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#I think blue has always been Ken’s confidence color
loveandthings11 · 1 year
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Bonus 4x05 💗:
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Ken going to Waystar for his first day as CEO 1x01 / 4x05
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thedandelionthief · 10 months
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okay project sekai appearance headcanons time. friendly reminder that i’m always right and if you have any complaints, you should reevaluate yourself. also this is a Long post
ichika looks. mostly how she does in canon to me. i do think she’s a bit gangly, just without the height. the way she carries herself is pretty awkward, and she has bad posture.
saki is a part-time mobility aid user. i’m not sure which one specifically she would use, but either way it’s decked out in all kinds of stickers. also i don’t like how ambiguous her being a gyaru is in canon, but she is one. also all three tenmas have dimples and yes i’m including toya
honami is fat why is she not fat in canon. also, she straightens her bangs, but stops doing that going into her 2nd year once she’s gained more confidence in herself. her hair is naturally super wavy. freckle haver
shiho has really broad shoulders, and also she has a septum piercing and a bunch of ear piercings.
minori has So Many Freckles, and her teeth are a bit crooked. she’s mixed japanese-mexican
haruka also looks mostly how she does in canon, but i think she starts to dress a lot more masc over time, and gets her hair cut shorter too. a big reason she dresses so plain and feminine is because she thinks it’s how she should dress as an idol
airi’s hair is thick in the like. getting the brush stuck in it way, and is also a lot wavier than it is in canon to me. mixed hispanic/japanese, but i don’t have a specific ethnicity i headcanon her as
shizuku, like shiho, has broad shoulders. she’s also 5’10 because tall girls pretty and she deserves to be taller. has more moles than in canon
kohane is mixed korean-japanese, and she is freckly. good for her. also chubby. good for her
an is filipino-japanese. ken is my favorite filipino single dad of all time (i am ignoring the fact that an has a mother. ken is a single father). also maybe she’s taller than she is in canon because i think it’d be funny if she was taller than akito in heels
akito is hispanic/japanese and shorter than he is in canon (he’s like 5’5) and he eventually grows his hair out into a mullet and he has piercings and his hair is not naturally orange. i will not accept it until they show shinomom on-screen and she is a ginger. my good mutual zip has converted me to fat akito as well so there’s that. i’ve just been playing dress up with him and now canon akito looks wrong to me
toya… i decided this just now he is a person with albinism. good for him. and dimples because tenma
tsukasa like i said earlier also has dimples. also he should be allowed to grow out his hair but he has not yet.
i confess i have nothing for emu. i tend to draw her with freckles though sometimes. and actually i take that back i like the hc of her being blasian. she has beaded braids a lot. i can see her getting wxs colors :)
nene is blasian as well. also chubby. why is there no body type variation in proseka (i know why don’t try to explain it to me) make some of them fat i’m begging you
rui has the most fucked up teeth. his canines are like fangs vampire style. had braces as a kid and they did not work. also has heterochromia. one blue eye and one yellow. he is so extremely lanky and i don’t believe for a second he is 5’10 this guy is like 6’0
kanade is so frail and i don’t know why she is drawn like almost the same as the others when she is literally like ghostly pale and sickly but that’s besides the point. the worst eyebags you’ve ever seen.
mafuyu is like. i think she starts to lose weight during her 2nd year at the height of all her stress, but begins to gain back what she lost in her 3rd. she is fat. also cuts her hair shorter
ena is mixed hispanic/japanese obvi and she has naturally wavier hair. also has horrible dark circles. is naturally chubbier and she is once she gains a healthier relationship with food. it’s the good ending guys gaining weight as a sign of healing.
mizuki mizuki mizuki. taller than she is in canon by kind of a lot. like 5’7-5’8. mostly because mizuena height difference is good. also has streaks of lighter and darker pink throughout her hair because it’s natural and that’s how hair works (it’s especially prominent with her though).
all 4 of them get gray hairs early because of stress. ena and mizuki dye them and the other two do not care enough.
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lou-struck · 2 years
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Rigged
Kenma Kozume x Reader
~ Carnival games pull you in with big prizes without yielding many results. Kenma is aware of this but your optimism can get you in trouble.
This is yet another part of my 300 followers event which you could find HERE.
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Your city's annual festival has come at last and you are more than excited to drag your boyfriend out of the house to be your date for all the festivities. Normally he would’ve objected to walking around in the hot sun surrounded by thousands of smelly people but the minute he saw the pleading look in your eyes you knew he wasn't able to reject your invitation. Especially after you promised to buy him an Apple Pie Funnel Cake at one of the booths.
So here you are walking around the fairgrounds eating your funnel cakes trying to decide what to do next. 
Suddenly you see something big and fluffy out of the corner of your eye. Turning your head to get a better look you see the biggest stuffed bear you have ever seen in your life. Its big eyes track you as you walk past, begging you to take him home with you,
“Ken ken,” you say tugging on his sleeve and stopping him in his tracks.
“What is it?”
“Look at that big boy,” you say pointing to the bear with literal hearts in your eyes. “We have to take him home with us.”
“Y/n,” he sighs looking at the adorable mountain of fur that has seduced you with its pretty red bow and stitched smile. “That won't fit in our car and those games are always rigged.” “I’ll make it fit, Ken Ken.” you plead, looking into his golden eyes ignoring his warning about the integrity of the carnival game in favor of the prize.
“Fine, but you'll have to carry it.” he relents pulling out his wallet and heading towards the booth. 
The bright colors of the balloon darts are a straight contrast to the operator. His dark smile and candy-striped waistcoat make you feel uneasy as you approach. 
“Well hello there little lady, want to try ur luck at the balloon darts?” he coos using his wooden cane to bat at the dangling prizes above his head. 
“Yeah, I think I wanna try it out.” you chirp as your boyfriend hands you some money for your first attempt at balloon darts. 
“Wonderful, well all ya have ta do is hit three of them little balloons with these darts to win a prize.”
“Even that one? you say pointing up at the bear that enticed you to the stand.
His gaze follows your finger over to the plushie “Oh you mean Honey Pot? Well, he and I have been together for a while. But if you can pop a balloon with each dart then he’s all yours.”
“ Really! Do you mean that?“ You say happily moving over to the starting platform where a plate of darts sits. All the while Kenma stands back and carefully analyzes the booth with a cat-like gaze that sends shivers down the vendor's spine.
“Whatta bout you, young man, ya gonna give it a shot?” the man says, can I respond with a nonchalant sugar his shoulders turning attention back to you.
You pick up the first dart feeling the cool metal between your fingertips as you throw it towards a balloon. Whether it be skill or luck, somehow you manage to strike a low-hanging blue one and a bit of glitter comes out and sprinkles down to the pavement as you smile to yourself.
“Good throw, just a few more, and Honey Pot up there is all yours” the man cheers.
 Feeling confident you throw another dart, It nails a smaller green balloon as glitter rains down again. “One more,” you murmur clenching your fist. 
Picking up the last dart you take a deep breath in, as you exhale and release the dart simultaneously. It seems to be traveling in slow motion heading towards a small pink balloon in the center of the board
The dart strikes the center of the balloon but bounces off. It falls to the ground clanging against the pavement.
“Oh you were so close too!” the man tsks jutting out his bottom lip
“I hit the balloon… but it didn't pop, you had to have seen it,” you say pointing at the dart.
“Sorry, you’ve gotta pop the balloons to win the prize, wanna go again? He smiles holding out his hand.
Just as you are about to fork over more money Kenma finally makes his presence known. He gently grabs hold of your wrist and looks at you.
“I'll go this turn, you'll get your bear,” he murmurs into your ear taking his money from your hand. “I’ll play this time,” he says giving the money to the man and stepping up to the booth.
He carefully picks up the replaced metal darts and examines it carefully. “I’m ready,” he says staring at the man with an unblinking gaze.
Without a word, he picks up the first dart and carelessly tosses it to the floor. You look on in shock as he does the same thing with the other two.
“Oops, would you look at that I guess I lost” 
“Ken, what was that for?” you ask gently reaching out to touch his shoulder. Your fingers grip his sleeve. Tugging him around you see a smirk has twisted over his features that has the booth operator shaking in his leather shoes. 
His features soften when his eyes meet your own “Could you go and get us some drinks?” Kenma says before stepping towards the man with the smirk fully returned to his face “I’ll just be a minute.”
With a nod, you awkwardly step away from the booth wondering what in the hell just happened. 
~
Kenma watches as you walk away. Once he is sure you are out of sight he turns his attention back to the con man in front of him.
“ you know just as well as I do that she would’ve won that prize.” 
Bees of sweat drip down the man’s forehead “I-I don’t know what you mean.”
“Yes you do, well she may not call you out on it but I will. You dulled the darts and the balloons in the center are elastic not rubber. No matter how many darts hit them they will not pop.” Kenna’s calm intensity turns into something more predatory.
The man nervously looks around, “hey, shuttup. If people hear you they’ll shut me down.”
“Give me the bear and I will.” you boyfriend barters.
~
A few minutes pass as you head back to the booth drinks in hand seeing Kenma lean up against a wooden sign.
“Hey Ken ken, I got the drinks,” you say as he turns his head and greets you with that soft smile of his.
“And I got you this..” he says pushing aside the wooden sign to reveal the large stuffed bear you tried to get earlier.
Your eyes widen in shock“You won the game?” 
“Not exactly, I just had a nice talk with the man, after we were done,”
“I seriously doubt that.”
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impact801 · 2 years
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Super Anne: The Rebirth of Anne Boonchuy
Anne's Super Form was a surprise to me and many of the fanbase when True Colors dropped. While many had predicted that the girls had some sort of powers from the first episode, with Season 2 playing into it more, it wasn't known exactly what those powers were for. But when we got to see Anne's eyes glow blue, and her shouting at Andrias to bring her best friend back, it was one of the coolest, most well-animated, and most anime scenes in all of Amphibia.
Fans were clamoring about this moment, with fanart galore and discussions abound about what made this moment so awesome. Even with all that we got in season 3, it still holds a title in Amphibia's greatest moments. However, I don't see much discussion about the form in Season 3, more specifically how well it's been used narratively. But to me, Anne's Super Form was one of the best-handled elements in season 3, and I would like to give it some attention.
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As I've mentioned previously, Anne's first transformation is one of the best scenes in Amphibia, and clearly takes a lot of inspiration from Shonen Anime. More specifically harking back to the Super Saiyan transformations of both Goku and Gohan.
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Just like those transformations, this scene is the character at their narrative peak and emotional breaking point. For Anne, it's a representation of how much she has grown to this point that she has become so confident, focused, and self-assured on what she wants and who she cares about that she can easily trounce Andrias and his forces. This moment is Anne as her best self and is the point Anne has been fully-reborn from an irresponsible, bratty, insecure teenager, to the brave, responsible, and kind-hearted girl she was always meant to be.
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In Season 3 Anne's arc is all about her struggle of being her best self, having to learn to handle the burdens of responsibilities and learning to lean on others in a healthy way compared to her previous toxic friendships. Anne's Super form is a representation of Anne's arc in season 3 and especially 3A. Just as how Anne struggles to hold her ultimate form, she struggles to be her best self with new obstacles coming her way. So as Anne becomes more self-assured and self-confident, she's able to maintain and control her powers more often, this is why Anne is able to pull out her super-form in bigger episodes like "Anne-Sterminator" and "Escape to Amphibia" because they are capstones in major arcs for Anne's character developing significantly in each.
The DBZ inspiration is still present for Super Anne, but now it acts as more of Kaio-ken, than a full-on Super Saiyan transformation. Anne is only able to hold this form for a short amount of time before her body can't handle it, and personally l like this approach a whole lot better than a flashy power-up. It makes it so the powers have limits and sacrifice to them and stops Anne from just using them whenever there was a problem in her way. The writers always make sure to use the form sparingly so it never overstates its welcome and when it does appear it's always to this awesome major event, making Anne’s gradual mastery of the powers feel so natural once we reach All In. 
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The idea of Rebirth isn’t just represented by Anne but to all of the Calamity Trio. With Sasha being reborn from a toxic, manipulative, and overly bossy person, to a steadfast, compassionate leader fighting for justice. And Marcy turns into Darcy, becoming our new big bad for the season. Each of the girls go through a radical change and are reborn as new people throughout the season. 
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I think the Amphibia crew really struck gold here, not only were they able to have this amazing transformation in True Colors, but they made the idea of Super Anne the entire narrative throughline of season 3. It's the representation of Anne's struggle of maintaining her best self and never overstays its welcome. This transformation rock!  From the presentation and narrative use, you know it's been a damn good episode when Anne goes blue!
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pillow-anime-talk · 3 years
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his talented baby. {pt.1}
synopsis: You as a person with a huge (and hidden) talent, and also a girl who really surprises your boyfriend.
# tags: scenarios; current relationships; romance; fluff; some PDA; sfw
includes: female reader ft. ken kaneki & nishiki nishio {tokyo ghoul} + yuuma isogai & itona horibe {assclass}
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— KEN (ft. singing)
Your closest friends invited you to a popular karaoke bar on one Friday night to celebrate a successfully passed semester in college. Of course, you couldn’t forget about your lovely boyfriend, who was at the same university, but in a different field (i.e. Japanese literature) and always supported you with all his might, knowing how much you want to do your dream job in the future.
So you went to the meeting together, and on the way to the designated place you talked all the time about what the next year of study would bring you. As soon as you reached the room where your three closest besties and one male friend were waiting for you, you both greeted them warmly, immediately taking off your thick coats and taking your seats on a soft, leather couch next to a table filled with tasty-looking snacks and colorful drinks.
Long minutes of conversations between the six of you resulted in drunk plenty of alcohol and blushes on the faces. After drinking, you always got more talkative and more self-confident, so you suggested using the TV and the karaoke machine. Of course, you first offered your friends and Ken to sing something, but they all declined, saying that you should start as an initiator. One of the girls, blonde-haired Minami, smiled at you with a sparkle in her pretty golden eyes, adding that you are the best in this and you should show how to do it correctly. You chuckled in response, waving your hand at her to dismiss compliment.
Kaneki, on the other hand, frowned as he looked at the boy who was sitting on his right.
“... Oh, you don’t know? Y/N-san hasn’t yet praised herself to you that she has a wonderful voice? Huh, huh.” The black-haired boy shook his head, reaching for the glass filled with blue something again. “Hmmm, well. Normally Y/N’s very shy, but she always sings at trips when she’s drunk.” He chuckled while you picked one of your favorite songs in the meantime. So everyone looked at your standing figure, then heard the characteristic sounds from one of Selena Gomez’s songs coming from the gray speakers.
“My dear, I dedicate it to you~!” You looked with joy on your face towards the eighteen-year-old, giving him a quick wink, and then you started your little performance with ‘Love you like a love song’ from the above-mentioned artist.
Your friends didn’t seem surprised and instead started clapping to the beat of the music... but Ken’s eyes widened and he spat out his high-percentage drink, not knowing how to react to the fact that for nine, long months of your relationship, you concealed the fact that you could sing so well and so beautifully. Your voice was perfect for the song that was playing now, and you seemed to be having a great time – there was a huge smile on your lips, your eyelids were slightly closed and your hand was over your heart. If it weren’t for the fact that you were at a karaoke bar, everyone would definitely think you are playing a concert on the biggest stage in Tokyo city.
After the song was over, another girl got up to present a completely different choice, and you handed her the dark microphone, bowing in the process.
Kaneki still seemed speechless and as soon as you sat down next to him, he immediately kissed you on the warm forehead, asking you to sing more to him, especially when you two are going to be alone, because he probably fell in love with you once again and just wanted to experience that love every day thereafter.
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— NISHIKI (ft. ballet)
Nishiki, as a pharmacy student, didn’t have much time for extra-curricular activities or unnecessary meetings; in addition, the fact that he was a bloodthirsty ghoul and had to watch over himself made it difficult for him to function normally in the life of Kamii University. However, the brown-haired man always found time for you, for his beloved girlfriend.
You had been dating for over three, long years, and the man definitely couldn’t imagine his own life without you by his side. You knew each other better than anyone else in this world, but sometimes some tiny things of your ordinary day eluded Nishio; of course you understood it perfectly and you weren’t angry or disappointed with him. After all, he had to protect himself, you, take care of his specific menu, be vigilant at every step, and additionally he had to pretend to be the perfect student, senpai (or kouhai) and friend of other people.
So you weren’t surprised when one day you handed him a silverish ticket for probably the most important show of your life and he just looked at you in wonderment. At the beginning, the twenty-year-old asked if it was a performance related to singing or playing an instrument due to the fact that the colorful paper didn’t tell him too much, but you just smirked as you tweaked the unruly, soft hair on his head.
“Hmm. If you don’t remember what I do in my free time, it’s even better, I guess. Come and see it for yourself, honey. I think that thanks to this you will even calm down a little and rest due to the recent weeks.” You announced in a light tone of voice, and the young man sighed under his breath.
“So... I’ll find out in three days, am I right?” He made sure by correcting his glasses and you nodded, then grabbing his rough hand and kissing his cool cheek. A short while later you suggested going to your apartment and catching up on a few episodes of your favorite series that you started quite recently.
The anticipation of your important day passed very quickly and on Saturday, at 6 p.m., when everyone took their seats (with your boyfriend sitting on one of the balconies with the best view of the stage), delicate music was played in the theater, which made everyone shiver on the whole body. Until then, the brown-eyed boy somewhere in the back of his head had the impression that it was a theater performance or an opera, but when he saw your person appear on stage in a beautifully tailored dress and ballet shoes, all the questions that flickered in his mind disappeared in literally one second.
‘Well, yeah. I remember now. She always told me about ballet classes and new shoes.’ A huge, proud smirk came on his pale face and you glanced out of the corner of your eye towards his VIP seat.
Though your expression was cold and composed, you felt an enormous heat in your small heart as the man waved at you, showing two thumbs up. His lips moved even slightly, and although Nishiki tried to hide it, you knew perfectly well that the pink blush and mute ‘I love you’ was sincere and even better than being able to play Odetta, the White Swan, in a ballet spectacle.
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— YUUMA (ft. songwriting and guitar playing)
Christmas at school was never what you enjoyed; maybe due to the fact that before, your classmates on main campus were quite specific and you definitely didn’t fit with their strange ‘ideals’. It was only in the class E that you felt that you could find real friends or people who would share your ideas.
But, hmm. Still, you seemed to stand out from the rest of the girls in the class who had more... down-to-earth hobbies or characters than you; Okuda liked chemistry and was really excellent at it, Kirara loved reading, Rio was the best at English and had a great sense of fashion, and Toka was pretty good at cooking. Contrary to them, you preferred to... do more ‘intimate’ things. Writing short poems filled your heart with peace and prevented you from being as critical of yourself as usual. And when you wrote the lyrics of the songs, made notes or melodies to them and sang quietly, you could feel like a real artist that everyone wanted to admire and imitate.
Therefore, when your first and last class holidays with the rest of the 3-E students were fast approaching, Koro-sensei was the one who asked you for a short talk. You weren’t sure what this was about, but moments later your uncertainties were dispelled.
“Y/N-san, I think you mistook your notebooks today and instead of giving me your homework, you gave to me... this.” He said in his as always happy voice, and seeing the black notebook in which you always wrote songs and notes, you blushed all over your face, apologizing profusely for the mistake. “Huh? But this is no mistake, my dear. If it weren’t for this, I would never even think that we have such a talented soul in Class 3-E. So would you like to perform in front of the rest of the students and teachers during the holidays?” The easy question made you widen your eyes and sighed.
“I-I’ve never played in front of anyone, so...” You admitted shyly, and the tall, yellow octopus just chuckled.
“I’m pretty sure they will love it. We can practice together.”
Well, you couldn’t refuse (especially when Koro-sensei offered to bring your favorite, foreign snacks...) and on class Christmas day you showed up with your acoustic guitar and a notebook full of chords and songs. Everyone was surprised and curious at how well you play guitar. After all, you’ve never even mentioned that you can play any instrument before. On the other hand, the class representative, and your boyfriend at the same time, immediately came up to you, asking if you were really okay; better than anyone else, Isogai knew that you didn’t like too much attention and big crowds. But you reassured him it was okay and promised your teacher you would do it, so you smiled at him and then took your seat under the blackboard with a wooden guitar on your lap.
The song you chose for the day was a song you wrote quite recently. It had a little bit of magic, and at the same moment it seemed very romantic and delicate. Even Karma seemed delighted with your beautiful play and soft voice that echoed from time to time between the walls of huge classroom.
At the end of the song, you decided to raise your gaze and simultaneously look at your all friends, three teachers and other half; everyone was really happy and positively speechless. So you gave Yuuma a slight wink, making him blush sweetly.
The young teenager definitely hoped you would show him more of your songs someday, not necessarily the happy Christmas carols Kaede and Ritsu asked for.
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— ITONA (ft. dancing)
“... You never mentioned that you can dance.” He admitted softly, and you squeezed his smooth hand tighter.
“So... I mention it right now. It’s not a big deal, baby. I just ... like it and enjoy it a lot.” You giggled as you correcting the black sports bag over your shoulder, then opened the heavy door to the training room, immediately jumping up at the sound of loud squeals and greetings from your closest friends. “Guys, this is Itona Horibe, my boyfriend that I told to you before! Love, it’s Aki-chan, Yui-chan, Kazuya-kun, Saburo-kun, and our cameraman and editor Ryuu senpai. Most often, the five of us cooperate with each other when it comes to dance in groups of five people. And... today we are going to cover a song so I hope you’ll like it. I’ll go change and you all, please, don’t scare my boyfriend and give him something to drink!”
As a group leader, you often came up with choreographies and warm-ups for yourself and others. So, it couldn’t be otherwise this time. For the last week and a half you have been practicing the choreo you came up with and today you were supposed to record material for the video on your quite popular YouTube account. You were extremely excited, not only with the new content, but most of all with the fact that your beloved one would be able to watch it live and evaluate your skills that have been refined over the years. So as soon as you got back to the teens waiting for you, you kissed the light-blue-haired quickly on the right cheek and told him that he could sit against the wall, close to the table full of snacks and the contact for charging the phone.
Then you talked with everyone for a while, doing a short warm-up and reminding the cameraman about how to move the cam. A few short minutes later, you lined up in the middle of a huge white room with Ryuu in front of you. You knelt down in the center, of course, gently moving your shoulders to calm your rapidly pounding heart and heavy breathing, and when a song by Ariana Grande started playing all over the bright room, you all looked at the already activated camera, shaking your heads and then you got up from the wooden floor.
Itona... was speechless. He has never seen people dancing before, he has never even been interested in others, only you and what you like. Today he got to know your little passion, which turned out to be a breathtaking talent, and the boy wondered if you could do anything else; are you good at one specific dance genre or are you able to move your body in a completely different rhythm than he currently saw?
From Koro-sensei’s history lessons, when you two were in junior high, the eighteen-year-old remembered perfectly well that there is also classical dance, tango and breakdance. So could you also do that? He had to ask you about it later.
But now his curious gaze was focused on you and your huge, radiant smile, and the sound of feet hitting the ground. He also looked at your legs, tiny hands, stomach, and hair, while he wondered if he might learn to dance too, to be even closer to you and your hobby. After all, you looked so beautiful and so joyful... He wanted to share these emotions.
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devilbat · 4 years
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Quarantine and Chill
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Tom Hiddleston x reader
Warning: Just more fluff
Summary: This is part 2 to Quarantin online when the reader finally meets Tom after months of talking online.
               Tom: Biscuiteers, 194 Kensington Park Road, London, W11. Let's say 9 am, this Thursday? Will that work for you?
              When you woke, you'd thought it was all a dream that you didn't just Skype with Tom Hiddleston. That was until you looked at your phone. Finding that Tom had texted you after the both of you said goodnight. Even sent you a photo of himself this time of his far to a handsome face.
         Y/n: Sorry again for crashing on you last night. I've never been there, so sounds great. See you then.
———-
You stood outside the shop of Biscuiteers hoping you had the right place the quaint little cafe was a bit busier than usual as people line out the door distancing themselves from others. You looked at your watch once again. You got to the cafe thirty minutes early. You were not able to stay home. Time seems to go far to slow for your liking.
"Y/n?" A deep velvet-smooth voice purred from behind you, making you squeak out in surprise, turning on your heels to come face to chest with Tom Hiddleston. Not realizing how much taller he was then you.
"Yeah." You said shyly, your eyes fluttered upward to look into those baby blues of his. ”Hi."
"It's nice to meet you, Darling, finally." Tom took your hand being ever, so the gentleman placed a light kiss onto your knuckles. Lingering a minute longer. Tom's eyes never once left yours he smiled as he watched you turn a light shade of pink.
"It's nice to meet you as well, finally." You managed to breathe out.
"These are for you." Tom offered you a lovely bouquet. You could feel your cheek heat up when you took the arrangement. It was a perfect size, and Tom had remembered your favorite flowers.
"Oh, Tom. You didn't have to." You hummed.
"Anything for a beautiful woman." Tom winked. "Shall we grab our coffee and maybe wander around London?" You smiled up at him with a nod.
Tom grabbed coffee for the both of you, even after you laughed at Tom for how silly he looked in his mask when he came out of the shop. He showed you around London. Taking the whole day to play tour guide, Ken.
After a late lunch, Tom took you down to Tavistock street for candy floss and ice cream, a little place called Milk Train. Though you may have told him he was crazy that ice cream and Cotton candy don't go together. Which ensued a small discussion on the right term to call the sugary cloud.
Tom ended up getting cookies and cream on roasted green tea ice cream with colorful sprinkles. You got the unicorn on Matcha ice cream both as a Choo-choo, which was when they added the cloud of candy floss or as you corrected Tom as it's real name Cotton candy.
Tom being the proper gentleman that he was even took you home—not wanting you to walk back alone—even walking you to your door.
"Thank you, Tom. I had a wonderful time." You said shyly. Not wanting the night to end. Tom had been great, and you hoped that he wanted the same.
"I did to Darling." Tom smiled down at you. Both of you stood there for a moment longer, unsure of what to say or do next. "Eheh." Tom was rubbing the back of his neck. "Would you like to come over for dinner sometime? ..... To my home, that is. ... Only dinner and maybe a film."
       You giggled softly at how reassuring that it was nothing more than that. He was definitely nervous. It was nice to see this man be so normal in away. You would have always thought he would be confident in every aspect of his life.
"I would like that, Tom." You nodded with a smile.
              "Really?" Tom's voice cracked a bit overjoyed. Making you giggle. "I mean, you don't think I'm overstepping ." Clearing his throat. "I don't want to pressure you on the second date by having you come over to some stranger home. Who may or may not have his way with you. Not that I'm going to I'll be the perfect gentleman. I mean if you wan-."
            You cut Tom off, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.  "You're overthinking."
            "Eheh." Tom nervously chuckled his hand, running along with the spot that your lips were.
——-
     Tom wanted everything to be perfect. He wanted you to have the perfect night with him. He may have even gone a little overboard to make it so. Purchasing outdoor movie projector and screen. Stringed lights littered his backyard. He searched ideas for the best setting for the movies and dinner. Finally, settling on to large style inflatable mattresses. Every pillow and blanket he owned laid thoughtfully.
         The menu he had made simple something he knew you would like, and he was known for his spaghetti bolognese. You may have mentioned that you wouldn't mind seeing if he did it the right way. It didn't help with his nervousness that you cooked professionally. While he waited on the sauce.
        He almost jumped out of his skin when the doorbell rang. Looking at his watch, you were early. Well, at least he hoped it was you and not his sisters spying on him. He had let it slip to his mom about you. Therefore his sisters knew and had given him a hard time. However, they did help with ideas on his little backyard project.
         Tom grinned when he spied you throw the peephole of his door. Tom noted that you wore comfortable clothes. He wanted you to be comfortable. You didn't have to get all dressed up for him.
         "Hello, darling." Tom greeted you when he opened the door.
           "Hi, Tom. I brought wine. I wasn't sure what to bring." You rambled Tom pulled you into a hug to make you stop. Relaxing you as you hugged him back.
"You didn't need to bring anything, Darling, just yourself." Tom smiled as he took your bag and wine for you as he escorted you outside. "Dinner is just about ready. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable, and I'll be right back."
——
       Tonight's movies: The Jungle Book (Disney version.) starts after dinner, followed by Jurassic Park.  The sign said on a table as you both moved over to the area Tom had set up the movie.
      Tom set up the projector while you got yourself comfortable on one of the mattresses. Few minutes of trying to figure out the machine a few cuss words under his breath. In hopes you didn't hear him.
        Tom finally got the projector working and settled on the other mattress, not wanting to make you feel uncomfortable if he were to get in with you. You looked over at Tom when you movie came up on the screen.
          "Tom, did you mean to have the movie play upside down?" You smile, trying not to laugh.
             "Eheh, No." Tom groaned as he stood back up. To fix the problem. "Before I forgot there is popcorn, sweets, and drinks on the table if you would like at any point."
              "I'm so full from that amazing dinner maybe later. Thank you." You hummed.
             Tom finally settled, and the movie started. You giggled when Tom began to sing out loud. 'Look for those bear necessities.'
           "You, sir, are a dork." You throw a small pillow at the man.
           "Hey, now I saw your feet swaying to the music. You know you were just about to bellow it out." Tom tossed the pillow back at you.
         "You saw nothing, mister. I was rudely interrupted from the movie by off-key singing." You teased sticking your tongue out. Placing the pillow back under your head. "Now, shh it."
         Tom settled down, and you both went back to the movie. Soon the second movie started. Twenty minutes into the film, you decided on some popcorn.
         "Do you want any popcorn?" You asked, looking over at Tom, who was watching you as you got up.
         "Popcorn does sound good. But I can get it, love." Tom hummed, pulling himself up.
         "I got it, Tom. I mean, I'm already up." You smiled, walking over to the cute little setup Tom had put a lot of thought into.
         "Where's mine?" Tom poured as you came back with some candy and one bag of popcorn.
         Carefully you kneeled on to the mattress with Tom. Making sure not to spill any of the contents from your arms, laying everything down on the blanket. Tom corked an eyebrow at you. Humming to the music. While you moved under the blanket.
          "I figured we could share." You shrugged a shy smile played along your lips. Brushing a loose strand of hair back behind your ear.
          "Of course, darling sounds like a lovely idea." Tom moved over just a bit, giving you more room.
         You scooted closer to the man popcorn in hand as you rested yourself against him. Your head was resting lightly on his chest. Tom didn't hesitate to put his arm around you. You both went back to the movie.   
         "Thank you, Tom, this has been the best and one of the most thoughtful dates I have ever been on." You spoke up kissing Tom cheek, almost startling him.
           "You are more than welcome." Tom smiled.
Tom leaned forward, capturing your soft lips with his own, testing the waters almost to see if you would pull away. He paused for a moment only for Your lips pressing back along with his. Your hand that was already resting on his chest, gripped into the smooth fabric of his sweater.
          He kissed you softly, yet there was so much passion behind each movement. His arms wrapped around your waist. Your other hand found it's way to tangled into his soft locks. Forgotten popcorn spilled over the blanket. 
            Only breaking apart when a roar that made you two jump apart. Both of you looked to the screen, chest heaving and out of breath as you saw the T-Rex come back on-screen attempt to kill a car. And two kids screaming for their life.
           "Eheh." Tom laughed as he turned back to look at you. Gently Tom moved so that he wasn't crushing you too much. Some point he had slowly started leaning into you. You bit your lip when you looked up at Tom; his hair was a bit of a mess. You could feel your cheeks heat up.
          "You know for being dead, dinosaurs do have the worst timing." You said breathlessly.
          "That they do." Tom smile kissing your lips once more.
         "Popcorn?" You offered Tom as you took a piece from the pile that was currently on top of Tom's lap.
        Soon the movie came to an end, and Tom was the one that didn't want the night to end. However, he hadn't realized yet that you had fallen asleep. Not until he went to get up to turn the projector off that he noticed. You looked so cute draped over him, with your face practically buried into his chest.
"Darling, the movies over." Tom gently stroked your cheek even though he didn't want you to wake you.
"Mmhmm." You nodded sleepily but didn't show any other signs of moving.
"Y/n?" Tom kissed your forehead this time.
"Five more minutes." You yawned your arm wrapped around Tom's waist tighter.
"All right." Tom smiles as he covered both of you up. Though he didn't intend on falling asleep himself, he did.
210 notes · View notes
halictus-writer · 4 years
Text
Welcome to Seattle (Ch. 4 of 5)
Remus woke early the next morning, feeling energetic. He brewed a fresh pot of coffee and sat down at his table/desk combination to work on his novel. Safely wrapped in an oversized sweater, he opened the window to let the fresh cold morning air in. It wasn’t until he had settled comfortably into a workflow and even lit a cinnamon-scented candle before he remembered that he should probably still be upset over being blown off from a dinner date last night.
Instead, he felt strangely at peace. Going to the Italian restaurant, laughing with Sirius, and eating pizza had seemed to wash away his troubles, and he wasn’t going to complain if it took a surprisingly short amount of time to feel normal again. After writing a chapter and a half, it was time to leave for his breakfast with the girls.
As Remus walked out of his apartment building, he tossed his jacket over his shoulder and almost skipped down the sidewalk–– tiramisu safely in hand–– with joy. Something about the day just felt good.
Walking into the breakfast nook, he spotted his friends already seated at a table.
“Marls! Dorcas!” He greeted them warmly, giving each of them a side-hug.
Dorcas responded with a “Hey, babe!” While Marlene fixed him with a look.
“You,” she said, index finger pointing at his chest, “are absolutely glowing.”
Remus’s cheeks began to turn red, a lingering side effect of any attention whatsoever being directed towards him. His smile stayed in place though. “What, no I’m not.”
“Why do you look so happy?”
“Also,” he drew out the word, talking over Marlene, “I brought you a gift!” Remus handed over the box containing last night’s tiramisu, previously concealed by his jacket.
“Oh my god, this looks so good.” Dorcas said, eyeing the dessert.
Marlene started to close the box again when Dorcas made a noise of protest. “What?” She asked, laughing. “We have to wait until after we eat breakfast.”
“No we most certainly do not, we are adults!” Dorcas protested, and reopened the box.
Conversation flowed comfortably between the three of them, updating each other on the events of the past week. For every minute of serious conversation, there seemed to be two more of random banter, staccatoed with flicking straw wrappers and play-fighting when Dorcas or Marlene wanted to prevent the other from telling a funny story at the expense of her girlfriend. After Marlene all but tackled Dorcas to successfully pass her phone to Remus–– displaying a video of a wine-drunk Dorcas driving backwards in Mario Kart, her face dropping in shock when Marlene’s voice from behind the camera points out that she is in last place–– they got disdainfully frowned at from a tourist family and an old married couple. James would have been proud.
Eventually, Dorcas brought the conversation back to Remus’s cancelled date. “So, Marls is right, you are glowing, and I love that, but tell us about last night. You don’t seem upset about it?”
Remus shrugged. “Well, yeah, I mean it sucked waiting around for the dinner date that never happened, but if it wasn’t meant to be then there’s really no use losing sleep over it, I suppose.”
Dorcas looked mildly impressed by his answer.
“Plus, I salvaged the evening by treating myself to pizza at the Italian restaurant right by my apartment. That’s where your pre-breakfast dessert hailed from.”
Marlene looked at the now-empty to-go box in surprise. “Wow, I love how we just devoured that and didn’t even ask you where it came from. I don’t think I even said thanks?”
“Don’t worry babe, we were doing him a favor. Remus hates soggy cake.” Dorcas stated confidently.
Remus laughed. “You’re welcome,” he said, looking only at Marlene. “But yeah, I wish the waiter knew that about me. I would be totally happy with any other free dessert, but I guess tiramisu is their specialty or something.”
“Wait, hold on,” Marlene paused. “Are you saying you didn’t buy this for us? I’m withdrawing my belated thanks.”
“No, no, wait hold on, but to the other part of that sentence,” Dorcas said. “Are you saying a waiter gave you a free dessert?”
“Yeah, he kind of always does.”
“Wait, is he like, flirting with you?”
“No!” Remus said, assuredly, but his cheeks turned warm anyway.
“He gave you a free dessert. He has given you multiple free desserts? That is definitely flirting.”
Remus wanted to protest this statement, somehow, but all he could come up with was a strangled sort of noise.
Marlene seemed encouraged by his obvious embarrassment. “Oh my god, you’re going to fall in love and make babies with the help of modern science. Your baby is going to like tiramisu and be born with the personality of an old man. Half you and half waiter boy.”
“What’s his name what’s his name what’s his name,” Dorcas parroted, poking him in the arm with each question.
“Absolutely not.” Remus answered. Having already witnessed Dorcas’s impressive online stalking skills, he wasn’t about to give her a name as unique as Sirius. “Besides, uh,” his tone softened, “honestly I think he only brings me desserts because he feels sorry for me.”
Dorcas’s playful smile dropped. “Oh, Remus,” she began, “don’t sell yourself short.”
Marlene nodded with her, but mercifully changed the subject a minute later.
***
Remus shifted in his seat as his phone vibrated once, signifying an incoming text message. He was in his daily meeting with the other writers for the newspaper. They had just wrapped up the business side of the meeting, and had moved on to the fun side: presenting the best (worst?) reader comments from their online stories.
“Okay, okay, my turn,” the room quieted as Minerva spoke up. She was one of the older writers, and had been at the paper for almost ten years now. Everyone respected (and possibly feared) her, but Remus had immediately connected with her after they locked eyes during a lunch break to discover that they were both reading the newest Margaret Atwood novel and sipping Earl Grey tea. “On my article covering the shopping mall that tried to prevent breastfeeding in public, Ken M. wrote ‘aside from being completely unnecessary, breastfeeding encourages babies to objectify women.’”
The room burst into laughter, and Remus took the opportunity to subtly check his phone. Sure enough, it was Roy, the man he had been messaging for the last few days, and had even moved from Tinder’s chat platform to real texting. He smiled, but turned the phone to Do Not Disturb until the meeting was over.
“Ken M. strikes again!” Someone else announced.
“Ken M. deserves his own column, I swear.” A voice from the back of the room chimed in. “This man comments something completely ridiculous on every post. On my piece on updated bus routes he got into an argument with someone else, and I didn’t read all the comments to know how it got there, but Ken M. ended their dispute with, and I quote, ‘God is a ridiculous myth.’”
Remus laughed along with his coworkers, and took a moment to enjoy the fun banter. He loved his job for his career, but also enjoyed the little positive moments that arose from his sudden move to the big city: meeting Minerva, discovering the infamous Ken M., and laughing along with his coworkers during a meeting. His old job had been at a small newspaper where the main source of workplace laughter was Remus silently laughing at the incompetence of his coworkers, not his readers.
As the meeting ended and people began to file out of the room, he pulled out his phone. Roy told Remus he wanted to take him to his favorite restaurant on Saturday night, and Remus happily agreed to meet him in front of the Pike Place Market neon sign at 6:30. The restaurant was a short walk from there, and Remus was glad he didn’t have to awkwardly refuse getting into the car with someone he didn’t know on a first date.
I want the restaurant to be a surprise, Roy had sent, but do you have any dietary restrictions? Remus appreciated his foresight, and answered with, I’m vegetarian, but I eat pretty much anything otherwise! Remus took a moment to smile dopily after receiving a quick response: perfect.
Remus was excited for the date. Roy was very handsome, with curly blond hair, soft blue eyes, and dimples. He was also, if his profile was to be trusted, very accomplished.  
***
The date was horrible. Roy kept most of the conversation centered on himself and his many achievements. Remus noticed that his eyes were actually brown, and while Remus had nothing against brown eyes, seeing as he had a pair of them himself, he couldn’t help but feel weirded out by the fact that Roy, or Gilderoy, as he referred to himself in the third person, had taken the time to edit or filter his eye color in all of his online photos.
By the time they arrived at the restaurant, Remus had already reminded himself over and over that it was just one date, and that even if it was disappointing, he would have a good story to tell later, and he didn’t feel unsafe at all. His friends had his phone’s location, and Dorcas had already assured him that she would “track down and throw from the Space Needle” any man who tried to harm Remus.
Remus tried to muster a polite smile as Roy told him about his obviously fabricated second meeting with Oprah, but his smile completely dropped when he read the front of his menu. They were at a steakhouse.
Their waitress approached, saving Remus from whatever monologue he was about to be subjected to. “What can I get started for you guys tonight?” She sounded bored, which Remus was willing to credit her for, as he understood working in the food industry was not exactly glamorous, but he still stupidly thought of Sirius’s excitement as he waited tables.
Roy had the nerve to try to order for Remus. Remus cut him off and appealed to the waitress. “I’m sorry, I realize you probably don’t get that many vegetarians here, but are there any vegetarian menu items?”
“You’re vegetarian?” The waitress said in surprise.
Remus didn’t expect that response, but he turned directly to Roy as he answered, “yes.”
***
An hour later, Remus was finally free of Roy. The aggravating man had offered to pay for the whole meal, with a public brandishing of his multiple credit cards, but Remus insisted they split it, just to ensure that no one thought he owed him anything. Remus wanted to never see this man again, and if that meant paying for half of a check that consisted of one expensive filet mignon and one cheap side salad, then it was well worth it.
Remus said goodbye in the midst of the Public Market, and then walked away. The last thing he wanted to do was get walked home by the insufferable man and have to listen to him, or worse, have to listen to him invite himself upstairs. As he walked home, he blocked Roy’s phone number, for good measure, and deleted the Tinder app from his phone. He dully realized that if he wanted to deactivate his account for good he would need to redownload the app first, but the symbolism felt nice in the moment.
Composure carried Remus inside his apartment building and up the stairs, but after finally locking his door behind him, he started crying. It was stupid really, and thinking that the idiot he wasted one evening with was making him cry only made him cry harder. His tears were out of frustration more than sadness.
He was frustrated that he couldn’t find a decent man on Tinder. He was frustrated that some asshole took him to a fucking steakhouse after knowing he was a vegetarian. He was frustrated because for whatever reason, he was alone on a Saturday night, again, and he very well may be alone on all future Saturday nights, because his ex-boyfriend decided that he didn’t love him anymore. What was even worse to think about, somehow, was that Remus didn’t even want his ex-boyfriend back. It would be so simple, he thought, to simply miss him, and hope that he would change his mind, and Remus could move back to his little college town and get his old job back at the small newspaper and compromise his life away. But he didn’t even want that anymore. Instead, he had to navigate the world not knowing if there was anyone that he could build a life with, all the while wasting his time on losers like Roy. And he was frustrated because he was hungry, having eaten only a small side salad for dinner.
Fueled by hunger and frustrated tears, he got up, grabbed his journal and pocketed a pen, made a halfhearted effort to wipe the tears from his face, and didn’t bother to change out of his date clothes before he headed out to go eat some comfort food.
He started crying a bit on his way to the restaurant, but it was dark outside and the anonymity of the large city granted some comfort. By the time he got to the restaurant, he was mostly calmed down, and just wanted to eat his pizza in silence, and process his emotions through writing them down in the journal he brought.
It was surprisingly busy at the restaurant for being so late on a Saturday night, and Remus took advantage of that fact to quietly slip into a booth as far away from Sirius’s normal section that he could. Remus didn’t think he would be able to keep up with Sirius’s banter, or familiarity, or free tiramisu tonight. Until he had taken the time to process his night on paper, he didn’t want to have to talk to anyone he knew. After a minute of solitude, a middle-aged waitress approached his table: success. He placed his order and went back to his journal.
As always, he started to feel better almost immediately after he started writing. Once he came to a good stopping point, he paused to look up, and drank some of the cold water the waitress had brought earlier. A few deep breaths later and he was feeling almost like a real human again.
Just then, a familiar voice sounded from behind him.
“Hey there.” Sirius’s voice sounded warm, as always, but slightly hesitant too.
“I brought you something, uh, I saw that your pizza just went in the oven, so it’s still going to be a few minutes.” He placed a small platter of roasted green beans to the side of Remus’s journal, and gave a tentative smile.
Remus had a quick fleeting thought of do you think I don’t eat enough vegetables? But, he realized how tasty they looked and how hungry he was. He felt his eyes water slightly as he tore his gaze from the gifted appetizer back up to Sirius.
“Do you feel sorry for me?” Remus asked, suddenly, “because I’m always alone?”
Sirius’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Remus was almost as surprised as he was, for having verbalized the question that had popped into his mind at the moment. He supposed he meant to say alone here, in the restaurant, because that is where Sirius sees him, but it worked in the general sense too.
“How could I feel sorry for you,” Sirius said slowly, “when you look that good, even while you’re upset.” Sirius’s confident smile crept back onto his face as he walked away.
Remus watched him in surprise, and after a few seconds Sirius turned suddenly, instantly locking eyes with Remus. Caught. Sirius winked and turned back around again.
Remus frantically texted his friends. He first had to update them on the horrible date he had gone on, and then the friendly interactions he has had with Sirius over the course of his many visits to the restaurant, and finally what Sirius just said.
Marlene: First of all, Dorcas and I are gonna find this Roy guy and kill him, probably
Marlene: Second of all, REMUS! You gave me sexy-waiter-flirtation-tiramisu! What if he had put a love potion in it or something??
James: I think I’m missing something about tiramisu… is that some kind of euphemism??
Remus updated them on the desserts that Sirius had given Remus ever since he first came to the restaurant. He also started to smile again, almost unwillingly, at his friends’ texts. He remarked how much can happen in a night: excitement about a date, frustration during said failed date, sadness afterwards, spiraling into thinking he would never date again, getting flirted with, and eventually laughing as his wonderful friends tried to cheer him up, cheer him on, and just be their wonderfully unique and crazy selves.
Lily: Remus this is a sign! I said meeting someone organically would be the best, and here we are. You’ve been getting flirted with this whole time by someone you met in person!
Dorcas: She’s right, you should totally go for it! He obviously likes you
James: Come on mate, what do you have to lose?
Remus thought for a second, before responding to his support group.
Remus: my emotional support pizza
James: what??
The group convinced him to flirt back, and Remus silenced the phone before Sirius came back with his pizza. Evidently he had taken over his table from the earlier waitress.
“And here at last, one margherita pizza. Careful, it’s pretty hot, fresh out of the oven.” Sirius fiddled with the notepad he wrote orders in after setting the pizza down. “Um, enjoy your pizza.” He turned to walk away.
“Hey,” Remus spoke up, suddenly. Sirius turned around quickly at the sound. Remus’s eyes crinkled with happy mischief. “You too.”
Sirius laughed and continued his walk back to the kitchen.
***
When Sirius brought the check, Remus carefully penned his signature and a twenty percent tip. He idled for a moment, before flipping the receipt over and writing a string of ten digits. He paused for a second again, before adding underneath in neat scrawl “should you choose not to call, we must never speak of this, because I need to be able to eat margherita pizza here on my really bad days.” On a new line underneath, he just wrote “Remus”.
***
Thirty-four minutes later, Remus received a text message from an unknown number.
“Don’t worry Remus, I would never get between a man and his pizza.”
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beautiful-bau-beau · 6 years
Note
Hello! I am such a huge fan of your writing and its kept me entertained through the boring summer months lol. Anyways, since you were asking for requests, could you do a Spencer imagine, where he has been telling the team that he has a girlfriend but they don't believe him until he shows up to BAU in clothing/with a haircut that the reader bought him? Possibly set in like season 5 when Spencer's wardrobe was particularly "spencer reid"-y.
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((I am unbeliveably flattered and actually love this request though I did change it a little bit. The article I mention is from 2014 when season 9 was actually shot but for the sake of the story we’re ignoring it. Also, not that it matters, as a kid I wanted to be a fashion designer and every Christmas I would get Project Runway sketchpads.))
Style
-
Spencer felt a little insecure walking into the office that morning. The suit he wore didn’t feel uncomfortable or itchy in any way, it just felt…unusual…too ‘stylish’ for his tastes. The only reason he was wearing this was for you. 
A week prior
At the feel of your arms wrapping around his shoulders he immediatly shut the files he had ben working on, not wanting you to see any of the photos or read anything that would upset you. You were too pure. His hands came to rest on top of your palms, rubbing them gently. 
“What would you say if i shopped for you?” You asked, leaning your chin upon his shoulder, turning your head to face him. You saw his brows furrow and his bottom lip stuck out unconsciously. 
“You don’t like the way I dress?” You shushed him, pressing a warm kiss to his cheek. 
“I love the way you dress, Doctor, your sweater-vests and slacks will always flatter you, however; that’s not an answer to my question.” He leaned back in his chair, sighing softly. 
“Y/n I go to work to….work,” to catch psychopathic killers, he wanted to say. “Not to flaunt of my fashion skills.” He turned to face you, your eyes playfully narrowed in mock annoyance. 
“Are you avoiding my question because you don’t trust me to dress you?“ 
"I may miss social cues most of the time but I think I’ll be in trouble if I don’t just say ‘yes, you can dress me.’”
“You are a smart man.” You pressed another kiss to his cheek, and he could feel the excitement bubbling up within you, as you left his embrace and started heading to the bedroom. “I’m going shopping tomorrow, you’re going to look great, don’t worry!”
“Spence?” JJ’s jaw dropped in disbelief once her eyes landed on Spencer entering the B.A.U. floor. She stood next to Morgan who had his signature smirk across his face as he took in the new appearance . Emily wolf-whistled, setting her coffee cup down on her desk to clap excitedly, much to Spencer’s embarrassment. 
“Guys…please…” He mumbled, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. “It doesn’t look bad does it?” Spencer wore a white button up underneath a merlot tie, a black vest and an admiral blue blazer with matching slacks. On his feet were dark tipped oxfords, the same shade as his satchel. 
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“Holy sweet Jesus!” Garcia exclaimed, eyes wide as she pointed to his blazer. “Spencer you look absolutely amazing! Is that from the new Brooks Brothers catalog?” He looked down, biting his bottom lip. 
“I-uh… I don’t know.” He paused.  "My girlfriend got it for me.“ He admitted with a soft smile. He hadn’t figured out a way to inform the team of his newfound romance, wanting to make sure that unlike other dates or girls in the past like Lila, or god yes, even JJ, that you were a sure thing. 
"Girlfriend? Is that what you’re calling the sales associates now?” Derek laughed, opening his mouth to say something else when he was cut off. 
“New case.” Hotch called everyone to the round table, Rossi standing by his side. “You know,” Rossi exclaimed, eyeing Spencer for a moment. “I like the new look, kid. Stick with it.”
“So, what did everyone think of you in your suit?” You asked, excitement lacing your tone. The two of you sat in his apartment, one of the few occasions that you two were able to have dinner together at a reasonable hour.
“They liked it… I got some compliments.” He smiled softly to himself. You let a breathy chuckle escape you. 
“That’s great! I’m glad they liked it.” You took a sip from your glass. “You liked it, didn’t you? If you didn’t, just lie to me.” You laughed again, studying him carefully to deduce his reaction. 
“I’m not entirely sure. I know that the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology proved that enclothed cognition, wearing a garment with a strong cultural association can affect your cognitive processes, is real, but I think I may still be adjusting to the attention I’m getting.” You paused at his explanation, his words sounding familiar. 
“Not too much attention, I hope.” You teased. “Wasn’t that 'enclothed cognition thing from an article in my… Vogue magazine I threw out a few weeks ago?” You recalled, watching as he shook his head. 
“I have no idea what you’re referring to.” He denied quickly. “Even if women were falling left and right to gain my affection, no one’s attention is worth more than yours.”
“Oh I’m flattered.” You pretended to roll your eyes. “So are you going to let me dress you up tomorrow? I could make you even more attractive than you were today!”
“Yo’re not using me for my body are you?” He asked slyly, causing you to reach across the table to playfully shove his arm. 
“No, I just never had a Ken Doll growing up.” You reorted, rolling your eyes. After a moment you declared, “I’m styling you again tomorrow.” The soft smile on Spencer’s face didn’t go unnoticed.
-
 As soon as Spencer opened the doors to the bullpen he was met with the sound of a camera clicking, the device held in the hands of one Penelope Garcia. 
“I just had to make sure I had evidence in case I wake up tomorrow and think I hallucinated this.” She justified, admiring the photo. “I think that shade of red really suits you. Like a mahogany or sangria…can’t tell which one.” Spencer just blinked as the techie rambled, not entirely sure what she was talking about.
Spencer wore a wine-red blazer and slacks along with a white button up. On his feet and waist he wore a black belt with matching black oxford. You had even convinced him to unbuttoned the top button. He had to admit he did secretly like the dark suit, especially how you picked it out for him.
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Spencer had been reading a few of your magazines over the span of your relationship, telling himself that he was only trying to find something to read. A few different magazines had informed him how red was associated with love, passion, desire, romance, joy, courage, along with a few other explicit meanings. Other articles mentioned wearing red meant the wearer was assertive, daring, and powerful, and he couldn’t help but feel more confident.
 Throughout the day the team seemed to pick up on Spencer’s slightly changed attitude, as well as some others around the building.
“Seems like you’re catching a few stares, pretty boy.” Morgan mentioned, his eyes flickering over to a coworker who smiled warmly in Spencer’s direction. The two men were walking from the breakroom to their desks, steaming mugs residing in their grasps.The corner of Spencer’s mouth twitched, although not into a smile. “What?” Derek questioned. “Is she not your type?" 
"I told you yesterday, I have a girlfriend. She’s the one buying my new outfits.” Morgan stared suspiciously. “Do you really think I would be able to throw something like this together in a million years?”
“Touche.” Morgan nodded. “So, when are we going to be able to meet her?” Spencer stilled in thought.
 "I’m sure y/n would want for her and I to plan something out together, so I’ll have to get back to you.“ Spencer headed towards his desk. 
"Hey Reid.” Morgan called before they parted. “Does this girl of yours have a sister?” Spencer couldn’t help but chuckle. 
“Not one desperate enough to meet you.” Spencer answered mischievously, spinning on his heel. 
-
“Are you as excited as I am?!” You exclaimed, rushing around the apartment to make sure everything was going to be perfect. The two of you had decided to invite the team over for a nice dinner you prepared, snacks and refreshments in the kitchen as well. Although you seemed cheery, Spencer could tell you were nervous.
“Y/n you can calm down. Everything is going to be fine. What’s the worst you think will happen?” Your boyfriend asked, resting his hands on your waist to still your frantic movements.
“They’ll profile me as the loser I truly am.” You snickered. “Especially because I was behind the butchering of your lovely locks.” Your fingers threaded through Spencer’s new short hair, slightly frowning.
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“Nonsense, I’m sure they were getting tired of seeing my unruly hair grow day after day. I’m glad it’s gone. I was starting to wonder if I would have to join into the 'man-bun’ phase.”
“What do you think of your suit?” You asked, gesturing to his outfit. You gave him a currant red button up with a navy jacket, vest and slacks. The buttons of his jacket were a bright tan, pairing well with the dark colors he wore. You had told him that he was a 'Deep Autumn’ and that dark and warm colors would benefit his skin-tone greatly. To top of his whole look, you tucked a crimson carnation into the lapel of his jacket.
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“I feel…confident. Thank you for this. I always felt comfortable in my sweater-vests and button-ups but I believe the new work clothes have given me newfound respect from my coworkers and higher-ups at work.” You both shared a soft kiss before the apartment buzzer went off.
-
You opened the door to find friendly faces smiling back at you. “Welcome! Come on in!” Spencer doesn’t like to talk about work often but he speaks of you all fondly. I won’t pretend to guess who’s who.“ The team entered the living space, introducing themselves.
"Hey!” Spencer joined the group, a grin growing on his face when they all cheered encouragingly at his appearance, greeting his coworkers.
“I’d like to sincerly congratulate you for convincing him to branch out a little bit.” Emily patted your arm.
“Oh!” Penelope cried out happily. “You should come with Emily and I to DeMile’s! They’re having this great big blow-out sale! It’s obvious you have great taste so I wouldn’t object to you styling me every once and awhile." 
Conversation seemed to fade for Spencer who watched as you interacted happily with his friends, a warm smile on his face. He had been made fun of before with some clothing items he had chosen to wear but you had just opened his possibilities and helped to expand his comfort zone. He was so lucky to have someone as caring and patient as you in his life. He knew he would spend the rest of his days trying to make sure he was worthy of someone like you.
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Blue is a happy color [3]
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(gif credits to @outsiders-void)
19th December 2039
When Captain Fowler had invited them to the yearly Christmas party of the station two weeks ago, Lieutenant Anderson had resisted strongly at first.
„No, Connor, I won't go.“, he had told him with a voice so confident that Connor had actually believed him at first. „You can go by yourself if you want to so badly.“
But Connor just couldn't understand his aversion towards Christmas. Seeing the colorful lights that had been displayed everywhere and the enthusiastically looks on people's faces, feeling the unusual calm atmosphere around him, made the android feel excited instead. Connor had figured that he liked Christmas.
So, in the following two weeks, the RK-800 had tried to convince his friend the best way that he could, until finally, on the same evening on which the party took place, the lieutenant had resigned and gave up.
Now, four hours later, Hank had been wasted out of his mind.
Connor sat on the floor of the station‘s bathroom next to him, patting his back every now and then, while the lieutenant continued to puke involuntary inside of the toilet bowl.
Truth to be told, this wasn't what Connor had imagined when he thought about a Christmas party, but well.
„You know - “, puke splattered clearly audible inside of the toilet bowl, „that I - “, Hank sniffed and then spat, „really“, a short pause, then another spat, „fucking“, vomit entered the toilet once again, „love you,“, Hank grunted. „son.“
„I know, Hank, I know.“, Connor responded while continuing to rub his back in a somewhat comforting motion.
And it was true indeed. Even if their relationship had started clumsily, and Hank had been hostile towards him at the beginning, the lieutenant had become what Connor would call a family to him.
After Hank had finally emptied all of the content of his stomach into the toilet bowl, he rested his head on the seat and looked at the android out of glassy eyes.
„You know, you should go outside. Have fun. You're the whole reason why we're here.“, the lieutenant slurred and his eyes fluttered shut once.
His next sentence almost wasn't audible anymore, as sleep - or more an alcohol initiated unconsciousness - took over him quickly. „I'll just stay and rest here for a moment.“
For a minute or two, Connor wondered if he should really leave the older man alone right now, even worried that he might fall into the toilet and drown. But Hank was fifty-four years old and he had survived the first fifty-three years of his life without him, so Connor figured that he would manage if he left now, too.
Ophelia had been one of the first people to arrive at the station and basically, she was the soul of the party. The young detective had always loved Christmas, so it was an obvious thing that she had volunteered to decorate the office the first chance that she got.
Ben and Chris had been instructed to help her. Together, they had attached chains of lights to the wall of the office. White wool decorated the top of them, making the lights seem like they were floating in soft clouds. Every now and then, you could see a single mistletoe or a candy cane dangling from the ceiling.
They had set up a tall, dark green Christmas tree in the middle of the room, decorated with glitter balls and plastic candles. Around it, Ophelia had positioned colorful presents in all kinds of different sizes, to round the festive appearance of the room up.
The thought of Christmas simply filled the woman with joy, just as seeing all these people around her did, hearing the Christmas music in the background and enjoying what she had prepared.
But since Ophelia had left her hometown to come to Detroit, it still just wasn't the same anymore. Having family gatherings without having a family around simply felt sad and pathetic to her. But now that she had found friends in this city, it didn't seem that bad anymore.
Right now is was especially Gavin, who made sure she always had a glass of wine in her hand.
„Have you seen Connor around?“, she asked her partner, smiling up at him with flushed cheeks and glossy lips.
Gavin held a half-full glass inside of his hand and his voice sounded incredibly cocky when he responded. „He went with Lieutenant Drunk into the bathroom. They‘re probably fucking.“
„Don't say that!“, Ophelia squealed and shushed him with her hand while shaking her head, almost tripping because of her already slightly tipsy brain. „He's a really nice guy, Gavin.“
„He probably doesn’t even have a dick. And he looks like a Ken doll down there.“, the detective teased her with a cheeky grin. He took a big gulp of his coke with rum, or more his rum with coke in his case.
„Yes, he does!“, Ophelia exclaimed beneath drunken laughter, stumbling against him slightly.
„Have you seen it, then?“, Gavin answered quickly, looking challenging into her eyes.
The woman opened her mouth as if to answer, but then closed it again when she remembered that she couldn't give a smart answer to that. So she rolled her eyes instead. „He told me that you still look at me like you want to fuck me.“
Gavin watched her intensely for a very long moment before the corners of his mouth started to twitch slightly. When he responded, his mouth twisted into a wide grin and his voice was already a bit slurry from the alcohol. „Wanna go to the captain’s office with me?“
„The captain‘s office has walls made out of glass, Gavin.“, Ophelia whispered and chuckled, shaking her head.
She grabbed his hand and pulled him with her to the improvised dance floor instead of the office. Moving to the rhythm of the music, and wielding her hips in sync, Gavin tried his best to keep up dancing with her, despite the alcohol inside of his system.
When she shook her head to the sound of the music, making her violet hair sprawl everywhere, the man stood behind her and put the hand that wasn't holding bis drink on her hip, pressing her back against him harder. Ophelia giggled drunkenly and with flushed cheeks.
And as the RK-800 entered the office again, the first thing he noticed was Ophelia and Gavin dancing on the floor. He studied the scene in front of him in intensely and could almost feel how his LED flickered yellow once.
The woman had just turned around when her eyes had spotted a familiar face with a very familiar yellow glowing light, as Gavin took the chance to lean forward a bit and whisper right beneath the shell of her ear. „Plastic‘s watching us. Maybe I should throw you on that desk and fuck you right there where everyone can see. Do you think he would like that?“
Ophelia pulled back a bit, looked at him and smiled slightly. When she spoke for the next time, her voice was as sweet as candy cotton but with a dangerous shiver beneath it. „No, I don't think he would enjoy that. You’re too drunk. Also, you should maybe cool down your excitment a bit, Gavin …“, almost as if by accident, her leg brushed over his half-hard erection as she walked past him and towards Connor.
„I‘m not drunk! You are!“, the man called after her and while he did so, he staggered back a bit. He laughed and added after he had gotten a hold of himself again. „Alright, maybe I'm a little bit drunk.“
Ophelia could feel Gavin’s eyes burn into the back of her head, almost saw his cheeky grin form inside of her and tried not to chuckle while she put more distance between them.
The android stood still next to their improvised bar. When she had reached him, the first thing Ophelia did was filling her empty glass with wine again. Connor watched the woman pour her drink and silently closed the distance between them.
„Good evening, Ophelia“, he said, standing behind her and smiling awkwardly. „Are you enjoying your alcohol?“
„Oh, hi Connor“, she responded after she had turned around and smiled at him warmly. She took a big mouthfull of wine before continuing. „Yes, very much. So much actually that it’s already my sixth. Just delicious, isn’t it?“
She took another sip from her drink and looked around in the room. „Do you like my decoration? I‘ve been planning this with Chris and Ben. It’s just wonderful, isn’t it?“
„Yes, very nice indeed. I guess I like christmas.“, Connor agreed.
„That’s amazing! I love christmas! Not as much as I did before, but I still love it.“, the woman told him, drinking her wine every know and then.
The android‘s LED turned in a single, yellow circle as he asked. „Before what?“
Ophelia pulled her eyebrows up high in confusion for a moment, but then she realized what he had meant and emptied her glass with one big gulp in reaction. She had filled it once again and taken another sip from it before she answered.
„Because … Because all of my family and friends are back in Omaha, or in Maryland where I studied, and I'm here in Detroit all alone and completely by myself.“, she explained, tears suddenly pouring out of her eyes and running down her cheeks while soft sobs were leaving her mouth.
Ophelia wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol speaking or if it was still the missing sleep from the last weeks, maybe it was a mixture of both. But all of a sudden, she felt like everything around her was too much and like she just couldn’t handle it anymore. She leaned back against the wall and let herself slide down against it.
Connor watched the woman cry insecurely. He didn’t know what to do with people when they cried, didn't know how to handle sensitive situations at all. So in his despair, he awkwardly put one hand on her shoulder and spoke with a voice that didn’t sound convincing at all.
„You’re not alone.“, he said but his voice broke, making it seem even less true.
„I am“, she mumbled and drank from her glass, trying to silence her sobs. „I don't even own a pet because I'm in here the whole day and at night, I'm asleep.“
„Maybe buy a cat? Cats don't really care for what their owners do, as I have heard.“, Connor offered. „Or you could buy a lizard. I like lizards.“
„I like lizards too …“, Ophelia mumbled and emptied her glass another time. She stood up, stumbling and bumping against the android. „You know what? You're right! I'm gonna get a lizard, right now!“
After she had said that, she made her way out of the door, but only realized at half of the way that it wouldn't lead her out of the building, but into a storage room instead.
Connor had quickly decided to follow her, not being entirely sure if she would maybe hurt herself being alone in her condition. He knew well from Hank what a human could do to himself under the influence of alcohol.
"Ophelia?", he called out after he had found her standing in front of the cleaning room. „Maybe it's time for you to get back home. What do you think?“
„No, I want a lizard.“, she replied with a slurred voice but allowed herself to lean against him a bit, hiding her face in his chest and quickly sobbing again. „And I don't want to go home alone, where it's so quiet and lonely …“
„I can get you home, Ophelia.“, Connor offered again and when she didn’t stop crying, he added. „I could also stay with you, if that‘s what you want.“
The sobbing stopped almost immediately and when she tilted her head up again to look at him, her eyes lit up with relief. „You‘d stay with me?“
It took her a moment and a confirming nod from Connor to let it the information sink in. But when she understood, she pulled her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. „You’re the best person there is! I mean… Android … Person … Android-Person.“
For a moment he wanted to explain to Ophelia that being an android didn't mean that he couldn't also be a person, but Connor remembered what she had told him about accepting compliments, so he just settled for a simple ’thank you‘.
When he brought her outside of the station and into the parking lot, she started to mumble about lizards again.
The RK-800 held the woman steady by her shoulders while he called for a cab with his mind.
Part 1
Part 2
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kkruml · 6 years
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I don’t even know your name Chapter 10
Happy Sunday folks :)
This was either going to be a regular-length chapter or merged with 11 for a super-sized chapter... It’s separate because reasons, so please enjoy this as it’s own installment (chapter 11 is not far behind).
@smoakingwaffles as always for your beta magic.
@whiskynottea for being such a lovely voice as I’ve bounced this story off of you (mostly without your permission lol)
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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 2.5 | Chapter  3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9
AO3
Previously
“I...” Jenny started, her voice low and unusually soft, “I-I’m sorry, brother. Truly. Didna mean to take yer happiness from ye.”
He could count the number of times he heard those words from his sister’s lips- she did not make amends easily and rarely admitted defeat.  His shoulders sagged as he nodded his head and opened his arms enough for Jenny to step into them.
His thoughts were scattered but slowly came into focus as he conjured up her face in his mind- he needed to find Claire.
At least this time, he knew where to look.
Jamie
He had rushed back to his flat but now found himself taking more time than necessary- shuffling from room to room before settling on a shower. He let the water fall on his neck, feeling each muscle slowly relax. His head hung forward, a trail of water cascading down his curls against his forehead. His eyes were unfocused, seeing the last images of her before they fell asleep.
Her hand was on his cheek, one finger lingered at the base of his neck feeling his pulse. Her eyes were a deep amber and intent, looking straight into his soul. His hand rested on her hip, finding bare skin, his fingers traced circles as he watched her lashes flutter at his touch. He had pulled her close; his hand traveled the curve down her back and found solace there- noses gently grazing as her lips met his softly. His life had come full circle in that moment- every hope he had ever had was answered by her touch.
He needed to see her.
The steam circled him as it swallowed him whole.
Checking his phone as he grabbed his keys, he took one last deep breath before closing the door behind him.
The hospital was close enough to walk, and he was thankful for it as he needed fresh air and just a few more moments to clear his head and gather his thoughts- trying for the right words that Claire could understand to be true.
All these months, she was so close. He had scoured half the city for her and she was just a mere four blocks away.  Joe has specifically said the Western General Hospital. He just hoped she was on duty.
Please be there.
He rounded the final corner and the imposing building came into view. It was an impressive light grey building with freshly planted trees along a walkway boarded by tulips. Any other day he would have lingered and taken in the speckling of color against the dark concrete - but not today. He made his way to Reception and as his eyes scanned the room his eyes caught a familiar face. Joe.
Jamie had taken no more than two steps in his direction as he saw Joe pick up his pace towards him. Jamie’s smile fell as he took in Joe’s expression. Eyes open and intent, shoulders tense, and mouth set in a firm line.
“Joe, it’s so good to se-“
“You’ve got some nerve coming here.” His voice cut Jamie’s remaining hope as he stopped in his tracks.
“I think ye-“
“Don’t Jamie, just DON’T. I never should’ve told LJ about Lallybroch. I just- I thought you were different. But you’re not. You’re just like him,” he finished, with an edge to his voice that lingered like venom.
“Joe, I know how this looks- truly. But if ye jus-“
“NO. You listen. She’s been through a lot- she’s played this role before. Some dashing fella comes along, sweeps her off her feet. Makes promises he can’t keep and she finds him with his arms around another girl.”
Joe paused, watching him closely. Jamie’s eyes widened, taking in his words, feeling his heart tighten, all but flinching in pain.
Christ, someone hurt her.
His Claire.
No.
She was not his Claire.
He stayed quiet, eyes locked on the floor, head slowly nodding- listening.  
“You’ll not put her through that- she can’t take it again. That almost broke her.” He was breathing hard, chest heaving as he postured against Jamie’s towering form.
Jamie stayed quiet. His thoughts skipped from one thought to the next.
She’s been hurt.
Someone hurt her.
She thought I was different.
That bastard had his chance, and he squandered it.
I might have ruined it before it could even start.
I may be no different after all.
A final deep breath and he steeled himself as he lifted his head to meet Joe’s stare. “I’m sorry Joe, truly. I dinna want to hurt Claire. I’ll be leavin’ now.”
And with that, he nodded his head, eyes locked on Joe and without a word he turned and walked away.
CLAIRE
Two more hours. Then I can go home. Then I can crawl into bed and forget this weekend ever happened.
I closed my eyes, allowing my head to drop forward as I slowly rolled my head to one side, massaging my neck with my hand- in a flash I saw red hair against my neck, curls lightly tickling my skin as his fingers traced the line from my jaw to collarbone-
Get it together, Beauchamp.
“Lady Jane.”
I jumped as I heard Joe’s voice coming towards me, his eyes wide.
“Joe? What’s wrong?”
He looked me over for a moment before he exhaled, shook his head and spoke. “Well you don’t have to worry about seeing him again.”
“Wait, what? What do you...” My eyes focused on his, seeing his pupils dilated, cheeks flushed, and I caught the distinct hitch in his breath as he tried to steady it. “... He’s here?”
“He had the nerve to come here, thinking he could talk his way into seeing you. Spin his words and twist what you heard. Well I am not gonna sit here and let another man talk his way out of the sack of shit he deserves to be under.”  
My mind raced as I tried to find focus.
He’s here?
No.
He’s gone.
Memories of slick dark hair and a thin-lipped smile crept into my thoughts- that self-assured voice weaving lie after beautiful lie. No.
I can’t go through that again.
Jamie
He let the car sit in idle for a while before he turned the key to kill the ignition. The drum of the rain on the roof was almost enough to drown out his thoughts. Almost.
He saw a familiar figure in the window looking out, and with a heavy sigh he grabbed his keys, ready to go inside. Jenny would be worried.
“Back sae soon?” She said, her voice carefully avoiding the name in his mind. And he was grateful for it.
“Aye. Tis done,” was all he could muster in response. His arms hung at his side as he stared down at the wooden floorboards.
She caught the slight twitch of his shoulders and the small gasp of breath as his head fell, arms pulled tight against himself. Before he could speak again her arms were around him, and they stood together, her hands keeping him whole.
It felt like an endless day with no night.
His fingers trailed down the pattern on the glass, the amber liquid creating ripples as he took another sip, seeing flickers from the fire radiate in his glass. Jenny eyed him, seeing his arms loosen as he shook his head and emptied the glass.
“Another?” she asked, but had already moved to lift the bottle.
“Aye.” His eyes did not leave his glass. The moment the bottle left his vision he took another long drag.
“Brother… James,” she said as his eyes lifted to meet hers. She rarely called him that, save special occasions and when she spoke words close to her heart.
“It’s over, Jenny.” Another long swig and then silence.
“Did ye see her, then?”
“Och, no. Her friend. He said enough.” Eyes lingered on the fire, unblinking.
“She kens the truth then, aye?” Her eyes searched his face.
“It doesna matter Jenny.” He closed his eyes, recalling the last image of her at Lallybroch, just a dozen feet away. Hair blown wild with wind, flushed cheeks, and tears in her eyes. “She’s  been hurt enough. No use in tryin’ to be something that’ll bring her more pain.”
“Yer no makin’ a lick of sense,” she sighed, trying for indifference but he caught a hint of frustration.
“She thinks I hurt her- the way another man did, near broke her apart,” he said, eyes hooded.
“But ye did no such thing Jamie.”
“Aye, but she deserves better than me Jenny, I’m no monk and I havena done anything to prove I’m worthy.”
“Hush now, brother. Ye may no’ be a saint but ye’ve a good heart and any lass would be lucky to find ye.” Her words came fast and true, her eyes glistening in the firelight. “Get some rest now, or ye’ll be of no use tomorrow,” she finished, a look of determination on her face.
The flames finally faded from his vision as he saw nothing but whisky eyes, and the last thing he remembered before succumbing to sleep was the curl of her smile as his fingers traced the curve of her chin and his lips met hers.
Claire
When will the rain finally stop?
I pulled my coat closer as I reached the final few steps of the hospital entry way, quickening my steps to find shelter under the concrete canopy.
“Claire?”
I froze. Her voice did not match that tone. Normally steady and confident, she now sounded unsettled and unsure.
Slowly turning around, I saw dark brown hair and deep blue eyes staring at me.
“…Jenny? What are you doing here?” I blinked twice, trying to perceive the look on her face- eyebrows furrowed; a crease had formed between them that aged her considerably. “Is everything ok?”
“No one has taken ill, but there’s a peace I need to speak to ye, and it canna wait.” Her eyes shifted with a glimmer of determination.
“O-Of course. Let me just make a quick call and then I’ll be with you, ok?”
What on earth could Jenny have to say to me after what happened?
My hands fumbled for my phone in my pocket and I dialed Joe’s number. I just needed 5 minutes and I’d meet him for rounds and this whole sordid mess would be over.
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coolandspicy · 6 years
Text
Lost Fantasia recap
This is crazy long so i’ll put it under the cut!
Pre concert they play most of VIXX’s mvs on the big screens which is fun. (Super Hero and Rock Ur Body are suspiciously absent lol)
About 5 minutes before concert start time there’s this super loud count down...but after a few seconds it fades into a song? It scared me both nights tho lol!
1st Vcr - its all in black and white, people walking around in animal masks, and we see the members one by one, frozen in place seemingly?
The big curtain falls and the members are lowered from the raised platform while intense music plays
They’re wearing these sparkly Silver zigzag jackets and matching pants, they get into formation to perform and the first song is Odd Sense! It starts awesome with really cool lighting (all the lightsticks turn red) but a few seconds in the backing vocals totally cut so its just vixx singing live and the music is a bit quieter, they keep going a little longer but then suddenly the whole song cuts and Hakyeon apologizes and asks if they can start again. The lights go off and the members exit the stage.
We ended up waiting about a full hour for the technical issues to be resolved and the atmosphere was super tense; starlights were so upset and they were kind of cursing at jellyfish? At one point they chanted for an apology 😅I was seriously worried that if the problem wasn’t resolved something terrible would happen...
But the concert finally resumed and the members appeared exactly were they had been when the music cut; they performed Odd Sense, followed by Escape (during the the “run away” part starlights were even louder than ravi) and then Silence!
1st Talk session: first the members apologized again for the issues and Hakyeon asks for starlights to give them strength/energy by still cheering loudly. They go on to talk about hair colors; Hongbin has purple hair (at fans request!) Leo has blond instead of silver bc he couldn’t take any more bleach, Ravi dyed his hair to be the same color as Hyuk? Hakyeon pokes Ravi insistently waiting for Ravi to talk about his gray highlights (Ravi ignores him for a while but then finally they acknowledge Hakyeon^^)
The next song is Fantasy, after which the members disappear but Ravi stays (he took his jacket off and has the white shirt and black harness on) and does a mini solo performance (I’m calling these solos ‘mini’ bc they’re really not quite as long as the usual solo performances we see?) Ravi performs with female back up dancers and then at the end walks back upstage where the other members are waiting ( and also wearing the White shirts, black pants + harnesses)
They perform Into the void, while seated/standing with these two props shaped like some kind of rocks. After the song the members walk down stage (Leo, Ravi and Hakyeon go to the middle; Hyuk and Hongbin go all the way to the left side of the stage; and Ken goes all the way to the right) they perform Six feet under — its so hype live, I really loved it!!
2nd talk: Hakyeon complements Ravi’s performance, and asks Ravi shoot hearts to each floor/section of the audience. Then they ask what song starlights would like to see next, because the audience is not really in sync (some people are asking Leo to shoot hearts also)  Leo shoots a powerful heart before they start Trigger. This choreo oh my god!! Everything from running gun hands down their long legs, the members circling round Hakyeon poised to shoot + and the killer moment: Ravi grips Ken from behind and shoots towards the audience 👀
Then they do Beautiful killer (with even more gunhands) and descend into the stage
2nd Vcr: solo scenes!
Ravi is in the rain holding an umbrella, but the then he drops it and just lets the water soak through his jacket, then he takes of the jacket and his shirt is all wet and see though;; he throws the jacket at the audience/camera and disappears!
Hyuk has an aesthetic scene in a phone booth & with the ground covered in rose petals?? He steps out and holds a blue potion and disappears when the rose petals fall around him
At an aesthetically neon bar Hakyeon surveys the scene, looking #opulent. He considers different wines but then he snaps his fingers and a bottle of champagne appears. He pours a glass, holds it close to smell the aroma, and tosses it in our face, causing him to disappear.
Leo appears draped in sheer tapestry, wearing a blindfold(?) which he takes off. Then he just, rolls around pressing into the mattress and stuff, and disappears (I can’t describe this okay, he was a hoe and that’s all you need to know)
Ken walks into a room with bathtub & candles, he looks seductively at the candles and drips some wax into the bath water. Then he blows out one of the candles and disappears
Hongbin is in the forest at night, surrounded by mist, he disappears in the mist
Finally the screen says simply “What exists is the scent of the soul”
--
Hongbin appears in red and does a mini solo with female back up dancers,
The members appear in formation for Scentist, wearing red fringed jackets with no undershirts — also Ravi’s has a cut out in the back 👀
During Scentist lots of mist stuff came out, idk if it was actually scented but it looked cool!
Members descend into stage again, but Leo reappeared to do his mini solo with two male back up dancers, they grind on the floor and other things;; priming us for the next performance Circle. There are mic stands and the 6 people standing behind them are clearly intimately familiar with sin
3rd Talk: mostly they talk about the performances they just did, especially Hongbin and Leo’s solo parts, move on to the next song
They perform My Valentine (who knew chairs were actually the sexiest prop possible) Love Me Do is next, and the members disappear at the end, but Hyuk reappears to do mini solo reprise of Love Me Do with male back up dancers
3rd Vcr: all the members are together at a cute bar; eating drinking, reacting to vixx old stages and music videos. They talk about their memories and Hyuk gets emotional 😭
Ken rises from the stage, sings a beautiful mini solo ballad. He’s wearing all white with a long, sparkly blue coat
The VCR screens fill with constellations, and six boxes appear in the back. The members appear one by one to sing their parts of the ballad medley (which includes On A Cold Night, 닮아, 12345, Bad Bye, and maybe more?) wearing the same outfits as Ken. When members appear their box lights up and the screen behind them has their birthstone (Same as from Shangri-la birthstone version!)
The members reappear but sitting on the stage and this time they sing Us Now, near the end of the song Starlights on the second floor do their prepared event -- they hold up sheets of paper that are either yellow or blue. Together it spells out 우린 영원을 믿어 (We believe you forever) I think its especially powerful not only because it was unexpected but because of the difficulty starting the concert today. After all, isn’t that always how it’s been for VIXX? So many struggles since the beginning but they’ve worked so hard to prove themselves to us; I know I would never leave them for anything.
4th Talk: they talk about how surprising the event was, and after getting over the surprise joke around about how Starlights were bickering whenever someone was unsure/about to put their paper down. Hakyeon talks about how funny he thinks Starlights are when they accidentally make mistakes, the confusion over the fanchant for My Valentine is especially funny to him. He asks Starlights to keep confidently making mistakes ^^
They take off the jackets and perform Chained up (This is a song that I have so much fun seeing live? Its never my favorite to listen with headphones, but on a huge stage oh my god!!) The follow up with Black out, and then the members walk off but Hakyeon stays. When the lights go back on he is surrounded by female back up dancers and has blood dripping down his chest. He does a really intense dance to scary music with lots of creepy smiles and scary expressions throughout.
The members reappear and they perform Hyde altogether (it’s made even better by the fact that Hakyeon still has blood on his clothes!)
5th Talk: Hakyeon exits (to change) and 5VIXX discuss the previous performances, and how tired they are. Leo especially looks like he’s so tired ^^; Hyuk says something about being able to keep going and he does the leg popping part from the Hyde choreo; the stage directors give him some flames to go with his leg pops which encourages him to do a bunch; the other members scold him saying he’ll burn the whole place down. Hakyeon comes back freshly changed and talks about his performance -- he asks if it was scary (we all answer 네!!!! as always but slightly unsure lol bc we’re not sure if we should say that our beloved leader was scary lol) He says that means he succeeded ^^ Then he tells us it’s time for the last stage and we all whine but Hakyeon shushes us.
They perform Desperate (how we’re all feeling at this point lol) Then they disappear and male dancers appear in the outfits from the Wind of Starlight performance. The members enter wearing silk cloaks decorated with red flowers to perform Shangri-la. 
After the members disappear, Starlights cheer 사랑해 (while the overhead logo pulsates like its charging lol) until VIXX returns to perform Milky Way. They enter in the second floor carrying balloons with the letters of their stage names. Then they do Navy And Shining Gold, after which Hakyeon says its time to go but Starlights insist (One more time!) and they start doing Heaven (which of course means doing it a bunch of times lol) the boys were super cute, running, jumping, pouring water on each other lol. Hakyeon sat down and took some selfies with fans phones
After many runs, they finally said it was time to go and for everyone to go back safely, and lots of other sweet things
The end credits was a behind the scenes video with Good Day as the bgm (which means every song on EaudeVixx was featured ^^)
I’ll forever be jealous of Starlights on the second floor but ultimately I feel so grateful to have had this opportunity and I thank VIXX and Starlights both for making Lost Fantasia the best concert possible!
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girlbetweenryosuke · 6 years
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“Rogue and Reigning” -- Chapter I
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Chapter I: The Rogue Prince
Note: Hello! Ok so u might be thinking oh my god she’s making another story she aint gon finish bUT wait ok i swear im going to finish this. ALSO yes i didn’t put a watermark on the title thing bc it kind of ruins it?? I quite like it like really simple ya kno idk but anyway those aren’t my photos so ofc there’s no need for my watermark hAHAHAH
Teaser: (I don’t really have a good teaser so this is an excerpt from the second chapter)
“I’m someone who wants to step up, and you are someone who wants to step down. But quite surprisingly, we are both outcasts. I want the throne, and yet I am not given it. You want to be a commoner, and yet you are forced to wear a crown. I guess it’s natural that we envy each other... But maybe that’s why somehow, we complete each other. Opposites attract,
and I am well over attracted to you.”
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“No.”
The word this young princess feared to hear the most. That’s especially when that was the answer to a request that she had built up an abundance of courage for. She was sitting on a cushioned seat, hands on her lap, ankles crossed and to the side as she sat up straight. She followed all the rules, she had all the manners, she was deemed as a perfect princess—and this was the only time she was willing to go against that title.
“Father, please.”, she begged as the king sat on his seat behind the desk. His arms on each armrest and legs apart as he huffed. “I cannot allow you to be the crowned queen.”, he said as Y/N looked down, tears welling up in her eyes. “But father,”, she looked up, scared to look him in the eyes. “I am the first-born child. I can be a good leader. I have been studying every single detail about our country’s history, politics, and economy since I have been a toddler. I am very much prepared!”, she continued.
The king leaned forward, sitting up from leaning on his chair as he looked her in her eyes. “Y/N, my dear, you have been studying our history, am I correct?”, he asked, and Y/N nodded, “Yes.”. “Then you must know that throughout our family’s 449-year reign, no woman has been appointed as a queen.”, he said the words that annoyed Y/N the most. “Goodness, even your mother wasn’t a queen. Women in this monarchy are only princesses. They cannot hold such power a king can have.”, he said.
Y/N huffed, looking away and shaking her head. “Well then, I suggest that there be a change.”, she looked him back in the eye as she regained confidence. This. This was the thing that drove Y/N to want to rule as queen. She wanted to prove that a woman can be leader-material. What a man can do, a woman can do too. Aside from that, she had planned for ages on what she wanted to change in her country of Seina.
Seina is an archipelago off the east coast of Japan. Since they were so near Japan, it was once part of it during the Heian period to around half of the Edo period. After they were separated from the country back in 1569, they were colonized by Europe and their first language of Japanese was mixed with English, creating their now first language, Seinese; their now second language, Japanese. The monarchy began with their first king, King Morita. He wrote in his will that his crown must be passed to a man, not a woman, and no one really understood why, but that is why kings must always have sons, no matter what. Y/N’s great-grandfather was the last child of 12 siblings, all of them being girls, which explains how grave they take his will.
And Y/N wants to know why.
She loved her country, that’s why she wanted to fix it. Poverty rates were rising, the economy was on the brink of collapsing, riots were forming here and there, and there was no escaping from the reality that her father’s reign was one of the worst. On top of that, the idea of misogynism was evident in the country taking from its beliefs that men and women aren’t equal beings. She went to charity works, she’d immersed with the crowd to study what wasn’t included in history books. She knew what had to be done, and she knew she had to do it now.
“There’s no need for a change when you have a little brother who is an heir to the throne.”, he replied. “Father, he is 6-years-old.”, she said with pity for her sibling who will soon be holding the burden of the crown. “In a year, once you’ve stepped down, Hiro will only be 7. He’s merely a child!”, she ranted. His forehead puckered, seemingly beginning to be annoyed at her words.
“Don’t paint be as a bad man when I am only following traditions.”, he urged. “Next year will be my 50th year of reign, and you know what that means, right?”, he asked as she gulped and nodded. “Every 50 years, we have to appoint the heir of the throne as king. In a year, I will teach him everything that Hiro needs to know.”, he said. “I will begin with manners, but apparently you need a brush up on your manners too.”, he said, setting Y/N aback as she silently scoffed to herself. “Do not be late for your flight to Japan, you must learn more about our history with them before you create these unrealistic ambitions for yourself. You are dismissed.”, he flicked his hand away, gesturing her to leave. She bit the inside of her cheek, standing up and bowing deeply, her right hand hesitantly on her left chest, “Excuse me.”. She left the room with fire in her chest, feeling anger in her veins.
She had more than one reason for wanting to be a queen. She loved her country, she loved to serve, she wanted to break the foolish traditions and on top of that—
“Y/N…”, her brother approached her, tugging on the sleeves of her dress. She turned around to see Hiro, teary-eyed, and pouting. She pouted, squatting down to hug her brother, petting the back of his head. “Did he say yes?”, he faltered. Y/N looked down as tears started to drip down her cheek, “No.”, she hesitantly answered as the little boy’s breath hitched. He then began to wail, face red, strings of saliva appeared when he opened his mouth and his face wet with tears. She rubbed his small back as she comforted him. “I don’t want to be the king. I don’t want to be the king.”, he cried.
On top of that, Y/N loved her little brother.
 In her room, she let her body fall on her bed, feeling tired from putting a brave front to confront her father. “If it meant to rule a country, I wish I was a man.”, she said to herself, arms on her forehead as she stared at the ceiling. Then, there was a knock on the door. “Come in.”, she said as she heard the door open and close. “Princess Y/N, someone wishes to have an audience with you.”, her trusted maid, Kiera, said. “Who is that someone?”, Y/N asked as Kiera cleared her throat. “He wishes for me to not reveal his name.”, she repressed a smile.
Then, Y/N, sprang up, knowing exactly who “he” was. She slipped on a robe and ran out into the corridor, Kiera frantically trying to catch up to her. Y/N quickly ran downstairs and out into the front courtyard to find the most dashing man in her eyes, Riinen. Riinen is her best friend, a son of a cabinet member. His caramel-colored hair was always slicked back, he had gray-blue eyes and thick brows. He always looked neat, not a strand of hair out of place, not a wrinkle on his shirt, neither a spot on his shoes unpolished. She loved him—well to be fair, everyone did. He was a truly perfect man.
But the thing Y/N wishes she could see, was the true him. She’d never seen him cry, despite the many times he had seen her cry. She’d never seen him tired or sweat, he always looked like some Ken doll. She’d never seen him in his casual clothing, he’s always in a white long-sleeved polo, and black slacks and black polished shoes. She wanted to see more of him. She wanted to fall more in love with him, but he was acting like a prince that doesn’t break walls to let people in. She hated that—well to be fair, everyone did.
She jumped to him, wrapping her arms around him as she kissed his cheek as he carried her. “I missed you!”, she pulled away and he laughed, “Not as much as I missed you, Your Highness.”. She let go of him, letting her feet touch the ground again. She gestured for them to walk together to which he nodded. Her maid followed along, out of hearing-range so that they could privately talk. “So how was Canada?”, she asked, “It was extremely cold!”, he complained, a smile on his face as he rubbed his shoulders, pretending to shiver.
“Colder than Mt. Sundire?”, she asked, pertaining to the coldest mountain in Seina. “Colder than Mt. Sundire.”, he nodded, and she shivered. “Was it fun, though?”, she asked, looking up at him. “Oh, for sure it was. Mary and I had a great time sight-seeing and such.”, he smiled. She looked down at the thought that he was having fun with another girl. “Hey, don’t be so sad.”, he lightly turned her shoulders to turn to him. She looked into his dreamy eyes as she gulped. “Mary is just a girl, so don’t be so jealous.”, he smiled.
She blushed remembering that Riinen did in fact know that Y/N loves him. He’s already accepted it, and even teases her for it. Although he has never been clear with his feelings, he does show his affection to her, making Y/N both confused and happy at the same time. As she looked into his eyes, she noticed how cold looking they were, beautiful, but unwelcoming. They say a person’s eyes were the windows to one’s soul, and yet she couldn’t see anything in them. His eyes were empty. “Would you like to go out with me? Have a little drink?”, he asked her, and she pursed her lips and hesitantly shakes her head. “I’m sorry. I have to fly to Japan today, I have an official meeting with the Emperor’s grandchildren.”, she pouted.
That was a lie. No, the official meeting was not the lie, but the true reason behind Y/N visiting Japan is not for her to meet the Emperor’s grandchildren. The real reason as to why she was going there was to research more about why Seina was separated from Japan. She needed an explanation as to why there were so many misogynistic traditions in their culture. And, she desperately needed an answer as to why the first king, King Morita, did not want women to lead the country.
He smiled and tilted his head, then pouting, “I guess I’ll have to drink alone again, Your Highness.”. “Hey, don’t drunk text me again, alright?”, she smiled, lightly pushing his chest as he laughed. “Princess Y/N.”, Kiera bowed with her hand on her chest and called her. Y/N turned to her and nodded, “It is time to leave. Your luggage is all packed and placed in the vehicle and is waiting for your arrival.”, she said as Y/N pursed her lips and nodded. “Alright.”. “I guess I’ll be going now.”, she smiled and patted Riinen’s chest. “See you!”. “See you, Your Highness!”.
After Y/N changed into her proper clothes, she rode a limousine to the airport, and from there, she rode an airplane to Japan. It only took an hour until she was already stepping on the Japanese grounds. She was greeted by various politicians, performers, and had to pass and greet different people before she was able to be in her own private space in a car.
“Are you alright, Princess Y/N?”, Kiera asked, sitting in the front seat next to the driver. “I’m perfectly fine, thank you.”, she replied, sighing and looking out the window. She examined the environment, finding everything beautiful and amazing how color coded-like the city was. The streets were clean, and very seldom would you see a piece of trash on the ground. It was very much different from Seina where the streets of the rural areas would have trash and homeless people. She wishes to fix that—very soon.
They arrived at the palace, Y/N noticing 3 women of her age lined up with a little boy in the middle. The driver opened the door for her, and she stepped out as the four of them bowed to her, “Good afternoon, Princess Y/N.”, they said in unison. Y/N smiled and returned the bow, with her hand on her left chest, “Good afternoon, Princess Chihiro, Princess Misaki, Prince Mamoru, and Princess Airi.”. It was a mouthful to say all of their names, just imagine if there were more.
She was then led into the palace with smiles as they toured her around. She noticed how Chihiro held Mamoru’s hand, and how young he truly is. “Prince Mamoru is the heir to the throne, isn’t he?”, Y/N said, and they nodded, Mamoru showing a wide smile on his face. “I hear your baby brother is too?”, Misaki asked, and Y/N hesitantly nodded. “Tentatively.”, she added as they nodded. “Mamoru is still young and has a long way to go. He wouldn’t be the heir if someone shaped himself up.”, Airi added, and the three siblings hushed her as she lightly bowed. “Someone?”, Y/N asked. “No one. I’m sorry, let’s continue the tour.”.
Throughout the whole day, Y/N had meals with the grandchildren, did some entertaining activities, and during dinner, there was a performance by some local artists. She barely had enough time to sneak around, neither did she know where to go in the first place. She was thinking that maybe the library would have some texts, but she didn’t know where it was located.
It’s now nighttime, Y/N was lying down on her bed, wearing her long, white, satin nightgown as she twisted her hair around her finger, staring at the ceiling. She was waiting for everyone to fall quiet and asleep so that maybe she could look for the library then, but throughout Y/N’s stay in the palace, she’s been hearing whispers here and there. No, it wasn’t some ghostly whisper, rather they were gossips from the maids and stewards. She could hear them talk in the hallways from her room.
She sat up from her bed and walked over to the door to press her ear on it to hear what they were talking about. “He hasn’t been home in a week!”. “I hear he’s doing it again.”. “Oh goodness, when will he stop?”. “He’s such a disgrace.”. “He really lives up to his title as the rogue prince, huh.”.
Y/N began to become curious. Curious to know what they were talking about and curious to know who this rogue prince was. Then suddenly, chattering stopped, and frantic footsteps filled the hallways. Y/N slowly opened the door, peeking to see maids running around as if there was an emergency. Then, she let her whole-body slip through as each maid that passed by bowed to her.
Then, she spotted Kiera calmly walking by with a glass of milk for Y/N. “Kiera,”, she summoned a maid as she bowed to her. “Yes, Princess Y/N.”. “What is with all the maids panicking?”, she asked, as the maid looked down, “I’m deeply sorry, Princess Y/N, did they disturb you?”. “No, no. Not at all. I am just a little bit curious.”, she said. “Oh, well, I’m not quite sure as to why there is such a ruckus, but I have heard something about a rogue prince.”, she informed her.
Y/N’s eyes widened as she quickly ran back in to slip on a robe and run back out into the hallways. “Princess Y/N!!”, Kiera placed the glass of milk down on a table and frantically ran after her. “Who is he? Who is he? Who is he?”, it repeated in her mind as she made her way to the indoor balcony, overlooking the entrance of the palace. She leaned on the polished wooden railing and looked down at the doorway. As the maids quickly turned to walk away from the entrance, a man entered, shuffling sluggishly like he had either a few drinks, or he was tired. Or maybe both.
He was wearing a sweatshirt, his hands in his outerwear’s pocket. He was wearing sweatpants, sneakers, and his hair was dark brown and ruffled. Then at that split moment, he looked up, showing his face, as their eyes met. They were these beautiful dark brown orbs; his eyes were gorgeous. They were warm, they were welcoming, they were open—she saw through them. His nose was tall, his lips looked soft and pink, his skin looked flawless aside from the bags under his eyes and some dirt and dust on either of his cheeks. He looked… handsome.
Suddenly, all the different sounds surrounding them fell mute in their ears. They couldn’t hear a single footstep, not a single clock ticking, nor a door creaking; nothing. To them, it felt like all they could hear were each other’s heartbeats. Synchronized, fast, and thumping hard. One couldn’t explain what was happening, but they were certainly amazed. The corner of her lips started to curve into a light smile.
“So this… is the Rogue Prince?”
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your-dietician · 3 years
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'You have to just love it'
New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/sports/you-have-to-just-love-it/
'You have to just love it'
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Jazz Chisholm knows that baseball is difficult, that there remains a significant gulf he must cross to match his significant talent and overwhelming charisma to his production.
Right now, this is who Jazz is: A rookie infielder for the Miami Marlins whose stat line says his production is just above league average, but his swag suggests he’s anything but.
This is who Jazz could be: A dynamic, powerful, five-tool force, whose desire to disrupt the game could vault him atop the short list of burgeoning baseball stars with ever-elusive crossover appeal.
This is how he plans to get there: By sacrificing nothing – certainly not the vicious bat speed from his swing that ensures the home runs he does hit go very, very far. And certainly not the exuberance that vaulted him from the Bahamas to the big leagues, endearing him to fans and perhaps enabling him to join some of his athletic heroes – Kobe, LeBron, KD – as a wonder known only by one name.
And what’s the tune Jazz lives by?
“To this day,” he says, “I just always try to tell kids to be themselves. Don’t let nobody change you. You go out there and play the way you want to go play.
“That’s why I always do the crazy hair colors, I do my dances and I just have fun out there because I just want everybody to know, it’s OK to have fun on the baseball field.
“You know?”
If you don’t, you probably will soon.
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Jazz Chisholm looks on before a game against the Braves.
Mark Brown, Getty Images
‘Why not bring it into the game?’
Perhaps you found out on Opening Day, when Chisholm fulfilled a promise made to Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara. Chisholm, whose hair changes color with the ease of South Florida weather patterns, was planning a platinum blonde look.
Yet as spring training wound down and Chisholm – who debuted on Sept. 1 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 – had a shot to make his first Opening Day roster, Alcantara had a suggestion.
Make the team, he said, and you dye your hair blue.
“I said, ‘I got you,’” Chisholm recalls. “It was history from there.”
Chisholm came through, breaking camp with the squad and showing up for the opener with a tone resembling a Louie-Bloo Raspberry Otter Pop.
Perhaps you noticed a couple weeks later, when Chisholm hit his second home run of the season, a towering shot off Atlanta’s Charlie Morton, and then, befitting his significant basketball skills, debuted a euro step as he crossed home plate.
Contrived?
Nope. Just a part of his personality, reflexive as a fist bump or handshake.
“I will walk around the clubhouse euro-stepping on people,” he says. “I’ll be in front of someone and last second, I’ll give ‘em a euro, you know, like, ‘Get out of the way.’ It’s something I do all day, every day.
“So why not bring it into the game? Why not misdirect it going into home, and then step on it?”
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Chisholm has nine homers and 10 steals in 51 games.
Jasen Vinlove, USA TODAY Sports
It’s not like Chisholm is pimping home runs that scraped the top of the wall.
He is the only player this season to go deep on pitches of at least 100 mph, doing it first off the great Jacob deGrom on April 18 and then the Phillies’ Jose Alvarado a month later. He is, in fact, the only player with two such homers since pitch-tracking began in 2008.
Listed at 5-11 and 184 pounds, Chisholm – full name Jasrado Hermis Arrington Chisholm – seemingly manifested his skills by watching his grandmother play softball.
Yeah, Grandma could turn on one.
“The small person with the pop? Yeah, I think I got that from her, too,” he says.
Patricia Coakley, now 77, played on the Bahamian national softball team, and played the sport long enough for Jazz to see her compete both in slow- and fastpitch formats. He saw himself in her, from the aforementioned quick bat to the tenacious baserunning approach to her play at shortstop.
And so when Chisholm was barely old enough to hold a bat, he called dibs on the position, fully intending to never leave.
“I just loved seeing her play shortstop. I fell in love with watching her, too,” he says. “It was always like that from when I was probably 4 and 5 – just run straight to shortstop.
“Grandma’s a shortstop, I’m a shortstop.”
 Clearly, he picked an excellent role model, though there weren’t many others locally. Just eight players from the Bahamas preceded Chisholm to the majors, with infielder Andre Rodgers – who played from 1967 to ’77 – the only one to hold down anything resembling a full-time role. Antoan Richardson was the most recent, serving largely as a pinch runner from 2011 to 2014, and he’s now a coach for the San Francisco Giants.
Young Jazz focused on his grandmother’s exploits and fixated on televised games featuring Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds and Derek Jeter.
And was convinced he’d play on their level.
“I always told myself that I was going to be a big leaguer, from a very young age,” he says. “It was not really tough believing I was going to be a big leaguer.”
Chisholm played plenty of ball stateside as a child, often in Miami, and attended a prep school in Kansas for a spell, eventually signing with Arizona as an international free agent. While he’s sanguine about his own rise, he’s humbled when he ponders his impact back home.
“Every time I go to the Bahamas I see a little kid telling me, ‘Hey, you made me start playing baseball,’” he says. “It makes me smile nonstop when I hear that.”
They have a dynamic hero to follow, even if he’s an unfinished product. Chisholm is on pace to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases this season; he clubbed his ninth home run of the season Thursday night in a loss to the Washington Nationals, pushing his batting average to .258 and his OPS to .766.
With just 276 plate appearances behind him, Chisholm has room to grow. That makes him a good match for Miami, which acquired him from Arizona for pitcher Zac Gallen in 2019. “I love the people out here,” he says. “This is just the life that I feel like I was here to live. My kind of place.”
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Chisholm celebrates a home run against the Mets.
Andy Marlin, USA TODAY Sports
Fresh fish
The Marlins are 31-43 and lagging in the NL East, a pitching-centric club with a lineup that looks emaciated even within this season’s historically grim league environment.
Yet for a franchise dogged for decades by ham-handed ownership, they have a decidedly fresh feel.
They have a quietly beautiful ballpark still not yet a decade old, yet new owner Bruce Sherman bears none of the blame for bamboozling the city into a hideously bad stadium deal. In Jeter they have a CEO with star power but also patience, and the forward-thinking mentality to hire the first woman as a major league GM, the highly-regarded Kim Ng.
Alcantara and rookie lefty Trevor Rogers are worthy aces, with the injured Sixto Sanchez also capable of holding that role. At Class AA Jacksonville, pitching prospects Max Meyer and Edward Cabrera join outfielder J.J. Bleday, all consensus top 100 prospects nearing the big leagues.  
In Miami, Chisholm defers to veterans such as Jesus Aguilar and Miguel Rojas, who when healthy nudges Chisholm to second base. From a baseball standpoint, Chisholm says he goes to great lengths not to “get cocky with the veterans.”
Yet they share a desire to keep things loose, from the clubhouse to the kicks; Rojas has long used social media to amplify his shoe game, while Chisholm has donned footwear celebrating concepts as disparate as Miami Vice and Oreo cookies.
Earlier this week, he debuted a gold chain that commemorated a remarkable leaping catch against the Tampa Bay Rays.
“The Miami Marlins’ whole roster right now – you look at what they’re wearing on their feet, even down to the coaches sometimes, it’s just straight heat, I’m not going to lie,” says Chisholm. “Everybody is just into that stuff – having the swag, having fun on the field.”
 It all may seem a bit excessive for a second-division club, yet the Marlins also made the playoffs in 2020 and swept the Chicago Cubs out of them. Manager Don Mattingly says the veteran tone set by the likes of Aguilar and Rojas “helps your club create an atmosphere that guys like playing in.” He is confident Chisholm will develop greater consistency both in routine and performance, calling his development arc “pretty normal” for a first-year player.
As for Chisholm, he’s prepared for the roller-coaster the game provides. His homer Thursday broke a 15-day streak without a dinger, a period filled with too many weak ground balls. It is a hallmark of the game he chose that he might go days without making an impact, when instead of euro stepping over the plate he’s making an abrupt right turn back to the dugout.
He cannot control his fate in a manner that LeBron can or Kobe could, and if he’s given just one pitch to turn and burn on, he may very well miss it.
Chisholm knows this well and chooses not to dwell on it. Like the island kid who just knew he’d be a big leaguer some day, Chisholm may be right when he believes this game will reward his undying love for it.
“It’s not frustrating,” he says of failure, “because you know how hard the game is. It’s just like, ‘Man, I’m just praying I get another one. Give me another one.’ It’s not really like, ‘Man, I missed my only chance.’ No, because you still got two more strikes to play with. And you might get the worst swing of your life off, but it can be a hit.
“This game can really mess with your mind – because you could be hitting the ball as hard as you want every day and not get a hit. And then you can go break four bats in one day and have four hits. That’s why you have to just love it. Because even though it takes away, it gives back.
“And it gives back big.”
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Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth | Billy Hargrove x OFC
CHAPTER ONE
Andie rubs her eyes a few more times before realizing this will only make them look more red than they already are. She takes a few deep breaths and fakes a big smile to try and make it look like she hasn’t been crying. The small glass window in the door tells her it doesn’t work. She sighs. Her mother probably isn’t even home. When she walks in, the coatrack shows her she was right. Andie’s mother is barely ever home. She has ignored Andie all her life. Lois never wanted a child and she’s not ashamed of it. Andie thinks her mother is probably a gold-digger sociopath. Andie walks into her room and over to her closet. She wipes her eyes once more and decides this is the first and last time she is ever going to cry over that asshole.  She scans her closet for something clean to wear but is interrupted by loud screeching tires. She frowns and looks at the window. The screeching happens again but now a little closer. She walks up to the window and looks out into the street. At that very moment a car comes flying around the corner so fast it makes Andie jump. She’s not good with cars but she knows that this is a car only douchebags drive. It’s looks nice enough, but it almost always compensates for some sort of personality flaw in its driver. Also, the speed might be an indicator on the very same topic. The car takes another risky turn. ‘Douchebag,’ Andie mumbles to herself. She throws on a Led zeppelin tee and some jeans and decides to start walking to school as it’s now getting late. She’s exhausted.
As Andie walks onto Hawkins High School parking lot she notices the douchebag-car sitting in the driveway. Just what we need, another fucking asshole kid in school, she thinks to herself. The bell rings and she hurries on to class. The moment she enters the biology classroom her eyes lock with his. It has to be him. Surfer Ken, douchebag edition. Andie grins to herself and sits down in her usual spot, next to Richard. That’s when she notices miss Janet staring at her angrily. ‘Are you not even going to acknowledge the fact that you are late to my class, miss Mann?’ the teacher says with her loud smokers’ voice. ‘I’m sorry miss Janet my locker was jammed.’ Andie quickly makes up. Miss Janet gives her a look and continues with her story. Something about the upcoming Halloween festivities. Andie quickly loses interest and her thoughts go back to the guy sitting behind her. Andie can’t deny that he’s gorgeous. She wonders what his name is. Could she sneak another peek? No that would look ridiculous, he is sitting right behind her. A loud whisper awakes her from her thoughts. ‘Hey, Andie’ her friend Samuel sitting in front of her whispers while waving a piece of paper in her face. She grabs the paper. Something is written on it. Hang out tonight  with me n Rich? Ps. You look garbage Andie reads. She chuckles, and writes Can’t have work on the back. He reads it and shoots an angry look back at her. She shrugs. Whose Tan Ken behind me? She writes on a new note, and she throws it on Sam’s desk. After reading the note Sam snorts loudly which makes Andie do the same. Miss Janet shoots her an angry look. ‘I’m sorry’ Andie says sweetly. Sam waits until miss Janet is back to her lesson before handing the paper back. Tan Ken = Billy from California. Andie reads. That certainly explains the tan. Suddenly she feels a warm breath on her neck and a husky whisper follows. ‘You asking about me, sweetheart?’ Her heart skips a beat as she quickly crumples up the note and pretends to turn her attention back to miss Janet. She hears him chuckle as he sits back in his seat. Andie closes her eyes regretting her reaction immediately. He’s new, it’s not that weird she’s asking who he is. She should have just said something. She overreacted. The rest of the class consists mostly of Andie pretending to listen to the lesson and being way to aware of every little movement behind her. When the bell rings she bends over to put her books in her bag very slowly. When she gets back up Billy is gone.
‘What were you guys laughing about?’ Richard asks when the three of them are walking to their next class. ‘Tan Ken’ Sam says. ‘What does that mean?’ Rich asks. Andie rolls her eyes. Rich never gets jokes. ‘You know, Billy.’ Sam explains. Richard makes a sound that says he understands but you can see the gears turning in his head. ‘The new guy is hot and has a tan, Rich.’ Andie says dryly. ‘Ah’ Rich mumbles. ‘So, what are you guys doing tonight anyway?’ Andie asks. Sam has to get his books out of his locker so Andie leans against the locker next to it. She sees Billy getting his gym bag from his locker. She takes him in head to toe. He’s got long blonde curly hair and his jeans are the tightest thing Andie has ever seen. Damn. Everything about him screams confidence. His movements are almost theatrical as he seems to be aware of every step he takes and every look he gives. He says hi to Tina as she walks by, checks out her ass and licks his lips. Andie rolls her eyes. What a tool. Billy slams the locker shut. Andie stares at him shamelessly as he walks away and wonders if her ass looks as good as Billy’s. Omg you’re doing the same thing he was, idiot. She quickly focusses back on the conversation. Suddenly Nancy seems to have joined the group. ‘Thanks for the heads-up, Nancy. See you later.’ Rich says to her. She smiles and walks away. Andie frowns as Sam and Rich start walking away too. She quickly catches up. ‘Thank God Mister Johansson is sick, I did not have the energy for English today.’ Richard says. ‘Nice!’ Andie exclaims. Sam an Rich give her a confused look. They walk past Tina who is now handing out flyers in the hall. Andie walks up to her and grabs a flyer. Tina looks kind of disrupted but quickly goes back to handing them out. ‘Guys we gotta go to this thing.’ Sam grabs the flyer and frowns. ‘Really, a cheerleader party? Have we sunk this low?’ Andie grabs the flyer out of his hands. ‘I need to get shitfaced. Come on guys, you know this party is going to be crucial and I’m off Halloween night.’ She exclaims. Sam grunts. ‘Fine I’ll go but I’m going to get blackout drunk if I’m going to be surrounded by these all-American shits.’ They both look at Richard. ‘Come on Rich we need a ride,’ Andie says pleading. ‘Yea I’ll go whatever’ Richard says. Andie smiles. ‘So, is Johnny-boy joining us?’ Sam asks Andie. Andie’s face drops immediately. ‘Did something happen?’ Sam’s voice sounds worried. ‘We aren’t really going out anymore.’ Andie says in the most monotone voice she can conjure up. ‘Oh, shit dude, you guys broke up?’ Richard asks. Andie sighs. ‘Well we weren’t really together…’ Andie starts but Sam interrupts her. ‘Did something happen yesterday? You were really excited to go see that band with him.’ Andie signs again and throws her hands up. ‘Yeah, well, apparently his girlfriend likes them too.’ ‘You’re kidding’ Andie shrugs. ‘He left with her and I had to walk home. I got home just this morning hence the looking like garbage’ Sam shakes his head. ‘What a class A douchebag.’ Rich mumbles. Andie fakes a smile. ‘Well I’m going home and sleep a bit before work, talk to you later.’ She turns around just in time to hide her watery eyes and walks out.  
It’s been a very slow night at Bandito Video video-store and Andie is bored out of her mind. The nap she took gave her a surprising amount of energy, but it’s not being put to any good use. Usually around Halloween it’s busy but today is the excruciating exception. Andie has turned on the radio and is checking if the tapes are still in alphabetical order. She dances through the rows of tapes and gets a little too carried away singing along to Genesis’ That’s all when she hears a tapping noise. Her face drops and she turns to face Billy tapping a video tape on the counter with an evil grin on his face. Her face turns completely red. ‘Erm... Sorry I didn’t know... I didn’t hear you come in.’ She stutters as she walks towards the counter. WHY did she not hear him come in. She curses the gods. ‘Don’t worry, kid. It was quite the show,’ Andie puts all her energy into faking a smile ‘You know how to move, Miss Mann’. She mumbled some sort of thanks. Billy smiles. He’s leaning on the counter and his eyes shoot over Andie’s body. ‘So, you and your boyfriend know all about me, but I know nothing about you.’ ‘Sam’s not my boyfriend’ Is all Andie can think of answering. Why does she feel so flustered? ‘Good for you.’ Billy says. Studying your face with his penetrating blue eyes. ‘I figure Mann’s your last name?’ He says patiently. ‘Andie... is my name’ What is wrong with her. She needs to get a hold of herself. ‘Nice to meet you, Andie.’ He says in a low voice, smiling. ‘Listen Andie, you’re a delight but I’ve been here a while now and I’d like to take this baby home.’ He throws a copy of Sophie’s Choice on the counter. He leans forward on the counter and smirks. ‘I have a date.’ Andie raises her eyebrows, her face finally returning to its normal color. She looks at the tape and back at Billy. He’s not shy with the eye contact, but Andie is getting her confidence back now and she lets out a little chuckle. ‘I got to warn you Billy, if you’re wanting to get to 3rd base – or any sort of base for that matter- you picked the wrong movie.’ Billy frowns and leans back. ‘I would recommend something a little lighter.’ Andie continues. ‘Did I ask?’ Billy bites at her. Andie frowns. He grabs the tape and throws some cash on the counter. ‘Continue your howling.’ Billy says before walking out, leaving Andie standing in the store with a stunned look on her face. ‘Asshole’ Andie mumbles at him.
‘I don’t know where he gets off acting like that, but the boy has some serious mood-swings.’ Andie concludes her re-telling of the events of the night before.’ ‘So, Lisa is coming tonight.’ Andie looks at Sam, raises her eyebrows and looks back at Rich. Speaking of assholes, I guess, she thinks. ‘Really?’ Rich answers Sam. ‘The infamous Lisa...’ Sam rolls his eyes. The three of them are sitting at a table in the school library thinking of what to wear to the Halloween party tonight. ‘Come on guys, could you at least pretend that you like my girlfriend?’ Sam asks. Andie leans forward. ‘Would she be willing to go as Viv Savage?’ Rich snorts loudly. Sam shoots her an angry look. ‘What?’ Andie asks as she throws her hands up dramatically. ‘What’s wrong with Viv Savage?’ ‘We’re not doing Spinal Tap, Andie’ Sam says, ‘I’m going to go’ and he gets up. ‘Oh, come on, Sam.’ Andie grabs his arm and pulls him back into his seat. ‘I was just joking. It’ll be fun to see her again. We’ll go as something else’ She’s lying. Lisa is a stuck up jealous girl who hates Andie. And Andie really likes the Spinal Tap idea. ‘We’re way too late to make anything good anyway. Halloween is tonight.’ Sam says. ‘Let’s just not dress up, Andie, and I really do have to go. Bye guys.’ Sam gets up and walks out. ‘Did I do something?’ Rich asks with a confused look on his face. Andie sighs as she leans back in her chair. ‘Sam is in denial. Lisa would make a wonderful Viv Savage.’ Billy enters the library, but Andie doesn’t notice. ‘Can’t we just do a two-person Spinal Tap?’ Rich asks. Andie smiles. ‘That’s more like it, dude’ She starts singing Hell Hole and Rich joins in.
‘Ain't got no future
Ain't got no past
And I don't think….’
Rich sees Billy coming towards them and stops singing. He motions to Andie to stop but she doesn’t notice it and keeps going. ‘You really just have to stop serenading me sweetheart. It’s starting to embarrass me.’ Andie nearly falls off her chair. Billy walks out of the library and gives her a wink over his shoulder. She hears him laughing loudly as the doors close behind him. Andie grunts, puts her hands over her face and smacks it down on the table. She yells something incoherent. ‘What?’ Rich asks carefully. She lifts her face back up ‘WHY does this keep happening!’ She yells. An angry librarian appears from behind a bookcase. ‘Quiet’ She hisses. Andie throws her head back on the table. Rich pets her back. ‘There, there. It was only slightly mortifying’ Andie gets up and straightens her back. ‘Okay, change of plans I’m going as a slutty something tonight.’ She says. ‘That hot guy keeps seeing me on my worst and I have got to do something about it. It’s a primal thing. And it needs to happen.’ Andie nods, grabs her bag and walks out leaving behind a very confused Rich. ‘Slutty Spinal Tap?’ He yells after her. The librarian pops her head out again and Rich shoots her an apologetic look before quickly running out too.
That night the cold surprises Andie. She pulls her collar up and walks a little faster than she usually does to warm herself up. When she turns the corner to Richs house she almost bumps into the local chief. ‘Careful, kid’ He says to her after grabbing her shoulders to avoid collision. ‘Sorry’ Andie mumbles when he lets her go and she quickly moves on down the street. When she looks back over her shoulder Chief Hopper is still looking at her, but she can’t tell his expression. She turns back and makes a frustrated noise. When her father had just died, Andie would try everything to get her mother to just speak to her. But while she wants nothing more than a loving mother, Lois is obviously not capable of it. A couple years after her father’s heart-attack, when Andie was eleven, before deciding that trying to get her mother’s attention wasn’t worth it, she had had a bit of a public meltdown. Usually on her birthday her mother would give her some money and tell her to take her friends to the movies. That year she forgot Andes birthday. If that would happen nowadays Andie would just shrug it off but when you’re eleven your birthday is the most important day of the year. She went to school and when her teacher congratulated her she started crying and screaming and would not stop. Chief Hopper was called. He calmed her down and paid for a trip to the movies afterwards. She was just a kid then but Andie to this day feels so embarrassed about it. They haven’t really spoken since, but he always looks at her as if it happened yesterday.
‘Finally!’ Rich yells at her when she walks up his driveway. ‘Oh, please, I’m five minutes late.’ She says as she gets in the car. She buckles up and looks over her shoulder at Sam and Lisa in the backseat. ‘Hey, Lisa, how are ya.’ Lisa is dressed as a cat, and Sam is wearing an eyepatch, so he’s probably gone for last-minute pirate. Lisa mumbles a ‘Hi’ back at Andie and looks out the window. Andie turns back and gives Rich a knowing look. Rich shrugs and takes off. ‘What are you supposed to be, Rich?’ Andie asks him. ‘I’m a porn star, obviously.’ He has glued on a big moustache and is not wearing a shirt. ‘I have a cucumber in my pants.’ He adds. Andie laughs. ‘Genius. I wish I’d thought of that.’ Rich chuckles. ‘And you? Did you find a slutty thing to be?’ Andie nods her head. ‘I felt empty without my pop-culture reference, so I compromised.’ She puts on her sunglasses. ‘I’m slutty terminator.’ She has slicked back her shoulder-length dark-blonde hair and is wearing a leather coat with a lacy bralette underneath and waist-high leather pants. ‘Well it’s working girl,’ Rich says. ‘I guess she left her self-respect at home’ Lisa says to Sam. Andie turns around again. ‘I’m sitting right here, Lisa. And I respect myself plenty thanks for your concern.’ ‘You look like a prostitute.’ ‘Excuse me?’ ‘Come on, Lisa, be nice.’ Sam warns her. ‘Of course you’d take her side.’ Lisa mumbles. Andie turns back around and sighs. Lisa and Sam continue arguing in the back. ‘Step on in, Rich, we need to get to the alcohol.’ Andie says to Rich. This was promising to be a long night.
Tina’s Halloween Bash is already off to a good start when Andie and her friends get there. Andie walks straight to the punch bowl and throws back a cup-full. Damn that’s strong. She raises her empty cup to Sam who is walking towards her. ‘Sorry about Lisa. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken her.’ Sam yells over the music. Andie shrugs. ‘As long as you keep her at least ten feet away from me at all times we should be fine.’ Andie yells back. She smiles at him and he smiles back. He walks back to Lisa. Andie spots Rich talking to some people from the basketball team and scans the crowd for familiar faces. She hears loud shouting coming from outside and then people are chanting Billy’s name. Andie frowns. She decides she is not nearly drunk enough for this and fills up her cup again. She walks over to Rich and crosses paths with a very wired looking Billy. He is not wearing a shirt and his chest is glistening with either sweat or beer. Or both. He looks amazing. She joins the conversation with some of the basketball boys but follows Billy with her eyes. He seems to have some sort of stare-down with former king-of-douche Steve Harrington. Andie turns her attention to Rich who is trying to explain to the group that he doesn’t have a boner, it’s part of the costume. Andie throws her drink back and starts dancing. It’s actually a really good party and Andie is having a blast. She talks to some people, has a few more drinks, dances some more and has a few more drinks. She is hanging outside for a bit when Rich says ‘Let’s dance some more.’ She agrees. They walk in the room just in time to see Nancy spill a full cup of punch all over herself. She storms off into the bathroom and Steve goes after her. Andie slurs something incoherent. The booze is hitting her hard. Rich asks what she’s saying and Andie yells ‘Trouble in paradise’ in his ear. He still doesn’t understand her, but he just nods, and they start dancing. She doesn’t know why but she keeps trying to spot Billy and every time she does he is staring at her from across the room with an unidentifiable look in his eyes. While she feels like she should be uncomfortable because of his shameless staring, she isn’t. It turns her on.
The next hour is a bit of a blur of some more knocking back drinks and dancing. For a while Andie gets completely lost in the music, until Rich is dancing up behind her and Andie notices him getting unusually close. She frowns but she is feeling pretty wound up and doesn’t make a move to stop him yet. She tries to find Billy in the room while she feels an arm wrapping around her waist pulling her closer. He must be even more wasted than I am. Andie thinks to herself. She is about to push him off her when suddenly she sees Rich on the other side of the room, talking to some girl. A warm panic washes over her. She pulls the arm off her waist and turns around looking straight into Billy’s eyes. A wave of an entirely different feeling hits her. He is even more mesmerizing up close. He has a look of concentration on his face. There is something else in his eyes but she can’t quite place it. He grabs her hands and puts them around his neck. She complies. He wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her tightly against his naked chest. He’s strong. This is way too intimate for a dance with someone you barely know, but it doesn’t feel weird. Andie is completely relaxed in his arms. She recognizes the look in his eyes. Lust. A couple feet away from them Sam is dancing with Lisa. ‘I just don’t get it. This afternoon she was talking about how much of an asshole he is and now she’s dancing with him like they are prom king and queen.’ Sam says. ‘Sometimes I just really don’t understand her.’ Lisa stops dancing and pulls his arms off her. ‘Really? You are going to talk about her?’ She yells at him. Sam sighs. ‘I’m just worried about my friend, she’s acting out of character.’ Lisa makes a frustrated noise and walks outside. Sam follows her yelling apologies. Andie doesn’t notice any of this. She and Billy are grinding up against each other and she feels the heat radiating between them. She moves her face a little closer to his and they are inches away from their lips touching. ‘You look fantastic.’ He whispers to her with the hoarse voice of a drunk man. She feels his breath on her lips and tilts her head slightly. ‘You don’t look too bad yourself.’ She whispers back. For a moment they are going in for a kiss, but someone bumps into them and Billy gets pulled away immediately by his drunk friends cheering him on to do something beer related. As soon as his warmth leaves her, confusion hits Andie. She feels her head spin and stumbles to the back door for some fresh air.
She sits down on a chair and takes a few deep breaths. She slowly realizes what just happened and at that moment Lisa approaches her. ‘You need to stay away from my boyfriend!’ She is slurring at Andie while walking straight at her. ‘Billy?’ Andie mumbles confused. Lisa grabs her by her jacket and pulls her onto her feet. Andie now understands that whatever this is about, it’s not a fun conversation. ‘What are you doing, Lisa?’ She yells while pushing her off. Lisa slaps Andie hard in the face. Andie gasps and starts seeing red. She grabs Lisa by the arm and punches her straight in the face. She falls back but immediately gets back up and jumps onto Andie who falls to the ground. Lisa starts hitting and scratching Andie’s face while screaming. Andie pushes her off and on her back. She straddles her and starts punching Lisa in the face over and over until she feels two strong arms around her waist pulling her off. Billy has lifted her off the ground. Sam appears out of nowhere and crouches besides Lisa. Andie is flailing her arms around her, screaming every curse-word she can think of at Lisa. She elbows Billy in the face. His grip slips for a moment but he quickly recovers and pulls her inside. ‘Motherfucker!’ Andie yells over and over. 
Billy takes her into the bathroom and lets her go. She lunches at the door, but he pushes her back. She falls on the floor. ‘Jesus, calm down Andie,’ he says to her, frowning, as he leans against the door. This does not calm her down. ‘What the fuck are you doing.’ She says, her voice trembling with anger. Billy shushes her. ‘You have got to calm down.’ He repeats. She grabs the sink and pulls herself up. ‘Move’ She yells at him. ‘Relax, Andie’ He says. She goes to punch him, but he blocks her hand and pushes her back again. She stumbles and turns around. She puts her hands on her hips and takes some deep breaths. That fucking bitch. She closes her eyes and bends forward. She stands like that for a while until her breathing returns to normal. ‘Jesus Christ’ She mumbles as she drops her hands and turns to face Billy. He has crossed his arms and is smiling. ‘Is this funny to you?’ Andie asks him. She grabs a shampoo bottle and throws it at his face. He dodges it and starts laughing. Andie lets out a chuckle. ‘It was sexy.’ Billy says when he’s done laughing. Andie frowns. ‘That’s kind of degrading’ She mumbles. ‘Oh, come on, that was some seriously hot girl-on-girl action. Also, you elbowed me in the face.’ He says, moving his hand up to a red spot next to his eye, ‘Kind of hot,’ he adds, and he gives her a seductive smile. They stare at each other for a bit. He is caressing his lips with his thumb. He looks rest-less. Another moment passes. ‘You still angry?’ He asks her in a low voice. ‘Hell yeah.’ She hisses. He walks up to her like a predator to its prey. Andie feels a rush coming over her. Billy grabs her head between his hands and looks her in her eyes. He has the same wild look in his eyes as before and Andie feels her rage mixing with lust. She wants him. ‘Billy…’ Andie starts but she is cut off by Billy pressing his lips against hers. Her lips sting from Lisa’s scratches and Andie resists for a spilt second but then gives in and they start making out frantically. It’s a passionate and angry kiss. He tangles a hand in her hair and puts his other arm around her. She puts her hands on his chest and moves them around to his back under his jacket digging his nails into his back. He makes a growling noise and pulls her head back by her hair, breaking the kiss. It hurts but she doesn’t care. She grunts. He licks and kisses her throat and then her neck. He lets her hair go and wraps his arms around her pulling her tightly against him. She bites his neck softly, moves her head back and licks his lips. He lifts her off her feet and starts moving towards the door. They kiss again as they crash against the door. She wraps his legs around his waist and he starts grinding against her. She moans into his mouth as she feels his jeans rubbing against her. He grunts softly. They keep going like this for a while until Billy sets her back on the ground and takes a step back. He smiles at her licking his lips and panting and she smiles back at him. At that moment Andie hears Rich calling her name. She closes the distance and gives Billy a slow, deep kiss. She pulls away, and goes to open the door. Billy frowns. He grabs her arm. ‘What are you doing?’. He asks with a hoarse voice. Andie frowns. ‘Time to go.’ She mumbles, and she opens the door. She goes to walk through it, but Billy doesn’t let go of her arm. ‘Let go.’ She warns him. ‘We were just getting to the good stuff’ He says, licking his lips. He pulls her back, but she resists ‘Let go, Billy, you’re drunk and you’re hurting my arm.’ Andie says. He lets go, and she drops to the floor. Suddenly a dizzy spell hits her, and she feels like she is going to pass out. She panics and cries out something incoherent. Billy realizes they’re not having fun anymore. He pulls her back on her feet and she pushes him. He frowns and lets her go and she stumbles out the door straight into Rich. ‘There you are, are you okay?’ He asks her. All the emotions of tonight are starting to take their toll on her. ‘Please take me home.’ She says. Rich frowns looking passed her at a very strung-out looking Billy. ‘Yeah, of course, let’s go.’
CHAPTER TWO
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akiraxsato · 7 years
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01 / BASICS
Full Name: Akira Sato  Nickname: None. At least, none that he actually likes. Birthday: November 12 Gender: Cis-Male Sexual Orientation: Bisexual Astrological Sign: Scorpio Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Birthplace: New York, New York Relationship Status: Single
02/ PHYSICAL TRAITS
Hair Color/Style: Black hair, pretty close cut, and styled eternally in ‘I woke up this way’ messy chic. Eye Color: Brown Face Claim: Sen Mitsuji Height: 6′5″ Tattoos: None Piercings: None Unique Attributes: Akira has track marks on his arms, which he hides under long sleeves, no matter the weather. He left pinky finger is a little crooked. He broke it as a kid.
03 / PERSONALITY TRAITS/TYPES
Positive Traits: Passionate, Charismatic, Personable Negative Traits: Secretive, Restrained, Private Hobbies/Interests: Exy. It’s honestly the only thing Akira puts his all and then some into. What little down time Akira has outside of school and Exy is usually filled with food and sleeping. When he does take time off he likes to read and he’s not half bad at most racing games. He’s got a base interest in cars, not enough to really consider it a hobby but he’s not shy about approaching a stranger to talk specs if he sees a car he particularly likes. Insecurities: Anything that reminds him of his days in LA. Doesn’t matter if it’s about his early days or his TV career just thinking about it makes Akira start second guess himself. He knows he made the wrong choice back then, but he’s unsure if it has set the tone for what he wants to do now. Everybody outside of his family and his team seem to think he’ll never be anything more than Justin Kimura. And on his darker days he can’t help but wonder if maybe this Exy dream of his was over the minute he said yes to that damn movie. Quirks/Eccentricities: He picks his nails. Constantly. It’s worse when he’s nervous. Been a habit of his ever since he was a kid. Guy hasn’t had any nails in ages. Akira has a habit of trying to pay for all the things. Take the team out to dinner, he’ll want to pick up the tab. He’s offered to pay for the team’s air travel on numerous occasions. Wymack, has refused. Other than that Akira is pretty frugal with his money. Not because he wants to save it, but mostly because he doesn’t want to flaunt it, lest it remind him or anyone around him how he earned it. The only lavish thing Akira owns outside of his wardrobe is his car. That Volvo is is baby. MBTI Type: ESFJ Enneagram Type: The Achiever (Type 3) Moral Alignment: Neutral Good Temperament: Sanguine
04 / FAMILY & HOME
Immediate Family: Kathrine Monroe (Mother), Ken Sato (Father), Naomi Sato (Sister, 17), Mai Sato (Sister, 15) How do they feel about their family?: Akira loves his family. He’s always loved them, even on the days they get on his nerves. If his family needed him he’d fly up to New York at the next available opportunity. He’s always been a very family oriented sort of guy. And his sisters? Super protective. Especially nowadays. The people that break their hearts will rue the day. He thinks of his sisters, albeit younger than him, some of his best friends. He talks to them often. He likes flying home on school holidays to spend time with them and always has seats saved for them at his games, even if they can’t always attend. Things with his parents since getting out of rehab have been good, not great, but good. He can feel them watching him with bated breath and a big part of his drive these days is that he hopes that some day they’ll be able to relax. He’s always been close to Mai and nothing between them has changed much. He probably texts her the most out of the two. She wants to play Exy too, already enrolled in intramural teams as a backliner. Things with Naomi have been tense since rehab. He’s not sure why but he’s giving her the space she needs. How does their family feel about them?: His parents worry about him. They’re constantly watching him, worried he’ll start to slip back down the slope the barely managed to pull him up. They love him and the love the life he’s creating for himself out at Palmetto. They’re his number one supporters. (Mai stole his home jersey once so she could wear it to school for pride day. He let her keep it, much to Wymack’s dismay. Orange jerseys are expensive.) His mother worries he pushes himself too hard but she’s never brought this up with him. She feels so long as he isn’t hurting himself again what can it hurt? Mai adores him. She’s picked up exy because of him and she loves going to his games when she’s allowed to. Naomi loves him, is glad he’s okay, but she’s a little miffed he opted to leave the LA scene. With a brother like Akira Sato she was popular and she loved it. His fall from glory and perpetual disappearance from the world was a big hit to Naomi’s school cred and she’s not quite been able to forgive him for it yet. Pets: None. Dad is allergic to anything with fur. Although Akira has always wanted a dog. Where do they live?: New York, New York Description of their home: Very modern. Very lived in. His dad has always been a fan of white and black, sleek edges, exposed support structures, and glossy surfaces. Their apartment is full of that kind of thing. His mother, however, tries her best to soften all those edges with colors and patterns. The walls have family photos all over them and a few random pieces from his mom’s family home. Most flat surfaces not covered in the usual clutter of five person family life, are filled with color decorations. Origami flowers in neon in a vase on the rarely used fireplace. Carnival glass bowls filled with sweet smelling potpourri. Akira’s room reflects his mother’s tastes. He painted the walls blue years ago and the walls are plastered with exy posters and band posters. His sister’s rooms are more modern but they like color just as much as their mother. It’s a weird style but it works for the Satos. A strange kind of mishmash of Japanese and American life.  Description of their bedroom: Akira’s room is painted this light sort of blue. He painted it himself so up near the ceiling there are a few spots of white. But you can hardly see the color of the walls anymore. Exy posters, band posters, and a handful of car posters are plastered all over his room. The only surface not covered by posters is the back of his door. Which is pocket marked and scuffed from all the times he’s kicked it closed or bounced a ball off of  it. His bed is shoved against the wall across from the door, barely giving the door enough room to open. There’s a dresser shoved next to his closet. The closet is for exy gear, the dresser for actual clothes. The floor is a light hardwood but it’s clearly been well worn and abused. It is, however, clean. The top of his dress is littered with all sorts of things. Mostly books and extra racket strings. Charging cables. It acts as kind of a catch all for shit in his pockets. He doesn’t have a desk, just a CD/DVD rack in a corner. Dusty. He hasn’t lived in the room much lately but it’s always got this lived in kind of vibe. The bed is rarely made, the clothes hamper has a shirt draped over the edge. An old pair of tennis shoes is half exposed under the bed. His bedding is boring, solid colored and no pattern but there is a misshapen pillow at the head of his bed that’s the most garish collection of colors and patterns. Naomi made it for him in Home Economics class for him.
05/ THIS OR THAT
Introvert or Extrovert? Depends on who he’s with. Although e tends to be pretty extroverted. Optimist or Pessimist? Optimist. Most days. Leader or Follower? Leader Confident or Self-Conscious? Confident Cautious or Careless? Cautious Passionate or Apathetic? Passionate Book Smarts or Street Smarts? Book Smart Compliments or Insults? Compliments 
06 / FAVORITES
Favorite Color: Blue, but he’s pretty partial to orange these days. Favorite Clothing Style/Outfit: Casual. Akira rarely puts much thought into what he’s wearing unless he’s making a rare public appearance or is going someplace that requires something a little more fancy than his usual stuff. Favorite Bands/Songs/Type of Music: Akira likes most all music. He’s really fond of instrumental things however. The only music he can’t stand is country. Favorite Movies: Akira really likes The First Court but saying that makes him feel conceited. He usually goes with Beeltejuice or The Incredibles. Favorite Books: Akira doesn’t really have a favorite book as an adult that’s not sports related. As a kid though he did read the Harry Potter books at least three times through. Favorite Foods/Drinks: Akira loves a good cheese burger and fries. Top that off with a cherry coke and you’ve got the trifecta of Akira’s idea of a good cheat day. Favorite Sports/Sports Teams: Akira loves exy and only exy. He follows the pro teams pretty closely but the one who has the most of his attention by far is the Japanese team. They’re his favorite, for numerous reasons. Favorite Time of Day: Late afternoon Favorite Weather/Season: Fall, cold enough for a jacket but no cold enough for a heavy one. He’s pretty fond of a light drizzling rain too. Favorite Animal: Elephants
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tacitusauxilium · 4 years
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Unforeseen Circumstances // Chapter 07
Unrequited love is the most painful thing to feel, and yet, Fuuka is persuaded to try her hands at getting Junpei’s attention, no matter what. However, after multiple failed attempts, what will she do when she catches the eye of the boy with the maroon peacoat? The heartache that comes with falling in love might even be more than she bargained for.
September 14th
After a long couple hours of watching food being cooked by Shinjiro, and enjoying the delicious food he made, Fuuka, and the others, were as happy as they could be. Minako must have convinced him to do a little get together with everyone—even Mitsuru and Ken were pleased with the results. She looked down at the hand, still a bit sad that it hasn't started healing yet, but knew that it took patience—it was a bit difficult to write up notes or do homework. She laid her hand in her lap as she saw Minato coming her way. She tilted her head sideways as she could see him stopping behind her chair and a smiled appeared in his lips.
Fuuka felt herself being a bit more closer to Minato any day she had free—she even had something to give him, so now it'll be the best time as everyone was full and tired. "What is it?" She asked as she watched him reach for her good hand and held her close as Koromaru began laying down and Ken gaging with his finger pointing to his tongue off at the side.
"I want to talk to you—could we go to your room?" He asked as Fuuka felt her cheeks heating up. A quick nod and within minutes they were heading to Fuuka's room. Minako, after washing her face and heading downstairs to use the shower, saw that she watched Fuuka unlock her door to her room and saw her twin brother heading in with her. She let out a small gasp as she heard the door shut quietly and the lock clicking in place. Minako walked back into her room, unable to believe she was with Minato. She swore that she was admiring Shinjiro more than her brother—Minato wasn't a bad brother at all, just that he got possessive, even though he was a silent leader.
Minako bit her lip as she didn't see them come out for another minute or two. She was trying her hardest to get them together—Shinjiro and Fuuka that is—and frowned as she worried that Shinjiro would find out. She knew she had to go to someone whom she believed might be able to help her out. She grabbed her bath stuff and new clothes as she tipped toed passed a Fuuka's bedroom and flew down the stairs towards the boy's door she wanted to knock on. "Akihiko-senpai? Could I come in and talk to you?"
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Fuuka felt the tension slowly diffuse around them as she explained she had a gift for him. Minato raised an eyebrow as he saw a Fuuka with a pair of headphones—silver mixed in with a tint of baby blue. They looked sharp and Fuuka smiled at him.
"I made these—I knew your current pair was…probably worn from wear and tear. And thought you might like these." She stated as Minato began to put them to his ear while he unplugged the old ones from his MP3 player and plugged the new ones in. His eyes grew in amazement.
"Fuuka…the sound on these is amazing!" He could hear every little instrument, as if they were made to be the most expensive pair, and yet they were free. Minato threw his old pair into her trash can and saw her cheeks heating up.
"I know I'm not really feminine, aren't I?" She whispered as she played with the end of her skirt, feeling nervous all of a sudden. "And this is just something I like to do on my spare time—I thought of you and knew you'd like them."
Minato walked over to her and put his arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace. "So? This is who you are. I hope you keeping doing what you love." He whispered as he put his hands on the top of her head, watching as she looked up at him. "I hope you could teach me everything you know."
Fuuka felt her heart picking up as she saw their eyes locked onto each other. Her breath seemed to be caught in her throat—she wondered if she could convey what she felt before it was too late. In a blink of an eye, she felt Minato's lips on hers—soft, and small plump lips on her own made her barrier come down as she didn't worry about anything or anyone.
But, deep in her mind, her thoughts did come across Shinjiro, and even Junpei a bit—she was the first to remove her lips as she looked at how determined Minato was. "Minato…"
"I don't care if you like Junpei—"
"He doesn't like me."
Fuuka quickly inserted before Minato continued onward. Minato was a bit startled at how quick Fuuka responded to that rumor in a heartbeat. "Chidori?"
"Chidori."
"Ah." He nodded as he cupped her cheek tenderly, being as suave as he could. Minato never wanted to play the second man—he felt more like a man to lead. It seemed to be something that was thrusted upon himself most of the time. "Do you want to talk about it?"
She thought for a moment. "I do, but I would rather think of you at a time like this. Junpei is with Chidori, he likes her, and I have stopped chasing him." She explained as she wrapped her arms around his neck, which made Minato wrap his arms around her waist and waited for her move. She began to think briefly about Shinjiro and the dream of him kissing her forehead—she didn't realize it happened in reality. Losing blood makes you a bit loopy and exhausted. "I have no qualms with you."
Minato took that as his cue and carefully maneuvered Fuuka towards her bed and laid her down gently. "Fuuka, I promise, that I won't hurt you in any way. You have been so precious to me that I cannot see you in such a negative light." He removed his uniform jacket and tossed it aside. "I'll be sure to love you like no one has."
Fuuka was speechless—she heard rumors of him sweet talking his way with Yukari and Chihiro, then again they were just rumors. Her cheeks were stained a bright, red color, looking like a tomato. She could see Minato move toward her lips, one leg in between her own pair of legs, as he slithered up towards her as Fuuka wrapped her arms around his neck. Their lips touched and Fuuka was in bliss.
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Akihiko opened the door to his room, seeing a nerve-wracked Minako waiting for him. "Minako? Is everything okay?" She shook her head as she barged in and closed the door, locking it herself as she turned to put her stuff on Akihiko's desk and turned to face him. Her face covered in worry, a couple beads of sweat running down her neck, and she felt like she was having a panic attack.
"Listen, wh-whatever I say to you, right now, in this room, cannot leave this room." Minako pulled his desk chair out from said desk and sat down in it. She looked as if she was writ with anxiety. Akihiko nodded slowly, reaching for one of his protein shakes and sat down on the bed. "And you cannot tell Shinjiro. I don't want him to be angry and start a fight."
Akihiko's eyes grew, not knowing what she could be meaning. "Well? What is it?"
Minako let out a big heavy sigh. "Okay, first off: have you noticed that Shinjiro is more… what's the word… relaxed and a bit happier? Maybe not happier but as if some weight has been lifted off his shoulders?"
"Has he? He seems too busy to hang out with me but once a week, if I'm lucky." He sipped his shake and put it down afterwards on his side table by his bed. "I thought that was because of you. Not that I am hating the idea of him being friendly."
Minako smiled. "Well, yes I might be like…20% of the reason why, but Fuuka-chan is the other 80%." She stayed as he could see Akihiko's eyebrows raise in surprise. "N-now, they are both very friendly to one another—he did help her how to fix her beef stroganoff the other day. And I don't know what Fuuka is saying or doing—doubtful of her doing anything, she seems so shy—but have you noticed how stronger Shinjiro has been in battle?"
Akihiko nodded as he started to get up and moved towards Minako, his hand placed firmly on his desk. "No kidding—critical attacks, more outgoing and confident with his Persona—so Yamagishi is the cause? …" he paused for a moment to let the gears in his head start to turn. "In battle, she does well in keeping our energy going. Just, maybe Shinji is actually listening?"
Minako shook her head as she looked up at Akihiko. "Yes and no. She's got more confident in her skills, too. Have you notice Oracle hasn't been failing us? Like we are getting more energy back quicker and faster. I think it's ten-fold." She mentioned as she held up her finger before Akihiko could speak. "That's in battle though. I think there is something going on between those two. But I cannot pinpoint what it is. The way they talk to each other, seemed more than acquaintances. And…" she looked up at Akihiko and lowered her finger, "…when she hurt her hand, Shinjiro was quick to her aid and it was amazing, like he knew what to do and how to handle everything so calmly!"
Minako felt herself getting worked up—she had to take a breath and put her elbow on his desk and her chin in her hand. "So, why is that a problem?" Akihiko asked as Minako sighed and lowered her eyes to her feet.
"Because I just saw my brother walking into Fuuka's room, alone, and I heard the locked click. …" she whispered as Akihiko leaned against his desk. "…I don't know what to say or do—what if Shinjiro finds out?"
Akihiko crossed his arms, unsure of what to say. He just started a relationship with Minako a month ago, around after the full moon battle in August. Akihiko was just trying to get used to the idea of love much less anything else.
"Why don't you keep an eye on him? I mean, I already try that, but he seems more warmed up to you." He stated as he kept his back to Minako. "You can keep him cool if he does find out. Then again," he turned to face Minako, a small smile on his lips, "wouldn't expect Shinji to be so fond of Yamagishi."
Then again, she reminds me... ...of Miki. ...just a little bit... Akihiko thought silently, wondering if that was the main reason they were always by each other's side. It made him wonder what would've happen if Miki really was alive and saw this happening.
"I know, right? I'm all for Fuuka finding someone after Junpei basically denied all of her outings—"
"Ohhhhh, so that's why Yamagishi was asking for Junpei." A lightbulb went off in Akihiko's head, his brain connecting the neurons. "…but, she's with Arisato in her room."
"Yeeeeeep. Now you see why I am worried?"
Akihiko nodded and reached for his boxing gloves. "I'm not worried because he is in her room." Minako blinked, wondering what he could ever mean. "I'm worried because it sounds like Yamagishi invited your brother to her room. Not the other way around. If you think those two have something in common, Shinji and Yamagishi, then it would probably be a kick in the chest if he saw those two leaving at the same time." He frowned as he began to lace up his gloves and kept his body from facing Minako. "And Shinji usually keeps his anger to himself--hopefully, he still does."
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If one would to look at the monitors on the fourth floor, and peered into Fuuka's bedroom, they would see that their arms and limbs were a tangled mess, just like their clothes on the floor. Minato's hair stuck to his face as he had to catch his breath—he was only clad in his pants as Fuuka was laying there in only her bra and panties. Fuuka laid her arm on her forehead, wondering how something so sinful could feel so good.
"Are you okay?" Fuuka asked Minato as she sat up slowly reaching in to kiss his neck. "It would be a shame to end it just now." She whispered as she nibbled on his neck, determined to have her way with him, if he didn't mind.
He nodded as he wiped his forehead of sweat. "Yeah—guess I needed this as badly as you did, Fuuka." Minato stated as he let out a moan with his head slightly leaning back, letting out a chuckle. "You don't get to have all the fun!" Fuuka gasped as she was grabbed by her hands, a giggle escaping her lips, as Minato laid her back down and let his eyes roam up and down her petite frame.
Minato began to lean forward as his eyes caught a glimpse of her right hand where the laceration a few days ago appeared. He then become concerned as Fuuka turned her head and Minato sat back up again. "What happened to your hand?" He asked as his eyes filled with worry. "Did you get hurt when we went to Tartarus?"
She shook her head. "No no." She sat up with him, her cheeks pink with warmth. "I was putting up some glasses and I fell and got a decent sized cut." She mentioned as Minato showed concern in his eyes. "But don't worry! Minako-chan helped clean up the glass and Shinjiro-senpai fixed me up—"
Minato's eyes turned dark once she brought up Shinjiro. And with that smile on her face, it seemed like it wasn't a big deal to her. " 'Shinjiro-senpai'? Is that what you are calling him now?" He uttered with a taste of anger on his lips. "What happened with calling him by his last name?" Minato felt his heart was already overcome by jealously and aching in anger.
Fuuka could sense the hostility in Minato's voice. She looked at him as if she just got slapped in the face. "M-Minato…?" Fuuka felt herself move quickly away. His eyebrows were lowered and small winkles appeared between his eyebrows. "H-he is just…"
"Just what, Fuuka?" He spat at her, her heart breaking as she sat there speechless. She couldn't understand why all the boys she cared for seemed to get angry over the name "Shinjiro". A long silence passed as Minato lowered his head and let out a laughter filled with frustration. "…I wanted to make love to you and what—you've fallen for him!" Minato got off the bed and began searching for his clothes off the floor.
"What makes you think I have?!" Fuuka exclaimed as she felt his cold eyes back on her.
"Because I can feel it when you were kissing me!"
Fuuka winced as she wasn't as experienced as she hoped for, but those words stun her into more silence. He almost yelled those words for everyone in the dorm to hear them. Minato found his dress shirt, putting it on haphazardly, and shook his head. "What the hell am I doing? Should've known that you'd be…" he spoke to himself, stopping before he called her something he shouldn't. He kept his back to her and went to the door. Fuuka got up off the bed, still clad in panties and her bra, as she felt tears stinging her eyes.
I should've stayed with Yukari--what an idiot I am!
"M-Minato—"
"Don't. Don't 'Minato' me. Don't suck face with me when you are thinking of Shinjiro." He opened the door, after yelling that last statement a bit loudly, and slammed the door harshly. Fuuka covered her lips, her body trembling as she slumped to her knees and reached for her clothes, tears blurring her vision.
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Minako and Akihiko moved towards the stairway and heard Minato yelling out to Fuuka and then the door was slammed hard; they flinched in sync. Minako covered her lips as she put a hand on Akihiko's shoulder and shook her head. They both heard Minato letting out a heavy sigh as they could hear his footsteps coming towards the stairs. Minako moved her index finger to her lips as they both turned around slowly and saw Shinjiro coming up the stairs from the first floor.
Minako froze, along with Akihiko at her side, as Shinjiro blinked a few times and climbed to the second floor as he crossed his arms. "Just what are you two do—?"
Minato stopped as he was a few steps away from the second floor as he saw Shinjiro coincidentally on the same floor as him. Minako and Akihiko moved away carefully as Shinjiro seemed to feel confused. The silence was deafening as Minato button up his shirt, keeping his eyes trained on Shinjiro. Minako reached for Akihiko's sleeve as she didn't know who was going to respond first.
"What are you looking at?" Minato spat at Shinjiro as he pulled up his zipper on his pants. Shinjiro's eyes squinting as he saw Minato was getting dressed right in front of him. Literally. He buttoned up his shirt only two buttons before Shinjiro spoke to him.
"Why are you giving me attitude?"
Minato huffed, letting out a "tch" as he fixed his hair and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "I don't know. Why don't you ask your little girlfriend upstairs?"
Shinjiro turned to Minako, as she looked back at him, noticing that only Akihiko was with her—Mitsuru and Yukari were busy, he assumed, and Aigis must have been in her room anyway, so he thought of Fuuka instantly. "What did you do?" He carefully said, venom leaking from his words as he moved carefully towards the male twin. Akihiko moved quickly between them, Minako right behind, as he put his hand on Shinjiro's chest.
"Shinji, not now."
"Oh, I didn't do nothing to her. She's just two-faced—" he turned towards Minako and glared at her, "—better watch out: she might take Sanada-senpai, too." Shinjiro felt some anger in the pit of his stomach—he didn't know what it was, but it made him sick to hear how he spoke so badly about Fuuka. Akihiko still kept his hand on Shinjiro's chest as Minato walked by cooly. "Oh," Minato turned towards Shinjiro, a devilish grin upon his lips, "while she was making out with me, she only wanted you. Can't fuck Junpei, doesn't want to fuck me—she wants someone who kisses her boo-boos and make her feel better. Guess she needs a father in her life to screw some sense into her."
Minato gritted his teeth while bringing up his fists to the corner of his eyes and turned them towards his face to resemble tears; Shinjiro felt his ears turning red from embarrassment, anger, and albeit a bit happy, but didn't want to explain that outloud. He wondered if he was a bit chaotic thinking like that. "Don't stay with her—she can't be happy with anyone." Minato moved to his bedroom door, opened and closed it loudly as Akihiko carefully removed his hand from Shinjiro's chest.
Shinjiro took a deep breath, knowing that Minato had to be lying, right? Minako and Akihiko watched Shinjiro walk up the stairs, to create less of a nuisance and saw Fuuka's door was still shut. Minako and Akihiko stayed behind, standing on the stairs as Shinjiro stood at the doorway. He turned back around and Minako waved him to keep going. He sighed and turned back to the door, knocking softly on her door.
"Fuuka?" He asked softly as he heard a sob and then a click on the door. Shinjiro hesitated, but moved his hand to the door, his palms sweating, as he tried to open the door but nothing. She locked it on him and to everyone else. Shinjiro turned around and walked towards the two SEES members. "What the hell happened?"
Minako closed her eyes and rubbed her eyelids over and over. "I just saw him going into her room, and half an hour later or so, he yells out… Er…" Minako knew this was going to make her feel even worse for Fuuka. "He said, and I quote," she lowered her voice to a whisper as Shinjiro moved closer, " 'Don't suck face with me when you are thinking of Shinjiro.' And then he slammed the door on her."
"Yeah. Heard that door slamming from all the way on the ground floor…" he uttered as he felt like an idiot. He should have been taking more care of her as he felt hopeless currently. Shinjiro moved to a nearby arm chair and sat down, his fingers hiding his face, as he seemed a bit defeated. No one told him how to react in a situation like this.
Minako sat across from him, sitting on the coffee table, and put her hand on his knee. "Listen: Minato gets really jealous and possessive easily. Teenage boys are like that, sometimes. But, for our sake, and possibly Fuuka's, be there for her. She might not want to see anyone for a little bit." Minako stated, wondering, and hoping that she was right about Minato.
I have never seen him act like this—besides, doesn't he have a thing for Yukari anyway? Much of a player, isn't he?
Minako thought silently as she felt a bit worrisome about the two people she wanted to be together. It annoyed her a bit and thought of something. "Shinjiro, why don't you sit next to Fuuka's door? If she opens it up, maybe she'll let you in and you both could talk?" Minako suggested. "I mean, it doesn't hurt to try. And, maybe I'll go talk to Minato. Maybe I'll take Akihiko with me and we could beat him up?"
"No." Akihiko stated flatly. "We are not beating up a member of SEES, as much as I'd want to."
Minako was just kidding around, so that was another thing to work on with Akihiko at least. Minako got up from her spot, almost face palming, as she could see Shinjiro wrought with anger and fear and heartache. "Shinjiro, just trust me. Us girls are complicated, but I know she'd be happy to know you were there for her, even if it wasn't the best situation currently."
"...Minako, she was making out with your brother." Shinjiro stated, his teeth slightly gritting together in anger. "Maybe she doesn't need me." He dejectedly stated as he began to get up and walk away from Minako.
"Shinjiro..." Minako got up slowly and tried to reach out for him but Akihiko stopped her and shook his head. "...Don't be like Minato, okay?" Minako called out as she saw him stopping on the staircase. "Because Fuuka thought of you-don't forget that, alright? She thought of you and probably feared you would hate her." She lowered her head and her arm slowly in sync—she wondered if she was even getting through his head. "Please-"
"...just leave me alone, leader." He stated harshly, darting down the stairs and towards his room and Minako slithered into the empty seat Shinjiro sat in. She didn't even hear the door slam down below—maybe he was going out for some fresh air?
Minako covered her face and ran her fingers through her hair, untying it and closing her eyes tightly. "...this isn't the way it was supposed to happen." She stated softly as she could see Akihiko sitting on the coffee table this time around. "Should we leave him alone?"
"Shinji? … …" Akihiko took a moment to think and nodded after he thought about all that has happened in the last month alone. "Give him half an hour—he might need to walk and let the steam leave his big, inflated head. Go talk to your brother—see if he needs a good punch in the face or not." He stated, holding his fist close to his chest. Akihiko smiled weakly as Minako nodded and began to talk down towards his room.
"I feel like this is my fault, but it isn't... is it?" She whispered to herself as she took the stairs one step at a time and began to look at her brother's door, wondering if this was the best way to solve everything. She could hear him pacing the room over and over—Minako knew this was going to get worse before it got better for everyone.
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