#I wanted to add some examples but it got all messy but. uh

[ambrosiagourmet]

hiiiii i have a quick question about no reason but to starve: when does it take place relative to the postcanon labru comic? i ask partially so i can integrate this knowledge into my understanding of laios & kabru's dynamic in nrbts, but also into my understanding of the diplomatic relationship between malini and kakha brud

(i love your fic so much thank you for your gifts to dunmeshi fandom)

Oooh fun question, thank you!! I assume you mean this comic?

This ended up being longer than intended lol, so tl;dr short answer: it would take place after the comic, though the comic is not necessarily 100% canon to it.

More details and rambling below the cut:

So, in general, I'm trying to write in a way that is compatible with, but not strictly canon to, any post-canon content we've gotten.

In part tbh that's because I had WANTED to construct the timeline with the Kensuke extra in mind but then I totally goofed it and like the story basically takes place at the exact same time that the Kensuke story would. So it ended up more being like handshake meme thematical/character similarities rather than strictly canon.

Also I don't want anyone who hasn't read the extras to have trouble following anything (which is actually why I had to go back and add a bit about the situation w/ KB during editing lol. In the rough draft it was just like yeah yeah the reparations we've all heard of them).

That is all to say the story does more-or-less take place after this comic. The way I'm thinking about it, the initial negotiations referenced in the comic sort of laid the foundation for (relative) peace and cooperation, but there are still lots of specifics to work out - that's what the current delegation is in town for. It's probably less combative then the initial, uh... conversation... but I imagine there's still a fair bit of a "wring everything we can from these people" attitude from KB, so it's a slow process with a lot more smiling and nodding and going back to grumble privately later.

In terms of Laios & Kabru I think the story fits well after the comic for their relationship too... The group of them & Marcille are very much A Unit in the point where the story picks up (with Yaad also included, but not necessarily as close as the three of them). They all have been working together for a little while now, and are all committed to the work. They know a bit about how to navigate each other, and have some rhythms they've fallen into (like Marcille checking w/ Kabru about her hair, or everyone knowing that things are tense between Laios & Yaad wrt Marriage Talk).

What's still left unsaid is a lot of the deeper, more sensitive things. Part of the reason the fic opens on the question of Laios' Political Marriage (TM) is because I think it's a good example of a thing that WOULD remain buried for a while. Laios seems to not have given himself much room to think about romance, so it's something that hasn't been addressed out in the open. But they've got to deal with it eventually!! They have a life long task ahead of them all, and shoving skeletons into closets only works for so long.

(Laios romance tangent: whether or not you read him as aro or ace (and I personally put him somewhere in some grey zone there), I don't think that's a thing he would have realized yet in canon. Repression =/= happily uninterested, and I personally think Laios has repressed that shit hard.)

Anyway, the same goes for various things with Kabru and Marcille, as well. They already trust and care about each other, but being vulnerable with other people is a long, messy process. Especially with all the baggage they have. It's something they still need to figure out!

It is also, conveniently, very fun to write about :3

[shitpostingkats]

tumblr user shitpostingkats. talk to me about yuki judai and my best friend crow 5ds

*does a snappy salute* Absolutely!

Jaden Yuki/Yuki Judai

How I feel about this character: My monstrous little card game fella who I love SO much. Came into my house and kicked me in the ribs by being the actual textbook example of the "Aw! What a silly little guy!" to "He's a little bit fucked up actually" pipeline. I love how absolutely insane and messy he's allowed to be for a main character, not only did most of his arcs hit FAR too close to home, but it's just such a good example of how to take the archetypal plucky protag and deconstruct it a bit to add layers to the character. My second favorite yugioh character of all time, if I'm being subjective, my #1 fave if I'm being objective. Levels of queer neurodivergent swag I aspire to match.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I just can't deny Jaden his funky southern rock boyf. I read him as somewhere on the ace spectrum, in a QPR with Jesse/Johan that all their friends assume is a traditional romantic relationship. Also, Yusei Fudo, because I am a sucker for narrative parallels, celestial imagery, stupid aces with the social skills of a tennis shoe.

My non-romantic otp for this character: I think he and Chazz have this relationship where Chazz gets up in the night, goes down to his kitchen, flips on the lights, and Jaden is just there eating his cereal. They are BEST FRIENDS and Chazz will not admit this even if you put a gun to his head.

My unpopular opinion about this character: Man, I wish we'd gotten more time with Yubel, but I never really got the feeling that Jaden felt any strong romantic/partner emotions towards them. Him choosing to fuse with Yubel is less a "And I will now give up everything for you, my One True Soulmate", and more just a simple acknowledgement of "You've been hurt really horribly because of me, so I'm offering you kindness and accepting responsibility for our relationship, because you don't deserve to be in pain" Which, personally, I think is a lot more impactful and fulfilling of his personal arc.

One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: I kinda wish he hadn't actually graduated high school? I mean, obviously they would never do that, but I remember watching the final season and thinking "Yeah, there's no way he's going to graduate." Idk, he's just got Highschool Dropout energy to me and I almost wanted to see that. Let him fail out of school because he was too busy sorting out his mental health! That's very valid of him!

Crow Hogan

How I feel about this character: Trans king! I look at one picture of Crow and my brain just maxes out "Trans! Bird! Guy!" He commits crime. He has five kids. He literally named himself after a yugioh card. There's just so much good big bro energy in this funky dude. I would trust him with my life.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Uh, probably no one? There's not really any named character in the series I feel he had romantic chemistry with. He and Broder probably dated for a bit then broke up and remained friends.

My non-romantic otp for this character: The first ep. he was introduced and we actually see Yusei smile for almost the first time all series and duel and have fun with it, the big hug and the way each others face lights up when they see each other for the first time in years. Your honor, they are very important.

My unpopular opinion about this character: He's older than Yusei. Yeah I don't care what canon says, Yusei is the family Babey and Crow is a full six months older than him.

One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: Some more exploration on what Crow gaining his signer mark actually meant to him. Did he feel like a replacement? What exactly did it mean to him that the tail mark jumped to him just so the head could move to Yusei? He's kind of the only one who doesn't get a whole plotline on how they feel about being a signer, so I always feel like there's some untapped potential for an arc there.

[d-e-s-t-i-n-e-s-i-a]

NOT what I expected this season

[sasholotl]

okay, so here I am, consumed by an AU where Robin is a werewolf and Nancy is her very human girlfriend. so, got some headcanons, I guess. You can call it word vomit at this point. also, if anyone’s interested, I might try to write for it

- Robin has been turned into a werewolf when she was nine years old. She doesn't like talking about it, and sometimes, at night, she still has nightmares about it. Most of her memory of the attack is blurry though.

- Being a werewolf while being clumsy is not something that adds very well. Robin's body is adorned by many scars, some small and some big enough to be insecure about. The one between her neck and shoulder is the worst but there's also one against her ribs that makes her cringe everytime she sees it (Nancy makes it her job to kiss them all and show Robin that she is not disgusted at all).

- Steve is the first to know. One particularly rough night, Robin – as a wolf – comes into Steve's house and hides there until morning comes. No need to say that Steve is absolutely scared shitless by the wolf roaming around in his house. Cue to a very embarrassing explanation in the morning where Robin ends up borrowing Steve's clothes. After the shock dissipate, Steve is very supportive (''This is insanely cool Buckley ! Can you turn at will ?'', ''God you're a dingus. For the record, yes I can.'').

- The rest of the party – Nancy included – discovers when Robin turns into a wolf to rip into the demodog chasing Max. The reactions are mixed. Most of them are terrified – but also awed -  but they all come around to accept it at one point (still, Robin doesn't think the pain of seeing them recoil from her is something that will ever go away. If Steve hadn't been there to calm them all, things would have gone south).

- Robin is a furnace. Both in human and wolf's form. Nancy cannot sleep with Robin in her bed in the summer because Robin is also very clingy. But Nancy doesn't love her girlfriend more than when it's freezing and Robin is there to provide warmth. Robin has stopped counting the times where Nancy just sick her frozen hands on her belly.

- Robin actually likes being a wolf. She finds it a relief from her human body when everything feels too much. When she's a wolf, she can just cuddle in silence with Nancy while her girlfriend works on her journal.

- Robin as a wolf is massive. Bigger than a regular wolf. Actually, she's big enough to drown Nancy in fur when she lays on her.

- Nancy thinks Robin looks awesome in her wolf form until she sees Robin trip and fall down the stairs. Watching a wolf big enough to eat her fall down is comically ridiculous. Since then, Nancy doesn't waste an opportunity to tease Robin (even though she still thinks her girlfriend looks magnificent as a wolf).

- Being a werewolf is like having a very messy and obnoxious roomate. Except it's in Robin's head. And her roomate is a wolf. Still, most of the time, it feels like she's herself until something triggers the wolf. One notable example is that one time Robin was lounging on Nancy's bed while her girlfriend's hands were buried in her hair and the sudden urge to roll over and show her belly to Nancy to get scratches was so overwhelming that Robin had to get up. (''Robin ? What's wrong ?'', ''You promise not to laugh if I tell you ?'', ''Promise.'', ''I, uh, suddenly wanted you to scratch my belly ?'', ''…'', ''Nance ! You said you wouldn't laugh !'')

- Robin cannot eat chocolate otherwise she feels like she's dying.

- Despite the numerous depictions of werewolves being possessive and jealous, Robin is not quite like that. In fact, she can become jealous, but just over the dumbest shit ever. Like that one time Nancy gave her unfinished meal to Mike. When she had turned to Robin, her girlfriend had stared at her with the most pitifying look ever. Or that one time Nancy  had visited Dustin with Steve, and she had come back with cat's fur all over her shirt. She then had to watch Robin carefully rub herself on her shirt until all cat fur had been eliminated and remplaced by her own fur. The teasing had been relentless that day.

[gojology]

Job Benefits (Part Three)

broken routines - chapter three.

you can find part two here : 

part two : undesirable pairing : ceo! gojo x female reader warnings : cursing wordcount : 1442 a/n : im highly disappointed with this but im very hyped abt writing part 4 and uh i need to change my writing style sooner or later wtf is this mess LOL

     If there’s one thing Gojo knows more then his own body, it’s routines.       It’s what he grew up around, coming from such a bustling family. Since he learned how to walk, he had attended many interviews, gone to parties, all in one day. Of course, it was commonplace in his already hectic life. He saw routine in everything.      Imagine his shock when you came into the office in an outfit that differed so greatly from your regular one that his jaw might unhinge and fall off.      He can’t wrap his head around why, but he’s utterly confused as to why you changed this up. Was it permanent, and why the change? He had many questions going through his head. This is one of the many negative traits Gojo Satoru has; he thinks his input is important, even though the majority of time it is... Maybe it was somewhat justified. But he doesn’t realize how unnecessary it comes out to be when no one asked.      No one had ever told him no, of course they hadn’t, he was ranked nationally as an important kid due to his wit and charismatic personality, essential for entering the business industry.     When he opened his mouth to speak, even at 8 years old at his parent’s conferences, the old professionals would all look at him, keenly waiting for his orders, or perhaps his opinion. This was what he grew up having; so naturally he didn’t know any boundaries, nor did he know when to close his mouth.      But that’s besides the point, he thoroughly enjoyed the look on you.     He takes his normal trip down the hallway into your office, humming a tune, a messy stack of papers in one hand, a custom ceramic mug in the other; made personally just for him. He expects to see you in your regular outfit, a pencil skirt, white t-shirt, the short clicky heels, and the black blazer. It certainly made for an excellent example of casual, formal attire.      Unexpectedly, you’re not. You’re calling someone, phone perched delicately on your shoulder almost as if it’s supposed to slip out, your hair framing your face. Lips parting as you start responding to whatever is on the opposite side, and he notices an evident gloss, your lips are a different color too.      You glance up at him and gesture to your phone, and his hands are shoved deep into his pockets, taking this extra time to examine you up and down. White turtleneck, layered alongside a slightly unbuttoned dress shirt with a crisp warm toned brown trench coat. Not too long, not too short.       Simple gold jewelry adorned your neck, and his eyes caught onto the gold bracelet that jingled on your arm as you swayed it around; he kinda found it cute how even when the person you were talking to wasn’t in front of you, you were still so animated.      Gojo can’t see your pants nor your shoes, but he’s about to enter cardiac arrest because truthfully he didn’t expect that you knew how to dress.     “What?” you say, words dripping with venom and menace, putting the phone back down. He’s taken aback, what’s with the tone?      “What do you mean, what, (Y/N)?” giving you a shit eating grin, he takes a step closer to your table.     “Answer my question, I asked first.” you shot back, now crossing your legs, you hope you look bored just to add more insult to injury. The guy deserved it for thinking the world revolved around him.      He doesn’t answer, instead staring at you, setting his cup of coffee onto the already crowded tabletop, slightly hunched over. You feel your heart drop. Fuck, maybe seeking some sort of symbolic revenge against your boss wasn’t the best of ideas.    Actually, none of your ideas were the best last night. Naturally you’d only think up disasters when you were under distress.     “What’s with the new outfit? Buy a new fashion sense on Amazon?” he finally inquires, a tinge of sarcasm in his voice, brushing your... Rude words aside.      You shrug, pulling out your planner from the drawer and mumbling, biting your pen before writing inside, they’re mindless words. You hope your acting is good, because you want to cry again even at the slight sound of those words. “I don’t know, I felt like I would try something different.” Fuck, were was the sass? Why did you answer nervously? Why did you feel so scared?      There was obviously something that you wanted to do rather then chit chat with him, and Gojo’s now unoccupied hand rubs his neck, this was suddenly so awkward, even for someone as lively as him.     “Hm. Right. Anyways, these were in the printer.” he slaps the freshly printed lukewarm pages onto your desk. “Figured these were yours, still had your name on them.”      “Ah. Thanks.” you say before yawning, covering your mouth before sliding the papers back into the drawer behind you- as if you had no care for them. Actually, you didn’t. This was apart of your master plan that you had crafted at 1 AM last night, too exhilarated to rest. You would print papers out in Gojo’s printer, which you had used once in a while prior so it wouldn’t be too suspicious, and since Gojo never left the dang office he’d hear the sounds and return them to you.       Both of you were silent again, and he’s debating between hitting you up with a topic of conversation, perhaps a joke, but you seem so uninterested he’s not sure if it’s the right moment.      “Just to let you know- your lunch break is in 10 minutes.” he adds, whistling to try to appear careless, but he could feel his heart sinking. You were acting unusually cold, no dramatic tantrums from you that he usually loved. In fact, that was the whole reason why he liked coming to your office. That, and the cute stationary.     “Ah! Really?” you make sure to act like you just got a ticket to heaven, just as a petty way of saying, “Hey. You’re boring. I want to get out.” and Gojo’s pretty sure that all the contents of his heart was shattered now.       Hmph. Whatever, if you continued this behavior he’d swear he’d fire you, but even he knows that’s not true. He had grown fond about you over the small amount of time that you had worked as his secretary, besides, what was a good work life if you didn’t have a good relationship with your very own secretary? He’s sure his banter doesn’t affect you.     “Yeah.” he says, now quiet. He turns his back on you, pausing for a quick moment before walking out, not before he bangs the top of his forehead against the door frame, which earned a slight groan out of him, and just like that he left. You still hear the faint clicking against the tile floor from his shoes.       You exhaled a sigh you didn’t know you were holding, twirling your office chair to look at the large window pane behind your desk. This was something you admired about the architecture of the building you worked out. Every single office had a large window facing Tokyo, so late working hours would always involve beautiful city lights and the bustling of night life.       The sun and sky was bright and cheery, and it comforted your frazzled body. Today wasn’t as bad as yesterday, but it still felt strange from not having your daily ridiculous conversation with Gojo- and strangely you missed it.       Instilled with energy and motivation, you stand up, pulling your bento out of your bag, determined to go through with the rest of your plan. You knew Gojo had a good friend that worked here, Keto Sugareu or something like that. You’d have lunch with him, work your feminine charms, and that was that.       It wasn’t like you wanted to, but a part of you so desperately wanted to prove to Gojo that you could be smart, witty, yet sexy at the same time. You weren’t a prude- just someone not as exposed to these lifestyles.     But you didn’t really eat your lunch in the break room, rather, you were almost always in your very own office. If you weren’t found in there, it’d either be the bathroom or conspiring to steal Gojo’s luxury coffee machine at your house. Infact, you’re not even quite sure if you remember how it looks like.    “Whatever.” you mumble to yourself, before scooping up your utensils and napkins and heading out for the break room.      You shouldn’t have ever stepped foot into that cursed hellish room that day.

nice to see u down here, u want chapt 4? too bad. just kidding! here, have at it.  chapter four : conspiring     

[sleepysnk]

the chapter you've all been waiting for.

Team Player: Chapter Six

Pairings: Eren Jaeger x Fem!Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count: 3.0k

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Masterlist

The sound of Eren's alarm woke him out of the deep sleep he was in. 

He groaned as he reached over to grab his phone which was still blaring the annoying sound of his alarm. It was morning already? He felt so exhausted and he just wanted to roll over, and sleep the rest of the day away. 

But sadly he couldn't. 

Eren's eyes squinted as he looked at the screen which read the time, it was 8:55 a.m. He sat up in his bed and rubbed his temples, his hair was messy from sleeping, and his ankle slightly ached from the pain he was in. 

Sighing, he sat up and grabbed some clothes. His body felt tired as he yawned and stretched his muscles, feeling a few joints pop as he moved around. Boy did that feel good. 

Eren tied his hair into a bun and threw on a sweater and sweatpants. His usual. Eren didn't really care to get dressed, who was he impressing? Plus it was a pretty chilly morning, the temperatures were dropping as fall began to become more known. He just wanted to be comfortable. 

Eren wrapped his ankle with the wrap given to him by the nurse, and popped a few medications into his mouth before heading out of his dorm to the main campus for class. The exhaustion going through him was enough to make him walk slower to class, plus with his limp, it made him slower than usual. 

He was never usually this early to class, most of the time Eren was with Jean or Reiner talking about the game or simply goofing off. Unfortunately, most of his teammates avoided him or just gave him dry responses. It was difficult for him and in a way, it kind of hurt a bit. Seeing your own teammates being so against you that they have to avoid you really sucked. 

"You're here early Eren… that's a surprise." Professor Ackerman said, opening the door to his room. 

Eren rubbed the back of his neck and walked into the empty class. A few students trailed behind him and went to their own seats, Eren stared into space waiting for class to begin. 

Within a few minutes, Professor Ackerman stood at the front of the class. "Good morning, I hope you all are doing fine or whatever. Let's talk about what you're going to be doing today," he explained, grabbing his papers. 

Eren sighed with boredom and tapped his pencil on the counter. What was he going to do this time? 

"Today you're all going to be starting a brand new project. It's based on the unit we've been covering for the last two weeks, so I hope you've been taking notes and paying attention. To save some time, I decided to partner you up with someone else in the class," Professor Ackerman said, leaning against his desk. 

A few small groans and eye rolls came from students hearing the words "project" and "partners". 

"Enough of the groaning, I know it's not ideal but it's better than going through 20 different presentations." he said and crossed his arms. "I'll be pairing you with someone randomly, this project must be done as a pair. If I see that one person did more than the other it will deduct points off your grade," he added. 

Eren leaned back in his chair and looked around the class. He pondered as to who his partner could be. 

"Listen for your names and once I call it raise your hands," Professor Ackerman said, looking around the class. 

Different names began to be called, some people groaned at the realization of who their partners were, others just shrugged and seemed unfazed by it all. 

"Eren Jaeger and (Y/N) (L/N)." 

Eren's eyes went as wide as saucers hearing that name again. (Y/N) and Eren hadn't talked in years, especially after the embarrassment that went down their freshmen year. He knew she was in his class, but he never really paid much attention to her. 

"Get started on this immediately, the project will be due next week. No funny business either," Professor Ackerman said and turned to sit at his desk. 

Eren shifted in his chair and watched as (Y/N) made her way towards him, she seemed totally unfazed and sort of annoyed by the situation she was in. 

She had changed quite a bit. It had been about 3 years since they last talked with one another. 

"H-Hey.." Eren said as she plopped down in the chair next to him. 

(Y/N) looked blankly at him and opened her laptop. "Here.. put your email in," she said, avoiding his gaze. 

Eren put his email in and pushed her laptop back towards her. The atmosphere felt awkward and thick between them. 

"Do you want to go to the library? When you have the time," she asked and averted her eyes towards him. 

Eren nodded, looking up from his phone. "Yeah.. that's fine," he replied. 

The two sort of silently worked with each other, no words were spoken between them. Eren felt the tension and so did (Y/N). Who could blame them? It had been 3 whole years since they last had an encounter like this. Of course he'd see her sometimes in the hallways, or getting some coffee, but they never spoke verbally to one another. 

"Alright you're all dismissed, remember to work on this project as much as you can." Professor Ackerman said. 

Eren and (Y/N) stood up. "I'll see you later," she said, walking away from him. 

This was going to be just great. 

-

Most of Eren's classes seemed to fly by as it was now the end of the day. He was supposed to meet with (Y/N) in the library later, of course it was awkward. She didn't seem too interested in what he had to say, nor did she seem talkative. 

(Y/N) sat in the library patiently waiting on her phone. Curse Professor Ackerman for putting them together. Her view on Eren Jaeger did not change one bit. His actions caused a lot of embarrassment for her, a lot of people saw the video of her that day in biology, and they made fun of her. 

It wasn't an overstatement to say she hated Eren Jaeger. 

She stared at her laptop screen as she heard the library doors open. Her eyes averted to see Eren making his way towards her, she noticed his limp which made her brows furrow. 

"Hey, sorry for being a bit late. I got caught up with my friend," Eren said, throwing an apologetic look her way. "So uh.. I have some ideas for the project," he added. 

(Y/N) nodded. "What are the ideas?" she asked, raising a brow. 

"So.. we could add some different examples of the different bacteria. You know? Shorten it down a bit, because if we make it longer than we should he'll take points off." Eren explained. "Let's do it that way," he added.

(Y/N) wasn't exactly amused with the idea. She felt like shortening it would also give them points off. 

"I don't think we should do that. If we make it too short then we get points off too," she replied. 

Eren stared at her confused. "Then we just make it medium. I'll do the easier slides," he said, shrugging. "It'll be a good grade for the both of us. You're smart so," he added. 

(Y/N) furrowed her brows and felt irritation going through her. "Dude that's not fair to me at all. We should just do every other slide, that gives me all the hard work. It isn't fair," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. 

"Look, it's easier for the both of us. It is fair, let's just do it my way," he said, looking at her. 

(Y/N) rolled her eyes. "We did it your way last time and you fucked it up," she replied. 

Eren looked at her and furrowed his brows. "You're still mad about that?! Come on (Y/N), get over it. You're being overdramatic," he said, crossing his arms. 

That's when she had enough and grabbed her stuff, pushing it into her backpack. 

"Where are you going?" he asked as he watched her sling her backpack over her shoulder. 

(Y/N) scoffed. "You know… your teamwork skills are absolutely shitty. You're selfish and you always think for yourself. That's why our project went to shit freshmen year, I'm tired of biting my tongue with you. Fuck off Eren," she said standing up. "Maybe for once.. take a look at the shit you do from other people's point of view," she added, exiting the library. 

That's when it hit him. 

He did have shitty teamwork skills. (Y/N) even said it herself. 

Everyone was right about Eren, he was a selfish person. The answer was clear in front of him. Guilt washed over him as he realized what he had done, not just to his team, but to (Y/N) too. 

He had to find (Y/N), maybe she could help him. 

-

(Y/N) stared at the ceiling as frustration ran through her. 

Eren Jaeger really didn't change huh? 

"Why are you sulking? You seem pissed," her roommate Sasha asked while plopping down on her bed. 

(Y/N) laughed a bit and sat up. "Eren Jaeger… that's why," she replied, leaning her body against the wall. "He's so stupid," she added, looking at her roommate. 

Sasha nodded. "Oh! I remember him, he's such an asshole. Did you see his giant fail?! It was so funny," she said, beginning to laugh at the thought of the video. 

(Y/N) looked at her and shook her head. "No? I personally don't care what he does. I'm probably gonna email Professor Ackerman… I can't stand working with Eren. He wants everything done his way! He never listens," she replied, rolling her eyes in annoyance. 

Sasha's phone began to vibrate. She grabbed it and grinned. "Oop! Connie texted me, I gotta go (Y/N). I'll see you later," she said, standing up to get her shoes. "I hope you feel better! I'll kick Eren in the nuts for you," she said giggling. 

(Y/N)'s lips drew to a smile. "Alright.. have fun with Connie. Not too much fun though," she replied, winking at her. 

Sasha opened the door to their dorm. "No promises!" she replied, exiting the room. 

The door shut with a click and (Y/N) was now alone in her dorm. It was a usual night with Sasha leaving to go see her boyfriend Connie. (Y/N) wished she could have that luxury with someone else, but she wasn't exactly interested in anybody. Her dreams were just too much for love. 

A sudden knock came from the door. 

Confused, (Y/N) stood up. Sasha probably forgot a condom or something, the girl was always so forgetful. 

She opened the door expecting Sasha to be there. "Forget a condom-" her eyes averted to see Eren standing there with his backpack. 

"Can I talk to you, please?" he asked with desperation in his voice. "I won't be here long," he added, looking down at her. 

(Y/N) fell silent and opened the door wider so he could enter. "How do you know where my dorm is?" she asked, furrowing her brows. 

Eren looked back at her. "We did the project in your dorm, plus I never really forget what dorms I go to." he replied, looking around her dorm.

"So why are you here? If you're here to work on the project, I don't want to hear it." (Y/N) asked, crossing her arms. 

Eren sighed, placing his backpack down. "Look… (Y/N), I realized what I did to you earlier was wrong. You're right.. it isn't fair to you, and I realize that now. I'd like to also apologize for embarrassing you freshmen year, I was childish and I feel guilty for doing it." he said. 

(Y/N) was surprised hearing Eren sound so apologetic. She's never once heard him speak that way towards anyone. 

"I appreciate the apology… but it still doesn't change what you did. I can forgive you Eren, but I can't forget," she replied, looking down at the floor. 

He nodded. "That's understandable," he said. 

The two fell silent as the tension took over. (Y/N) decided to ease the tension a bit. 

"What happened to your ankle?" she asked, pointing down at his ankle which was wrapped. 

He chuckled. "Oh, you concerned for me now princess?" he asked, smirking. 

She rolled her eyes and opened the door. "Get out," she said, pointing at the outside of the door. 

Eren put his hands up in defense. "Wait wait! I'm messing with you, I'm sorry. That was too soon," he replied, smacking his head. "Let me explain," he added, sitting down in the chair next to her bed. 

(Y/N) closed the door, crossing her arms as she watched him take out his phone. Her brows furrowed as Eren seemed to be looking for something on it. 

He held it out to her. "Here.. this is what happened," he said, looking up at her. 

(Y/N) took his phone from his fingers and played the video which was from Twitter, specifically a sports account. She watched as Eren caught the ball and was tackled to the ground, she could see the way his ankle bent. She cringed as she saw the replay of it. 

"Ouch… that looks like it hurt," she said, tossing his phone back towards him. "But why are you still here?" she asked, nodding her head in confusion. 

Eren pushed his phone into his sweater pocket. "I got kicked off the team.." he replied, looking at the floor. 

Her (e/c) eyes widened hearing the news. She heard people talk a lot about Eren, he was popular considering he was on the football team. She knew he was at D1 level. That's why he was here. 

"Um.. if you don't mind me asking, why?" she asked, sitting down on Sasha's bed. 

Eren ran his fingers through his messy bun. "It's uh.. kind of a long story in a way." he replied. "I can explain it to you if you'd like," he added, giving a weak smile. 

She nodded and looked towards the floor. "Sure… I guess," she said, crossing her legs on the bed. 

Eren sighed. "Basically at the most recent rival game, I ended up playing while I was hurt. My coach told me many times that if I was in pain I should come off the field, but I was fine the day before. I just thought it was nothing," he explained, shrugging his shoulders. "Then during the last play, which we were in the lead by the way, I ran for Jean's ball and we ended up hitting each other. The ball bounced off of us and it intercepted, so they won by a touchdown." he added. 

(Y/N) nodded and started to process what he said. Sounds like a selfish move in a way, to her at least. 

"So wait… that doesn't explain how you got kicked off," she said. 

He chuckled a bit. "I'm getting to that," he said, adjusting his body in the chair. "Basically my coach told me the other day that I was benched, or you know kicked off, because I have shitty teamwork skills and apparently I'm selfish. I guess my other teammates have said it too," he added. 

She nodded her head again while listening to more of what he said. She could see why his coach did it, sometimes you have to do things for the best possible outcome. Considering it was Eren Jaeger out of all people, he probably didn't see why. 

"That is crazy.. I'm sorry," she said and rubbed the back of her neck. "I know things will get better," she added, laughing a bit. Eren stared at her as she sat there awkwardly. "Uh.." she said, looking around the room. 

Eren shook his head. "Sorry.. um, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." he said. "If you want to listen," he added. 

(Y/N) furrowed her brows. "Okay.. go ahead," she replied, adjusting herself on Sasha's bed. 

Eren leaned back in the chair. "I need help," he said. "And you are the only person I know that can help me. Please, help me fix my teamwork skills." he said with a pleading tone. "You don't have to of course, but I need this (Y/N). I need this season majorly for my career," he added, looking at her with desperation circling in his eyes. 

She stayed silent as her gaze dropped to the floor. Would helping him be beneficial at all? Doesn't he have other friends? 

"Um.. Eren-"

"Please. I need your help," he said, cutting her off. 

She sighed. "What's in it for me huh? I'm not doing it unless I get something in return," she replied, crossing her arms. 

He looked around the room for a moment. "You can do the project your way, I won't interfere or tell you what to do." he said, raising his brows a bit. 

She thought for a moment. She'll get a good grade and if it leads to him just shutting up, then fine. 

"I'm not so sure Eren.. I doubt I can help you," she said, shrugging a bit. 

"(Y/N). Please. I'm literally begging you at this point, you have great teamwork skills! I remember your presentation in biology and how you got the best grade in the class with your partner, please help." he pleaded. 

She sighed, blowing air out of her nose. "Fine.. but we do it my way. We'll meet up again in a few days to get started," she said, standing up. 

Eren's eyes were wide. "Wait really!? Thank you (Y/N)! You're fucking awesome," he said, grinning widely at her. 

Heat rushed to her cheeks hearing what he said. "U-Uh, yeah whatever. Text me and we'll talk about it," she replied, grabbing her phone and handing it to him. 

Eren put his number in and handed her phone back. "Say less, I'll see you in class." he said, giving her a toothy smile. 

"Yeah whatever," she said, opening the door so he could leave. 

She watched as he limped down the hall and exited the front doors of the residence hall, she closed the door to her dorm and leaned against it with a sigh. 

What was she getting herself into?

tagging: @ererokii @eremiie @moomii-hime @thicmitten @callmepromise @katsuhera @basket-flower-chick @flam3bird @kc-braun @just-a-little-sad @daughter-of-the-stars11 @chayauwu @lunamoonawatcher @sof-yeager @ryan249057

[wayslidecool]

hmmm. 4, 16, 18, 24 for blb asks?

4. team you’d be most likely to flute to

okay so i'm pretty sure i'm a dedicated Georgias Fan For Life, but i think my backup teams are a close call between the Miami Dale and Mexico City Wild Wings! both have a ton of players i love, and super cool communities i'd be more than happy to vibe with. it's pretty close, i think the Dale are a bit closer to the aesthetics i personally like, but at the moment i think i'm a little more invested in Wings lore (not that i don't like Dale lore of course!!)

16. pairing you think about the most

you know, i'm kinda blanking on this one. i feel like there's some blaseball character dynamics i love, but none of them are coming to me at the moment. sorry, i'll have to answer this some other AW YOU KNOW I'M JOKING NIQ NYONG'O AND FLATTERY MCKINLEY FOR LIFE!!!

i was drawn to these two pretty much the moment we wrote "scientist lesbians" on our initial Lore Spaghetti Doc, and the way they've developed since has NOT disappointed me at all. (granted, that's probably because i've been involved in uh. a lot of it 😅)

but man, these two. both are super strong characters with really in-depth sim narratives, and if you've ever heard me talk about blaseball lore in any capacity, you've probably been subjected to a long dissertation on these two and the ins and outs of their loving-albeit-occasionally-messy relationship. i don't know if i can give another one at this very moment, but let it be known: my thoughts about these two eclipse any other blaseball players by a pretty significant margin.

that being said, other pairings i love include Niq with Hercules Alighieri, Frankie Hambone, and Nanci Grackle, Flattery with Ortiz Lopez, and honestly? Clove Ji-eun and Goobie Ballson. don't feel like talking about them all at the moment but i'd be happy to elaborate on any of them if people want to know more!! i feel these ones are a bit less well-known, but can still be just as fun to think about.

18. a headcanon you’ll Always believe

okay so it's time to talk about Niq Nyong'o and the Grind Rail.

so, in Season 15 when the Grind Rail was introduced, Niq took it twice, and both times she got kind of low scores. not like, all-time-the-worst-you've-ever-seen scores, but modestly disappointing. for the next few seasons, she didn't take the Grind Rail at all.

but then the returned to it in Season 18, and was suddenly racking up SURPRISINGLY good scores. not league-best perhaps, but a pretty dramatic improvement from her Season 15 performance. she managed to do multiple Dinner Spins that scored over 4,000 points each, and also got tagged out during both of them but oh well.

so like, i view Niq as this pretty image-conscious person? so it's my headcanon is that Niq was so ashamed of her Season 15 Grind Rail performance that she spent the next few years of her life regularly practicing skateboard tricks in her free time just so she'd be less embarrassed by the skateboard tricks she did later on.

it's a small, incredibly silly headcanon that doesn't really add much to Niq or her overall character arc, but i feel like small, silly headcanons like this can add a lot, you know? it adds a little extra Texture.

24. what’s the most Hiatus Brain thing you’ve done so far this siesta?

accidentally starting a wikipedia edit war.

so uh. i was on the Blaseball Wikipedia page, when i noticed the teams used as examples on the page had been changed since the last time i was there -- previously it was the Philly Pies, Baltimore Crabs, and Atlantis Georgias, but now it was the Philly Pies, Seattle Garages, and Breckenridge Jazz Hands.

i was confused why this edit happened, so i looked at the edit log and it simply said "I changed some of the names of the teams to better teams"

and like, rude?? what does this person have against the Georgias and Crabs? not to get too spicy on here, but personally i would consider both of those much better than the Garages. gosh.

for the most part though, i just found this silly. brought it up in a few blaseball spaces so we could have a quick laugh about it, and i figured that'd be it. but no, it was just the start of a WILD ride.

a few minutes later, someone edits the page and changes the team examples to the Dale, Lovers, Sunbeams, and Firefighters, which i'd consider a solid improvement. and after that things just sort of... spiraled out of control. it's not really something i wanted to see happen, but it's also not something i stopped because honestly? it was really, really funny.

easily the highlight to me was when the list was replaced with one that had most, but not all of the teams, and the "Philly" in "Philly Pies" linked to the page on Pittsburgh. comedy gold.

nowadays, to prevent ridiculous edit wars like that, the page just lists all 24 active teams, which is probably for the best, but the process that got us there is one to remember.

feel free to ask more questions!!

[nootnootbitch]

My Hero Academia Boys

—dating headcanons—

I’m sorry!! In this one I only have Kirishima, Deku, Todoroki, and Bakugou I’ll be posting more for other characters soon!

Kirishima, as tough as his quirk is, is a total softie.

Kirishima 100% has a schedule for his training and studying for school . So when he started dating you, he made sure to add spending time with you to the schedule.

He likes to show you off sometimes. Not too much, especially if you’re not comfortable. But enough for other people, like his friends for example, to notice how amazing you are.

“Hey, Bakugou! Did you see her during training? She was a beast! That’s my girl!”

He definitely is always texting or calling you to check up. If you don’t answer after a while he starts to worry he might’ve done something to anger you. So he’ll come to your dorm in a frantic manner asking you if you’re okay and apologizing in case he actually did do something to make you upset.

He is a motivator. If you ever feel like you can’t something just go to the manliest guy at UA. When you feel down about yourself or feel like you’re not doing good, he’ll remind you about all the obstacles you overcame to get to your current position. He’ll remind you of how strong you are.

“Listen, I know you’re feeling pretty low. But just think of how far you’ve come! We’ve all been through a lot. Just remember to keep forward! And keep smiling. Whenever you feel weak, remember you’re strong. And I’m proud of you so you should be proud of yourself too. “

Kirishima would love any kind of date where he can show off. For example, say a carnival or a fair. He’d like playing all the dumb little games and winning prizes for you, as cliche as it is.

Kirishima is not jealous. He doesn’t think he has a reason to be. But...he is really protective. One time you guys were walking and you noticed a group of guys staring at you inappropriately. Naturally, you felt uncomfortable. Kirishima picked up on this and went straight to put a stop to it.

“Hey guys! Stop staring at her like that. Seriously. It’s wrong. What you’re doing is childish. And if you can’t respect her then how can you call yourself a real man. Don’t make me have to pick a fight.”

Kirishima is always picking you up. Whether it’s bridal style or him throwing you over his shoulder, he’ll do it. He wants to show you how strong he is and he knows you secretly like it a little. He really just likes to hold you. He loves being big spoon. Something about holding your warm body in his arms just makes his heart flutter. But he probably wouldn’t tell you that.

Kirishima’s favorite places to kiss you are you’re forehead and your cheek. These places are easy to reach and quick to get to. He kisses you a lot. Almost every time he sees you. Usually not around his friends though because for some reason they all go wild. Except for Bakugou. He just calls Kirishima soft. Which is quite the opposite of the truth according to his quirk. Haha.

Yes, Eijiro Kirishima. There’s nobody more perfect.

Midoriya is a sweet boy.

Midoriya spends as much time with you as possible. He does spend a lot of time training and studying though because of his goal so don’t be surprised if he forget a date or two. Don’t worry! He’ll make up for it.

Midoriya is constantly in awe that you’re with him. He never says it because he’s kind of a nervous wreck but he’s so happy to be with you. You give him a few more reasons to more confident in himself.

“I’m really glad to have you. Sometimes I wonder how I got you to be mine. You’re so amazing!”

Midoriya is always worried that he might be do something wrong. You have to tell him sometimes that he just needs to let loose so you’ll give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek while reassuring him that everything is fine and you can see him get less tense. Well you can see him get less tense after the blush on his cheeks goes away from kiss you left on his face.

“ Haha. That kiss helped a bit.I just didn’t want to mess anything up. You sure everything is good?”

You and Midoriya will have training dates. No objections. Or maybe it’ll start off as training and then just end up with you guys goofing around. Which he actually really enjoys because it keeps him from stressing about things.

Midoriya loves when you play with his hair. For some reason caressing your fingers through that messy fro of his just send a nice sensation going throughout his body.

“Hey, uh- can you do that thing you do? You know when you run your fingers through me hair. It always feels really nice!”

He kisses you on your shoulder or the side of your head. Again it’s quick and easy. He’s always running off somewhere, whether it’s class or to hang out with All Might or to train by himself. So when he’s running past he makes sure to drop a peck or two on your shoulder or the side of your head.

Bakugou is a tough love guy.

He spends way too much time study and training to stay at the top of class. Often he’ll invite you over to work on homework together or he’ll help you train while he’s training.

Bakugou doesn’t like when other people compliment you. He does get jealous. Not extremely jealous but it does show. Once you were sitting and talking with Kaminari. Kaminari randomly said, “You look really pretty today.”. When Bakugou heard this he stomped over and grabbed your hand to pull you up.

“She already knows that you idiot. I tell her all the time. She doesn’t need a reminder from you. Go drool over somebody else’s girl.”

Bakugou is a homebody. His favorite kind of dates aren’t those ones where you go out and get all dressed up. If that’s what you want, he’s more than happy to oblige but he’ll probably make it seem like he doesn’t want to go so he doesn’t come off as eager. Bakugou really prefers dates where it’s just you too alone together and all comfy. Maybe watching a movie or binge watching a tv series.

Bakugou doesn’t use his phone much. So you don’t usually text or FaceTime him. And when you do it’s late at night. He’s no night owl so when you span his phone at 2am in the morning he does NOT shy away from telling you to go to bed. The text will say something like:

“GO TO BED DUMBASS. THERE IS LITERALLY SCHOOL TOMORROW. GOODNIGHT IDIOT!!”

Bakugou likes put his hands on your hips. It’s almost like he does it for comfort. He does it so often that you don’t even notice anymore when he comes up silently behind you and places his calloused hands on you hips.

He likes to kiss you on your neck. He will never do it in front of other people though so don’t expect it. He’s not a PDA guy. He shows you how much he cares when it’s just you two alone.

Todoroki is really chill

He spends a lot his free time with you. And sometimes he uses it as an excuse to avoid his father.

Todoroki is the type of guy who I can see being just a little clingy. He l be ike to hug you. A lot. In fact he’s attached to you almost all the time. There’s something about your soft skin that make Todoroki just want to cling on for dear

He likes to take you out on dates for soba. You guys will go to a shop and he’ll order soba for the both of you. Once he didn’t realize that he had some soba sticking to his chin. You noticed and pointed it out as you wiped it away. Sometimes he’ll let some get on his chin in hopes that you’ll wipe it off for him again. He’d probably say this, the first two sentences sounding badly scripted in his head:

“Oh do I have some on my face again? Darn it. Could you maybe wipe it off for me? Thanks.”

He’s really observing. He’ll be ranting about his dad when he notices how your mood has changed.

“And my father really— wait. What’s wrong? Did I say something? Are you okay? C’mere.”

When he does kiss you, he also does it on the cheek. He doesn’t kiss you often though. I don’t know I just really see him being a hugger.

THE END

💃🏽 ✨ 🕺🏽

[boognish-worshipper]

Moonlight

the second part/continuation of Sunrise, Sunset!

this boutta get interesting……. it gets kinda messy but don’t worry, it isn’t over yet 🙏🙏🙏 also trevor can’t spell over text to save his life

//

Lamar didn’t sleep that night. He couldn’t. He just kept thinking the whole situation over, trying his hardest to connect the dots. Make some sense of it, or at least find some logical way to deny the truth. Had it always been Franklin? It’s not like Lamar ever had a long term girlfriend, or even a chick he was hung up on like his… friend. How long had he been completely naïve? He felt stupid for not noticing sooner. He didn’t even have anyone to confide in. He obviously couldn’t confide in Frank right now. Shit. How would he face him? Lamar screwed his eyes shut tight. What the fuck was he gonna do? He tried thinking about who to turn to. Michael was obviously a no-go, what with the dynamic those two had. Then he thought about Trevor. Maybe he’d help. Maybe. It wouldn’t hurt to just ask, right?

hey

crazy guy

wut leroy. u need smthn?

uh, yeah

sort of

wut iz it?

some complicated bs again. nothin new.

cant u go 2 frank 4 whtevr prblm ur having

not exactly

can i meet u somewhere private?

wut 4

u tryna fuk me leroy?

loco. no.

jus. meet me @ vanilla unicorn asap

Lamar sighed heavily, starting to wonder if this was gonna be a bad idea to try and talk to him about this. But Trevor was kinda fruity anyway, so at least he wouldn’t judge. His phone buzzed again.

alrdy hear bro

Lamar raced over to the strip club, going through the back entrance. Trevor was sitting on his desk, already waiting for Lamar’s arrival.

“LD! What brings you to my fine establishment at this time?” He stood up, but remained leaning against the desk behind him.

“Listen man, it’s.. it’s serious.”

Trevor’s faced lifted, looking surprised. Or.. whatever concerned looked like by his terms.

“How serious we talkin’ bro?”

“Ion know, just some stupid shit I’ve been tryna wrap my head around.”

“Uhh, elaborate on that?”

“It’s gotta do with Fr-…eaky shit going on with me.”

Trevor squinted at him, like he was trying to read Lamar’s mind.

“Like..?”

“Something to do with love, I think?”

“Oh. Well. Why’d you come to me for help?”

“Because I..” He said, the words deflating in his mouth.

“I think you’re the only person who could understand where I’m coming from?”

“…I’m not reading ya. Just say it, Lamar. Jeez.”

“I think I’m in love with someone.”

A long pause filled the air with tension.

“That it?”

“Well, not exactly.”

“Jesus bro, what is the matter with you right now? You look like you’re gonna faint.”

“It’s, it’s someone we know, alright? There.”

Trevor squinted his eyes again, but not for long. His eyebrows flew to his hairline, and he stood upright from the desk he was perched on.

“Wait a minute…”

Lamar looked down at the ground, embarrassment swirling around in his stomach. He felt like some child that had been yelled at for stealing some candy. He didn’t like it. He was a grown fuckin’ man for crying out loud.

“You don’t mean..”

He stood there, saying nothing and grabbing his arm protectively. The silence was back, lingering for too long.

“I fuckin’ knew it.” Trevor said, almost inaudible.

“Wh.. what?” Lamar spluttered out, looking up.

“I fucking knew it!”

Somehow hearing those words comforted and pissed off Lamar. Obviously Trevor wasn’t planning on judging him for it, but how did he know before him?

“What the fuck you mean you knew?!”

“Oh please, Lamar. You aren’t a very subtle person.”

“I am too!”

“No. You’re not. You’re really not.”

“Tell me. How, how am I not subtle as a motherfucker?”

“Hmm… I can think of a few instances to count, but honestly a perfect example was that conversation we had dropping those cars off for he-who-shall-not-be-named.”

Lamar cocked his head sideways, confused. Trevor shook his head before starting his sentence back up.

“Remember when you ah… inquired about Michael and I? Our past?”

“Yeah, what of it?”

“You compared us to some.. I don’t know, divorced couple or something. Figuring it was romantic?” He averted his gaze, turning pink.

“Well, I mean after the whole rundown of our partnership, I asked you about how you and our boy Frankie met.”

“Mhm..”

“And you gave me some weird, uncomfortable story about you having a threesome with him- Which he apparently wasn’t even apart of to begin with. Didn’t know why he even appeared in that memory, but I guess it sort of makes sense now. It was also the fact you.. uh, deciphered my relationship, and tried to compare it to you and Frank. That’s how I started to catch on.”

“Shit.”

“I mean I… I was in the same boat as you, kid. You were right, y’know.”

“I was?”

“Michael and I… were never perfect. But back then I was,” His voice lowered.

“…Am.” He corrected, voice barely above a whisper. Coughing, he continued.

“In love with him. Or something.”

“Shit, for real?”

“For reals homie. I know what you’re going through. Only difference is Mikey uh.. was a little more repressed than I was. But you didn’t hear it from me.”

Lamar stood in shock, eventually flopping down on the couch.

“What the fuck am I gon’ do, Trevor?”

“Well, I know I’m friends with him but I’m not exactly as close to him as you or Mike. So I can’t exactly say whether or not he’s like Michael in that regard, you know?”

“Fuck, man…”

“Hey.. I uh, I’m sorry if I wasn’t much help. I never really knew how to deal with those feelings towards Mike. It’s like, even harder to manage when you have a bond like that.”

“No, no. I needed this I think.”

“Go home, Lamar. Try to get some rest or something.”

As he got up, he placed a hand on Trevor’s shoulder.

“Thanks.”

For the first time since they met, Trevor gave him a genuine smile. He patted his hand and scooted him out the door. Driving back, he still felt sort of restless. Even if he did sleep, it wasn’t gonna be enough. When he got back home and in his bed, he pulled out his phone.

So you’re back.

yup

i thought about what you said

Wait - really?

yeah. i’m a fuckin idiot

Doesn’t take a psychic to know that.

hey

that’s uncalled for lady

What is it you need? It’s very late you know - is what I said keeping you up?

bingo bitch

and uh yeah, i need to know what the fuck u said to franklin

what does he know?

All I told him was that I saw you at his house - very frequently I might add.

I might’ve mentioned you were there in his old room all the time, in his bed with someone he knew - an older woman, perhaps? He didn’t take it too well.

wait a minute

his auntie? i mean she bad and all but

i never.. like did anything with her. not like that

He thought differently. The implications might’ve been misread - why would you choose his childhood bed for something like that? Shame on you

and i might’ve picked the wrong fuckin person to speak to

lady, what the fuck? i never fucked his auntie!

i wouldn’t do that to him, even if she got a dumptruck ass

You are a strange man Lamar. All I saw was you two in his bed, very, very often.

I wouldn’t have known you felt anything for him had you not contacted me - and even now you still made a pass at her!

all we did was talk! n there’s nothing wrong wit admiring ass.

Whatever you say - oh wait…

I’m seeing something

goddammit

it better be good

I’m seeing you two again - and you’re right. You’re talking… about Franklin?

why else would we be in his room. if i was gon fuck his auntie we would’ve done it in hers or sumn

or in the livin room maybe.

I’m seeing something else now - he’s taken the place of his aunt. Oh. Wow…

what? what is it?

what do u see?

I… completely misinterpreted Franklin’s reading. It seems like it was supposed to be him in her place.

I’m not sure how he read it exactly - my best guess was that it wasn’t the latter.

And seeing as he no longer lived there, the vision got mixed up some how for both of us. You did have some connection to her though - don’t lie. That was most likely the problem.

i mean yeah. i hit on her a couple times

maybe thought it about it once or twice

More than that.

whatever. still, i ain’t do shit to her, ion stoop that low lady

Then I apologize. But I cannot fix this problem for you - you’re going to have to talk things out

Because right now, he’s assuming you’re acting weird because you actually *did* something with his aunt.

Fuck me man

this sucks

ur evil lady, u know that?

Hey, I’m not the one hanging out with his aunt. Now go to bed. I’ll deal with you another time.

hey wait

come back

SERVICE UNAVAILABLE. PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER.

“God fuckin’ damn it not again!”

He chucked his phone against the wall, and began yelling into his pillow. He wasn’t gonna sleep right at all until he fixed this mess. Fucking psychic lady.

The next morning when Lamar passed by his mirror he audibly gasped. He looked like shit. He looked like he was definitely hiding something. And he knew he couldn’t see Frank today. His phone buzzed and as soon as he glanced down he felt the urge to throw it across the room. Speak of the fuckin’ devil. Franklin was fucking calling him. Taking a deep breath, he hit answer.

“Yo.”

“Hey L. How you feelin’?”

“Better. Thanks.”

“Yeah man. You know what was up wit’ you or…”

“I.. I think it was some sort of stomach bug man. Doin’ alright now tho.”

“Glad to hear.”

“So are you callin’ me for something or-“

“Actually yeah. I wanted to talk to you.”

“N-now?”

“Later. Sunset? That cool wit’ you?”

“Uh yeah, yeah. Heard it’s a full moon.”

“Dope. Been meaning to talk about this for a while anyway, and you always dragging me around to go see the sunrise.”

“Makes sense.” More sense than the shit he was in the middle of.

“See you then?”

“Of course dog.”

Click. Lamar dropped his shoulders, which had grown tense during the duration of the call. He didn’t have a whole lot of time to understand what he was dealing with better. He thought to himself that he couldn’t possibly be gay, because he loved himself some hoes now and then. But at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel the same around Franklin. Women and men… was that possible? Could you be into men AND women? He looked it up on his phone, and found a definition that fit him. Bisexual? That’s a thing? He thought it was just, gay and straight. That you couldn’t be both. But… at least that was accounted for. Putting his phone away, he moved on to the next part of the puzzle. What was he going to do when night time came? He couldn’t straight up tell Franklin. That would ruin everything. But how would he explain that he didn’t fuck his Aunt? He had to have a reason to back it up. Either way, he was screwed.

Night came too quick. Lamar kept pacing his room, not taking his eyes off his phone that rested on his bed. Any minute Frank would call him. Any fucking minute now. He still didn’t have a plan. What was he going to do? The phone lit up, buzzing loudly. Oh no. He practically dove to answer it, feigning a nonchalant tone. It wasn’t very impressive.

“Heyyy Frank. I was waiting for word from you.”

“Hey. I’m on my way, be ready.”

He swallowed the lump in his throat.

“See you in 5 L.”

Even after Frank hung up, he didn’t lower the phone from his ear. Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit, ohshit. He was panicking now, phone dropping to the floor. Not noticing how long he was standing there, he heard a car pull up, then honk. Oh, shit. He raced out the door clumsily, trying to shove his phone in his pocket. Opening the car door, he was hit with the now overwhelming scent of Franklin. Something along the lines of weed and the same cologne he’d be buying for years. He remembered how Tanisha had gotten it for him back when they first started dating as a gift. The detail only made him more nauseous.

“Hey LD.”

“Hey.”

“Get in homie, I got a good spot for us, real sick view n shit.”

“Ah.. aight.”

The car ride wasn’t entirely awful for Lamar, listening to Collard Greens play loudly through the speakers. Franklin had taken them to some secluded spot near Vespucci beach, where no one would bother them. As they got out of the car, Lamar got a clear view of the sunset. It was even better than a sunrise. They found a bench to sit on, and Lamar felt like there wasn’t enough space between them. Did it magically fucking shrink as soon as they sat down? Shit. He cleared his throat, trying to seem neutral and not like he was internally freaking the fuck out.

“So uh… what’d you need to talk to me about?”

Franklin sighed, and Lamar’s stomach was in knots.

“It’s.. just somethin’ I been thinkin’ about for a while. I really jus’ didn’t know how to bring it up or whatever. But let’s jus’ enjoy the sunset right now.”

In contrast to how every sunrise went, the sunset contained shades of pinks and purples. There were also mixed shades of green, from the combination of yellow and blue clashing together. It was a miraculous sight. Frank was right, why didn’t they see sunsets more often? He watched the light sink down past the water, replaced by moonlight not much later. The two sat in silence, as stars filled the sky. The view had grown darker, but he could see the moonbeam reflect in the calm waves. He turned to Franklin, who had a serene expression on his face. He was blue in the moonlight, and it made Lamar feel all kinds of things he never felt for anyone before. Franklin side-eyed him, sitting upright. Here goes nothing.

“Lamar… I just. I gotta ask. I uh.. heard from someone,” Fucking psychic lady.

“That you uh.. and my.. Denise. My Aunt. Were uh.. you were at my house or something with her?”

Lamar eyes were wide. Franklin looked anywhere but him, clearly uncomfortable bringing the topic up. He kept tripping over his words, not knowing how to ask.

“Are.. and I won’t be mad if you are, but are you… and my Aunt.. Are y’all foolin’ around?” He scrunched his face up getting the words out. He almost looked hurt, like he was betrayed at the thought of it all.

“What?”

“Are you fuckin’ my Auntie or what man?!” He forced out.

“Franklin. What.”

He knew the psychic lady had said he got the wrong idea, but hearing it out loud from him was just mind boggling.

“Jesus Christ Franklin, no. I’m not! Why would you even think that?!”

Now he felt hurt. Did he really think Lamar would do something like that?

“You say shit about her all the fuckin’ time! I don’t even know why, because she’s fuckin’ nuts man! I have heard a million and one remarks about her from yo bitchass self!”

“Yeah but I would never-“

“And in my fuckin’ bed man?! Are you for real?!”

“I’m not fucking her! I never was!”

“That’s not what I fuckin’ heard dog! And don’t think I haven’t noticed how weird you’ve been actin’, all guilty n shit. I knew you were hidin’ shit from me, I jus’ didn’t think it’d be my absolute worst fuckin’ nightmare!”

“Franklin! For fucks sake bro that’s not why I’ve been actin’ so weird!”

“Then tell me, exactly, what the hell your problem is!”

Lamar’s mouth hung open, looking for what the fuck to say.

“Homie. It’s not like that. I’m seriously, seriously not fucking her. I’m… just-”

“What, Lamar?!”

“I think I’m in love.”

Shock covered Franklin’s face. Complete, utter shock. His face then twisted into a furious expression.

“Are you fuckin’ for real right now? You’re not fuckin’ my Aunt, you’re in love with her?! Fuck you man!”

“Wait, no that’s not what was I was implying-“

Franklin shot up from his seat, throwing his hands up.

“You’ve officially lost yo mind dog. You two enjoy each other. I’m fuckin’ out of here bro.”

“Franklin, wait-“

“No, no. I.. I need to go. I need to clear my mind or whatever the fuck, because I am just… unbelievably pissed right now.”

“But I’m not-“

“Save it, LD. I’ll… catch you later. Or something. Bye.”

Franklin walked back to his car, abandoning Lamar. Some how, this was worse than confessing to him. He felt sick to his stomach. How the hell was he gonna fix this mess? He remained seated, watching the water lap at the shore. He needed to fix this. And he knew, although he wish he didn’t have to, that’d he’d have to come clean. He didn’t want to ruin his friendship, and some how still did by just not blurting it out. Soon. Soon, after Franklin was ready to talk to him again. He prayed to a higher being, hoping desperately it’d all work out.

//end of pt 2!!!!! i’m sorry this is kinda angsty or whatever :( but i am gonna write a happy ending for this!! lamar deserves the world i love his character sm *sobs* (also sorry this part’s longer than the last one LMAO)

[suituuup]

shine

Beca and Chloe meet during Pride

Word count: 2,7k

Rating: T

ao3 link

inbox open to prompts!

*

It was Stacie’s idea. 

 Of course it was. Everything that leads to Beca asking herself what the fuck she’s doing here can often be linked back to Stacie fucking Conrad. 

 Beca’s got a few examples to argue her case. That time she ended up in the ER on New Year’s Eve because Stacie thought riding a Segway while being drunk would be super fun, or when they got stuck in a snowstorm while driving up to Vermont that one year and nearly froze to death. 

 So when Stacie suggested a few days back that they go to the Pride parade, Beca initially said no. Don’t get her wrong; she’s all for the event, she just doesn’t do well with crowds. That Friday before the parade happens to be one of Beca’s worst days at work probably since the start of her career though, so when Stacie insisted she should tag along with her and Amy, Beca rolled her eyes, huffed, and eventually agreed, because  what the hell. 

 She doesn’t know it yet, as she stands in packed 7th avenue that hot and humid Saturday afternoon, but she’ll be  so glad she decided to go to Pride.

Right now though, she’s struggling for breath as panic slowly creeps into her body, tangling around her limbs and making her legs feel as heavy as lead. There are people  everywhere, the music is pounding against her skull and it’s just too fucking  hot. 

 “I’ll be right back,” she tells Stacie, curling a hand around her wrist to get her attention. “Check your phone if I lose you guys?” 

 “Yeah, you got it.” 

 Beca uncomfortably weaves through the crowd, muttering various apologies to the few people she bumps into as she keeps her eyes fastened on the sidewalk. The knots in her chest tighten when she reaches an adjacent street, leaning against the wall and tilting her head back. She’s focused on her chopped breathing and willing her heart to slow the fuck down when a voice cuts through the fog clouding her brain. 

 “Hey, you okay?” 

 Her eyes snap open to find twin twinkles of bright blue staring at her in concern, standing out despite the colorful rainbows painted on the woman’s cheeks that should steal Beca’s attention.

 “I’m uh,” Beca winces, bracing a hand on her chest when her breathing derails even more. “Not really. I’m having a sort of panic attack.” 

 “Oh shit, okay, um--” The redhead glances around them, then focuses back on Beca. “Anything I can do?”

 Beca shakes her head, her eyes screwing shut as she goes through the 5-5-5 breathing technique a few times, until her lungs don’t feel as deprived of oxygen as before. 

 The redhead is still standing there when she opens her eyes. She fishes into her tote bag, pulling out a bottle of water and extending it to Beca. “Here. It’s still capped.” 

 “Thanks,” Beca mutters, taking the cool bottle from her and drinking a few sips. She takes a few beats to observe the other woman as she hands the bottle back. She’s wearing a white shirt with a cute dinosaur waving a pride flag, faded denim shorts and sneakers, and has got a camera slung across her chest. “You’re a photographer?” 

 “Yeah. Well, not professionally, but hoping to become one someday.” She extends her hand, that genuine smile still in place. “I’m Chloe.” 

 Beca flushes, knowing her hand is probably clammy and disgusting compared to how soft Chloe’s feels. “Beca.” 

 “First Pride?” 

 Beca nods. “Yeah, and kinda regretting it.” She scrunches up her nose when she realizes how that might come across. “Not because of-- I think it’s great that it exists, I mean, I’m not straight so of course  I don’t have anything against Pride itself.” God, just  shut up.  “I just don’t like crowds. Or the heat.” 

 Chloe hums, seemingly barely able to keep her amusement at bay. “I kinda need a break, too. Wanna come check out the Stonewall exhibit at the public library with me?” She raises an eyebrow, then adds, “Less people and AC…” 

 Any other day, Beca would have probably said no. But the journey back to Brooklyn if she goes home now will most likely be slow and painful, and she kinda wants to hang out with Chloe, for reasons she can’t explain as they’ve only ‘known’ each other less than five minutes and Beca is usually wary about strangers. 

 “Sure, why not. Let me just shoot a text to my friends.” 

 Once she tells Stacie not to worry about her, Beca follows Chloe through the crowd, Chloe’s hand finding hers before they get in the thick of the crowd. 

 “So we don’t lose each other,” Chloe says over her shoulder, winking softly. She doesn’t let go even when they reach quieter streets, but weirdly Beca doesn’t mind.

 She chuckles at herself, shaking her head softly because this is so unlike her. 

 “What?” Chloe asks, a mixture of curiosity and confusion swirling in her eyes. 

 “Nothing, I just…” Beca shrugs. “This is not how I expected today to go, at all.” 

 Chloe’s head tilts to the side as she stares at Beca’s profile. “In a good way?” 

 “Yeah, I really think so.” 

 Chloe smiles in response, then emits a soft gasp, letting go of Beca’s hand. “Hold on, one sec.” She crosses the street before Beca can say anything, stepping up to this drag couple and asking them if she can do a mini photoshoot. 

 Beca watches on in amusement, grinning when Chloe walks back to her after thanking the pair. They fall back into step, and Beca resists the urge to slide her hand into Chloe’s once more. 

 She lets out a sigh of relief as soon as they step inside the cool building.

 “Better?” Chloe asks. 

 “Yeah,” Beca breathes, nodding. 

 They hike up the staircase, Chloe coming to a stop to snap a picture of the  Love & Resistance  neon sign above the door leading to the exhibit. As they stroll about from one picture to another, Beca finds herself glancing at Chloe often, finding Chloe’s clear love for photography endearing. 

 “That was really cool,” Chloe says when they step back under the scorching sun after spending about an hour inside. They stopped at the gift shop, where Chloe purchased a few prints of the photographs exhibited. “Did you like it?” 

 “I did, yeah,” Beca nods, smiling softly. “Those people were really fucking brave. It’s inspiring.” 

 “I think so, too.” She licks her lips, glancing at Beca. “What are you doing now?” 

 “Not sure yet,” Beca says; one thing she’s sure of is that she doesn’t want to part ways with Chloe just yet. “Why? Wanna whisk me away again?” 

 Chloe’s soft laughter sends Beca’s heart for a spin. “Maybe.” A soft hand emcompasses hers once more. “Do you trust me?” 

 Beca cocks an eyebrow, a smirk ticking the corners of her lips. “Kind of a bold question seeing as we’ve known each other for an hour. You could be a serial killer for all I know.” 

 A giggle flits past Chloe’s lips, and she tugs on Beca’s hand. “Come on.” 

 “I’m low key concerned you didn’t try and correct me on the whole serial killer thing,” Beca teases, catching up so she falls into step with Chloe. “Or maybe you’re just a stalker? Would explain the fancy camera.” 

 “Stop,” Chloe requests with a chuckle, shoving Beca with her shoulder. 

 “I’m kidding,” Beca assures her, lacing their fingers before she can think twice about it. “So where are you taking me?” 

 “There’s a street fair a couple blocks away with crafts, food and drinks. Should be less crowded but still festive.” 

 “Sounds cool.” 

 They get there about twenty minutes later, Chloe stopping a few times along the way to snap a few street shots. The fair has a family-friendly block-party kind of vibe, with various vendors displaying their arts and crafts. Live music is drifting through the street, and Beca instantly feels more comfortable than she did during the parade.

 Her heart swells at the sight of a family just ahead of them; two women and their two young kids with rainbows painted on their cheeks. Beca is filled with hope that someday she’ll get to have that, too, that being gay won’t prevent her from building a family and finding happiness, like her dad said it would when she came out to him a couple years ago. 

 “Where’d you go?” Chloe’s soft voice once again cuts through Beca’s thoughts. 

 “Nowhere,” she murmurs, glancing towards her new friend. “I just really like it here.” 

 After strolling about the different booths, they grab a bite to eat and settle down at a picnic table near the makeshift stage where the live band is playing. 

 “Do you know if there’s a face painting booth somewhere?” Beca finds herself asking once she’s finished her fries. “I wanna get flags on my cheeks, too.” 

 Stacie offered before they left the apartment, but Beca turned her down, preferring to keep it low-key. Chloe’s rocking it though, and Beca is definitely more ready to embrace her identity than she was a few hours ago. 

 “Oh, I can do it!” Chloe reaches inside her bag, producing a small paint palette and a brush. 

 Beca chuckles, shaking her head in amazement. “Of course you’d carry that around.” 

 As Chloe settles down next to her, straddling the bench, Beca mirrors her position and gathers her hair up and out of the way, piling it up on her head in a messy bun. She inhales sharply as Chloe takes her chin gently and leans closer to apply the first stroke. 

The cool brush sliding over her heated skin makes her shiver, and the sudden proximity has her heart thud harder, and she feels a bit overwhelmed by the sudden urge to tilt her head up and forward just slightly to brush a kiss across Chloe’s mouth. 

 She doesn’t though, because she’s never kissed a girl before and that urge is soon suffocated by the nerves that sprout in the pit of her belly, shackling those butterflies back towards the ground. 

 “There,” Chloe murmurs, backing away to check her work. Beca realizes she hasn’t been breathing properly and sucks some air into her lungs, blinking. “Cute.” 

 “Thanks,” Beca croaks out, clearing her throat. She takes her phone to see it for herself in the reflection of the screen, and a bright smile spreads across her features. 

 “You’re rocking it.” 

 Soft blush coats Beca’s cheeks as she meets Chloe’s gaze, quickly averting her eyes because those striking blues are really messing with her ability to function properly. 

 “So I’m supposed to meet a couple friends of mine at this cool bar in an hour or so, I was thinking maybe you and your friends could tag along? No pressure, though.” 

 “Yeah, um, I’d like that. I’ll text my friends to see if they’re down.” 

 Cue to Beca being a bit more drunk than she initially planned in a gay bar in Soho a few hours later. The scorching heat probably (definitely) got to her head over the afternoon, so the two cocktails she had really feel like four. 

 She doesn’t mind, though. That pleasant buzzing thanks to the alcohol loosens her up a little and makes her second guess a lot less. 

 “So what’s up with you and Red?” Stacie asks over the music as they stand by their table. Chloe’s friends Jessica and Ashely are currently dancing, and Chloe’s gone up to the counter to get water. 

 Beca wonders if her attraction to Chloe is that see-through, or if it’s just Stacie being Stacie, and poking Beca has always been one of her favorite things. “What?” 

 The tall brunette rolls her eyes. “Come on, you guys have the hots for each other.” 

 Beca is thankful for the dim lighting as her face flushes hard. “You-- you think she’s into me?” 

 “Duh,” Amy confirms with a twin eyeroll. 

 Stacie slaps Amy’s arm. “Oh, here she comes. Let’s go dance, Ames.” 

 Beca’s eyes widen and her jaw drops when she realizes her friends are abandoning ship. “Guys!  Seriously?? ” 

 The confirmation that Chloe’s attracted to her only makes Beca all nervous again, and she jumps slightly when Chloe shows up beside her. 

 “You alright?” Chloe asks, gently cupping Beca’s elbow. 

 “Yeah, yes. I’m grand.” Grand?  Grand??  God, it’s like she can hear Stacie cackling in her head. Beca slams her eyes shut and wrinkles her nose as Chloe giggles. “Ugh. I mean good. I’m good.” 

 “Good,” Chloe echoes, her smile teasing. “So why are Stacie and Amy staring at us?” 

 Mortified, Beca glances in the direction of Chloe’s head tilt to find Stacie and Amy both innocently looking away as they stand across the room. She groans in annoyance. “I’m gonna kill them.” 

 Chloe laughs again, and Beca realizes her hand is still on her arm, her thumb stroking Beca’s skin back and forth. “It’s okay. I’m glad they’re looking out for you.” 

 “They’re not looking out for me,” Beca grumbles. “They’re just having the time of their lives because they know I’m a terrible flirt and I don’t know how to act around a beautiful woman.” She chuckles, her blush flaring up once more. “Oh wow, I can’t believe I just said that out loud.” 

 “Which part?” Chloe asks. “You being a terrible flirt or calling me beautiful?” 

 Beca wets her suddenly dry lips. “Me being bad at this,” she replies, sucking in a sharp breath. “I definitely meant the second part.” 

 Chloe licking her lips like she does in the next beat makes Beca’s knees wobble. “You wanna dance?” 

 Beca’s phone lights up with a text from Stacie before she can respond.  We’re heading somewhere else. Coming or staying? ;)

 She throws Chloe an apologetic smile as she grasps her phone. “Sorry, let me just reply.” 

 Beca

I’m gonna stay. 

 Stacie’s reply is instant.  Happy scissoring. 

 She makes the mistake to glance towards the pair, catching Amy doing a V with her fingers by her mouth and flicking her tongue between them. 

 “Oh my god,” Beca mutters, setting her forehead on the table. “Any chance you didn’t catch that? My friends are an embarrassment.” She eventually straightens, shaking it off. “And yeah, I wanna dance.” 

 Chloe doesn’t beat around the bush, setting her hands on Beca’s hips and tugging Beca closer once they’re facing each other. Beca’s top doesn’t quite meet her high waisted skirt, and Chloe’s touch sends an electric jolt down her spine, its aftershocks echoing in the tips of her toes.

 Her arms loop around Chloe’s neck and it’s only now they’re standing so close that Beca notices how blue Chloe’s eyes are. She also notes the want and passion burning in those irises, and feels another chill travel her body. Chloe moves flawlessly to the beat, and Beca matches her rhythm, gradually crushing the sliver of distance between them until her own hips are swaying flush against Chloe’s. 

 The song blends into another one, but Beca doesn’t really register it; she’s slowly being consumed by the desire to kiss Chloe, and this time doesn’t let her damn insecurities get the upper hand. Leaning in slowly, she captures Chloe’s lips in a kiss, a delighted hum mingling into it as Chloe kisses her back instantly. One of Chloe’s hands leaves her hip to hold her face gently, warm and reassuring over her skin. 

 The kiss is slow and tender, exploratory on Beca’s end, and probably the best Beca’s ever had. Her head soon spins from those wonderful, foreign sensations spreading through her body, and she finds herself needing a break shortly after. She pulls away just a bit, her lips tingling as Chloe’s breath skates across them. 

 When Chloe asks her if she wants to get out of there, Beca should probably tell her she’s new at this, that she’s never been with a girl before, but the words never surface from her throat. She does admit it half an hour later as they’re heavily making-out just outside Chloe’s place, but not to put a stop to it. 

 She wants this more than she’s probably ever wanted anything else, but she’s afraid of not knowing what to do. 

 Despite their palpable desire, they slow down once they eventually make it to Chloe’s bedroom, and Beca’s grateful for that. The next couple hours are a blur of yet unparalleled pleasure and Beca sleeps hard afterwards, waking up a bit confused the next morning. 

 She flushes when memories from the night before surface, explaining the wonderful aches her body’s experiencing when she stretches. She’s alone in bed and the apartment is silent, but a note lies on the pillow next to her. 

  Hey you. Had to run to work and didn’t want to wake you up. Help yourself to coffee and a shower, if you’d like. Yesterday was pretty awesome. I hope we can see each other again soon. Here’s my phone number: 917-695-8691. Have a good day. :)

Chloe xx

 Beca fails to keep her smile at bay and she might even squeal a little bit as she flops back against her pillow. 

 She guesses she should thank Stacie for dragging her to Pride, after all. 

[spidermandni]

𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑏𝑒𝑟 — 𝑡𝑠𝑢𝑘𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑎 𝑘𝑒𝑖

note — this is a fem!reader oneshot but if i do actually write more of these, they’ll just be gender neutral. this is also really messy because it’s the first time i’ve done something like this.. anyway, i hope you enjoy it! WAIT I FORGOT TO ADD THAT THIS IS BASED OFF OF WISH YOU WERE SOBER BY CONAN GRAY!! okay bye <3

pt two

word count — 1958 words

tsukishima kei has a crush on you, one of his best friends

it’s sort of obvious to everyone except for you, which is really cliché but hey !!!

he can’t ignore his feelings and you’re very oblivious to the point where it’s ridiculous

an example? tsukishima will literally stare at you for like 10 whole minutes during class and you’ll finally look up from your desk but when you catch him

all you do is give him the biggest grin before going back to work which makes him wanna slam his head into his desk repeatedly

he’ll even compliment you and buy little snacks for you during breaks at school

“[last name], here. i got you that dumb chocolate snack you like...”

and you would turn from yamaguchi and look at tsukki like he was the one who put all the stars in the sky

“you... you got my favorite snack for me?” here you go tearing up and him refusing to make eye contact while holding his hand out

you immediately stand up give him a giant hug and stuff your face into his chest, he grunts and rolls his eyes before shaking you off and dropping the snack on your lunch box

a tiny bit of blush is visible on his face and yamaguchi snickers on the side

“hey, [last name]. your, uh, your hair looks cute today.” he stares at his feet as the three of you are walking to school together

“woooow, so i don’t look cute every day, tsukki?” you turn to him with a slight smirk on his face. he shoves you and scoffs, “shut up before i take it back, dummy.”

you’re just purely oblivious to every attempt he made to get farther with you,

this was the farthest he was gonna be able to get anyway seeing as he was a very awkward person when it came to dating and things like that.

tsukishima isn’t that type of person to socialize with a lot of people but you were. you’re that type of friend that would see one of your friends in the hallway while walking with tsukki and strike up a random conversation while he’s standing there awkwardly

but you refused to let tsukki continue to be that person 😡

which is why you were now begging him to go with you to one of the pre-summer parties!!!

“c’mon, tsukki, pleeeeeease! pretty please with a cherry on top!” you tug at his shirt and give him a puppy dog eye expression while he was dragging the both of you to the cafeteria

“no.” your jaw drops and you scoff, “why noooooot? you never go to parties with yamaguchi and i.” you give him the look again as soon as he looks down at you which causes him to whip his head back up

a noticeable blush on his face while he grumbles under his breath. “what?” you quirk your eyebrow at him

“because i don’t know anybody you know!” he stops walking and stuffs his hands into his pockets

you gasp and pout once again (it’s your thing), “yes you do! it’s kuroo’s party!!” he rolls his eyes (and that’s his thing hehe) before walking off again with you falling behind

“please, please! i won’t ask for anything else ever again! i promise, i really do like i’m serious this time!” you were now pleading in the middle of the hallway which had several people staring at you like you were out of your mind

“you said that last time when you begged me last minute to help you study for our math exam.”

“well-” he cuts you off, “and when you wanted to go get milkshakes at 1am.” you wince and try to argue against him

“but-” you groan as he lists another example, “also that one time when you begged me to watch that new horror movie with you because you were scared to go alone.”

“okay! okay! that was not my fault! there were a lot of jumpscares so i needed you! but this is different, i really do promise. pleeease, i won’t ask for anything e-”

“fuck! fine, i’ll go. just stop talking about it.” you squeal and throw your arms around him. “thank you, thank you, thank you, tha-” he flicks you in the forehead and you jump back but the grin was still visible on your face

“hurry up, yamaguchi is waiting.” he stares at the ceiling while walking but you just kept rambling on about the party

a few days later when it was finally friday night, you face timed tsukishima and as soon as he answered you shrieked

“ooooooo, tsukki! who you lookin’ cute for?” you give him a smile paired with a wink.

“when are we supposed to be there?” he ignores your question and gives you an annoyed look.

“in like thirty minutes! yama is catchin' a ride with suga, daichi, hinata, and kags. they told me to just go with you, i guess they don’t enjoy my company.” you let out an artificial weep while clutching your invisible pearls.

he chuckles while staring at your expression, “well you saying that sounds like you don’t enjoy my company, so maybe i’ll just go alone-”

“nope, see you in a few, love you!”

tsukishima heard the familiar sounds that play after a facetime call ends and he sighs

after a few minutes of preparing to go get you and what to say, he finally heads out. when he finally arrives outside your home, tsukishima rests his head on the steering wheel.

what the fuck is he gonna do at this party?

he can’t just stay by your side the whole time... or can he? NO! he can’t, you probably wouldn’t allow it and force him to socialize.

tsukishima huffs and eventually decides to pull himself out of his car to retrieve you. as soon as he knocks, somebody screams “i’m coming!” and stomping is heard.

the door is swung open and you’re stood there in all your glory. the blonde boy can feel his heart stop and it feels as if he literally stopped breathing. you look really pretty, like really, really pretty.

you’re wearing baggy ripped jeans that sort of clings to your waist with a rainbow crop top and it’s paired with boots that are barely visible because of the jeans. an accidental “wow.” flows from the tall boy’s lips

“what? do i look cute?” a wide grin appears on your face as you spin to show off your look

he covers the bottom half of his face and it’s barely audible when he says “you look pretty.” you giggle and push at his shoulder, “better be careful, tsukki! you might fall in love with me!”

when you finish your sentence, you throw a kiss his way and he just walks back to his car before you catch him looking like a tomato. “wait! wait, wait!”

you quickly close and lock your front door to chase after him. he opens the passenger seat door and waits for you to get inside before closing it. “woooooah! tsukki is becoming a gentleman now!”

“shut up.” and the drive begins to kuroo’s house. it doesn’t take long because you both just begin talking about anything that comes to mind and when you finally get there, a bunch of greetings is said.

immediately, you’re both separated and talking to different people. there were moments when you crossed paths but you were on the other side of the room, downing drinks with your other friends

and whenever he tried to make his way towards you, yamaguchi would drag him to do some random activity like play beer pong or whatever

time had passed and though tsukishima didn’t know how much, he was already tired. he felt somebody’s hand latch onto his arm and begin pulling him towards a room

“tsukishima, c’mon! we’re playing spin the bottle!” your hand clutches harder as you turn to look at him and you have a soft flush on your face along with a small smile

there was a large group in the living room playing childish games in a circle as you pulled him down and he plops with you. “let’s go! tsukishima is finally livin' a little.” bokuto screams and throws his hands

“only because [last name] is forcing him.” hinata says and gets nudged by yachi with a light glare. the game begins and a bunch of random kisses are shared. kuroo and bokuto, shimizu and akaashi, and sawamura with a girl he didn’t know

finally someone had spun the bottle and it landed on tsukishima, but you squealed out of anger. “absolutely not!”

kuroo cackles, “why not, [last name]?” everyone starts giggling while some are waiting to see what you argue with

“tsukki can’t kiss anyone but me!” you cross your arms across your chest and turn to stare tsukishima down with intimidation which, clearly, wasn’t working as few started bursting into laughter

yachi is looking at you with wide eyes, sugawara has his head in his hands, and kageyama is wheezing at tsukishima’s flustered expression.

“hey! tsukishima, seems like [last name] has a big crush on you!” nishinoya snickers while tanaka is sitting beside him losing his mind.

tsukki scoffs and stands the both of you up, “i’m going to take her home before she embarrasses herself. good night, don’t do anything stupid.”

“we won’t!” “we’ll try!” and with that, he was off while dragging you to his car with him

“awe... tsukki, does that mean you don’t wanna kiss me?” he can actually hear the pout in your voice. “that’s not it, [last name]. j-just be quiet.”

he began playing music to keep you occupied during the car ride back to your home as he thought about what the literal fuck just happened.

when he finally pulled up at your house, he went to your side to let you out but you started making grabby hands at him which obviously meant: you weren’t getting out this car unless he carried you.

a few minutes later and after a bit of arguing, the tall boy was now holding an already asleep girl in his arms like you were a toddler. you had given him your house key before just incase so it was easy for him to get you inside.

he helped you change into your pajamas and prepared headache pills and water for you in the morning when you would wake up with a hard hitting headache along with a tiny note on the side. he gave a light kiss to your forehead before leaving.

as soon as he reached his home, tsukishima cleaned himself up before laying down to rest.

he sighs as he lays there because fuck. he’s really in love with the cutest idiot on earth.

now he regrets leaving that note, and he’s stressing over the fact that he had too much confidence in that moment.

tsukishima eventually, after 30 minutes of overthinking, falls asleep.

when you rise in the morning, you look an absolute mess. you groan with a grumble of annoyance and turn on your side to see what tsukishima left.

immediately, flashbacks of last night come to your brain. you stuff your face into your pillow as you let out an embarrassed scream.

you completely embarrassed yourself in front of your best friend.

after wallowing in self pity for a few minutes, you reach for the pills and the water and finish them off.

when you’re done and turn back over to see if he left anything else, you see the note and grab it with swiftness.

What you said was really sweet but I wish you were sober when you said it. - Tsukishima Kei

[wickxdangels]

Neville Longbottom; Slytherin Girl.

Hello, lovelies! Back with another Harry Potter Imagine, this time a Neville Longbottom one! I love Neville so much so I was glad to get a request with him! He’s just so cute! Also, I took some phrases and got some help from the Harry Potter Wikia, so, not taking any credits for that one! Also there’s one phrase from Snape that I believe he really said in the books. Also not taking any credits for that, but that’s pretty much it. 

Anyways, hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it! Love you all x

Pairing; Neville Longbottom x Reader

Warnings; None

Request; Can you write a Neville Longbottom imagine where he’s got a crush on a Slytherin girl who Snape always pairs with him because he wants her to fail since she is friends with the Gryffindors and is always fighting with Draco but she always manages to get them good marks which makes Snape even angrier landing her frequent detentions which she doesn’t mind since she likes Neville?

Y/n was one of the few pureblood Slytherins that treated everyone kindly, if they deserved it, of course. 

She was currently running late for her Potions class, her hands full with her books as she ran through the hallways, she cursed in her mind, maybe taking a nap between periods wasn’t a good idea after all. As she reached the classroom door, she collided with someone’s back, dropping her books to the ground and scowling at it. “Seriously!?” She exclaimed and with a groan she kneeled down to grab her things.

“Oh! Y/n, I-i’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to! I- didn’t see you there.” The nervous voice that could only belong to Neville Longbottom, said. She finished grabbing her books and quickly froze. You see, Y/n had a soft spot for cute and shy guys; being surrounded by pretentious assholes in Slytherin, Draco Malfoy being the prime example, was enough for her to hate those attributes in guys.

So, when he met the shy, clumsy and introverted Gryffindor, boy she quickly took a liking to him. She watched him grow up to become an attractive man, but still maintaining his shy and gentle manners. She has never said anything about her feelings towards him to her fellow Slytherin friends, she just knew that even if they were nice towards her, they might not feel the same way towards a Gryffindor. Typical house rivalry that she had yet to share. 

“No, uh, it’s okay, Neville!” she replied, a warm feeling invading her cheeks as she looked up to him. “It was my fault, anyways. I think i’m a little half-sleep still..” she sheepishly said, tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear. “I think we should get in, though. Wouldn’t want Snape to deduct points from being too late.”

“Yeah.. um, you’re right.” He agreed before stepping inside of the classroom with her.

The whole classroom was already full, except some empty spots that may be due to the lack of students in this class, not all were Snape’s fans; she wasn’t one either. “Glad you two could join us, Mr. Longbottom and Miss. Y/l/n.” Snape’s voice brought them back to reality, even if was the Head of her house, she still wasn’t quite fond of him. Maybe due to the lack of empathy towards the other houses and the favoritism over Slytherins. Not towards her, though. He was aware that she was friends with lots of Gryffindors, earning his disapproval. 

“I’m sorry, Professor. Won’t happen again.” She quickly rexplied to him, walking towards an empty chair, placing her books on the desk as she stared up at him. 

“Yeah.. I’m quite sure it won’t happen again..” he glared at her before looking back at Neville, who was already making his way to another empty place in the classroom. “Not so fast, Mr. Longbottom.” He said to him, making him halt in place. “For today’s class and so on, you’ll be Miss. Y/l/n’s partner.” He explained, turning around to grab some of his book to begin the class. “All of your other classmates already picked their partners, you two are the only one’s left. Now, go ahead to sit with Miss. Y/l/n. We won’t be wasting any more time.” 

Neville quickly looked down and nodded, he was quick on his feet, almost running into some empty chairs on his way as he then sat down besides her, making her blush a little more due to the closeness and the sudden realization that he’ll be her partner for the duration of the class and the upcoming ones. 

“I’m just apologizing in advance if I make us fail this class, Potions isn’t really my forte..” He explained with a shy smile on his face. “And I’m not Professor Snape’s favorite either.” 

“Well, that makes two of us.” She explained softly with a smile. “Well, only with the latter one. I’m not Snape’s favorite either, but I can say I’m pretty good at potions.. and you like Herbology, don’t you?” 

“I-i thought Snape favored every Slytherin..” Neville commented as he opened his Potions book, he then looked at her a bit shocked as she knew his favorite class. “Yes, h-how did you know?”

“Well, pretty much every other Slytherin except me, I guess. It’s a long story.” She slowly shrugged as she followed the rest of the class as she opened her book. “And let’s call it a lucky guess..” She smiled at him, his face looked confused, trying to decipher how she knew figured that out. “I also shared an herbology class with you, and If I recall correctly, you were really good at it.” 

His face molded into a soft smile, he for a fact has stalked Y/n a bit in the past years, stealing glances at her in the library while reading Herbology books, or staring at her from afar in their free periods.. there was something about this Slytherin girl that made him crazy, maybe the fact that she was different to the rest of her housemates, or her beautiful face.. maybe also the way that a piece of her hair would always fall into her face and she would tuck it behind her back every-time, smiling after it. 

But before he could reply to what she had just said, Snape voice interrupted them. “Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: The Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: If you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing.” Professor Snape explained, looking intently to her and Neville’s desk as he finished the sentence. “That goes to you both Mr. Longbottom and Miss. Y/l/n.”

She could hear the snickering in the back of the class, knowing it belonged to Draco Malfoy and his friends, she rolled her eyes at them as Neville looked down. “Don’t worry, Neville. I know we will ace this.” She said confidently, with a bright smile on her face. 

“Begin.” Was all Snape said before everyone started to work on their potions.

                                             ________________

80 and something minutes later have already gone by as they were immersed into their potions, everyone was groaning or muttering how much they hated the class, meanwhile, Y/n was too busy following every step of the book, making sure they were in the correct path to finish the potion smoothly.

Neville stared at the rest of his classmates, watching at how Seamus Finnegan’s potion exited green sparks, he just hoped his potion did not ended up blowing up like every other thing he did. He looked down at Y/n, who was too focused on their potion, her hair a bit messy due to her running her hands through it every time she got stressed over the difficulty of the potion, but he liked it. It was a bit different from her everyday-almost-perfect hair.

“Okay, Neville. I think we are almost finished. I already simmered the potion for seven minutes so you just got to add the last ingredient. Seven exact drops of hellebore.” Y/n told him as she ran her hand through her hair once again, messing it up a bit more as his face turned into a scared one. “A-are you sure you want me to add the last ingredient? I.. I’ve heard if you don’t do it correctly it could.. blow up..” 

“Neville. You have my entire trust in your hands. Now, come on. Show Snape how well you can do.” She smiled at him, her faith in him had the effect of Felix Felicis, he felt as if he could do anything now, just with those few words she had just muttered. 

He quickly grabbed the bottle of hellebore, opened up the dropper and was extra careful as he dropped in 7 exact drops. They waited for some seconds but Neville was quick to start muttering “Oh, Merlin’s beard! I fucked it up! I knew it, I knew you shouldn’t have trusted me with the final step, I just—” 

“Neville! Shut up and look!” She said with a chuckle on her lips, Neville turned around and stared at the potion, that was not exiting a silvery vapour. “Is that, is that meant to happen?” He asked as he looked back and forth between the potion and Y/n.

“Oh, look at that. Seems like Miss. Y/l/n’s and Mr. Longbottom’s potion wasn’t a complete failure as I expected..” Professor Snape exclaimed as he looked at the potion sitting on the desk, sighing as he wrote down their score.

Probably a good one, Y/n thought. 

“Isn’t that a first? We all knew it must’ve been Y/l/n’s work, cause Neville would have blown it up like stupid Finnigan here.” Draco and his minions smirked from the back of the class. 

“Shut up, Malfoy. I don’t see yours being any better than Finnegan’s. Luckily you still conserve your ugly ferret face still intact, huh?” 

She sassily replied back to Draco, earning a scowl from him and his minions, they weren’t really fond of her, fighting every time they had the chance. You would even be surprised to know that they were in the same house. 

“Detention for that, Miss. Y/l/n, you’re welcome.” Snape simply said as he turned around, going to check the rest of the potions.

“But— Professor Snape!” She cried out, complaining. 

“My word is final.” Snape simply replied.

She scowled, sitting back in her chair before rolling her eyes.

Draco started to mischievously smile at that but Snape warned him, telling him to continue if he wanted to earn himself detention as well which shut him up.

“I-i’m sorry you got detention because of me, Y/n..” Neville said besides her, his face sad that she had just gained detention because she defended him

“It’s okay, Neville. It was worth it.” She simply shrugged as she gave him a smile.

It wasn’t bad, truly. She’s been plenty of times in detention and it’s not like she’ll be doing anything more interesting anyways. 

For a split second, it looked like Neville was trying to gather some courage before he spoke up. “I’d love to take you this weekend to Hogsmeade for a butter beer.. for standing up for me and helping me achieve a good score today.. only if you want to, of course!” He quickly explained, as if she were to refuse to him.

That actually made her flush once again, as usual, she tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear as she looked up to him. “That’d be quite lovely, Neville. Thank you.” She smiled softly at him as she heard the bell in the background, signaling the end of the class. “Saturday, 4 o’clock, yeah?” She said as she gathered her books, he quickly nodded before she said goodbye with a small kiss on his cheek, as she walked out of the classroom. 

His hand quickly flew to his cheek, touching the spot that she had just kissed as he smiled lovingly. 

“Look at that! Neville’s got a crush on a Slytherin!” Seamus Finnegan said out loud to the rest of the remaining classmates, earning some eye-rolls and some chuckles

“Shut it, Finnegan.” Neville muttered before standing up and leaving the classroom, he was going to mentally prepare for the upcoming date he with the lovely Slytherin girl, Y/n.

[fangirlandiknowit101]

Based on this post, with the idea by @itachiscatears, a very unhinged possible epilogue to The sun within me where Naruto collects all the Sasukes, because why wouldn’t he?? 

Under a cut bc it ended up long. To put it simply, Sasuke suffers. Naruto lives in Sasuke-filled heaven for two (2) weeks until Sasuke comes back and ruins all his dreams (or something like that)

Rated T probably to be safe

______________________________________

Sasuke returns from his trip, and all thoughts are immediately erased from his head as he enters the Uchiha compound, finding it full of copies of himself.

Has Naruto finally gone off the deep end and decided to surround himself by clones transformed into Sasuke? He catches the eye of another Sasuke passing by, and this version of him is wearing glasses.

“Hello,” glasses-Sasuke says as he reaches him. “Are you new? I thought Naruto started out by introducing everyone, but you seem like you wandered in here by yourself.”

“I…”

He’s speechless. Actually speechless. He considers yelling Naruto’s name at the top of his lungs, because either he’s playing a bad prank on him, or this person standing in front of him is really another version of him. Was Charasuke not enough?!

“Where the hell did you come from?” he asks, and glasses-him pushes the glasses up his nose, sniffing at him.

“Another dimension.”

The obviously is left implied.

“I’m a scientist,” is added, and then he turns halfway to shout at someone. “Oi, Friendly Sasuke! Would you come over here, please?”

Sasuke stares, and stares a little more as another Sasuke walks over with a happy grin on his face. Even knowing Charasuke, it’s unsettling to look at.

“Sure, what’s up, Researcher Sasuke?”

Sasuke – the real Sasuke, that is, although he is starting to doubt the reality of things – glares at both of them.

“Where’s Naruto?” he demands, fists clenching and unclenching in anger.  

“Pretty sure he’s still at the Hokage tower,” Friendly Sasuke replies, giving him a pleasantly questioning look. “Is he new? He seems kind of similar to Avenger Sasuke. Bad temper, I mean.”

“Oh!” Researcher Sasuke taps his lips, scrutinizing Sasuke as one might scrutinize a lab experiment. “Maybe this is the Sasuke of this world? Naruto said he’d be coming back soon.”

Telling himself firmly that Naruto (and Charasuke, too) would be upset with him if he started killing versions of himself, Sasuke takes a deep breath and flickers out of sight, heading for the Hokage tower.

“Sasuke!” Naruto greets him with, a beaming smile on his face as he holds his arms out from behind his office desk.

As if Sasuke would run into his arms. As if he didn’t already have another version of him standing by the desk, glaring sullenly at Sasuke.

“You,” Sasuke hisses out from between clenched teeth. “Explain.”

Naruto chuckles, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“Ah, well, you see, I was talking to Charasuke if maybe there could be other dimensions, and maybe there would also be other versions of us there? And so, guess what? There is!”

Perhaps Sasuke should go on another trip. A year-long one. He’ll pretend for a moment that he won’t miss the dumb idiot, and that he hadn’t spent most of this trip looking forward to coming back home to him.

“And what, I repeat, what, are they all doing in the Uchiha district? I leave you alone for two weeks and this is how desperate-“

The edge of a katana is pointed at his throat, fast enough that Sasuke can’t finish speaking, but slow enough that he deems it’s not a serious attempt on his life. The other Sasuke’s eyes bore into his, a little unhinged.

“Maybe you shouldn’t leave him alone,” this barely restrained version of him says.

“No, no, it’s alright,” Naruto says, slowly walking over to delicately push the other Sasuke’s katana down. “I know you like violence, Avenger Sasuke, but we’ve talked about this.”

Again, Sasuke is speechless. Naruto pouts at the other Sasuke until he sheaths his katana with a huff, still eyeing him with suspicion. He never acted like that, did he?

(Okay fine, he did. But still.)

“Return them,” he grits out, just as the door to the Hokage’s office slams open and several copies enter the room.

“Now, he really can’t do that,” Researcher Sasuke informs him, shaking out a long scroll and glancing over the contents. “You see, the Uchiha district is now a booming economy, restoring the wealth of the Uchiha clan, which was unjustly usurped by this village. Without us, this village will collapse.”

He does not like the sound of this. His eyes find Naruto, who clears his throat with a sheepish look on his face.

“Don’t worry,” another Sasuke says, wearing pastel-colored clothing and chewing loudly on something as he speaks. There are obnoxious sun glasses on top of his messy hair. “It’s cool. We like it here.”

“See?” Naruto pleads with him, attempting an innocent look. “There’s even a Ramen Chef Sasuke! His ramen is to die for, you have to try it!”

“I’d rather die,” Sasuke mutters, contemplating escape. Two weeks. He wonders what the kyuubi’s opinion is on this madness.

“Aw, come on. Don’t be like that,” Naruto says, moving closer and clearly aiming for a hug, possibly a kiss.

Sasuke’s dignity will not allow it.

“You are not allowed to touch me or even think about touching me until they’re all gone,” he spits out, taking a few steps back. “You can sleep here in the office.”

“Or with me,” Friendly Sasuke suggests.

“I think it was Stripper Sasuke’s turn tonight,” Researcher Sasuke points out.

Well, that’s it. He’s out of here.

Naruto calls after him as he leaves through the window, but no one tries to stop him. Naruto prefers the stripper version of him? Fair enough. He’ll let them have fun while he…

Ends up moping in a bar, Sakura giving him pitying looks.

“I tried to stop him,” she says again, for the umpteenth time. “Told him you’d be unhappy.”

“That’s an understatement.”

Another pitying look, and he’s starting to feel tired down to the bone. Why, oh why, did he decide to dedicate his life to this absolute moron? This imbecile? This Sasuke-obsessed nutcase? He can’t even bring himself to feel surprised, just resigned.

“I have to admit though, they’ve done a lot to improve the economy. Some versions of you are terribly smart. There’s even a doctor one, he’s teaching me-“

Sasuke gives her a look, and she promptly shuts up. Maybe that version of him is straight and they can live happily ever after. He. Does. Not. Care.

Someone wanders over to their table, pausing until Sasuke tilts his head up. He’s been resting it against the tabletop, for reasons. It is, of course, another version of him. Just really old. Like, older than he ever imagined he’d become.

“I heard you are this Naruto’s Sasuke,” he says in a gravelly voice, cane gripped tight in one gnarled hand. “This must all be terribly confusing to you.”

Another understatement. The old him clears his throat, and Sakura rushes up to get him a chair. He sinks down on it with a heavy sigh, placing the cane over his lap and peering at Sasuke with too knowing eyes.

“We are all here of our free will,” he states, as if Sasuke is included in that. He’s no longer sure he is. “In my case, I lost my Naruto to old age, which inevitably awaits us all, if we are lucky.”

As sad as that is, Sasuke won’t offer him any sympathy.

“Some came out of curiosity, some came because their Naruto is unavailable. Some came because Naruto asked them to. I think it unsettles him to know that there are few other universes where the two of us live together in true happiness.”

“Maybe he just entered your dimensions at the wrong point in time,” Sasuke surprises himself by saying, raising an eyebrow at the old man. “I mean, if you at least had a long life together…”

He receives a thoughtful nod for his comment.

“Maybe he found us at a time when we most miss his presence. Researcher Sasuke, for example, is studying in another country. He’s convinced that all the data shows that his Naruto is not interested.”

“Not my problem.”

Sakura kicks him under the table.

“Either way, none of you belong here,” he adds, grimacing at the thought that Naruto would be attracted to this wrinkly old version of him. “How long do you plan to stay, anyway?”

Old Sasuke smiles sweetly at him. It’s terrifying.

“Oh, I for one don’t mind staying for the rest of my life. This young Naruto is so invigorating.”

Sasuke cannot deal with this. He does not deserve this. He stands up and leaves, stalking out of the bar and out of the village and doesn’t stop until he’s an hour away and Naruto pops into existence next to him, using the damn mark still on the nape of his neck.

“Are you leaving?” Naruto asks, looking alarmed. “Why? Where are you going?”

“Does it matter?” It’s unfair of him to ask, but Naruto is seriously testing his patience. “You’ve got your harem to entertain you.”

“It’s not a harem,” Naruto splutters, waving his arms around wildly. “It’s just-“

Sasuke waits, crossing his arms.

“I, uh, may have a slight problem,” Naruto confesses, nervously tapping his hands together. “You see, I just wanted to check on us in the other dimensions, but then I was noticed, and then you, well a version of you, convinced me to find more of you, it was just for research-“

Oh, Researcher Sasuke is going to die a gruesome death.

“And then suddenly! There were so many of you! And things were kind of happening!”

“You’re an idiot,” Sasuke tells him, but he can’t stay angry at Naruto.

Of course, Naruto knows this, and his hopeful little smile is entirely too effective. Sasuke closes his eyes and groans, listlessly holding out his arms, just enough that Naruto takes it as an invitation. He launches himself at Sasuke, clinging to him like a monkey, burying his face in Sasuke’s neck.

“I missed you,” he mutters, and it’s the final blow to Sasuke’s defenses.

He wraps his arms around Naruto, telling himself he’s definitely going to make him pay for this, just later.

“You’re taking them all back tomorrow morning at the latest,” he scolds Naruto, who lets out a muffled noise of complaint. “Either they leave or I do.”

It’s an empty threat, but Naruto still stiffens in his hold.

“Fine,” he huffs, lowering his legs until he’s at least supporting his own weight. “But… what about Grandpa Sasuke? Can we keep him?”

Sasuke pushes him away, ignoring the betrayed look on his face.

“No.”

“But he’s so nice! And harmless! And his Naruto is already dead!”

“I am not sharing you.”

Wait. That’s not what he meant to say. Naruto blinks up at him from where he’s sprawled on the ground, mouth open like a fish. Then his eyes fill with glee, a smug grin spreading across his face.

“Ooh, you were jealous,” he teases, and Sasuke turns his back on him. “You were! Admit it! You want me all to yourself, because you love me soooo much-“

One of these days, Sasuke tells himself silently as Naruto continues to blabber on about how Sasuke still needs to learn how to communicate, and obviously Naruto loves him the most, he just can’t help but wonder if maybe Sasuke could be a little nicer to him, learn a ramen recipe or two…

Yeah, one of these days, for sure, he’ll knock some sense into Naruto. But not today.

Clearly, not today.

[crygimethydgoode]

Lover’s Fantasia Chapter 4 (Crystal Methyd x Gigi Goode RPDR12) New York

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32286397/chapters/80839384

Summary: February 2020 brings Crystal and Gigi to Las Vegas for the season 12 premiere, and New York City for press week. Meanwhile in Amsterdam, Crystal and Gigi are learning to trust each other again. 

but for you darling id do it all again

July 9th, 2021

Amsterdam

“You know... a year ago I would’ve killed for this with Crystal,” Gigi whispered on FaceTime with Symone.

“Oh, believe me, I know,” Symone laughed, and Gigi couldn’t help but smile.

“But it’s... it’s not what I thought it would be like. You know?” Gigi asked. Symone just cocked her head, waiting for her to continue. “The little weekends we had together were so desperate and fleeting. We felt like we had to make the most out of every minute because that’s all we had. But now we... well- it feels like we have all the time in the world here. And we’re just... taking our time. Becoming friends again. I think... trusting each other again. I don’t know. There’s no pressure. It’s just us in Amsterdam. It’s nice,” Gigi explained. “Don’t tell Hunter,” she added, and Symone started to laugh.

“Oh you know I won’t! You could tell him though. He won’t be mad,” Symone said.

“I know,” Gigi sighed. “He’d just be… I don’t wanna worry him.  I’ll tell him when there’s something to actually tell him, you know? Right now, me and Crystal are just learning to exist together.”

“Right,” Symone nodded. “Well, Rosy and I are happy for you. We’re glad you’re getting a second chance. And you know Gigi, while being with Crystal again isn’t what you imagined, that might be a good thing. Maybe this will be even better.” Symone said softly, and Gigi hated that her chest ached, hated that her stomach was fluttering. Hated that she felt hopeful again for something with Crystal. When she voiced this to Symone, she was met with a sympathetic smile.

“I can’t imagine how confused you must be. I mean- you two have a lot of history. A lot of shit you’ve gotta work through. And that’s okay. Okay?” Symone tried to stay positive, smiling sweetly.

“Okay,” Gigi whispered. “I just don’t wanna get my heart broken. Again. You know?”

“I know,” Symone said softly, and there were tears in both of their eyes. Old habits die hard. “You look out for yourself. Always put your happiness and well-being first, always. You’re too smart, too strong, too beautiful. You are Gigi Mothafuckin Goode! You’ve got this baby.”

“I’ve got this,” Gigi’s voice cracked, and she swore there were happy tears in her eyes. “I miss you,” she whispered. “Anyways. Crystal, Jaida, and I are going to a sexy leather club tonight, so I’ve gotta go. I love you, bye!” Gigi hung up and started to get ready for the night.

Apparently, Jaida had found a section in Michelle’s Amsterdam guidebook talking all about these gay bars where everyone was clad in leather and heavy piercings, and she insisted on everyone going. Michelle declined, using the time to FaceTime with her husband and daughters, who would hopefully be coming to visit soon. Gigi was hesitant to accept as well, but Crystal and Jaida were both so excited, and she didn’t wanna miss out. Besides, the guys will be sexy, Gigi will be drunk, and Crystal will be... Crystal. Why not?.

So Gigi got ready and went down to the coffeeshop to wait for Crystal and Jaida, hovering by the door. Then she felt her phone buzzing and looked down to see Jaida calling her.

“Hello?” Gigi said into the phone. She immediately had to pull it away from her ear, the pounding music was so loud.

“GIIIIIGIIIIII IM DRUNK!” Jaida screamed, and Gigi let out a small laugh.

“I can hear that,” she chuckled.

“I'M STILL GONNA COME TO THE LEATHER BAR, BUT NOT FOR ANOTHER LIKE... HOUR AND... LIKE AN HOUR AND A... NOT MORE THAN TWO HOURS! I DON'T KNOW! I’LL MEET YOU THERE, I PROMISE! I LOVE YOU!” Jaida yelled, and hung up without getting a response from Gigi.

“Okay then,” Gigi said to no one, putting her phone back in her pocket.

“What?” Crystal said, coming down the stairs. Gigi tried not to look at her for too long, admiring her mullet that had been piled into a messy bun on her head.

“Jaida is at some club, she’ll meet us in a couple hours,” Gigi explained, giving Crystal a knowing grin. “I like the hair, by the way. Very main character of you,” she couldn’t help but add, and her grin only got wider when Crystal let out a loud laugh, leading them outside.

“I want my look to scream ‘my mom sold me to be One Direction’s sex slave’, you know?” Crystal quipped as they began to walk down the bustling Amsterdam street.

“‘Ello luv, I’m Harry. We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Gigi said in her best Harry Styles voice, and they laughed the rest of the way to the club, reminiscing about all the shitty One Direction fanfiction they read in 2012. And then they arrived at the club, and Gigi’s smile immediately fell from her face. “Oh,” she whispered. “This place looks...” she trailed off.

“Scary,” Crystal said, and Gigi quickly agreed. The place in Michelle’s guidebook had unfortunately closed due to COVID-19. So Crystal looked up “Leather gay Amsterdam” on Google and they just walked to the first address. But Google maps took them down three different narrow side alleys, into a side of town neither of them had been to. The street was dimly lit, and Gigi couldn’t help but feel like Harry Potter in the second movie, walking past all the dark wizards in Knockturn Alley. Weird example. It was scary. “So should we- should we go in?” Crystal asked, voice small.

“I guess,” Gigi replied, completely unsure of herself. And so they went into the bar together. Once they got through security and were inside, the first thing Gigi was able to process was the music pounding through her ears, making the floor vibrate. The second thing Gigi noticed was Crystal tightly clinging to her, and Gigi knew she was holding Crystal back just as tight.

“Are you okay?” Crystal yelled into Gigi’s ear. The music was so loud, Gigi could still hardly hear her. “Do you feel safe? We can leave if you want to,” Crystal said, and if Gigi weren’t so scared, her heart would’ve melted.

“Do you want to leave? Are you okay?” Gigi asked.

“I’m asking YOU if YOU’RE okay,” Crystal retorted, and now they were both smiling, despite the glowering man who was standing in the corner of the room with a whip.

“Well, I’m okay. Are YOU okay?” Gigi asked.

“Yes! I’m good. If you’re fine, I’m fine,” Crystal said and held out her hand. Gigi took it, putting on her bravest face. They decided to go to the bar, knowing they wouldn’t get through the night sober. Three tequila shots and two Rum and Cokes each later, Crystal and Gigi were getting less and less nervous about the club. Everyone was actually really nice, and the bartender was funny and knowledgeable about all things Amsterdam. Needless to say, Gigi was actually enjoying her night. Until some ripped, picture perfect dreamboat came up besides Crystal, immediately starting to chat her up, complimenting her hair and outfit, and- no way he just had the audacity to comment on her ass in those jeans. And Crystal was- fucking blushing. Great. Gigi sat rigid at the bar, staring directly at the wall ahead of her, refusing to look in Crystal’s direction. Gigi knew she had no claim over Crystal, knew Crystal had every right to be flirting with this guy. But it didn’t mean Gigi had to be happy about it. And then she heard the dreaded words.

“So... Can I buy you a drink?” The man asked Crystal. Gigi could feel Crystal’s eyes on her, knew that she could see the way Gigi’s shoulders had tensed up, the way Gigi was waiting with bated breath to see what Crystal would say.

“Oh uh... no thanks. I’m good with my friend here. It was nice meeting you though! Have a good night,” Crystal said kindly but firmly. The dude stalked off, but Gigi remained staring at the wall, trying to seem disinterested in everything. She could hear Crystal saying something, but pretended not to hear, instead drinking some random hard cider that the bartender put in front of them. “Gigi!” Crystal exclaimed, nudging her shoulder.

“Wha...?” Gigi said, trying to act clueless, faking a yawn. But she knew. “Did your boy toy leave?” Gigi asked nonchalantly, and Crystal was trying to hold back her laughter, and utterly failing. “Shut up,” Gigi giggled, and they were both laughing now, drinks in hand. “I’m surprised you rejected him. He was hot,” Gigi said once she was able to collect herself. Crystal gave her a funny look, slowly sipping her drink.

“Gigi... with everything going on... how could I be interested in him?” Crystal asked, and what the fuck did that mean? Maybe it meant that they were too busy in Amsterdam to worry about hooking up with random Dutch dudes. Or maybe it meant that Crystal wasn’t looking for anything like that with anyone, and she was just trying to focus on herself this summer.

Or maybe, just maybe, it meant that Crystal still wanted Gigi. Maybe Crystal wasn’t going to break her heart after all. Or maybe they were both just drunk and Gigi was reading into things too much. She never got the chance to ask that night, because right then, Jaida ran up to Crystal and Gigi, obviously plastered.

“HEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYY BITCHES!”

February 2020

Las Vegas

“We’re in Vegas bitches!!!” Jan screamed. Everyone cheered along with her. Finally, season 12 of Drag Race was premiering and the whole cast was reunited in Vegas. It also just so happened to be the first time Gigi saw Crystal since November.

“I’m trying to get over her, I am,” Gigi said to Hunter one day after scrolling through old pictures and videos of her and Crystal in L.A.

“You set yourself up for failure, Geege. You’re not gonna get over Crystal if you’re driving to Venice Beach with her at three in the morning.” Hunter was right. Gigi was trying to get over Crystal, but deep down, she didn’t want to. Because why would she want to? After all, Crystal was… Crystal.

“Well it’s not like I can avoid her, she’s one of my best friends and-” Gigi paused, biting the inside of her cheek. “And when I’m with her all my common sense just goes out the window,” Gigi felt Hunter’s stare but didn’t look up at him.

“When do you have to see her next?” Hunter asked.

“The premiere, in Vegas,” Gigi said, heart dropping just thinking about seeing Crystal again.

“Great. I’ll come with you,” Hunter said.

“What?”

“I’ll come with you, I will come babysit you and make sure you don’t do anything dumb like sneak out of the hotel in the middle of the night and walk the strip with Crystal,” Hunter explained. “I also just really want to go to Vegas.” Gigi was offended at first, she could take care of herself, but then she realized it truly wasn’t the worst idea.

“Okay,” Gigi agreed. And so the two boarded their plane to Vegas.

“What are you not going to do?” Hunter asked as they walked to the restaurant everyone was meeting at on the Vegas strip.

“I’m not going to do anything that could make me fall for Crystal-”

“Gigi!” Just then Widow, Heidi, and Crystal, who were also walking towards the restaurant from the opposite direction, spotted Gigi and Hunter. Everything Hunter had told Gigi on the plane ride left Gigi’s head because there was Crystal.

There was Crystal, who was running to Gigi, completely leaving Heidi and Widow in the dust. And Gigi couldn’t see anything else but Crystal, running towards her at full speed as Gigi felt her feet start running towards Crystal too. They collided, and the world was suddenly screaming in color once again.

“I missed you,” Crystal whispered, and Gigi melted into the hug. Hunter couldn’t even be mad at Gigi, he just ran up and pulled Crystal into a hug of his own before they all entered the restaurant together.

But now they were on the party bus, with all of the girls from season 12. Gigi sat between Hunter and Crystal, which sort of felt like having an angel and a devil on each shoulder. She wasn’t sure who was which.

It didn’t take long for Crystal and Gigi to slip into their old ways. Sitting together, Crystal’s shoulders and legs pressed against Gigi’s, both of them giggling messes. “Canoodling” is what Jackie had called it when she would tease them in the vans.

“Why am I not surprised?” Jackie joked, pointing a finger at Crystal and Gigi, who both were blushing. Hunter gave Gigi a subtle nudge.  

‘You’re setting yourself up for disaster’ she reminded herself.

“Crystal, why didn’t you bring Paul? We’re all dying to meet him,” Jan said. Gigi clenched her jaw, Hunter gave her a look. Crystal let out an awkward chuckle.

“Someone had to stay home and watch Tictak,” Crystal said.

“Don’t your parents live in the same town? Couldn’t they watch your cat?” Jaida said, stirring her drink.

“Uhm-”

“Alright ladies, we all know Paul is really shy, let's move on,” Widow said. Crystal let out a sigh of relief.

“I agree because I have a few more questions for you two,” Jaida continued, crossing her legs and turning to Crystal and Gigi. Gigi felt as if they were being interrogated. “We all know you had your get together in November. We all saw you two cuddling in the back of those vans, or in the Werkroom, or the green room. We just wanna know if there’s a little something going on, that’s all,” Jaida said. Gigi’s breath hitched in the back of her throat. Luckily, Hunter jumped in.

“Believe me, I was with these two in LA. The only thing they did was try not to fall while dancing,” Hunter joked. Everyone started laughing and Gigi hoped that was the end of it all.

Of course, it wasn’t.

“So you guys haven’t even like... kissed or anything?” Jan asked.

“You meddling fuckin kids,” Widow murmured under her breath. Gigi’s face was burning, could they tell? They could definitely tell.

“No?” Crystal said.

“Kiss...kiss...kiss...” Rock M. started chanting. Fuck. Dahlia, Nicky, and Aiden joined in. Of course, Brita, the loudest one there, had to start too. Suddenly everyone was chanting “kiss” like they were in high school and playing spin the bottle. Gigi looked at Crystal, ready to spill out an apology and say they didn’t have to kiss. But much to Gigi’s surprise, Crystal was laughing along with them.

She looked at Gigi and shrugged. Gigi looked back at Hunter who gave her the look he always gave right before she was about to do something dumb. He was clutching Gigi’s arm, his eyes screaming “Don’t you fucking dare,” Gigi just looked back at Crystal, a grin on her face. Gigi removed Hunter’s hand from her wrist, and grabbed Crystal by the waist.

“OH FUCK THEY’RE ACTUALLY DOING IT!” Heidi cackled. Crystal put her hand on Gigi’s face, leaned in, and kissed Gigi. It was soft, light, and utterly perfect despite being surrounded by their season 12 sisters. The kiss lasted a second too long, lingering. Lighting coursed through Gigi, who couldn’t even hear the eruption of cheers, she just fought the urge to kiss Crystal again. Crystal pulled away, giggling but blushing. Jan, Jaida, and Jackie waved their fingers together in the middle of the bus. Gigi could feel Hunter’s pointed stare but didn’t care all that much because she just kissed Crystal Elizabeth Methyd. And god, it was fucking magical and the only thing Gigi wanted to do for the rest of her life. Crystal buried her head in the crook of Gigi’s neck, face burning.

“That’s Vegas, baby!”

Amsterdam

“This is the best idea I’ve ever had!” Crystal giggled, walking through Jaida’s apartment door with all of her and Gigi’s makeup. After passing around a bottle of Dutch Gin, Crystal suddenly suggested that she and Gigi do Michelle’s makeup, each of them getting 1/2 of Michelle’s face.

“Y’all have fun, I’m gonna keep dancing!” Jaida cackled as she danced to the non-existent music. “I fuckin love this song!” Gigi just laughed, mind extremely foggy. She hadn’t drunk that much, had she? The bottle was passed so many times she lost track around her fifth swig. All Gigi knew was that Crystal was glowing. She had been staring at her all night, and really didn’t mind if Crystal noticed. Who cares? Gigi was in Amsterdam, and the only voice of reason in her life was time zones away.

“Okay! Michelle, I am going to do the classic Crystal Elizabeth Methyd face. Gigi?” Crystal prompted, a wild grin on her face.

“I’m... I’m gonna make you orange,” Gigi giggled, pouring out way too much foundation onto the back of her hand. “Shit.” Gigi just smeared it onto Michelle’s face. “Hope you don’t like that shirt too much.”

“My turn!” Crystal took her foundation stick and began to smear it all over Michelle’s face. Michelle couldn’t hold back her laughter.

“How were you two the runners up?” She laughed, causing everyone to start laughing.

“Because Ru is obsessed with me and Gigi is talented,” Crystal giggled.

“Hey! You’re both talented. My daughters came for my fucking head when I read you for your makeup,” Michelle said.

“Oh shit you're a mom, that’s right! What’s that like?” Jaida asked, now dancing with a houseplant.

“Well, it’s a pain in the ass. But I like to think my two girls turned out okay,” Michelle laughed. “No, it’s rough. You know I’m honest...”

“We know!” Jaida, Crystal, and Gigi all said.

“Shut up you bitches! As I was saying, it sucks sometimes. You try to know what’s best for them when in reality half the time you don’t know what’s best for yourself. One day everything’s fine and the next they hate you, and you don’t even know what you did wrong. And all you can do is replay your conversations in your head trying to figure out what you could’ve possibly said to strike a nerve like that. But it’s worth it, you know? I love my daughters more than anything, they truly are my world. It’s worth it,” Michelle said, and Gigi wasn’t even paying attention to what makeup she was doing on Michelle. She was watching Crystal, who was smiling softly while listening to Michelle talk about her daughters.

“And of course, my husband is the fucking best. Seriously, I could not do it without him. He’s the cool dad. Like, when the girls don’t want to talk to me they’ll go complain to him and he’ll try to explain it all to them, that I probably wasn’t trying to be a bitch. I’ll go to them, I’ll apologize, and we’ll move on. The same thing with my husband. It’s not worth it to linger on petty little fights, it’s not, because what’s the point? You’re mad at me, I’m mad at you, then we never talk about it? I hate that shit.” Gigi desperately tried not to look at Crystal, heart in her throat. “It’s a waste of time ladies, don’t stay mad at the people who matter the most. Especially when you’re supposed to be raising two teenagers with that person,” Michelle laughed. Gigi looked over at Crystal against her better judgment. Gigi had never wanted kids, ever. Mostly because she wasn't sure if she would ever find the right person to have kids with. But as Gigi watched Crystal gently blend Michelle’s makeup, being as careful as possible to not get it in her eyes, it didn’t seem like the craziest idea. Gigi added that to the list of things NOT to tell Hunter when she called him tomorrow. She focused back on doing Michelle’s makeup, which didn’t look all too bad, mostly because Gigi was drunk.

“Gigi, what the fuck are you doing to Michelle’s face?” Jaida asked. Gigi hadn’t realized, but she heavily contoured Michelle using an orange eyeshadow. Her eyes were orange, her cheeks were orange, her lips were orange- Michelle was basically completely orange.

“I-Uhm- I did the Crystal Methyd... Method, if you will and tried to be a little more abstract,” Gigi tried to defend the monstrosity that was Michelle’s makeup.

“She looks like Donald Trump!” Crystal giggled.

“Am I really drunk or does Crystal’s side actually look good?”

“Oh Jaida, I have done my makeup drunk so many times, it’s easy,” Crystal said.

“Okay, well, can y’all be done? I’m getting tired of dancing alone, this houseplant can only make me feel so much,” Jaida said. And so they all got up and danced with Jaida, sans music. And when Crystal wrapped her arms around Gigi’s neck, and Gigi held Crystal by the waist, swaying side to side, she couldn’t fight back her smile.

“What?” Crystal asked, a smile also growing on her face.

“Nothing, c’mere,” Gigi whispered, her hand finding its way into Crystal’s curls. Her phone buzzed. Hunter.

“Tell Hunter to shut up,” Crystal chuckled. So Gigi put her phone in the empty coffee pot, not sure what else to do. She returned to Crystal’s side after a moment, who was looking out Jaida’s window at the shining street below them. And Gigi knew better than to reach out and grab Crystal’s hand, but she did. And a certain line was crossed. A line Gigi was desperately trying to avoid crossing. A line that Gigi had blurred before, a line that maybe had always been blurred. There was no coming back from this, there never was, was there? Crystal squeezed Gigi’s hand.

“I don’t know if I can walk up all those stairs,” Crystal whispered.

“If...if we crawl into Jaida’s bed... maybe she’ll go crawl into ours,” Gigi suggested.

“Gigi Goode. You’re a genius.” And so they tiptoed across the living room, as if Jaida wasn’t only a few feet away, and crawled into her bed. Gigi pulled the covers over their heads, hoping Crystal couldn’t see her blushing. “Goodnight,” she murmured.

“Goodnight,” Gigi said, but neither of them made any move to go to sleep just yet.

“Gigi?”

“Yeah?”

“Remember your first night in New York? With Jan and Jackie?” Crystal asked. Gigi tried to make out her expression in the darkness.

“Yeah. Yeah, I remember,” Gigi whispered.

“Yeah, me too. I miss it.” Crystal rolled over, leaving Gigi with nothing yet everything to say. Gigi sat there for a moment, not sure if she had struck a nerve, or hurt Crystal in some way.  But then Crystal grabbed Gigi’s arm, lacing it around her waist, lines blurred.

February 2020

New York City

Hunter had suggested that Gigi fly into New York later at night.

“Why?” Rosy asked.

“Because if you fly in later, you won’t have to see Crystal-” Hunter began to explain.

“Why wouldn’t she want to see Crystal?” Symone chimed in.

“I just think it’s best that you try to see Crystal as little as possible during press week,” Hunter said.

“But... but why?” Rosy asked again. Gigi watched as Hunter grew more and more frustrated.

“Because when Gigi is with Crystal she does dumb shit like kissing her,” Hunter shot Gigi a piercing look. He still hadn’t dropped it. Gigi couldn’t really blame him though, she never did listen to Hunter.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” Rosy butted in. “Please explain to me how that’s a bad thing.”

“Because Crystal has a boyfriend-”

“Okay! I’ll fly in later, it’s fine,” Gigi interrupted, desperately wanting to end the conversation. Besides, there was no reason to start another fight with Hunter after she literally kissed Crystal right in front of him.

And so Gigi arrived at the JFK airport at 10 pm and took an Uber to the hotel. She decided that Hunter was right. It was better that Gigi tried to avoid Crystal as much as possible this week, because every time she saw Crystal in person, it just made her miss her more when they inevitably had to go home.

This was for the best. This was for the best. This was for the -

“Gigiiiiiiii.”

What was that?

“Gigiiiiiiii,” A faint voice called from down the hall. Gigi heard the sound of footsteps running down the hallway.

“Crystal! Slow down!” Another voice called.

Then Gigi heard an all too familiar knock, and her heart was in her throat. And though Gigi knew Hunter would be pissed, she grinned as she ran to the door. She opened the door and there Crystal stood, eyes glossy, cheeks flushed. She was obviously drunk.

“Gigi!” Crystal jumped into Gigi’s arms, Gigi could smell the alcohol on her.

“Hi!” Gigi laughed, holding Crystal close.

“Hello! God, I missed you.”

How many times have they said that to each other now? Countless times over the phone in the dead of night, at the airport, in Vegas.

“I missed you too.”

“Crystal? CRYSTAL?!” Gigi heard someone calling. Moments later, Jan walked by.

“She’s in here, Jan!” Gigi called. Jan entered the room, her frustrated expression immediately disappearing when she saw Crystal and Gigi in their embrace.

“I turned around for one minute and she was asking the front desk what your room number was– She also had three Margaritas,” Jan said, walking into the room. Crystal finally released Gigi from her hug, and Gigi didn’t want to admit how cold she felt. Luckily, Crystal held onto Gigi’s arm, resting her head on her shoulder. “Well! It’s your first night in New York, we oughta do something,” Jan said, plopping down on one of the chairs in the hotel room.

“I could do your makeup!” Crystal giggled. And Gigi felt as all the walls she spent the past three weeks building up crumbled to the floor yet again.

“Oh my god! Jackie was coming to meet us here anyway. She got this god-awful wig yesterday, I’ll have her bring it!” Jan squealed, already whipping out her phone to text Jackie. Okay. This was happening. And Gigi couldn’t be mad about it.

“Fuck it,” she said. Crystal cheered.

“Okay! I’ll go get my stuff!” Crystal ran to the conjoined door in Gigi’s room.

“Is your room next to mine?” Gigi asked.

“Of course, where else would it be?” Crystal giggled. Gigi let out an exasperated laugh. Of course. Moments later, Crystal returned with all her makeup. All. Her. Makeup.

“Jackie is on her way!” Jan announced. Crystal sat Gigi down on the bed, they sat facing each other, legs crossed. Gigi felt her heart pounding as Crystal held Gigi’s face in her hands, smearing on the foundation. Sometimes, Gigi would catch Crystal’s eye as she was blending out her foundation, and Crystal would fight back a smile. Gigi was sober, but she felt light headed. Crystal’s hands gently tilted Gigi’s face in a thousand different directions, before letting out a frustrated sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Gigi asked.

“I can’t get the right angle...” Crystal whined.

“Have her lay down,” Jan tried to offer casually, but Gigi could hear the mischief in her voice.

“Smart! Gigi lay down,” Crystal said. Without thinking, Gigi laid back on the bed. This was fine. Gigi was fine. Crystal Methyd was just inches away from Gigi’s face, leaning over her as she laid in bed. Crystal was still clearly frustrated. “One second, I’m not messing up this eyeliner.” Without any warning, Crystal kneeled on the bed before throwing a leg over Gigi’s torso, straddling her. She lost her balance in the process, so Gigi grabbed the side of her legs to steady her.

“Thanks,” Crystal blushed. Gigi couldn’t find the power to rip her hands away. God, was it only three weeks ago when they kissed on the party bus? Why did it feel so long ago? And why did Crystal keep smiling at Gigi like that? Gigi’s heart was in her throat as she held her breath. She had seen Crystal up close before, of course, but this was so different. Crystal made this funny face when she focused. Her eyes squinting, her lips pressed together tightly, brow furrowed. Gigi found herself grinning without even realizing it.

“What?” Crystal asked, a smile tugging at her lips. Gigi started giggling.

“You make a face when you’re focused, it’s cute,” Gigi admitted, chest burning. She ignored Jan’s gasp from across the room. Gigi had forgotten Jan was even there, sorry Jan.

Crystal sat up straight, placing a hand on Gigi’s chest. Dear God, please let her heart stop pounding.

“Well, you’re making a face too,” Crystal said, leaning in close to Gigi's lips.

“Oh really?” Gigi cocked an eyebrow, “what face am I making?”

“I... I don’t know how to describe it...” Crystal whispered. She was too close.

“Your eyes are shining,” Jan called. Thankfully, someone knocked on the door. Jan ran to let Jackie in.

“Jesus Christ, what did I miss?” Jackie said, seeing Crystal straddling Gigi.

“A lot,” they all responded. Crystal finished up Gigi’s makeup quickly but hesitated before climbing off.

“I have this stunning wig for you!” Jackie waved around the gigantic red wig she had brought. “Okay, done!” she said after pinning the wig. Crystal clasped her hands over Gigi’s eyes and walked her to the mirror. When Gigi saw herself in the mirror, she immediately burst out laughing. Of course, Crystal had painted her like a clown.

“Now we’re both clown queens!!!” Crystal giggled, leaning on Gigi’s shoulder. Gigi’s chest burned, and she saw Jan and Jackie whispering to each other out of the corner of her eye. “Smile Gigi!” Crystal said, snapping a picture and posting it. The four of them ended up spending the night on Gigi’s bed, laughing until 2 am. Crystal fell asleep on top of Gigi, and Jackie and Jan took that as their queue to leave. Gigi didn’t bother to wake Crystal up, just tucking her in under the covers and laying down with her. Gigi’s phone buzzed 3 times.

Hunter : I don’t even know what to say.

Rosy : HAHAHAHAH FUCK HUNTER YOU’RE DOING GREAT SWEETIE

Symone : Rosy and Hunter are fighting again. Please come home soon.

Gigi just turned off her phone and tried to sync her breathing with Crystals, wondering where the sun would find them in the morning.

Amsterdam

It was the sun cutting through Jaida’s window that ultimately woke Gigi up. She was instantly greeted with a splitting headache. What happened last night? Why was she in Jaida’s bed? Why was Crystal wrapped in her arms? Gigi saw the empty bottle of Dutch gin on the floor next to the bed. Oh. So that’s what happened last night.

Memories of the night before came flooding back. Jaida and Crystal dancing around the apartment, Crystal and Gigi doing Michelle’s makeup- god, where was Michelle? She probably went to her apartment. It was easier to walk across the hall than up another flight of stairs.

Gigi reluctantly unwrapped her arms from around Crystal and tried to ignore the sudden chills running over her body. It didn’t take long for Gigi to locate her phone which was left in an empty coffee pot. She had a few texts from Hunter but ignored them. He probably wasn’t awake anyway. Gigi desperately searched Jaida’s drawers for anything that could get rid of her awful headache.

“Who needs this many gummy vitamins?” she whispered to herself, pushing bottles to the side. Nothing.

“Gigi...” a groggy voice called. Gigi turned around to see Crystal stretching her arms out towards her. And for a moment, Gigi’s hangover disappeared. She walked back to the bed, sitting down next to Crystal. Crystal wrapped her arms around Gigi, burying her face in Gigi’s neck. And Gigi’s heart dropped, when was the last time she had done that? “Why is it so bright in here?” Crystal murmured into Gigi’s neck.

“Because we’re really hungover,” Gigi chuckled.

“Oh...oh yeah. We are, aren’t we? My head hurts,” Crystal whined. Gigi’s hand found its way into Crystal’s curls.

“I couldn’t find any ibuprofen, and I don’t know if it’s safe to drink the tap water here-”

“The drinking water in Amsterdam is like a delicacy,” Crystal told Gigi.

“How do you know that?”

“I obviously did research before I came here.”

“But you didn’t know that weed was legal?”

“I thought it was illegal in Europe...”

“Holy shit. And you didn’t sneak any-”

“I thought I could do a tolerance break or something. Shut up,” Crystal giggled. Gigi’s hand was still in her hair. Crystal’s arms were still wrapped around Gigi. And in the deep depths of Gigi’s brain, she wished they could just sit like this forever. And then Crystal was looking up at Gigi, a soft smile on her face, and Gigi couldn’t rip her eyes away. “How do you look so pretty hungover?” Crystal asked. Gigi’s heart dropped. She was just hungover, maybe she was even still a little drunk, but Gigi’s face was burning.

“Help...” a voice called.

“Shit. I forgot about Jaida,” Gigi said, immediately standing up. Thank god for Jaida.

“I’m in the bathroom!” Jaida groaned. Gigi and Crystal walked in to find Jaida laying in her bathtub. “I... I think I wanted to go swimming last night but fell asleep trying to turn on the faucet.” Gigi and Crystal both laughed despite their headaches.

“Scoot over,” Gigi said. Jaida made room for Gigi and Crystal to join her in the bathtub. Gigi couldn’t help but blush as she tangled her legs with Crystal’s. Jaida and Crystal both rested their heads on Gigi’s shoulders.

“I’m never drinking again,” Jaida whispered. Gigi scoffed.

“That’s what we said last weekend.” And they all burst out laughing, the cool tile against their backs making the hangover a little more tolerable. Gigi knew in a few minutes she would have to get up and start her day. Gigi and Crystal would have to crawl their way up to their apartments, and it would suck. Gigi would have to call Hunter and lie when he asks if she had been hanging out with Crystal. And Gigi would feel guilty, but not that guilty.

In a few minutes, they would have to get up and start their day, but for now, Gigi just sat sandwiched between Jaida and Crystal, and it was enough. The sound of the door opening snapped them all out of their trance.

“Jaida? Are you dead?” Michelle called.

“We’re in here!” Crystal said. Michelle entered the bathroom, also looking like a complete mess.

“I’m too old to sit in a fuckin tub” Michelle muttered, sitting on the toilet seat again. “We’re never drinking again,” she whispered, and Gigi, Jaida, and Crystal all started laughing.

“Stop making me laugh! It makes my head hurt worse...” Crystal laughed.

“God, Jaida, why did you even have us come to Amsterdam anyway?” Gigi joked.

“It wasn’t even her idea,” Michelle laughed.

“What?”

“Yeah, it was Widow’s idea actually,” Jaida admitted. Gigi’s jaw dropped. Of course.

New York City

The crowd erupted in cheers after Crystal finished performing “Womanizer” by Britney Spears. Gigi was sitting with Widow, who just so happened to bring her dab pen. Needless to say, Gigi was just a little bit fucked up. She and Widow had just returned to their seats after running up to the stage to give Crystal tips, and Gigi couldn’t stop smiling, and Widow could see right through her.

Granted, it wasn’t hard. Gigi could only imagine what she looked like. Starstruck. Crystal had completely entranced her yet again, and it was getting harder and harder to try to cover it up. Crystal ran back to Gigi and Widow, grinning.

“How’d I do?” She asked, trying to catch her breath.

“Absolutely amazing,” Widow said.

“You were fucking radiant, Crystal Elizabeth Methyd,” Gigi giggled, she could feel Widow watching her like she was trying to understand Gigi.

“I know! I just wanted to hear it from you guys,” Crystal said, and then “I’m gonna go to the bathroom to get out of drag, I’ll be right back!”

“Do you need help?” Gigi asked, already standing up, knees wobbling a bit. Shit, maybe Gigi was higher than she thought.

“Not so fast Miss Goode, I want to chat with you a bit,” Widow said, helping Gigi down into her seat. Widow was also crossed, she had bought her and Gigi both a few drinks along with sharing her dab pen. Widow was basically the best.

“Oh-okay,” Crystal said before skipping off to the bathroom. Gigi turned to Widow.

“What did you want to talk about?” she asked, stirring her drink.

“Listen, you’re not fuckin subtle. We all see how you look at Crystal. It’s cute. Jan, Jackie, and Jaida eat that shit up,” Widow started.

“I don’t-”

“Gigi. Don’t even try...” Widow trailed off.

“It’s just a crush,” Gigi whispered, but it sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than Widow. “Besides, she has Paul, so it’s kind of hopeless,” she added. Widow shifted and opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, then closed it. Gigi turned to her, pleading for her to say something, anything.

“Look-” Widow began. “Crystal has been a friend to me for many years, I’d like to say I know her pretty well. And... and I’ve met Paul, and he’s a great fucking guy. He’s funny, he’s kind, he treats Crystal well-”

“Yes, this is comforting,” Gigi deadpanned.

“Let me fucking finish,” Widow laughed. “Because Paul... Paul is just Paul. But Gigi, you are just you. ..”

“And Crystal is just... Crystal ,” Gigi breathed, words slurring. Widow nodded slowly.

“There’s something that lights up in her when she talks about you. Believe me, I sat next to that bitch on the plane, she talked more about you during that plane ride than I’ve ever heard her talk about PAUL,” Widow just shook her head while studying Gigi. “I don’t think she even knows it yet, Gigi. I don’t. But she will. She’s going to watch the show back and she’s going to realize it, believe me.” Gigi’s entire body was buzzing, she couldn’t even hear all the thoughts running through her head, the only thing she could make out was Widow’s words

But she will. But she will. But she will.

Just then, Crystal came back from the bathroom.

“Okay, so Gigi I just had the craziest idea. I checked Google maps and it’s only like a thirty minute walk to the Empire State Building!” Crystal said, grabbing Widow’s dab pen and taking a hit.

“Didn’t we literally just go there for press?” Widow asked, raising an eyebrow. Crystal just rolled her eyes, playfully glaring at Widow.

“Yeah...but it’s nighttime. And the city is like...brighter at night... and-”

“Okay, you don’t really have to defend yourself. Have fun ladies,” Widow shot Gigi a subtle wink. “You hold onto that dab pen. Be careful with it though, it’s Sativa.”

“You’re the fucking best! Is that a shot? I’m taking it,” Crystal said, downing a shot Widow had just ordered. “Here!” Crystal reached in her pocket and gave Widow some loose $1 bills. She grabbed Gigi’s hand and practically pulled her out of the bar. They were instantly greeted by the stinging cold. “It’s fine! Just a little chilly!” Crystal said, hugging herself.

“Yeah, we-we will warm up once we start walking,” Gigi said, instantly regretting leaving her jacket at the hotel. Gigi felt bad for Crystal who only had her thin-ass pink bomber jacket. They began their walk to the Empire State Building, passing Widow’s pen back and forth, hoping to breathe some warmth into them. But it only made things worse, because the higher they got, the slower they walked, and the longer they walked the colder they got. Gigi’s teeth were chattering, so were Crystal’s. They tried to have conversations, just to keep their lips warm, but nothing was helping.

“G-g-Google maps says we’re halfway there...” Crystal shivered, stopping to check her phone.

“It’s... it’s 1:30, we left the bar at one... we’ve been walking for half an hour, and we’re only halfway there,” Gigi whispered. “That means we have another half an hour to go,” Crystal just whimpered and put her head in the crook of Gigi’s neck. It was freezing, so why was Crystal’s face burning?

“I don’t think I can make it, Gigi. Can we... Can we just go back to the hotel? We can order room service or something... it’s so fucking cold,” Crystal giggled. Gigi just laughed. “What?” Crystal muttered, Gigi felt her smiling into her neck. She suddenly wasn’t as cold.

“I was really worried you were gonna make me walk all the way,” Gigi admitted. Crystal playfully nudged her, taking out her phone.

“Okay... so there’s a train station a few minutes away... and if we take the... yellow one... uptown? There’s a stop that’s right next to our hotel. Okay.” Gigi should’ve known better than to trust Crystal with directions, but she was so cold she didn’t even think to question it. They found the subway station pretty easily, and it only took them ten minutes to figure out how to buy tickets. Finally, they found themselves waiting on the platform, hands shoved deep into their pockets. “I’m sorry,” Crystal said. Gigi turned to look at Crystal, who was looking at her feet.

“Why?” Gigi asked.

“This was supposed to be a fun night... we were supposed to see all the lights and... it was supposed to be a fun night.”

If only Crystal knew. If only she knew that all the lights in the city couldn’t match the way she shone. That Gigi wouldn’t be able to rip her eyes off of Crystal for even one second if they did make it to the Empire State Building. That Gigi would much rather look at Crystal than a stupid skyline any day. If only she knew.

“Hey,” Gigi said instead, grabbing Crystal’s hand. “It was a fun night, any night with you is fun.” God, that was cheesy. Gigi realized it as soon as it left her mouth. But Crystal was grinning, and Gigi grinned right back.

The platform was pretty much empty, only a few other stragglers like Gigi and Crystal stood waiting for the subway. Suddenly, the platform started buzzing as the sound of the train slowly grew closer and closer before halting in front of them.

Crystal and Gigi were instantly greeted with a comfortable warmth that wrapped them both up. Their subway cart was empty, and Crystal refused to sit down. She tried to keep her balance, gripping onto the poles to steady herself. Crystal's eyes were red and squinted, her glasses were barely staying on her face, and her curls were wild from the wind, and she was a sight to behold. Gigi felt as her heart did somersaults.

But she will. But she will. But she will...

The subway jolted forward, and Crystal nearly fell. And for some reason, that looked really fun to Gigi. So Gigi stood up, and also nearly fell. They both erupted into giggles, and soon they were holding onto each other for support along with the poles. And then they were dancing? Or at least trying to dance despite constantly trying to trip over themselves, and Gigi didn’t even realize every time the subway stopped. When the occasional person entered their train cart, they both held back their laughter, shooting each other mischievous looks. Their faces were close, and they were both just grinning at each other as if they should’ve known better.

“Next stop, Coney Island,” the intercom said. Now, Gigi didn’t know much about New York, but she was pretty positive Coney Island was in Brooklyn.

“Umm Crystal, give me your phone,” Gigi said. Crystal, who hadn’t connected the dots, lazily handed Gigi her phone, circling the pole. Gigi checked Google Maps, they were heading in the opposite direction of the hotel. She looked at the map in their subway cart, praying that she was wrong. Of course, she wasn't.

“Crystal... Crystal I think we took the wrong train,” Gigi muttered.

“No...no we are heading uptown,” Crystal defended.

“Yeah... no. We are heading downtown. Like, way downtown. Crystal, we're in Brooklyn... that’s basically a different state. We’re going in the opposite direction of the hotel,” Gigi explained slowly. Crystal buried her face in her hands.

“Oh god, what do we do?” Fuck. Crystal was crying. But of course she was, she was crossed and she was... well, she was Crystal. Gigi grabbed Crystal’s hands.

“We’re just going to have to get off at Coney Island, and then we will... I don’t know we’ll figure it out.” And so they got off at Coney Island, and Crystal stopped crying, but she didn’t drop Gigi’s hand. Not even when they were greeted by the nipping cold.

“Wow,” Crystal exhaled, looking out on Coney Island. It was a ghost town. Absolutely nobody was there, which made sense considering it was almost March. The orange streetlights aluminized the streets, allowing only enough light to see. They crossed the street together hesitantly, not exactly sure where they were even heading. They just needed to move, they needed their blood to get pumping. Crystal was shivering, it had somehow gotten colder than before. The only fixture they could see clearly was the Wonder Wheel, so they just started walking towards that. They found a bench and tried to ignore the cold as Crystal tried to figure out what subway they had to get on.

“I’m not a big city girl, I don’t know what I’m doing,” Crystal giggled, desperately trying to shed light on their shitty situation. But Gigi wasn’t even annoyed, because she worshipped these stupid little inconveniences with Crystal.

“Let’s just get an Uber,” Gigi shivered. Crystal cupped Gigi’s hands in her own.

“C’mere,” she whispered, breathing hot air onto Gigi’s hands, then rubbing them together. It was such a random gesture, and Gigi wasn’t sure if Crystal was aware she was even doing it, but Gigi melted.

Crystal rested her head on Gigi’s shoulder as Gigi found an Uber who would be there in a few moments, and Gigi wrapped her arms around Crystal when she started to shiver.

“Hey,” Crystal whispered, burying her head in Gigi’s neck. Gigi hummed in response, eyes feeling heavy. “Nothing tonight went to plan,” Crystal giggled, wrapping her arms around Gigi’s torso.

“No... no it didn’t,” Gigi chuckled.

“But I don’t think it matters all that much,” Crystal yawned. Gigi took out Widow’s dab pen and held it out to Crystal, who accepted it, beaming up at Gigi. And there they sat miles away from their hotel, under the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island, holding onto each other for warmth. And though the bitter air was freezing, Gigi had never felt warmer as the words echoed through her head.

‘But she will. But she will. But she will’

Amsterdam

“You will never guess what I just FINESSED for us,” Crystal sang, walking out onto the balcony, holding something behind her back. She had mysteriously left fifteen minutes ago, claiming she had ‘business’ to attend to.

“What?” Gigi asked, slightly scared. Crystal just mischievously smiled at her, leaning against the balcony. “What?!” Gigi laughed, leaning forward in her seat. She watched as Crystal slowly revealed what she was hiding. Jaida’s car keys. “No FUCKING WAY!” Gigi jumped up, crossing to Crystal.

“YES FUCKING WAY!” Crystal exclaimed, and they both began to cheer, Crystal laughing as Gigi let out a loud whoop. She had missed their drives. “But you have to drive. Jaida said I’m not allowed to,” Crystal added, and Gigi burst out laughing.

“Yeah, I think that’s for the best,” she muttered, and they both dissolved into giggles.

“Let’s go!” Crystal tugged on Gigi’s arm, leading her to her apartment. She immediately started running around the room, trying to collect supplies as Gigi tried not to laugh. “Okay so I have some snacks and drinks we can bring- I hate that everywhere closes so early. And I’m bringing my blanket. Because I want to. Oh and I forgot to tell you! Michelle and I went to this vape shop and we bought a dab pen together!” Crystal tossed Gigi the dab pen, but Gigi refrained from hitting it. She cannot drive high.

“Aww it’s cute. Did you name it?” Gigi asked. She grabbed one of Crystal’s totes and started putting the snacks and drinks in. Crystal was still walking around, opening every drawer and cabinet in her apartment as she found everything they might need.

“Well. I wanted to name it fracking. But I don’t think Michelle liked that, so we decided on Madonna. Well- Michelle decided on Madonna,” Crystal answered, grinning at Gigi. And they both burst out laughing, again. The thing about Crystal Methyd is that her joy is contagious. Gigi could revel in it all day, if the universe would let her.

“Alright, do we have everything?” Gigi looked across the room. She had a tote filled with snacks and bottles of water slung over her shoulder. Crystal had another tote with phone chargers, Madonna, a flashlight, and towels? And of course, her huge white fluffy comforter was balled up in her arms.

“Yup. LET’S GO!” Crystal let out a whoop and yanked the door open. They both flew down the narrow steep stairs, feet pounding. Gigi could’ve sworn she heard Jaida yelling “What in the fuck?!” As they passed her door. And then Gigi was in the driver's seat, watching Crystal shove her blanket in the backseat, getting into the car after. “Alright. Are you ready?” Crystal asked, and they both couldn’t stop smiling.

“I’m ready. Where are we going though? Like- can you get directions?” Gigi watched Crystal take out her phone, opening Google Maps.

“Okay... so I know I can’t be trusted with directions, but this doesn’t look too bad. It’s like... one road?” Crystal trailed off.

“I’m trusting you Miss Methyd,” Gigi gave her a warning look. Crystal just laughed, and started the directions.

“Don’t listen to me, listen to Siri,” she told Gigi. And so they started to drive through Amsterdam, towards their destination.

“Where are we even going?” Gigi asked, getting on the highway.

“Miss Gigi Goode, we are GOING TO THE BEACH!” Crystal cheered, and immediately started blasting “ Starships ” by Nicki Minaj. Gigi let out a groan but had to laugh.

“You’re giving me FLASHBACKS!” She yelled, but of course couldn’t hold back from scream-singing along with Crystal. A part of Gigi wished they were driving during the day. She knew the route was taking them through smaller cities in the Netherlands she still wanted to see, like Haarlem. When Gigi voiced this to Crystal, she just looked at her, confused.

“Harlem? Like New York City?” Crystal asked. Love Story (Taylor’s Version) was playing lightly through the car speakers.

“Haarlem like the Netherlands. There’s... there are other places named Harlem,” Gigi chuckled, and Crystal just shook her head, hitting her dab pen.

“Alright don’t act all smart with me, Miss College dropout,” she muttered under her breath. Gigi gasped, turning to look at Crystal in mock horror.

“Crystal you bitch!” Gigi cried, smacking her in the arm. Crystal just giggled, and Gigi knew that stupid high giggle. Suddenly, “ Sedona ” by Houndmouth started playing, and they both perked up in their seats. “Turn it up TURN IT UP!!” Gigi exclaimed, and Crystal leaned forward, cranking the volume all the way up. Gigi rolled down the windows, and the cool summer breeze wrapped around them, whipping through the car. Gigi could feel the bass of the music pounding in her body. And there was Crystal next to her, hair flying in ten different directions, screaming along to Sedona, a wide grin on her face. And Gigi’s chest burned.

After about 45 minutes of driving, Gigi could smell the ocean. She followed Siri’s directions, pulling into the beach’s parking lot. The whole place was completely empty, not a person in sight. Probably since it was 2 AM on a Monday night.

Once Gigi was parked, she and Crystal immediately jumped out of the car.  “GIVE ME MADONNA!” Gigi said as they ran towards the beach together. She took a long hit, exhaling into the night air. Crystal was ripping off her shoes, and before Gigi could think to stop her, she was in the water, up to her knees. At least she was wearing shorts.

“GIGI COME ON!!” Crystal was jumping up and down, holding out her arms for Gigi to join her. And as she jumped in midair, a wave came crashing down, knocking her into the water. Gigi gasped watching Crystal go under, but as she rose out of the water, mullet soaked covering her face, clothes clinging to her body, all Gigi could do was cackle, doubled over in the sand. “I HATE MY LIFE!” Crystal screamed, crawling towards Gigi. “GIGI I HATE MY LIFE!” Gigi couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying or both. All she knew was that she’d never let Crystal live this down. “Why is the water so cold? It’s summer,” Crystal’s teeth were chattering, her whole body shaking.

“Poor baby,” Gigi cooed, helping Crystal up on her feet.

“Why is the water so cold?” Crystal whimpered, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Awww. Do you want some cheese?” Gigi pretended to be concerned, combing her fingers through Crystal’s mullet, trying to put it back into place.

“I’m lactose intolerant you know that,” Crystal pouted, and Gigi was fighting so hard not to laugh.

“You want some cheese with that WHINE?” Gigi exclaimed, and then Crystal was chasing her around the beach, shouting obscenities. This didn’t last long of course, they’re not very big runners. So eventually they went back to the car and carried all their supplies back to the beach.

For an hour, Crystal and Gigi laid out on the sand in the dark night air together, just talking about literally anything. Gigi talked about how much she missed Hunter, Marko, Symone, Rosy, and everyone back home. How they had helped Gigi pack for Amsterdam at the last minute, all so excited.

“Amsterdam is my fresh start. That’s what we would call it. Symone promised I would come back as a changed human,” Gigi muttered. Crystal turned on her side, facing her.

“Do you think you’ve changed? Has Amsterdam... been good for you?” Her voice was so small, and fuck Gigi was in too deep. Again.

“I don’t know. Maybe. I feel like... there’s just something in the air here. It makes it easier to breathe. I don’t know,” Gigi was laying on her back, gazing up at the stars.

“Yeah,” Crystal nodded in agreement, still facing Gigi. “I know what you mean. But a part of me feels like... maybe it’s not being in Amsterdam. That makes it easier to breathe. That makes everything better. I think it’s... I don’t know,” she trailed off, but Gigi knew exactly what she meant. She heard it loud and clear. And it terrified her.

“We should probably go,” Gigi whispered, and she was mortified to feel tears welling in her eyes.

“Gigi...” Crystal looked at her, searching. But Gigi ignored her, jumping up and brushing the sand off her body.

“Cmon,” Gigi smiled, hoping Crystal would see that Gigi was fine.

Gigi was fine. Gigi was fine. Gigi was fine.

They silently made their way back to the car. Gigi watched as Crystal put the towel down on her seat, then climbed into the passenger seat, wrapped in her blanket like a burrito. Gigi snorted, and Crystal just playfully glared at her.

“Turn on the heat,” she smiled lightly. Gigi rolled her eyes, utterly failing to hold back a smile as she turned the knob to blast the heat. Then, “ Summer Love ” by the hit world famous iconic legendary boyband One Direction flowed softly out of the speakers, and Gigi hated that her chest used to ache when she would listen to the song and think about Crystal. And how it still did.

Crystal wasn’t looking at Gigi though. She had leaned her head against the window, looking up into the night sky. Gigi glanced up through the sunroof, letting out a soft breath as she saw the stars shining bright. And then her eyes fell back to Crystal, and she was still gazing at the stars, and Gigi felt something rumbling deep in her chest. She couldn’t fight back the soft smile on her face, looking at Crystal fondly. Her eyes turned to meet Gigi’s, and she easily returned the smile. And then Gigi remembered she was driving and looked back on the road.

“What are you thinking about?” Crystal murmured, watching her. And Gigi thought, eyes still trained on the road.

Gigi figured for all the drives she’d gone on with Crystal, all the times they’d sat out on the balcony together until sunrise, Gigi had come to know the night sky by heart. Gigi knew every star, every constellation. She knew Crystal’s soft smile, gazing up at the sky. And sometimes Crystal’s head would turn, and she would look at Gigi, constellations in her eyes. And Gigi swore that the sun and the moon and all the night skies they had seen together, all of the sunrises, the sunsets driving through the mountains, were nothing compared to Crystal Methyd. But she couldn’t know that.

“Nothing,” Gigi responded. “What are you thinking about?”

“I... kinda wanna go to London?” Crystal said sheepishly. Gigi just turned to look at her, wondering what the hell is she up to?

“Like... right... now?” Gigi asked. Crystal let out a laugh, shaking her head.

“No! Like... this weekend? Just Saturday and Sunday. Jaida said we get one weekend off of our choosing. And we can’t use it too close to Pride because we’re gonna be busy,” Crystal explained, and Gigi’s chest was on fire.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.  

“Um... sure,” Gigi shrugged her shoulders. “Let’s do it. We always have fun in the city, don’t we Miss Methyd?” Gigi gave her a sly grin. And maybe she was testing the waters, seeing how far she could go. Just out of curiosity. But maybe Crystal was testing the waters too, because she responded with a wink,

“Oh yes we do. Believe me, I remember.”

New York City

“What if he’s weird?”

“Crystal-”

“I’m just saying, what Uber driver is active at three a.m. in New York City?”

“Elizabeth-”

“What’s his name anyway? Trent? Never trust anyone named Trent-”

“Methyd.”

“Shit, is that him?” Crystal asked. A Buick SUV pulled up then stopped.

“Gigi?” Trent asked, rolling down his window.

“Yup,” Gigi said, pulling open the door to the backseat. She felt Crystal hovering over her shoulder. “It’s fine, Crys.” They both slid into the back of the car, shoulders pressed together.

“Where to?” Trent asked.

“Dream Midtown Hotel, in Uptown Manhattan. Wherever that… is...” Gigi trailed off. Trent nodded before driving off. Thankfully, he didn’t ask any questions on how exactly they ended up at Coney Island. And thankfully Trent showed up when he did because after about five minutes of driving it began to pour. While driving, Trent picked up a phone call, suddenly oblivious to Crystal and Gigi. The wails of sirens harmonized with a blaring car horn. Gigi leaned into Crystal.

“I hate New York,” she said. Crystal, who was staring out the window, whipped around to face Gigi.

“Really?” Crystal asked softly. Gigi nodded. Crystal turned back to the window, propping her head upon her hand. “Must be because you live in a big city. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many lights before.”

Gigi hated New York. She did. But she loved the way the city reflected in Crystal’s eyes. Flashes of blue, red, orange, purple, green, and white flickered throughout the car. And though being driven through the city at 3 am by a sketchy man was the last thing Gigi wanted to do, Crystal made it worth it. Because Crystal made everything worth it.

“Where do you like? If not New York?” Crystal whispered, looking tired. Gigi smiled.

“Well, L.A. obviously. But Chicago.” Crystal was silent, eyes pleading for Gigi to say more. “Uhm, my friends and I on the weekends would make up these elaborate lies to tell our parents and then take the bus or train into Chicago. We were all sixteen, and there was this one drag bar that allowed us to go in and we would just spend the night watching these queens perform and...” Gigi realized Crystal was staring at her, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. “And it’s so dumb to say now... but I just fucking fell in love with Chicago,” Gigi finished.

“That’s where we’ll go next,” Crystal said simply.

“What?”

“Next time we see each other after New York, we’ll go to Chicago. I’m dying to meet Krysti anyway,” Crystal laughed. Gigi beamed.

“Seriously?” she chuckled. Crystal grabbed Gigi’s hand, giving it a quick squeeze.

“Of course.” Gigi realized how close they had gotten, their noses practically touching. Trent turned up the radio. “ New York ” by St. Vincent flowed softly through the car.

“New York isn’t New York without you love,”

Crystal hadn’t let go of her hand. She inhaled quickly as if she were about to say something, but stopped. Gigi watched as the gears in Crystal’s mind began to shift.

“Is-” Crystal started, “is it bad I’m happy Paul isn’t here?” she confessed, and then “I don’t think I could see you both in the same room, it just wouldn’t make sense to me.” Gigi’s heart skipped a beat, not sure if this was Crystal begging her to read in between the lines or if this was Gigi’s wishful thinking. Either way, she ran her thumb across Crystal’s hand.  

“Is it bad I’m also happy Paul isn’t here?” Gigi didn’t mean for it to sound like she was telling a secret, but it did. Crystal’s eyes flickered down to Gigi’s lips, only for a second, but it was enough to send chills down Gigi’s body. She mirrored Crystal, her heart pounding in sync with the sound of rain falling on the metal roof of the car. It was Crystal who finally closed the space between them. It was barely a kiss, their lips catching each other for just a moment. But god, it was electric. Lightning struck.

“Looks like it’s about to be the perfect storm,” Trent said to whoever he was talking to on the phone. Gigi and Crystal both let out awkward chuckles. It was dark, and Gigi could barely even see Crystal but she knew she was smiling, and Gigi hoped Crystal knew that she was smiling too.

The car stopped before either of them had a chance to speak, though Gigi couldn’t even fathom what she could possibly say to Crystal. They both just got out of the car, thanking Trent quickly. When they got in the elevator, Crystal pressed the button for floor six instead of their floor, floor eight. Gigi cleared her throat.

“Floor six?” Gigi asked.

“Thought I’d just say goodnight to Widow before I head to bed,” Crystal said, a hint of panic in her voice.

“Do you want to talk about- uhh-like- what just happened?” Gigi asked.

“It was just a kiss,” Crystal said, but it sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than Gigi. “Just like on the party bus, right?”

“You kissed me” is what Gigi wanted to say. “You kissed me and you’re saying it was a joke, that it meant nothing, but I can’t believe you, I can’t bear to try. I saw the glimmer in your eye, the slight upturn of the corner of your mouth as we slowly filled the space between us. I felt your heart beating. I felt you.”  

“Yeah,” Gigi said instead. “Just like on the party bus.”

“Great. I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Crystal whispered as the doors opened on floor six.

“Yeah. See you tomorrow, goodnight.”

“Night.” Crystal stepped out of the elevator and walked away, not looking back as Gigi desperately pressed the button to make the door closed. Gigi sunk onto the floor of the elevator, bunching her hair in her fists. No matter how hard she tried that night, she couldn’t get her lips to stop buzzing. Just wait until Hunter hears about this one.

Amsterdam

“Okay. Now don’t go around doing your British accents because people will get offended,” Michelle said.

“Or do! The British might be honored!” Jaida quipped.

“No. Your accents are terrible, they will not be honored.”

“I don’t know Michelle... I think our accents are rather good,” Crystal said in her god awful British accent.

“Yeah, I think they’re pretty on the nose,” Gigi agreed in her accent, which was only slightly less worse.

“You guys are gonna get canceled...” Michelle muttered.

“Let the 15 year olds on Twitter cancel you, they can’t even read yet,” Jaida said, and then “well, this is where y’all board!” Crystal and Gigi stood at the entrance of the train that would take them to London. Michelle pulled them both into big hugs.

“Be safe, ladies. Don’t do what I would do.” Gigi and Crystal both laughed.

“Don’t listen to her! Have fun, fuck up some crumpets for me,” Jaida laughed. Gigi looked at Jaida and Michelle, who both were looking at them with puppy dog eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Gigi asked.

“We’re just gonna miss you,” Michelle said softly.

“And we wake and baked this morning. You know weed makes me all teary eyed,” Jaida sniffled. Crystal and Gigi threw their heads back laughing in unison. Jaida pulled Gigi into a hug. “I’ll never get over it... seeing you two happy, together again,” Jaida whispered.

“Jaida...” Gigi trailed off.

“I know, I know it’s all behind you but... we were scared for a minute.” Gigi gave Jaida a final squeeze.

“We’ll see you guys in a few days!” Gigi said as she and Crystal stepped onto the train.

“Goodbye darlings!” Jaida and Michelle waved them off. Crystal and Gigi silently found their compartment and settled in next to each other.

“This is gonna be the best weekend of our life!” Crystal cheered. “Even better than Drive n’ Drag!” Gigi heard Crystal not say. They booked a train for early in the morning so they’d make it into London by afternoon.

“Are you nervous about the tunnel?” Gigi asked.

“No...” Crystal lied.

“It’ll be fine, I promise,” Gigi said. She grabbed Crystal’s hand without even thinking, like she had just turned on autopilot. And Crystal, also on autopilot, rested her head on Gigi’s shoulder. And it felt like old times. It felt like home.

Just then, they entered the underwater tunnel, so Gigi turned on the playlist. “You okay?” she asked. But Crystal was asleep on Gigi’s shoulder. And all Gigi could do was think about where she was a year before. Preparing looks for Drive N’ Drag, late nights with Rosy and Symone coming up with possible scenarios that could happen, feeling so full of hope. And Gigi ignored the pit in her stomach because she was full of that same, blind hope just now.

New York City

Gigi laid awake all night, replaying the kiss over and over in her head. It was so quick, so soft, barely there. Had she imagined it? No. Because she remembered Crystal’s panicked eyes in the elevator, getting off on Widow’s floor. She remembered Crystal saying “It was just a kiss,” like it meant nothing. But she also remembered seeing Crystal’s face in the Uber, her smile illuminating the city.

Because she kissed Gigi.

But Crystal claimed it meant nothing. It was like the party bus. So what could Gigi do about it?

‘Go home and cry about it to Rosy and Symone.’

That was the only thing she could do. So Gigi forced herself to fall asleep, but even in sleep, she just saw flashes of Crystal on the subway, Crystal at the bar, Crystal getting off the elevator, Crystal in the Uber, Crystal sitting under the Coney Island wheel, Crystal in the Uber, Crystal’s face pressed into Gigi’s neck, burning hot.

 Crystal in the Uber, Crystal in the Uber, Crystal in the Uber.

Crystal kissing Gigi. Crystal kissing Gigi.  

Gigi kissing her back.

Gigi was jolted awake by her alarm, and let out a groan as she realized the van coming to bring the Queens to the airport would be there in an hour, and her room was an absolute mess. She scrambled out of bed, rushing to pack everything up. She didn’t even have a moment to think about Crystal until she was sitting next to her in the back of the van, being driven to the airport.

“Hi,” Crystal gave Gigi a tight smile, not meeting her eyes.

“Hello,” Gigi said casually.  

Please act normal. We’re about to say goodbye for who knows how long. Please act normal.

It seemed that Crystal got the message, because she immediately relaxed, and suddenly it was like nothing had even happened last night. Almost. Because they weren’t pressed up against each other, their foreheads weren’t barely touching, whispering nonsense back and forth. Crystal kept her distance.

It sort of felt like she was already back in Missouri, just out of reach.

But still, they talked with the other queens driving to the airport, and as each minute passed, Gigi became painfully aware of the fact that she didn’t know the next time she’d see Crystal. Of course, they would make plans eventually. Gigi was due to visit Crystal in Springfield, maybe for one of her viewing parties. And of course, Crystal said they would go to Chicago. But when? They would both have such crazy schedules once the show aired. But looking at Crystal laughing at something Widow said, Gigi knew they would be alright. Widow said Gigi just needed to give Crystal time. She could do that. She had waited this long, she could wait a little longer. Crystal was worth it.

The van pulled up to the airport, and Gigi followed everyone out. As the driver unloaded all the suitcases, Gigi turned to face Crystal. She was just looking at Gigi, tears in her eyes.

“Not yet, holy shit,” Gigi laughed, and Crystal had to join, shaking her head.

“Shut up,” she chuckled, punching Gigi’s shoulder lightly. They walked into the airport together, suitcases in trail. Once they made it through security, the queens all hugged each other goodbye. The next time they’d all be together was at the finale in April. Gigi wondered if things would be different with Crystal by the time they’d get to see each other at the finale. Maybe they would actually be together. Or maybe they would still be stuck in this weird limbo, unsure of what they were anymore. Only time would tell.

Gigi’s flight was boarding in fifteen minutes, and Crystal’s was boarding an hour later. So Crystal walked Gigi to her gate, and neither of them were sure what to say to the other.

What do you even say?

“I’ll uh... text you. When my flight lands,” Crystal said awkwardly, looking anywhere but Gigi.

“Okay,” Gigi said lightly. She had to say something. This was the last time they were seeing each other until... well at least until April. But so many things had happened in the three days they’d spent together...

What do you even say?

“Crystal I... I don’t know,” Gigi whispered. Crystal’s eyes met hers, and Gigi could feel her saying a million things. Gigi knew how confused she was, how scared she was. She understood. Crystal needed time. So Gigi did the one thing she knew and pulled Crystal into a tight hug. She didn’t whisper sweet nothings, she didn’t cry, she just held Crystal as tight as possible, for as long as she could. And Crystal held back just as tight, burying her face in Gigi’s neck.

Gigi didn’t know how long they stood there, wrapped in each other’s arms, oblivious to everyone else. And then her flight was called. “Alright,” She whispered, pulling away from Crystal. “I’ll see you soon,” she tried to smile, but it was a grimace, and fuck now Crystal’s eyes were welling with tears again, and Gigi had to go, but Crystal was standing there, gaping like a fish, trying to find the right words to say.

“Gigi...” she started, but nothing came out.

“I know,” Gigi said firmly. She pulled Crystal into another quick hug. “I will see you soon,” she smiled at Crystal, and Crystal smiled back through her tears.

“I’ll see you soon,” she whispered, and then Gigi was walking to her plane.

In the months to come, Gigi would look back on this moment, playing it over and over in her head. Because in three weeks, the whole world would be on lockdown, in the middle of a raging pandemic. Crystal, Gigi, and everyone else would be stuck at home, told not to travel, not to see their friends and family, to flatten the curve. They wouldn’t see each other at the finale, which instead was held on Zoom. Gigi wouldn’t get to visit Crystal in Springfield, getting to meet her friends and family.

No.

Instead, Gigi would lay in bed at night, wishing she had said something, anything to Crystal. Wishing that the last time they saw each other for who knows how long hadn’t been spent in silence, neither of them knowing what to say. Gigi wished she had been braver, that Crystal had known what she wanted. Gigi wished the universe hadn’t decided to come crashing down just when things were maybe finally going to happen with Crystal. But more than anything, Gigi wished she could’ve had just one more night with Crystal in New York. Gigi wished they had more time.

[thedreadvampy]

I'm a big fan of your georgie meta about how setting boundaries is incredibly hard but also completely necessary. if i can add, the fact that this is such a messy situation with no answer that's not gonna end up with someone hurt (who's doing the hurting is irrelevant here), is why it's such good horror. I love how the horror of the more interpersonal kind works alongside the clearly supernatural. It's so tragic that Georgie even had to make that choice, it's horrifying to see Jon 1/2

2/2 struggle with this addiction to hurting other people (maybe against his will? that's really the question isn't it). like i also believe georgie made the right choice but even if circumstances were different and she really cast jon off like that, she wouldn't be Problematique because this shit isn't supposed to be neat or happy

--------

Right? I really do struggle with the idea that we’re meant to view anyone as a Pure Victim or Pure Abuser in this show but particularly with this situation...like I’m not gonna speak for Jonny but just based on how many people my age or older have experienced something similar, and particularly given that he’s mentioned his own past experiences with addiction and self-destructive behaviour, like the. uh. the real visceral emotive horror of this horror podcast is the degree to which you can do everything you can and still not have a good answer. like. Georgie is trying to do right by everyone and Jon is trying to stop something awful happening and Martin is trying to save the world and none of them are acting maliciously or blindly, they can all see the harm that their actions are causing and isn’t that the absolute root of horror? to see it coming and not to be able to stop yourself becoming part of it?

like I don’t actually take issue with the idea that having pushed everyone away, being alone is the reason Jon can’t get out. this is very effective horror and it’s something I have watched happen time and again. I don’t take issue with the idea that Georgie made a choice which hurt Jon, knowing it would hurt him. again, that’s a horror that rings really, really true with my own experiences. it’s the same fundamental horror as when someone stays hiding in silence while a monster kills their friend - screaming or trying to fight it won’t help and will just get you both killed, but there’s a horrible emotional complicity in knowing someone will suffer and choosing not to try to save them, even when trying will only hurt everyone. that’s some Good Fuckin Storytelling

but what I do take issue with is the idea that this means that you are doing something wrong. and sorry this isn’t really a reply to you any more I’ve just been stewing on it. I really, really am very angry that people are framing “saying that Jon is acting self-destructively” as victim-blaming when the whole framework of “Georgie didn’t save him which means she’s a Bad Person” is so...implying that the reason this really painful and traumatic thing happened is because You Weren’t Strong Enough To Prevent It so it’s Your Fault (or in the case of that meta I was sent, Your Failure To Handle This Perfectly Means You Must Be Maliciously Causing Your Own Pain In Order To Hurt Others). which. assfnjghduifghduighuighdfi siri what is victim blaming

(to clarify - on distancing and reflection while I still do disagree with the original post I was responding to, I don’t actually think the intent of that post was to put fault on Georgie. the subsequent messages I got and other posts in this discourse I read, though, very much did take the position They’re All Flawed Characters Who Do Shitty Things, Here’s Why What Georgie Did Was Flawed And Shitty which. like. ok. the horror comes from the inability to respond perfectly. but the horror in that situation really is that there’s no good response, and that the way Georgie acted, bar a couple of relatively minor missteps, is literally the textbook example of How You Should Respond in this situation. the horror and the impact of that in the story is that it demonstrates that you can do everything right and still not escape causing harm to yourself and others. There simply Is No Painless Way Out. and to interpret that as saying ‘this was Malicious and Unkind and I am justifying that by pointing out that Nobody Is Perfect This Is A Horror Podcast’ misses the point in a colossal way. YES people fuck up and act thoughtlessly or maliciously in TMA but the most effective horror is when they act with compassion and thought and the best possible intentions and still cause harm because the situation is too tangled and too impossible)

...

also on a different note I am really interested by your aside about “against his will” because I think with addiction (using addiction in the broad sense that includes eg self harm, anger, self-destructive or risk-taking behaviour, and paranoia/conspiratorial thinking as well as like, substance abuse) that concept is so muddy as to be meaningless and again I think that’s where the horror lies and one of the things I increasingly really like about TMA is that, as someone who’s been surrounded by a lot of those things all my life, I reckon it does a really good job of drawing out those question marks. the question of where good intentions meet bad actions, and which intentions and wants define you, and whether these addictions are imposing something on you or exposing something in you, and to what degree you control your wants and to what degree they control you. and what it means to want something you don’t want. and to choose something you’d never choose. and to be stuck in your body while you’re simultaneously sure you want something and it’s a good idea and screaming at yourself to stop. and I love the way that’s manifested in Jon’s fear of the Web and the ambiguity about to what degree the Web is the fear that everything is a manipulation and to what degree the Web is the fear that you don’t know which bits are just you. and also like. the degree that the fear of being controlled by something outside you can very readily lead you to lose all control of yourself whether or not it’s real. this is another big tangent but ARGH the WEB it’s such a GOOD DEPICTION OF COMPULSIVE PROBLEMS!!!!!!!!!!

[bjy-on-ao3]

Fic Friday: Helping Hand

(As usual, you can find the AO3 version of all my uploads [and some things I don’t post here to tumblr] via my Masterlist blog page.)

This story feels like fan content-ception to me, as it spawned from some NSFW art I made featuring Izaya, which was made from doodles to start with. Still scheming, but a lot more simple than my other fics with Izaya. Leaving this one a little open-ended in case I came back to it for Izaya returning the favor as he suggested. Not currently decided for sure though. I recently got my first request for Izaya and am brewing that, though it could be some time before I can get something down. It should be pretty fun though and spicier than this. (Note: Apologies for no cut - I am not sure how I add a cut with the new editor :/) Summary Invited over to Izaya’s apartment, Reader arrives too early and interrupts the informant’s alone time. And unfortunately (or fortunately), Izaya has no qualms about asking for a little help. Tags/Warnings Blowjobs, Come Swallowing, Hand Jobs, Oral Sex, Reader-Insert, Shameless Smut

Helping Hand (F! Reader/Izaya Orihara)

Arriving at the non-descript door in the hall of the impressive-looking apartment building, you hesitated. A few quick glances confirmed the numbers by the door matched up with the information listed in your phone’s address book. A few times before you had been to the apartment, but you hadn’t memorized everything about the address. All things considered, it was surprising you weren’t late this time, as you had been each time in the past. Maybe you were improving a little.

You raised a fist and drummed it against the door, starting light and polite. Nothing. You rapped harder. Surely that was loud enough to be heard? Your assumption was disproved when all that met you was silence, leaving you alone still in the hallway. You frowned in frustration and impatience. You knocked a third time, waiting a minute, wondering if he was preoccupied or just enjoying making you wait. When all remained quiet again, your frown deepened.

You looked back down at your phone, silently navigating to the texting feature and typing you a message irritably.

(X:XX PM): I’m here. I knocked, but I guess you didn’t hear it.

You didn’t need to wait more than fifteen seconds before your phone buzzed in reply. Two words met your gaze, followed after a moment by a second slightly longer message.

Izaya (X:XX PM): You’re early.

Izaya (X:XX PM): I’m a little busy right now.

You paused, your scowl becoming confusion, and you scrolled back up through the conversation. The log confirmed the time you had been told and the one in the corner of your phone matched. ‘ Early? Right. Don’t tell me Izaya of all people forgot.’

(X:XX PM): I checked and either I’m on time or you screwed up and sent me the wrong time.

Arguing with him wouldn’t do you any good one way or another; Izaya wasn’t one to genuinely apologize for any inconveniences he caused others. But correcting him made you feel a little better and somewhat less cross at least.

Izaya (X:XX PM): Oh, did I?

Izaya (X:XX PM): Well, if you don’t like waiting, you can just come in. Door’s unlocked.

Your face twisted again, now into a skeptical surprise. Izaya just left his door unlocked? Izaya Orihara, the man who had probably as many enemies as he had clients, decided it was smart to let whoever wanted to waltz right in. Yeah, that made sense. You wondered if he enjoyed the excitement of the potential danger.

(X:XX PM): Hardly seems like a good idea for YOU to leave your door unlocked, but whatever.

With a dismissive shrug, you tucked your phone into your pocket and reached for the knob. Pushing it open, you stepped inside quickly and closed it gently behind you. You took a step away before pausing, turning back and locking the door as an afterthought. Izaya could endanger himself all he wanted, but you would rather there be at least some kind of barrier between whatever messy trouble came looking for him.

Walking past the foyer, you expected to see him perched on his chair, clacking noisily away at his keyboard, fixed on the screens of his computers and cellphones or something of the sort. The chair was empty though, turned away from the screens. You scanned the area for the ever-frustrating information broker. Quickly, you noticed him tucked away in the corner of the dark-colored leather section, his back facing you. His head rested against the couch, one long arm lying curled over its back. For someone supposedly busy, Izaya looked pretty relaxed from where you were standing.

“You don’t look real busy to me,” you accused once you spotted him.

Izaya shifted, tilting his head further back to glance over his outstretched arm at you. “Oh, I am, I assure you.” He looked and sounded as collected as ever, as if nothing could or should trouble him. Except… was it just you, or did his face seem a bit red? “But I’ll be just a few minutes. Feel free to wait for me there,” Izaya suggested. There was something off as well about the quality of his voice you couldn’t place.

“Uh huh,” you said, unsure if you felt unsettled or just irritated still. Maybe a little of both.

He had told you to wait, yet your curiosity nagged at you viciously, demanding to see what exactly preoccupied him. Or maybe it was indignation needing to see what was so pressing he couldn’t remember the time he had told you. You took a few steps, intending to round the recessed floor area and the sectional to see what he was doing.

“You really should wait over there,” he warned you casually, the strange tone of his voice sounding stronger, but still indecipherable.

You scoffed, ignoring the warning and carrying on. When you swept around the corner of the area though, what you saw stopped you dead in your tracks, poised on the lip of the steps down. At first the strangled squeak that burst from your mouth didn’t quite register, nor did the immediate hot flush that fell across your face.

Izaya looked very comfortable where he sat, leaning back into the plush cushions. From the top-down, at first he looked perfectly normal, if a little flushed, one of his usual ‘v’-neck shirts tantalizing displaying a bit of his delicate-looking collarbones. Though the picture grew more suspect the further you went. The hem of his shirt was lifted, askew and higher on one side than the other, exposing his lean torso. That wasn’t nearly so scandalous though, as even further down.

He sat nude from the waist down, his pants and belt pooled around his ankles. His cock stood prominently between his splayed legs, a flushed tone to match the rosy tint in cheeks and leaking pre-cum. As if walking on Izaya with his pants literally down wasn’t mortifying enough, one hand was wrapped leisurely around his cock. Obviously he had been in the process of jerking off, and still was, having not bothered to stop even once you had caught him in the act.

What you were looking at hit you all at once, and a stream of half-finished sentences exploded out. “I’I’m sorry, I-- But what are you--? Why would let me come in if that’s what you’re busy doing?! You began in an apologetic voice, though your apology quickly turned to indignation at the fact Izaya’d had plenty of time to put himself away before you came in. Before he invited you, for example, and then before he greeted you.

“Well, I did warn you.” Izaya’s speech held no hint of apology. The shameless, steady stroke of his hand up and down confirmed he was not bothered whatsoever. “Besides, you’re the one who wanted to show up early and be nosy, darling.”

At last you recognized the tone in his voice you hadn’t been able to place before. Something husky and thick, a silky accent to his already smooth voice. You felt stupid not being able to put two-and-two together from his voice and face.

“I’m not early! I-it’s not my fault you told me the wrong time,” you tried to hide the shakiness in your voice with anger, though you knew Izaya was a master at seeing through masks.

You wanted to turn, to look away, but you found yours glued to the sight of him, stunned like a deer in headlights. Maybe it was his audacity that was truly so stunning. I’m just gonna go and come back later,” you ground out through teeth after you tore your eyes away from the enticingly lewd scene.

“Oh? But like I said, I’ll only be a little bit.” You nearly choked again from Izaya’s boldness. He really expected you to just wait around while he jacked off like it was nothing? For someone who claimed to love humans and all their emotions and behaviors so much, you really wondered how much he really understood them sometimes. “You know, if you wanted to lend a hand, it might be even sooner.”

You made another embarrassing noise, your eyes snapping back around and fixing on his own. The expression in his sharp brown eyes told you he wasn’t just you or making some inappropriate joke, not completely. Izaya was dead serious suggesting you ‘lend him a hand’ with his current ‘business’. You should have been mad. You should have been uncomfortable. You should have walked away then. But something else was creeping up and up, suppressing what you should have done, leaving behind the sense that you didn’t quite hate the idea.

You weren’t ready to give in completely, though, not yet. “Was that your plan when you invited me over?” You tried to deflect once more, but your angry speech was half-hearted.

He gave a small shrug, still languorously pumping his hand up and down, smearing a new bead of pre-cum along the head of his dick. You licked your lips, and you weren’t sure whether it was from nerves or hunger. “Who knows? Maybe, maybe not.” Of course Izaya would give you a nonsense answered that told you nothing.

“Can you just put your pants on, please?” You tried weakly, a last ditch effort to squish down the hot feeling suffusing you and to call his bluff. But Izaya wouldn’t be moved.

“Weren’t you leaving though?” He questioned calmly. “So why should I? Then I can’t take care of this.” You groaned mentally at his ‘logic’ that amounted to his typical games. “So, what’s stopping you?”

You didn’t speak, listening only to the slick sound of Izaya stroking himself, as if trying to come up with an appropriate excuse. But there was none. You were still there because you wanted to be. You sputtered some nonsense at first, before sighing in defeat.

“I...I just… fine,” you mumbled, unable to meet his cutting gaze when you agreed.

He didn’t seem bothered or surprised by your admission, and when you looked back up, he was smirking widely, as if he had expected you to crumble and play right into his hands. “Well, what are you waiting for then?”

You nearly scowled at the impatience of the question, but shook your head. You approached quickly, stopping once you stood in front of him. You licked your lips again and swallowed thickly, kneeling between his legs. Up close and personal with his cock, it you for real the favor you had submitted yourself to. It made your stomach twist in a way that was pleasantly hot, but with a nervous flutter. But even if he would probably let you, there was no back down now. You had dug your hole and you intended to stay in it.

Feeling Izaya’s eyes burning down onto you, you lifted a hand tentatively, more intimidated than you would have admitted. You nearly jumped when the hand he had been pleasuring himself with seized yours. Your face was on fire as he guided your hand over his shaft, helping you wrap it around the heated skin. He made a small sound in the back of his throat at the contact, his palm lingering over your hand. Gingerly, you shifted your hand up and down, mimicking him, the skin hot and velvety under your fingers.

“There, just like that,” Izaya cooed, his hips rocking up into your touch. His hand left yours to bury itself in the cushion beside him.

You chanced a subtle glance up, past his exposed torso and up his chest. His head lolled back against the sofa back, and his chest rose and fell deeply in more noticeable, pleasured breaths as you stroked. He seemed more than willing to sit back and fully indulge in your touch, apparently a far more exhilarating experience than his own.

“What a good girl,” he praised as your grip tightened you pumped his cock more surely, enjoying the noises that vibrated up his chest. They were low and smooth, containing all the richness of his speaking voice, yet none of the frustrating teasing or condescension. “Mmph, a little hard, don’t be shy,” he coaxed, giving a particularly eager buck of his hips, a new drop of pre-cum beading on the head of his dick.

You did as instructed, and the sound of his breathing deepened more, the small, pleasant sounds morphing into longer, bawdy groans. “How’s that?” you prompted, the confidence from watching him come slowly undone steadying your voice, the sheer arousal in it surprising you.

“Mm, good, keep going.”

You stuck to the steady rhythm you had set, your tongue wetting suddenly dry lips again as you alternated between watching Izaya’s blissful form above you and his throbbing cock in front of you. You moved your idle hand up, cradling his balls in your palm and rubbing gently, rewarded with even more erotic noises. You weren’t sure whether you were more turned on by the eroticism of the sounds themselves, or the fact you were hardly ever heard Izaya sound so unrestrained.

Your gaze stopped, lingering on his cock, and you decided if you were going to help out, you may as well have a little more fun, as well as satisfy the hunger building in you. You bent forward, your breath fanning over the head hotly, and you barely caught a shiver roll through Izaya. You leaned closer, opening your mouth and licking coyly at the flushed head, the bitter taste of pre-cum flooding your senses.

“ Oh .” The word was surprised, excited almost, made even more so by the breathiness that carried it. “I didn’t even have to ask you to do that.” Your faced burned with embarrassment you fought to ignore, letting your lips wrap around the head, swirling your tongue along the underside. “More eager than you let on, I see. But I’m not complaining.”

Izaya relaxed more limply against the cushions, save for the rhythmic roll of his hips meeting the hot, wet touch of your mouth. You sank down on his cock more, slowly, trying to account for the motion of his hips to not choke yourself on his length. Fortunately, though it was steady, his pace was languid, letting you adjust easily. You took as much as you could without inciting your gag reflex, shifting between dancing your tongue along his skin or pressing flat against the underside or teasing the head where it connected to his shaft.

Above you, Izaya’s dulcet chorus of groans and mumbled words escalated and his fingers met the top of your head. They curled loosely, massaging methodically, neither forcing you down or adjust to a new pace.

“Hmm, and they say I’ve got a talented tongue,” Izaya hummed huskily and you couldn’t stifle a low moan in answer, the sound shooting through Izaya and making his hips stutter. “Sure seems like you know to use yours though,” he praised again, and you could make out the teasing tone you were so used to among his lusty, strained voice.

Izaya fell silent for a time, or at least he fell wordless, panting and groaning his pleasure, the sounds accentuated by the wet noises you made while you sucked him off. But Izaya’s was a mouth that couldn’t stand staying silent for long. “You can take a little more, can’t you?” He asked insistently, his fingers tightening their loose hold. He thrust his hips more roughly into your mouth as you sank down again, as if punctuating his question.

Tears stung at your eyes for an instant as the tip of his dick touched your throat and you inhaled deeply to relax it. You took in even more of his cock, noticing the roll of his hips slow, as if accommodating you to take his length more easily. When you pulled back, his hand only let you go so far, effectively keeping you from pulling away. You indulged him, satisfied with the even more ragged breaths replacing his words and more of the salty fluid leaking from him.

Your jaw was beginning to ache, but you ached elsewhere as well, and it urged you to continue. With your mouth wrapped around him so intimately, you could tell Izaya was getting very close to cumming, from the increasing cant of his hips to the harsh pitch of his breath to the way his cock twitched, even more hard.

“Mm, that’s it. Almost there.” Izaya confirmed your suspicions, the lustiness of his tone adding to the urgency. “If you don’t want a mouthful, you might want to stop,” he warned you, surprisingly considerate in the moment.

Your eyes flickered up, but you didn’t stop, trying to hum your acknowledgement around a mouthful of his dick, working him even more eagerly.

“Oh, shit, you’re more obscene than I thought. If that’s how you want it,” His excitement pierced his arousal again, as if he hadn’t expected you to be so wrapped up in servicing him.

Thrusting into your mouth more desperately, his hips finally stuttered as he finished, filling your mouth with hot ropes of thick that you swallowed as soon as the bitter taste swept over your tongue. Several especially long, feral moans drifted from Izaya’s lips as you drank him down, until at last he was spent and there was nothing left for you to swallow. You drew away, wiping a smear of drool and some stray cum from your mouth with the back of your hand and resting back on your knees.

“There, that’s taken care of,” you said, your attempt to sound level and collected ruined by your own arousal making your voice overly breathy. “Now did you actually have a reason for inviting me over?”

Izaya laughed breathlessly, as if amused by your change of pace, lying boneless against the sectional. “Of course, my dear,” he answered when his laughter died, tipping his head forward to look at you. “I wouldn’t lie to your like that. Though, if you’d like, I can return the favor. It sounds like you need it.”