#I seriously considered flipping my car over while going top speed

[readyfreddy]

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[peachbear88]

Played My Heart Like a Yo-yo

A/N: So this is an AU one-shot. Inspired by @buckmesidewaysandcallmesteve's request that I scrolled upon.

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You awake to your phone buzzing like crazy. You quickly hit the silencer before picking the phone up.

"'Ello?" You mutter, rubbing your eyes groggily.

"Y/N! 'S Wanda. Was wondering if you could pick me up."

Your eyes narrow suspiciously at the tone of her voice, the slur in her words.

"Are you drunk?"

A small giggle on the other line reaches your ear.

"And is there someone with you?"

Wanda ignores your questions and gives you the address. You hang up before sighing, grabbing your jacket and shoes and slipping out the door.

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

"Wanda, you seriously can't keep calling me at 4 in the morning to pick you up from some girl's house!" You say angrily, slapping the steering wheel as Wanda giggles, placing an hand on your bare thigh. "What's wrong baby girl?" Your face flushes at her touch before you slap her hand away from you, leaving her in a fit of giggles. You pull into Wanda's driveway and sling her semi-unconscious body over your shoulder. "Gosh, you're heavy." You mutter as you search for the spare key under the doormat. You cry out in triumph when your hand lands on it and you unlock the door quietly so as not to wake her parents and brother. Giving out a groan of pain, you heave her up the stairs and into her bedroom where she face-plants into the bed, seemingly unconscious. You wipe the sweat from your brow before stripping her of her puke and sweat covered garments and replacing them with a gray t-shirt and flannel pants, ignoring the swollen red lipstick marks on her neck. She groans, making you jump a little. "Good night Wanda." You whisper before turning off the lights in her room and closing the door gently.

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

"Come on Y/N!"

"No I don't want to go!" You whine, flopping back down onto the bed as Wanda sits down next to you, letting out a heavy sigh. "It's the grad party and everyone is going to be there! Even my brother." She wiggles her eyebrows at you, making you flush. Pietro Maximoff. Some would consider him the most handsome of their year, in peak physical condition, top of his class and charming. In other words, what you would call a snake. Of course, you could never say that to Wanda's face. "Wanda, for the last time, I do not like your brother!" You say, your face still buried in the pillow. Wanda snorts. "Of course you don't." She retorts, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Please Y/N! I swear I'll stay with you the whole party!" She pleads as you flip yourself onto your back, your face inches from hers. You flush as she grabs your hand, shaking you violently. "Please please please please please please please please-" You smack her in the face with a pillow. "Okay! Jeez! Fine!" You exclaim, pulling yourself to your feet. She gives out an exclamation of excitement before pulling you into a bone-crushing hug. "Yes! I'll be waiting outside in my car!" She squeals before practically flying down the stairs. You smile to yourself, flashes of her smile, her close proximity, the scent of her dry-leaf shampoo. You grab your flannel, slinging it over your shoulders before sliding down the banister to meet Wanda. "I'm going out mom! I'll be back later!" You shout over your shoulder, not waiting for a response. You burst out the door to see Wanda, leaning against her the door of her red convertible. "Alright let's go!" You exclaim, jumping over the door and landing in the seat perfectly. She shakes her head, amused. "One day your foot is going to catch on that door and you're going to face plant." Your face assumes an offended look. "Are you cursing me Maximoff?" She chuckles before stepping on the accelerator and the two of you speed off towards the party.

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

You're a block away from Stark's house and you can practically hear the music thumping, vibrating it's way down the street. "God, they're going to go deaf before 30 at the rate they're going." She mutters, eliciting a giggle from you. She flashes you a smile that makes you weak in the knees and you turn away, hoping to shield the fact that your face is currently resembling a tomato. You can't fall in love with her stupid. She's your best friend and she definitely doesn't like you. Besides, even if she did, she'd just break your heart like the 18 other girls and guys she's been with. The small voice inside you rants but you refuse to listen. "Shut up!" You whisper harshly. Wanda glances at you, confused. "What?" You plaster a smile on your face, turning to face her. "Nothing." She raises an eyebrow but doesn't dig deeper. "Well, we're here." She pulls into the driveway of Tony Stark's mansion, putting her car into park. The two of you hop out of the car, striding towards the front door where a drunk couple are passed out on the stairs, their arms wrapped in a tight embrace around each other. Wanda pulls open the door. "After you." She winks and you gently slap her on the arm. Inside the house you find dozens of people, dancing, drinking, puking, hell, some are even making out. You pull a face of disgust when you see a young girl, grinding on Pietro's lap. "Oh god. Don't look over there." You mime puking as Wanda glances over at her brother. "Oh, blegh." She gags before dragging you further into the house. "Okay, stay right here, I'm going to grab us some drinks." She instructs before leaving you to your own devices. You search for a safe haven, somewhere away from the masses of drunk bodies when a masculine voice sounds out behind you. "Y/L/N! When did you get here?" You whirl around to see Pietro, no longer held up by the girl. "I got here early enough to see some girl twerking on you. I have to bleach my eyes." You joke and he chuckles before slinging an arm around you, dragging you off towards the bar. "Let me buy you a drink." He winks and you shrug him off. "Piet, you don't have to pay here." You retort, shoving him playfully. "It's the thought that counts." He shrugs but before you can come of with a snide remark, your eyes land on something. Someone. Wanda, straddling some tall boy, a mop of blonde hair sticking up from his head. They're sharing a heated kiss, his arms wrapped around her waist while hers are in his hair. Pietro follows your gaze towards his sister and he scrunches his nose in disgust. "Oh gross! Get a room you two!" He yells over the music but they ignore him, continuing the embrace. Pietro passes you a shot which you down quickly before patting him on the shoulder. "I'm going to go." He glances at you. "You just got here?" He asks, but you're already leaving, tears forming in your eyes, threatening to spill as you take one last look at Wanda before turning away.

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

You're sitting at the bench across from Tony's house, enjoying the night air as a figure slides into the seat next to you and leans against you. You risk a glance and no surprise there, Wanda is there, her clothes rumpled, her hair a mess, lipstick smudged and blouse slightly unbuttoned. "Hey there." She whispers, her breath tickling your neck. You inhale sharply, ignoring her. "I know I said I'd stay with you the whole time but-" You cut her off, anger flaring inside you. "But you saw a cute guy and couldn't resist? You just decided to hook up with him? This happens every time Wanda! Every. Fucking. Time!" You exclaim, standing up to face her. "You see some hot chick or someone and you just hook up with them. That's your life. You don't love anyone, you never will. You're a player." You spit, turning your back to her. You hear her footsteps as she sluggishly approaches you, wrapping her arms around your stomach, her chin resting on your shoulder. "That's not true." She mumbles, the smell of alcohol wafting up to your nose. "I love you." Her voice was so faint that you almost didn't catch it but those three words are enough to make your insides boil. "No, you don't! You don't love anyone you've been with and I'm no exception." You tear yourself out of her grasp. Wanda's lower lip trembles. "But you love me?" She's on the verge of tears and you curse yourself for making her cry. "Yes, I do love you but it's honestly safer for me to love you unrequitedly then for you to love me too." You confess but she interrupts you, lunging forward and kissing you. You gasp in surprise and she takes the opportunity to slip her tongue into your mouth. Eventually, the two of you pull back for air. "You've got some experience Maximoff." You giggle as you gently tap her nose. She smirks before pulling you a little closer. "Well, I was a player once."

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WEEEEEEEE! One-shot bois!!! Fun stuff.

Taglist: @username23345 @musicinourlips @gingerbreadcookieforlife

[moldisgoodforyou]

winter formal

warnings: cursing, smut (18+)

gif from @rafecameron​

wordcount: 2.1k

________

“Christ.” Rafe breathed out as he watched Sophie come out the door, duffel bag in hand for the night’s stay. He let his eyes trail over her for a moment too long and she paused, folding her arms over her chest to cover herself up. “What, is it too much? A girl in Theta went to Delt’s formal last year and said this was the right amount of dressed up. Fuck, I can go change, just give me a moment -”

As she turned on her heel Rafe came to his senses and caught her forearm, tugging her back. “No, this is perfect. You’re perfect. You look incredible.” He cupped her face and pulled her in for a kiss that went on longer than he intended. She was bright red by the time she pulled away and smoothed her palms over the fabric of her dress. “You’re sure? I won’t stand out?”

“Oh you’ll stand out. In a good way, though.” Rafe assured her, grinning as he offered his arm to escort her to the car. She beamed and accepted. “Okay, good. I trust you.” He kept his hand on her thigh the whole drive, stealing several glances at every red light. When he lingered too long at a green light, Sophie flicked his arm. “Drive, Rafe. You’ve seen me in a dress before.”

He startled and looked back to the road. “Not one like that.”

“It’s just a blue dress, I don’t understand.”

“Just a blue dress, that makes you look extra gorgeous, dips just low enough to show you off, and this fucking slit up the side is going to drive me crazy.” He squeezed her leg for emphasis, fingers teasingly dancing up her thigh. She pushed his hand back and adjusted the fabric of her dress back over her leg. “Behave.”

“Always do, Soph.” He shot her a cheeky grin and she grinned back, skating her fingers across the nape of his neck. “When do I get to see you in your suit?”

“Ah, I have it in the back and figured I’d just change real quick at the hotel before. Didn’t want to wrinkle it.” He leaned his head back into her touch and let out a satisfied hum when she started playing with his hair. “Wait, you mean I could have done the same thing?” She scowled. “I got ready early for nothing.”

“Not for nothing. I’ll take every extra second of seeing you in that dress.”

“Not fair.” 

“Totally fair.” He countered. They checked in and made their way up to their room, Sophie making a mental note to befriend some of the girls downstairs that were already dressed up for the dinner before the dance. “I’ve never been invited to a formal like this, you know.” She stated, taking a seat on the bed. Rafe started changing, his back to her. “Yeah? I’m surprised, figured you’d been to a lot of these by now.” There was just a hint of jealousy in his tone. 

“I mean, I’ve been to the dances before, just, um, not the overnight ones.” She paused. “You know, there’s like an expectation...” 

He whirled around, only his dress pants on and his hair all messy from pulling his shirt over his head. “That’s not why I asked you. You know that? I want you to be here, as my girlfriend.” 

She laughed at his state of disarray. “Yeah, I know. Especially considering you forgot to ask me until two days ago.” She teased. He rubbed the back of his neck, grinning. “Sorry about that. Again. But seriously, I just wanted you to come and have fun and dance. No pressure. No matter what.” He promised, sweet as always. “I know, Rafe, it’s alright.” She reassured him, eyeing him over. “Put a shirt on. You’re distracting.” 

He instantly smirked, puffing up his chest and flexing his abs. “Yeah?” 

“Oh my god.” She threw a pillow at him. “We’ve wasted enough time already, get dressed. I don’t want to be late.” 

“We could be fashionably late.” He countered, catching the pillow in one hand and coming closer. He leaned down to kiss her but she ducked away, bracing a hand on his chest. “Soph, c’mon.” She laughed. “You’re gonna mess up my lipstick, I’ll kiss you all you want later. Get dressed.” 

“Is that a promise?” He kissed her temple quickly anyways. 

She rolled her eyes and pushed at him. “Bite me.” 

“Don’t tempt me.” He smirked, then went back to get dressed. Sophie just shook her head, watching him with a fond smile. Once he was ready to go, she stood and straightened out his tie and mussed up his hair just the way she liked it, then gave him a quick kiss. “Very handsome, Rafe Cameron.” 

__

After the dinner, they were first of a few out on the dance floor, eager to drink and dance and just enjoy themselves.

“Didn’t think you could dance.” Sophie teased him as he spun her out from him, a perpetual grin on his face. “I’ve had my practice.” He replied, pulling her back in close. Rafe didn’t let her go all night, either keeping her hand-in-hand or his hand on the small of her back. She rested her head on his chest, swaying with him as a slow song came on. 

“Fucking soft, Cameron.” A very drunk James teased, waltzing dramatically past the two of them with his girlfriend. Rafe just grinned and flipped him off, keeping Sophie close. “You’re ruining my rep, Soph.” She snorted. “You were the one that made me watch Clueless last week, I think your rep was already shot.” 

He scoffed and stepped back, hands on her waist. “It’s a great example of a modern adaptation of a classic novel! And you loved it!” 

“I know. Thank you for proving my point.” She grinned and reached up to kiss him. “I wouldn’t want you any other way.” He blushed and pulled her back into his chest, pressing his lips to her temple. “Shh.” 

Later in the night, the two were more than tipsy, sharing champagne and cocktails all night. The DJ played another slow song to close out the night and Rafe convinced Sophie to come back out and dance, even though she had ditched her heels an hour ago and at least half the boys and their dates had left the party a while ago. She stayed quiet as they danced, thoughtful. He caught her chin and tipped it up with a finger to catch her attention. “What’s on your mind, angel?” 

“You scare the shit out of me sometimes, you know?” 

“What? Why?” He widened his eyes, thoroughly confused. 

“Because.” She paused. “I don’t think I’ve ever cared about someone so much before.” 

He exhaled, wrapping her in a big hug. “Just gave me a heart attack for a moment there, Soph.” She laughed, pressing a kiss to his neck. “Sorry, wasn’t thinking. Does that...that doesn’t freak you out, does it?” 

“No, not at all. I feel the same.” He reassured her and kissed her forehead. “You’re my girl.” She beamed and rested her head on his chest again, swaying back and forth. When the lights came on and the music faded out, she let out a low whine. “Don’t wanna leave.” 

He laughed and squeezed her shoulders. “C’mon, you tired?” 

“A little.” She admitted. 

James came by them, arm looped around his girlfriend. “Hey, are you guys going out with us? We’re gonna catch an uber to some bar.” 

Rafe gave her a questioning glance and she raised her eyebrows back at him. He grinned. “We might catch up with you later.” James nodded, not oblivious to the situation, but decided not to tease purely because Sophie was right there. “Good deal, let me know.” They parted ways and Rafe and Sophie made their way up to the hotel room, hand in hand. 

When the door fell shut behind him, Rafe rocked back on his heels, giving her a cheeky grin. “Well? What do you want to do?” 

“Oh, shut up and get over here.” She tugged on his tie, pulling him close. He laughed and kissed her hard for the first time that night, not holding back. 

It was a matter of minutes before both their clothes were on the floor, leaving him on top of her on the bed, fingers working at her core. “More, Rafe.” She moaned, her hand tangled in his hair. He kissed her quickly before pushing her up the bed, gripping her thighs. Sophie whined at the loss, shortly, before he was flicking his tongue across her clit, two fingers curling inside of her. “Fuck.” She breathed out, letting her head drop back to the pillows. 

“You can come for me, baby.” He told her, speeding up his pace. It didn’t take long before she reached her high, tensing around his fingers and biting her lip hard. He worked her through it, rubbing gentle circles on her clit before she had to push his hand away. “Too much.” She mumbled. He laughed softly and came up to kiss her. “You look so fucking pretty like that.” 

“Alright, quit.” She shook her head, blushing. Rafe just grinned. “Can’t be shy on me now after all that.” She rolled her eyes and curled her hand around the back of his neck, trying to pull him closer. 

“Soph, angel, we’ve got a slight problem.” He breathed out, cheeks flushed just from watching her come. She tried her best to ignore the flutter in her chest from the nickname and propped herself up on her elbows. “If the problem is what I think it is, we can take care of that.”

“Ah. No.” He laughed a little and leaned over to kiss her, painfully aware of how hard he was in his boxers. “I don’t have a condom. I wasn’t thinking.” She raised her eyebrows and immediately slipped her hand in his boxers, enjoying his strangled groan in response. “Doesn’t seem like a problem to me.”

He could hardly think with her fingers wrapped around his cock. “Fuck - I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to -” He groaned when she tugged his boxers down his legs. “Fucking hell, okay.” Sophie laughed and pushed him back on the bed, taking a moment to eye him over before meeting his gaze. “Can I...?”

“God, yes.” He breathed out. “Anything.”

She jacked his cock a couple times, more experimental than anything, and raised her eyebrows at his strangled groan. “Okay?” 

“More than okay.” He reassured her quickly, willing himself not to come in two seconds just at her touch. Sophie leaned down and placed teasing kisses over his hip bones, up his thighs. When she kept avoiding him, Rafe gathered her hair aside. “Soph.” 

“Yeah?” 

“C’mon.”

She grinned, loving the power dynamic. “Are you gonna beg?” 

“Sophie, please.” 

She knew that was the closest she’d get with him and licked a stripe up the underside of his cock, tracing a vein. She took her time before taking him into her mouth fully, hands on his thighs to try and keep him from jerking. “Fuck, baby, so good.” He groaned again, letting his head fall back against the pillows. 

At his encouragement, she started bobbing up and down on his cock, using her hand after a moment. Rafe didn’t stop the continual praise, mumbling fuck and shit and so fucking good, Sophie. That only spurred her on and she kept going, humming around him and loving every time he’d groan in response. She stopped just before he was about to come and jerked him off with her hand instead, keeping her eyes locked on him the whole time. 

He dropped his head back onto the bed after, letting out a big sigh. “You’re incredible. Have I told you that?” She giggled and got up. “Might have told me once or twice.” 

“Where are you going?” He frowned, reaching for her. “Shower, real fast. Want to clean up before bed.” She told him, stepping away from his grip. His mood flipped instantly and he grinned. “Can I come?” 

“No, that sounds dangerous. You can shower after me.” She didn’t let him argue, heading into the bathroom without waiting for his response. 

After they had both showered and were back in bed, Rafe was about two seconds away from falling asleep with his arm wrapped around Sophie, her head on his chest. “You’re my favorite, you know that?” 

“Yeah? For real?” She mumbled, tracing patterns on his chest. 

“For real.” He paused, stumbling over his words. “Lo - um, I like you a lot, Soph. I mean it.” 

Sophie tensed just a little, just enough for him to notice. “Like you too. Night, Rafe. Sleep tight.” 

[rivs72rivgs]

The (Drag) Strip Club

Time to run her at the track, see what she’ll do!  Which means “Take Your Car to Work” Day, again.  People who weren’t there the first time I brought Sacrebleu to work got to see her, and she collected some more compliments.  One of my coworkers took a more than cursory interest, and knowing my plans for the evening included running at the track, noticed the battery wasn’t bolted down.  That’s a no-no at the strip, so with a quick trip to the local parts store, a hold down was installed.  A pry bar may have been used as part of the work.  

*shrugs*

Sacrebleu is a thirsty girl, after driving to work, there was only a quarter tank of gas left, making it a good idea to put a little more fuel in it before showing up at the track.  Finding ethanol free gas isn’t easy, but with the help of the internet, I found a gas station that sells ethanol free gas.  Not only is the ethanol free gas not easy to find, it’s never cheap.  It’s about a seventy cents per gallon premium over gas with ethanol in it.  I don’t want to fill her up, weight is the enemy on the track.  7 gallons later, she has nearly three-quarters of a tank, more than enough to make all the runs at the track and drive home.  Time to head to the track!

Prior to showing up, I had purchased my tech card online.  The tech card is basically the racer’s entrance fee, I bought one to be sure I would be able to run, as sometimes, tech cards sell out, and wouldn’t that just be a shame for me to be unable to run.  When I arrive at the facility, I show my receipt for the purchase of the tech card to the cashier and she hands me a tech card to fill out.  Damn, I don’t have a pen!  Uggggh, way to go, newb!  I drive slowly over to the tech inspection lanes, where one of the workers walks up to me, and tells me “You’re not racing that!  You can’t race that!”  I’m alarmed and confused, am I not going to be able to run tonight?!  Oh, no!  “It’s too NICE!  That’s a SHOW car, not a race car!” the worker says to me.  Relieved, I reply “Today, she’s a race car!”, the worker laughs and asks for my tech card, and I shamefacedly explain that I don’t have a pen.  The car ahead of me loans me a pen, I fill out the tech card, hand it to the worker.  I’m then quizzed on the car, “Is it stock?”  I answer “To the best of my knowledge, I just bought it a few weeks ago!” I’m waved through without even popping the hood, and a shoe polish number is applied to the windshield, the driver’s rear window, and the back glass.  I’ve cleared tech, I’m ready to race!  

I roll my window down to listen to the announcements over the PA system, the car clubs are out tonight, and get called up to run first, followed by the class/group I’ll be running Sacrebleu in, Test ‘N Tune.  I pull into the lanes and turn the car off, first in line to run, a small triumph.  The car club guys finish running, and the announcer calls the Test ‘N Tune cars, I’m up!  I start my car up, Sacrebleu cranks over hard.  Oh, right.  Heat soak, either the starter or the battery cables are causing it to be slow to turn over.  She starts, and I pull forward.  There are two lanes, one for cars running street tires like me, the other lane for cars running drag tires.  The crew direct us from the staging lanes through to the water box.  I drive around the water box, the other car drives through and does a burnout, cleaning the tires and heating them up for additional traction.  I know enough how to stage, so we are lined up, the other car breaks the first light, then I break the first and second lights, and then the other car breaks the second light.  We’re running on a Sportsman Tree, a half-second from each light to the next, three yellow lights then the green.  It’s not a real race, being Test ‘N Tune, everyone just gets to run and see what the cars do.  Still, it’s practice, so everyone takes it seriously.  The first yellow light comes on, and I remember to leave on the last of the three yellow lights, ensuring a reasonable reaction time.  “If you see the green, you’ve lost the race” is a saying, so I’m not sticking around around to see the green.  The other guy is GONE, but Sacrebleu runs through the gears and out the back, first run completed.  Whew, what a RUSH!  I collect my time slip, 16.087 @ 85.10mph, WHEW!  That’s the car’s time though the quarter mile, with the top speed at the end of the track.  Not bad, the old girl picked up her skirts and really ran down the track!  Good job!

I drive down the return lane, and line back up.  The line is moving, but during a brief pause I pop the hood, engine running, hop out of the car and flip the air cleaner lid upside down.  This allows an air gap all the way around the air cleaner, while still filtering the air before going into the engine.  On the first run, all the air came through the air cleaner horn, that might be 3 square inches in area.  Flipping the lid gives the air a much larger area to flow through, so there’s no restriction.  If there’s more power in the car, this trick will help.  Staging again, I give the engine a little throttle, holding the car with the brakes.  The lights flash, I leave and find myself collecting another time slip at the top of the track.  15.78 @ 86.92mph.  Oh, YEAH!  Three-tenths of a second quicker and almost 2mph? I’ll take THAT, thank you very much!  

I run twice more that evening, both times blowing the tires off the starting line, spinning out, and ruining the drive.  Sacrebleu is a real trooper, she runs without complaint, despite my carelessness, leaving the car in drive, and heating the transmission fluid ridiculously in between runs.  This is pretty much the hardest worst thing to do when racing, the engine gets hot, doesn’t cool off, and the transmission fluid gets hot too, all of which works against going fast.  I leave the track with a bit over a quarter tank of gas, satisfied with myself and the car.

The car’s trap speed can be used with the weight of the vehicle to calculate an estimate of how much power the engine made.  According to the weight and trap speed, Sacrebleu made 244hp!  That’s pretty good, considering the engine was rated at 250hp when it was new.  

Thanks for tuning in, race fans!

[problemchildnoonewanted]

Life Is Strange 2 AU: P1

~Please keep in mind that the reason there is a lot of cursing/swearing is that this AU is based on a game with a lot of cursing and this is how I thought they would act given their age if they weren't owned by Disney. If you have not played the game I strongly advise it. It's so good! Also, be aware that this game was highly based on racism and injustices in America and how it can affect lives.~

"You're coming to the party, right?" Gogo asked him for the fifth time today alone. As much he wanted to press that little button on his helmet and hang up on her, he knew she'd kick his ass for it.

"Look, Gogo, you know I hate frat parties. They're not my style. I'd rather jus-FUCK!" Tadashi pulled on the brakes to avoid the dumbass that doesn't know what a stop sign is and lurched forward on the moped. Riding home through San Fransokyo was chaotic at best, but nothing new there. "Oh, come on!" The driver, however, just flipped him off and sped away. "What a dick," Tadashi mumbled.

"What happened?" Gogo's concern bled through the Bluetooth.

"Some asshole that doesn't know how to drive." Tadashi continued on his way when a car behind him honked in impatience.

"You need to be careful. Leave the speed to me, dipshit." Tadashi rolled his eyes as he pulled to a stop at a red light.

"The only one in our group that's safer on the road than me is Wasabi. I have a feeling that guy would use turn signals in a car chase. Anyway, as I was saying, parties aren't my thing."

"How would you know? You've never been to one." Tadashi turned the corner when the light turned green and pulled into the garage next to the shop.

"Because I don't want to! Do you seriously think that I want some random drunk college kids bumping into and grinding on me all night?" Tadashi groaned and put down the kickstand to his bike. "Hold on a sec." He pulled on his helmet, turned off the Bluetooth, and pulled out his phone. "Okay, now you can try in vain to convince me to go again."

"First of all, Mr. I Haven't Had A Girlfriend Since We've Met, what makes you think anyone's going to be all over you?" Gogo along with his other friends never understood why he never dated anyone. It's not like he could tell them he's only ever had eyes for his little brother. He tried moving on from Hiro a few years back, but when he kissed a girl for the first time he got so sick he ran off and immediately threw up. He never talked to her or about it again. Let alone try repeating it.

"Listen, that's by choice. And if you must know, the fact that I get asked out every other week is what makes me think that." He opened the door to the cafe and was met with the usual busy chatter of customers. He waved at Aunt Cass and started up the stairs.

Tadashi has always had this sense of loyalty to Hiro even though he thought they'd never be together in that way. In a way, it was like an attachment and gave him peace. And as wrong as it was trick himself like that, Tadashi still dreaded the day Hiro would bring someone home.

"You seriously have to get laid eventually. Unless you wanna be a cherry boy forever." Tadashi heard something clank in the background on Gogo's end.

"You still working on that project?" Tadashi made his way past the living room and climbed the stairs to his shared room with Hiro.

"Nice try, Hamada. We're not changing the subject. And when you get in your room do not try to tell me that Hiro might hear and get freaked out, he's old enough to know about sex."

"That doesn't mean I'm comfortable with talking about getting laid around him," Tadashi lowered his voice the closer he got to the door. This was again because of the loyalty thing. Tadashi didn't want Hiro to think he was with someone.

"Fine then. Agree to come to the party and we can stop talking about it." Gogo was beginning to get more snippy with him now. He knew he wasn't going to win.

He groaned and massaged his temple. He opened the door and hung up his bag. He lowered the phone when he saw Hiro at his desk and walked over to ruffle his hair and kiss the top of his head. Hiro smiled and opened his mouth to say something but Tadashi cut him off by showing his phone was on a call. Hiro pouted and turned back around. Tadashi walked over to his bed and laid down.

"You're not taking no for an answer this time, are you?"

"Not this time. It's the last big party of the year. You're going." Gogo's tone was deadly serious.

"Alright, I'll go. But I'm only staying for an hour."

"That's cool. But just in case you decide to stay longer for, I don't know, someone maybe. I left you something in your bag for you." If Gogo was there he'd no doubt see a smirk to match the mischief in her voice.

"You put something in my bag? What did you put in there?" Hiro's head turned and Tadashi could tell he was curious. Hiro shrugged and walked over to the bag.

"You'll see." Tadashi sees Hiro looking through his bag a lot despite that it's always the same stuff, so he's pretty sure he'll find whatever it is. "Just don't let your brother find them."

"What? Why?" Tadashi immediately sat up just as his bag hit the floor. Hiro's face showed a range of emotions that all followed along the lines of betrayal or abandonment. "Hiro? What is it?"

Hiro simply bolted out of the room without explanation.

"What the hell did you put in there, Gogo!?" Tadashi hung up without thinking and rushed over to the bag and saw... condoms? 'What the fuck, Gogo!'

Tadashi sprinted down to the living room and when he didn't find Hiro there he practically jumped the last flight to get to the cafe. He ran up to Aunt Cass and grabbed her shoulders making her yelp his name, "Where's Hiro?"

"Oh, he just ran out. Did you two get in a fight?" Cass cocked her hip and rested a hand there, but Tadashi ignored her in favor of finding his brother. He didn't want Hiro to get mad and end up in Good Luck Alley again.

However, he didn't find Hiro far off into the distance as he thought he would, but on the other side of the street. On the ground. With their dick of a neighbor yelling over him.

Tadashi instantly became aggressive and when he got across the street he shoved Brett away from Hiro. "Back off!"

Brett had it out for Hiro ever since he messed with one of Tadashi's projects while he was out and it resulted in a broken windshield on their neighbor's new car. Ever since then Brett would call the cops on their family for just about anything, but especially on Hiro.

Now normally, Brett would scamper off and just call the cops when Tadashi got involved. And considering Tadashi stood a good six inches taller than him, was well acquainted with the gym, and very protective of his little brother; that was a smart decision. But today must have been a bad day because he wasn't letting up.

"No way! I'm sick of this little shit running around thinking he can do whatever he wants! Look at this!" Brett gestured to his pure white shirt that was covered in a dark red liquid. Tadashi looked down and saw a cup leaking the same stuff near their feet and realized Hiro must have run into him making him spill his drink.

"I said I was sorry! You didn't have to push me!" Hiro got up and hid behind Tadashi. Brett leaned over to reach for Hiro and yell at him, but Tadashi knocked him away so he'd have to go through him instead.

"Look, dickhead, I'll give you money for a new shirt, but don't you dare touch my little brother!" Tadashi was aware of the crowd gathering around them and even heard someone calling the police, but he didn't care.

"Your brother put his hands on me first!" Brett was starting to size up on Tadashi.

"He ran into you on accident!" Tadashi defended Hiro. By now Tadashi could hear sirens in the distance.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did it on purpose. Both of you walk around like you own the fuckin' city!" Brett was now only inches away from Tadashi.

"No, we don't! Now get out of my face!" Tadashi couldn't back up with Hiro pressed against him, so he tried to move Brett back by placing a hand on his shoulder.

Brett slapped his hand off and made to punch Tadashi in the nose, but Tadashi swerved his head out of the way. He caught the arm and pressed his palm flat on Brett's chest before using both hands to push him away. Brett stumbled a bit and right as he was about to catch his balance his foot caught on his fallen cup and he fell to the ground hitting his head on the curb.

"Oh, no." Tadashi moved to help when Brett began convulsing. And just then the police pulled up.

"He's hur-!"

"Back away!" The young officer ran up to the two with his hand on his gun.

"Wait! I know first aid. Let me help until the ambulance can get here." Tadashi tried to put his hands up and block his brother from the cop.

However, the cop became more distressed and aggressive as he saw what state Brett was in and drew his gun. "I said back away! Get on the ground now!"

Hiro started sobbing as Tadashi flinched back and started pushing him to the ground. "We didn't do anything!" Tadashi yelled and looked for help from to crowd, but they had begun to run off in fear when the officer pulled his firearm.

Hiro kept crying and repeating what his brother said over and over until their aunt was finally drawn out by the commotion. "Officer, what is going on here?!" She rushed to her boys only to have the barrel on the gun pointed at her too.

"Ma'am, stay back!"

"Aunt Cass, we didn't do anything!" Tadashi tried to explain.

"Aunt Cass, please!" Hiro pleaded for help.

"It's okay boys! Officer, please stop this! They're kids!" Cass tried approaching the officer with her hands up to calm him and talk some sense to him, but that only made him turn his full attention to the woman instead.

Tadashi could feel tears in his eyes and could tell Hiro was close to a panic attack. He wanted to help so badly, but there was nothing he could do. Just then, things around them started lifting off the ground including himself and everyone around. Except for Hiro.

This only made the cop freak out more and when Cass yelped in fear he accidentally squeezed the trigger in her direction. The bullet pierced her in the center of her chest. Hiro screamed and there was a huge pulse of energy.

Tadashi came to almost immediately. He saw his aunt and rushed to her. He wept as he realized she was gone. He then found Hiro and picked him up. Tadashi was smart and could tell that this was somehow Hiro's doing. He couldn't let his brother go to prison or become an experiment.

He stepped past the mangled police officer and ran into the shop. He avoided the people shying away and hiding from him and Hiro as he grabbed the money from the cash register, a couple loafs of bread that were bagged for sale, some water, and ran to their room.

He carefully set Hiro on his bed and began shoving clothes and a blanket into his backpack. When he heard sirens again he gathered Hiro and the stuff he packed and ran downstairs to the garage. Tadashi through the supplies in the back and placed Hiro in the passenger seat and once the garage door opened he was speeding off.

He couldn't go to any of his friends that'd be the first place the police would look. He had to get them out of the city fast. So Tadashi drove toward the closest secluded place to them. Muirahara Woods.

He would keep Hiro safe no matter what. He had to.

[lailaliquorice]

drops of jupiter in her hair

you can thank the lovely anon who sent in this prompt for this angst fest, which was  “I might never get a chance to say this.”

and we have more beheaded cousins! I love these two so much and really need to write them together more. in my last fic with them I had anne looking after kat but this time we’re flipping the script and multiplying it by a lot because this is a lot, and I’ll apologise in advance to the sixcord who have had this dangled over their heads for a good few days now. love you guys!

there’s no tw on this other than mild blood bc as much as it doesn’t look like it for a while, there is actually a happy ending. i’m not that mean <3

A clear winter’s day after a week of non-stop rain had given Jane the excuse to force a very cabin-fevery Anne and Kat outside for the first time in several days, and they hadn’t just used their freedom to go into central London as per usual. Kat’s complaint that everything was so much more crowded and built up than how they remembered it from their old lives caused Anne to skid to a halt where she was heading towards their usual train line in the underground station, before abruptly changing directions and dragging Kat with her without giving an explanation.

And that was how Kat found herself getting off a train to be faced with a forest so beautiful it was worthy of being pictured on a Christmas card.

“Come on!” yelled Anne, zipping her coat and charging towards the platform exit.

Kat was left just running after her with her laughter leaving clouds of steam in the air, all but shoving her ticket into the barrier to let herself out of the station before they were running down a path through the fields and towards the forest. The pompoms on Anne’s woolly hat bounced just like her usual space buns did as she ran, bringing a smile to Kat’s face even though her cold ears made her wish she’d brought a hat for herself.

They skidded to a standstill once they reached the end of the forest, both panting to get their breath back as the chilled air made Kat’s lungs ache. “It looks bigger up close,” she commented once she could form words again, glancing upwards with a slightly nervous frown at the trees towering over them.

“We won’t go in far, I just thought it’d be nice to get away from the city a bit,” Anne reassured her with a grin that Kat couldn’t help but trust. “It’s not even like we’ve gone that far from home, Jane could be here in half an hour in the car but obvs that isn’t an option for me just yet.”

Kat gave an exaggerated hum as she grinned in an attempt to stifle her laughter; the fifth time failing her driving test had actually been due to driving too slowly in a desperate bid to pass and the fit she’d thrown upon returning home had practically shaken the walls.

Anne glanced up from the floor before Kat had a chance to rearrange her expression. “Shut up Kitkat,” she retorted playfully.

“I didn’t say anything!” Kat squeaked.

“Your face did! Ugh enough of this, come on!”

Their laughter echoed around the silent trees as they stepped foot into the forest at last, Kat trusting Anne to lead the way as she followed on slightly behind. The slight frost the night before meant that the leaves still crunched beneath her feet despite autumn being long gone, making everything feel a little eerie once their voices fell quiet to better take in the scenery.

Kat lasted five minutes before her own footsteps started to sound too much like someone was following them, and after putting on a short burst of speed to catch up with Anne she burst out “Can we keep talking please?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, it was getting a bit spooky,” Anne said with an easy smile that Kat returned a little more nervously. She glanced around as if looking for something, then took off suddenly with a shout of “I’ll race you to that tree stump!”

Despite knowing that Anne would win Kat still ran after her; she loved spending time with her cousin since it let her be the rebellious child that she’d never been able to be back in her old life. That neither of them had really. While Jane mothering her meant that Kat felt more like a child with her too, there was something about Anne dragging her into trouble like an older cousin-turned-sister was meant to that she loved more than she could say.

Anne was grinning triumphantly as she turned to face Kat after hopping up onto the stump on the edge of a steep incline, pulling a superhero pose when Kat took her phone out for a photo. “I can see everywhere from up here,” she said, shielding her eyes from the winter sun with one hand as she looked out over the trees and the lake far below them. “I think that might be the city out there in the distance, lemme-“

She broke off with a scream as the rotted wood beneath her feet gave way and sent her plummeting off the cliff, tumbling head over heels and barely missing several trees before she fell into the lake with an enormous splash.

Kat shrieked Anne’s name as she scrabbled down the cliff after her, being as careful as she could manage while wanting to just sprint after her regardless of her own safety. Anne was heaving herself onto the bank by the time Kat made it down to her, her hat gone and her hair dripping with water, and when she looked up at Kat she could see the scratches on her face from her uncontrollable roll down the hill. “Well that was fucking cold,” she said, any bite in her words ruined by how her teeth were chattering as she shivered.  

She attempted to smile at the sarcasm, but she could hardly manage it with the worry that was making her heart race. “Are you ok?” Kat asked, eyes wide as she took in Anne’s sodden clothes and the smears of blood on her face and hands.

“Yeah, ‘m not hurt. Just damp,” Anne muttered, shrugging as she gave Kat a grim look. It fell into a crestfallen frown as she touched her hair and realised her hat was missing, but one glance at it floating across the lake was enough for her to decide it wasn’t worth wading back in again. “And bloody freezing too,” she added, “we’re going home right now before I die of cold out here.”

Kat nodded firmly, but her voice died in her throat from where she’d been about to agree when she looked behind her and realised she had no idea where they were. She could just about see the stump that Anne had fallen off of if she craned her neck upwards but there was no way they could climb all the way back up the cliff. The plan of just retracing their steps back to the train station was impossible now that they were stuck on a path they didn’t recognise with no idea how to get home.

A quiet “Ah, fuck,” from Anne made Kat whip her head around to see her tipping water out of the headphone port of her phone. “Don’t think this’ll be working anytime soon,” she tried to joke, but the seriousness of the situation was reflected in her solemn expression.

“We can use mine to get us out,” Kat said, though the glimmer of hope she felt was dimmed as soon as she pulled out her phone to see that she’d lost service.

“No signal?” Anne asked, clearly guessing from the defeated look on Kat’s face.

Kat shook her head.

Shivering violently, Anne pushed a strand of sodden hair away from her eyes as she said “Then I guess we’re gonna have to try and walk our way out of here.”

~~~

Anne didn’t know how long they’d been walking for. All Kat’s phone was good for was checking the time but very quickly she decided she didn’t want to know, preferring to just keep putting one foot in front of the other with no indication of time passing then be reminded of how long they’d been lost. Her hair was still dripping water down her face, sluggishly blinking droplets from her eyelashes, and her coat was so wet that she was considering taking it off and seeing if that made her any less cold.

But then she glanced down at the red skin on her hands and decided against it. If she kept her coat on then Kat would be less likely to see, and Anne couldn’t bear the thought of Kat worrying about her on top of everything else.

“I’m sure I haven’t seen that tree before,” Kat said from where she was up in front this time round, pointing to an oddly shaped tree that Anne would have probably been racing to climb on any other day. Her voice grew with confidence by the word as she continued her commentary with “That means we’re not going in circles, that’s a good thing, and even if we come out of the forest on the wrong side we’ll still be out. Do you think I’ll get phone signal back once we’re away from the trees?”

Anne gave a confused hum as she tried to take in Kat’s words. While she could recognise that they should have been making sense, she just couldn’t focus her mind long enough to comprehend what she was saying and what she was supposed to reply.

After several seconds of silence, Kat turned around to face her with a confused look that immediately turned into downright worry. “Annie?” she said in a scared tone.

“Mhm?”

“Your lips have gone blue.”

She lifted a shaking hand to touch her face, vaguely concerned in the back of her mind when she couldn’t feel the contact on either her cheek or her fingertip. “Oh,” Anne breathed out quietly.

They stared blankly at each other for a moment, unspoken fear hanging heavy in the air, before Kat hurried forwards to grab Anne’s freezing hand. “Come on, we have to get home,” she said, the former confidence in her voice still there but marred by a noticeable tremble.

Anne nodded, but when she tried to walk on as Kat tugged at her hand she felt her foot slip and she fell awkwardly to the floor. “’m sorry,” she slurred, trying to push herself back to her feet though not even Kat helping by pulling her arm could get her to stand again.

“Anne? Annie!” Kat cried out, her panicked voice sounding miles away to Anne’s confused mind.

She tried again to stand up but her limbs refused to cooperate, forcing her to admit defeat and settle with just propping herself up with her arm as she stayed sprawled on the floor. “I can’t, ‘m sorry,” Anne repeated as she looked up miserably at Kat, wrapping her other arm around her waist in a feeble attempt to protect what little body heat she still possessed. Her voice quietened to a mumble as she added “I’m so cold.”

Kat stared down at her for a moment with an unreadable expression on her face, before she fumbled to take off her coat. “Put this on instead,” she insisted, ignoring Anne’s protests to unzip her wet coat herself since Anne would never be able to grasp the zip herself with her frozen fingers.

Since her clothes underneath were soaked through too it didn’t make her feel any warmer, but it was nice to have the cold weight of her sodden coat off her shoulders. “Thanks,” she whispered, too drained to even speak properly at that point.

When Kat sat down beside her Anne let her head fall onto Kat’s shoulder, the hand bracing herself against the ground slipping through the leaf litter as her energy was used up. That was until she realised she was starting to fall asleep, and a jolt of pure fear through her chest gave her the boost she needed to sit upright and look Kat in the eye. “I might never get a chance to say this,” she started through gritted teeth, struggling to make her tongue form the right words.

“Don’t be dramatic,” Kat whispered, before she realised like a blow to the head that perhaps Anne wasn’t.

Anne gave her head a tiny shake when Kat interrupted, and the sight of tears rolling down her ghostly pale face was enough for her to fall silent. “I love you,” she said, moving with effort to place an ice-cold hand on Kat’s cheek. “You’re the best little sister I’ve ever had.”

Kat covered Anne’s hand with her own as she started to cry too. “I love you and you’re not dying here,” she insisted, choking out a forceful “No!” when Anne just shrugged. “Come on, you can survive anything. You’re Anne Boleyn, you always make it.”

The ribbon choker around Anne’s neck choosing that exact moment to come undone under its own damp weight and reveal her scar quickly proved that statement wrong.

“S’alright,” Anne breathed out, her head nodding forwards again as her short-lived strength deserted her. A delirious smile flitted across her face as she added “We ‘ad fun.”

“Annie, stop it,” Kat sobbed, grabbing her shoulders as she threatened to fall forwards.

Anne shook her head, just about finding the motivation to look up at her cousin as Kat’s distress pierced through the bubble of lucidity that had prevented her from panicking until then. “Don’t want to die again Kitkat,” she whimpered. She’d stopped shivering by then, which would have been a pleasant feeling if it weren’t for the voice at the back of her head quietly insisting that wasn’t a good thing.

Her head lolled to the side as Kat prodded her neck with two fingers to check her pulse, and from the way her eyes darkened Anne could tell that the result wasn’t good. “Just hold on, alright?” she begged, “I’m gonna get you help, I’m not letting you die here. Not again.”

Those confident words turning into a terrified scream was the last thing Anne heard as a black wave crashed over her vision and she collapsed to the floor.

~~~

Beep.

Beep.

The first thing she became aware of was the fact that she was warm. Blissfully, beautifully warm, compared to the numb coldness that she’d last known. But her contentedness at that lasted barely a few seconds before it made her panic, the question of ‘Am I in Heaven?’ screaming at the forefront of her mind.

She tried to sit up, eyes flying open, but almost immediately there was a firm hand on her chest pushing her back down.

“Careful, Anne. You’re ok, you’re in hospital and we’re all here. Just go easy for a minute.”

Anne focused her eyes at the familiar voice, looking up into the worried smile of Catherine of Aragon. “I’m ok?” she asked in a fragile voice, not quite ready to believe it yet.

“You’re ok,” Aragon repeated, unable to contain a relieved sigh at the sound of Anne’s voice after hours of waiting and worry.

She could have cried with happiness as she fell back into the hospital bed which felt like the most comfortable place on Earth, but instead she just found Aragon’s hand and squeezed it tightly.

“You gave us quite the scare though,” said Cathy as she sat down on the bed in Anne’s eyeline, Anna pulling up her chair so she was close enough to grip onto Anne’s hand with a tight smile on her face. “Everyone was so worried and the doctors said it would be touch and go for a while. But your body temperature has returned to normal and there’s no sign of frostbite, so in a couple of hours you’ll be absolutely fine.”

Anne gave a tired but happy groan at the news, fully relaxing back into her pillow and closing her eyes. But then a horrible thought occurred to her as she replayed the last moments before she’d passed out, crying out a horrified “Where’s Kat?!”

The other three just exchanged a glance. The heart machine beeped a panicky rhythm as Anne’s heartrate soared, shouting again “Well? What happened to her, is she ok?”

“Shh, love, or you’ll wake her up!”

At the sound of Jane’s reassuring tone, Anne let Anna help her to sit up and look properly around the hospital room. Jane was sat in an armchair against the wall, and curled up in her lap was the very person Anne had been looking for. Kat was fast asleep and clearly dead to the world if she hadn’t been woken by Anne’s shout, completely wiped out by the events of the day.

“You can thank her that the pair of you made it out of there ok,” Jane said, and Anne watched her through wide eyes as she continued. “After you passed out she left you covered up in the forest and managed to run far enough to get phone signal to call an ambulance. She led the ambulance crew back through the forest to find and rescue you.”

Aragon nodded along to Jane’s account. “Then she called us and we met the pair of you here. She saved your life, Anne.”

She didn’t realise she’d started crying again until she felt tears dripping onto the hand in her lap. Words failed her as she met Jane’s eyes again, looking down at Kat in her lap and just holding out her arms in a voiceless plea.

Thankfully Jane seemed know what she meant, smiling knowingly as she nodded for Anna to carefully take the sleeping Kat from her arms. Anne shifted a little on her bed to make room for Anna to lay her down beside her, just as Kat sleepily blinked open one eye and murmured “Annie?”

“It’s me, Kat. I’m alive,” Anne choked out as she grinned tearfully.

Kat’s eye closed again as tiredness fought to claim her again but she still gave a beaming smile, wrapping her arms around Anne’s torso and resting her head over her heart.

“Go back to sleep, both of you,” Aragon murmured, smoothing Anne’s hair away from her face and wiping her tears with a gentle thumb. “We’ll all be here when you wake up.”

Anne continued to cry silently as she held her close. Exhaustion pulled at her own limbs as she sunk back into the bed, but the lingering fear of how close a call she’d just had kept her arms tight around her cousin and saviour as she gave herself back into sleep.

[greennct]

mark in a library

i'm a sucker for blushy mark lee what can i say lol. here’s 1.8k of pure fluff! 

(there’s like two swear words in here btw) 💞💖💘

song rec: crush by tessa violet

Every single day, when Mark woke up at the ass-crack of dawn to haul himself to the library, he feebly tried to convince himself that he was actually going to study that day. And every single day, he spent the entirety of his ‘working’ hours staring at you. And then pretending he wasn’t. And then staring back at you again.

After the whole ‘studying’ ruse became too fictitious to not discard, Mark attempted to reason that his interest was only because he was so bored that he found you cute. But it was only after an excruciating Sunday morning where it seemed you had opted for a lie-in rather than your books, and Mark found himself practically alone in the deserted bookshelves, that he was forced to admit the truth to himself.

Mark had a big, fat crush.

He wasn’t exactly sure what it was about you that had flipped the switch, possibly an accumulation of all your little habits. Sure, at the beginning, Mark stared because you were, well, stunning, but after a while he began to pick up on the small, endearing traits that drew him to you even more. The way you would catch yourself chewing your pencils, and frown slightly, obviously disproving of your bad habit. How you would run your hands through your hair when re-reading essays, lips moving ever so slightly, as you mouthed the words you were scrutinising. The tea you brought in a flask every day, the stickers on your laptop, heck, even the gum you used, an off-brand strawberry flavour that had Mark blushing to himself as he wondered if you would taste anything like the sweet.

Mark worried, especially in the first few weeks of his infatuation, that he was being creepy. After all, it felt almost as if his trips were a secret. Though the rest of his members knew he was going to the library to study, they always sent him off with sympathetic looks on their faces, as they knew he was being dispatched there by the company, in order to complete his schooling. (Little did they know, his 3-hour-per-week quota was constantly overachieved, as he spent practically the entirety of his weekends in the building). Nobody, not even Donghyuk had been told about his feelings for you.

However, it wasn’t as if he spent the whole day spying on you without your knowledge. The study room you both went to was large and light, and though you two were rarely alone during the day, Mark often woke up a little earlier in order to snag the table he knew you would sit opposite every day. That way, he could return your amical smile as you sat down with an awkward grin and spend the next half an hour ducked behind his textbooks, ears even redder than the previous day.

That was another thing that had surprised Mark. He had expected that, over time, he would become less affected by your presence, but as you two became more familiar with each other, your interactions became increasingly common. Each time you pouted at Mark when you caught him yawning, moving your eyes towards the door to encourage him to go home, or rolled your eyes at him surreptitiously when the librarian shouted at the students in order to get them to be quiet, the butterflies in his stomach almost combusted. No matter how many times he saw your face, he never seemed to get rid of them.

In other words, Mark was fucked.

Despite the fact that practically 90% of his existence was taken up by thoughts of you, the first time you two actually spoke, was after at least five months of Mark gazing at you in the library. It was a cold evening, and Mark blushed as you discarded your many layers of coats and scarves on to the back of your chair. He attempted to focus on the homework his tutor had given him as his ears stopped burning, when a sound made his head shoot up. A loud grumble interrupted the silence of the basically abandoned hall, and now it was your turn to blush. Mark tried not to smile too obviously at how clearly mortified you were at your stomach rumbling, even though he was the only other person there. “Sorry!” you mouthed at him, and he shook his head vigorously to signify that he didn’t mind at all.

To your absolute horror, your stomach kept groaning sporadically for the next 20 minutes. Both you and Mark knew that the library’s café had long closed by now, so the chances of somehow obtaining food were slim to none. Eventually, you decided you couldn’t take the humiliation anymore, and tried not to rush too obviously to the toilets, in order to phone your friends and beg someone to bring you food.

After exhausting your call list, and deciding you needed to serious upgrade your friendship circle, you returned to the library, cheeks still flushed from your previous ordeal, and stopped in your tracks when you saw a neatly packaged lunchbox sitting innocently on top of your class reading list.

Mark had known it was a gamble to give you his dinner. He had been debating it furiously with himself for the past ten minutes but couldn’t seem to get the courage to just outright ask you if you wanted to take it. When you left for the bathroom, he realised now was the perfect time to make sure you had eaten, without actually having to open his mouth and embarrass himself. He wasn’t particularly hungry and didn’t really care for the ratio of vegetables to actual carbs that Doyoung had packed for him (He wondered nervously if you would), so it seemed natural to him to give you the little box hidden in his backpack.

Scanning the practically empty room, you realised there was only one obvious culprit behind this act of kindness. The boy sitting opposite you was intently focused on his biology sheet, seemingly nonchalant, but upon closer inspection, it looked as if he hadn’t written anything since you had left (not that you were looking).

“Hey,” his head perked up immediately. “Is this your dinner?”

“Well…” the boy seemed at a loss for words “I guess, but I’m not really that hungry, and I figured, y’know, cause of your stomach and all…”

He trailed off as he saw you put your head in your hands, already having sunk into your seat. “Oh my god, that’s so embarrassing. I’m so sorry you had to hear that!”

You were surprised to hear what could’ve been a chuckle coming from him, though it was reminiscent of a small squeak. “H-” He cleared his throat. “Happens to the best of us. I’m sure you would’ve done the same and all that.”

Looking up at him, you could see he was just as red as you were, and just that small observation made you feel an odd sense of comfort in this more or less stranger. “At least let me share it with you,” you implored, gesturing to the chair opposite you. After all, you had sat opposite him for a few months already. If he had wanted to murder you, he’d have done so by now.

You tried not to giggle as he almost tripped over his feet walking the short distance over to your table. Pushing your books aside, you subconsciously decided that your studies were over for the evening – dinner with cute stranger was a much more appetising prospect.

Glancing down at the box again, you saw a small blue post-it note stuck to the top of the plastic box, with your name on it. You met his eyes, quizzically.

“It was written on the inside of one of your textbooks,” he immediately clarified. “It was open, and I saw it, I swear I haven’t been stalking you or-”

This time you really did giggle. “Don’t panic, I didn’t think you were. You’re Mark, right?”

It was his turn to look startled. “How did you-“

“You are aware that your face is plastered on half the billboards in the city, right? It would be pretty hard to not know who you were.”

He grinned bashfully, a hand coming up to scratch the back of his head. “I guess…”

Despite your gentle teasing, you found Mark was extremely kind and open, especially since it was your first real conversation with the boy you had spent the last few months trying not to be distracted by. As the evening drew on, slowly stretching into night, you two kept talking, lunchbox long finished. He was hilarious, sweet, a little teasing and charming in a subtle, yet endearing way, and as he opened up more and more, you felt comfortable enough to bring up your difficulties with him, since you two were bantering so much back and forth.

“Seriously, you’re so annoyingly good-looking! I’m literally just sitting here, minding my own business, trying to scrape a pass in my English class, and you make it so freaking hard to concentrate!” Though you were laughing, you realised the mood had shifted slightly with that statement, as Mark was suddenly as shy as he had been at the beginning of the evening.

Attempting to fill the awkward silence, you kept babbling on, packing up your books at lightning speed, suddenly aware of how late it was. “Well, I mean, of course you’re- it’s your job to be cute, you know, it’s not like-”

“You think I’m cute?” He interrupted suddenly, voice soft, eyes focused firmly on the floor.

“I- Well- Um… Yeah?” you admitted, deciding it was already too late to attempt to salvage any semblance of dignity from the conversation.

You were standing up now, backpack on your shoulders. There was a short pause in which you considered all the different ways in which you would like to die in order to avoid this moment. After what seemed like an eternity and a half, he stood up too.

“Let me walk you to the door.”

Unable to vocalise any kind of comprehensible thought in that moment, you just nodded, and waited for him to put his things together, as you texted your groupchat to find a ride home.

The walk out of the library was quiet and nervous. You felt you had somehow overstepped a line. There were two cars waiting our front, one you recognised as belonging to your friend, and a blacked-out SUV, which you assumed contained some kind of staff member who was there to pick Mark up.

“So, um, thanks for dinner.” You murmured, already practically legging it across the parking lot to your ride, ready to rant to her all about how royally you had fucked up this evening.

Halfway to the car, you heard a small scuffle behind you, and you turned to see Mark, half-running towards you. Confused, you waited, figuring you had just forgotten something.

“Err… hi?” you smiled awkwardly.

“I, um, just wanted to say… I think you’re pretty cute too.”

Something warm bloomed in your chest, and you couldn’t help but to place a chaste kiss on his cheek.

“Goodnight, Mark.”

If you thought you had seen Mark Lee blush before, there was no comparison to the look on his face directly after your lips lost contact with his cheek.

“G-good- um, bye!” He spluttered, sprinting back to his own car where he was met with whoops and hollers.

Smirking slightly to yourself, you opened your friend’s car door, met with a similar sentiment. Something told you studying wasn’t going to be so boring anymore.

[pizzas-will-rule-the-world]

hiiIiIiIiIIiIIiIIII umm??? your stories water my face and cleans my plants ❤✨✨ can you do 23 in sprace? ✨✨

Ahhh thank you so much, sorry this took so long!

23. “Sorry I can’t make it tonight.” “Why not?” “I got stabbed and I’m on my way to the hospital.” 

Spot never considered himself a very patient person up until a few months ago. It hadn’t been a conscious change, or a change he necessarily had planned, but something that had happened so gradually he didn’t notice at first. The reason for this strange development was, like so many things in Spot’s life, because of Racetrack Higgins. Dating Race kind of came with the understanding that you’d need the same patience as when you’re babysitting a five-year old. Spot knew that, even if he didn’t always like it. More often than not his life circulated around whatever idiotic thing his boyfriend had gotten himself into this time. Once it had been getting stuck in a tree at four o’clock in the morning, and another time he had locked himself into his own bathroom (How he had managed that one was still a mystery to Spot). 

But despite him getting used to - and even growing to find the humour in - his boyfriend’s shenanigans, Spot wasn’t always ready for them. Tonight was an excellent example of that. It had been supposed to be a calm and uneventful night for the two of them, in which the most exciting thing should have been trying out a new take-out place. Spot was in the moment everything went to shit standing alone in his kitchen reading a menu from said take-out place. His phone rang.

“Hey, Higgins,” he greeted, holding his phone between his ear and shoulder to continue flipping through the menu. “I was just gonna call. Are you feeling more for pad thai or spring rolls? They also have some vegetarian dishes that seem pretty-”

“Sorry, I can’t make it tonight.”

Spot lowered his hand with the menu. “Why not?” he asked, trying his hardest to keep the disappointment from sipping into his voice. It had been almost two weeks since the two of them had a whole night to themselves, without their friends around. Spot had been looking forward to it for days, even if he’d never tell Race that. 

Race’s voice was a bit wobbly when he answered. “I got stabbed and I’m on my way to the hospital.”

This is the moment the night turned from enjoyable and laid-back, to straight up terrifying. And Spot hadn’t been ready for it. Which resulted in not only the feeling of his heart stopping for a moment, but also him dropping the menu on the floor. It slid across the tiles until it came to a stop under the sink. “You what?”

“But I’m okay!”

In the background Spot could hear some curses coming from someone who was decidedly not Race, and something that sounded suspiciously close to a car swerving to avoid hitting something. “The hell you are,” Spot exclaimed and all but ran to grab his jacket. “What happened? Who are you with? And what hospital are you going to?”

“Bellevue hospital. I’m with Jack, he’s- Hey, watch the fucking road, Kelly! We don’t need a car crash on top of this! Sorry babe, I’m back. Yeah, like I said, I’m fine, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about, and you definitely do not have to come to the hospital.”

“Too late,” Spot said as he dashed down the flights of stairs to get to the entrance floor. “Tell me what happened.”

“Funny story,” Race said. Spot doubted he would agree. “Turns out, big shock, that Jack Kelly is a big dumbass who can’t handle a kitchen knife at all.”

There were more swearing in the background, but Spot’s brain ignored it like it was white noise. “Are you bleeding a lot?”

“Uh, I have a compression on, let me check-”

“Don’t fucking check, what the fuck Race!” Spot exclaimed and felt his heart do somersaults in his chest. He clenched his fist and then forced himself to relax. “Jesus fucking christ, you’re gonna be the death of me.” He almost choked when he realized what he just had said. “I mean… Uh, where did he...?”

“In the shoulder, or, well, upper arm. It’s not deep, but it was bleeding a lot, so we figured…”

Spot nodded even though Race couldn’t see him. “Yeah, of course, good. How are you feeling?” 

“Uh, okay, to be honest. A bit… What’s the word? Faint?”

“That makes sense, if you’re losing blood. Get me Jack on the phone, will you? You shouldn’t strain yourself.” He hailed a cab and got in quickly, telling the driver to drive to Bellevue Hospital as fast as possible. There was a shuffling on the phone as Race let Jack take over the call. 

“Yeah, hey Spot.”

“You fucking idiot, you walking disaster, what the actual fuck, Kelly.”

Jack sounded like he spoke through clenched teeth. “Yeah, thanks, I know.”

“If he gets seriously hurt because of this, I will hunt you down. Don’t think I won’t.”

Jack sounded impatient. “I know. I’m pulling up to the hospital in a minute. You meeting us here?”

“Of course, I’m in a cab. Try not to run someone over, okay? And keep pressure on the wound.”

Then he hung up without saying goodbye and forced himself to not follow his instinct to throw the phone out of the half-opened car window. He pressed his eyes closed and put his head between his legs. He couldn’t breathe. His shoulders were shaking. There wasn’t enough oxygen in the car. Darkness pressed around him, only adding onto the feeling of choking, until Spot sat up with a gasp and forced himself to open his eyes. 

He felt the taxi driver’s gaze on him, and then how the car picked up speed. 

The car ride felt as if took hours and not the mere twenty minutes that was the reality. Every second that passed brought another wave of anxiety to wash over Spot, making his thoughts dizzy and skin to crawl. He tried to focus on small details to not drown in his feelings. The leather of the seat in front of him was old and dried up. The window felt cool when he placed his cheek against it The trees passing by blurred together in a mass of green and brown. Street lights shone into the car at a steady pace.

He handed some bills to the driver and shoot out of the car as soon as it stopped outside of the massive, white building.

The emergency room was large and filled with beds and people. It smelled like fear and panic, and something else that Spot feared was the smell of death. He forced down a new wave of nausea.

 A short, plump nurse with a high ponytail and a kind face checked a couple of papers as Spot stood and drummed his pointy finger on the reception. It took only a minute until she smiled at him and pointed towards a bed in the back of the emergency room. Spot barely remembered to nod politely and thank her before he dashed across the room. 

Race’s face was scrunched up and looked red from the strain, but he was sitting up the bed. A middle aged doctor was sitting on a stool beside him, speaking calmly as she stitched Race’s upper arm. Jack was standing at the foot of the bed watching his friend, a tightly clenched fist covering his mouth. There were stains of dark red on the sleeves of his hoodie. His face - or, what was visible of it - was a ashen shade. 

When Spot halted at the bed, Race looked up. His face split up into a grin and he made as if to move or even stand up, but grimaced and relaxed against the pillow as he noted the doctor beside him and realized it wouldn’t end well. “Hey, Spotty,” he mumbled instead and grinned even wider. “I’m high.”

The doctor smiled at him and then glanced up at Spot. “Hello. Spot, was it? Anthony hasn’t stopped talking about you. Boyfriend, I assume?”

“Yeah,” Spot said and moved so he was standing beside the bed. He brushed a finger over Race’s forehead, just to make sure he was actually there, and then threaded through his hair. It was matted with sweat. 

Jack coughed and dragged his hand over his mouth. “I’ll…” he took a deep breath. “I’ll get us some coffee.” 

Spot barely acknowledged him as he left. “How is he?” he asked the doctor, who had gone back to the stitches. 

“He’ll be fine. It was a minor wound, considering. I have a couple of more stitches to do, but then it’s only a matter of letting the drugs wear off.” 

Race pushed his head into Spot’s hand, silently asking for more touching. “I’m high,” he repeated, and Spot let out a laugh without meaning to. He clamped a hand over his mouth. The doctor must have noticed the horrified look on his face, because she smiled kindly.

“It’s normal to laugh when you have been under stress. If you ask one of the nurses, I’m sure they can show you where you can find some water and a place to sit. I’m afraid it’ll be at least another hour before Anthony can go home.”

The idea of leaving the bed even for a second was so foreign to Spot that he almost laughed again. “No. Thank you, but I don’t mind waiting.” 

She nodded. “Okay, that’s fine.” She smiled at him. “It’s nice to see that you care so much.”

“Yeah, he loves me,” Race muttered in a low, sing-song voice and tried to turn his head so he could kiss Spot’s palm. “And I loooove him.”

“That’s nice,” the doctor said and rose from her seat. “I’m all done. I’ll send a nurse over in a while to check on him.”

“Thank you,” Spot said and sank down into the chair she just abandoned. When he left he turned to Race, who looked very pleased with the prospect of being alone with Spot. “You’re such an idiot.”

“What did I do?” Race asked, furrowing his eyebrows as if he was trying really hard to understand what he had fucked up this time. 

Spot let out a breathy laugh and leaned down to place a soft kiss on his forehead. “You missed our date, for one. You owe me take-out.”

Race nodded seriously. “I’ll buy you take-out now if you want.”

“I don’t think the doctors would like that.”

He pouted. “Mean.”

“Hey, they’re the ones sewing you closed after you got yourself stabbed. Show some respect.”

Race snorted and nodded before letting his head fall back against the pillow. “Yeah, yeah.” He had a slightly hazy look in his eyes. As Spot stroked his forehead, he sank down deeper and deeper into the pillow. “I’m sleepy.”

“Go to sleep, then.”

He nodded and then yawned. “Smart.” He looked up at Spot. “Will you stay?”

Spot took his hand in his and brought it up to his lips. His whole body ached in a way that was far to painful for it to only be physical. It was a hurt only the brain could cause, strong and powerful enough to make him forget trivial things as his own name, or breathing. Nothing else mattered except the fact that Race was okay, that he would be all right. Spot blinked away the tears, because high or not, Race would never let him forget him actually crying beside his hospital bed. He kissed Race’s hand again, and then once more. “Of course I’ll stay. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

***

TAGLIST

@mckpricely

@kreativekiss

@wafflesareh0t

@fanfictionrecommendations-com

@lifeform-42

@yaboigrass

@modern-race-owns-airpods

@jan-jan-jan-jan-jan-199

@thats-our-que-boys

@spotrash

@theprincelypariah-blog

@romeo-in-a-trenchcoat

@and-i-lostmy-shoe

@uiopp11-blog

@i-aint-tapped-out

@colbys-blue

@everyonecalmdown

@technically-whizzy

@rivertellsstories

@rainfallingfromthesky

@frens-brudders-fellerciterzens

@glewstick101

@tea-and-theater

@graves-is-here

@blue-taco-soul-collector

@yes-cleargrace-stuff

@ok-but-what-about-connor

@pikapika1717

@big-potato-asshole

@power-of-the-sun

@janesbooknook

@sparklymental

@richie-rambling

@trip-03

@ab0ve-the-f0ld

@carryyourownbanner

[takingcourage]

A Helping Hand

Pairing: Jaime x MC

Word Count: 1,800

Summary: Arden decides that her fiancé needs some assistance in his efforts to repair their home. 

Note: This story follows The Girl Next Door and will probably make more sense if you’ve read that story first. 

It had all started with her potted plants.

"Jinx just won't leave them alone," Arden had told him seriously. "They'll do better here anyway. You've got more sunlight than I do at the apartment."

He'd complied, giving her permission to put the pair of planters anywhere she liked.

Next, her clothes had started cropping up everywhere -- socks in his laundry basket, a set of pajamas in the nightstand drawer, and a pencil skirt and blouse that had staked their claim at the extreme end of his closet.

Jaime smiled every time he saw them -- these tangible reminders that she’d said yes -- that soon, this would be not just his house, but theirs. Besides, the slow infiltration just meant that there would be less work for them to do on moving day. 

When he arrived home from work on Friday evening, it came as little surprise to find her car parked in his driveway. The sedan had caught his eye as soon as he turned onto Sycamore Drive, messy as usual and looking for all the world like it belonged there. 

That's because it does, he thought as he parked his truck beside her in the doublewide drive. Or it will soon. He engaged the emergency brake and left the vehicle, already feeling the weight of the day begin to lessen. 

Leaving his keys in his pocket, he rapped a couple of times before he pushed open the front door. “I’m home!” he announced, voice a quiet singsong in his uncertainty where to direct the greeting. 

Any remaining tiredness evaporated the moment his eyes fell on Arden. 

She popped out from the hallway, an easy grin splitting her face. "I know I said I was working late tonight, but we finished everything and decided to start the weekend early." Bounding into the entry, she hopped up on her toes to receive the kiss that she knew was waiting for her. "I thought I'd come by and do some work on the house."

Jaime's eyes widened at the suggestion, and he finally looked beyond her happy face. Far from the professional attire she’d probably driven over in, she now wore a pair of threadbare basketball shorts and a T-shirt that still had the remnants of some long-forgotten art project staining both sides. Her short hair was tied up with a blue bandana that was knotted just above her left eyebrow. 

He knew at once the look that she’d been going for, but couldn’t help snickering at the full effect. 

Brown eyes flashed, and one finger raised to a point. The finger -- along with the rest of the hand, he noted -- was unnaturally red. “Stop thinking about me being cute. I’m here to do work,” Arden protested, wagging the finger she held out toward his chest. 

Jaime’s lips straightened at the appraisal, but his thoughts changed very little. She was always irresistible, but this style was completely new. “What work are you getting done?” he asked once suspicion had gotten the better of him. 

“Follow me,” she told him coyly, turning on her heel to travel back down the hall. 

When they reached the dining room, he couldn’t help taking stock of everything before he followed her movements. He knew Arden’s intentions were good, but what she’d tried to pass off as home repairs in the past typically included mass amounts of Gorilla Glue and duct tape. He breathed more easily on seeing that all was as he had left it, save for a bucket of soapy water that stood in the corner. 

"I've been cleaning the walls," she informed him proudly, retrieving a dripping sponge and squeezing the excess water with exaggerated finesse. “I was reading up on how to prep walls for painting and I came across this recipe for making a solution that removes leftover wallpaper adhesive and...”

Arden’s words trailed, brows furrowing as her eyes swung back to him. “Why should I have let you do it?”

Jaime hiked a hand through his hair. The thought hadn’t been conscious until he’d heard it from her lips, and now there was no way of taking it back. It didn’t even seem sensible from any objective metric, but he couldn’t help his instinct. 

“I...” he struggled, bringing the hand down to scratch the ridge behind his ear. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Arden. I promise it’s not that. It’s just... I kind of wanted to do all of this for you. Maybe that’s old fashioned of me.” 

The protest felt silly, but it was true. The changes he’d already made had been some of the most satisfying work he’d ever done. He’d imagined her bare feet padding along each panel of flooring, smiled over the thought of her towels joining his on the bathroom wall, and dreamed of their future with every single swipe of sandpaper and drop of paint. Letting someone else do part of that work felt like cheating. 

She tossed the sponge back into the bucket and wiped her wet hands on the legs of her shorts. There was no anger when her eyes met his, but the confusion he read there clenched his heart. 

“I thought you’d be happy that I was taking initiative. You’re always joking about how lazy I am when it comes to this kind of stuff.”

Jaime took a step toward the wall, contemplating the work she’d done while he’d been away. Arden was right, her help up to this point had rarely been anything more involved than holding the end of a tape measure. With a shake of his head, he called to mind the many times he’d tried to include her in his work without success. I should probably be grateful that she wants to help.  

Arden’s pensive tone put an end to his preoccupation. “I mean, I’m here for selfish reasons too.”

As she moved toward him, he extended a hand to cup her face, fingertips resting on the band of fabric that spanned her head. She surveyed him solemnly, her chipper excitement having fizzled out in the wake of their misunderstanding.

“I’m just so ready to live with you.” Her lips formed the words slowly, and Jaime had to work not to lose focus on what was being said. “I thought I would do anything I could to help speed along the process. And I love this house, Jaime. I’ve been imagining living in it for -- well, years, actually.” 

He traced the thick layer of cloth, his thumb resting on her temple thoughtfully. “I have too. And I can’t tell you how much I look forward to having you here all the time. But I want everything to be ready when it’s time for you to actually move in. I don’t want you to have to live somewhere with half-finished floors or tacky paint.” Please understand, Arden. 

The corner of her mouth tipped upward. “I think I do. But won’t it be ready faster if I help?”

Her simple question should have had a simple answer, but Jaime struggled to accept it. I just want it to be perfect for you.

Arden considered the words curiously before her eyes crinkled further. “It already feels perfect to me.” 

Jaime sighed faintly. “You know what I mean.” 

“I guess so. But doesn’t that mean we have work to do?” she surmised with a pointed glance at the walls.   

“Okay,” he told her, removing his jacket. Once done, he rolled the sleeves of his work shirt several inches. “Here’s my new plan. The jobs we can do together, we do together. If there’s something that takes a lot of training or experience, I’ll do it by myself. How’s that sound to you?”

Arden’s smile returned in full force. “It’s a deal.” She held out a slender hand and he shook it, noting her pruny fingers. 

“But we’re going to start by finding you a pair of gloves, okay?”

Her cheeks flushed a delightful shade of pink. 

“Come with me to the garage,” he beckoned. 

On reaching their destination, he quickly located the box of gloves on top of his workbench. He withdrew a pair and held them out for his fiancée’s approval, but her back was turned and her interest focused elsewhere. 

“I love this color even more in person,” she told him, brushing a finger over the small sample drop on top of the paint cans she’d found. “It’s going to look amazing in there, especially with the new stain on the floors.” 

Jaime’s chest flip flopped at the enthusiasm in her tone, and he resisted the urge to pinch himself awake. “Let’s finish one step at a time,” he encouraged, stretching the gloves toward her in a second attempt. 

She retrieved them and tried them on, distracted. “What I’m really looking forward to is the primer. It’s like painting, but you can get a little crazy with it,” she told him intensely. “Doesn’t really matter what it looks like in the end.” 

He bit back a groan at the suggestion. The idea of Arden with anything resembling a paintbrush was vaguely disconcerting. 

“I’m kidding,” she assured. “At least partially.”

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that,” he offered, sliding open a drawer to find his stash of clean rags. “I think I’ve got what we need. Let’s head back in.” 

He followed her into the house, chuckling again as he caught a fresh glimpse of her ragged appearance. Any frustration or uncertainty he’d felt before was quickly melting away to leave little but fondness behind. I may not always understand you, but I sure am lucky to have you. 

She glanced back at him with a sly wink. 

“And I still can’t believe you finished a full week of work and wanted to come scrub walls instead of going home to binge Netflix. You’ve changed, Arden.” 

“They say love will do that to a person.” 

He rolled his eyes at her cheesy rejoinder and pretended to struggle to stretch the gloves over his palms. 

“And besides,” she admitted, “that wasn’t the only reason I came. I had some things I wanted to bring over too.” 

"Sneaking in more of your clothes?” 

Arden's nose wrinkled at the accusation. “You’ll just have to wait and see.” 

“I can’t wait to find them -- whatever they are.” He pushed a second sponge into the bucket, compressing it until it had been thoroughly saturated in the cleaner. 

“And I can’t wait to move in.” 

“That makes two of us.” He kissed her forehead and held out his sponge, motioning for her to do the same. “Let’s get to work.” 

[istheresomebodywhocanimagine]

Death of a Bachelor (NSFW)

Alone at a table for two / And I just wanna be served / And when you think of me / Am I the best you’ve ever had? / Share one more drink with me / Smile even though you’re sad

“You ever thought of taking out an insurance policy on your entire body?” Roger asked, feigning complete seriousness as he buttoned up his red plaid shirt, his leather jacket haphazardly tossed over the luggage stand across the room where it had been shed earlier. He was still a sight to behold in his boxers, a mid-40’s man who had aged better than any of your other men combined. He was just barely wrinkled, but his scruffy, short blonde hair eliminated any age that his face showed by giving him a young adult boyishness that was so alluring, you thought it should be illegal.

“Are you really asking me if I’ve considered insuring my pussy?” you laughed, shaking your head as you stepped back into your dress, shimmying to get it up over your hips before sliding your arms into the straps one by one. Walking over to where he was, you resumed buttoning up his shirt for him, quickly running your tongue over your lower lip as you focused on each individual button. “Have I truly got you that whipped, Rog?”

“Sweetheart, every part of you is an asset. If I were you, I’d be insuring my sex for millions.” His impish grin took even more age off of his face as he chuckled at himself, grabbing his sunnies from the nightstand and perching them on his head. When you finished buttoning his shirt, you patted his chest gently, then made your way across the room to grab his jacket for him while he pulled his pants on, shamelessly staring at your ass and getting caught in the act when you turned back around.

“Mr. Taylor, I don’t remember giving you permission to gawk at my rear end,” you chastised gently, bringing his jacket back over to him as he rolled his eyes, buttoning his trousers up. When you held out the jacket, he took it gratefully, pulling it on.

“I pay good money, I should be able to get a gentleman’s glimpse at your arse,” he complained, checking his pockets for his keys as his keen blue eyes still watched you carefully, gauging your reaction.

“Should charge you extra for that,” you teased, heading over to the mirror on the opposite wall and starting to comb through your hair with a brush that was in your purse. You still had another place to go tonight, and though Roger didn’t know that, he had an inkling of a suspicion from the way you obsessed over the stray hairs.

“You charge the other chaps extra for that?” he asked plainly, a slight edge of accusation in his voice even though he desperately tried to get rid of it. Even if it wasn’t his place to be angry about you seeing other men besides him, there was still an innate sense of ownership and possessiveness that was seared deeper and deeper into his soul every time you moaned his name. The two-syllable word leaving your lips was addictive to him – how unbelievably sinful you sounded when you said it, and yet so sweet, like an angel calling down from on high.

Your expression soured in an instant as soon as Roger brought up the other men. He meant well, you knew that, but it still annoyed you that he used your multiple partners as advantage against you, keeping you in your place when you felt like you were supposed to be the one in control of it all. Even if he was the supplier, the sugar daddy, you still felt like you had the monopoly on him, and whenever he brought up your other side projects, you quickly found the fault in your assumptions. And you hated that. Accepting that you’re somewhat delusioned with a tempestuous, uncertain lifestyle is no easy task, and Roger made you face that fact more often than you’d like.

“Roger, we’ve already discussed this,” you replied icily, shoving your brush back in your purse before pulling out your powder, dusting the sweatier parts of your face with a layer of powder to eliminate any traces of Roger’s work that was done on your body. But then he was right there, his arm wrapping around your waist and hand resting on your tummy as he gazed at you through the mirror, daring you to rebuke him, egging you on.

But you couldn’t, and you both knew it. His lips ghosted along your shoulder as you slowly sat down the powder on the desk in front of you, resting a hand on top of his and gripping the edge of the desk with the other to steady yourself. Roger’s clothed hips rocked against you from behind, pressing his already hardening erection into your ass and making you moan out involuntarily. You let your lips stay slightly parted as you forgot why you were leaving in the first place, Roger’s voice overwhelming your senses as he spoke.

“Tell me that any one of them can leave you half as satisfied as I leave you,” he crooned against your neck, his lips unbearably close to your ear as he pinned your hips to the desk with his, his impossibly beautiful blue eyes meeting yours in the mirror. “Tell me.”

“God, Roger, I can’t,” you almost whispered, your voice catching in your throat as you tried and failed to tear your gaze away from his, red hot arousal and some shame coloring your cheeks red as you started to grind back against him, unable to help yourself. There was already wetness pooling between your legs again, betraying your will.

“Call off your other fuck for the night and I’ll cover what he was going to pay.” Roger’s voice was sultry, tempting, and you paused in moving your hips as you hesitated, wondering whether the deal was worth it. You wanted desperately to show Roger you were stronger than this, but the hardening impression of his cock on your ass was making it very hard to say no. “I’ll buy you dinner too,” he added, and you sighed in sweet defeat as you reached for the phone, pulling your little black book out of your purse and flipping through the pages to find Tom’s number.

As you dialed it shakily, Roger hiked up the bottom of your dress, no panties to impede his progress as he unbuttoned his trousers quickly , listening to the phone ring as he dropped his boxers and trousers both, his cock springing out of its restraints and slapping against the back of your thighs as Tom answered politely.

“This is Tom, Hello?”

“Hi, Tommy,” you greeted carefully, Roger grunting in annoyance as he wrapped his hand around his cock, giving it a few strokes before sliding it between your folds, starting to grind up against you in an effort to speed up your progress. Taking a shaky breath away from the receiver, you then continued. “It’s Y/N. Listen, I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather and I can’t keep my lunch down, I’m sorry. I think I’ll have to cancel our meeting tonight!”

“Well, shit. No getting around that, I guess. Let me know if you need anything, sweetums. And I’ll see you next week, right?”

“Yes,” you confirmed, Roger’s disapproval manifested by the way he pushed you down over the desk, making you bend over fully so he could see you on display. “See you then. Goodbye!”

“Get better!” With that, you hung up quickly, cutting the conversation as Roger chuckled sardonically, teasing your entrance with the tip of his cock and making you whine softly as you let your cheek come to rest on the cool wood of the desk, a needy look in your eyes that made Roger smirk, extremely satisfied with his effect on you.

“What a cuck. It’s a wonder you keep him around.” Lining himself up, you waited with bated breath, biting your lip to silence any whimpers that threatened to leave them. “And feeling under the weather? I think I’ve got just the cure.”

welcome to spring break by whitney! i’m on a partial hiatus, so this is what i’ve lined up for my absence. let me know what you think of this one, leave comments, feedback, anything! this is the last of the trio - leave notes on the one you like the most, and i’ll chose whichever one seems to be the most well-received to start a new series once TNC is over! have a great week yall <3

taglist - @crosmopolitan @just-ladyme @rogerfxckingtaylor @fourmisfitz @shae-is-not-ok @moreinfinite @fruityfreddie @poachedhazontoast @strawberryfields-forever @imladrs @psychoticobsession @killer-queen-xo @rebelrebelyourefaceisamess @destiel-stucky4ever-loki-queen @wanderingsami @stardvstial @iminlovewith-rogers-car @benyeehawdy @mercurys-bike @mazzelloplots @beaaatle @sunshine112 @wonderless-screwup

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[okaybutlikeimagine]

so i wanna write more headcanons on here but to do that i feel like i need to actually explain my main headcanon about Stranger Things/Billy in general??? and i’m trying to write a fic (and i S W E A R i’m gonna finish it at some point/better finish it this summer or it’s never getting done i just am a Mess TM so bear with me here bc i have 3 WIPs right now) but I’m gonna give a run down of the main points bc otherwise I end up just saying “Billy got adopted by Hop” and I feel like that’s a major step so maybe I need to explain my thought process there. so my fic plan is gonna be going through Stranger Things S2 focusing on Billy (I know, how Original, right?? I’m rolling my eyes at myself but I’m excited to think about the thought process of our Crazy boy) but i’ll just go through the major stuff (mainly with him and Hopper)

((this is so damn long good god i’m so sorry))

so Billy is the local Menace and Hopper briefly hears about him from Officer Callahan, knows a new family just moved in from Cali, but the first time he sees him is when he pulls the boy over (with a bit of difficulty because how the hell is this boy going so fast??) and he’s pissed. Bc kids still run around this town like it’s nothing and how is he ever going to be comfortable letting El run around this town with this maniac here? so he intimidates the boy and enjoys it until he sees a bruise on his cheekbone and legitimate fear in his eyes and it gives him pause. bc Billy just got back from a beyond rough night with Neil who showed even less mercy than normal and told him to find another place to sleep tonight.

Hop catches on that something’s wrong. he doesn’t feel good about kicking a boy this broken into the drunk tank (even though the only reason Billy stopped for Hop was bc he felt sitting in the drunk tank might be better than sitting in his car through the cold night). Hop sees a bit of himself in the boy, back when he was young and stupid and fighting back an angry, drunken father. So he asks Billy who he can call to get him home safely, bc no fucking way is he letting him drive his car anywhere when he’s drunk. and when Billy comes up short, Hop curses and makes a split decision to bring him home. bc it’s way too late and the boy has school tomorrow and he sees Billy in obvious pain. and it’s not like Hopper is totally unaware. word gets around fast in a small town filled with gossipy elders. he already knows enough about Neil to know that he has some anger issues and he knows exactly what anger issues mean for a kid like this. so he thinks he’s going to regret it, but he convinces Billy to come over and crash on their couch. (and you best he’s immediately thinking of getting a CT scan tomorrow bc how many kids is he planning on adopting?? this man favors solitude over just about anything and now he’s bringing ANOTHER abused child into his home?? and he’s thinking about how hard he’ll have to threaten Billy to not say anything about El)

Billy puts up a fight, but gives in bc fuck it’s been a long night and he thinks being under a drafty cabin roof might be better than sleeping in his car, maybe. he meets El, who’s super strange (and billy isn’t well versed in the actions of 13 yr old girls but El doesn’t seem super normal to him). Hopper tries to keep their interactions as short as possible. and in the morning, when Hopper drives Billy to his house, he refuses to let the boy go in there alone. He walks Billy up to the door, explains away Billy’s absence, and sizes Neil up in his own living room as Billy gets ready for school so Hop can drop him off. Billy finds the care stifling and alien and so unnecessary, but something about Neil shaking in his shoes makes Billy cackle inside.

and back in Cali, Billy used to avoid cops like the plague, but now in Hawkins he goes speeding through the streets on nights that Neil tells him to leave just so he can get picked up and taken to Hopper’s cabin. sometimes on nights where Neil doesn’t, and he feels psychotic doing it. Billy gets to know El a lot better, and he wonders why Hopper had to threaten him so aggressively about not telling a single soul about this girl that he claims to be his daughter. She’s caring to Billy in a really weird way, giving him glasses of water and extra blankets after Hopper has gone to bed and Billy is cowering on the couch trying to go to sleep. One night Billy wakes to her screaming and crying and sees Hopper rush into her room and hears him lull her back to sleep. He asks her about it in the morning while Hop is showering and she mumbles something into her Eggos about Papa and pain and bad men. he asks her to speak up a bit, trying not to take his growing anger out on her, and she explains that Papa is a bad man who hurt her too much. Billy thinks he understands. He definitely doesn’t.

So he follows Hopper outside as they head out and swings at him. immediately swings at him bc all he can see is red bc here he thought a grown man could be something other than an absolute trash bag but here’s this man proving Billy a fool bc he hurts that poor sweet girl. he misses, and Hopper gets furious, immediately yelling, asking the boy what he’s doing. the two argue loudly, and Hopper tells Billy that he put them all in danger just for bringing him here, so Billy gets pissed as fuck and doesn’t come back.

and this entire time Billy’s trying to lay low at school about being gay. it’s nowhere near as lenient as Cali was and he can’t exactly show off his boner for Steve “the King” Harrington. so when Billy gets forced on an expedition to find his precious step-sister, he figures following a crazy as fuck noise seems like the best idea, esp after being told to go to the house of basically every child in Hawkins. hey, if he’s lucky, maybe it’ll be a hungry bear or something. but instead he finds a gross junkyard and what looks like his kid sister on top of a bus with that Sinclair kid, so he drives up fast, seeing red. it’s not until he’s out of the car that he sees King Steve himself barrelling towards Billy and dragging him behind the bus and handing him a piece of sheet metal and telling him to make do.

naturally Billy flips his shit, confused as hell and asking what that loud noise is, but Steve prompts him, telling him he knows he has something to be mad about bc he’s not exactly meditating on the basketball court so maybe he can channel the source of that anger to “maybe, I dunno, help us?” 

So they fight. and when the demodogs get called off, Billy demands a fucking explanation, getting pissed as all hell at Steve for letting his sister and her punk friends be here when it’s obviously infected with some crazy as fuck monsters?? “and what the shit is a demodog??” but they force a dazed Billy into the car and ask him to drive them in the direction of the noise, to which Billy says they’re nuts but it’s 4 against 1 and his mind is racing and he’s just angrily compliant at this point, speeding towards the sounds that they try to hear through the open windows. so billy gets dragged through it all, and learns about it all, and when they get to Will’s house he thinks he’s going to be sick and it’s Steve who helps him through it, awkwardly rubbing his back as he dry heaves in the bathroom bc “fuck this, seriously fuck this, you’re all nuts!”

Hopper briefly asks if he’s all right when Billy goes back into the living room obviously shaken. He accepts El’s hug when she comes in dressed up like a crazy punk and everyone is confused as hell as to how they know each other, esp Steve, who has never seen this girl in his life. Billy compliments her look, tells her she’s “looking rad”.

“Bitchin’.”

“Oh, excuse me. Bitchin’.”

He tells Hop and El to be safe, and he feels stupid about it but it earns him another hug from El and a nod and a small smile from Hop and he doesn’t like that it makes him feel so warm.

he tags along with Steve when they go into the upside down, making sure the kids are safe and bringing up the rear as Steve trudges ahead of them. He’s confused as fuck when Dustin talks to one of those things like it has a fucking heart. thinks maybe he can consider it some kind of metaphor of how even monsters can be friends sometimes.

when it’s all over, he’s damn glad and damn happy and feels damn lucky to be alive. he feels a weird gratefulness at having his sister alive and starts thinking of her as his sister. he hugs her and smacks her shoulder lightly and tells her to never go running off to fight monsters again if she knows what’s good for her, “especially not with prissy little Princess Harrington”. She just gives him an exasperated laugh and a roll of her eyes and he winks at a blushing and pouting Steve.

the abuse doesn’t stop. he’s out driving drunkenly again when Hop pulls him over. Hopper talks to him, explains himself a bit, with light irritation. Billy feels indignant, says he’ll just sleep in his damn car for the night, thanks, but Hop doesn’t allow it. He asks Billy to at least come to the cabin to see El, bc she keeps asking after him and his well being. and when things get worse, and Billy hashes out his shit with Hopper pretty hot headedly, he goes over to the cabin more and more, a brief and small and very young part of his mind wondering if Hopper would lull him to sleep too when he wakes up screaming from nightmares.

He gets closer to Max now that he almost lost her. he drives her to the arcade or Lucas’ place a lot more bc he sees that Sinclair is a good (enough) kid and he kind of wants to protect the little punk from his racist asshole of a father. now that he knows the boy isn’t making her cry anymore he feels a hell of a lot better about it. but his relationship with Neil is only getting worse and he doesn’t know it but when the Snow Ball comes around and he sees Max getting fawned over by her mother and he thinks about his own mother (bc tell me that boy’s expression isn’t sad when he sees her in that scene) it’s the last time he sees Max in a home that they share. That night Neil drunkenly shouts homophobic slurs at him and Billy’s done with it He can’t take it. Hopper has been telling him for a month now to just file a report, he’s sure he has enough evidence to catch Neil on an abuse charge, and so he finally does.

Hopper promises to fight for his custody, so that he has a safe roof to live under at least until he turns 18. Hopper cashes in on a favor with the judge bc somehow and for some fucking reason he says there isn’t enough substantial evidence to say anything + people are confused as to why it’s Hopper asking for custody of Billy. So Neil stays living with his wife and Max and gives away custody of Billy pretty angrily but not out of any love of him. (and is it realistic for this to happen?? i’m not sure about it but either way, i melt over Hopper adopting Billy and being brought into a family with Hop and El and Joyce and Jonathan and Will. and no matter what happens with Neil, i just can’t see Max leaving her mom. i think she would cling to any blood relation she has bc yeah, she has friends now, but her mother is her mother) Billy still drives Max to school every day and he makes her promise him she’ll tell him if anything bad ever happens bc “Hey, I have a pretty decent in with the Chief of Police now, alright shithead? You need anything done, I’ve got you.”

so now think of the POSSIBILITIES!! Billy and El as brother and sister, bickering and messing around with each other and Billy showing her new music much to Hop’s dismay but he likes that El has company! Joyce and Hop getting together and Joyce becoming a good mother to him bc lets face it, Joyce would mother the world if she could!! Him finally getting to be with Steve and not being called homophobic slurs and getting closer and closer to Steve as they become boyfriends and dads to the children!!!! the possibilities are endless for Billy Hargrove/Hopper!!!!!!!

(jury’s still out on how to fit S3 in here and how much of canon i want to put into this headcanon but imagine Billy having people in his corner after he’s been possessed and they notice a lot quicker when he gets possessed so they help him faster!!)(or he can just be at home playing board games with El on the night that he was supposed to get possessed and he’s able to be a supportive and sassy figure for El and the kids bc babysitter Steve was off trying to fight russians.)(!!! imagine concerned Billy wondering where the fuck Steve is and getting jealous that he’s out with a girl and Steve is like: “I was literally inches away from death and you’re STILL being a jealous bitch, are you serious????”)

ANYWAY this was so long and a bit unnecessary but this is the gist of what I think and when I write headcanons I’m talking about a universe where all of this took place (unless otherwise specified). Sorry for this mess, but it was good for me to write this out and if anyone is interested in my dumb ideas of how Billy’s story could have gone differently, here’s a preview of whatever dumpster fire of a fic i put out eventually. + you can always talk to me here, i’m open to excitedly yell with you ♥

[hellishmess]

11: Picnic? Picnic.

June 1, 2018

I legitimately considered just teleporting to the vampire nest, but the sensible, sane part of me knew to drive.

So I settled for speeding down the highway, cutting the drive time by ten minutes. I pulled into the drive, parking the car out front, and running up to the front door.

A jittery energy settled in my muscles, and briefly I wondered if this was normal to feel.

I knocked, not feeling comfortable enough to just walk in like Maeve. The door swung open, revealing Ana. I smiled, happy to come face to face with her and not some vampire.

"Hey," she said, stepping back and looking me up and down as I entered.

"Hey," I grinned. "You ready for your witch lesson?"

Ana's smile turned from one of charm to one of nervous excitement. "Yeah. I've been trying constantly but I can't seem to even get the easy ones."

"Okay let's see what I can do. I'm sure we can figure it out."

Ana was a flurry of motion as we walked through the house. Her hands were clasped behind her before breaking free to dance up and mess with her hair. She fiddled with her fingertips for a moment longer, before retiring them back behind her.

"Would you care for lunch before we started?" She asked, glancing out a passing window. "Today's a pretty day for a picnic."

I couldn't stop the grin from forming. That sounds a lot like a date.

"Sure," I say cooly. "I can't remember the last time I had a nice picnic."

Ana's smile was easy. It lit up her whole face.

"Sweet, we can steal some food from the fridge." She put a little more pep in her step, heading for the kitchen.

Flinging through the swing doors, she got to work picking out foods. I stood there, half entranced by the way she moved and half unsure of what to do. I'd try to help, but I didn't know where anything was; plus, I certainly didn't know what foods she had in mind.

Soon she had a load of French bread, sandwich meat and cheese, mayo, lettuce, more cheese, grapes, and apples on the island.

I joined her, working with her to make some sandwiches.

"So," Ana started. "What are you?"

I pause from spreading mayo to look at her, confusion knits my eyebrows closer together while my heart jumps to my throat. I panic wondering, for a moment, if she's asking me if I'm gay. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry," she apologizes, clearly unsure of how to handle what she's wanting to say. "I mean, I'm new to this whole supernatural thing. I don't know how to tell if people are human or vampire or anything else."

"Oh," I sigh. "I'm gifted." I read the confusion on her face and go into a further explanation, "One of the ones who have a specific connection to some form of magic. We're kinda like superhero's I guess. Like we have special powers or gifts that distinguishes us from humans."

"Oh." Ana looks impressed before eyeing me. I get the sense that she's keener than she lets on. "What did you think I meant?"

I focus on putting the meat on my second sandwich, keeping my face down so she can't see the blood that's collecting there. "Uhh," I stalled.

I look up to a grinning Ana, her eyes shinning with a knowing mischief. She didn't put me out of my misery. Instead, she watched as I foundered around.

I shook myself. I was better than this.

I took the plunge. "I thought you were asking if I was gay."

Ana didn't look surprised and her smile didn't falter as she inches herself closer. "Oh," she muttered.

I stood still, watched as she leaned closer to me. I didn't know what she was doing but I did know that I was going to let it play out.

She leaned in front of me to grab the bowl of grapes. I exhaled, feeling a mixture of disappointment and relief.

Ana chuckles, making eye contact again. "Welcome to the club."

I inhale, getting ahold of myself. "Nicee," I grin, suppressing a shiver of emotion. I turn to the mass of sandwiches I don't even remember making. "Where are we gonna put these in?"

She hands me a box of sandwich bags.

"Ah. Okay." I work on packaging them. Watching in my peripheral as Ana puts the grapes in a container and washes two apples.

Sensing that we had enough food, I began to put things back in the fridge.

"Do you want any cheese?" Ana asks, holding the package of little Baybels.

"Nah," I shake my head. "I'm not a big cheese eater."

She takes one for herself. "What a shame. I love cheese."

I just smile and put the rest back in the fridge.

"Come on. The basket's in the pantry." Ana trots to a little side room. It's shelves were full of glassware and jars full of preserves.

Ana finds the little wooden basket on the top self. I stifled a chuckled, watching her stretch onto her tiptoes to try and reach it, but she was still several inches short.

It was too cute.

Ana turns, catching me grinning like an idiot. My smile vanishes, only to return when I see that Ana's grinning too. "Will you please?"

I slide up beside her and grab the edge of the basket. I hand it to her, "Here ya go."

"Yass," she sighs. "Let's go. I'm hungry."

We pack the basket, adding two bottles of water, and wasting no time in getting to the spot where we met the other day. It was peaceful here, the sunlight warm against my skin. We settled down in the grass.

Ana handed me a sandwich. "So tell me something else about you. You sure don't talk too much."

"Sorry, I just. This is new to me," I admit.

Ana breaths a gentle laugh. "You're nervous?"

I want to lie, but the truth comes instead. "A little."

"Why?"

"I've never met a girl like you."

She cocks an eyebrow. "You're such a smooth talker."

I make a hand flourish. "Why thank you, madam. I try my best with pretty girls."

I earn a full laugh this time. "I like you. You're not like the people here."

"What do you mean?"

"They’re just so no-nonsense and cold." She looks away. "I suppose that's what to expect from a bunch of vampires."

I chuckle this time. "This crew's old. What're you doing with them anyway?"

Ana hesitates, sucking in a breath and holding it there.

"You don't have to say if it makes you uncomfortable."

She releases the air. "No it's not that. Not really. I'm just," she pauses, looking back at me. "Still trying to figure out why I'm here myself. They came after my mom died. One of the last things she said to me was that they'd protect me. That I should go away with them."

Sympathy softens my gaze. I take a bite of my sandwich. "I'm sorry," I say. "I know it must be hard for you."

"It is. Not even just losing my mom. It's like my entire world flipped upside down. In one day, I learn my mom was a witch from some crazy bloodline and that all the stories are true. There really are supernatural creatures out there."

"If you have any questions I'd love to help you acclimate," I offer.

Ana's fingers curl into the dirt. "Why did you say I wasn't a witch?"

I blanch. I didn't expect that one. "I'm not sure exactly," I admitted. "I'm pretty good about sensing what race of supernatural people are, but I'm getting nothing from you. You don't emit an energy like citizens of the Otherworld typically do."

Ana's face draws blank. "Citizens of the Otherworld?"

I nod, setting down the sandwich. "Yeah, supernaturals. Vampires, werewolves, Fay, ect. Ect."

"Oh."

"At first I thought maybe it was because there wasn't much magic in your blood," I continued. "Like you're so close to human that you simply just don't have enough energy to emit. But then you shocked me when you shook my hand. And that's not normal."

"What do you mean?"

I reached for my best description. "You gave my magic a shock. It's hard to describe, but it was like suddenly every muscle in my body was charged full of energy."

She nods, letting the sounds of the day take over between us.

I pick the sandwich back up, finishing it off.

"So you think I'm not special?" She breathed, half joking and half serious.

I sense the duality of her meaning. "Not at all. I think you're very special." I'm shocked by how genuine I am. "I just think you're so special no one's encountered you yet."

Ana laughs, and the seriousness of the conversation dissolving under its warmth. "You're lovely."

"You don't know me quite yet." I joke.

"Oh but I want to," She says, leaning closer. Suddenly, I was aware of just how close we were. "You're the most interesting thing I've met since I've been here."

"That's my line." I retort, turning away just an inch.

Ana lets the tension fall. Leaning her head back to soak up the sun. "If you don't think I'm a witch is there any sense in trying more spells."

I don't answer right away. Instead, I open myself up, searching deeper to see if I missed something. But I was right. She felt human, without a single ounce of her own magic.

I frown. "Honestly? I don't see the point."

Ana lets herself lay on the grass. "Damn."

"I'm sorry. We can always try. It's just. I really don't feel any magic in you."

She shrugs. "It's fine. I just get the feeling that Jesse is expecting something of me. I hate that I could disappoint."

"Are you afraid of them?" I ask.

"Not really." She says. "I actually remember Jesse from when I was a kid. They'd come over sometimes randomly. My mom always welcomed them with open arms."

Wow. I wasn't expecting that. "Nice. Kinda like an old uncle."

"Yeah I guess. They stopped coming by when I got older. Mom insisted on keeping the supernatural from me."

I pass her the bowl of grapes. She plops one in her mouth. "Tell me more about you."

"Umm," I grasp at straws. "I'm a Gemini."

Ana rolls onto her stomach, propping her head up with her elbow. "Oh Nice. I'm a Sagittarius but come on. You don't have anything better than that?"

I shrug. I wasn't sure what she'd like to hear. "I'm not the best when it comes to talking about myself."

"Hmm," Ana hums. "What about your gift? You mentioned being gifted so what's your superpower?"

"I'm able to bend magic and utilize it how I please."

"So like a witch?"

"Uh, kinda." I say, letting her roll with it for her sake and mine. "I don't need all the ingredients though."

She sits up criss cross. "Will you do a spell for me?"

"Sure. What do you want?"

"Anything." She says, already sounding wistful.

I think for a moment, letting myself really pay attention to our surroundings. With my mind made up, it worked to give Ana the show she craved.

Soon enough, all of the birds in the garden congregated here. Blue jays, robins, brown ones and black ones all came to our little clearing.

Ana giggles, amazed as she reaches her hand out to a small finch. Her eyes wide as saucers when it hops onto her finger. "This is amazing," she gasps.

A happiness spreads from my heart to my toes. I let the birds go, releasing them from my magic's call.

It was a beautiful sight to see them all fly off, vanishing into the undergrowth.

"Thank you," Ana says.

"It was nothing."

"I wish I could do magic like that." Ana muses. "Maybe my mom could have taught me something if she didn't hide herself."

I shake my head in disagreement. "I don't know Ana. Your mom probably had her reasons. This world can be really dangerous. I'm not sure I'd want my child in it either."

She frowns, "I guess so." Ana stands up, offering her hand up.

I take it, half expecting another jolt of electricity to sizzle through me. It doesn't.

"Come on," she says. "Let's explore more of the garden. They have a maze here and it's huge. I saw one enter and never come out. I wonder what a bunch of vampires have hiding in there."

A daring twinkle dances in her eye, enticing me so much that I grow excited myself, answering her call to adventure. I grin back, feeling that, in that specific moment, I'd follow her anywhere.

[seriouslycromulent]

Hobbs & Shaw review (Yeah, this is going to be long)

The Preamble (feel free to skip)

I was on the fence about going to see the new Fast & Furious spinoff, Hobbs & Shaw. Why? Because I’m a legit fan of the F&F franchise, and I was none too happy about the fact that Vin Diesel invited Dwayne to be a part of the franchise as they were friends at the time, but Dwayne’s fans -- mostly denizens of The Rock who think he can do no wrong -- preceded to treat Vin like he was second fiddle to Dwayne ever since Fast Five. Dwayne, then over the course of 3 films, preceded to get the big(ger) head and show his ass on the set of the last film, and usurped Vin’s franchise right out from under him. 

What pissed me off more than that was the fact that after Dwayne and Vin got into it, the public not knowing any details or verification on what specifically happened on the set, decided to automatically take Dwayne’s side because ... “Hey! He’s the Rock and we like it when he plays characters that are only a slight variation on his persona when he wrestled full time in the WWE.”  There was no concern for right or wrong. No desire to ask both of these Alpha males to put their egos aside. No inclination to actually wait and learn about what really went down. No, the general public has since decided to brand Vin Diesel a joke with no acting skill or talent to speak of. 

Gone was Vin’s reputation as a scriptwriter, a producer and as a man who helped reinvent this franchise to turn it into something beyond simple street racing and a small found family making it happen in a hostile world. Honest Movie Trailers mocked Vin for taking the franchise seriously and actually putting time, love and effort into making sure each film had heart, not just great action scenes that defy the laws of physics and common sense. 

Dwayne has become a better actor than he was 15 years ago. I can name about 4 or 5 movies where his performance is pretty good. But Vin was always a good actor. Not great. But definitely stronger than he was given credit for once people started associating him with nothing but action films. On top of that, he was a writer and he knew how to create an environment that people of disparate personalities loved working together and being a part of the franchise. 

Flash forward to Hobbs & Shaw. There are no members of any of the F&F’s previous films in this movie. Tyrese called out Dwayne on social media for being selfish and greedy, because all of the other cast members were offered spinoffs too. But they turned them down because they wanted to work as a team. That’s how much the franchise means to them. Dwayne clearly had no sense of that loyalty, and obviously his biggest fans don’t have any expectations of him to have any either.

I’m still a fan of Dwayne Johnson, but not as much as I used to be, say 6 or 7 years ago. I still think he’s an immensely generous person when it comes to his fans, and he is a hell of an entertainer. But this situation involving Hobbs & Shaw, combined with some of his comments and behavior regarding sociopolitical events taking place in America over the last 5 years have reminded me that he is not without flaws, and should not be regarded as if he is above impunity. 

So Then What Happened?

Despite my misgivings about how the Hobbs & Shaw spinoff came about, I finally decided to go see it at the last minute for a few reasons:

I’ve had a particularly hard week and I needed to do something to blow off some steam.

I’m a huge fan of Jason Statham. I mean huge. I’m an action film fan in general, but Jason is one of my favorites in the genre. And it takes a lot of negatives to make me not go see one of his films. 

I adore Helen Mirren. Even if I knew her part would be small, I also knew I would love seeing her play off of Jason again. Their scene together in Fate of the Furious/Furious 8 was the highlight of the film for me (followed by the brief return of Luke Evans). 

I like Idris Elba. And he’s proven that whether playing a good guy or bad guy, he goes all in. Plus, I like him best as a bad guy.

I like Roman Reigns, and I wanted to be supportive of his first time on the silver screen.

So there it is. I’m a woman of integrity, but apparently, my integrity fades at the thought of actors I like getting to share a screen together. Feel free to judge me.

Now ... to the review

Hobbs & Shaw is exactly what you expect it to be. It doesn’t feel like it’s a part of the Fast & Furious franchise at all, but maybe that’s intentional. I think at the end of the day, audiences expect a F&F film to involve a cohesive, diverse team and something happening that changes your perspective about what you thought was going to happen. At least that’s been the franchise's m.o. since the fourth movie. 

But Hobbs & Shaw keeps a lot of the other elements of the F&F franchise alive. Namely, a solid mix of comedy and action, at least one woman who makes you feel both inspired and afraid, and just a lot of action sequences that test the suspension of disbelief. Oh yeah, and at least one kickass car chase. And that’s exactly what we get, plus a little more.

Here’s what I think worked, what didn’t, and what I loved (Warning: spoilers below):

What Worked For Me

Hobbs & Shaw is first and foremost an action film, but keeping with the Fast & Furious theme of family, the heart of the film takes us back to the connection and power of family. Unlike the original series, where family was defined as the people you find along the way, Hobbs & Shaw is more about bloodline and reconnecting with estranged family. For Hobbs, his family in Samoa. For Shaw, his relationship with his sister, Hattie, who believed that he had betrayed his country and his brothers- and sisters-in-arms. I’m glad they kept that aspect in, even though I liked the F&F’s original theme a little better.

I don’t know if it’s fair to call them cameos because they have more than one scene in the film, but the addition of Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart was a great move. Both are in the film long enough, but not too long. And each are given enough room to deliver what they do best.

The opening sequence showing Hobbs and Shaw starting their day is the perfect introduction to this spinoff. I loved the juxtaposition. If I had to choose a preferred lifestyle, I’d go with Shaw’s routine, but in sunny California.

Ryan Reynolds’ character’s name is Locke. I see what you did there. ;-)

Mama Hobbs throwing her flip flop at Cliff Curtis and hitting him in the face. What is it about brown mamas whipping shoes at their kids? LOL!

What Didn’t Work For Me

Was Brixton’s ambush of the CIA black site (which didn’t look too black to me) and kidnapping Hattie by running down the face of the building really the most efficient plan and escape? He literally picks her up, carries her on his shoulders, and runs down (with harness attached) the face of the building. It just seemed like it provided way too much of an opportunity for Hobbs & Shaw to catch up to him and for them to get her back. I love a great action sequence, but this one really makes the villain look impractical and hella extra.

Soooooooo, when Hattie is hooked up to the device to extract the virus capsules from her blood, the countdown shows it’s going to take 30 minutes. At that time, it’s dark outside and Brixton hasn’t arrived to start the final showdown. Fast forward to Brixton’s men driving up, The Rock doing that slow-mo walk out to meet them with no shirt on (gulp), and the other usos doing the Siva Tau while Brixton’s men realize their guns don’t work. Then the fighting starts. The sun starts to rise, and everyone is kicking ass and taking names. We see Hattie fighting 2 of the bad guys before Shaw shows up to help. At this point, the countdown on the device says she has 21 minutes to go. We’re supposed to believe that everything that just happened between the device starting the extraction, Brixton showing up, the Siva Tau before the fight, and the sun rising high enough for us to see Roman Reigns fighting alongside The Rock only took 9 minutes? ... Yep. Why? F&F Laws of Physics.™

I stayed until the credits finished -- if you do, you’ll see why -- and I was a little disappointed that they used the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i as a stand-in for Samoa. I imagine it might’ve been easier to get permits to shoot in Hawaii, but a part of me feels like it’s a major missed opportunity to not shoot the Samoan scenes in actual Samoa. 

Soooooooo, we’re supposed to believe that Roman Reigns (or any human being) could just land 2 large metal hooks on to the front joint axles of a truck speeding along in a life-threatening pace while he’s standing on the back of another truck racing ahead of it in one easy throw? ... Yep. Why? F&F Laws of Probability.™

Sure, Deckard Shaw was framed when he didn’t join Etion’s cabal of world domination, but again, he still killed Han. And at no point do we see him held accountable for that in Furious 8 or in this film. And there’s no allusion of him doing anything to atone for it in between the films. I adore Statham, but in the end, Deckard is still not a good guy in this franchise until he says or does something to address that terrible act other than “You guys put my brother in the hospital clinging for his life after some psycho made him do terrible things that killed a lot of people.” This detail still doesn’t sit well with me.

Soooooooo, we’re supposed to believe that the key to defeating this super soldier Brixton is by having Shaw and Hobbs work together. But didn’t the MI-6 officers that Brixton takes down in the beginning of the film work together? Were their team as petty as Hobbs & Shaw and failed to work together like a cohesive unit when fighting an enemy on a mission? I highly doubt that. The concept at the end is lovely and signifies growth in our leads’ relationship with one another, but it doesn’t quite hold mustard if you consider that the other teams of people Brixton’s battled throughout the film are plenty cohesive and get killed quickly.

I kind of wish The Usos (Jimmy and Jey) were in this film too. :-( That would have made it even more special given Dwayne used to work with their dad, Junior (aka Rikishi), in the WWE at the same time.

Sooooooooo, we’re supposed to believe Hobbs -- a non-genetically enhanced man -- can grab a huge chain with his bare hands that is connected to a helicopter and pull it close enough to wrap it back around a pulley system and keep that helicopter steady? ... Yep. Why? F&F Laws of Human Anatomy.™

What I Loved 

All things Helen Mirren. Seriously, I would watch a movie just about the Shaw family. The mum, the sister, the brother and Deckard. This film didn’t have enough Helen Mirren, but every scene she was in was a delight.

That little wink and nod to the audience when Shaw, while walking Hobbs and Hattie through his hidden lair, makes a reference to driving a Mini Cooper for “a little job he did in Italy.” I see what you did there. ;-)

Any scene with Jason Statham behind the wheel tearing up the streets of a city in the most impossible manner will always be gold. Always. Be. Gold. And that slide underneath the 2 semis by the car, and later, by the motorcycle, made my stomach clench so hard I think I might’ve pulled something.

Anytime Locke refers to his relationship with Hobbs as being close friends or family. Ryan Reynolds is absurd. Never change.

The entire conversation between Shaw and Hobbs on the plane. All of it. All. Of. It. It’s the funniest scene in the entire film. And a great callback to the display of chemistry they had together in Furious 8. 

Using a society’s history, where they did a helluva lot of damage without high tech weapons, to take on an enemy with high tech weapons, who without those weapons, couldn’t hold their own quite as easily, was a beautiful moment and ... great social commentary on the history of colonialism. (::cough::)

Cliff Curtis. He so rarely gets to play a character of Pacifika descent in American films. I’m happy this movie gave him a chance to do so.

Even though this is a part of their conversation on the plane which I already mentioned was awesome, I loved it when Hobbs reminds Shaw that this is not 1955, and he needs to relax about the idea of Hobbs making a play for Shaw’s sister. If she wants to climb that mountain, he’s going to let her climb it. LOL! It’s her decision, not her brother’s.

Roman Reigns getting to spear someone! Even though the camera cuts off the full beauty of it by switching to another angle 2/3 of the way through. I don’t care what anyone says, Joe Anoa’i’s spear is a work of art. (::phrasing::)

Hattie escaping from the virus extraction room’s chair and taking down her guards without any help made me want to stand up and cheer. You go, mama!

OK. That’s all I can think of for now. But given how long this post is, I’m sure anyone still reading at this point would say that’s more than enough.

With that in mind, if you haven’t seen Hobbs & Shaw yet, or you did, but you left before the credits finished, I wanted to let you know that there are 3 -- yes, count ‘em 3 -- scenes in the credits. 

The first is a scene with Ryan Reynolds, the second is one with Shaw & Hobbs, and the third, which comes at the very end, is another scene with Ryan Reynolds.

Enjoy!

[nothingidputbeforeyou]

Do Not Go Where I Cannot Follow

- fic under the cut, wincest set during early season 3

 https://archiveofourown.org/works/17432360

Evelyn saw the boys first. No surprise, really. Evvie liked to wake up before her sister and take a stroll around the cemetery, clear the cobwebs from her mind. That saying always made her laugh now. It had been one of her favorite sayings in life. In death, it could be taken very literally.

She had finished a full circuit of her final resting place, stepping over fallen stones and through thick weeds that flourished since the last caretaker had retired 30 years back. A full moon sat low in the sky, not fully risen, huge and orange. As she stopped to take it in, a crashing came from the underbrush that grew wild along the old county road. A howl rose up that would have chilled her to her very marrow if she had any marrow left to chill. Not that she was scared of this rueben. He couldn’t even see her let alone hurt her. But that didn’t stop her from getting a few goosepimples at the sounds he made. She saw the monster silhouetted against the moon and clucked her tongue. She’d seen this fellow before, twice in the past two months. He’d taken to hanging out, looking for the teenagers who invariably wound up here daring each other to sit on The Sisters’ Bench or sneak into the mausoleum.

The beast ran within a foot of Evvie, eyes wild not with the usual bloodlust but with a very human fear. Out of the same thicket came two boys. Not boys, really. Men. Big and handsome, both of them. Evvie had only been about 5’4” in life and the taller of the two dwarfed her by a solid foot.

The other one, no Tiny Tim himself, ran by her pistol in hand. “Flank him, Sammy!”

“On it!” The big man put on a burst of speed and caught up with the wolf effectively boxing him in along the side of the old Straker mausoleum. Cornered, the creature snarled and bared its teeth, obviously preparing to launch itself at the neck of the one named Sammy.

“Do it and you’ll be dead before you get one paw on him, fuzzbutt,” the other man’s voice was as cold and hard as the barrel of the gun he had trained on the creature.

It froze for a second as though considering the words then shook off the hesitation and sprang.

A shot rang out, just one, and the thing slumped to the ground, transforming as he fell into a rather nondescript man in his 20s.

“Did you see that, Sam? One shot, right to the heart.”

“Yeah, Dean. I was standing right here.”

“So you saw how awesome I was.”

Sam sighed. “Yep.”

“Say it.”

“Say what?”

“Say I’m awesome.” The one called Dean was clearly still buzzing with adrenaline, grinning like a madman.

“Fuck off, Dean. I have burrs stuck all over me from those bushes we ran through and I ripped my shirt. I don’t really feel like indulging you right now.”

He was so focused on picking burrs out of his hair that he didn’t see Dean move towards him like quicksilver, sweeping his legs out from under him, bringing both men down to the moss-covered ground. Sam let out a surprised gasp as Dean wound up on top of him, pinning his arms above his head and smiling down at him with the purest expression of love and need she’d ever seen.

Oh, thought Evvie. So that’s how it is.

“Get off me, dick.”

“Make me, Sammy.”

Sam shifted his hips slightly arching up against Dean. Dean’s eyes went wide and frantic. Sam took advantage of Dean’s moment of distraction by wrapping one of those long legs around Dean’s torso and flipping him onto his back.

“Okay, sasquatch. You win. I get it. Let me up.”

Sam pulled himself up and offered a hand to Dean who was a little slower getting to his feet, possibly due to the amount of subtle adjustments he needed to make to his pants.

Just when things were getting interesting.

Dean turned and saw the stone bench that connected Evelyn’s own gravestone to her sister Lydemia’s. He plopped down and developed a sudden interest in retying his shoes probably to hide just how happy certain areas of him had been about the wrestling.

“Dean. Did you seriously not listen to anything I read to you about this place?”

“What? Of course I was listening.”

“Really? Then why did you just sit on The Sisters’ Bench?”

“The what now?”

“That stone thing you parked your cute ass on just now? It’s not just a bench. It connects the graves of two sisters. Lydemia and Evelyn Whitmore. See? Evelyn was younger but she died first in a car accident. The sisters were what people called spinsters. In their 40s, never married, no kids, lived together their whole lives. After Evelyn died in 1949, they say Lydemia killed herself. Couldn’t live without her. The bench says ‘DO NOT GO WHERE I CANNOT FOLLOW’ right here on the edge and if you sit on it during a full moon, the legend says that you won’t be able to get up until morning. Or until the sisters release you.”

“You know that’s probably just one of those legends kids tell each other so they can sneak out here to check it out. Then blah blah blah heavy petting.”

“So why not check it out right now? Try to stand up.”

“Okay but after I show you that I can get up, no problem, I get heavy petting.”

“Hey, I’m fine with that. Are you?” Sam’s eyes held a challenge.

Dean avoided Sam’s gaze and stood. Or tried to. His legs tried valiantly to lift him but his posterior stayed planted right where it was.

“Oh for fucks sake. The ONE TIME a stupid legend is real and we found it.”

“That one Crybaby Bridge out in Washington was real too. Remember?”

“What the hell, Sam. My ass is stuck to a stone bench and you want to reminisce?”

“Just saying. Anyway, no one has ever been hurt on this bench. If they’re dumb enough to sit here during a full moon-” Sam shot a dimpled grin at Dean “-they just stay for awhile. Until they get released or the sun comes up. I’m not sure why the bench lets go of some people early but…”

“Because they’re annoying.” Evelyn’s sister whispered in her ear. “And I don’t want to deal with them for one more second.”

Evvie shivered at the husky timbre of her sister’s voice. “Good evening, Lyddie. Did you sleep well?”

“I did until some four-flusher ran across my grave. Was it these two?”

“No. Or rather yes but only because they were chasing that scoundrel.” Evvie pointed at the dead man lying a few feet away.

“My stars. Would you look at that, Ev. He’s in his birthday suit.”

“I know. But before he was in the all-together, he was wearing a wolf’s skin.”

Lyddie’s dark eyes twinkled behind her cat’s-eye glasses. “That maroon? They got him?? Well, bless their hearts. No more dead teenagers bringing the coppers out here. Guess I should let him up then.”

She moved towards the boys but Evvie snaked out a hand and stopped her, pulling herself up to her full height. Ev might only have been 5’4” but that still gave her 3 inches on her older sister. “DON’T” she yelled.

Lyddie looked taken aback “What’s with you, featherbrain? You want me to leave him stuck there? Why? So you can look at him?” Lydemia’s eyes narrowed as she glared at the man on the bench. “Hmph. A pretty one. You always were a sucker for a pretty face, Evelyn.”

“I went on ONE DATE with Burdette, Lyd. ONE. You KNOW that.”

“”I do know that, Evelyn. Because he was killed in that tragic accident shortly thereafter.”

“You dropped a tractor on him. Some accident.”

“He tried to force himself on you! It’s hardly my fault that when I went out there with daddy’s old shotgun to have a little talk about his behavior, he was working on his tractor, got spooked by the gun, and kicked the jack out.”

“I’m sorry. I feel bad for bringing that up again. I know you’d never...”

“No, I definitely would have dropped a tractor on him but the good lord and Bud’s own stupidity beat me to it. Anyway. If it’s not the view, why don’t want me to let this one go?”

“Oh. Yes. Because they seem to have a few issues that they don’t want to discuss. Maybe a few hours trapped here will cure them.”

“Issues?” A confused look crossed Lyddie’s lovely face.

“I think they’re..well. A little lavender, if you will? And maybe they’re having a problem dealing with it?”

“Oh please, Ev. It’s the 2000s. Plenty of people are gay, even way out here in the middle of nowhere. We’ve seen that much with our own eyes.” she smiled at her sister mischievously. They both enjoyed watching the couples who came here to neck and it didn’t matter what gender those people happened to be. It all broke up the monotony and passed the time.

“Maybe so but something isn’t right. They’re obviously in love but they’re holding back, refusing to talk about it. A little push might be in order.”

Lyddie turned back to where Dean sat on the bench still trying to pull himself to his feet. Sam looked on, clearly amused by his plight. “Great idea, love.”

She disappeared in a blink and while Evvie watched, Sam spun around startled before sitting down hard on the bench next to Dean.

“Lyd! I didn’t mean you should push him!!”

Lyddie reappeared at Ev’s side. “Really? Whoops.” She winked at her sister in a way Evelyn had never been able to resist and Evvie found herself laughing.

On the bench, Dean turned to Sam “What just happened?”

“It felt like someone spun me around and then pushed me.”

“That’s what you get.” he said petulantly.

Sam looked out at the graveyard thoughtfully. “Guess the sisters really are hanging around.”

“If that’s the case, they clearly like me better. I do love ladies with discriminating taste.”

Sam’s snort was scornful. “Like you care.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Need me to spell it out? Okay. You love pretty much any woman who so much as glances your way.”

“Are you calling me a slut, Sammy?”

“If the boots-with-2-inch-platform-heels-that-you-wear-so-you-won’t-look-way-shorter-than-me fit…”

Dean’s face was mutinous but he clamped his jaw shut..

“Well, there’s your answer, Ev,” Lyddie said quietly. “Dean can’t keep his willy in his pants. Sam’s mad about it. That’s not something a good gabfest is going to fix.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. Feels like there’s more to it.”  She turned her eyes back to the boys. Dean was regarding Sam with an earnestness that clutched at her heart.

“Look, Sam...you know we can’t do this. You know why we can’t do it. So what...I’m supposed to be a monk? Can’t have sex with you, can’t have sex with anybody ever?”

“Who said you can’t have sex with me? You can! Hell, you HAVE.”

Evvie’s eyes were glued to the boys as Lyddie pinched her arm with glee and whispered, “I am so sorry I ever doubted your motives for keeping them here. This is good.”

“One time.” Dean looked furious. “One slip in all this time. And you DIED not long after that. I think that’s the universe sending me a pretty clear message, don’t you?”

“I didn’t die because we had sex, you idiot. I died because I got stabbed... Wait a minute. Is that what you think? That I got killed to...what? Punish you for fucking your brother?”

The two spirits observing gasped in perfect sync.

“Sam died?” said Evvie just as Lyddie said “They’re brothers?”

“Dean. I died because of the demon. And Jake. And mom’s deal. And a thousand other little things that led up to that day. Having sex with you? Not one of those things. It’s not connected. You know that, right?”

Dean refused to meet his eyes so Sam reached out, physically turned Dean’s head his way. “Do you know that, Dean?” Sam’s voice was barely a whisper now and Dean leaned towards his brother, maybe to hear him better, maybe not. Maybe it was a gravitational force pulling them together from the moon, from the bench, from their hearts. Who could tell?

“Can I pop up and push their heads together, Evvie? Please?”

“What? No.”

“If you let me, I’ll never ask you for anything ever again.”

“You know what? Fine. No popping though. You’ll ruin the mood. Just a gentle shove.”

“Poo. You’re such a stick in the mud.”

Lyddie disappeared again but this time Ev could see her outline against the boys. She was reaching out to make them kiss when they finally caught a clue and did it themselves.

“Ahh,” Evvie let out a happy sigh. “True love.”

Suddenly back at her side, Lyddie laughed and grabbed Ev’s hand. “Nothing like it.”

“Nothing.” She leaned in and kissed her sister softly.

“Hey, Ev?” Lyddie murmured a while later.

“Now you’re ruining this mood, Lydemia! For heaven’s sake, what is it?”

“I never let them up.”

“What...oh goodness. I guess you’d better…” she looked past her sister’s form at the two men twined together on the bench and smiled.

“No. They’re doing fine. It’ll be morning in another hour anyway. And I have plans for you before then, dear sister.” Evvie grabbed Lyd’s hand and pulled her away. She looked back and was surprised to see Sam staring directly at her. He could obviously see her. Which meant he knew exactly what had transpired here. She smiled and gave a small wave. He grinned back, dimples in full force and mouthed “Thank you.”  

[enter-remiges]

Circus AU + Flirting Under Fire, for Tanger/Sid

*shows up a month late with a fic written entirely on my phone because my computer needs fixed* I very seriously considered writing Sid and Tanger flirting under the literal (and not metaphorical) fire of a flaming circus act, but I refrained! Sorry in advance for the lack of a read more.

&&&

Becky escapes when they’re in a deserted part of Nebraska, winding their way toward Omaha. How a three ton elephant can just go missing is beyond Kris, but that doesn’t stop the necessity of finding her. Of course, he doesn’t know why he has to join the search by driving a clown car instead of something: a. more dignified, b. roomier, and c. capable of traveling at speeds of more than 25 mph.

“Because you late,” Geno gleefully informs him, dangling the keys to one of the semi cabs they use for hauling the tents. “No more cars left.”

There’s something truly terrible about Geno having showed up for something earlier than Kris, but he guesses this is his punishment. Kris thinks longingly about shorting one of Geno’s stilts as payback, but fucking with other people’s equipment never ends well.

“Okay,” Kris concedes with bad grace, “but I don’t have the keys, so–”

“Hey.” And there’s Sid trotting across the dying grass, looking unfairly good, keys in hand.

“Be good,” Geno says with a smirk, and then he’s off, humming tunelessly as he goes.

“Drew the short straw?” Kris asks when Sid gets close enough.

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Sid tells him, grinning like that’s the greatest comeback ever thought of. It’s so stupid, and Kris is so gone on him.

Still, clown car. Escaped elephant.

“Hey, I think you should drive, you’ve got better eyesight,” Kris tries, but Sid is already shaking his head.

“No, that’s why you should drive, since I’ll be able to focus on looking for Becky. Plus, I’ve heard the steering wheel has been having some issues turning, and I know you’ve been working out more recently.”

Kris has, working with the trapeze crew, but that’s not really how he’d wanted Sid to notice.

“But not as much as you–” he starts, eyeing the way Sid’s biceps are filling out the plain gray t-shirt he’s wearing. He gets distracted from what he’s saying when he catches sight of Flower crossing between tents with a styrofoam container of takeout in his hand.

“Hey,” he calls, and Flower waves lazily. He and Vero take turns unfolding themselves from the disco ball that hangs from the peak of the big top as part of the final act. If there’s anyone who’s used to tight spaces, it’s him. “You were just complaining about wanting to see more of the countryside, right?”

Flower laughs in his face. “Sorry, you’re going to have to try a little harder than that.” He shoves a forkful of rice in his mouth and doesn’t break stride.

“Asshole,” Kris mutters. Flower smiles sunnily and flips him off.

“Aren’t you supposed to be going already? Becky’s probably getting further away as we speak,” he calls as he disappears into a tent.

He’s probably right, but Kris doesn’t know how far an elephant can get in the middle of nowhere. She’s probably gotten distracted by a field or something.

“Hey,” Sid says, and he’s moved closer while Kris was distracted. “I wasn’t kidding about the steering wheel.” His fingers dance along the curve of Kris’ bicep, and this close Kris can smell the gel that Sid uses, a hint of sweat, crushed hay, liquid chalk.

“I know what you’re doing,” he says as Sid trails his fingers down lower over Kris’ forearm until he reaches his hand.

“Is it working?” Sid asks, and Kris sighs and lets Sid tuck the keys into his palm.

“Fine, come on,” he says, leading them over to the clown car and folding himself into the driver’s seat. He’s going to make Sid drive back whether or not they find Becky, or he’s just going to leave him somewhere. Still, Sid doesn’t need to know that yet.

Sid takes forever getting in and situated, and Kris is almost ready to tell him off when he realizes what the problem is.

“Holy fuck,” he says, wedging his body against the door as he turns to see better. “Is your ass too large for this thing?”

Sid glares and squirms around some more, and Kris lets himself stare at the stretch of his shorts across his thighs.

“Maybe,” Sid concedes as he finally stops moving. “What, have you been staring at it a lot?”

Kris turns the key and shrugs, feigning nonchalance. “I mean, it’s a pretty great ass.”

When Sid start laughing it doesn’t take Kris long to join in, but then again, he isn’t trying that hard to hold back.

[welovekpopscenarios]

Hey Admin Mimi, it’s the anon who asked for that Wonwoo drabble. I blanked out during a group debate on Monday, so I was dreading going to that class today, and though nothing bad particularly happened, I’m feeling down... Is it ok if you do write me that funny Wonwoo drabble? You’re free to choose whatever prompt you want; I kinda just want something to cheer me up...

Mimi’s Drabble Challenge #8:“You’re seriously like a man-child.” + WonwooWord Count: 962Warnings/Genre: Purely fluff and humour, and I hope you feel better my sweet :( I hope this cheers you up.

11:33am - You need toget over here right now!!

The urgency of Wonwoo’s text had you scrambling out of bedand rushing to get dressed as fast as you possibly could, one leg hanging outof your jeans while you simultaneously brushed your teeth, hopping around tofind your keys and replying to Wonwoo only to receive more vague messages thanactual answers.

So, as any partner would do, you got into your car and wentas fast as the speed limits would allow you, all the while swallowing down theanxiety and fear swirling around your heart, threatening to constrict yourbreathing, and just hoping and praying to anybody listening that Wonwoo was ok.

Reaching his apartment building, you bolted through thedoors and to the elevator, hands tapping nervously on your thighs as youwatched the numbers on the screen rise higher and higher, that knot in yourstomach growing tighter with anticipation and worry, and you nearly hit theelevator door with your shoulder in your haste to get out of it once it reachedWonwoo’s floor.

Jamming the key into his door, you almost snapped the metalin half with the force of your turn, barrelling into the apartment the second itwas opened.

Please be ok, pleasebe ok, please be-

The sight that greeted you was, admittedly, the very lastthing you expected to ever see. Especially from Wonwoo.

Red filled his apartment’s living room, but instead of theawful images of blood and gore and body parts that your mind concocted on theway here, it was instead filled with…Super Mario merchandise.

From little treats and food painted red and green litteringhis coffee table in the shapes of little mini power ups and stars, plushies ofToads and Koopa Troopas and other characters sitting diligently on his sofa, toposters and flags of the classic video game hero himself and his friends alllined on the walls, the living room was completely decked out in all thingsSuper Mario and Nintendo.

And, to top it all off, your one and only was standing inthe midst of it all, donning some dungarees, a red t-shirt and fisherman cap,and a fake moustache glued to his face while he beamed cheekily at youunderneath it. It was honestly one of the most bizarre things you have seen inyour life, and you would believe you were dreaming if not for the shortage ofbreath and anxiety still affecting you after your mini heart attack on your wayto get to your boyfriend.

Your mouth opened and closed as you struggled to formulatewords, too distracted by the scene in front of you and the theme music playingfaintly in the background. Wonwoo held out his arms and gestured around theroom.

“Well?” he asked. “What do you think? Pretty cool, huh?”

Knocking yourself out of whatever stupor you found yourselfin, you stalked over to Wonwoo’s position, watched as the grin faded from hisface to a look of fear, and began slapping his arm.

“Wonwoo! I was worried sick after that message you sent me!I practically broke every road law there is to try get to you because I thoughtyou were in trouble! What even is this?” you shrieked, letting up on theassault on Wonwoo’s arm. The man yelped, grabbing onto his bicep and grimaced.

“I know, I’m sorry for doing that. I didn’t mean to scareyou, honestly. I just wanted to get you over here as fast as possible because Iwanted to spend the day with you,” he admitted rather sheepishly, keeping hiseyes trained on his clunky brown plumber boots. You sighed, eyes roaming the room,highly confused as to why Wonwoo suddenly became Super Mario obsessed.

“That still doesn’t explain this mess,” your voice softened,arms sweeping around the room and brow perched high on your forehead. Wonwoosmiled again, picking up a Yoshi plushie and placing it in your hands.

“Well, there is this big Super Mario tournament thinghappening this weekend, and everyone is going crazy over it, having big eventsand parties for it and stuff. So, I thought we could have our own little partyhere, play some games all day and eat these delicious treats that I watchedMingyu slave over and make for me,” his signature nose crinkle as he grinned,and you scoffed out a laugh. He was absolutely ridiculous sometimes.

“You’re seriously like a man-child,” you said, smirking whenWonwoo pouted cutely. “And your outfit is hilarious.”

“I got one for you!” he gushed, running to a spot in thecorner and returning with another pair of dungarees and one god awful lookinggreen shirt. You took them hesitantly, flipping through every excuse in thebook as to why you shouldn’t wear these clothes, but the look of pure childishexcitement on Wonwoo’s face had you melting, relenting and ultimately agreeingto put up with dressing like the famous plumber for a day.

“You’re the Luigi to my Mario,” Wonwoo said in what, youguessed, was meant to be a sweet and romantic comment.

“So, I’m like your brother?” you retorted, the green cap nowsitting on your head much too big, tilting off to the side. Wonwoo’s facemorphed into one of mortification.

“Wait, no, I mean, you’re my partner. You complete me.”

“Well, you could have gotten me a Peach costume then, isn’tshe Mario’s girlfriend? It’s kinda weird that you consider me your brother, butI see how it is Wonwoo. I see how this relationship turned out,” you squeezedthe Yoshi plushie to your chest, an innocent smile plastered on your visage.

Wonwoo sighed wearily.

“You just like to ruin everything, don’t you?”