a nice cut from a Croucher. We ran into some Behemoths though, need someone to take care of them.”

Kurt groans. “Of course you guys ran into Behemoths.” There’s some faint talking in the background -- Quinn can make out Mercedes demanding to know where her parabatai is, some other voices chime in that she can’t recognize. “Okay, luckily Mike’s here and he can go try to magic them away or whatever he does. Beiste is going with him. Mercedes and I will meet up with you and Tina. Send me your guys’ patrol location.”

“Don’t you know it?”

“Yes, but send it to me anyway,” Kurt says, exasperated, but Quinn can tell he doesn’t really mean it. “Okay? Be careful.”

“Always am.” She ends the call and shoves her phone back into her pocket. Then she remembers Tina, who’s sitting against the wall, legs stretched out in front of her and looking exhausted. 

“Here,” she says, finding her stele and holding it out to her. Tina gives her a half-smile and accepts it. She rolls up her jacket sleeve to draw the rune on her forearm, flowing black lines of the iratze stark against her skin in the dim light. 

“Kurt and Mercedes are coming,” Quinn says. “And Mike and Beiste for the demons.”

“Good, saves me from more time with you,” Tina mumbles halfheartedly.

Quinn rolls her eyes. “Let me help,” she says, kneeling down and reaching for her stele. “It will work better closer to the heart -- ”

“I’m fine,” Tina says hurriedly, leaning away from Quinn slightly. Quinn ignores the slight disappointment she feels at that and exclaims, “Are you serious? Your leg is still pouring blood, you can see that, right?”

Tina swallows. “I don’t want you that close to me.” Her voice is resigned, quiet and Quinn can barely hear her.

“Again, are you serious? What the fuck did I ever do to you?” Quinn knows she shouldn’t be getting angry, especially when they don’t know how far the demons are and they could hear her raised voice -- can Behemoth demons hear? Mr. Schue really didn’t do a great job in their demon education -- and come back to finish them off.

“Quinn, just… just don’t.” Tina rolls her stele back towards her. “Thanks for the stele.”

“No, I want to know! I want to know what the fuck I did to make you treat me like this, because I sure didn’t ask for it.” Quinn is seething now, unable to stop even if she tried. “When we were kids you were okay, but ever since the Shadowhunter Academy you’ve been such an asshole to me, and now you can’t even let me near you to help you, to put a fucking iratze on you -- ”

“I have feelings for you!” Tina yells, effectively shutting Quinn up. Quinn looks down at her in surprise. 

“What -- ?”

Tina puts her head in her hands, running them through her hair and pulling out her bun, her shining black hair spilling across her shoulders. “I… can’t let you near me because… I’m scared,” she says softly to her boots. “I’m scared of what my feelings mean when you get close to me and I want to kiss you so fucking badly... I want to be with you. I -- I realized that at the Shadowhunter Academy when I saw other girls kiss each other and I just,” she shakes her head. “I realized I want to do that with you. And I know there’s no chance for that, I get it. But that’s why I’ve been... mean.”

Quinn stares at Tina, jaw dropped open. Tina meets her gaze for a moment, then averts her eyes and smirks slightly, sadly. “It’s fine, Fabray. I’ll stop being an asshole and you don’t have to talk to me again. Except, you know, when Kurt and Mercedes want us all to hang out, but I’ll stay away.”

Quinn wants to say something -- wants to say no, I don’t want that, when the alley floods with light and she turns to see Kurt and Mercedes, the light coming from a witchlight stone in Kurt’s hand. 

“You know,” he says, smiling, “you could’ve come out after the demons left, would’ve made it easier for us to find you.”

-

Quinn makes her way through the unfamiliar halls of the Columbus Institute. She has a vague sense of where she’s going but she doesn’t live at the Institute so she’s still a little disoriented. But she mostly tries to follow the sound of voices and sure enough, it leads her to the library, where Mercedes and Tina are huddled together over a book, talking and laughing with each other. She watches them, quietly, awkwardly, for a second, then Tina turns and spots her, smile faltering a little.

“Hey, Quinn,” she says softly. Mercedes turns too and waves at her.

“Hey, guys,” Quinn says. She swallows. “Um, could I talk to Tina for a second?” Mercedes shoots Tina a look. She nods back and Mercedes pats her hand and leaves the library, and now Quinn and Tina are alone.

“How’s your leg?” Quinn asks, deciding to stall.

Tina smiles a little, walks up to her. Her hair is in braids today. “Good as new. Tends to be the case after a few iratzes.”

Quinn nods. “Good.”

A moment passes, then Tina exhales and says, “Look, Quinn… I’m really sorry about what I said in the alley. I… can’t say I didn’t mean it, but I promise I won’t act like anything’s different, okay? We don’t even have to talk about it -- ”

“I want to talk about it.”

Tina stops. “You do?”

Quinn runs a hand through her hair. “You meant what you said?”

A slow nod from Tina, and a deep breath from Quinn.

“I’ve been thinking about it,” Quinn says, gaze fixed on the floor between their feet. “I think I feel the same.”

“… what?” 

“I want to kiss you. If you’ll let me.”

At some point, they’ve gotten closer, and now Quinn stands right in front of Tina, their faces almost touching. She barely has to move to press her lips to Tina’s. Tina inhales sharply, but then relaxes and her hands flutter up to lightly cup Quinn’s face as Quinn pulls her closer.

They pull away and Tina laughs slightly, breathlessly.

“Does this mean you still hate me?” Tina asks, her dark eyes sparkling, pupils dilated. Their breaths mingle in the lack of space between them.

“Of course,” Quinn murmurs. “Do you?”

“Why would I like you?” Tina tries to say, grinning, but she’s cut off by Quinn’s next kiss. 

And another, and another.

[bebepac]

Fireworks

I am participating in @wackydrabbles prompt # 48 “Maybe it was confusing, but it’s wasn’t like anyone really cared, will appear in bold. 

This is chapter 3 of Pop’s Place.  To see what you’ve been missing so far, Please click here: Pop's Place Masterlist

Summary:  Mia and Daniel take a day trip to Wrightsville Beach to hang out on Hana’s boat with Maxwell, Leo, Liam, Penelope, Drake and Olivia. 

Warnings:  Profanity,  underage drinking, Olivia being an ass.  Mia pulls out some ginger jokes for Olivia. 

All characters belong to Pixelberry.

Word Count: 1286

Song inspiration for this chapter  In This Diary by The Ataris

https://youtu.be/0SbxNQYblY0

I don’t own rights to the music.

Tagging: @queenjilian @burnsoslow @loveellamae @bbrandy2002 @dcbbw​@nomadics-stuff @kimmiedoo5 @cordonianroyalty @cordonia-gothqueen @lodberg @glaimtruelovealways @custaroonie @texaskitten30 @janezillow @atha68 @my0123456789universe @indiacater @losingbraincellseveryday @furiousherringoperatortoad @marietrinmimi  @xpandabeardontcarex @thanialis @hopefulmoonobject @sevenfuckslefttogive @ac27dj @queen-arabella-of-cordonia  @yukinagato2012 @mrsdrakewalkerblog @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @islandcrow @axwalker @sanchita012 @queenwalton  @gabesmommie1130 @mom2000aggie @gibbles82 @ramseysno1rookie @lovablegranny @nikkis1983 @marshmallowsandfire @hopelessromanticmonie  @storylineofnothing @katedrakeohd @coolpsychicempathhumanoid @cordoniaqueensworld​ @aestheticartwriting​ @batgirlassociationofgothamcity​ @thatdoctorownsme​ @seriallover99 @choicesficwriterscreations​

“No biggie, we’re just going to be on a boat at Wrightsville Beach with the rich kids from Prestonwoods. This is totally our life now thanks to you Mia.  Best summer Ever.”

“Summer has only just begun, Daniel!"  Mia said.

She was pulling the convertible top up on her car, when she heard a whistle.

She glanced back seeing a Black SUV pull up next to them.

Of course, it was Leo being absolutely obnoxious.

He jumped out of the car, grabbing Mia in a bear hug.  “Mama Mia Dancing Queen, what up girl?!?!?!”

“Hey Leo.”  Mia smiled at him.  

“What’s in the coolers?”   He pointed to Mia and Daniel’s matching pink coolers.

“Sammiches. What’s your contribution to this boat trip?”

“We brought the liquors.”  She watched as Leo spun a bottle in his hand, then went a  little over ambitious with it and the bottle slipped from his hand hitting the ground and breaking.

Mia jumped back just in time.

Liam, Drake, and Maxwell walked around the SUV.  

Leo was still staring at the ground in shock.

Drake laughed.  

“I don’t know what just happened.” He said with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Maybe it was confusing, but it wasn’t like anyone really cared.

“What did you do?!?!?!?!?!” Maxwell screamed.

Okay scratch that.  Maxwell cared.  

Liam shrugged his shoulders.  “We have 5 more… so… I think we’re good.”

Drake walked over to Mia, taking her cooler before anyone else had a chance.

“I got that for you.”  He said with a smile.  

“Thanks.”

“Have you guys been over here before?” Maxwell inquired.

“To the beach yes, but not this side.”

“Hana’s family has a house at the beach.  So we have to walk to her private  access gate.”

“Oh okay.”

As they walked over to the private access gate,  Drake took Mia’s hand, while they walked.   Daniel gave her a thumbs up sign.  

There was really a man dressed in a suit holding a sign that said “Guests of Hana Lee.”

As soon as they got on the yacht, not so much a boat,  Hana grabbed  Mia by one hand and Daniel by the other.  “You have got to see these!  I know you will love them!”  She was showing Mia and Daniel her new designs.

Last to arrive were Olivia, and Penelope.  

She noticed as soon as Penelope got onto the boat, both of them were wearing the same swimsuit.  

Of course Olivia noticed right away.  

“Isn’t that hilarious, Penelope,  you’re twinning with the new girl.”   She looked Mia over.  “I’m surprised that swim suit actually came in your size.”

“Liv cut it out.”  Liam looked at her annoyed.

“Why are you defending her Liam? That’s Drake’s job.  Are you gunning for Drake’s job?”

“Olivia, not everyone wears a size Bitch like you do.  Mia and Penny look great in their bathing suits.”  

“Old Navy rocks!”  Penny said to Mia, giving her a high five.  Maybe Penny wasn’t so bad.  “Liv thought I spent $100 on her birthday gift.  $5.99 at Old Navy.”  Penny whispered.

Okay Penny was not bad at all.  

Leo made everyone drinks, that were about 90% alcohol with a splash of the mixer.  

“No thanks,” Mia said when he went to hand her a red solo cup.  

“You’re breaking my heart girl!!!”  Leo had a sad look on his face.  

“I am not much of a drinker, sorry Leo.”

Liam had planned for this. He had noticed Mia didn’t drink at the pool party either.  “Mia, come over here, I have some waters, sodas, and apple juice.”  

He flipped open their big charcoal gray yeti cooler.  

“What would you like?”

Mia gasped.  “I love this apple juice in the glass bottles.”

“So do I,  you mean to tell me you have something in common with Richie Rich?”

Mia laughed.  “Can you let that go already? It was bound to happen I guess wasn’t it?”  He got one handing it to her, and then himself one.  

“You’re not drinking either?”

“I don’t have to drink to have a good time.  It’s the company.  Cheers.”  

She clinked her bottle against his.  

She walked back over to Drake.  

“Don't let Liam fool you, he drew the short straw, he's DD tonight.”  

“That makes sense.”  

“Your friends are fun, well minus Olivia.  Next time let’s just be us. Okay?  I want to get to know  you better, without all this going on.”

“I promise Mia.”   Mia kissed him.  

“Get a room.”  Leo exclaimed.

"Why you mad bro?"

“So weird to see Drake with a girlfriend isn’t it Liam?”  Olivia said intently staring at him. “You really should work on hiding your jealousy better. It’s all over your face.” she whispered to him.

Finally it was time to eat before they took the jet skis out on the water.  Everyone put  their combined  items on the table.

Pops had let Mia go to the restaurant and make sandwiches with hoagie rolls, and her and Daniel had made nice sandwiches for everyone.

Olivia sneered.  “Ugh sandwiches, isn’t that like poor people's food?”

“I’m so sorry Olivia.”

“Whaaat?” Maxwell inquired.

“Mia’s about to get that ass!”  Liam whispered to Leo and Drake.

“If I would have known you were going to be here Olivia, I would have packed you a soul to eat.  But as you can tell, I’m fresh out. So I guess it’s poor people's food, or your soulless ass is going to starve. You decide, because I'm tired of playing around with you. You got one more time.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Everyone laughed.  

But she noticed Olivia shut her damn mouth and ate a whole sandwich.  

“Why are we doing this again Drake?”  she was bobbing into the water next to the jet ski.  He pulled her on behind him.  

“I’ll tell you exactly what it is, you two are both alpha females and neither of you back down from a challenge.”

“So you better win Drake. No pressure.”

“We all have our parts to play.”

She glanced to her right seeing Liam and Olivia on the jet ski next to them.

“You know they dated right?”

“Not a surprise at all.”  

"Hold on tight."

"So to the buoy and back first one back gets bragging rights for the rest of the day. In 3…..2…..1…."

Before Leo said go Liam took off spraying them with water.  

Drake took off behind him. Mia screamed in delight holding tight to Drake.  By the halfway point around the buoy they got there at the same time. Olivia scowled at them. On the way back Drake saw his opportunity to take the lead. They headed for a huge wave Liam was avoiding. Mia saw it at the same time.

"Oh my God!" She screamed bloody murder while the jet ski went airborne for a few seconds.  Landing in a splash a few meters in front of Liam and Olivia claiming the win.

Back on the yacht "Bragging rights to Drake and Mia!" Leo screamed."Liam… you fumbled at the one yard line."

When night fell, she could tell Hana was super excited.

"What is it?" Mia and Daniel asked.

"My dad has a fireworks display planned for us that should be starting right about…. "

Everyone looked up hearing the crackle of the fireworks, as the display began. Mia immediately found Drake to sit by his side. He put his arm around her. She snuggled closer to him.

She noticed Liam watching them. Drake saw too but neither of them cared,  as he pulled her closer to him kissing her.

The way Mia felt as he kissed her, under those fireworks, took Mia's breath away.  Maybe Mia really did want a boyfriend, and maybe….that guy was Drake.

[firstdove15]

April Reading Spaz

Still going strong. And more than halfway through my annual reading goal.

1) A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert (Four Stars)

I actually started this book March 31st but I finished it on April 1st. I wanted to check out some of Hibbert’s earlier works before the Brown Sisters trilogy but I had to buy the ones I was most interested in because they weren’t available at the library or Libby. I’m not mad. I had fun with it. I was scared I wouldn’t enjoy it as much because it’s an earlier work but the snark/banter was still top notch, the familial relationships felt real and more guys who are in tune with their feelings and making actual effort to, you know, be a good partner. Bless. Just bless. There was a twist that I wasn’t expecting but it was well done and, again, that familial relationship be on point.

There was one part that felt like it resolved too quickly, but the turn itself was a pleasant surprise. Either way, I’m glad I got to read it and I’ll definitely continue with the series. Literally the only one I’m missing is the in-between novella but given what I know about the antagonist from the first book, he can choke and I can be okay knowing his soon-to-be ex-wife bounces...

2) I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee (Five Stars)

I read this book for the “Read a Book that You Predict Will Be a Five Star” challenge from Jesse’ TBR card game. And I highly enjoyed it. The fat representation, the complex relationship between the main character and her mother, some things that are left unsaid but made narrative sense, the adorable romance, the girl friendships that were just as important as the love story and family drama. I breezed through this book as well. I bought it back in...November? And I wanted to read it then but a reading slump kicked my butt and I just never got to it until this month. I’m glad I finally got to it and I’m keeping it.

3) Once Upon An Eid by S.K. Ali and others (Four Stars)

I read this one for the “Read a Book about a Muslim family” challenge from Jesse’ TBR card game and, heh, I really need to look at my TBR for more Muslim books because the fact that I had to study my bookshelf to find something for this prompt was eye opening.

I found it charming and cozy. It had some great lessons and warm moments between family and it was nice to read about someone else’s culture. I wasn’t expecting it to be middle grade (not a complaint; just an observation). They also included illustrations that were just full of life. I definitely recommend it.

4) The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (Four Stars)

I read this one for the “Read a Book That Has Been Adapted into a Movie” challenge from Jesse’ TBR game. It was between this and Sense and Sensibility. I wasn’t confident that I would breeze through the latter so the former won out.

I prefer slow burn but I could buy the instalove in this one for the fact that there was a lot of dialogue in terms of getting to know what makes each other tick and what their core values are. I also breezed through this book and I had mixed feelings about the epilogue but overall I enjoyed it.

5) The Way of the Househusband by Kousuke Oono and Anindhita Raghia (Four Stars)

I don’t have much to say here. It cracked me up and I plan on continuing the manga and watching the anime on Netflix. I want to see what made him change. Also the author’s snark in the afterword cracked me up cuz I feel like any artist with a pet has been there. XD

6) The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang (Five Stars)

For the second time I got the “Read a Book Your Favorite Antagonist Would Read” card and it was thanks to brainstorming with Mom that I predicted this book would be up either Azula’s (ATLA) alley or Drosselmeyer’s (Princess Tutu).

Drosselmeyer would’ve ate this book up. Holy. Crap.

It’s a fantasy heavily inspired by the Sino-Japanese wars and I knew very little about it (or if our school did touch on it, I forgot most of it.) so the only thing I anticipated was that Rin and her classmates would probably lose that war and I dreaded it because I came to care about her, Kitay, Jiang, and Nezha (Ironically, I couldn’t STAND him at first, but his character development made sense.). The pacing was great and I loved Rin’s dynamic with her best friend and her mentor.

As much as I loved the book and found everything compelling, I’m taking my time with the sequels because the aftermath of a massacre jacked me up. And finding out it was heavily based on what really happened made me so distraught. Like. Yeah. It was bad. I mean, I already know why and how such cruelty can exist in the world (and the book itself explores why cruelty even exists) but...yeah.

TLDR: Highly Recommend but Emphasis on Read with Care.

7) Act Your Age, Eve Brown (Five Stars)

Originally I was going to read Arsenic and Adobo by Mia. P. Manansala next but the library sent me a notice for this book and I desperately needed something funny after The Poppy War. And Talia. DELIVERED. As always. <3333 Both A Girl Like Her and Act Your Age, Eve Brown had (own voice) autistic representation and it was just nice to read. The banter was hilarious, the brief friendship before the smash/romance was cute, and the communication for the most part was top notch.

8) Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney and Robyn Smith (Four Stars)

I finished this book at work today. The art style was really cute (Nubia has an adorable tooth gap) and I loved the friendship and family dynamics in this story. I didn’t expect them to heavily touch on racism and police brutality/violence even though I should’ve known so it was a fun and heartbreaking read at the same time (i.e. Nubia’s encounter with the police officer after she had been falsely accused of being the one who robbed the convenience store broke my heart.). And in a rare case for me with superhero comics, I found the crush story genuinely adorable. I look forward to reading more.

Books I’m planning on reading for Asian Readathon in May

1) If I Tell You the Truth by Jasmin Kaur

2) Know My Name by Chanel Miller

3) Want by Cindy Pon

4) Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

5) Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

[crqstalite]

You've been visited by the random writing prompts goblin!! - Write about your character just... talking. Are they talking to themselves, or with someone else? What kind of slang or phrases do they use often? Do they have an accent?

I really should quit writing these one-on-one scenes with Kodelyn and Lali (and maybe y’know, with their actual partners) but I couldn’t get the prompt out of my head! I love them too much and Citlali’s POV is one of my favorites to write -- she goes off on a lot of tangents and I find it more funny and entertaining that anything. Way different than I write Kodelyn’s. Probably should do more shippy writing at some point, but some point is not now.

Post-war. Word count: 2,008. no warnings.

-

“Y’know, she even said she might even put a good word in for me,” Citlali leans back in her chair, grinning around her straw, “Might be a real flight lieutenant, give or take like a decade. No more stowaway-ing for me.”

“Sounds nice.”

“Yeah. Dealing with ships is more my speed than people. Biotic regiment sounds too...I don’t know, challenging? Out there? For little old me.” The younger woman sighs, throwing a hand over her forehead dramatically, “Plus I’d have to work with our dear Major Alenko of all people. As if I don’t see enough of him now, he’d be my actual CO this time around.”

“Yep.”

“Still, that’s years out when the galaxy gets it’s head back on straight. Think they’re just absurdly shortstaffed right now. Not even sure whether this is a good idea or not, I mean, I spent half my life afraid of what I could do and now? Supernova. Might as well make good use of this.” She snaps her fingers, “Like lighting...something on fire. Damn it, lost the analogy that quickly.”

“That’s great.”

Citlali straightens in her chair again, looking around the atrium and shaking her cup, ice rattling inside of the plastic. The Citadel was rebuilding, after nearly a year and a half after the war had ended, and a few wards were getting back to the idea of normal. If one went wandering, one could probably still see the scars and missing shops, homes and even nearly half a ward on the other side. Yet, here they were, at a little fast food place, still very much alive and thriving.

Suck on that, Reapers. Shepard 3, Reapers 0.

The energy in the food court is different from where it had been before the Citadel had been moved to Sol. Less nervous energy to burn, less fatalistic views being preached from every corner of the Presidium. Life was getting back to good. Summer was right around the corner on Earth at least. Less death and mass murder at the hands of the Reaper putting a dampener on dinner.

She squints at her sister. Kodelyn Shepard, entirely off duty, was still in something that made Citlali think she was going to spar with James. Offhandedly she wonders if she would ever take her up on that offer to get a full wardrobe beyond the one or two shirts, jeans and boots she owned. Considering she rarely saw Kaidan out of anything similar, she’d have to do something about that soon.

She’d always looked nice in yellow.

However, said Shepard has a smile just gently tugging at the corners of her mouth while one hand flies over her omni-tool’s keyboard, not a glance up to where Citlali is.

She’s not paying attention. Probably hasn’t been since she started talking nearly five minutes ago. Her offhanded responses have gotten better though, Kodelyn almost had her fooled that she was carrying on a two-way conversation. Probably should’ve gotten suspicious when she didn’t actually offer anything to the conversation. Or when she opened the omni-tool to begin with. Multi-tasking had always been a skill that she had, not so much one that Citlali did.

“Anything good?” Citlali reaches over the table to gently (alright, she’ll admit it wasn’t all that gentle) pull at her sister’s wrist. A quick glance at the ID tells her all she needed to as she slumps back in the chair, “Damn, speak of the devil! You haven’t been listening to a single thing I’ve said have you?”

“Hey!” Kodelyn yanks her hand back, swiping at the screen a few times, “I have been listening.” She retorts indignantly.

“Have you?” Citlali raises an eyebrow. She hasn’t been, but knowing her sister, she’s good enough at halfway paying attention to reconstruct what she’s said well enough that she wouldn’t be able to accuse her otherwise.

Damn her. Sound doesn’t turn to soup whenever multiple conversations are going on around her. Lucky.

“Yes! I have.”

“Uh huh,” Citlali gnaws at the straw, wickedly grinning when she returns to typing, “Anything dirty?”

“No!” Kodelyn yelps, closing the UI, and dropping her face into her hands as Citlali cackles at her own jab, “Would you give it a rest?”

“I would, if he didn’t take over every waking thought of yours.” Citlali playfully presses a finger into her vulnerable forehead, “Fi-an-ce, brother-in-law-to-be or otherwise, you could at least spare your maid of honor and baby sister twenty minutes of your undivided attention.”

Kodelyn softly smiles. She’s at least genuinely apologetic, leaning back into her own chair with her hands out in front of her, “I know. And I’m sorry, just...”

“I know. He’s important. This whole shing-ding you have planned for the dead of summer is important. Actually, why the middle of July? Do you know how sticky July is? How humid it is to my poor hair? And yours?” Citlali gets a bit carried away (well that was on Kodelyn, July was the month of the devil. But then again she’d never been to Vancouver in July...and she was getting carried away again), “But have you spent a single second today not on that thing?”

“You know, I don’t just use it to talk to Kaidan. There is spectre business to attend to as well. Just because the war ended didn’t mean that work did.”

“Really? You had me fooled, thought he was the only contact in there,” Citlali snickers as Kodelyn rolls her eyes, “I get it, you’re still important and you’re still really busy. I respect that. Just sometimes I just want to know what’s going on with you without having to hear it secondhand, or on my ‘tool.”

“As if you haven’t been equally quiet the last few months.”

“I haven’t! I even sent the RSVP note back. In pen. That’s how much it meant to me.”

“That was your writing? Thought Mason got ahold of it. Kaidan and I could barely tell who it was from.”

“Ok, glad we can agree our baby brother writes like a chicken, but my handwriting is not that bad!” Kodelyn snickers as Citlali pops the cap off her cup, rattling around the ice at the bottom of the cup. Pink liquid still hangs onto the cubes, which meant the last of the juice was still hiding from her. She sucks on the straw anyway, “We have all the time in the galaxy now and we still just keep missing each other. Twice you were presumed or actually dead -- three if you want to count the original battle of the Citadel, and sometimes it still doesn’t feel real that you’re sitting across from me, very much alive and kicking. Three times I had to come to terms with the fact you might actually be gone.”

Kodelyn’s expression softens at her admission, “Is that why you keep trying to invite me out to ‘girl’s nights?’ Because you just want to make sure I’m still here?”

“No that’s mostly mom, you really have to start answering those. Occasionally Tali whenever she’s here, she’s asks after you, y’know. Liara and I hang out sometimes. Not as much fun, she’s as quiet as you sometimes and I’m not an archeologist. Or information broker. Or Asari. Not much we can talk about that isn’t confidential or something way out of my realm of understanding -- not like she wants to talk about the newest extranet series either.” Citlali remarks. She did genuinely like Liara, even if their interests were on opposite sides of the galaxy. Maybe she should bother the Asari a bit more before she took off again into the unknown, wherever said unknown was. What did a Shadow Broker do all day?

Beyond the point though, “Look, I won’t get sappy, but the piece of your pie chart that’s dedicated to me means a lot. It’s good when I don’t nearly get a heart attack every time you’re on the news.”

“If it was that serious-”

“-And it’s not.”

“If it is,” Kodelyn continues, “I’ll always be here. Just a call away.”

“I had to schedule this a week in advance, Dee.” Citlali gestures with her pretty much empty cup, though backs down a moment later, “Maybe I’m being a bit ridiculous, but I can count on one hand how many just...days like this we’ve spent together since the war ended. I mean, you could probably count everyday I was in your hospital room, but those are technically invalid since you weren’t conscious for most of them.”

“You know better than anyone that I’ve been pulled in thirteen different directions at once, not all of them as fun as you make them out to be. And yeah, you’re right, maybe I haven’t been making as much of an effort as I could be to spend some 1-on-1 time with you.” Kodelyn taps her nails on the table, thinking while the conversation lulls, “You still mean everything to me Lali. I’ll be better, just give me some time to figure all of this out, okay?”

Time, all they had was time these days. And yet it felt like she’d blinked, the war happened, and she was sitting in a hospital waiting room for hours on end. Blinked again, and she found herself back in her own apartment, her own bed, her semi-old life. Startling, almost like none had passed at all between when she’d picked up that call from Miranda to now. And yet, now it didn’t feel like she was wasting any of it by pulling her sister away to do something silly or inane. Death was no longer rapping at their door with increasing ferocity, almost like a much too determined salesman. Felt like they’d managed to crucible it across the front lawn and send it scrambling.

“Yeah, of course. Just...for the record.” She shrugs. The cup is finally empty, making an ugly noise when she sucks on the straw, instead still gnawing on it, “All we have is time these days. And I’m not being sarcastic, we honestly do. We’ll see the passing of another century given something else doesn’t try to annihilate the galaxy.”

“Yeah, if they could wait until after the next Council summit as well as after the wedding, that’d be great.” Her sister says, flickering open her UI again, “I spent way too much time helping planning both of those to have them ransacked by the next Harbinger.”

“Oh yes!” Citlali grins, “Councilor Shepard-Alenko, that’ll be the day. Yes ‘Reapers’, we have dismissed that claim already.”

“I still haven’t accepted,” Kodelyn laughs, turning her wrist to show Citlali something, “And I might not, I’ll recommend Petrakis but that’s as far as I’m going to help them find a proper representative. I’m not really Councilor material, and Kaidan’s had to remind me I can’t exactly hang up on them if they’re standing right next to me.”

“Really? Finally time to kick back and settle down with you, huh? Nice little place in Vancouver? Here? Part of me is going to be surprised if I see you in anything other than a t-shirt and jeans.”

“Probably not forever, but there is a piece of my pie chart dedicated to not driving myself up the wall anymore,” She gently presses her finger into Citlali’s forehead, making her chuckle, “Not such a bad thing. And I wore that spring dress you bought for me last month.”

“The day you step back from all this,” Citlali waves her arms around them, “Is the day I eat my hat.”

“I’m capable of more than just all this.” Kodelyn gestures similarly, “It’ll be nice to step back and enjoy what we saved. Preferably not from a war room anymore.”

“Never thought I’d peel you out of one,” Citlali says, “Mrs. Kaidan Alenko.”

“You have to get tired of saying that at some point.” Kodelyn’s partially right, though it amuses her. Sort of sweet at times.

“Will I? I don’t think so.”

“Really?” Kodelyn raises an eyebrow, “So how soon can I call you Mrs. Jeff Moreau?”

“New topic!”

[narcissasdaffodil]

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 8 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome work!

Thanks for the tag @kiki-the-creator ! I’m likely going to ramble, so bear with me! There’s multiple creations I haven’t put in the wild as of yet, so I’m just doing stuff I’ve posted on either here or A03.

1: Love Can Be Chosen

Before I started LCBC, unless you count the fic collab I’m part of, I hadn’t written any fanfic in 5 years. I started LCBC at the end of July, and teaching myself how to write properly again was difficult, along with writing in my natural style without being judged for that. I stopped writing entirely due to a high amount of people being very critical of my work to the point I lost the love for writing. I never thought I’d ever get back into it either, so this is a considerable surprise.

Just as I was going to post my first chapter of LCBC, someone I’d asked to read it for me was critical of it to the point that it seriously hurt, and it went past general consecutive criticism. Telling someone that their grammar is dreadful and there’s major errors without pointing to said errors is hardly useful! For 2 days, I toyed with whether to post it or not, or if they were actually right, and I should stop writing again. I pushed through that, as I refuse to let just one person have such an impact on me. Besides, it’s only an issue one person has, and I have multiple beta readers anyway. The fact I pushed through that makes me proud in general, as I proved both myself and that person wrong.

LCBC means the world to me as it helped me gain back my love of writing. I’ve come on a lot in nearly 5 months, and I’ve found myself writing more personal stuff to me. The fact it’s so big will always wow me, my doc for it currently stands at 166k, I affectionately nickname it my fic monster. I originally called it What’s a Soulmate?, then needed a better title. It was completely unplanned, I put my Spotify on shuffle, then Love Can Be Chosen played and I had a serious brainwave. People aren’t likely to know the song itself, but it’s by Avia Butler if you’re interested! I’ll ramble about it for ages if I let myself, so I’ll cut this here.

2: this Lottie edit

I hated this style of edit for a while, as people kept asking for these edits on my Instagram for other fandoms and literally nothing else, so I was a little fed up of doing the same thing. But it was different when I wanted to make an edit like that one myself, not having people be overly pushy rocks! I absolutely adore having control of what I edit.

3: Another Lottie edit

This one is a new style, but I really, really love it! My best stuff gets made when it’s me who wants it, I went through a period of creating just to get validation, and that was majorly shitty. My other favourite edit in this style hasn’t been posted yet, but for something made on a whim, it’s pretty good! I took a small break from editing and gave myself a talking to, basically told myself that it’s okay to make stuff you want, and not constantly concede to others, especially when the end product makes you feel worse about yourself. In addition, I no longer depend on creative pursuits for happiness, sure I enjoy it, but I don’t base everything about myself on my creative abilities.

4: this oneshot!

I was nervous to write this one, never having written hurt/comfort before. But I fell head over heels in love with the thing. Deciding to do Flufftober was an awesome decision, great job October me! I’ve tried out multiple types of fics I wouldn’t have otherwise, and found a new love for writing fluff.

5: Could You Be my Friend?

This oneshot took two goes. The first go was seriously dreadful, to the point that I was so angry at myself for 2 days straight, which isn’t healthy in the slightest! Anything that causes that much rage in me of all people isn’t a good thing. I stay far away from stuff that provoke my anxiety or anger in general. This one is a HP/LITG crossover, Harry Potter used to majorly be my thing years ago. It’s not as much now, for a multitude of reasons. Because of that also, the LITG/HP fic collab isn’t my thing as much anymore. But I had an itch to scratch regarding Marilecto and a HP au, so I took the prompt competition as the perfect excuse to just chuck it out there. Writing this one was so hard, but once I’d got halfway through my second oneshot, I was good.

6: Cold Coffee

This one was my first ever Marilecto oneshot, and my first oneshot in general, so it’s special for those reasons. I’ve likely written better stuff since, but that one was pretty special to me, as writing it proved to me I could write more than just chunky fics.

7: It Would’ve Been You

This one was part of my uni AU series. My flatmates have alternated between great and challenging, and a good way to not let it get me down was writing about bits and pieces of it!

8: Leftover Sweets

This one was super unexpected to say the least, but I actually love it. I wrote it in 2 hours between 1-3am one night and woke up confused as there was a random oneshot hanging out in my docs, and I didn’t remember writing it! It did scare me a little, but once I reread the thing, I realised I was actually pretty proud of it.

Okay, I’m tagging @lucas-koh @americangrunge, @venueska and @bubblybabynailpolish I have absolutely no clue who’s already done this, so if you want to, feel free to tag me! And if you’ve done it already, oops!

[hotchslut]

believe it’s the fright

spencer reid/reader (strangers to enemies to lovers)

week one | week two | week three | week four | week five | week six | week seven | week eight | week nine | week ten

summary: though horribly unqualified, somehow (y/n) lands a gig interning for the bau department in quanitco. already nervous beyond belief about starting her new job, the first person she meets seems determined to make her time with the team a living hell.

a/n: because the internship period with the fbi is ten weeks, this is going to be a ten part fic with each part being a new week. i always wanted spencer to have a girl in his life who wouldn't kind of baby him like the rest of his friends do and also love the idea of opposites attract when it comes to such a specific character like him. i also think spencer can unknowingly be a bit of a dick sometimes and we never really talk about that, so here's to exploring that side of his person a bit more. this first chapter acts more as a prologue, introducing you to the characters and circumstances. next chapter will have more of the two interacting and working together. please enjoy!! <33

The goal was simple. Finish the 10 week internship at the Quantico division of the FBI without screwing everything up. Hopefully, she’d leave a positive enough impression to secure a job for herself immediately after. Realistically, she knew she would end up barely scraping by, but at least she’d have enough practical experience to write a believable award winning screenplay about the ins and outs of a special agents life.

She knew she wasn’t in the right field. She was basically just a film student. But after graduating from a school she hadn’t even left her hometown to attend, she was desperate for some real life experiences, and how many people could say they had worked with the FBI, even for just a little bit? Her electives in journalism and visual arts had been enough to meet the internship requirements, her GPA was undeniably impressive thanks to a fairly easy course load, and no one could argue that she was one hell of an interviewee. So there she was, all alone in a new state, walking into the biggest and most intimidating building she had ever stepped foot in, to start working an internship she wasn’t even sure how she booked. She had been told it was her passion which had gotten her there, but she couldn’t help but thinking about how painfully stupid the other applicants must have been to allow her to be in this position.

“What floor?”

As she stepped into the elevator she looked up to see a man, she assumed was only a little older than herself, with his fingers hovering over the buttons. She was shocked, or maybe annoyed - which definitely translated to jealous - that someone so young could have such a stable career already. He must just be another intern.

“Six, thank you,” she said, a little louder than she intended. The man pressed the button but looked at her with hesitance.

“Are you sure?” He asked, still waving his fingers near the buttons, as if he was waiting for her to correct herself so he could make sure she got to the correct floor.

Fuck. This is exactly what she had been worried about. She had checked her introductory email 3 times just on the walk from the front door to the elevator so she could be absolutely certain she was heading to the right floor. “Uh, yeah, I can check the email again,” her voice wandered off as she pulled out her phone to quadruple check. The elevator was going up quite quickly, like a ticking clock, as she scrolled to find the information she was looking for before they arrived. “Yeah, no, it’s the 6th floor.” she turned her phone for him to look at, but he didn’t, he just looked at her. There was nothing she hated more than a starer.

“My bad,” he said excruciatingly slowly. “I’m Spencer. I guess I’ve just never seen you around.”

Guess that meant he wasn’t an intern. Something about him was putting her off. She had hardly spoken a word to him and she could already feel his raging superiority complex. “Well, it’s my first day,” she explained as the elevator doors opened. He started to walk out, giving her a faint smile.

Spencer made his way over to his desk, briefly looking back at (y/n) to make sure she was out of ear shot. She was standing uncomfortably, looking at her phone, which he assumed she was using as a shield to mask that she had no idea what she was supposed to be doing.

“What’s with the new girl?” He asked JJ and Derek who were already seated.

JJ almost instantly perked up. “I didn’t know we were getting a new girl,” she confessed, looking over at (y/n), who was still in the same position.

“She’s a little underdressed for her first day, don’t you think?” Spencer judged. The three of them started examining her, with little to no subtlety.

(y/n) had been anxious about this. She spent three hours the night prior, trying to decide on an outfit that she thought would be appropriate. Everything she tried on either felt under or over dressed, but in the end she felt that comfort was the most important thing. Besides, in ten weeks time, no one was going to remember what she wore on her first day.

So there she stood, at the front of the bullpen terrified, in a black crewneck with a collared shirt underneath, french tucked into some black mom jeans and vans on her feet. She had absolutely no idea where to go. All she knew was she had to find Aaron Hotchner’s office, as she was supposed to be shadowing him for her time there. She quickly read and reread the email, trying to find any hint of where Hotchner’s office could be. She didn’t look up until she sensed someone walking straight towards her.

“You look a little lost,” Derek said, stopping in front of her.

A forced laugh was all she gave him, as she looked through her phone. She didn’t want to admit that she needed help already, but when he didn’t move, she brought her eyes back up. The first thing she saw wasn’t even Derek, it was Spencer, sitting at his desk, looking right at her. Why was this guy so weird? Did he send this other guy to check in on her? “I’m, uh, looking for Aaron Hotchner’s office,” she finally explained, turning to Derek for some unwanted but highly needed help.

“Just up there,” he explained, pointing to one of the only offices even in the room. His voice was soft, and she didn’t feel judged by him for not knowing anything. “I’m Derek.” He held out his hand, which (y/n) was happy to take.

“I’m (y/n),” she shook his hand with a genuine smile. “I like that you shake.” She wasn’t sure why she said that, and tried to fix it with a simple, “Thank you,” before nodding towards him and heading up to Hotchner’s office.

The door was closed, which left her feeling more uneasy than it should have. Didn’t he know she was coming? It would have been a lot less threatening if he had just left it open for her to peak her head in. Nothing about this experience had been exactly welcoming thus far.

After some hesitation, she finally knocked on the door. Definitely louder than she meant to. As she waited for someone to open the door, she could feel eyes on the back of her head. She wasn’t sure if it was because Spencer was actually still looking at her, or if it was just the feeling he left her with. He was like a spider in the distance that once you see, you can suddenly feel crawling all over you. Luckily these thoughts and feelings were interrupted when Hotch opened the door and ushered her in.

“Hello, (y/l/n), come in. Take a seat. I’m Aaron Hotchner, it’s great to have you with us,” he remarked, waiting for her to take a seat before he followed suit behind his desk. (y/n) thanked him quietly before he continued, “(y/l/n), I have-”

“I am so sorry to interrupt, but I kind of hate that, so can you just call me (y/n),” she pleaded, laughing slightly so he knew she wasn’t trying to be mean.

Hotch was taken aback, but politely obliged before explaining the role she would be taking on with the BAU. He was about halfway through speaking with her, when she realized she had not been processing any of the information she was being given. She couldn’t help it - she was a visual learner and Hotch was doing nothing to accommodate that. Not that she thought it was his fault, either.

“I know you passed all your training very well, but obviously you’re not cleared to be in the field, so when I do have to leave with the team, we’ll have you stay behind to work on the paperwork and be a resource to us here,” Hotch paused, noticing how overwhelmed she looked by all the information.

They maintained silent eye contact while (y/n) tried to process everything before piping up. “Can I have a gun?”

Hotch continued to look her in the eyes. Always the profiler, he was irritated that he couldn’t read if she was joking. Taking a risk in assuming she was, he wittily replied, “When you solve your first case.”

“Deal.” She smiled in return, as she noticed Hotch’s lips curl just slightly as well. She could tell he was going to be a tough one to completely break, but she was willing to accept that challenge.

“Now, unfortunately we don’t have any active cases for you to look through,” he began again before being interrupted by his phone beeping. He immediately looked down and sighed, “I stand corrected.”

(y/n) laughed, a genuine laugh before remarking, “I was literally just going to say, how funny would it be if that was a case coming in.”

Hotch didn’t react, he just grabbed his things and stood up, prompting (y/n) to do the same.

Everyone had gathered around the round table, with Garcia standing in front, ready to present the case, when Hotch and (y/n) walked in. “Everyone, this is (y/n) (y/l/n), she’ll be joining the team as an intern, she’s been assigned to shadow me,” Hotch introduced the girl who observed the room full of people. She quickly grew uncomfortable when she saw Spencer, giving her a quizzical look. Hotch continued to introduce everyone by name, but (y/n) was hardly listening. “And this is Doctor Spencer Reid,” he finished off.

“We’ve met,” she spat coldly, earning a head nod from the apparent doctor. She suddenly noticed there were only two remaining seats, one of which was next to Spencer. Before she could get moving, Hotch began walking over the other seat, across the table. She stepped forward, trying not to broadcast the reluctance she was feeling. As she moved to get comfortable she saw Spencer trying to give her a welcoming smile through her periferal, but her stubborn nature forced her not to acknowledge it.

“Alright, if everyone’s settled and comfortable, you won’t be for very long,” Garcia spoke with slight disgust of what she knew she was about to say, “Thomas Victor, 34, found dead in his girlfriend's kitchen.”

The team all leaned forward slightly as Garcia put up photos of the victim and crime scene. (y/n) was the only one smiling; she had never seen crime scene photos in real time before. Being a fan of horror and true crime, she found this to be almost fun. It wasn’t until she noticed Spencer noticing that she herself noticed, and had to remind herself this was, in fact, real, and probably not something to get too giddy over.

“Zoom in on the neck,” Derek instructed. Garcia followed, never turning to face the screen. “Look at that stab wound.” He was right - That stab wound to the neck was nasty… And oddly circular.

“What could’ve caused something like that?” JJ pondered out loud.

Garcia’s eyes lit up before remarking, “Aha. That we know. There was a bloody corkscrew on the ground. There was also a very nice bottle of red on the counter, so my guess is the unsub caught poor old Thomas preparing some wine for him and his lady and-” She shrugged, allowing the team to infer the rest.

“Where’s the girlfriend in all of this?” JJ asked.

“Nowhere to be found,” Garcia explained, scrunching up her face, as if she felt bad for not being able to help out any further.

Hotch sat up straight, asking, “Garcia, what more do we know about the victim?”

“Relatively low risk. Worked a 9-5 office job downtown. Rumour on the street is, he had just started seeing this girl, um, Melaney,” Garcia looked down at her notes, “Paulinchuck. Friends say they had been talking on an online dating site for just a couple days before meeting for the first time. Last night was supposed to be their 5th date.”

“You know, with online dating on the rise, so are the numbers of first dates resulting in violent crime,” Spencer chimed in, adjusting himself in his seat, “Just in the last five years alone, reports of abuse and even murder spiked drastically within the online dating community.” Just as (y/n) thought he was about to shut up, he kept going. “In fact, police in the UK are dealing with approximately 20 online dating related crimes a week. You hate to think about how bad it could be here in America, a statically more violent country.” He nodded to himself and sucked both of his lips in, waiting for a response from anyone.

“Very cool, Spencer,” (y/n) whispered sarcastically, hopefully not loud enough for everyone to hear.

JJ tried backing him up by adding, “So, there’s a fairly high chance this missing girlfriend is actually our unsub.”

The team started bouncing ideas off each other while Garcia kept spewing off potentially helpful information, but for the life of her (y/n) could not focus. She didn’t want to fuck up her first case by not being able to recall important information from this initial meeting, but if Spencer clicked his pen one more time…

“We’ve got a lot of digging to do on both the victim and his girlfriend. Wheels up in 30,” Hotch eventually announced. Everyone stood quite hastily, going to grab their things and head to the plane. Garcia stayed put, gathering all of her belongings, while Spencer seemed to be moving at the pace of an injured turtle. (y/n) just sat, relatively unsure of what she was to be doing. She knew she was to stay at the headquarters and process the paperwork from the case and be readily available to help the team in any way she could from her position, but there wasn’t exactly anything to work on until they actually arrived on the scene. Plus she didn’t even have a desk.

Not wanting to look like she was stalling from getting any work done, she decided to strike up a conversation with Spencer, who was still placing papers into his file. Without looking at him, she said, “You’re a little young to be a profiler, aren’t you?” When he didn’t immediately reply, she assumed it was because he heard it all the time and she was either boring him or accidentally offending him. Unfortunately, the curse of her anxiety forced her to continue, “I mean, I’m 22 and I’m only an intern, I can’t imagine having a whole ass career with the FBI already. And a doctorate, huh? How do you even find time to accomplish so much in so few years?”

Spencer had finished getting himself together while she rambled, and threw his satchel over his shoulder. “Well, I’m not 22, I’m 33,” was all he gave her in response.

(y/n) was taken aback. “Could’ve fooled me. You look 20.” She wasn’t sure if he would take that as an insult or a compliment, but she wasn’t quite sure which she meant it to be anyways.

“But I got my first doctorate at 17, so either way,” he trailed off.

His first doctorate. (y/n)’s blood boiled. The way he was basically standing over her and rubbing in her face just how smart he was. Not that he had actually done anything wrong, she knew he was just answering the questions she had initially asked, but she hated people who were smarter than her. More, she hated people who were smarter than her and weren’t shy about letting her know. Granted, she knew she wasn’t all that intelligent, so most people were significantly smarter anyways, but she couldn’t help the way she felt.

“I have to go. Good luck with your first case, intern. You’ll need it,” He spoke, emphasis on “you’ll” as if anyone else wouldn’t need the luck.

(y/n) watched him leave, like she was throwing daggers to the back of his head with her eyes. “He’ll grow on you,” Garcia smiled, about to leave the room herself, octopus mug in hand. (y/n) wanted so badly to retort with how certain she was that he wouldn’t, but refrained. She didn’t want to come across as a judgemental bitch on her first day. “I’m heading to my lair, so just holler if you need me!”

About an hour of scrolling her facebook and instagram feeds had passed, before (y/n) decided she should probably take some initiative and get some work done. The issue was, she still didn’t know exactly what it was she was supposed to do until she got some information from a profiler. It took some internal convincing, but eventually she walked out towards the hall, looking for Garcia’s office. She figured she might have some work she needed help with, and (y/n) was happy to help until she had a task of her own. She didn’t know where her office was, but it only took a few minutes of wandering around like a fool before she found it. The door was locked and needed a keycard to open which (y/n) clearly didn’t have yet, so she knocked. She didn’t know why she was so scared, she just didn’t want to get anything wrong. It was no secret she was going to be the dumbest one on the team, and she didn’t need another thing for Spencer to have against her.

Garcia must have been waiting, or, alternatively be a really fast runner, because the door opened almost immediately. “Yes, hello, how may I assist you padawan?”

“Um, I don’t really have anything to work on yet, so I thought maybe you could make use of me? I also, uh, don’t have, like, a desk, or space, to set up,” (y/n) laughed as if she was telling a joke, which she wasn’t, but the nerves were building up.

Garcia lit up, radiating enthusiasm. “Yes, yes of course,” she practically squealed, ushering (y/n) into her office and pulling up a chair. “We will get you to work right away, and I’ll set you up with a desk immediately after. But first, work.”

Suddenly any trace of anxiousness disappeared, and for the first time all day, (y/n) was completely absorbed with excitement. Maybe it was the motherly tone of Garcia’s voice, or maybe it was the assortment of figurines and toys surrounding her computers, but something about this dark room was comforting.

Garcia spent the next few hours with (y/n), showing her the basics of her program; the stuff anyone could pick up on. As she was explaining how to follow a phone’s GPS on the map, a phone rang, startling (y/n).

“Hellooooo, my big brained beauty, I am at your service,” Garcia quipped into her cell, as she put it on speaker for the two of them to hear.

“Two things. I need you to check Melaney’s employment history, go as far back as you can. I’m talking about high school jobs. I also have a hit on her new phone number since the one on file was out of service, so I need you to see if you can track it,” Spencer didn’t ask, he instructed, before reading off the number.

“Yes, yes, easy peasy lemon squeezy. (y/n), you got the phone?”

(y/n) didn’t speak, not wanting to converse with Spencer, she just nodded and got to work. She was still a little hesitant around the system, so she knew it would take a couple extra minutes.

Spencer didn’t speak for a moment either, but as (y/n) was coming to learn, that boy didn’t stay silent for long. “(y/n)’s there?” he questioned Garcia, as opposed to just speaking to (y/n) directly.

“Aren’t you going to say hi?” (y/n) teased.

“Aren’t you an intern? Shouldn’t you be bringing Garcia her coffee, not trying to intervene with the case the adults are working?” Spencer snapped. Though nothing in his tone would suggest it, she knew it had to be a joke. There was no way he was that mean.

(y/n) dug back almost immediately, “I’m not that kind of intern, dumbass.” She didn’t mean to call him that, it just came out. It was what she called all her friends when they were joking around, the only difference being Spencer was not her friend.

It felt like minutes passed before Garcia yelled, “Hit ya back!” and hung up the phone.

Four days had gone by, and (y/n) was loving her new job. She had finally had the chance to help out every member of the team, at least over the phone. Garcia had kept her promise and helped her pick out a desk. The catch being, there were only two available, so it was either across from Spencer or squished in with another team. Since Spencer was away, she didn’t exactly mind her new spot, but she also knew that would change the moment they had to spend a whole day just feet apart. Garcia was still insisting that the two would grow close, because according to her, no one ever disliked Spencer. But also according to Garcia, he was charming and had one of the kindest souls she had ever come across. Sure, she technically knew him much, much better than (y/n), but somehow she found those claims hard to believe.

The case had closed, and (y/n) was working on the last bit of her paperwork when she heard the team wandering into the bullpen.

“What are you doing there?” a shrill voice asked from behind her, and it didn’t take a genius to know it was Spencer trying to accuse her of something. He made his way to his side of the desk and took a seat, staring her in the eyes, waiting for a response.

“This is my desk, Spencie. I’m like a real team member now.” She grinned, gesturing to her space, which she had set up with a few personal items and had organized neatly.

He didn’t smile back, he just quietly mumbled, “Not really.”

Spencer didn’t try to continue the conversation, but (y/n) wasn’t done. Besides, she was dying to talk to someone who wasn’t Garcia. As lovely as the woman was, (y/n) found she appreciated her more in small doses. “So, is four days, like, average? Like, for solving cases?” she asked, genuinely curious as to what to expect in the future.

“2.367,” Spencer spoke, not looking up from the piece of paper in his hand.

“Okay, yeah,” she replied, with an influxion in her voice that told Spencer she had no idea what he was saying.

“That’s how many days it takes us on average to solve a case, from the time we get debriefed on the details here to the time we’re getting ready to board the jet back home.”

(y/n) dropped everything and leaned forward. She made sure to catch his eye before speaking, “I just love how you’re so specific about everything. All your statistics? Absolutely fascinating to me. Anyone else would’ve just said it was about 2 and a half days, but you… You’re clearly so much better than anyone else, because you give exacts. Super cool.”

Spencer subconsciously started playing with the pen on his desk, indicating he was getting upset, but beyond that, he kept his cool. He couldn’t let her win. Not that easy. “You don’t find it fascinating.”

“No, I find it weird. And annoying.”

Just when Spencer was about to completely rip into her, Hotch came down the stairs and interrupted. “That was a draining one, I want everyone to head home, get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he gave his farewell. Before heading to the elevator, he turned to (y/n). “Good work, (y/n), it’s great to have you on this team.”

She smiled and thanked him, making sure to throw in a joke in an attempt to crack him, before turning back to Spencer, who was already on his feet and raring to go. “Night, Spence,” she spoke while gathering her things up herself.

“Don’t call me that,” was all he said as he left the office. Something about the way he said it made (y/n) feel bad for the first time. All she was doing was wishing him well on his way out and he had to make her feel like shit over it. Over a nickname. She made a mental note that “Spence” was apparently crossing a line while she waited for the elevator that he was on to go down, so she didn’t have to leave the building with him.

[shapeshiftinterest]

The ‘Fake’ First Date: rufus x reg (CH 1)

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

mao mao heroes of pure heart valentines day event

prompt mix:

day 3: first date

day 7: one milkshake

big thank you to @ao3zephyrous for beta reading this chapter!!

story under the read more

The ‘Fake’ First Date (also on ao3)

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Rufus was sweating. He wanted to kick his past self. Sure this would have been a great con if they’d been partners for a while, but they’d only started working together a few months ago.

Damn it all! The waitress was waiting for their next move. Think, Rufus,THINK!

                                              -Earlier That Day-

“We’re in luck, Reggie,” Rufus said, gleefully rubbing his paws together. “It’s All Heart’s Day, and that means couples discounts galore.“ Reg watched as the fox spun in a circle, throwing his arms in the air and grinning at the idea of all that basically free stuff. 

“I didn’t have anyone to do this with previously, but now that you’re here we can put my plan into motion!“

“Whaddaya mean?“

“I mean, my dear Reg, that we can dupe all those store owners into thinking we’re a couple so that we can take advantage of the discounts,” he said, turning to look at the other and slicking his ears back with a paw.

“Ooooh. Wow Rufus! That’s really smart,” Reg clapped.

                                                      -------------

The pair had taken a few minutes to go over their story (first date as boyfriends after being friends for years) before setting off into town. The first few stores had been easy. A hug here, a hand on the shoulder there, and bam! free samples and Heart’s Day couple coupons.

 At one point Reg had pointed out a cloth stand (unfortunately no discounts) and distracted the vendor so he could sneak over and swipe a bolt. They decided on cutting some for themselves, turning the cloth into matching scarves and saving the rest to sell later. 

Rufus was so impressed at the gesture and the little detail to add to the con that he almost swooned a little. HA! Truly a raccoon after his own heart.

He’d been so giddy about his ploy that he’d forgotten they’d probably need to practice their couple act past just saying they were on a date. 

They’d been walking across the street when Rufus noticed the store’s promotional sign. 

[Come to our cafe! Heart‘s Day Special: Couples get 75% off if participating in Cutest Couple Photo Contest! Try our free Forever Love Milkshake ($25 coupon for future use if finished in 10 minutes)]

Not one to waste such an opportunity, he alerted his partner in crime with a subtle nudge, nodding his head in the direction of the cafe. 

                                                      -------------

~ding a ling~

“Hello, dear customers~ Welcome to Cafe Ruvia. How may I help you today?“ a waitress greeted them. She grinned wolfishly, tail swishing lazily behind her.

“Ah, yes, we’re here for the Heart’s Day Specials-”

“Oh?“

Rufus’s eye twitched, but his smile stayed in-tact. He hated being interrupted.

“But where’s your partner?“ she asked, craning her head to look around him.

“Pssst Rufus,“ Reg whispered behind his hand, shuffling over to tug at his jacket. “That milkshake is HUGE!“

They both watched as another waitress set a Forever Love Milkshake in front of an already seated couple. The glass looked to be about a foot high, not counting all the whipped cream and toppings.

Rufus turned back to the girl in front of them and put his paw on Reg’s back, pushing him forward for her to see. “This is my partner, miss...,” he squinted at her name tag, “Charlotte.”

She narrowed her eyes at the pair. Hmmm. They certainly looked the part. But then again, there were a ton of people pretending to date just for free stuff, especially on Heart’s Day. Her smile widened, deciding to test them a little.

“Haha, my mistake. I thought you were just friends.“ The waitress held up a camera, ignoring Rufus’s scoff. “If you’re participating in our Cutest Couple Photo Contest it’s mandatory to take the picture before coming in. Please step this way sirs.“

                                                       -Present-

And now the two were being stared down by a waitress with a camera. Ugh. She was probably trying to test if they were an actual couple or something. 

Rufus wasn’t sure what to do. Sure he could flirt and flaunt at a moments notice and Reg was easy to talk to, but it wasn’t like they were particularly close or anything.

“Are you sure y’all are together?“ she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I-“

“Sorry miss, my boyfriend’s kind of shy about PDA.“ Rufus and Charlotte turned to look at Reg in surprise. “I asked him out a few weeks ago. Thought if we had matching scarves it’d make us look more couple-y,“ he laughed, moving in to hug said ‘boyfriend‘ before pulling away to hold his paw.

Rufus’s eyebrows went up. Apparently his new accomplice was skilled at improv, how unexpected!

“Is there anything we need to do for the picture?“ Reg asked, looking up at the waitress. Charlotte giggled behind the paw not holding her camera.

“Just a kiss is all. Any kind is fine though if it makes it easier for your guy,“ she winked.

Rufus’s tail bristled. He didn’t really like being seen as the shy type but he guessed he’d have to suck it up for now. 

Reg nodded, lifting his arms in a ‘pick me up’ motion. The waitress adjusted her camera and smiled. “Say Cheese!”

Well this wasn’t too big of a deal. Rufus leaned in for a forehead kiss- only for Reg to grab him by the scarf and pull him down for an actual one. Oh. Oh my.

“Mmph?!” he squeaked, eyes snapping open right as Charlotte snapped the picture. It was a tremendous effort not to chuck the raccoon at her smug little face afterwards.

“It came out wonderfully! I’ll just put this on the voting board and someone will come seat you in a moment~“

                                                      -------------

“Reg that was brilliant! How did you come up with that story so quickly?“ he asked, pulling Reg’s chair out.

“There’s a character like that in the game I’m playing right now.”

They talked a bit more before waving down one of the waitresses and deciding to do the milkshake challenge before eating. It was much bigger in person, about half a head taller than Rufus and dressed to the nines in what seemed to be every topping under the sun.

It didn’t feel like they’d be able to finish it, but halfway through the time limit Reg had gotten a second wind. He practically inhaled the rest of the milkshake. 

Unfortunately they didn’t win the picture contest. That was gifted to some kind of snake-orangutan hybrid (did they even count as a couple or ???). 

Rufus scowled at Charlotte as she pranced over with a little extra pep in her step. Tch.

“You didn’t win but it’s still a cute pic right?“ she handed the item over to Reg "Come again soon!"

“Thank you!“ he waved back as they left the café. “She seemed nice.”

Rufus huffed and crossed his arms. “About as nice as a cactus.”

“Aw cheer up Rufus,“ the raccoon took something out of his hat. “At least we have some of their silverware.“

He took one look at the stolen utensils and back to Reg before bursting out into laughter.

“Oh Reggie, I think this is the start of a beautiful partnership,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye.

________________________________________________________________

chapter 2 is a year to a few years in the future

[obscure-sentimentalist]

73, dealer's choice merlyn boys au, dealer's choice characters

[I’d just like to remind you that you’re the one who made a monster out of this. ;-) And I thank you for it.]

Prompt from the drabble challenge list

Part I to an as-yet-untitled obligatory college AU, which finds our favorite twins meeting a few years earlier than in the Old enough ‘verse. Featuring an appearance by the biggest eyesore of a haircut, and a nod to the fact that Connor Rhodes grew up in Chicago in the ‘90s, and would have attended a very particular Stranger Danger assembly.

Harvard, October 2003

“Um,” Connor starts, politely averting his eyes from the curly-haired brunette making very scant use of his comforter. “Is there a reason you’re naked in my bed?”

“Oh, Tommy,” she sighs, somehow making it sound both scolding and sultry. “Is that any way to accept a surprise?” She shifts on the bed, sheets slipping down even further. “I wasn’t sure where you were in the dorms, but I’d seen you out with your roommate enough to recognize him, and he was more than happy to let me in and leave us be for a while.”

As much as that is to unpack (he’ll really need to have a chat with Charlie about letting in strange girls—or anyone, really—claiming to know and wanting to surprise him), there’s one key part of her explanation that sends Connor’s face into his palms with a beleaguered groan.

Really, this again?

“Okay,” he starts, dragging his hands down his face but still keeping his eyes closed. “I’m going to put this as nicely as I can: I have no idea who you are…”

“I’m Jen,” she cuts in, in a questionably helpful way. Good to put a name to the, uh… face in his dorm-supplied twin bed, but her tone is already heated enough to indicate that this isn’t supposed to be a pleasant reminder.

“Great, Jen, then,” Connor acknowledges, then dives back in. “Please listen when I tell you that I did not know your name until you just told me, because we have never met before now. I have no idea why you think it’s acceptable to sneak into someone’s dorm room as an… unwrapped gift at,” he cracks one eye open to squint at his watch, “3:52 on a Wednesday afternoon, but I’m sure this ‘Tommy’ you think I am won’t particularly appreciate it either.”

There’s a moment of stunned silence at that, and Connor, with his eyes still dutifully closed, can’t get a clear read of the room. Still, he hopes that just maybe this will be the time someone actually listens to him and…

“Ugh, I should have known you were actually that much of a bad-boy jerk,” Jen snaps, violently throwing off the covers entirely as they land with a heavy thump on the floor. There’s hasty shuffling like she’s now out of the bed and throwing her clothes back on, all the while ranting, “Saying that you’re not Tommy, oh, that’s rich. Like I don’t know exactly how you look, and that this is some sort of mistaken identity situation.”

Figuring that this disappointing (yet not surprising) reaction means that Jen is decent enough that it won’t be impolite to do so, Connor’s eyes snap back open. “Because that’s exactly what’s happeni—”

Aaaaaaand there’s the slap.

“If you’re not actually interested, don’t lead a girl on and then act like you don’t know her!” Jen calls angrily as she stomps towards the door. It bangs against the wall as she yanks it open—the vibration sending Connor’s small tower of CDs clattering to the wood floor—and just as violently slams shut upon her departure.

Rubbing his stinging left cheek, Connor finally gives in and drops down to the large area rug with an exasperated exhale, flopping onto his back with the limpness of a dead fish. If this keeps happening, he’s going to have a permanent hand-shaped bruise on his face—that’ll be a barrel of fun to explain.

He gets but a few moments to bemoan this continued streak of inexplicable misfortune by himself, before the latch clicks and the door cracks back open.

“I just got settled into one of the comfiest sections of the common area before I was loudly alerted that I no longer needed to be there,” Charlie greets, snapping his Intro to Psych textbook closed and padding the rest of the way into their room. “You know, that girl has a set of lungs on her. Also, a very extensive vocabulary. Is she a theater major?”

“I think I have an evil twin,” Connor admits feebly, not even bothering to address the question. “One who’s very popular with the ladies, yet somehow makes himself scarce when they come calling. Which means I’m the one who gets my soul sucked out through a passionate lip-lock, or my ass smacked while walking through the Yard, or an unclothed guest in my bed. And subsequently gets slapped for kindly telling them that they have the wrong guy.”

“Sure,” Charlie snorts, disbelieving, as he carefully steps over Connor and plops onto his bed. “This ‘evil twin’ want to own up for running in nothing but boxers past the art museum last Thursday night?”

Connor sits bolt-upright at that. “Wait, you’ve seen him? And he did what?”

That just earns him a pillow swatted to the face. “Dude, if you lost a bet or that was some pre-med hazing ritual, I’m not gonna judge you. I will, though, if you keep pretending that wasn’t you.”

“Because it wasn’t…” Connor starts, highly offended, before he gives up and drops bonelessly back down. “Fine, whatever. Clearly it’s more believable that I’m meeting people and doing things about which I later lie and claim I don’t remember, rather than the increasingly probable doppelgänger theory.”

Charlie just rolls his eyes, yanking his pillow away from Connor’s face and propping it up behind his head as he sinks back on the bed. “Come on, you actually think you’re unlucky enough to have ended up at the exact same college as someone who looks completely identical to you and has a wild social life, the consequences of which have been doled out to you?” He pulls a dubious face. “Seems like a stretch to me.”

Connor just rolls over and screams his frustration into the rug.

. . .

“Okay, your conjecture might hold a little water,” Charlie admits the following Monday, watching the latest woman scorned sashay away, ponytail swinging. “You’re not even taking an Econ class, and wouldn’t have any reason to lie to her about it to get her to study with you.”

“That’s the detail that convinced you?” Connor grits out, trying very hard to remain upright (if doubled-over) and not topple to the ground in agony. People are already staring with varying degrees of curiosity and unadulterated amusement—no need to further draw their attention. “Not the fact that she called me by a completely different name?”

Charlie just shrugs, patting Connor pityingly on the back before looping one arm around him to help out. “People make mistakes. And how am I to know that you don’t moonlight under a fake name to pick up girls?”

“Exactly what is your understanding of me as a person?” Connor asks, utterly dumbfounded by the suggestion as the two of them carefully stagger down the sidewalk. Hysteria rising to distract from the pain, he cries, “I have spent the last three weekends studying at the library! I don’t even have my own college social life, and certainly not one built entirely on lies under an alias like ‘Tommy’!”

“Hey, I’m just saying. You do seem like a guy who’d enjoy a relationship where he regularly gets his ass handed to him, and, well, that’s a viable method for testing those waters.”

“You are a terrible, terrible friend,” is all Connor manages to groan back, refusing to acknowledge how close to target that assessment hits.

. . .

Having endured nearly two full months of painful cases of mistaken identity and no sign of the elusive Econ course-taking, multiple romantic interest-making “Tommy,” Connor has fully accepted that this is to be his campus life moving forward. He still tries—futile as it’s proven time and again—to explain each time that he’s not the boy they’re looking for, if only because it’s the polite thing to do.

(Others’ responses to the revelation, on the other hand, have yet to meet him halfway on that front.)

It would make sense, at this point, to actively start seeking out this apparent look-alike, but even with leads like a first name and enrollment in an intro-level economics course, that’s still too broad a suspect pool. Much as the mystery gnaws at him (and results in various slaps, tellings-off, strikes to more vulnerable parts…), Connor can’t justify putting his already limited free time towards tracking someone down for the sole purpose of proving their existence.

And so, he’s contented—in a very loose sense of the word—himself simply with the knowledge that he has a double somewhere on the Harvard campus, and instead focused his efforts on excelling in this next quarter’s classes.

This goal is what finds him tucked away in the undergraduate library the night before Halloween, bent over books and notepad with an unnecessary sort of concentration for the silence and lack of students in the immediate area. Thursdays usually brought in a decent-sized crowd for a pre-weekend night, but this time, it seems like most are out getting a start on the holiday.

The particular combination of focus and quiet is what alerts Connor so pointedly to the shuffle of feet down one of the aisles to his right, then the sudden halt and hushed backtrack. Whoever else is haunting the stacks tonight seems to be startled to find Connor as well, and isn’t being discreet about how he’s drawn their attention, if the eyes boring into his turned-down skull are any indication.

“Can I help you?” Connor finally prompts, not looking up but speaking clearly enough to address the lurker directly. “Or can we both just go about our evenings without bothering each oth—”

“Yeah, actually,” a male voice interrupts, moving closer with the footsteps until their owner yanks back the chair directly opposite Connor’s and plunks down. He audibly hedges a moment, before amending, “Well, more like I can help you.”

“You don’t say,” Connor says dryly, finally giving his uninvited guest a pointed look up from his books. Doing so reveals a sandy blond-haired guy with what has to be the sleaziest haircut for someone their age, and an expression that wouldn’t look out-of-place on a true crime documentary.

“You’re… Connor, aren’t you?” he starts, smiling in a way that he must think is friendly (or akin enough to it, since he doesn’t seem all that thrilled about this meeting either).

Before he can think better of it, Connor huffs out a bitter laugh at that. “Wow, first time a stranger’s actually called me by that name,” he notes, before making a point of turning back to his work and away from the conversation.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t dissuade the other guy—who Connor feels inclined to call Serial Killer Haircut, given his questionable style and mannerisms. “So it’s been happening to you, too.”

That sufficiently draws Connor’s attention back, almost fast enough to give him whiplash from jerking his head up. Probably not the best move, he realizes after a moment, as it’s given too much away, and there isn’t anything close to a resemblance between the two of them.

The dubiety must be sharp on Connor’s face, as Serial Killer Haircut backs up. “No, no, I’m not… it’s my best friend.” His face falls a bit at that, eyes canting to the side with a rising uncertainty—reluctance, even. It lasts for one extended moment, before he finally turns back to Connor and sighs, “And after seeing you… I think you need to meet each other.”

Well, this has certainly taken a turn.

“That uncanny, huh?” Connor murmurs, finally accepting that he’s not getting any more work done until this is over and snapping his textbook closed to give Serial Killer Haircut his full investment in this matter. The guy still skeeves him out a bit—certainly enough that, under any other circumstances, Connor would be throwing his wallet one way and running the other direction—but that hesitation says something about the sincerity of the claim. If this is a prank, there’d be no reason for the blond to sound like making the claim to Connor is the last thing he personally wants to do, but knows it’s the right thing.

Serial Killer Haircut laughs weakly, ducking his head as he gives it a small shake. “I’ve honestly known him my entire life. Even though I knew where he was, when I first walked by,” he lifts his head back up and leans back in the chair, giving Connor a quick once-over, “you actually got me for a second.”

“The fact that you figured it out sets you apart from everyone else.” Connor’s feeling just generous enough to give Serial Killer Haircut that point. “What gave me away?”

“Besides the fact that you must be enough of a nerd to be the only one studying here?” He cracks a grin that’s more than a little sharp and mean—almost like it’s a last-minute reminder to both Connor and himself that they’re not friends—but after a moment, his shoulders drop into an easy shrug. “I don’t know, I just… could tell the difference.”

Connor’s expression sours at the jab, and the unclear explanation only earns a flat hum of acknowledgement. They’ve reached something of a standstill here, and Serial Killer Haircut is starting to wear out his welcome, but Connor doesn’t want to lose this one solid lead to the elusive “Tommy.”

“Well, could you tell me how I can get in contact with him?” Connor finally prompts, reaching for his notebook and pen to jot the information down. The sooner he gets it, the sooner the two of them will be out of the other’s (in certain cases, humanity-affronting) hair. “That way we can find a time to meet up, if he wants to.”

Connor glances up just in time to catch Serial Killer Haircut looking at him as if Connor’s the one who should be posing for a mugshot.

“He was already supposed to meet me after I, uh, found something I thought I left in the stacks earlier, and we were going to go for some pizza,” Serial Killer Haircut admits. “If I don’t bring you with and Tommy finds out I met you, I’m going to wake up tomorrow morning duct-taped to our dorm room ceiling or something.”

Connor finds himself unable to do anything but sputter at that, glancing frantically at the pile of study materials in front of him before managing a strangled “Now?”

As desperately as he now wants the answers that have been teased—as to exactly how similar he looks to Tommy, what that means, why Tommy has so many women looking to slap the living daylights out of him—going from concrete confirmation of Tommy’s existence to actually meeting him is a big jump in such a short time. This is not how Connor expected to be spending his evening.

Alas, Serial Killer Haircut shows no empathy for Connor’s plight (but that was a long-shot, anyway). “It’s not like you have anything better to do—and no, the studying doesn’t count,” he clarifies, glaring at the books before Connor can say anything. “I refuse to be duct tape-waxed—again—when you could have prevented it from happening.”

Tempting as it may be to leave Serial Killer Haircut to his fate, Connor figures that it’s probably better to keep their relationship at a thus-far mild dislike rather than accelerating straight for enemy territory. He gets the impression that the other guy could easily live up to his nickname if pushed the wrong way.

“You’d think I’d know better by now than to be enticed into heading to a secondary location,” Connor cracks as he finally gives in and shoves his books into his bag.

“What?” There’s that look again, the pot calling the kettle certifiable, yet Serial Killer Haircut still gets up from the table and waits for Connor to finish gathering his things.

Connor waves it off, slinging his bag over his shoulder and following the blond out towards the exit.

Time to see if those answers are worth bucking the rules of street smarts.

. . .

The payoff starts to roll out the second they step outside the library and into the late fall air, when another figure falls into step on Serial Killer Haircut’s other side and exaggeratedly bumps shoulders with him.

“You took your time,” the newcomer greets, and Connor almost trips over his own feet at the voice. That sounds a little too familiar to his ears, as if it should be originating from his own throat.

Serial Killer Haircut sighs, turning his head and angling his body in just a way that it blocks Connor’s view of Tommy (because that’s surely Tommy) and vice-versa. “I got held up,” he says, and instead of leading into the promised introduction with which he’d persuaded Connor to come along, he just… leaves it at that.

Alright, that’s strike one for Connor going against his better judgement and trusting this guy.

“‘Held up’, huh?” Tommy asks, definitely not buying into the explanation. “Who’s even here the night before Halloween?”

Connor most certainly doesn’t miss the scheming glance Serial Killer Haircut gives him out of the corner of his eye before replying, “You know pre-meds. No social life whatsoever, so they take to hiding out in the library.”

Strike two.

Given Serial Killer Haircut’s mean streak and the claim that he’d known Tommy since birth, Connor braces himself for a returning dig from his unseen doppelgänger. He almost stumbles in surprise again, though, when there instead comes a pitiful groan.

“Yes, I now know more pre-meds than I should, all because they keep accosting me and calling me ‘Connor’ and asking for lab notes that I don’t have and wanting to walk with me to lectures I’m not taking,” Tommy rattles off, voice going tight from the lack of air between words, yet heat never seeps into his tone. He finally gulps in a breath, only to immediately jump back in. “And it… I don’t know, kind of makes me jealous? That there are people out there thinking I’m someone else, and who actually want to find him because he’s great at something, and I ju-…”

The word snaps off so suddenly that Connor unconsciously screeches to a halt in order to crane his head around Serial Killer Hair—disregarding whatever game he’s playing with acting as a human blinder—and find out what interrupted Tommy.

It’s a pretty clear answer when Connor turns to find that Serial Killer Hair has his head tossed back, cackling, a few yards behind them, and Tommy is staring straight at Connor with an utterly dumbstruck expression.

One that Connor is certain that he now mirrors exactly, because there’s looking pretty similar to someone, and then there’s being identical.

“Well,” he starts weakly, looking Tommy straight in the eye, “I can assure you, you’ve been in high demand too.”

[thewritewolf]

Eating Habits Chapter 14: Baby Steps

Marinette is freaking out since the student spring fashion show is coming up soon. Chloe finds healing in her own way. 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 (Final)

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

Marinette’s foot tapped a rapid tempo as she watched the final preparations for the dry run of the spring show from her chair near the changing rooms. She wasn’t sure what it looked like from the seats, but backstage it was a sort of ordered chaos, not unlike backstage at the Jagged Stone concert a few months ago. Except, this time the stakes were far more personal.

Her nerves were shot to pieces, but that was about what she expected. This show was the culmination of everything she’d been working towards for the entire semester. Her fellow students had pulled out their best work as well and it was all she could do not to rush to her pieces and do even more last minute adjustments.

A hand settled itself over her knee and stilled her fidgeting. She blinked up at Adrien who was smiling at her patiently, wearing one of her spring outfits. Crouching down in front of her, he brought his eyes level to hers.

“You must think I’m freaking out over nothing,” she said, hunching her shoulders and looking away. “I know, this isn’t much compared to… um, everything else we've done, but…”

“No, I don’t think that at all,” Adrien replied, touching her chin to gently guide her gaze back to his. “It’s your first real fashion show with a bunch of people giving their all to make an impression. People are watching now, people whose opinions are listened to in the world of fashion.”

“You’ve only gotten better at these pep talks over the years, kitty,” Marinette said dryly.

“Let them watch. I know for a fact that you are one of the best designers here, if not the best. And I’ll be right here for the entire time, doing my damnedest to show off your amazing work. They’re going to see you just like I see you.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “As the amazing.” A kiss to her temple. “Wonderful.” Her cheek. “Talented.” A chaste kiss to her lips. “Designer who is going to rock the entire fashion industry to its core.” His hands left her knees and took her hands. “And I’ll be right there, cheering you on every step of the way.”

Between the nerves and the stress and his sweet words, it took all of Marinette’s will not to turn into a crying mess right then and there. Instead, she hugged his neck and whispered thanks into his ear.

As he pulled away, she first noticed the lack of his warmth. Quickly following that was the realization that he had grabbed her coffee.

“Hey!”

“Sorry, sweetie,” Adrien said, taking a large sip. “I told you no coffee or energy drinks till the show is over. We both know that they make you more anxious than you usually are and only barely help.”

“But… tasty…”

“I’ll make you a fruit smoothie when we’re done, I promise.” He took a few steps backwards and gave her a very Chat-like wink before tossing the remainder of the cup into the garbage and taking his place in the line up.

Marinette crossed her arms and grumbled to herself. “Stupid boyfriend, trying to have my best interests at heart…”

-------------------

Marinette clenched the fabric of her skirt in her hands, desperate to release any of the nervous energy she was holding onto. Meanwhile, Alya reached for a macaroon. Halfway toward getting it to her mouth, Alya noticed Marinette’s distress and raised her eyebrows.

“You wanna talk about it, girl?”

Marinette dragged her eyes away from where Tikki and Trixx were chasing each other in the kitchen, and looked at her friend. “Actually, if we could talk about anything but the upcoming show, that’d be great.”

“Are you sure? Talking it out might help you get some of that frustration out.”

“At this point, it’s just me over thinking things. I’m happy with where my designs are, but I keep imagining them in my head, looking for anything that could go wrong.” She sighed and buried her face in her hands. “I just… need to think about something else.” Poking out from behind her fingers, she asked, “So how’s work?”

“Oh they’re about to send me out of country on some dangerous missions. But it’s all to bring the truth to the people, so that’s all that matters, right M?”

Marinette’s eyes widened and her hands ceased her fidgeting to instead cover her mouth, which had opened into a small ‘o’. “Really?!”

“No.”

All the tension that had suddenly appeared in Marinette’s shoulders vanished as quick as it had appeared. She leaned across the couch to smack Alya. “Not cool, Al! You really worried me!”

“Sorry,” Alya replied with a snicker. “But nah, they’ve still got me doing local news stories. Which isn’t so bad, Paris is a pretty interesting place after all. Even without the supervillains.” Alya took a deep sip of her glass of red wine, a constant companion of their girls’ night in days. “And don’t get me wrong - I get why they don’t want to give the big, juicy stuff to the newbie reporter.”

“But…?” Marinette prompted when Alya starting staring into space, biting her lower lip.

“But… I’m starting to get restless again. I feel that energy from back when I was doing the Ladyblog - always something to do back then! An akuma to track down, a victim to interview, puzzle pieces to put together.” She absently swirled her wine glass. “A lot of freedom too...”

“You’re getting that look again.”

“Look?”

“Mhm. Your game face. You want your next big challenge.” She gently shoved Alya’s shoulder. “And go for it, Al! You can still do your job while having something on the side. A passion project or something.”

Alya considered this with another sip of her wine.

“You might be onto something there, girl.” She nudged her with her elbow. “But hey! Talking is only part of what we came here to do. How about we start up a bad rom com?” Marinette groaned. “Oh, hush. You’re basically a living rom com anyway, with how you and Adrien are.”

While Marinette sputtered and tried to argue, Alya cackled as she ducked out of Marinette’s reach to put the dvd in.

--------------

“How I missed Paris,” Chloe sighed as she stepped outside of the fashion boutique, carrying two large bags of the latest styles. “You should see some of the things I saw Americans wearing. Ridiculous, Adrikins. Absolutely ridiculous.”

Adrien chuckled as he fell into step beside her, the padding of his comfortable shoes drowned out by the confident clicking of Chloe’s heels. “So that’s all you missed while you were abroad, Chlo?”

Chloe peered at him over her large sunglasses. “Coy isn’t a good look on you. But no,” she added after a moment, “I suppose I missed the people too. You. Kagami.” Adrien watched her patiently and eventually she groaned and stamped her feet. “Okay, fine! Even Alya, Nino, and Marinette.”

“I’m happy to hear it,” Adrien said, giving her a thumbs up. “They’re certainly warming up to you too.”

“Right. Good. Not that I care, or anything.” Chloe sniffed and walked just a little bit faster. Adrien fought down a smile - he could recognize Chloe running away from her feelings any day of the week. Which is why he was surprised when she slowed down again, just before they reached her living space. When she spoke, it was more of a whisper. “So mom called again.”

The smirk he’d been wearing vanished in an instant, a serious expression replacing it. “What did she want this time?”

“Same as usual,” Chloe replied while swiping her card at the gate. “She was asking when I’d be coming back. It’s getting harder to tell her that I won’t be.”

“You’ll have to eventually,” Adrien said patiently. “You’ve already put it off for more than six months now.”

“Duh, Adrien. I get that part.” There was venom in her voice, but it was half-hearted and gone by the time she continued. “But knowing that and actually doing something about it aren’t the same thing.”

“You’ll get there eventually,” Adrien said, putting a hand on Chloe’s shoulder. “And it’s alright to be scared. She dominated your life for a long time. No one is expecting you to get over that overnight.”

“Yeah… I guess…”

“If you want, I can be there when you call.” Adrien brightened up and said, “And you can invite Kagami too! She’s got a lot of experience at telling parents to back off, so I bet she’d be willing to give a few tips.”

Chloe smirked. “You might be onto something there. If I freeze up, maybe she can even take over and chew out dear old mom for me.”

“There’s the spirit!” Adrien held up his hand. “High fives for spunky Asian girlfriends!”

Laughing, Chloe managed to high five him. “Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.” They stepped into her apartment. She stopped and frowned at the air. “You know what I just realized?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s not just about taking out the toxic people in your life. You need to add good people if you want to heal.” She smiled at him. It was a rare smile on Chloe - there was no smugness, no spite to it. Just honest joy and peace. “I’m glad you’ve been in my life all these years, Adrien. Even when I didn’t deserve it, you were always a good friend.”

She hugged him and after a moment of hesitation he returned the hug.

“That’s the thing, Chloe. You always did deserve a good friend. You just didn’t realize it.”

---------------

Adrien as Chat Noir slipped in through their shared balcony after a long day hanging out with Chloe. He was emotionally spent after doing all he could to help his old friend and at this point all he wanted to do was curl up next to Marinette and go to sleep.

That plan had a slight hiccup when he looked up to see Marinette walking around in a circle, staring at one of her outfits for the spring show. It was actually one of the ones that he would be wearing, but the important fact was that it had been finished weeks ago. Specifically because it was so easy to get the measurements done.

“Hey, kitty,” she said absently, never once taking her eyes off of the outfit.

“Hey, love bug.” He walked behind her and put his arms around her waist, tucking his chin on the space between her shoulder and neck. This close, he could practically feel her exhaustion, from the way her body was sagging a little, to how her eyes struggled to stay open even as she focused on the task at hand. She needed sleep, even if she pretended like she didn’t. “Whatcha you looking at?”

She sighed. “Just… going over all my pieces for the show. Again. I need to make sure everything is perfect.”

“Hm…” he made a show of peering at the spring outfit. “Looks perfect to me. Why don’t you give it a once over in the morning, huh?”

“No, no, that’s alright. I might as well get it done now.” She squirmed a little against his embrace, but didn’t really try to escape.

Changing tactics, Adrien said, “Well, I’m going to bed. It was a long day today… I could use some cuddles.”

“Uh-huh,” Marinette replied distantly. Her focus was entirely on the mannequin in front of her. “Go to bed, I’ll be there in a bit.”

“Well, I didn’t want to have to do this, but…” Quickly changing his grip, Adrien picked her up in a princess carry. Marinette squeaked in protest as she was carried to the bedroom.

“Adrien! I’m-”

“-driving yourself crazy trying to find non existent flaws? I agree completely. Besides, you’re practically dead on your feet.”

“I am not,” Marinette said with a yawn. Her already feeble struggles had turned into her resting her head on his chest, eyes fluttering as she tried to keep them open.

“Mhm. If you really want to worry yourself sick again, you can do that in the morning.” He gently set her in bed and pulled the blankets over her. “Claws in.” A flash of green light later and he was crawling in beside her. “But for now - sleep.”

“No, I don’t want to,” she said, but she was already clinging onto him, eyes shut and face buried into his chest as she drifted off to sleep.

Adrien listened to her steady breathing as he stroked her hair, feeling himself follow her into unconsciousness.

[detectivesplotslies]

Boldly Going Going Gone

Oumota Week 2019 - Day 4: Fake Dating  / University

Description: Kaito's having enough trouble getting to class on time every week, and now he's found a distracting classmate that has his mind wandering all the while he's there! Word Count: 4228

Read on AO3 here

Note: This one’s been a bit delayed but I had this idea for it back during oumota week and I wanted to definitely get it done so here we are, late but better than never! Thank you @ryouverua & @sleeby-witch for beta edits and help <3 And a HUGE shout out to @golden-redhead for doing so much hard work organizing @oumota-events it was so great! Enjoy~!

---

Kaito Momota was always talking about getting ahead, pushing forwards, doing more. The impossible is possible; you just have to make it so, right? Well he was feeling a tinge of regret that his advisor had agreed wholeheartedly when making his schedule for that term. Back to back classes, club meetings, and a ton of volunteer work later, he knew that next year he might have to cool it on the impossible and try for the functional. 

In theory, the half hour between his History of Astronomy class and his Advanced Astrophysics class should have been enough.  When they had originally chosen those times, neither the rooms or the professors had been decided. How was he supposed to know the lectures were going to be on the exact opposite sides of the campus? Or that Prof. Jiha liked to go on long tangents that went overtime, had a strict attendance policy, and usually excused them a good 15 minutes late? Meanwhile, Prof. Idabashi always started punctually on the dot. There was no way to catch a break here! For the past two weeks he’d been running across campus as best he could and both times Kaito had arrived late and sweaty, hunting down a free seat at the back of the lecture hall while everyone watched. At least he could drop his workout for the day from his schedule. He didn’t mind all eyes on him, but he really wished he could get a seat in the front for once. 

Now, three weeks into classes, not much had changed. As usual, he was hurrying into the room with a quick apology shouted to the prof, who just nodded and continued to outline today’s topic, galaxy formation apparently, and looked for a seat. For once there was one near the middle of the hall, and despite having to push past a few people to get to it, it was his! 

Kaito sat in the seat, plopped his bag down, books on the fold out table arm for the lecture hall chair, and sighed. He received a shush from either side and a giggle from in front of him as the occupant turned to glance back at him briefly and roll his eyes. Kaito managed an apologetic look, but he found himself staring at the boy who laughed. Most of the other students were dressed more seriously, or at least comfortably, but this guy looked like he was dressed for a rave. Bright neon colours, netting, tight clothes, bracelets, and a black and white checkered scarf to top it all off - it all clashed so gratuitously that it felt like an assault on his eyes. His staring was met with a mischievous grin, and Kaito felt the heat rushing to his face. The boy turned back around in his seat, dark purple locks bouncing with his head as he did. Was he a non-major? Arts or theatre maybe? He stuck out like a sore thumb covered in kiddie bandaids. Kaito swore he hadn’t seen him before in any of the other classes he was in, or even this one. Then again it’s not like he’d met anyone new in Astrophysics yet given how he was always late and no one stuck around afterwards so maybe- 

Someone next to him dropped a pen and reached for it his peripheral, and Kaito snapped out of it. Right, the lecture! He hurriedly flipped through his books for the notepad and started copying out what was already on the whiteboard, attention back to the professor where it was due. He swore he heard that giggle again, though, even though that purple-haired head never turned back. 

Soon he settled into note taking and asking questions when the professor prompted, asking for expansion on things, and clarification. It wasn’t the coolest thing to do, but this stuff would be good to know in space, and he wasn’t gonna ignore it just because it wasn’t likely to be on the exam. Even so, with all the engagement, he kept stealing glances at the boy in front of him. He’d propped his phone up in a rainbow-patterned mug on his desk arm. Why did he have an empty ceramic mug in class anyways? Everyone else had paper cups from the nearby café. He hoped it was empty at least, or that poor phone was being punished. The boy had no paper or pen out, and he was alternating between picking at his nails and tugging at his hair idly. He didn’t ask any questions, either, but Kaito supposed that was normal enough considering the class size of 200. But something about him just kept distracting him from taking notes, despite the fact nothing he did was particularly attention grabbing. Maybe it was because of how little he was doing? Eventually Prof. Idabashi started to list the readings for next week, and Kaito turned to pick up his bag and stow his notes.  Not a minute later he looked up and among the first few to filter out of the class, the checkered-scarf kid was gone. For a second, he’s disappointed - he really did want to ask what his major was - but Kaito’s schedule waited for no man, and he headed off for a club meeting, scratching the back of his head as he thought. He kept his eyes peeled as he walked through the quad, but no telltale checkers.

Next week, Kaito arrived late as always, and had less luck with a seat, having to cram into one on an aisle in the very back left. Terrible view, and straining to hear, he tried to catch up as quickly as he could manage. Everything was very mathematical today, so he copied and figured he’d read it all over after. 

His eyes scanned the auditorium below him, hoping to spot that same guy. Why was he hoping again? Regardless, there he was, near the center, tugging at his purple locks again and- did he have a pie on his desk? With a spoon in it?? Was that allowed??? Kaito watched as this tiny guy took down an entire blueberry pie before the lecture even ended. Honestly, it was kind of impressive. 

It was because he was watching him that this time Kaito saw how quickly Checkers left, shoving the whole pie tray and that same mug into his bag in one fell swoop, swinging it on his back and hopping over the others in the row on the way to the door. 

Over the next few weeks, the boy Kaito only called Checkers continued to be a spectacle to anyone taking an interest. Flicking elastic bands at classmates, miming all of Professor Idabashi’s gestures, and even painting his nails at his seat. That last one should have caused a fuss, given the smell but no one else seemed to care. The student body’s apathy was strong. He’d seen him in bright pink, yellow, lime & purple, and even a traffic cone orange ensemble. Spotting him was never a challenge no matter where he sat. He was never on his phone, it just sat next to him propped up in the mug, but he took out an old school gameboy, a slinky and even some YuGiOh cards. 

On the day it rained Kaito had been soaked hair to toe, and when he walked in late it was Checkers who started a wolf whistle that spread embarrassingly through the hall as others joined in until Prof. Idabashi called for some professionalism. Kaito sat in the very back that day even with the free seats closer, his face red under the wet hair hanging loose.

The next week, however, his History of Astronomy lecture was cancelled. 

Kaito hadn’t really thought about it until he was headed to Astrophysics, but he could sit beside Checkers and actually ask him about why he had that mug today if he wanted. There was no other reason, of course. Why would there be another reason? He was just curious. With nervous energy and anticipation, he got there early by 15 minutes, and stepped into the hall, looking through the auditorium seats to realize that Checkers wasn’t even here yet. Great… So Kaito hovered at the front of the room, awkwardly leaning against the wall, smiling and nodding at the professor as he arrived. He ended up holding open the door and greeting most of his cohort as they came in too, asking how their other classes were going. He was laughing so hard at one of his classmate’s jokes that he almost missed the short boy in the checkered scarf ducking past him and racing up the aisle to a seat two steps at a time. He hopped down a row and sat next to someone, but there was still a free seat just past him. Kaito quickly excused himself from the conversation to a much confused classmate who was halfway through the next joke, and chased after him. 

Kaito headed down the row, carefully so as not to knock anyone. The boy looked up as he passed in front of him and sat down, purple eyes following him to the spot. Kaito grinned, lifted a hand and said, “Hey!” 

“Uh, hey,” Checkers said with a quick smile before going back to reaching into his bag. It hit Kaito then and there that watching someone over multiple classes was not the same as actually knowing them. They hadn’t even talked that time he was shushed. How do you even start a conversation without letting on that you’ve been essentially creeping someone? Despite the realization, he kept the grin plastered on his face and started to take out his notes. 

Kaito tapped his pen idly and gave the boy a sidelong glance. Today he was wearing a magenta shirt with some bright yellow diagonal stripes over teal leggings, and his checkered scarf, of course. He slid out of his bag a pack of gummy worms, a pair of chopsticks, and the rainbow mug, placing each on the desk-arm carefully. Then he plucked up his phone and placed it in the mug, and Kaito’s eyes widened. Of course! He could ask about that like he planned and use it as an opener! How had he forgot? “What’s that for?” Kaito asked, pointing at the mug that had the phone sitting in it with the pen in his hand. Checkers looked at him, expression painted with disbelief, and dramatically lifted the mug by the handle. “It’s for bringing a beverage to your lips! You know the handle’s really important for not burning yourself. I’m surprised a future rocket scientist doesn’t know that! They must have lowered their standards,” he answered smugly with a wide grin as he waved the cup about. “I know what a mug is!” Kaito sputtered. “I meant that,” he jabbed at the phone. He immediately regretted it.

“Ohhhh, you mean the smartphone! It’s a wonderful device, for all sorts of things, like asking dumb questions on calls, on text and on the internet! You should totally get one, you’re a natural!”

“That’s not what I- oh nevermind,” Kaito said, crossing his arms with a newly flushed face. Now he just looked like an idiot, and maybe the answer was something just as obvious. The boy tilted his head, loose hair bouncing around. He placed the mug down carefully, and tore open the gummy worms wrapper, and offered it. “Aw c’mon now, learning new things is what we’re all here for riiiiiight? Worm?” Kaito eyed the gummies a moment, then reached and took one. “Yeah, sure. Thanks.”

He popped it in his mouth to chew on. “Plus you deserve a treat, since you made it this time.” Kaito glanced back to see that same mischievous smile he saw the first time he looked at him a few weeks ago. Through the mouthful of worm he asked, “What?” “Oh, but I would definitely say your hair product of choice last time was much better. Rain water really does that look good.” Before Kaito could respond, Prof. Idabashi started talking below them at the front, quieting everyone and announcing the lesson for the day, while referring everyone to the syllabus. Once he turned to write on the board, Kaito pivoted back to Checkers, seeing him with the phone in his hand briefly before he placed it carefully back in the mug. “What was that about my hair??” He asked in a harsh whisper, earning a few glances from those around them. The boy just placed a finger to his lips and grinned. “Shhhh, it’s class time for good boys and girls. Don’t you have to pay attention or something?” “But-” “Shhhh,” He repeated with a giggle, sitting back in his seat with his arms crossed behind his head. 

Kaito frowned and got to copying down the topic for the lecture. What a hypocrite, telling him to pay attention when he never did himself. True to the trend, not even 15 minutes into the class, the gummy worm bag and the chopsticks were picked up, and Checkers began to eat them like they were noodles. He dangled them above his mouth precariously to drop and catch in his mouth, though sometimes awkwardly landing on his nose. A couple tumbled to the floor. Then he switched to stretching the worms out obnoxiously in front of him, one end between his teeth, the other pinched in the chopsticks until they snapped. It was completely ridiculous. It was distracting as hell. He wasn’t sure when he’d stopped writing and started to stare, but he noticed when he was caught, since Checkers made eye contact, grinned with the worm between his teeth and waggled his eyebrows. Kaito looked away immediately, red-faced, back to the board, cause oh man that was rude of him, no matter what dumb slacker stuff that was- Kaito felt a nudge on his arm and glanced back to see the bag of gummy worms poking him, offered once more. He took one and opened his mouth to thank him, only for the boy to put a finger to his own lips again, reminding him to shush. Kaito rolled his eyes but grinned, and ate his gummy worm while he caught up on his notes. His neighbour went back to eating his more dramatically.

At the end of the lecture, the professor alluded to the breakdown for the exam, and Kaito raised his hand to ask for clarification. It sounded like something he must have missed at the beginning of one of the previous weeks. He got his answer, and turned to-

Checkers was already gone, with half of the class filtering out while he and the professor had talked. Kaito frantically looked, shoving his stuff into his backpack and swinging it over his shoulder before he ran down. But even as he made it to the hallway and craned his neck to look over the packed crowd of students he didn’t see him. Damnit, he hadn’t asked his name yet!

Kaito took a breath and kneaded his brow. Alright, that’s fine. Even if his motto had given him pain this term, the impossible was possible. He’d get to class early next week, even with History of Astronomy. He clenched a fist and headed off to his club meeting, thoughts preoccupied.

He made his plan.

Next week, Kaito borrowed his roommate’s bike. He could get to his criminology class without it if he left earlier, and Kaito promised him some takeout on the way back, even though he offered the bike without expectations. Next step to the plan was getting the seat right next to the door in History of Astronomy, and packing his stuff as soon as Prof. Jiha started winding down. Sure he couldn’t run out of there while he was still going, but as soon as he stopped Kaito was ready. 

He slapped the bike helmet on his head with a crunch of the spiked hair beneath it and pedaled his way across campus with plenty of time to spare! Kaito parked and locked the bike, heading into the hall with the helmet under his arm. He had about 5 minutes, and he scanned the already seated students. He didn’t see him yet, so took up his spot by the door, waving and smiling as people as they arrived. But the minutes ticked by, and he started to frown a bit, glancing back into the hallway a few times. Where was he? Did something happen? There was no sign of the dark purple locks or the bright startling fashion anywhere as he stood there like a store greeter. The Professor called the attention of the class, and Kaito reluctantly left the door, looking over the auditorium one more time. His heart caught in his throat for a moment when he scanned the crowd and caught sight of a checkered scarf; but he then saw it was someone else with the same one, a girl with blonde hair in two ponytails and a hoodie. With a sigh, he went to grab a seat before the lecture finally started. Ironically, it one of his usual bad seats at the back after how long he waited. 

Whatever reason Checkers had for being absent, Kaito couldn’t guess it. He just didn’t know enough. Kaito took his notes and watched the door through the whole lecture. Next week was their big exam, today was their review. He’d have to be there next time. All Kaito had to do was do the same thing he did today, arrive nice and early. Hell, he sort of had to do that anyways, they didn’t let you into exams late!

A week of studying hard, couple more promises to his roommate, a secured bike, and a confident attitude later, Kaito was ready! He was gonna pass his exams with flying colours, he was gonna finally get that boy’s name, and he was gonna do both today! History of Astronomy’s exam was a snap, because honestly the calculations and theorems were a lot simpler back when everything was done from the Earth’s surface. Space travel was a great advance, but it had made measurements regarding stars a lot more involved. Kaito handed in his answers and luckily there was no way to go over time when an exam was happening. He was out of there on the bike, grinning the whole time, going over his Advanced Astrophysics under his breath one last time. 

He arrived at the class first for the most part, a few stray keeners already in their seats. Kaito didn’t wait at the door this time, no he had a plan. He grabbed himself a seat near the center, on the aisle, and put his backpack and helmet down on the spot next to him. He’d wave him down and say he’d saved him a seat! That’s easy enough right, and all he needed to throw in was how he never caught his name. Perfect. The tension in his stomach eased just like that. He got his pen out for the easier part of the day. Tests were so much less trouble than this. He waited, watching the door and clock. 

His classmates started to arrive. Some seemed animated, some lethargic. A good few looked like they hadn’t slept, and one looked to be on the verge of tears. Kaito winced sympathetically and flashed the girl a thumbs up. Exams were definitely hard on some people. He wouldn’t want anyone to fail if they could help it. Kaito was getting anxious about something else, however. The seats were filling up quickly and there was no sign of Checkers. He checked the clock. 2 minutes left to go. Even that girl with the blonde twintails wearing the same scarf was there, hurrying passed him for a seat near the middle. Kaito looked to the door, hopes plummeting as the teaching assistant closed it. The test was starting.

Kaito started to write, answers quick to his fingers, but his thoughts lingered elsewhere. Was he ditching the exam? Why would he do that, it was more than half their grade! So irresponsible! He crossed out a line as he realized he’d started to write an answer on the wrong section, in the clash between the stream of questions in his head and on the page. Gritting his teeth he focused on getting the exam done, pushing the worries back for later. 

When it came down to it, the test itself wasn’t all that tricky. Kaito had studied plenty, he knew the material. He checked it over, handed it in, and with a half hour remaining, gathered his things to leave. He stepped out into the hall and the worry came back with a rush. Pacing a bit he tried to think. Maybe he was sick, maybe he told the professor and was excused. Maybe an emergency had come up. Maybe he couldn’t get to the exam because something happened to him? He stopped pacing abruptly, that thought settling like a stone in his chest, hard and painful. Kaito shoved it and the others away. This was hardly the time for worst case scenarios, especially ones he couldn’t help with. Believe in a better answer and he could work with it. Today’s exam was the last class of the term. If Checkers was a non-major like he thought, how was he gonna run into him again? Not that it was that important but… ah screw it, it was. He really wanted this and he wasn’t going to let the fact it seemed impossible be the end of it. He tried to think of another link, like his roommate would. The clothes? Maybe there was a shop or brand he liked? The gummy worms? Probably not track-able. The scarf? It was pretty unique, except for that one girl-

Kaito’s eyebrows shot up. Maybe she got it the same place he did? Maybe she knew him! As though on cue, the girl with the blonde twintails walked out of the exam room, looking like she wanted to go collapse. Well it was worth a shot! Kaito walked up to her hopefully and stepped into her path. She looked up at him in confusion. “Hey! Sorry, this might be a little weird, but I was wondering where you got that scarf. See there’s a guy I’ve seen in class with it, but he wasn’t here today, but I wanted to ask him something,” Kaito rambled, smiling the whole time, and scratched the back of his head. God, he hoped he wasn’t off the mark, for all he knew those scarves were everywhere. She squinted at him for a moment in silence, looking him over, then her eyes widened and a mischievous smile, one that reminded him of a certain someone, appeared on her face.

“OH you must be Tardy! Yeah, the scarves are custom, but I know where he is,” She said, inspecting him closely. He took a step back. “Tardy…?” Kaito asked, brows furrowing. Did he know this girl? Or did she think she knew him from somewhere. “Yeah, the guy who’s always late but built! You’re never in frame in the shots cause of where the door is, but he always gives me the scoop,” She said with a laugh, and hooked his arm in hers. “C’mon, we don’t want to be tardy, Tardy!”

Suddenly, Kaito was inexplicably being led down the hallway, his destination a mystery.  He decided not to mention the bike he had, despite the helmet under his other arm she had clearly missed, he could always come back for it later. This had to be more important. She started talking about things he did that were apparently hilarious that she wished she was there for. That she somehow knew about?? Kaito nodded as she spoke a mile a minute, and caught-on along the way. She’d been seeing videos of the class. She’d been sick for weeks and couldn’t get out to them. Ouma, Checkers’ actual name apparently, had been going for her so she didn’t have to drop the course. She couldn’t afford an extra term’s tuition and he’d hear none of her dropping out nonsense- wait- THAT’S WHAT THE PHONE IN THE MUG WAS FOR, FOR FILMING WITHOUT HAVING TO HOLD IT. Kaito felt like kicking himself, it made sense, he had just been so stuck on the mug itself. He wasn’t ditching afterall, he wasn’t in the class. So he was never a hypocrite for not listening, either. You can really get a lot wrong without some key details.

Eventually they made it to the theatre building. Kaito grinned. At least he had been right about something! She stopped them at a small out of the way classroom door, with a small paper sign bearing a checkered design along its border. A pair of masks doodled on it, the comedy and tragedy faces, and below them was written “D.I.C.E. - Daring Improvisational Candid Entertainment!!!!” 

She opened the door, and inside were a bunch of other students in checkered scarves. They waved their hands about, shouted, pleaded, sang, threw things around, and there in the middle was the boy with the purple locks, Kokichi Ouma, standing on a chair, poised as if commanding them into battle. He glanced up from the scene to the door, spotted Kaito, and grinned. 

And Kaito grinned back.