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jasmariswonderland · 2 years

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Shining Hearts Chapter 5 ~ The White Swan’s Secrets

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

Chapter Summary: Rehearsals for Swans of Seven begin in earnest and Vil deals with unchecked emotions when Danica receives some unwanted attention related to his RSA rival.

Word Count: 9680

Warnings For This Chapter: Vil being mean. 🙃

A/N: The YA novel Crisanta mentions is supposed to be an in-universe version of the Folk of the Air series of books by Holly Black. I been reading The Cruel Prince over the last few months and can really see Vil playing the title role if it were to be made into a film.

~~~

Ramshackle Dorm ~ Reception Hall

Danica wasn’t used to being the one to give instructions, in her case, things were usually the other way around. To start, she gave the girls a simple warmup to do, based on how she always began her own dance rehearsals, taking several chairs from the corner of the room to use as makeshift barres.

The stage is set, let’s begin! #NRC #dancepractice #VDCPrep #SwansOfSeven

She pointed the phone she was using towards her, taking a selfie for Magicam. Vil had often expressed to her the importance of maintaining her social media presence. Especially as her popularity was beginning to rise. Though she lurked on Magicam daily, her posting was often sporadic and random, something she was trying to improve. Danica looked at the picture she’d taken and silently approved and posted it. Moments later she saw likes and comments coming in, along with a fawning comment from a user under the moniker of “R”. She assumed it was Rook and light blush came to her face.

“Take flight, Swans of Seven! You will be tres glorieux!”

If only she could have as much confidence in herself as Rook seemed to have. Danica shook her head to erase the negative thoughts coming and decided to focus her mind back to her teammates. As she watched them, she took mental notes of how each of her teammates took to their warmups and quickly surmised that Taima and Iman would be the strongest dancers with Crisanta being a close second.

Vidaria seemed to struggle with her flexibility but not as badly as Ione, who was painfully stiff. She would likely require the most work to get up to everyone else’s level. But at least her vocal skills would make up for what her dancing lacked, if her audition was anything to go on. Same with Vidaria and Sidonie.

“One more round of barre and then everyone come to the center of the room,” she said, walking over to her bag on a chair in the corner of the room. She put her phone away and then pulled out a tablet, scrolling through it to where she kept her music recordings. “You guys can sit if you like.”

“On THIS floor?!” Iman gaped. “No thank you!”

“Suit yourself, but either way, we won’t begin work on our dance just yet. I’m going to show you all examples of what I have in mind. After I play our song for the VDC, we’ll try a simple combination, just so I can see where everyone is dance-wise.”

“You don’t need to worry about me!” Iman replied.

“Hmph, I know I won’t, Iman.” Danica couldn’t help but smirk under her tablet. “But not everyone here is as advanced as you and Taima. And on that note, your vocals aren’t as advanced as, say, Ione or Sidonie’s. Which is why…”

“HUH?!” Iman’s eyes widened at what she perceived as an insult and Ione quietly tittered. “You might be our leader, but I’ll have you know…”

“WHICH IS WHY,” deliberately ignoring the older girls’ indignation. “I’d like to see how you all look and sound together, before we determine who needs to work on what.”

“Hopefully we’ll be able to keep up with you,” Crisanta smiled.

“I…well… I don’t think it’s useful to compare my skills to others who might not have the same teaching.” Danica shook her head. “Even so, I hope we, the Swans of Seven, can come together in the time we have and create a stunning performance that will earn every last vote of those watching us, leading to victory.”

“Swans of Seven,” Sidonie smiled. “I like that name.”

“So do I,” Danica replied. And then quietly, under her breath, added, “It’s one of the few things I can say I genuinely like so far.”

“Danica, is the song we’re performing something new and original?” asked Vidaria.

“It is!” Taima grinned. “Something we worked on together over winter break! Wait till you hear it! It’s so awesome and fun! Right, Dani?”

Ohhhh, Taima, I hope you still feel that way when you hear it and realize what song Vil picked for us…

Danica shifted nervously, hiding half of her face with her tablet as she suddenly found herself struggling to find the song file. Even after she found it, she stared at the play button for several long minutes, as if she were temporarily blind to it. Taima noticed her hesitation.

“Dani? Something wrong with the track?”

“Oh, no. I was just thinking about something, but it’s not important. Let me play this.” She took a deep breath before finally pressing play. “This song is called ‘Our Happily Ever After ’, something I actually wrote two years ago. Vil-san cleaned up the instrumentals and mixing to give a more contemporary sound.”

Of course, Sidonie had already heard this song and while she liked it, was somewhat confused. Secretly hoping that Danica would try and press Vil for the song she actually wanted to perform. The other girls listened but the only ones who seemed to enjoy it were Ione and Crisanta, evident by the smiles on their faces.

“Ermmm, not exactly what I was expecting, if I’m being truly honest.” Sidonie tried to smile. “But I still like it, if this is what you’ve decided on, dear.”

“I remember a song like this one that the group Premo came out with a while back, it was a hit!” Crisanta grinned, “I like it too! It’s adorable!”

“Well…it’s a little too adorable, and kinda reminds me of the opening to a magical girl anime.” Ione said, quickly adding, “Oh! But those are not exactly bad things. I think we could make it work.”

“Of course you think so,” Iman sneered under her breath, but not quietly enough for Ione not to hear.

“What’s THAT supposed to mean?” she glared.

“Nothing, nothing!” the older girl smiled. “It’s a cute song, if we’re just gonna play it safe like a bunch of sugary grade schoolers!”

“Indeed, I remember liking a similar song back when I was much, much younger,” said Vidaria. “But if we’re taking in consideration what’s currently popular with girl groups, I kind of thought our performance would have more…more…” She placed her hand on her cheek in thought. “Hmmm, more, more…”

“Fun!” Iman answered her! “Something sexy and fun!”

“Yes, that’s what I meant! Sexy and fun!”

“And just a little bit sultry!” Iman giggled, dancing around in a circle. “But Happily Ever After, or whatever this is called, sounds very out of place for us. Maybe if we were younger…”

“Well unfortunately, the decision on our song is already set!”

This was exactly what Danica feared, that the other girls would be just as reluctant about this song as she was. Even with Vil’s reworking, she still couldn’t help but think about Guilty Kiss, the song she initially wanted to perform. But at the same time, Vil had gone through the trouble to make this song more appealing to her, and with her promise to him, it pained her that she still felt this way.

It was her hope that if the other girls were more on board with Our Happily Ever After, that would alleviate some of her anxiety and make her forget about Guilty Kiss in time. Clearly that would not be how things worked out.

“Vil personally picked this song out for us,” she went on. “And this was decided on some weeks ago before we even began auditions so the decision is pretty set in stone. I’m sorry you guys seem to have mixed opinions on it, but at the same time…”

“Wait, Dani, you said Vil picked this out for us?” Taima asked. “Of the three songs you, me and Sis worked on, this was his prime pick? Even after…”

“Yes, Tai-chan!” Danica replied, somewhat shortly as she felt her patience beginning to leave her. As well as a rising fear that further questioning might bring up other things she thought were better not being known. “Vil-san seemed to really respond well to this song and told me that…”

“But Dani, does Vil know that you and Lili wrote that song right after we saw…”

“TAIMA!”

Danica gave the back of her tablet a rough tap, indicating she really didn’t want her friend to say anything else. Unfortunately, Taima had said just enough that everyone’s curiosity was suddenly piqued.

“What? After you guys saw what?” Sidonie asked. “Now I’m curious.”

“I’ll tell you later, after we’re done…”

“Ohhh, nooooo,” Iman jumped in. “Now I wanna know too! Cause if Vil picked out this sugary crap for us, I’d really like to know his logic!”

“Ummm, I’d like to know as well,” Ione spoke up.

“Especially since it’s so different from ‘Piece Of My World’ , our audition song,” Vidaria added.

“Exactly! Why did Vil…”

“VIL KNOWS NOTHING!” snapped Danica, raising her tablet back to her face as she felt a hot burning blush come to her face. “Vil knows nothing and I’d like to keep it that way! He only picked this song because he was worried about us being too sexy on stage!”

“Too sexy?” Ione laughed, “How sexy can we be if none of us are adults yet?”

“You’d be surprised!” Iman smirked, “But I doubt you’d know anything about that, Wallflower. Anyway, back to you, Danica, what doesn’t Vil know? Hmmmm?”

“Come now, don’t tease her, Sister,” Vidaria tried to genuinely come to Danica’s defense, but ended up making things worse. “If Danica doesn’t want to tell us, she shouldn’t be forced to. For all we know, she might have written this song as a secret love letter to…”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”

“A love letter? To Vil-san?” Crisanta piped in. “Now that I think of it, two years ago, that’s when that one film came out, based on that really popular YA novel, The Twisted Prince . Vil was playing the title role! I saw it too!”

“WHAT?! Are you serious?! You mean Danica fell in love with Vil’s twisted prince and wrote this song!” Iman’s golden eyes widened and then lit up as she burst out into laughter. “Am I right? AM I RIGHT?!”

“Shut up, Iman!” Taima snapped. “That’s NOT why she wrote it!”

“Don’t go trying to defend your bestie now, Missy!” Iman replied, still laughing. “You should have kept your mouth shut if you don’t want this known!” She turned to Danica with a sly little grin. “So is it true? No need being coy about it now that we all know your little secret!”

“That seems to be the only possibility,” nodded Vidaria. “It was a decent film, even with all it got wrong about fae culture. But I digress.”

“So the song we’re performing is Danica’s secret confession of love to Vil-san?” Ione shook her head. “Though I like the song, I feel like…”

“That’s NOT what we’re performing!”

Now Danica’s patience was truly on its last legs. All that they were saying was in fact true, but that was far from the point. Her reluctance to perform this song once again returned and she pressed her tablet further to her face. Not just to hide her blushing, but the coming influx of frustrated tears.

“I mean, YES we are performing this song but I did NOT write it thinking about The Twisted Prince!” she bit back a sob. “You have it all wrong!”

“Then why are you hiding your face?” Vidaria asked.

“Cause she can’t lie to us with a straight face that’s why!” giggled Iman.

“Stop it!” Sidonie shouted, standing in front of Danica. “Can’t you guys see you’re making her uncomfortable?! Iman, Vidaria, I’d expect this sort of nonsense from you two, but Crisanta, how could you…”

“I didn’t mean any harm, honest! The math just added up and I was curious!” Crisanta sighed. “I’m sorry, Danica, truly I am. Perhaps I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Perhaps Taima shouldn’t have said anything either!” Iman retorted. “And don’t you act all high and mighty either, Sidonie cause you said you were curious too! You too, Wallflower!”

“Shut up!” snapped Sidonie. “I was more than content to let Danica tell me this later if she wanted, it was everyone else pushing the subject after she made it clear…”

“Crisanta was the one who put the pieces together!” Ione turned to Crisanta. “Sorry to drag you under the bus, dear, but…”

“Ehhh, no offense taken. We were all wrong for prodding Danica so we’re all to blame.”

“Hey, I just wanna know what we’re dealing with here!” said Iman. “Really, if that’s the case, I kind of don’t mind the song much. It’s kind of sweet in a way. Danica’s admiration for her dorm leader put into song,” Iman attempted to smile at Danica, though it came off as more saccharine than genuine. “But what kind of dancing can we really do to this?”

“I’ll take that inquiry as sign we’re finally getting back on topic!”

Danica took several breaths before finally lowering her tablet to reveal her face. The scarlet tint on her cheeks had faded, but her eyes were blurry from crying she had repressed. This was truly not what she had in mind and she now internally cringed at the idea of performing Our Happily Ever After, with the secret of the song now revealed.

It was true that Danica and Lilianne had written it together after becoming taken with Vil’s performance in The Twisted Prince. But since then, two years had passed and Danica now had day to day interactions with Vil, not as an actor or model, but as a person, her dorm leader, as a mentor. She was starstruck at first and she’d be lying if she said his intense, domineering personality didn’t sometimes frighten her. But in the months she had known Vil, she had come to truly respect him and genuinely longed for him to see how much she wanted to take his examples to heart and be the best she could be, even under the occasional pressure he put upon her.

Our Happily Ever After was written from the point of view of a young and fawning fan of Vil Schoenheit with all the girlish fantasies of what she thought it would mean to be close to a guy like him. Now that she knew him, her admiration and her feelings had matured. At this point in her life, Danica really didn’t see Vil as she had as a fourteen year old girl. He was no longer the Vil Schoenheit, to her, he was simply Vil. Someone she admired and cared about. If she had written this song today, the lyrics would surely reflect that, and all that was genuine and true about what she was beginning to feel for him.

Vil was not aware of any of this. To his mind, Our Happily Ever After was merely a saccharine sweet song about an innocent crush that would endear the world to Danica and maintain the perfect white swan image he needed of her. Perhaps with that in mind, if he knew the truth, his desire that Danica keep this song for the VDC would only rise. Considering his own feelings and completely disregarding her own, even as they deepened further. If Danica had her way, however, Vil would never know this secret but now that her teammates did, her desire to perform something else returned. She thought about talking to Vil once again, after he and the boys came back for the evening. As much as she wished to keep her promise to him, she was unsure how she could continue to do so now.

Maybe if we perform well this evening, and he sees how hard we’re working, then he’ll have a change of heart. And then maybe…no, we can’t change our performance now…not after I promised him! But still…no, all that matters now is creating a performance that he will approve of. Whatever my own feelings. I must remember that, I must…

“Listen, I’m not going to give anyone the satisfaction of confirming or denying why I originally wrote this song,” she said, with some sternness. “But know this, Vil and the headmage are counting on us to bring victory to our school. Now I’m gonna be quite frank with you all, Sidonie already knows this but I have my own feelings about our song but I’m gonna be a big girl and swallow them for the good of victory at the VDC. I expect the same from you all. Now, we’ve wasted enough time so if you dislike our song that much, you’re more than welcome to leave!”

Danica could have quite a stern voice, even if she rarely used it. It was surprising, even to her, how sharp her tone had become. But her words seemed to have the effect she desired. Everyone went quiet after she finished speaking. When she was sure she had their attention as well, her face softened and she went back to her tablet, hitting replay on the music.

“Now that I’ve said this, I expect everyone to be on board. Let’s begin. Watch my movements closely because after I’m done, I’d like you guys to repeat them as best as you can.”

By some miracle, Danica was able to push her feelings back to the furthest part of her brain, and dance as if nothing had happened. Her movements were honestly very simple, mostly consisting of elaborate hand and arm choreography that was popular with younger idol groups. They were movements that she felt herself grown out of, but at least they would be easy for everyone to mimic.

“The most important thing in dances like this is for all of us to be in sync with each other,” she said. “I remember, back in the idol club Taima and I were in, her mom actually bought us all tap shoes for practicing, that way we would know if one of us was off. But this time, I think I just want each of you to come up to me and try the dance by my side. Who wants to go first?”

Naturally, Iman wanted to be first and Danica, not wanting further strife, humored her. Despite her annoyance with her, Danica had to admit that her dancing was on point and she couldn’t help but smile, impressed with how easily Iman perfected her choreography.

“This is all pretty simple,” she said. “I feel I could do these moves in grade school.”

So could I, now if only your attitude was just as lovely.

Taima was next, having seen her dance countless times, Danica didn’t feel the need to make any comments or corrections. Knowing that her friend was probably already aware of any errors she made and would fix them accordingly. Next came Crisanta. Her footwork was slightly off, but she displayed nice enthusiasm and most of her hand movements were correct. Danica smiled again.

It doesn’t seem like she will need many corrections either. And she’s agreeable to boot.

“Not bad, the one thing I’d say is that I think you’re thinking a little too much about what you’re doing with your arms that your footwork is getting mixed up. But after everyone has a turn, we’ll try again.”

“That’s fine, I’ll try to take your words to heart and then…” Crisanta’s eyes casually glanced over to Danica’s tablet. She gasped when she saw the time. “Oh crap! Dani, is your clock correct?!”

“Ummm, yes. As far as I’m concerned, half past three. Why?”

“I was afraid that was the case!” She rushed towards the door, bowing apologetically. “I’m soooo sorry, but I must excuse myself now!”

“Right now? But we still have a good three and a half hours before the boys return! And Vil wants us to show what we’ve been working on when they get back!”

“I think I have a good grip on today’s lesson, but I have to get to an art club meeting. And today’s meeting is related to our presentation for the festival so I can’t skip it.”

“But we’ll be learning more choreography soon, you’ll miss that if you leave now.”

“Crisanta, don’t they know you’ll be performing in the VDC?” Ione asked “You didn’t tell them?”

“They know, this meeting is just to discuss what pieces we’ll be displaying at our gallery for the festival.”

“Crisanta, you were aware from the start that you would have to devote a lot of time to being in the VDC,” Danica tried not to seem too annoyed, but found that difficult. “I really want to be flexable, but do you think you’ll be able to juggle both art club and VDC prep without trouble? Is your leaving now an indication of things to come?”

“I understand, I promise this will just be a one time thing.”

“But what about the gallery?”

“They will have to figure out how to manage without me. In fact, I’ll set up everything today so that they can manage on their own from this point on.”

“I certainly hope so, since I would truly hate for the Swans of Seven to be reduced to six.”

“So would I!” Ione spoke up. “You can’t leave us, Crisanta!”

“I will do my best, but I promise I won’t leave you guys! Just this afternoon, this one time.”

And with that, Crisanta left the hall, the girls heard her go upstairs for a few moments before returning downstairs and then leave out the door. An unsettling feeling sat with Danica that she tried to ignore, and in her mind, she silently prayed that Crisanta would indeed be able to juggle both. Particularly because she had proven to be one of the more skilled and amiable on her team and her presence had a positive effect on Ione, two things she would hate to lose.

With Crisanta’s departure, Danica was reluctant to further their rehearsal for that day and decided that they would continue with what they went over and then only learn two more new combinations. With the hope Crisanta would be able to quickly catch up and they could learn more the following day.

The last to practice with Danica was Ione, who had purposely allowed everyone else to go before her. She seemed to have an okay grip on the dance, but was nowhere near as polished as the others. Even Vidaria seemed to be doing better after another hour of repeating Danica’s moves over and over. Her biggest struggle was how she frequently looked down at her feet, to the point she wasn’t moving her arms with the music and missing counts.

At one point, Danica slowed down her movements, breaking down each segment for Ione to see. This seemed to work at first, until Danica started the music again and Ione found herself stumped once more. It was all she could do to hold back tears of frustration and embarrassment. Taima tried to encourage her.

“I know it’s hard not to look at your feet,” she said. “But try to let your legs move with you and focus on getting the arm movements right.”

“How can I not look at my feet if my feet keep screwing up?!” Ione snapped.

“That’s the thing, you have to trust yourself, trust that your feet will do the right thing.”

“I don’t understand!”

“It’s alright, with more practice, you will.” Danica smiled a little.

“Orrrr not,” Iman whispered to Vidaria.

“Ohhhh, don’t be so mean, Sister,” Vidaria bit the inside of her lip to keep from giggling. “It’s like watching a young filly take her first steps, and at least Ione is more graceful than that.”

“That’s not saying a lot.”

“Shut up, you two!” hissed Sidonie.

Thankfully, Ione did not hear their titters but sat back down feeling humiliated all the same. She knew her dancing wasn’t the best and that Danica and Vil had selected her more for her vocal skills. Somehow she had hoped that this would give her a much needed confidence boost. But like most things that day, her hopes and reality seemed to be working against each other.

I have to get better. She thought to herself. Ugh! I’m sure I’m the weakest dancer here, but I can’t stay weak forever!

“Okay guys, that wraps up our dance lesson for today.” Danica clapped her hands, addressing the five other girls with her. “I won’t be giving you more to learn until tomorrow. So for the time we have left, we’re going to practice what we’ve gone over today and then memorize the song. Be ready to show what you’ve learned to Vil-san when the boys get back.”

~~~

Yuulan and the NRC Tribe returned to Ramshackle not too long after this. Whatever difficulties had occurred with the girls, the boys didn’t have it much easier. Vil had put them through their paces, leaving them looking (and feeling) exhausted and worn. Vil himself was somewhat out of sorts, though Rook maintained his usual jovial attitude.

“Aaahhh, a splendid first day of training!” He beamed. Wouldn’t you all agree, NRC Tribe?”

“Maaaannnnnn, I’m beat!” Said Ace, collapsing on one of the couches and groaning loudly. Deuce was not far behind him.

“Somehow learning those steps was even harder than learning the stuff for the audition!”

“And it’s only day one!” Epel sighed.

“I wasn’t even dancin’ and I was tired watching you guys!” Grim added.

“Don’t plant roots in the couches just yet, Spudlings!” Vil snapped. “We’ll be going over the lyrics right before dinner. As soon as I review the progress of the Swans of Seven.”

~~~

Ramshackle Dorm ~ Reception Hall

The girls were still in the reception hall, practicing up until the possible last minute and trying to make up for the absence of one among them. When Vil walked in, his irritation briefly faded at what he saw.

They didn’t realize he was there at first and he made no indication of his presence, deciding to silently watch them for a few moments. He did notice Crisanta’s absence and that they would all need substantial work. But he also saw that Danica led the girls adequately with no indication of her dissatisfaction with the song playing.

“Guys, guys, stop a moment. Sidonie-san, you got that part wrong again.”

“Wait, no I didn’t. Did I?”

“You got the turn right but your arms were mixed up. Since we have no mirrors in this room, it’s understandable but try to be aware of where you’re placing them.”

He bit back a smile, but that same tender warmth from before stirred within him. She lacked the same command that he possessed but that would be something she would learn over the weeks to come. It was almost enough for Vil to forget that he had returned initially feeling annoyed and not in the best of moods. Almost.

“Final pose guys, one, two, three, better! That was a little better!” Danica moved out of position to tap the music off. “Of course, there are mirrors in the Pomefiore ballroom. So once we’re given the green light to rehearse there, memorizing how this is supposed to look won’t be as hard. And hopefully, Sidonie, you’ll stop making that one mistake.”

“I wonder if the RSA team is working as hard as we are.” Taima thought aloud.

“I don’t think that matters now,” replied Danica. “Even if they are, it’s all the more reason we must work even harder to defeat them!”

This forced the smile to break free upon Vil’s lips. But what occurred next brought his ire back to the forefront.

“Actually, I know Crisanta isn’t here,” Danica went on. “But since we’ve been practicing movements for the first half of the song all day, I think the last thing we’ll do is begin choreography for the second half.”

“Oh, wonderful, cause I was beginning to get bored doing the same thing over and over again!” Iman grinned.

“First, let me pull up a video of what I had in mind. This is actually from a Premo dance practice but we can tailor it to fit our song.” Danica scrolled through magicam, tapping on the video she was looking for. The other girls gathered around her to have a better look. “Okay, after this ad plays the video will start and then…oh…!” She gasped. “Oh…oh dear!”

As it happened, the ad was from Ledelle Cosmetics, the very same commercial Danica had shot with Neige Leblanche during winter break. Danica had never seen the finished product until now and was more than a little embarrassed to see it, doubly so with her teammates surrounding her.

In an enchanted forest, Neige followed a single white swan as she transformed to into a lovely maiden. As they met face to face, Danica blew a handful of white feathers toward him. The feathers landed in his palm and transformed into a crystal jar studded with pearls. Neige thanked her but asked for her name. Danica said nothing, but placed her finger to her lips, as if concealing a secret of her own from the boy. Even so, the two of them shared a smile.

“Just in time for the holidays, coat your skin in a cream that will give you the softness of a snow white swan. All-day moisture, with just a hint of magic. Enchanted Veil Moisturizer from Ledelle Cosmetics.”

Danica tapped her tablet several times, but unfortunately, the ad was unskippable and her face became a hot, scarlet red. From his place in the doorway, Vil could hear the ad and felt an angry and intense sensation burning in his gut. But Danica’s teammates were intrigued.

“Hey! That’s Neige Leblanche!” said Ione.

“Hehe, and such a pretty young lady next to him,” Sidonie teased. “I wonder who she is.”

“If we didn’t know better, we’d say Neige is the one meant to be your prince!” Taima added.

“Does Vil-san know about that commercial?” Iman asked. “I wonder what he thought of it.”

“Okay, okay, guys! Enough about the ad!” Danica tried to refocus everyone’s attention while trying to ignore her own embarrassment. But the girls didn’t seem as interested in that as they were discussing Neige Leblanche. “Watch the video!”

“My my, Danica,” Vidaria grinned, “Getting a little too close to one of our school rivals there, weren’t we?”

“I heard from Cater-san that Neige Leblanche himself will be leading the boys' team for the VDC,” Ione said. “If that’s the case, it might be awkward when he and Danica see each other again.”

“My my, the plot thickens then!” giggled Vidaria.

“FOCUS YOU GUYS!” Danica snapped, becoming annoyed once again.

“We are focusing!” Iman retorted, “These moves are still pretty simple, come on, let us gossip just a little!”

“There isn’t much to say really,” Danica replied cooly. “Neige might be one of our rivals for the VDC, but he doesn’t hold a candle to Vil in the slightest!”

“I should ask my sis at RSA to see what he’s planning for the VDC…” grinned Taima. “That way at least we’ll know…”

“Ara ara, and here I thought this was a dance rehearsal, not a gossip hour!” Vil had heard quite enough and finally decide to make his presence known. The girls immediately stopped chatting and Danica quickly put on a sweet face.

“Welcome back, Vil-san,” she smiled. “I hope your…”

“Cut the formalities!” He snapped, now fully annoyed at the mention of his rival. “I see one among you is missing, care to explain why Danica?”

“Ohhh! I…I’m sorry, Vil-san,” she replied, nervous heat washing over her face. “Crisanta left early due to prior art club obligations. She knows not to make a habit of it so I let it slide this one time.”

“Hmph, that’s still not good. VDC performers are expected to attend every rehearsal, no exceptions!” He went on. “Considering what I just saw, perhaps it would make more sense to simply remove Crisanta from the team if her priorities lay elsewhere?”

“Huh? N…no!”

“It was just this one time!” Ione surprised herself, and those around her, by cutting in to speak up for her friend. “You’d really pull her out for missing half of one class?! Not even a whole class? That’s crazy!”

Danica knew the look coming into her dorm leader’s eyes. It was the same look he often gave Epel whenever he ran off or accidentally spoke in his local dialect. And it was the same look he’d given her when she agreed to model with Neige against his explicit wishes. She turned to Ione and gave her a look that was one part sympathy, two parts annoyance, and five parts fear knowing well the verbal thrashing she was about to endure.

“Oh? What is this? Perhaps I wasn’t clear with you potatoes when I first laid out rules for this training camp!” Vil placed his hand on his chin, pretending to ponder something.

“Hmmm, now, what was it I said? Ah yes, I recall now. I specifically recall saying that performers had to remain in the training camp until the very end and could NOT skip any rehearsals! Crisanta has known this for weeks, knew the terms when you two auditioned and still joined accepting these terms! Breaking the terms of an agreement, do you not grasp the tactlessness of such?! Both of you and Crisanta should consider yourself lucky, if this were an actual idol group, training for their debut, she would be removed on the spot!”

With this, what little courage Ione had conjured quickly dissipated and she stepped back. Lowering her head and knowing she couldn’t respond to what was actually quite reasonable in spite of the harshness. Even Iman couldn’t help but feel a small ounce of sympathy. The tension in the room remained unsettling for a few moments before it was quickly broken by someone running in.

Crisanta appeared at the door, to everyone’s surprise.

“I left as soon as I could!” Crisanta held onto one of the doors as she struggled to catch her breath. Having run all the way from the main school building back to Ramshackle, far from a short distance. “Sorry again for leaving but it couldn’t be skipped. I…”

“Oh, thank goodness you made it!” Ione’s face lit back up, bright with relief. “You made it just in time!”

“Ah, how kind of you to join us, Crisanta,” said Vil, refusing to hide his sarcasm. “We were just discussing you.”

“Oh! Oh, Vil-san! Did I miss…”

“You didn’t miss anything, Crisanta,” Sidonie assured her. “We haven’t started our evaluation so…”

“Yes, yes, in fact, we were just discussing whether or not you should remain on the team. What could have been so important that…”

“I swear it won’t happen again!” Crisanta pleaded. “And I have memorized the song. Danica, did we learn any new steps while I was gone.”

“Only a little more, but nothing you can’t pick up quickly.” Danica gave the girls a look that told them to get into the position she had formed for them. “Hurry up, show Vil-san what you have learned and why you should stay.”

Vil merely nodded, he wanted to be fair after all. They began with an acapella performance of Our Happily Ever After, displaying their grasp on the lyrics. Many words were flubbed but their harmony was passable and Vil was pleased.

“Adequate, but I want to hear the second verse again. This time, only Sidonie and Vidaria.” They gave each other a look but did as Vil requested. He nodded. “Hmmm, Sidonie messed up the same lyrics again, but beyond that…”

“No I didn’t!”

“You did,” Vidaria said. “When you sang ‘a tenderness I long for’, it was supposed to be ‘yearn for’ .”

“Hmph well, I don’t remember asking…”

“Thank you Vidaria for not pointing that out mid-song,” Danica spoke up, preventing the ensuing spat.

“And as I was saying,” Vil went on. “Beyond that, from what I’ve heard, you two clearly have the strongest vocals after Danica. So you three will be the lead vocalists. Ione, Iman, Taima and Crisanta will be backup chorus and should focus more on the dancing.”

An oddly sharp feeling prickled at Ione’s chest with this announcement that she didn’t fully understand. That she wouldn’t be front in center should have relieved her. Instead, she felt strangely uneasy. At least Crisanta would be with her.

“Congratulations, Sidonie-san!” Danica smiled.

“Ohhhh, wow! Way to go Vidi!” Iman clapped her hands, too excited for her best friend to be vexed at not being selected. “You definitely deserve that!”

“Thank you, Vil-san, I will do my best to meet your expectations,” replied Vidaria. “But, Sister, I still expect you to bring the heat with your stellar dance skills. Don’t let me down!”

“Yes, and that goes for each member of the chorus,” Vil said. “It looks like you all have a passable grip on the song. Let’s see if the same can be said for your choreography.”

Danica bit the inside of her lip, inwardly fighting back a sudden bout of extreme anxiety. The girls all had varying levels of dance skills and while perfection was not yet required, she hoped to the Great Seven their lack of polish wouldn’t be too obvious. After all, what could Vil possibly expect from only a day of training?

Apparently, he could expect a lot. She tried not to notice the disapproving looks he was giving them but Danica could still see that he was not impressed. And even without mirrors, she could also see every point where someone either misstepped, was off-count or swayed left when they were supposed to sway right.

There was something about now performing for an audience compared to rehearsing alone that resulted in imperfect harmony and it was all Danica could do not to become frustrated. The lack of coordination with her teammates and her personal embarrassment at singing this song in front of the one who inspired it only frustrated her further to the point she was actually relieved when the music finally stopped.

She and Vil immediately locked glances, his glare silently confirming all she already knew.

“Well clearly, the same can NOT be said about your choreography!” He said. “Several of you were severely out of sync and I can see where Crisanta left off before cutting rehearsal. And Ione! You’re still looking down at your feet! Tell me, will your feet be watching you during the VDC?”

“N…no, Sir.”

“If that’s the case, why do you keep your eyes on them?!” Ione hesitated, but thought it probably wouldn’t be the wisest thing to respond to him. Vil went on, “Needless to say, I am not impressed. And Danica, as leader of Swans of Seven, the lack of progress is wholly your responsibility,” shaking his head. “I really expect better of you.”

Danica sighed, nodding slowly and saying nothing despite the many things in her mind that she wished she could say. It was true that they were still very unpolished, that Crisanta only knew half of the current choreography, that Sidonie was rhythmically challenged, that Ione still moved with great insecurity and everyone had mixed feelings on their song, which was likely affecting everyone’s performance. But none of that could be reasonably remedied in a few hours.

They would surely improve, but it would take time. She was certain Vil understood this and wondered if there was something else he was displeased with, working up the courage to ask such. Against better judgement.

“Danica, were you not listening to me at all?!” he snapped. “I just laid out everything that’s wrong, did you just wake from a coma?!”

“I...I w-was listening, Vil-san,” she replied, a little taken aback at his sudden harshness. “W-what I want to know is if there’s more we need to improve?”

“The only other thing you need to know is until Swans of Seven improves in the choreography department, I will not permit you to rehearse in the Pomefiore ballroom.”

“HUH?! But we need the space!” digging her heel into the floor and subtly biting back more frustrated tears. “We need the space and we need the mirrors! We’ll improve a lot faster if we…”

“We are literally still in day one!” Iman spoke up. “You aren’t being fair and you know it!”

“You can’t expect us to be on Danica’s level in only a few hours,” added Crisanta. “Even if we could, we won’t be stage-ready for weeks!”

“Exactly! And can you honestly say the NRC tribe is currently much better off than us?” Sidonie asked, slyly adding, “Is the same pressure you’re putting on Dani being equally implemented or are you just…”

“THAT'S ENOUGH! You really feel you should be rewarded for such minimal efforts?! Such nonsense!”

His angry, booming voice was enough to silence them and Danica gave everyone a look that told them to argue no further. That it would be futile to do so in any case. Though he was often unimpressed, Vil rarely ever got angry. And while he was used to Sidonie talking back to him, he was in no mood for other dissenting voices.

The room remained silent for several painful minutes before Vil slowly make his way to the door, looking over at Danica.

“You have two days,” he said. “If your spudlings make noticeable improvements in that time, I’ll allow your next rehearsal to be in the ballroom.”

And with that, Vil left them, the sound of his clicking heels echoing through the hall and providing the only sound as the girls stood in anxious, defeated silence. A million thoughts whirled through Danica’s mind and none of them good. A few weeks ago, she had been on cloud nine, trying on her beautiful costume and preparing for certain VDC victory. From that moment onward, however, very little had gone right, and that only continued on into today.

There wasn’t a moment throughout the whole afternoon where Danica’s teammates were in harmony with each other and it seemed to only reflect the lack of harmony she currently had with Vil. Beyond that, she knew she was not as firm with them as she could be. Even if being a leader was a new experience, was it one she was really cut out for? Danica contemplated these things and was so deep in her thoughts that she didn’t realize right away that her teammates had returned to arguing.

“You know, Iman, for all your bragging, you really need to learn to actually listen before you think you can lead!” Taima said, “Dani really shouldn’t have to always be talking over you when she’s giving instructions!”

“I don’t think you should focus your ire at me, sweetheart! After all,” Iman turned to Crisanta. “If SOMEONE didn’t skip out on half of class we wouldn’t be in this situation!”

“I’m not even going to argue with you on that one, Iman. I know I’m a big reason Vil is mad at us, but that doesn’t mean…”

“No! Crisanta did her best!” Ione snapped, putting herself in front of her friend. “So sorry we all can’t be like you!”

“Oh trust me, I already know that.”

“If only you’re personality was as nice as you think your dancing is!” snapped Sidonie.

“That’s rich coming from someone who messed up the lyrics twice but somehow still got a leading vocal role!” Vidaria scoffed. “I think it’s clear who’s going to end up holding us back.”

“Holding us back?! We had to delay rehearsal because of you and your Diasomnia lackeys! If Lilia has such an issue with you here then why even are you?”

“I don’t need to explain anything to a child like you!”

“Vidaria, what are you doing?!”

Crisanta’s alarmed voice brought Danica back to reality and from the corner of her eye, she saw Vidaria reaching for her magipen. No, it was time to end this.

“And I won’t allow some Pomefiore toff to speak ill of Diasomnia in my presence!”

“Is that how you feel?” Sidonie began pulling out her pen as well, “Trust me, Vidaria, you don’t want this, I’ll…”

“SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP! PUT YOUR PENS DOWN AND SHUT UP!”

Whatever they were yelling about, it all vanished and they looked over at Danica, who was clearly moments away from breaking down. Danica herself seemed surprised at just how overwhelmed she was feeling and simply stared at her teammates with glittering eyes. Taima went over to her, hesitantly placing her hand on her back.

“Dani-chan, none of this is your fault,” she murmured. “Please don’t feel bad. You’re doing great.”

“No…No I’m not…” it was all too much and several tears fell down her cheeks in rapid succession. She hung her head low with shame and Taima began gently stroking her back. “I’m trying my best, I just…don’t know what to do…”

“You don’t need to do anything, sweetie. We’ll show Vil-san that we can improve in two days! Sidonie-san will learn the lyrics, Iman will watch her attitude,” Iman was about to say something but Vidaria subtly pulled at her arm. “And we’ll all dance better!”

“N-no, that’s not what I meant,” Danica sniffed.

“Then what did you mean?”

“I…I just…I don’t know,” she choked out a loud sob. “I don’t know what he wants from me!”

Danica ran out of the reception hall and none of them tried to stop her. For the briefest moment, they all looked at each other, realizing the hand they all had in their leaders’ distress. Yuulan walked in.

“Guys, what’s wrong with Dani?” she asked. “I just saw her running up the stairs with tears in her eyes. What happened?”

“A lot happened,” Taima replied. “But worry not, Yuu-chan. We got this! Okay, guys!” turning to the others. “From this point on, I am officially Danica’s right-hand girl, the vice-leader of Swans of Seven!”

“And who or what has decided that?” asked Iman, with more amusement than annoyance.

“The fact that I’ve known Dani the longest and have performed with her countless times has! Now, one of the things I hate more than anything in the world is seeing Danica cry! None of you are right for this! We got two days to un-fuck this situation and I expect everyone to be on board starting tomorrow! Crisanta, you gotta catch up. Ione, you gotta gain some guts. Sidonie, Iman, and Vidaria, I don’t know what is going on between you three but squash it now! Dismissed!”

~~~

Ramshackle Dorm ~ Danica’s Temporary Room

“Madmoiselle Chanteusse, are you alright?”

Rook gently tapped on the door to Danica’s room. It was now much later in the evening. Danica had not left her room once since the end of rehearsal, not even to eat with the other trainees. Yuulan had left a tray by her door but it remained untouched. Instead, she lay in her bed, unable to sleep or do anything beyond thinking about everything that had happened. The tapping on the door momentarily pulled her from her anxiety and reminded her that whatever her thoughts, this was still only day one.

“May I come in?”

The inquiry set off a spark in her chest that fully brought her back to reality. With a soft groan, she pulled herself up into a sitting position, pulling her hair out of face and behind her shoulders. She checked her reflection in the camera of her phone and wiped away the remainder of her tears. There was a notification from magicam that she noticed for only a second, but was certain she had read it wrong. She told herself that she’d properly read it in a moment.

“You can come in, Rook-san.” The sight of his kind green gaze and soft smile was enough to briefly set her heart at ease and she smiled back in spite of herself. Though she felt slightly uneasy when he began to close her door. “Keep it cracked, in…case one of the girls needs me.”

“Very well, cherie,” he sat at the far end of the bed. “You did not grace us with your presence at dinner. Are you not feeling well?”

“I guess you can say that. A very stressful first day I guess. I hope the NRC Tribe didn’t have much trouble today.”

“Ahh, they all have much to learn. Especially Monsieur Crabapple. But I am confident.”

“I envy the confidence you have in them, I wish I could have the same for my team.”

“Hmm?” Rook moved a little closer to her. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I…” Danica noticed how close Rook now was, but pretended not to. “…I…it’s just…students can have a lot of potential, but if they don’t have the right teacher, that potential will never shine through. Even if he’s a student too, I’ve learned a lot from Vil-san and I think he is just the right kind of person to lead the NRC Tribe. But…” lowering her head. “I don’t think the same can be said for me and Swans of Seven.”

“Oh? But you just said Vil is a good leader.”

“He is, what does that have to do with…”

“Then why do you question him?” he grinned teasingly “Do you think a good leader would pick someone poorly suited for the role you find yourself in?”

“N-no, I don’t think so.”

“Vil selected you to lead the girls' team because he sees your potential. He sees the gifts you have to offer to the world and believes you are capable of reaching for the brightest of stars.”

“Senpai…” a light blush came to her cheeks and she directed her gaze away from his. “Are you…sure those thoughts are Vil’s and not your own?”

“Haha, mon petit cynge, comme tu est mignon,” he laughed, reaching out to touch her hand. “We both believe this. From the moment I set my eyes on you, I knew you were one worthy of notice.”

“R-Rook…san…”

“And when Vil first heard you sing, ahhh, if you could only see the look on his face, cherie! Of the likes I had never seen in him before! So you see, we both believe in your potential. Yet it doesn’t seem you believe it yourself, which is quite the shame.”

“I just wish whatever Vil has, I can have it too so I can lead the girls better.”

“Non, non, you shouldn’t wish for that,” shaking his head. “You shouldn’t expect for yourself what another has.”

“Why not?”

“It would be far more productive to find your own way of leadership that works for you,” Rook smiled. “Just as Vil’s works for him.”

Danica went silent for a few moments, pondering what Rook had said to her. She definitely did not have the same authoritative manner Vil possessed and even when she was able to get her point across, it was more so her losing her temper rather than her ability to lead. Was it even possible to have leadership skills while her personality remained so passive? Something she decided to ask him.

“Ahh, but you won’t always be so passive, cherie. Very soon, you are beginning to develop your own strength and soon, you will be ready to take flight like the perfect white swan that you are.”

He moved even closer, to the point she could no longer ignore and she forced herself to look up at him. A big mistake, she thought, as his sharp green eyes held her in place, his hand slipping under her chin for good measure and setting her face ablaze.

“But you must believe you’re capable of flying, Danica.”

She wanted to move away but found she couldn’t. It soon became too much and her eyes began to wander around the room, frantically looking for a place to keep her gaze. Anywhere but in the eyes of the one currently setting her heart into overdrive. This was made even worse by his next question, lowly whispering into her ear.”

“Have you given further thought to what we…discussed over winter break?”

“What?!” This was enough for her to finally pull away from him, making him chuckle. “Rook-san! W-why would you ask that of me right now?!”

“Should I close the door?”

“Yes! I mean, no! NO! Not now, not right now,” she stretched her legs on the bed, moving away further. “I know I said I would answer you soon, and that’s a promise I intend to keep. But I need more time. Please, a decision like…that…it can’t be rushed!”

It didn’t occur to Rook to be upset or even disappointed by her response, it was sudden of him to ask and the timing was definitely off. But considering how little time they had alone, it made sense to him at that moment. Still, he smiled.

“I understand, cherie. Forgive me if I’ve made you uncomfortable.”

“No! You didn’t. I…just can’t answer you now. I have so much on my mind preparing for the VDC and Vil-san said he’s going to be evaluating us again in soon. So, I’m sorry but…aa…ah!”

She was surprised by a sweet kiss on her hand.

“No need to apologize. What I ask is not something to be taken lightly,” her hand remained in his a few moments longer, his thumb softly stroking the inside of her palm before pressing it again to his lips. “Continue to consider it, as you are preparing to spread your wings. And with that, I bid you bonne nuit.”

Danica didn’t even register Rook’s departure at first, still too flustered by his words to think of anything else. Something like an electric current pulsed through her hand, up her arm and to her chest and she was certain she could hear her own heart. When she realized he had left, she threw herself face first into her pillows, screaming loudly and completely forgetting the open door.

“What’s wrong?!” Crisanta pushed through the door, rushing in. “I thought I heard screaming.”

“Oh! Shit!” Danica looked up at the blonde girl, her face awash with scarlet embarrassment. “I forgot the door was open. Uh…no, no. Nothings wrong. I was screaming but nothing is wrong. Sorry, I probably shouldn’t do that.”

“Haha, don’t sweat it! Sometimes it’s good to get your emotions out like that!” Crisanta grinned. “And Sevens know you have a lot on your plate. Scream as much as you need, sweetie! You deserve it!”

Ah, if only you knew why I was screaming. She thought. But said aloud, “I’m also sorry for running off like that earlier. It was extremely childish of me.”

“No, in the one who should say sorry. Twice today I’ve upset you and I didn’t mean to.”

“Twice?”

“When I brought up Vil in The Twisted Prince and when I left midway through rehearsal. I feel like a good deal of the responsibility of today ending like it did is mine.”

“I’m not one to overly lay blame on people,” Danica replied, sitting back up. “You know what you’ve done wrong, what’s most important is that you not miss any more rehearsals. I want to be lenient but Vil-san is anything but.”

“I understand. I will do my best to juggle both obligations because I really want to remain a part of Swans of Seven.”

“I do too,” the brunette smiled. “You’re dancing is solid and you have an adorable voice.”

“Thankies, but there is another reason I really want to stay,” Crisanta didn’t complete her sentence but Danica already understood.

“Because of Ione.”

“You’ve heard her sing. She’s amazing! But her confidence…”

“Yes I know, really it was Ione’s voice that is why Vil selected her. He’s really unimpressed with everything else she’s currently bringing. Between you and me, I think that’s why Vil selected Sidonie-san to be a lead vocalist. Her voice is incredible too but Ione’s range is slightly stronger. If her confidence was as strong she would have passed Sidone for sure.”

“She just needs time! You’ll see! She can do it and I want to be by her side while she does!”

“How lucky Ione is, to have a friend like you,” Danica smiled. “In that case, you know what you have to do. Please don’t let me down, and please don’t let Ione down either.”

“I promise!”

Crisanta made sure to close the door as she left and by the time Danica found herself finally alone, her mood was beginning to shift for the better. That’s when she remembered the notification on her phone. She finally looked at it, and gaped when she realized she had not been seeing things.

neige.leblanche liked your photo

neige.leblanche commented on your photo: “Dani-chan! You’re performing too? How wonderful! Can’t wait to see you and Vil-kun again!! ❤❤❤”

His comment alone had gained over 20k likes in only a few short hours. But this brought Danica’s anxiety back to the forefront. If Neige had seen her post, no doubt Vil had as well and would have certainly seen Neige’s comment. It all made sense now.

Vil was sure to be unimpressed with their progress today, but this perceived interaction with his rival was what truly had brought out his anger. It even occurred to Danica that Vil might have seen her and the girls watching her commercial with Neige, angering him further still. She clenched her teeth, how was she to know Neige would do that? And why did it have to matter anyway? After all, she didn’t think much of Neige to begin with beyond being generally nice. But not nice enough for her to wish to become better acquainted with him.

We took a few photos together for my family, that’s it! We aren’t friends and we go to rival schools! And now you’ve made Vil upset with me! What’s your deal?!

Danica let out a huff and for a moment, considered deleting the comment and blocking Neige. But thought better at the last moment, thinking it would seem even more suspicious if so many people had already seen it. She would just have to be more careful about what she posted on magicam, for the time being.

I hate this! First my costume and now this! Why does it seem I must always tailor my behavior based on the stupidity of others?

And as she thought of this, turning off the lamp and pulling the blanket over her head, the sound of shouts echoed from down the hall and through the doorway. She didn’t have to listen for her to know it was Sidonie and Vidaria arguing once again.

“WHY WAS YOUR VICE DORM LEADER IN OUR ROOM?! Looking through MY things?!”

“Calm yourself Vidaria! You’ll wake up the entire house!”

“I will NOT calm myself until this is explained! Rook had no reason to be in here!”

Danica groaned, not even her curiosity was enough to pique her interest. Even less to calm her own irritation. But soon enough, she managed to fall asleep; with all her confusion and frustrations beginning to internalize

~~~

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland oc #twst oc #twst fic #shining hearts ~ melodies and melancholy #things i write

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lunaslogs · 4 months

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Like Father, Like Me.

I can't help but realize how similar I am to my father. How many of my experiences and thoughts were his first. How many things in common we share. He's my father but he's my twin.

Half of my music taste comes from him. The moment some 70's-early 90's rock starts playing, I can guarantee it's going in my playlist. He will come home from a rough day of work and play his music on the tv and I'll find myself being his backing vocals or harmonizing, just enjoying the moment.

My love for video games? Another thing I got from him. Most of my game knowledge comes from him. Mainly about older consoles like SNES, NES, Sega Saturn, Neo Geo, Dream Cast, old Capcom arcades, you name it. I remember being a kid and seeing him pull up the sofa closer to the TV in the living room because the Xbox cord for the controller was too short to reach the couch in it's original place. I would watch him play Gears of War for hours. If it wasn't Gears, we would play Street Fighter together. We would take turns using the fight stick he bought. Then there came the time he started REALLY collection SNES/NES/Famicom stuff. If he ever pulls out that gray cartridge, just know there are two controllers connected to the console.

For a long time, I wondered where my generosity came from. My ability to give and provide and be supportive even if I knew I wasn't ever receive the same treatment back from the people I give it to. It wasn't until I started really talking to my dad that I realized it was him. Before him? My grandmother. Before her? Her father. My entire life, I struggled with trying to set boundaries and cutting people off when necessary. I've always been the one people go to in a time of need. The support system. The "mom" friend. Often times when the roles became reversed and I was in need, barely anyone was around. When I finally got the balls to open up to my Dad about my social life, I was glad. For two reasons.

I have an amazing father. One who loves me unconditionally and who understands that listening is important. I have a father I can trust. Unfortunately, I'm one of the very few people I know in my life who can say that. But it makes me cherish him a lot more. Number two? I got it from him.

My dad is a man that likes to speak from experience. It's how he gets a point across, gives a message and whatnot. Whoop-di-do, so do I. Listening to his stories over the years of him growing up and living life just the way I am now, it's crazy to think that everything I'm going through and have gone through, he has as well. It's nice, knowing that I'm not alone in my experiences.

I wish more people had a father like mine. A father they can trust and rely on and share memories with. I'm forever grateful for my dad, even if I have my own wacky way of showing it. This is Luna, logging off!

#lunaslogs #lunaloggingoff

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blubbledia · 9 months

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I played - Decarnation - 2023

"A beautiful nightmare"

Synopsis Where do you run to when your demons reside within you? Decarnation is a pixel art adventure/action puzzle game with a horrific story inspired by some of the most influential films and novels in the genre. Dive into a breathtaking thriller where nightmares and dreams intertwine… Steam Page

If the content is not overly off-putting, and you can handle a couple of tension-free jump scares? A free afternoon? Aurally and visually beautiful, it haunts. The gameplay only uses direction keys and an interact button and it uses them smartly. Play it.

I think it's so interesting that horror exists. For us to create our own monsters to fear. A deeply personal reason must exist for us to seek out these kinds of experiences, even if it's not conscious right? For me I think it's the same reason why the "indomitable human spirit" trope works for me. In horror, in some form, people struggle to survive.

I'll be honest, I had thoughts about what I'd do given a similar situation, and they were not as much indomitable human spirit, as I'd just end myself. Or not comply. Or fight. But that's not really the point with stories. They are not me, I'm playing a role, a grand play. In these times I am instead Gloria. Gloria hangs on. Her heart is good. Better than mine I daresay.

This game also heavily reminds me of 'Room' (2015). Similar to the movie, they spend a good portion of time in the aftermath. Which is important, life after "the event" isn't always shown. But the acknowledgement here that you still have to continue living after terrible events works tremendously.

There are a couple times when I wasn't all on-board. Close to the beginning of when Gloria is kidnapped it seemed to go a hair long when showing her suffering; I also acknowledge that could be the point. Same with the end, although it works really well, it also just drags a tiny bit too long. While most pieces of puzzle or challenge weren't that bad, there was one spot that just got me like 8 times.

ALSO, the music I mentioned is good. But the vocalized pop songs are so enjoyable.

#first time #decarnation #game #september 2023 #horror

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musicarenagh · 11 months

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Getting to Know the UK's Rising Dance Music Star Sam Dickinson Sam Dickinson is a singer-songwriter from the UK who has been making music for over 10 years. His new single, Falling, is a dance-fuelled club anthem that is sure to get you moving. In this interview, Sam talks about his inspiration for the song, his creative process, and his plans for the future. Sam grew up listening to 90s soul and pop music, and he cites artists like Everything But the Girl, Lisa Stansfield, and M People as some of his biggest influences. He started writing songs when he was 16 years old, and he released his debut album, The Stories That Occurred, in 2013. Falling is the first single from Sam's upcoming album, Collection: The Stories. The song is about the constant struggle to find happiness in relationships. Sam says that he wanted to write a song that would capture the feeling of being "stuck in a cycle" of unhealthy relationships. The creative process for Falling was a collaborative effort. Sam worked with a team of writers and producers to create the song, and he says that the process was "really organic." He is excited to share Falling with his fans, and he hopes that the song will resonate with them. In addition to his solo work, Sam has also written songs for other artists, including RuPaul's Drag Race queens Manila Luzon and Choriza May. He has also opened for The Feeling and Louise Redknapp, and he has toured the UK. Sam is excited to continue making music, and he has plans to release more singles and an album in the coming months. He is also hoping to collaborate with more artists, and he is open to working in different genres. Get the full story below while you enjoy Falling Follow Sam Dickinson on Facebook Twitter Spotify Youtube Instagram Tiktok What is your stage name. Is there a story behind your stage name? I perform under my own name of Sam Dickinson Where do you find inspiration? I find my inspiration through life and my experiences, they create the best songs after all, don’t they? What was the role of music in the early years of your life? I used to listen to music in my Mum’s car on the way to school. She’d have her cassettes full of 90s soul and pop. Artists like Everything But the Girl, Lisa Stansfield, M People. All those artists shaped my taste in music. Are you from a musical or artistic family? No, I’m from a family who love music and I think that’s just as important. Who inspired you to be a part of the music industry? Artists such as Anastacia and Paloma Faith really inspired me. They went against the narrative and were signed in their 30’s. They really helped change record labels perception of what artists over the age of 21 could offer. How did you learn to sing/write/to play? I learnt to sing through singing lessons, I was taught classically. I think it helped give me a really strong basis and strength to my vocals. [caption id="attachment_50861" align="alignnone" width="1440"] I learnt to sing through singing lessons[/caption] What was the first concert that you ever went to and who did you see perform? I’m sure my Mum said she went to see David Bowie when she was pregnant with me, does that count?! How could you describe your music? It’s pop music, it’s soulful, it’s dance driven. Describe your creative process. It really changes for each and every song. I love collaborating with other writers and find every writer brings something out of you that you didn’t expect. What is your main inspiration? Just experiences in my life, when I write I want it to be real. What musician do you admire most and why? So many different artists but I don’t think artists like myself would have a place if it wasn’t for George Michael and Boy George. Did your style evolve since the beginning of your career? Yes! My first album was a brass and horn driven and soul affair. My new music is more dance orientated. Funnily enough, my new single ‘Falling’ is released 10 years to the day since my debut album ‘The Stories That Occurred’.

Who do you see as your main competitor? I don’t. We’re all trying to make the best music we can and that should be celebrated. What are your interests outside of music? Perhaps it’s a bit grim but I do love a good Netflix serial killer documentary! If it wasn't a music career, what would you be doing? Well music isn’t my full-time job, unfortunately! My career is in HR, not quite as glamourous! What is the biggest problem you have encountered in the journey of music? Getting people to be able to hear your music, it’s so competitive and promotion and radio opportunities are so limited, you really have to try and maximise what comes your way. If you could change one thing in the music industry, what would it be? Better and more appropriate royalties for streaming. Why did you choose this as the title of this project? It’s about that constant struggle to find happiness in your relationships. What are your plans for the coming months? I have more new music coming this year along with an album called ‘Collection: The Stories’ to celebrate 10 years in the industry. Do you have any artistic collaboration plans I’m keeping tight lipped on that! What message would you like to give to your fans? Thank you for sticking by me after all these years. It means everything to me.

#Interviews #BRITISHBASED #COMMERCIAL #COMMERCIALPOP #DANCE #EDM #EDM POP #falling #FALLINGBYSAMDICKINSON #FALLINGSINGLE #MALEVOCALS #NORTHENGLANDBASED #SAMDICKINSON #SAMDICKINSONLATESTSINGLE #UKBASED #VOCALDANCE #WORKOUT

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rinisbowen · 2 years

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hsmtmts does frozen

aka kyla tries to cast the summer camp musical.... featuring a lot of explanation.

For Elsa:

When people started to suggest Kourtney and Gina for Elsa and Anna I was like, yeah that’s fantastic actually. That said, if it’s not Kourtney, I think Lily would make the perfect Elsa. I know we’re not super familiar with Olivia Rose Keegan’s vocal range, but Dara’s the only person in the main cast that I think has a chance of being able to sing “Let It Go” and truly pull it off. The strength of her voice is incredible, and she has the range on both ends from all I’ve seen, which is where a lot of even the stronger singers in the cast would struggle to sing this in my mind. You need to be able to do both the high parts and some lower parts. Kourtney as Elsa is the only role I feel fairly certain about honestly.

Olivia Rose Keegan does have a fairly strong musical theatre voice, but the real reason I put Lily here at all is that I honestly think Lily playing Elsa could’ve been a good choice so far as her character arc. Particularly if they plan on bringing her back for future seasons, I’d expect to see something of a redemption arc done with Lily (though if her pilot, Gotham Knights, gets a series order, this will likely be it for her). What I’d like to have her sing of Elsa’s if anything is what other people have mentioned, “Monster”. She doesn’t have to play Elsa to sing it, and I don’t think she will play Elsa. The fact we haven’t seen her on set doesn’t inherently mean anything, because social media is something controlled, and she’s not very active there, but I do wonder if Lily’s at camp or not. She may very well not be. But I do hope she gets a chance to sing something, even if not “Monster”. Her voice is lovely, and her song last season was relegated to the soundtrack so... It’s time.

doing the rest under the cut bc this post is absurdly long.

For Anna:

Like I said in the Elsa section, Kourtney and Gina as Elsa and Anna is something that started going around fairly early, and I think it works pretty great. I got on board that train fairly early. Now- I know some people do want Gina to play Elsa, particularly now that there’s more speculation about Ashlyn playing Anna, but I personally don’t agree with that casting. Particularly because I just don’t think Sofia has the voice to sing Elsa’s part. However, given she’s been working with a vocal coach, I do think she’s going to be singing a good amount, which tends towards her potentially playing Anna. Anna can be sung by an Alto as well, which works here. Plus, as people have discussed, Gina’s got the older sibling who left thing going for her. So if they do end up trying to somewhat reconnect Gina with Jamie (Jordan Fisher’s schedule permitting), they could use Anna stuff for that purpose. This is the first season I think Gina’s actually eligible to play a lead, so I won’t be surprised when/if she gets one.

As for Ashlyn... I think there’s definitely a chance. Though not as strong of one as I’m seeing people speculate about. Yes, hair can absolutely mean something, particularly given these things like hair dye are often controlled to some extent by production. But her rolling up to the BTNE premiere with the white streaks in her red hair feels more like an attempt at confusing us than an actual thing. That said- I don’t think it’s as bad an idea as a lot of people are acting like. Yes, Ashlyn “had her turn” to be the lead last season, but doing theater isn’t about whose turn it is. Ashlyn’s been in the background for a long time (like Nini, pre-season 1), so her playing another large role could be good if they give her character more focus this season, which I don’t think is out of the question with Nini on her way out. Ashlyn’s vibe is also very similar to Anna’s, the quirky younger sister energy she exuded in season 1 in particular, and we know Julia has the voice for an ingenue type character. I don’t think she’ll be Anna, but she could be, and I wouldn’t be mad at it.

For Hans:

I lowkey would’ve loved to see Howie as Hans... Roman’s voice >>> But that’s not happening, so here’s where we are.

I think it’s probably either EJ or Ricky. But I think we all knew that. Out of the series regular guys this season, we have Ricky, EJ, Carlos, and now Jet. Hans and Kristoff are almost decidedly going to be played by members of these four. And I love Carlos, but his primary role in the show is behind the scenes, I don’t expect that to change a ton... even after Lumiere. He seems to prefer commanding the room to being under the spotlight. I know Val’s choreographing this season and not Carlos, but I don’t think that means Carlos plans to jump into auditioning for lead roles. He’d probably do something smaller, especially after his absolute panic before going on for Beauty and the Beast. But that’s just me. That said, a quick honorable mention to Jet. He’s probably going to be like- the King or something... But it could be fun to see something entirely surprising like this if they gave him a lead. Throw us off.

For EJ, my friend really wanted him to play Hans when we heard the musical was frozen, and I totally get why. For one thing, it’s the obvious typecast, particularly before Matt grew his hair out, but still. Hans is a charmer, and I think EJ could serve the princely vibes. But my friend wanted him as Hans primarily because she wanted Matt to get the chance to sing the songs Hans gets in the musical. She loves the Frozen Broadway musical, and she prefers Hans’ songs to Kristoff’s. But yeah, EJ just gives the right vibes for pre-reveal Hans, and he can have a lot of fun doing the villain thing. At the same time though, EJ’s plotline has passed the point where I think him playing Hans would help him evolve, but I mean that doesn’t mean he can’t. The casting doesn’t have to play a part in their arcs, and playing the villain won’t hinder his development. Originally I did think this was obvious, and I mean that’s because it is obvious. But we’ll see what part he gets. I think it’s kind of a toss up, depending on what Tim wanted to accomplish.

But it’s for that same reason that I’ll say I’d be quite happy to see Ricky play Hans. I’d love to hear him sing (some of) the songs. Ricky’s a character with a bit of a bite to him at times, which is funny because he lacks confidence, but he can be incredibly charming, especially when he likes someone, and so he could totally pull off the charming prince Hans pre-reveal. He played the Beast last season, and while we didn’t see a ton of that necessarily, he can pull off both ends of the character in theory. The gruff beast, and the kind heart growing beneath. This is kinda the flip of that, the kind, charming prince, and the wicked heart beneath. I have a feeling it’ll be a struggle, for Ricky, to play the villain, but depending on what his arc looks like this season, I think he might have the kind of negative emotions that he could translate into Hans’s character. I know people have critiques of Ricky’s performances, but we know he’s canonically a good actor. Plus Joshua can sing. So that certainly helps for casting Ricky in musicals.

Again, I think this one is kind of a toss up, but I think it’ll be fun either way it goes.

For Kristoff:

I lowkey would’ve loved to see Howie as Kristoff, especially given the role on Broadway is typically played by a black man. But also bc Howie’s got such nice vibes, and Roman’s voice just- fantastic. That said, Roman’s not in this season, and even if he was, it’s certainly not in the capacity where he could be playing a lead in the musical.

EJ is who the majority of the fandom wants to see as Kristoff, and particularly with Matt’s hair grown out like that, I do for sure see how it might feel all the more likely. It would also be good for EJ to be able to play the true good guy for the first time in the show’s run. We know EJ has played the leading man a whole lot in the past, and has been the good guy. But we haven’t gotten to see it, and honestly I agree with the fandom that given this is EJ’s last show with the wildcats, it would be a good chance for him to play this sort of character on screen. (Yes it’s a staged musical, but I just mean as opposed to the fact we know he’s done it before off screen). I think the ‘it’s his turn’ argument is a bad one, like the ‘Ashlyn’s had her turn’, and the argument which corresponds with the ‘it’s EJ’s turn’ thing aka ‘Ricky’s had his turn’ but it remains true that for EJ, this is his last show, and it could be a nice gesture to send him off with a nice part like this that caters to the fact he’s thoroughly undergone his redemption arc and is starting to open up to people. As Kristoff eventually opens up to Anna after being a bit prickly given his best friend is an actual reindeer. This casting works well for EJ’s character arc, as it gives him the opportunity to be, not the hero, that’s Anna, but just a swell guy who cares about people and eventually gives Anna what she’s wanted so long, love. I don’t think I need to explain this further, since other people already have talked up the EJ!Kristoff thing a ton, but- yeah.

Ricky as Kristoff isn’t something I want to discount at all. I think it’s very important we consider it a possibility. Kristoff does start out a bit gruffer, like the Beast is, Ricky’s last role, and like I said when talking about Hans, Ricky can be a bit prickly himself. What Ricky lacks, consistently, is confidence. That might become a bigger issue when it’s not Miss Jenn casting the shows. She knows what he can do, the camp director won’t. Also- he won’t have Nini... So that makes it even worse as far as how his audition may end up feeling. But this time, given he’s going to a camp, and is aware of this, he’ll probably be more prepared to audition? Especially since he’s probably talking to Lily, and she’s super into this stuff. Ricky’s played two leading men so far, and he’s proved that he can handle these types of roles, as well as supporting his cast members, as Miss Jenn said she wanted in 2.02. It’d also be a lot easier for him to play a character he can relate to, someone who puts the people he cares about first, even at his own expense. Ricky’s focus is on love a lot, and while Kristoff’s learning to love is somewhat the opposite of what Ricky needs to do at the moment, if the goal is to keep the Frozen aspect as simple as possible, and do more outside of it than with it, to best use their limited time, then it’d make sense to just keep the casting like one would expect. EJ as Hans, Ricky as Kristoff, and have the character arc things operate separately. Kristoff also plays guitar... And well- that’s kinda Ricky’s whole gig.

I kinda decided not to touch on the rest, because while I have some ideas, I don’t think the rest I feel at all solid enough on to bother posting it.

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts season 3 #hsmtmts: speculation #hsmtmts: casting #//feel free to lmk if you have questions or thoughts... this took way longer to write than i thought it would

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1ddotdhq · 4 years

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🎤Wed 9 Dec ‘20❄️

LOUIS!!!!!! I am posting this from beyond the dead because Louis’ trailer KILLED MY MIND! But THEN, it brought my body back to life because I HAVE to be around on Saturday to see this show go down. NEW LOUIS SONGS!!!! I AM NOT READY!!! First Eleanor kicked off promo for the livestream day by modeling Louis' purple Balenciaga windbreaker for us with a caption about her “BF”. I mean, it’s a look! No dogs today tho :(. Oddly though after posting herself in the outfit and saying that she was going to go out in the get up, she didn’t! Changed right back into her own clothes after all. Just like how Louis liking her post a few weeks ago was the first sign of action, this too was an indication NEW THINGS COMING! And boy, did they come! After Louis this posted his fifteen (15) second long clip, which included at least one full second each of an as of yet untitled song, KMM, Too Young, Walls, and a badass unidentified riff by Michael Blackwell (POP OFF, dude)! Louis was NOT done there though; fans were wondering what the unfamiliar songs in the trailer were. In what seemed to be a hint, Louis tweeted “copy of a copy of a copy”, which, when googled, turned up with two musical results. The only one that matters is the song ‘Copy of A..’ by Nine Inch Nails (“I am little pieces. Pieces that were picked up on the way, invented with a purpose, a purpose that's become quite clear today”). According to the band, this song is about breaking out of an image that no longer fits you: “How dare you have the audacity to not perform in the role you have been placed in”. Nine Inch Nails has also been really vocal about the importance of artistic freedom and the struggle to maintain it in the face of label interference, which I’m sure Louis can relate to. But! It turned out the untitled song that fans were wondering about isn’t ANY of these, it is, instead a “New song. Not a cover!” according to Louis himself! Let’s be clear: this does not mean that he WASN'T tweeting that lyric about doing a Nine Inch Nails cover, just that the snip in the teaser ISN’T ‘A Copy of A…’. Okay guys, I didn’t say this when the show came up, but now I will: I am IN LOVE with 12/12!! Last year, we got Fine Line on the 12th, and THIS year, we get BRAND! NEW! LOUIS! SONGS!!!!!!! This is one trend that is welcome to keep continuing!

And, for the TRUE piece de resistance: LOUIS’ HAIR! It is long long long, and slightly curly at the ends, and “HIS HAIR” (in all caps) was trending under “Beauty” immediately after the trailer was released. As it SHOULD! It’s BEAUTIFUL! And, in the middle of all of this, we got pictures of Louis from outside his rehearsal studio two weeks ago - OP said he said not to tell anyone about his hair, so they posted them the second after the trailer went up like “well if HE'S showing everyone..' They also scribbled out his hand. People asked does he have a new tattoo?? A ring?? Nope! It seems that he was probably holding a beer, which was edited out because yes certainly fans should jump in to take on the role of 1D management circa 2011 and preserve Louis' squeaky clean teen idol image! If Louis didn't want to be photographed with something he wouldn't come out to do fanservice holding it, give me a break, you really think he's sharing actual secrets with you? Grow up! Anyways, while on twitter Louis followed Isabella Signs, who he met through the charity work that she does for her younger brother. She has a YouTube channel by the same name and does A LOT of really cool SSE (Sign [language] Supported English) covers of all the boys plus 1D, check her out!

The Naughty List music video is OUT! It is a #quarantinevideo made with the green screen that Liam talked the other day about having had set up in his living room for days and how much he disliked that. It features Liam in a Snow Globe and Dixie and her friends dancing in a photobooth in colorful outfits (Liam in a red sequin vest with nothing underneath anyone?), pastel and glittery backgrounds, and lots of Christmas cheer! More than Liam had today, that’s for sure! Dixie loves Christmas, but Liam said that if it wasn’t for his son “pfft, Christmas can pass me by” in the joint live Liam/Dixie did to introduce the video. Steve the Manager (who made Liam’s naughty list for “making him work today”) spent most of the time feeding Liam questions for Dixie and trying to keep him on track. Liam and Dixie shared stories of Christmas presents (Dixie’s best Christmas was when she got a four wheeler), who made their Naughty List this year (Dixie: No one, Liam: “NIALLLL” - no he did not say why), and if they’d ever been kissed under the mistletoe (Dixie was when she was 12, Liam has not yet because he’s “a loonneeelyyyy boyyyy”, but then went on to say, “Mayaaaa you gotta kiss me under the mistletoe!!” so I guess that’s that). Steve the Manager kept cutting Liam off before he could even TRY to do his Harry voice, so we didn’t get any of that, but we did get a nice solo Liam alarm to wake up to this morning, where he did a meditative bit and reminded people that it’s almost Friday!! And he's added some signed Naughty List single CDs to his store and merch! Really cute hoodies-- I'm not personally sure I want my chest to say Naughty List all over it but Liam can work it and it is a cute design. He also went on a radio show (not Roman’s) to promote Naughty List and revealed that he had NOT done any Christmas shopping yet, which IMMEDIATELY put him on their naughty list. Not to worry Liam, I think you’re still pretty nice!

And my favorite larrie is BACK: we got a sneak peek of Harry’s Jingle Ball set and, surprise, surprise, it’s the pre-recorded set with the Free Nationals! The description is, “Harry Styles and the Free National light up an LA backyard celebration with a hit-stacked set”. So, uh, I guess he’s not going to be playing in front of a blank wall - it’ll be a garden with a camper van, little blue flags, and fairy lights strung up. His shirt matches the small flags in being That Color Blue, and my one and only prediction for the set is that he’ll be covering Blue Christmas. I gotta say that I have NEVER seen anyone as dedicated to that - or ANY color - as Harry is. He still hasn’t popped up anywhere, but this is EXCITING! A new Fine Line set!!

Zayn made Martyre’s Instagram story again, and though you STILL can’t see his face, it’s his neck this time instead of his hands! I think that he’s meant to be modeling the necklace he’s got on, but the picture is too blurry for me to make it out. Alas. Anyways, I’d love to see some pictures of his FACE if Martyre has those? Please? Meanwhile, Niall promoted a beloved Doncaster native musician... no it was Yungblud! On Instagram, of course: he did tell us he wasn't going to be on twitter for a while!

#louis tomlinson #liam payne #harry styles #zayn malik #niall horan #damn EVERYONE did something today huh #well i did some research about the copy of a .. thing so here's the second thing i found #The SECOND thing I turned up was an EP by a small indie rock band named Foxhole Stacks (which is RIGHT up Louis’ alley)#named “Copy of a Copy of a Copy of a Copy” - there were two songs on the EP the first being “Turntable Exiles”#lyrics: (“Where the skinny boys sing their songs the turntable exiles...and they wander and wander and wander around leave them headed for a #different sound”)#and the second is “The Law of Averages” (I’m tired sick and tired of letting it go/The law of every average I know”)#in case you wanted to know #theyre pop punk and DC based and GREAT and if anyone is lurking and wants to hear something AWESOME!#anyways on a seperate note im sending lots of love to liam today #anyways!#song of the day!#Turntable Exiles by Foxhole Stacks

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w-k-smith · 3 years

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Do Not Break Faith with Us Who Die, or We Shall Not Sleep

So I heard through the grapevine Din is being haunted by the darksaber or something?

Well here’s my contribution.

I wrote and edited it all in one sitting...somehow. I actually really like it! And I hate everything I write!

Bonus points if you know what inspired the title. (The poem “In Flanders Fields.”)

Summary: Din is possessed by the manda of slain warriors that resides in the darksaber. He is unable to distinguish between enemy and ally. The only way to heal him is to figure out how put Mandalore’s unquiet dead at peace.

Rating: T (violence, blood, possession, loss of bodily control)

Words: 1091

Half of the planet Mandalore is barren. Some people live there, in settlements and cities that have been dragged from more fertile places, but nothing grows from the grit and bedrock. Half of the planet Mandalore is a battle scar. Some of the bombs that tore away the soil and stripped the forests were dropped centuries ago. Some, less than 20 years. To most ears, silence sits where there were once marching songs and explosions.

But Din hears them. They started as whispers when he held the darksaber, now it is a constant noise, and he can’t unwrap his fingers from the hilt, and the black blade overshadows any light around it. An outside force drags Din through Keldabe. He can’t stop. He has tried. When he has channeled all his will toward regaining power over his own body, the noise has quieted. His own thoughts become clear.

He crossed paths with Bo-Katan. She sensed the danger, but was wrong about the source.

“Why are you moving like that? Are you injured? Talk to me, Mand’alor,” she said, and for once she didn’t say it sarcastically.

“Bo...” Din rasped. Forming the words he wanted to say was like pushing a starship up a hill. “Run.”

And then he slid beneath the darkness, and and the darkness slashed at her with the darksaber. Bo-Katan deflected with her vambraces just in time, She couldn’t stop Din’s free hand from grabbing her by the throat, and tossing her against the wall with the strength of more than one warrior. With the strength of dead armies who don’t know their battles are over.

Din can’t let go of the darksaber.

He knows it has nothing to do with the boxy hilt, which is just a convenient container for the energy that really makes up the weapon. He is haunted, possessed by the souls inside the blade, the manda of all the Mandalorians who died violent deaths on this planet since the darksaber became the symbol of its leadership.

“You’re our Mand’alor,” the ghosts tell him. “Direct our campaigns. Find our enemies. Lead our souls.”

Din tries to tell them he can’t, that this isn’t what Mandalore needs, that they have more undying passion and fury than one human’s body can contain. He struggles to unclench his fingers, to relax a single muscle. But his role here is not a choice.

“Rally our soldiers. Stoke our glory. Ready the warships. Sharpen the knives. Prepare our children. Avenge our dead.“

Din hears distant sounds through the cacophony. Their meaning doesn’t register until a few seconds after he hears them. He is a passenger in his own body. His feet don’t touch the ground. Blood as warm as life flows out of his nose and turns cold on his lips. When he speaks, he doesn’t know what he’s saying, but he feels his throat getting raw.

“Dank ferrik, what happened to the Mand’alor?”

“Be careful! He’s stronger than he used to be! Don’t try to face him one-on-one!”

“Where is he bleeding from?”

“He doesn’t know you, he doesn’t know who you are. I don’t think he even realizes he’s hurting anyone. Help me pin him down or stay out of the way!”

“How long has he been like this, Bo-Katan?”

“Too long, obviously. Can your Jedi magic help him or what? It’s a yes or no, Skywalker.”

“I can try. But just because this came from a lightsaber doesn’t mean it’s not Mandalorian in origin.”

Weight. Struggle. Trying to rise from the ground only for something to pound him back down again. He can’t let go of the darksaber.

“Bo, and Mr. Skywalker, sir, he’s been saying some things, and though he sounds like roaring rancor when he does -”

“Not now, Koska!”

“Please, let her speak.”

“Haven’t you heard what he’s saying, Bo? He shouted something about advancing on Cin Cerar by daybreak. Cin Cerar was an old colony that was burned to the ground 200 years ago! And then he said, follow Tarre Vizla, and then avenge the Purge. Some of the bloodiest moments in our people’s history!”

“I understand what you’re saying, but how the hell does that tell us what to do?”

Din’s eyes throb as they roll back in his skull. The world becomes darkness. The souls in the darksaber get even louder.

“The darksaber was made by a Jedi who was long, long before my time, or even my masters’. And it has been wielded mostly by Mandalorians. But it is still a lightsaber. The Force flows through it, as the Force flows through all living things, and things that were once living. Does your culture have ghost stories, Bo-Katan?”

“I - not exactly...”

“Or anything that would explain why your dead would be so restless?”

“Good grief, Skywalker, we’re Mandalorians! Do you think we give up a fight just because we’re dead? What it takes to make an army of Mandalorians -“

Din’s body bucks, and his spine folds in half. No matter what the darksaber wants him to do, he can’t go on like this. The last part of him that is still him thinks of his son. If Din dies, he knows Luke will take care of him, do his best to protect him, though the idea of never seeing his child again hurts Din’s heart in a way his own impending death doesn’t. Mandalore itself will be in Bo-Katan’s irritable but capable hands. If he has to let go to keep others safe, he can let go.

And then he hears something that lets him know he’s truly lost touch with reality. Bo-Katan is close, like she’s kneeling next to his head, and she’s singing.

Her voice is low and hesitant, but he recognizes the song. It’s a lullaby. A Mandalorian lullaby, half Mando’a and half Basic, meant to soothe an upset child back to sleep.

You can rest, verd’ika, because the battle is won. You can dream, verd’ika, because your enemies have gone away.

Verd’ika. Little soldier. A soft but ironic song, meant for a child too small to hold a blaster, much less go to war.

Koska is the first to join Bo-Katan. Then a few more pick up the song, the other Night Owls, their voices echoing in their helmets. Soon Din hears a whole crowd of people singing. Even Luke picks up the song, stumbling a little over the Mando’a pronunciation. When they reach the end, they start right over, in an unyielding loop.

Soon, the voices are louder than the souls in the darksaber. Din’s strained muscles relax. He can see out his visor again, and he’s looking up at the twilight sky over Keldabe, Concordia waxing overhead. He gasps, and stops speaking, his strained vocal chords finally getting a break. His hand trembles, then springs open all at once. The hilt of the darksaber falls away. He coughs and shakes, like his body is trying to clear itself of what invaded it. But he’s free.

The music stops.

“Din,” Bo-Katan says. Not “Mand’alor.” If he didn’t know better, he’d guess her concern was genuine. “Give us a sign, Din. Anything. You don’t even have to speak. Just let us know you’re you.”

“My son?” he croaks. It hurts to talk.

“He’s with Axe, safe and far, far away from here. He didn’t see a thing.”

“Did I - is anyone hurt?”

“A few nasty bruises here and there and one broken wrist, but that’s all. Give us a little credit.”

“Oh.” He breathes in and out, relishing the control. “I have to -”

The gentlest pressure on his shoulder. “No,” Bo-Katan says. “Lie back. You’ve done your part. Rest. You’re no use dead, Mand’alor.”

He wants to sit up, to apologize, to try to fix what damage he’s done. But the urge to collapse into himself is too great. He slips into darkness, but it’s comforting darkness, full of the dreams you dream when your enemy has gone away.

#star wars #the mandalorian #haunted din #din is haunted #din is possessed #din djarin #darksaber #din haunted #Bo-Katan Kryze #mandalore #this fan fiction is brought to you by: My Depression #My Depression: life sucks so just go write angsty fan fiction

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littlemisslipbalm · 4 years

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“you get me” (famous!y/n x harry)

Famous!y/n x Harry Styles

First Harry fic so please be kind, but feedback is SUPER appreciated

Initially inspired by the picture of Harry leaving the Gucci store with 15 bags but barely has anything to do with that lol

Definitely thought of Ellen for the interview idk why tho - also I struggle with writing Harry’s dialogue because I really want to get it right, but hopefully the more practice I get, the better/more natural it will sound. ALSO i have like no music or music industry background lol. Somewhat proofread, but its 2:30 am so it could be shit

Fluff!

Warnings: maybe some angst over being famous per say, past loneliness

Word Count: 3.7k literally howwww, i’m going to do a pt. 2 though because it was kind of a long set up and feelingsssss

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Interviewer: Please, welcome our next guest, a woman who’s sure to have her name written up beside the music greats someday, Ms. Y/N L/N!

You can’t contain the grin that spreads to your face as you carry yourself out onto the stage and see the audience cheering for you. It was your third big interview since your first album had been released and you’d seen your fame skyrocket over night. This being the third one this week meant you’d gotten comfortable getting asked questions, but you also weren’t bored of it yet. It was exhilarating being the center of attention, especially for something that had been your life’s work up until this point. You always had to fight for whatever you got and the recognition you were starting to have was reassurance that you hadn’t been a fool to risk a safe and certain life for your dreams.

The interview begins as the rest had, a few pleasantries, how you were feeling, and then the introduction of the album. The host asked you what your inspiration was for some of the songs and the album name and cover. You loved to talk about the music, it was the whole reason you were there. The meaning, the sound, the name, it all meant so much to you and you talked about how music can be interpreted differently by everyone and even the shifts in someone’s mood can change a song’s meaning, but what it meant to you at the time of writing was always something specific. You practiced those answers in the mirror before the interviews because they were important to you and you didn’t want your words on your art to ever be misconstrued. The host then complimented your style and you were at the point where you thought your interview should be wrapping up when they asked you one more question, and it threw you for a loop.

Interviewer: So Y/N, we’ve been hearing some rumblings around, about you and another famous musician, Mr. Harry Styles. Anything going on there?

Your face heated up, you hadn’t been expecting a personal question about possible relationships. Nothing like this had been asked of you at your previous interviews. It’s about the music, the art, and who you were, it’s always about that and nothing more. To be honest, you were a bit annoyed the host had chosen to stray from those topics. You didn’t care for the celebrity side of being a famous musician, the lack of privacy, the prying eyes of media and the general public. They saw enough of you through your art, you bore your soul through music why did they want to peak into your heart as well?

Y/N: I don’t know if I’d rather be with Harry Styles or actually be Harry Styles. Like, he’s literally such an icon, I want to be able to walk out of a Gucci store after spending hours there with 15 bags full of my purchases and helpers to carry it all out c’mon… He’s also an amazing songwriter, musician, and performer, of course. Didn’t mean to sound superficial, but I’d also love to own even half of his closet.

You hadn’t really answered the question, but the audience laughed and the host obviously got the hint that you weren’t interested in fanning any flames of romance with Harry Styles or anyone else. For one, you didn’t even know the man, but you had always been a loving fan of his. You cited him as one of your role models when you were first starting to try and break into the music world. Second, if you did know him, that wouldn’t be an appropriate topic for your album press junket going on, even if it meant more publicity because of Harry’s big celebrity status. The host decided to qualify their original question with a final sentiment.

Interviewer: I totally feel the same way! I only ask because the outpouring of support you’ve received seems to be from similar groups who also follow Harry. Many have been comparing your sound to his solo career work.

Y/N: Ah...well that’s very kind of people to say. He’s definitely a big inspiration, his creativity and drive is incredible. I’d love to be as successful as him someday.

The interview ended. You and the host shook hands and you waved and sent kisses to the crowd before retreating backstage. You were exhausted, but happy. You hoped to avoid anymore stressful interview questions that didn’t truly revolve around music. Of course, life is never that simple.

One month later

You had done countless more interviews and talk shows as promo for your album and the buzz around it had continued to grow. Your fame continued to rise as well and that one question you had dodged at your third interview had come back around to bite you, naturally. Daily Mail’s dumb headline read: “Y/N can’t decide! Date Harry Styles or Steal His Closet?” The Sun was also running with your response and miscontruing it completely, something about how you were madly in love with Harry but jealous of his designer partnerships, you couldn’t even stomach reading the garbage. This was your worst nightmare. Not only was it taking away the focus from your album, but you were also sure this dumb gossip had reached the very set of ears that the gossip was allegedly also about.

You had signed with Columbia Records for your first album, the same record label as Harry Styles, so managers had been in contact with one another about the whole fiasco trying to get the actual truth - which was that the two of you didn’t even know each other and there were no problems whatsoever. Your manager also brought along the good news that Harry had actually listened to your album and loved it, “He said ‘Congratulations’ by the way, loved the sound. Said he’d heard you were very music focused and be open to do some mentoring on songwriting and vocal specifics, if you wanted. It’d have to be in private though, obviously.” She had added the last bit, but you understood why. To have the opportunity to discuss your music with one of your longtime role models, heroes even, was beyond anything you could have imagined coming from your album’s success. And it made the drama all the more palatable because now you at least got to talk to Harry like the media was so adamantly saying you were doing already.

You nodded quickly and agreed, while trying to keep your teenage fangirl excitement hidden below your mature now-famous musician facade. Like you said, Harry was your hero, he’d been your hero since you were in middle school and had Up All Night downloaded on your iPod touch, blasting it as loud as possible, sound hitting your poster-filled walls. You weren’t the same girl as you were then, obviously, you had grown up to be a strong, independent, and confident woman. But, you still smiled at the thought of your younger self with your baby face squealing in the nosebleeds at the Take Me Home Tour (where you swore Harry had looked straight at you) and her seeing you now, dressed in a sleek outfit setting up an appointment to meet with Harry to discuss your first album, a success.

The next Thursday evening

You took a deep breath, in through your nose and out through your pursed lips. You were anxious and excited at the exact same time. Your meeting with Harry was tonight, right now actually, and you hadn’t been able to think about much else since your manager had confirmed the meeting last week. She got you the details a couple of days ago, the location: his house in Malibu, the time: 5:45 P.M. You had brought along a copy of your album on vinyl because you thought it sounded best this way, second only to performing it live.

Choosing your outfit for tonight was probably the toughest decision you’d ever made, harder than choosing between an education and following your dreams, harder than choosing your favorite Beatles song. You didn’t want to worry so much, this wasn’t a date you kept reminding yourself, but everything you tried on earlier kept having something wrong with it, too dressy, too boring, too ‘not yourself’. You had settled for these blue high-waisted pants that you’d worn to your first ever podcast interview, a thin black long sleeve, and a brown leather coat that fell below your hips with vans sneakers, casual, simple, yet still true to you and your vibe.

You raised your free arm and formed a fist, hesitant to knock, as if you’d damage Harry’s seemingly perfect Malibu beachfront home by knocking too hard on the wooden front door. You waited a few moments and could here some shuffling behind the door, some incoherent words were seemingly said, but the walls muffled them before they could reach for ears. Soon enough, Harry Styles in the flesh was before you. He beamed down at you, huffing, slightly out of breath as if he had been clear across the house when you knocked. His strong figure towered above your far smaller stature. He was hanging onto the door since he had opened it only slightly. “Hello, Y/N?” he greeted and questioned simultaneously. “Hi,” you responded and extended the same hand that had just rapped against his now open door. He gripped it, ushering you into his home, “Come in, come in, it’s nice to meet you, don’t want you to catch a cold now do we?” He took note of your strong handshake and ring clad fingers.

He walked you into an area between the kitchen and a sitting area. The kitchen was open aside from a bar high top between the two rooms. You sat down at his prompting and made yourself comfortable. “I brought my record on vinyl, sounds best in my opinion, otherwise I’d recommend seeing it live,” you laughed as you handed the vinyl to him and took off your coat. “Technically, y’know, I could hear it live right now, if you were willin’ f’course,” Harry had responded over his shoulder as he placed the vinyl by his idle record player, “Anything to drink?” “Just water for me, please.” His accent was even stronger in person, especially since he had moved back to London and seldomly stayed in California, except for business and quick trips. As far as you knew, he had already been here on business for the week and was able to pencil you in.

You two settled in, with your waters, seated at the bar top beside each other, but swivelling the chairs to face one another more. Again, you were overwhelmed with the reality of the situation, sitting beside Harry Styles as professionals, peers even. He had heard your work and liked it enough to want to discuss it with you. It was a day you never thought would come to pass. He started off not by asking about the music right away, but about how you were doing with the whirlwind that stardom is. “How are you, Y/N? It’s been somewhat of a out of the frying pan into the fire kind of moment for you?” He stared at you intently, caring to hear your answer.

You couldn’t help but chuckle again and contain your smile, “Thank you for asking, Harry. Yeah, its been definitely stressful, but it’s everything I’ve ever wanted and more so the good is still outweighing any bad. Definitely, fucking exhausted though, dunno how many more interviews I can do before my jaw goes completely rigid from talking so much.” It’s Harry’s turn to laugh, his eyes shone with intrigue at what you said and how you said it. You were gorgeous, but it was how your hands helped you through what you were trying to say and the small laughs you tried to keep in while you amused yourself with your words that really made him want to hear you talk all night long.

He agreed about how the promo junket for an album can get tedious and tiresome, but also the absolute fulfillment you get from people loving the music you’ve made. The two of you chatted about surface level personal matters for a little more, but quickly moved to the music. “I took a listen a couple weeks after the album was released. I especially loved the last track. It reminded me so much of a song I never released, actually…” he trailed off.

Your final track had been a ballad, an homage to George Harrison with your use of guitar and sitar, but the lyrics were a story based off of a poem you had written one night in high school. It surrounded a girl never feeling quite good enough for the person she wanted to be with and how it happened everytime, everytime she was ready to giver herself to someone, they were always closed off. Of course it held some truth to your own life and feelings, but you wrote this girl as someone with a seemingly perfect life - when yours was obviously far from any semblance of perfection.

You wondered what Harry’s song would have sounded like, had it been about a seemingly perfect girl or a guy with a seemingly perfect life, always giving himself to the wrong person and getting destroyed by that very fact because he was impatient as the girl in your song had been. “Can I ask, how so? How’d it remind you of your own song, the words or the music?” “Oh, the story, I felt like that for a time in my life and I like to be vulnerable in my songs because it helps me process, but listening to it back has always been too painful. Could never release that or perform it, it’d wreck me.” You nodded, you completely got where he was coming from. You noticed his downcast eyes and his somber tone, you knew not to push it any further.

It was quiet and you decided it’d be okay to take his hand resting between the two of you. “Harry, I understand,” your sincerity spilled into the words, filling the quiet house, “It’s not easy. Feeling that way. Thinking you’re the only goddamn one and why the fuck does it always happen to you? I used to ask my ceiling ‘why me?’ every night of high school” you smiled then. “But you know how it is,” you rubbed your thumb over his large warm hand and he lifted his head, “it gets so much better - c’mon look at us now! It can get hard, too, all this, I’m sure. But our lives? They’re amazing!” He beamed as he had when he had first seen you at his door and when you’d first really spoke. He moved his hand from under your palm to weave your fingers with his, both of your hands with covered in rings and they clinked to fit together, finally resting perfectly fitted. He shook your two hands up and down, “God, you’re so right! That damn song, m’sorry always puts me in a mood,” he shakes his head, “not yours though, f’course, s’lovely, better than my sodding song” he finishes quickly.

After that, the mood lightened right back up. It filled you with such appreciation for Harry that he would trust you so much with such a personal detail since you two had just met. But maybe, he had trusted you because he had felt that same spark between you. It wasn’t necessarily a romantic spark, but it was obvious the two of you were kindred spirits. Besides your album, the two of you talked about everything. You loved the same bands, movies and books, you both loved to cook and had similar fashion taste, you even had the same person type - something you found out late into the night.

At the end of the Side B of your album, Harry switched to a Bill Evans record that had ‘Peace Piece’ on it. You loved that song. So did he. “So...planning to raid my closet?” Harry raised his brows from the record player and walked back to you. You almost sputtered the water in your mouth. Luckily, you got it down. “Pardon?” “All that bad press the two of us have been getting...I watched the interview that kind of ignited the tabloids. You’re obviously not used to those overstepping personal questions.” You nodded. “It’s fine, even if you’d completely shut it down, the tabloids probably would have picked it up still, they snap up anything and everything, true or not.” You softened at his reassurance. You hadn’t expected Harry to bring the interview up, but you were sure he wasn’t happy about it, he was so private, especially about his love life. “Thanks, I’m sorry I tried to laugh it off, kind of made it worse, didn’t I?” “No! Thought it was hilarious and I totally appreciated the sentiment. Little ol’me, an icon? And an amazing artist? All I gotta do is watch that clip and I’ve fed my narcissistic side for the week!” You giggled and replied slyly, “So does that mean I can raid your closet? As compensation, of course.” Harry threw his head back in an all consuming laughter, when he’d composed himself he looked in your eyes again and said, “You just...God, you get me.”

Harry had continued to put records on throughout the night, diligently flipping sides and asking for requests, he of course had an extensive collection. The two of you had moved onto his plush couch that looked out his french doors to the beautiful ocean view. Finally, your exhaustion caught up to you, mid-Harry describing his latest travel fiasco, you glanced up at the clock. You gasped. Harry stopped. “When did it get to be half 12?” you questioned almost incredulously, “I’ve gotta get home, Harry, but this has been truly amazing, more than I could have asked for, so thank you.” Your speech began to rush as you started to get up and gather your things, that had slowly scattered as you’d gotten more comfortable, jacket by the table, shoes around the back of the couch, your phone forgotten somewhere in the couch. You couldn’t believe you’d spent almost seven hours just talking with Harry Styles.

Harry quickly stood up from his relaxed positioned on the couch and asked if you were alright to drive this late. You scoffed, “Oh please, I’ve driven around at 3 am before, I just have to turn up the music and I can cruise.” He smiled, “This was great, Y/N, I know we didn’t really go super in depth into your writing process, but I’d love to write with you sometime or just hang out again f’course. Your seriously talented and obviously a wonderful person.” He didn’t include that he felt like he’d never met anyone like you, never met someone so perfectly matched to himself, in passions but also in work ethic and demeanor - compassionate yet confident. He felt like you got him perfectly and he got you. You had stopped your scramble to gather yourself and now you were both smiling at one another.

This had really been an unforgettable night, you couldn’t believe how well you two had meshed, like childhood friends reconnecting after years apart. “Can I give yeh a hug before you go?” Harry’s voice had grown raspier as the night had progressed. He had grown rather tired an hour ago, but had pushed through because they had been having so much fun and you hadn’t noticed his physical fading or the time, obviously. You stepped toward him and his large tattooed arms enveloped you into his body. His body truly dwarfed yours now as he held you to his chest. You both were warm and soft. He tucked his head on top of yours that rested on his chest. Your arms were loosely resting where his back met his waist because you would have had to strain to get them to encircle him. His arms rested around your small frame. “Love your jacket,” he mumbled into your hair. His rough voice was quiet, but the house was silent otherwise, Tusk Side C had finished around when you had noticed the time. The embrace lasted long, but it felt so amazing you had a hard time pulling yourself away, but you had to get back home.

“G’night Harry” you said softly at the threshold of his home. He had insisted on walking you to the front door at least, since you had declined his offer to walk you out to your car on the street. “G’night. Safe travels.”

You got in your car and headed to your apartment in the city. You didn’t bother digging for your phone so you turned on the radio and drove home singing whatever came on, including your own song at one point. The whole time you drove with a grin. Harry was the nicest person you’d ever met and you were confident that the two of you were friends now. As you pulled into your parking garage it dawned on you why you hadn’t connected your phone immediately when you got in your car. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” you put the car in park and rested your palms in the depressions of your eyesockets, over your closed eyelids, and rubbed hard. “Fuck!” It was far too late to drive back out to Malibu for your phone and you obviously couldn’t text Harry that you’d left your phone at his place, despite the two of you exchanging numbers during the night for future hang outs, so they didn’t have to be arranged through your managers, like playdates. Even if he found your phone between the cushions, he couldn’t drop it at your place in the morning because he didn’t know your address. This was a whole mess, you thought. You’d have to drive over in the morning and hope he was still there or email your manager from your computer. The former meant you got to see Harry sooner and likely your phone, too.

part 2

@berrynarrybanana

#harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #har #harry styles x reader #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n #harry styles fan fic #I DID IT #I sat down and wrote it #and it took forever #and I need to write a second part but I made something coherent #one direction fanfiction #not my gifs #my writing #I love you h #you get me #my writings

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bosspigeon · 3 years

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Carabosse et la Fee des Lilas

Prompt: 💋Drag

Pairing: Adam/Male Detective, Bonus Found Family Vibes~

Words: 5,346

Summary: Tina spends some quality time with Arlo and Unit Bravo as they prepare for Wayhaven's first real Pride festival, Tina torments her best friend and his maybe-boyfriend (as is her god-given right), and Arlo has a big think about his favorite role and what that role allowed him to explore~

CW for references to transmisogyny and implications of past trans/homophobia

Sometimes, Tina wonders if Arlo missed his true calling. His hands are surgeon-steady as he pencils delicate patterns onto Felix’s cheeks, outlining with white eyeliner in preparation to fill them in with bold colors and glitter. Tina almost can’t wait for her turn, even though Felix looks like he’s in real, physical pain with the effort of holding as still as possible. She’s no stranger to that struggle herself.

Neither is she a stranger to Arlo’s forceful, if toothless, threats, overcome as she is by fondness when he growls that he's going to draw a mustache on Felix’s face with permanent marker if he doesn’t stop bloody bouncing.

It’s pretty fun to watch from the outside. Sure, when you first sit down when he’s like this—all sharp and snappish and “stop moving or I’ll chuck you out the window”—it’s hard to keep still, but Arlo’s got this sort of quiet intensity to him when he’s focusing on something that’s oddly meditative. He’s just a soothing presence, really. Like a capybara or something. He’s friend-shaped.

Whatever weird magic it is, it’s definitely catching, because Felix looks less like he’s about to burst, like he did when Arlo was putting down the foundation, and more like he’s enjoying the attention. Tina’s not sure how long it’s going to last, seeing as Felix has given her a run for her money in the “manic energy” department, and he’s nowhere near as caffeinated as she is at any given time, but for the time being, he’s (mostly) still and quiet.

There’s music playing, quiet enough that the broody one (she knows his name, but it seems to bug him when she calls him "the broody one," which is funny, so—) only grumbled about it for a few minutes when Arlo turned it on, and even seems to enjoy sitting close enough to Arlo’s stupidly fancy stereo system to, she guesses, feel the rumble of the bass through the floor. Vampires are weird.

Anyway, it’s Arlo’s usual sad goth boy nonsense, but as quiet as it is, and with its intense instrumentals and rumbling vocals, it’s pleasant background noise more than anything.

Nate (the handsome and charming one, because of course all Arlo’s vampire friends are handsome, so she has to differentiate between them somehow) is rifling through Arlo’s bookshelf like it’s his job, and visibly struggling to pick something to read, because Arlo’s sitting room bookshelf (the one she found at a yard sale three hours away and lashed to the top of her sedan with every single bungee cord she could find at the local hardware store because it was coffin-shaped, for god's sake) is where he keeps all his weirdo occult stuff to, quote, “make people who pop by unannounced leave faster.”

And then there’s the big, handsome, stupidly fit blonde Arlo still won’t call his boyfriend, even though they’re so obvious it’s sickening, and she means that with all the love in her heart. He’s sitting in the armchair by the bookshelf, positioned so he can look like he’s reading one of Arlo’s old music magazines and totally isn’t taking advantage of the perfect line of sight of Arlo perched on the end of his coffee table so he’s not too tall to work on Felix, sitting in a chair from the kitchen. Tina sure hopes he doesn’t think he’s subtle, being a super special vampire secret agent and all.

He seems to notice her eyeing him, at least, and keeps his attention pinned firmly on the magazine, though he is definitely not reading a single word. Nate keeps browsing, the Broody One keeps brooding, Arlo keeps working, and Felix starts to hum. Arlo gives him a sharp look, but it doesn’t seem to be moving his face in any major way, so he just rolls his eyes and keeps tracing pretty patterns onto that unfairly smooth, dark skin. Do vampires do skin care? They probably don’t even need to, and that’s probably one of the reasons people like to villainize them. It always comes down to jealousy, doesn’t it?

She sighs, loudly enough that every eye in the room turns to her, and while she did not expect the sudden attention, she knows she can at least use it to entertain herself. She homes in on Adam, and smiles when she finally looks at the magazine he’s still valiantly pretending to read. There’s a familiar man on the cover, and while she can’t be bothered to remember his name, she grins. “Oh, hey! Arlo, he’s reading the one with the guy who looks like you!”

Arlo doesn’t even look up, but he huffs out a laugh and rolls his eyes again. He’s going to give himself a headache if he keeps that up.

The comment does exactly what she wants it to, which is draw the attention of all the other vampires. Arlo even begrudgingly pulls the pencil away from Felix’s cheek so he can take a look, and he immediately bursts out laughing.

“Arlo!” he exclaims, slapping at Arlo’s knee. “You didn’t tell us you had a twin!”

Nate chuckles (warm and rich and handsome, if a sound can be called handsome) and turns from the shelf to study the magazine curiously himself. Even the Broody One peers over to see, a little smirk curling his permanently-scowling mouth.

“Considering he was born in the sixties, I definitely don’t,” Arlo drawls. “Tina’s been making that joke since we were kids. She’s just happy she’s got an audience who hasn’t heard it twelve times a week since she first saw my old Type O Negative poster.”

“Some jokes just get better with time,” Tina says archly. “Like a fine wine.”

“And some jokes age like milk,” Arlo fires back.

Adam tilts the magazine so he can look for himself, and his dour expression clouds over even more, brows furrowing and mouth twisting. He peers up at Arlo, studying him, then down again.

Got you. “Yeah, you’re right,” Tina says, nodding sagely at him. “Arlo’s much prettier.”

It has exactly the reaction she was hoping for. Arlo drops his eyeliner pencil and makes a strangled noise, glowering at her with his cute freckly cheeks going all red, and Adam, who is a good bit paler than Arlo, goes pink from the crewneck of his just-this-side-of-too-tight tee shirt to his hairline. Tina wants to punch the air as the other vampires snicker at them. Well, except for Nate. Nate’s not a snickerer. He chortles. It’s adorable.

“Speaking of pretty!” Felix crows once they’ve all had a laugh at their fearless leader’s expense. He points to his own face with both hands, dancing in his chair, and Arlo sighs and rolls his eyes again, bending to pick up the dropped pencil. Luckily, the tip isn’t broken, so he can get right back to work, once he’s given the young vampire a moment to get his wiggles out. He settles, sitting on his hands and pursing his lips when Arlo gives him a dry look. He hovers back in with the pencil, and then Felix blurts out, “How’d you get so good at this anyway? Well, I assume you’re good at it. I haven’t seen it yet.”

Arlo doesn’t say anything. He just looks at him, pencil poised, until Felix pinches his mouth shut with a quick little apology. Once Arlo’s satisfied his canvas is actually going to hold still and keep quiet, he gets back to it. “My school was pretty small, especially compared to the bigger-name performing arts schools out there,” he says after a moment of quiet focus, tracing the outline of a heart around one of Felix’s eyes. “Our department didn’t really have a huge budget, and workspace was at a premium too. We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for performances before someone else had to use the theatre, so we all did our own makeup at once, for the most part. Sometimes we’d help each other out, because we all had our strengths and weaknesses.”

He pulls back the pencil, squinting critically at the heart like it’s not completely perfect. “Demi was the best at laying the groundwork, and at matching colors to our costumes and complexions. Viv was the best at coming up with concepts and making sure we looked like a matching set. Wendi could do insane prosthetics, and was the best at bullying our department head into giving us the money for them. I had the steadiest hands, so I always did the eyes and the details.”

“Was Wendi the one who did your Dracula look?” Tina gasps. “That one was so cool!”

“Dracula?” Felix blurts. Tina doesn’t miss how the others perk up with interest too.

Arlo glares at him, and he shrinks back with a sheepish little grin. “Yeah, we did Dracula, uh… second year, I think? That was when Tilly transferred in and started doing our choreography. She’s the one who got Professor Dacey to let us do less classical stuff and start branching out a bit.” He glances briefly at Tina, staunchly ignoring the way Felix pouts at him for dividing his attention. “And, yeah, Wendi did the prosthetics for that one.”

“She’s got to be magic,” Tina asserts. “She managed to make your sweet, mopey face look so scary.”

Felix and Mason both snicker at that, and Arlo’s mouth goes all lemon-sour pinchy, like it always does when she calls him a sad puppy man, or any variation thereof.

“Take a lap,” Arlo says to Felix. “Don’t touch your face.” He jerks his head at Tina when Felix bolts to his feet and starts zooming around the flat to get out some of his energy. “Your turn, if you’re done being a comedian.”

“I’m never done,” she says with a sunny smile, but she bounces over to take Felix’s place in the chair and closes her eyes serenely so he can start on her makeup.

“And, God, do I know it,” he grumbles under his breath, knowing full well she can hear him, and so can everyone else in the room, too.

“Do you have pictures?” Felix hollers. He’s dipped into Arlo’s studio, and he’s making no secret of rifling through the desk in there, drawers slamming and paper rustling.

Arlo tips his head back so when he sighs, loud and dramatically long-suffering, he’s not blowing his breath right in Tina’s face. She appreciates the gesture. “Bottom right drawer,” he calls back, resignation thick in his voice. Given how long he’s been putting up with Tina—and Felix might just be Tina’s second platonic soulmate (Arlo, of course, being the first)—he already knows that keeping quiet is just prolonging the inevitable. Tina opens her eyes briefly to see Felix come sailing out of the studio with a thick leather-bound album held triumphantly over his head.

“Oh, I haven’t seen that in years!” she coos happily.

Arlo bops her on the forehead pointedly with a sponge covered in foundation, and she closes her eyes obediently.

She hears Arlo’s antique sofa creak as Felix plops down onto it, rifling through the plastic pages. “Aw,” he whines, “no baby pictures?”

“I can’t imagine him ever being a baby,” Mason snorts, and he sounds closer than he was before. Tina knows better than to open her eyes while Arlo’s in the zone, though. He’ll bop her with something less soft than a sponge next time. “I figured he’s just always been a giant.”

Felix laughs, high and chiming. “No wonder Agent Priestley’s always so sour, then,” he says. Tina giggles, and it becomes an inelegant snort when Arlo bops her again on the nose.

“Ask Rebecca if you want to see my baby pictures,” Arlo mutters blandly, and Tina can feel the weight of his attention. “I doubt she has many after age two, and the ones before I’ve barely seen.”

Tina’s not a super-special supernatural secret agent, but she tries with all her might to will someone to change the subject before things get weird. Now’s as good a time as any to learn telepathy.

Felix, heart of her heart, interrupts what’s shaping up to be a real prize winner of an awkward silence with a loud gasp. “Woah!” he exclaims, and pages crinkle as he presumably holds up the book for Arlo to see. “Who’s this? Did you do her makeup too?”

Arlo’s hair rustles as he turns his head away from her, and then the hand on her cheek freezes. Tension radiates through every inch of his body, practically leaching into hers. She cautiously opens one eye, and sees Arlo sitting up impeccably straight, stiff as a board and staring at Felix like a deer in the headlights. He swallows so hard she can see his throat move. “Um,” he says, stilted and strange. “Yeah. I did.”

Tina opens both eyes and squints at the photo album. Oh.

Felix looks at the sudden strain in the way Arlo is sitting, the tightness of his posture, and looks quizzically down at the picture again.

Tina remembers that performance. She remembers Arlo dancing (ha) around the subject when she asked him teasingly if he was going to be playing the prince, who was the lead, was he excited to kiss a pretty girl?

She can’t remember the character’s name, not so many years after the fact, especially since they were all weird classical nonsense, either Latin or French or some mishmash of the two. But she remembers the costume. She remembers waiting with bated breath to see Arlo onstage, to stand and scream and cheer obnoxiously loud in support of her best friend. She shot to her feet the second she saw his obvious silhouette rise from a feather-bedecked black chariot, head and shoulders taller than anyone else onstage. The music swelled, lightning flashed, and then when the spotlight hit him, she was so stunned she plopped right back into her seat with her jaw on the floor.

Arlo’s always been one of those guys that straddled the line between pretty and handsome. Long, lustrous hair and eyelashes she would kill for, cheekbones that could kill, a defined jaw, a proud nose, and intense eyes she could only call sultry—if she hadn’t known him since they were both weird, gawky brats, she’d probably be half in love with him before figuring out she wasn’t his cup of tea. But seeing him onstage was always an adventure. He threw himself into whatever character he played, put his everything into them, from the costume to the makeup to the performance. He just became the character, and in a way that was so very Arlo, all that intensity and focus channeled into an act that completely stole the show, in Tina’s humble and completely unbiased opinion.

Carabosse! That was her name!

Carabosse was no different.

Arlo’s makeup was flawless, ghost-white foundation giving him intense Morticia Addams vibes, contouring that made his cheekbones look absolutely unreal, bold black (or maybe really dark purple?) lipstick and shiny, smoky eyeshadow that made him look ethereal and wicked, with a daggerpoint cat-eye that she spent an hour begging him to teach her after the show. When he turned his head in a sharp, birdlike motion to look down his nose at the dancers playing the King and Queen, she gasped at the way his hair rippled down his back, shiny-black and woven with actual feathers that trailed back from the ornate metal circlet resting on his brow like a bird’s crest. The costume was breathtaking, too, a tightly corseted bodice and a high collar, a dramatically billowing skirt and trailing, feathered sleeves that flared like wings whenever he moved.

And the way he moved! Arlo’s dancing changed with every role, whatever he felt would suit the character. One of her favorites was always his Hans-Peter (she had a soft spot for that one, and had ever since she was little—one of the first Christmas gifts her stepmom had ever given her was little storybook version of The Nutcracker that came with a CD) because his dancing was so stiff and stridently mechanical, he looked like a real toy soldier come to life. But his villains moved with a slinking, predatory prowl she’d only ever seen in monster movies, and never in something like a ballet. His Carabosse was as beautiful as she was terrifying, and it was incredible to watch. She wanted to fling herself at him after the show and babble at him endlessly like she always did, but she spent a solid minute staring at him slack-jawed, until he shifted awkwardly and looked down, and the confident intimidation of the Wicked Fairy sloughed away to reveal Arlo underneath.

He almost melted into the floor with relief when she finally startled to babble.

She puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes, and he takes a slow, deep breath, offering Felix a strained smile. “Take a closer look, mate,” he says quietly.

Felix does. He looks up and squints at Arlo, and then back down at the photo. Tina has to bite her lip so she doesn’t laugh when he looks over at Adam, still holding the magazine with that metal singer that kind of looks like Arlo on it, and then back at Arlo. His mouth drops open into a little o, and he shoots to his feet and shouts, “No way!”

Mason was allowed his name back briefly, but he goes right back to Broody One when he grimaces at Felix and slinks pettishly back to his corner.

Arlo’s shoulders are practically around his ears, but he tries to keep smiling. “Yeah. Sleeping Beauty. Fourth year. I was the Wicked Fairy.”

“He was amazing,” Tina declares, shoulders back and chin tipped up challengingly. “The costume was insane, but the way he played her was absolutely, ridiculously badass.”

“You look awesome!” Felix blurts, still gawking down at the photo. He flips to the next page, and squeaks happily when he finds more pictures, from different angles, showing off the costume, the way Arlo loomed over the other dancers, the way he commanded the stage. Tina should really find out who took the pictures and send them her thanks, because they really put in the work. “Your makeup, your dress, your hair! How’d you even do that?”

Arlo laughs, and it sounds so utterly relieved, Tina’s heart breaks a little. Arlo’s always been sensitive, and for someone who dresses and holds himself the way he does, he worries more than he lets on what people think of him. Especially people he cares about. She squeezes his shoulder again, and he bites his lip when he glances back at her and smiles hesitantly.

“A lot of wire, and enough hairspray to choke a bloody cow,” he says, twisting around and slinging his long legs over the coffee table so he can face the sofa. “I think we bought every bag of black feathers the craft store had, and then spent an entire weekend painting them with this stupidly expensive embossing powder. We had to get, like, ten pots of the stuff, because the craft store only had pots the size of a quarter.”

“I admire your dedication,” Nate says pleasantly, strolling over to peer over Arlo’s shoulder. They tighten just a bit before relaxing slowly. “That costuming is superb. I’ve seen professional productions that weren’t half so detailed.”

“That would be Viv’s work,” Arlo laughs, looking down at the pictures fondly. “She took whatever cheap garbage the department had for us, raided the nearest clearance fabric rack, and worked her magic. The employees at that little craft store loved and hated us in equal measure.”

Arlo is still tense, but he’s loosening up little by little, and with him Tina does too. The easy camaraderie is soothing, and she knows how much Arlo cares about his vampire friends, so it’s got to be a huge weight off his shoulders to be able to let his guard down around them. He deserves that. He deserves to be able to be himself.

Adam standing up draws Arlo’s attention like nothing else could, and he freezes like a startled rabbit again looking up at the burly blonde vampire as he approaches the sofa. He looks a split second from bolting. Tina sits up straighter and gives Adam her most daring look, squaring her shoulders to make it perfectly clear she's ready to fight the second he opens his mouth. She’ll definitely lose, sure, but she’ll make as much trouble as she can before she goes down.

He reaches out, his hand hesitating before it touches the album’s glossy page, and he looks up at Arlo with a questioning tilt to his brows. Arlo looks like he’s barely breathing, but he nods, and Adam slips one of the pictures from its sleeve. He straightens his spine, shoulders back, holding the photo and studying it carefully. His face is impossible to read, about as expressive as a bloody brick wall. Tina’s vibrating with nervous energy. She’ll fight a vampire, though. She will.

When Adam does finally speak, his voice comes out so softly Tina almost doesn’t hear it over the adrenaline rushing through her. “You look… striking.”

Striking. Oh my god.

She wants to laugh. They’re ridiculous.

“Thanks,” Arlo chokes out, his cheeks and ears going red this time.

Oh my god. Tina covers her mouth with both hands. Arlo glowers at her. It’s a lot less threatening when he’s blushing like that. “I didn’t say anything,” she mumbles against her palms.

“Your face,” he hisses, and she yelps.

“Oh! Shit!” She pulls her hands away, and he grabs her by the chin to check the damage with a click of his tongue.

Tina thought things would get better once Arlo actually kissed the man (and maybe got a leg over, but that’s only her business when she can finally get Arlo to actually talk about if the big, beefy Adonis is as missionary-with-the-lights-off as he looks) but at least they’re not just staring longingly at each other from across the room and then getting all sad about it anymore . Thankfully, Felix seems to be an old hand at clearing up the weird tension between the two of them, chiming in a delighted, “I’ve never seen you look so scary!” as he rifles through all the pictures from the Sleeping Beauty show. “I mean, you’re pretty scary when you go all furry, but also, you sort of just look like a big lanky puppy, because it’s just you, you know? This is someone else! Who is she! She's so cool!”

Arlo sighs and turns around to fix whatever Tina’s ruined with her foundation, and throws himself back into dolling her up. Thankfully, the actual festival’s not for a while yet. She complained about the unnecessarily early start when Arlo suggested the time, but now she’s glad he’s such a persnickety prick about scheduling. “I had a lot of fun with it,” he admits, shrugging his shoulders. “The original script notes said to get, y’know, sort of silly with it, but I wasn’t a big fan of that angle for a character like her. Yeah, I wanted to be campy, but not in the way…” He purses his lips. “Okay, well, Nate probably knows this, but a lot of classical ballets that have a female villains do this thing with them that I hate.” He frowns deeply, patting at Tina’s chin with gentle ferocity. “ An evil female character is supposed to be sort of… sort of a cautionary tale, I guess? Like your typical bitter spinster crone, the old hag, or the wicked stepsisters, things like that. So they’ll specifically cast a male dancer and put them in bright, gaudy facepaint and garish costumes that are supposed to be cartoonish and ugly, that you're supposed to find funny, to show you that this character is bad because she’s indelicate and mannish, and that’s why she’s evil.”

His mouth twists around the words, and he looks up, back at the vampires, leaving Tina a moment to really appreciate that Arlo’s comfortable enough with them to do what he’s only ever really done with her—which is ramble about something he’s passionate about. It’s always fun to watch. He turns back to her, and she just wishes his hands weren’t occupied, because he’s a big hand-talker otherwise. “I got the role because the professor thought it would be funny to stick me in a role like that, being so tall and, y’know,” he gestures vaguely to his faded old band tee and dark jeans, the thick leather cuff around his wrist. Tina doesn’t see what he really means, seeing as he looks cozy and content right now, but she gets what he’s going for. “He was expecting me to be awkward about it. The big, tough guy doing drag as the creepy crone caricature.�� He huffs. “I talked with Demi about it, and we decided to say fuck that.” He sits up straighter, tilts up his chin, and looks down his nose at Tina.

She peers up at him, wide-eyed, and suddenly wonders if this is how Demi felt, playing Aurora when Carabosse looked down her nose at her like an insect under her heel.

“I thought Carabosse deserved better,” Arlo says fiercely. “If I was going to be a villain, I was going to be a damned good villain. I was going to tower over all the delicate, dainty little princesses and fairies, and I was going to be fierce. Professor Dacey wanted Aurora, and Candide, and Florine to be the epitome of sweet, delicate femininity, the ideal damsel in any classical show. Carabosse is supposed to be the complete opposite. You’re supposed to root against her, not want to be her. She’s a threat to the idea of womanhood, of the ideal feminine. She’s bold and selfish and she takes what she wants. I leaned into that. I even danced en pointe for parts of it, even though Carabosse isn't supposed to, and between the rehearsals and the actual performance, I thought my feet were gonna fall off, but it was worth it.”

Arlo smiles, and Tina is thrilled by the wickedness of it. She thinks she even sees just a hint of fang. Arlo’s been so careful about showing his teeth, ever since he told her what happened to him, why he disappeared for so long, so it's somehow special for him to feel like he can show her even a hint of what he’s become.

“Professor Dacey was pissed, afterwards, of course,” Arlo laughs, but there’s an edge to it. He seems to shrink. From Arlo to Carabosse to Arlo again. He looks down at his hands as they work on Tina more than at her face. “He didn’t, y’know, say anything he could have gotten fired over, but he did rail about being left out of planning and the budget and all that rot. Got even madder when Demi pointed out we’d spent our own money on the costumes. I think if he was tall enough to look down on me, he would have.” He snorts, a bitter curl to his mouth. Tina thinks of it painted bold, dark purple, thinks of how it would look with those teeth behind it. She wonders if he’d let her do his makeup for the festival. She’s not nearly as good at details as he is, but she’s no slouch either.

“You should have let me put raw fish in his hubcaps,” Tina mutters, just to make Arlo laugh. It works, and she beams at him.

“Would have been a waste of fish,” he mumbles, sucking his teeth. He finally picks up a bright eyeshadow palette and starts waffling over colors. He’s quiet while he deliberates, but after a while, he sighs. “I liked being Carabosse,” he says, like it’s a secret. Like he’s trying very hard not to be ashamed.

“I wish I could have seen it,” Adam says, almost dreamily. Tina could scream. “I— We could have, I mean. All of us. In solidarity.”

“Smooth,” Felix whispers.

“I’m sure it was a phenomenal performance,” Nate adds helpfully. He’s taken the album from Felix to flip through to some of Arlo’s other shows. “The passion you have for your characters shines through in just photos. It’s quite impressive.”

“You should have gone pro,” Tina mutters. “You’d be a household name by now.”

Arlo snorts and bops her with the brush. How many bops is that now? She’s certainly on a roll today. “And who’d keep you in line back here?” he teases.

Tina squints up at him and sticks out her tongue. “Like you’ve ever even tried to keep me in line, you big softie. You love the chaos, just admit it.”

“I’ll admit you to the hospital when you do something stupid and get yourself hurt again, how about that?”

They bicker like children back and forth while Arlo finishes her makeup, a wash of pink, purple, and blue eyeshadow and matching lipstick, overlaid with a lustrous sparkle to her cheekbones and a cute little black heart-shaped beauty mark under one eye. Felix gets a bi flag heart to match her eyeshadow around one eye, and then the rest is a sort of confetti splash of sparkly stars and hearts in every color. Even Nate goes for the bi eyeshadow (Bi-shadow? She should have been saying that this whole time!), making him, Tina, and Felix a matching set, and Mason consents to a very simple pan flag on his cheek. Tina suspects Adam only allows the eyeshadow treatment so he can have Arlo cup his face all tenderly, but she keeps the thought (mostly) to herself. He looks good in pastels, she thinks when she sees the finished blue, pink, and white.

Arlo draws a little heart under his eye too. The heart in Tina's chest almost explodes with warmth.

And then Arlo disappears into the bathroom, leaving the rest of them to entertain themselves while he gets ready on his own. They go through the album some more, and Tina tells them all about her favorite shows, because she went to every single one she could manage, and got Arlo’s school friends to send her videos of the ones she couldn’t. Tina Poname is Arlo Priestley’s number one fan, and that will never change. Not even now that she's got some competition.

When Arlo comes out of the bathroom, they all look up in sync, and he stands there, shifting anxiously from foot to foot under the attention, and lifts his hands in a stilted shrug. “So?” he asks, smiling nervously. He’s changed clothes, too. Tight pants, big boots, a mesh-sleeved black shirt underneath his patch-and-pin-covered denim vest. His wrists jingle with chunky bracelets, and his hair is braided neatly over one shoulder. But his makeup is what really steals the show. That insanely sharp cat-eye, of course, but one eye is done up in blue, pink, and white, and the other in yellow, white, purple, and black. He smiles timidly. “I, uh, I couldn’t really decide on just one,” he says, sticking his gloved hands into the pockets of his vest. “I’m, um, I’m not sure which one’s really right for me yet, I guess?” He shrugs again, and Tina watches delightedly as Adam stands up slowly, his eyes on Arlo with such an awed intensity she wonders if he even remembers there’s other people in the room. Arlo keeps babbling as he approaches, the words tumbling nervously from his black-painted lips. “I sort of like matching with you, Adam, and I know they’re both fine, but I—”

Adam grabs him by the lapels of his jacket, yanks him down to his level, and silences him with a kiss. Tina throws her arms up in the air with an impulsive shriek of “WOO!” that Felix echoes even louder. They high-five over Mason’s head, and he looks like he wants to throw them both out the window. Nate sits by with a pleasant little smile, which only fades when he takes note of the clock.

Adam and Arlo are still kissing, Arlo’s hands cupped around the vampire’s cheeks and Adam clinging to his vest like he'll drown if he lets go. Tina thinks she might see a hint of tongue when Nate loudly clears his throat.

They break apart with an indecent smacking noise, and Tina yelps out a sharp laugh when she sees Arlo’s black lipstick smeared all around Adam’s mouth.

Nate crosses his arms and smiles dryly at them. “Why don’t you two go fix your faces,” he suggests. “The rest of us will make sure the car is packed for the festival.”

“Um, yes. You— We—” Arlo fumbles for a bit, touching his smeared lips, his eyes just a bit dazed. He and Adam look at each other, and then flee for the bathroom together.

Tina’s never been more excited for a festival in her life.

#the wayhaven chronicles #wayhavensummer #pride in wayhaven #tina poname #adam du mortain #a du mortain #felix hauville #f hauville #specialist agent mason #specialist agent m #nate sewell #n sewell #oc: arlo priestley #pidge writes #HELLO I AM FINISHING THIS AT 3:30 AM #I HAVE MY FIRST DAY OF MY NEW JOB TOMORROW #WISH ME LUCK #this turned out WAY longer than i meant it to but god was it fun #i hope you guys like it as much as i liked writing it #arlo playin w gender expression via ballet is my everything #the costume designs for carabosse can be SO GOOD #but some of them are SO BAD #ballet is like that #its very uuuuh traditional wrt its aesthetics and gender roles #and arlo and his friends were all like 'but what if not'#anyway title is v last minute bc *shrug*#tina gets to be the lilac fairy #i did so much reserach into this ballet y'all #the only thing i didnt do was watch the whole thing #tho i DID find it on yt so i could later....

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