hvlfwygod - Tumblr blog

[hvlfwygod]

She gave him a reprimanding look, or at least tried to through her smile. "You already asked me that." Malia tugged a curl on his head. "It may be a little special, but it's also just cause. Wine sounds great! I'll see you later, cutie." Newly filled with excitement for tonight, she kissed Jesse once more as a goodbye, then hurried away.

Malia cleaned her apartment thoroughly and bought fresh flowers to arrange in little bouquets. She took extra time styling her hair so it tumbled over one shoulder in bouncy waves. She lit candles and set up mood lighting. Over text they'd decided to order dinner, which she took upon herself to get ahead of time and plate. She waited until all her tasks were done before she stepped into a dress that hugged her hips and covered her bare feet. The pale pink against deep red roses and her skin tone was perfect. The atmosphere was perfect. All that was left was her boyfriend, who was coming up the elevator. Malia left the door unlocked and sat carefully on the arm of her nearest chair, letting herself be the first thing he saw when he stepped inside.

Jesse was mid-way through nodding along to the plan when he was struck by a nervous thought. "Did I forget something?" he asked, thrown off by the level of pre-planning Malia had gone through. He did a quick mental list of important dates– birthdays, anniversaries– and came up blank. "Is today special? Or are you just in the mood for something nice?" He checked his watch when Malia stepped away from him, disappointed by how little the hands had moved over the course of their conversation. These new plans of theirs sounded far more appealing than hanging around the store for the next couple hours. "I can pick up a bottle of wine on the way over, if you'd like."

[hvlfwygod]

Len looked up from their own DS, raising an eyebrow. “Do you hear that sentence?” they asked, teasing. “Ever since we switched bodies. No big deal.” They giggled, paused their game, then scooted closer to Xavier on the couch. “I don’t think it’s suuuuper weird to need some space, you know? Sometimes huge things makes people run away.” Even Len didn’t know what to think of that entire situation most of the time, and they’d barely been aware of the problem until after the fact. But they knew that wasn’t really an answer Xavier would be happy with. “How have you tried bringing it up?”

Xavier was hunched over his old Nintendo DS, his fingers deftly maneuvering through a Hamtaro game, but his attention was clearly divided. He glanced up from the screen, frustration evident in his voice as he spoke to his friend. “I’ve been trying to make friends with River ever since we swapped bodies,” he said, his eyes narrowing as he focused on a particularly tricky part of the game. “But every time I bring it up, he just avoids the conversation and runs off. I don’t get it. We went through something huge together, and now he won’t even talk about it. It’s like he’s scared or something. I just want to understand what’s going on with him, but he won’t let me in.” He explained his frustrations.

[hvlfwygod]

She glanced over her shoulder and brightened when she recognized her brother. The others in the pool were instantly forgotten, and she put all her attention Parker. “Yeah, I literally dumped it out and tripled checked everything.” Moving away from the hot tub, she walked back over to the seats she was at earlier. “It was the Cartier,” she mumbled. Did Parker know what that was? Maybe her other brother was nearby and could help. “So like, I don’t want to call our neighbors a bunch of thieves, but… it’s a lot of money. Gold with diamonds in it and, yeah. I don’t think I have good chances.”

Parker had only arrived at the hot tubs when he spotted his sister, apparently too preoccupied to notice his wave. He loped over and raised an eyebrow at the people he only vaguely recognized, but easily ignored them in favour of Malia’s words. “Ah, shit. Which one was it?” He interjected, hoping that instead of a brand she knew enough to tell him the stone— diamond or pearl or… one that wasn’t either of those. “You already checked your whole bag?”

[hvlfwygod]

Her face lit up. "Stay in," she said quickly. Jesse agreeing was expected, but Malia was genuinely surprised that he offered to leave early, even a little. Gods, he was so cute. "Let's go to my place, it's all mine tonight. But dress nice, okay? We can order dinner if you don't want to cook. I just want to spend some cute, one-on-one time with you, but like, super classy, too." She turned her smile bashful. "I'm decorating already, and I maaaaay have gotten a nice dress for you yesterday. So... good thing you said yes." Malia kissed him again for good measure, then backed out of his embrace. "Cool?"

"Well..." As tempting as Malia's offer was, Jesse did still have some work to finish, and he would feel bad just leaving it for someone else to sort through the next day. Saying 'no' was hardly one of his talents, however, especially when it was something that was infinitely more appealing than sorting through old inventory– he rubbed the side of his neck as he thought through how he might be able to compromise. His 'compromise' ended up just being exactly what Malia suggested. "Okay, sure, that sounds nice." He checked his watch. Three hours until he was supposed to lock up. "I could close an hour early?" he suggested. He'd never closed early before just for fun. It was a little exhilerating. "Did you want to go out for dinner, or stay in?"

[hvlfwygod]

"Hmmm." Brent was slurping his coffee so he didn't respond with words. Where to start? Brent had a feeling he wanted to tell her something. But the latter part of the night was mostly a blur, and before that... that felt very long ago. "It was a time," he said, nodding. "I actually had a lot of fun. Caught up with a lot of people, too, and... Mmm, there's something I wanted to tell you." Brent furrowed his brow, trying to piece the memory together. "Damn, I drank too much." It was so stupidly obvious it made him laugh into his mug. He drank some more coffee, then sighed. "I should have taken notes or something."

"Did we win-win?" Macey teased. Trying to describe a dance competition to a normal person was hard. Technically everyone wins in a way; Everyone gets critiques and a score and a medal, sometimes more than one if you're in multiple dances and solos. But, you want to score the highest and win the most. Be the best. And every competition used different terms, what platinum or high gold or premium or diamond means could be different everywhere. So, it'd been boiled down to just winning or win-winning, after Brent had driven or helped carry props for her enough times. "Yes, there were a lot more win-wins than I expected. Which, slay, honestly. All these new girls on the team keep surprising me." She once again took in her severely hungover husband, and tried not to find the unusually reversed situation too funny. "Seems like you were the one who had way more fun this weekend, though. How was the party?"

[hvlfwygod]

"Ugh, I'm such an idiot." Malia dropped her bag on the lounge chair and crouched over to scan the ground. It was pretty busy at the hot tubs, but what was the likelihood someone had already come by and taken a sparkly trinket? Malia groaned again when she thought about those odds, how long ago she'd left it behind. That outburst drew the attention of the closest occupied pool, which was enough for her to walk over and loop them into her problem. "Did you see a bracelet around this area? Looks, um, expensive? I was here like, forty-five minutes ago and this is the only place I could have left it."

[hvlfwygod]

"No," was all Patrick gave Drew in return. He didn't elaborate to what, exactly, he was saying no to. Seeing the other man in the light finally brought attention to his less than sorry state, but it didn't do much to change Patrick's tone. "Dude, you look like you lost a fight with the Sasquatch." How had he not noticed the leaves? And did it smell like... wet dog? Patrick faintly remembered a similar scent last night, but for all he knew Drew had been mud wrestling hellhounds, or pissed off a harpy. Or, he had just been high as hell. All equally plausible around here.

Once the machine finished pouring his cup, he took a grateful mouthful of coffee as he walked to his couch. "You're lucky I didn't carry you cause then you'd have a concussion on top of whatever else is wrong with you. You were seriously tweaking last night. Whatever you took was doing weird shit to your eyes. I had to half drag you, though, and I almost left you on the stairs. Good thing I didn't subject my neighbors to your bare ass."

Drew stopped his whistling, snorting out a laugh when his clothes smacked into the shower curtain. He slipped out of the tub, grabbing the curtain to keep his balance (deja-vu, deja-vu) and nearly took the damn thing down in the process. Torn between laughing and swearing, he took a minute to catch his breath before tugging on his clothes. No underwear? Not a problem, he'd go commando. "Nothing I haven't done before," Drew muttered to himself. A cursory glance in the bathroom mirror told him that, yes, he had put his shirt inside out but no, he did not care. There were leaves in his hair and more than a few scratches on his hands and face. Deep purple shadows carved out his undereye and his bottom lip was split. "Damn. Lookin' good." He blew a kiss to his reflection before strolling out of the bathroom and over to Patrick's kitchen, not bothering to pick up his boxers. He'd grab them later if he remembered. He wasn't worried about it. "Do I smell coffee?" Drew leaned over Patrick's shoulder, admiring the shiny machine. "I will literally give you everything in my pockets in exchange for some caffeine right now," he declared, backing away to lean against the counter. "And also my endless gratitude, for pulling some white knight fuckshit. How'd I get here anyway? You carry me all the way up here?" Drew gave Patrick a once-over, his expression amused but quizzical.

[hvlfwygod]

"What's so lovely about it?" Patrick questioned aloud, eyes glued to his phone while he spoke. What was supposed to be a quick stop to pick up a forgotten drop cloth had now become an unofficial lunch, which, hey, he wasn't complaining. Patrick wasn't the type to make rules for his life, but if he did, the first one would be: never say no to free food. "Actually, I'll find out. My spice tolerance is above average. Let me try that one."

Michio stood in the pantry at the Heliade house, surrounded by nearly stacked shelves of snacks and ingredients. He peeked his head out, a playful smile on his face. "Okay, so which flavor of instant ramen did you want to try?" He offered, holding up two of the packages for his friend to see. "Original, Cheese, or I actually have one called 'Lovely Hot', if you're feeling adventurous." He prompted.

[hvlfwygod]

Once she was back, Brent maneuvered himself so he was facing Macey in the bed. One hand held up his head, the other gripped his coffee mug carefully, careful not to spill anything on the sheets. It was enough to ease himself into sitting, for now. "I missed you, too." He nudged her leg with his own. "I can't remember the last time I went to one of those without you." He leaned over and kissed her cheek, very aware of his high possibility of morning breath. "Did you win-win?" he asked.

As quickly as she could, Macey returned, precariously balancing coffee and muffins under her chin and between her hands. "I'm back, your knight in shining..." She hovered over him at the side of the bed, "Eh, whatever, I can't think of a good joke." Leaving a muffin and some coffee next to him on the nightstand, Macey crawled over Brent to get back to her side, stopping to kiss him along the way. "Fuck," She groaned, finally rolling into her spot and sinking into the mattress, "I missed my bed. And you. You and my bed."

[hvlfwygod]

Malia thought: isn't that what he hired employees for? But she didn't want to get into an actual conversation about the bookstore while she was there, so she just giggled and tapped their cups together. "Wellll, if you want to close early and spend the day with me, I'll never say no to that." Her tone had the slightest suggestion to it, though she wasn't really expecting him to say yes. "Take a load off from alll the stress you're under here." Malia rubbed her thumb along her boyfriend's, holding their joined hand close to her chest. "Plus I think we should treat ourselves to an extra date night."

The momentary stress over whether he was missing something passed as soon as it came on and his shoulders visibly relaxed even though he hardly had time to grow tense in the first place. He gently pulled Malia's hand away from his shirt so he could link their fingers together, picking up his coffee cup with his free hand so he could start working his way through his latte. "Oh, it's been just thrilling," he responded to Malia's teasing with a smile of his own. "I had to push through hordes of customers just to get out the door to get my coffee." He paused. "I don't actually know what I would do if a horde of customers showed up. I think I would have to close the store for the day to calm down."

[hvlfwygod]

"The fuckin' irony of you asking me if I'm decent," Patrick mumbled. He answered by flushing, washing his hands, then walking out of the room. A moment later, Drew's clothes went flying through the air and crashed into the curtain. Well, his shirt and pants, at least. "You can pick up your nasty undies yourself," Patrick informed Drew as he marched away, moving into his kitchen. He'd been gifted some machine which he had to admit, was very nice, and required minimal effort for a drink. This morning it had the added benefit of only making one cup at a time. Patrick could debate on how generous he was feeling while his drink was poured.

"Needed to stretch my legs," Drew said, just to be a shit. Amused, he raised a curious eyebrow at Patrick. When the curtain was pulled closed, he lifted a hand up to rub at his eyes until they felt ready to open. Huh. So he was naked. That explained why his ass was so cold. Drew wasn’t entirely sure he’d been distinctly Drew-shaped when he made it into the slick tub. He was staring at something that looked a lot like bite or claw marks at the edge of Patrick's shower curtain. "Hurry up then, it's fucking brick in here." Pushing himself up to a crouch and then to near-standing, he scrabbled at the tiles, feeling woozy, feeling wobbly. He ended up leaning bodily against the wall of the shower, feeling a strong sense of deja-vu. Had he done the same thing last night? In reverse? Had he been a wolf when he fell into the tub and had to stay, too out of it to do much else? From experience, he knew it was a little difficult to get dressed without opposable thumbs. Ha. He snorted softly, entertained by himself. "Hey. Hey, man. You decent?" Drew reached out to rustle the curtain, not pulling it aside, just using it to make noise. And because he could never just behave, he began to whistle an off-key tune just to see what would happen.

[hvlfwygod]

"You're the best," he groaned. Normally he'd want to pull himself to his feet and at least join her in the kitchen or the living room. It was a testament to his headache that he stayed where he was, yawning as he reached for Macey's hand. She probably had a point about his age, as much as he didn't want to admit it. Wasn't being a demigod supposed to make him sturdier? "Saving my life yet again." Brent kissed her knuckles. "Don't take too long, please."

"Well, being sixteen might also have something to do with that." Macey joked, scrunching her nose in a smile before kissing his shoulder. "I'm making coffee and I stopped at the bakery for muffins, if you want some." After a weekend of commotion and sequins and loud children it felt really nice to be back in her own bed and curled up next to her favorite person. But she forced herself to sit up, "You don't even have to get up."

[hvlfwygod]

Malia placed her one free hand on Jesse's collarbone while he kissed her, and left it there when he lifted his head. She raised one eyebrow at his question. "Nooo," she assured him, smiling, "I only wanted to see you." Thankfully the bookstore was empty besides the two of them. Malia knew it wouldn't last forever, so she indulged while she could and returned his kiss with one of her own, on his mouth. Her fingers pinched the fabric of his shirt when she looked back up at him and smiled again. "Has it been this exciting all morning?" she asked, a hint of a tease in her voice.

The benefit of running a bookstore in a town where everyone knows everyone was that, when no one was around to watch the store for him, Jesse still felt comfortable enough to simply leave the door unlocked for the five minutes it took to grab a coffee from down the street. Of anyone he knew who was prone to thievery, books were ranked at the bottom of the list of things they would be interested in.

Finding the door cracked on his return, Jesse was ready to issue his apologies to whoever had come by while he was gone– just to come face to face with his girlfriend, a drink in each of her hands. "Oh, dear," he vocalized with a sigh, a smile lightening his expression as he set his own coffee down on the counter next to the spare so he could touch his hands to Malia's hips and lean down to press a kiss to her cheek. "Hi, love. I don't know how we didn't see each other. Are you just coming to say hi?" He paused, eyebrows pulling together after a second. "I didn't forget something, did I?"

[hvlfwygod]

When she stepped into the bookstore, two lattes in hand, Jesse was not behind the register like she expected. Malia paused, but quickly recovered and looked through the aisles, searching for her boyfriend getting lost in a book he was meant to be restocking. But he wasn't there, either. Maybe he caught up in something, too busy to talk to her? Malia brushed that thought aside as it came to her; Jesse always had time for her. Still, the coffee she had for him felt a little heavy in her hand. Malia was just about to walk into the back room like she belonged there, but paused again when something caught her eye. Entering the store, Jesse... a coffee in his hand. Malia half-laughed, half-sighed as she walked over to him. "We must have just missed each other," she said, placing his now-extra drink on the counter.

[hvlfwygod]

"The last time I saw you, you were passed out face-down on my couch." Patrick did not look the least bit amused as he pushed open the bathroom door. He'd barely been awake two minutes and this fool was starting up again, and Patrick didn't have the patience for a conversation before coffee. "Don't blame me that you dozed off after you puked your gu— dude!" He had fully opened the door to find Drew, in the tub as promised, and also completely naked. Patrick spun around. "What the fuck are you doing?" Before his question was answered, he stormed to his living room, where all of Drew's clothes were strewn along the floor like a haphazard trail. Of course, his act of kindness last night, saving a lost soul, had been extended to a stripper. Patrick stormed back to the bathroom and glared at the wall as he approached the tub. It was just a step until he could reach the shower curtain; he pulled it across, blocking Drew from sight. "Stay there. I have to fuckin' piss and I'm not waiting for you to see straight."

@hvlfwygod "—where the fuck?" Everything was so bright. Cracking his eyes open (just barely) provided a very limited view of his surroundings, but he needed a minute before he would be able to open them fully. The beams of light streaming in from a small (unfamiliar) window were too-bright as it was, and if the headache pounding behind said eyes was any indication, he'd had a Night. Drew groaned and pushed himself up into a semi-upright position. His fingers scrabbled for a moment on the slick (unfamiliar) porcelain of an (equally unfamiliar) tub. "Huh," Drew muttered, his voice sounding raw to his oversensitive ears. Sitting up turned out to be a spectacularly terrible idea; the world tilted around him. His stomach threatened to empty itself but unless the wolf had grabbed a snack or someone had force-fed him something, Drew knew he hadn't eaten since the previous afternoon.

Since he was no stranger to waking up in bathtubs (and since his headache was drumming through his skull like a beat he'd laid down on one of his band's— ex-band's?— tracks), Drew was in no rush to drag himself out of it. His eyes were still slits, taking in details of the room slowly as he lifted one hand to scrub what felt like long-since-dried drool off his cheek. The shift normally made him felt like he'd been chewed up and spat back out but this time was different. Maybe he'd finally overdone it or maybe—Nah. What the fuck do I have to worry about? Drew lazily scratched an itch on his neck, then another on his chest and blinked, realizing it was bare— of clothes, not ink. A puzzled expression flitted across his face before the creak of a (unfamiliar) floorboard jolted him into alertness. He schooled his expression into something closer to amused disinterest and called out, "Is it every day you let randos crash in your fucking tub?"

[hvlfwygod]

He noticed her perfume first: suddenly his dream smelled like musk and plums, and then he was back in the bed with the room much brighter than it was before. Macey, beside him and smiling. It was definitely the perfect sight to wake up to. But his hangover was threatening to end his life, so all he managed as a first response was an inelegant, "Mmghh." He half-laughed, half groaned, and rubbed his brow. Damn, he drank way too much. "I felt better the morning after I fought a Hydra," he grumbled.

The apartment was quiet when Macey finally came back in the morning. And with the way Ziggy was bolting around for attention, she doubted it was because Brent was already up and going. "Shh, yes, yes, I know, we'll go out soon, I promise." She shushed the dog after giving him a million hugs and kisses. Sure enough Brent was still passed out in bed, looking somewhat like a sickly, Victorian child. Holding in a giggle, Macey turned around and went to turn the coffee on. Because of course Brent used a regular coffee pot like an old man, and of course that meant Macey had learned how to use it too. Out of the sheer love in her heart, she might add. Tiptoeing around the dog, she climbed back onto the bed and curled up next to him. A moment later he started to stir, and Macey waited until she saw one, tired, little eye crack open to look at her before grinning like a fool, "Seems like the party was fun."

[hvlfwygod]

Ziggy’s head lifted as soon as Brent stumbled into the bedroom. He was curled in Macey’s empty spot and looked expectantly for her. But Brent was alone, and when he flopped on his bed the dog dropped his nose onto his paws again and sighed. “Hello to you, too,” Brent mumbled. He pulled Ziggy to him, the alcohol making his limbs a little clumsy. He was still drunk enough that just laying there was an experience, the room tilting and swaying ever so gently while he dozed on top of the covers. “Tomorrow morning,” he mumbled into Ziggy’s head. Brent drifted off for a few minutes, the memories of the night floating through his mind. Then Ziggy wriggled out of his arms and Brent forced himself to stand and strip. Everything else, though, he left for a Brent who was more sober. He crawled under the covers and passed out while Ziggy sprawled over the empty half of the bed.

When he returned to the land of the living, his body felt extra heavy, the mattress beneath him a soft, warm, black hole. His head was full of cotton, too. And when he lifted it, his neck was stiff and protested carrying the weight of his skull. Brent sighed and sank back down. It occurred to him a few minutes later to check the time, maybe Ziggy needed to go for a walk. But before he could think about it more, he was asleep again.