#I'll never climb out of my trash can fight me

[luveline]

you did this with Steve and James but I would love a Remus fic where they are play fighting and he accidentally hurts her

for u my love boyfriend!remus x reader

Remus can be intimidating when he wants to be usually, but on top of you like this with a huge smile on his face and his eyes lit with excitement, he's the opposite of scary. 

"I'm gonna make you sorry," he threatens. 

You have your hands joined and held in front of you, pushing him away so he can't kiss you. You never know how you and Remus get into these situations, playfulness bordered by a fierce competitiveness that means neither of you are willing to back down, no matter how badly you'd both like a quick kiss.

"You couldn't make a puppy sorry, Remus," you say, huffing at the strain and effort it takes to hold him up when he's this desperate to reach you. 

He ignores your hands, his fingers squeezing yours brutally in hopes you'll give in, and ducks down into your space anyhow. The bed groans beneath you as your squirm away, pushing your hand (with his still twined into it) against his handsome face. 

"You suck," you trash talk, "and you won't win!"

"I always win," he says, which isn't explicitly true. 

"No! You give me the giggles and I can't fight back, you cheat!" 

Remus presses harder against your palms. "I don't cheat! Dove, I swear to fuck, if you don't let me kiss you–" 

"You'll what?" 

"I'll kiss you!" he warns. 

And there it is, he's making you laugh, and when you laugh you get distracted and your resolve weakens. Your arms shake in his hold as you do. Remus sees an in, pressing forward hard. You startle and he startles at your startling —he tries to back off, but you know he's already falling forward. You flinch and pull your arm up, fingers tangled in his, too late to shield your face as his chin connects with your nose with a loud smack. 

You both curse at the same time. Tears are instantaneous in your eyes, the shock of a whack to the nose inescapable. 

"Ouch," you whine, though you have enough sense to see the humour in the situation. You're a little winded. Remus really did fall smack dab on top of you. "You okay, babe?"

Remus pulls your hair by accident as he pushes himself off of you, and your hiss visibly panics him. The fog of pain clears from his expression, and your sweetheart hurries to check you're alright. 

"I'm fine, are you okay?" he asks, hand on your face, turning your chin up to better see your nose in the light. "I'm so sorry, dovey, I don't know how I– fuck, your nose is bleeding a bit." 

"It is?" you ask. Remus is quick to press his sleeve to your nostril, which feels quite tender, now that he mentions it. 

"Oh, no," he murmurs, his other hand coming up to cup your cheek. His palm is warm, the roughness of his pen-wrought callus familiar against your skin. "Dove, I'm sorry. Don't cry."

You blink hurriedly. "No, I'm not crying. It's just 'cos it hurts." 

You don't mean for it to come out that way, you're trying to explain that your tears are because he's hit you in the face with his face and there are delicately interconnected systems under the surface being disrupted, but Remus takes it for an admission of pain and goes berserk, which is to say he dotes on you as though you've broken something. Soft kisses pressed to your cheek, whispered reassurances. You try to tell him it doesn't matter, that he's being too much, but it's so wildly nice to be cared for that the words get stuck in your throat. 

"It only bled a little," he reassures. "Do you want me to get you an ice pack?" 

You nod silently, enamoured with him, wanting to bask in the warmth of his attention just as long as you can. 

"Okay," he says, climbing off of you to leave and find one. He doubles back before he reaches the door, and when he leans over you, he smiles wryly. "Told you I'd get that kiss, didn't I?" 

You laugh breathlessly and let him kiss you. He's very cautious to avoid your nose. 

[ywpd-translations]

Ride 789: Inheriting wishes

Pag 1

3: Yes, I got it! The last one!!

4: Bon apet...

5: What, Kabu, are you eating trash now?

Guaa- the worst person saw me!!

Th- that's not it, this it- uhm....

Pag 2

1: Have mine

3: Nom nom nom, so good!

You worked a lot for the sprint

Good job following on this climbing while resting and resupplying

5: Imaizumi-san is treating a kouhai kindly!!

Hotshot is rewardina kohai!?

I....

Ho....

What is it, I feel a weird atmosphere

Pag 3

1: I received my orders from Onoda-san!!

2: Climb and pull the team

3: Climbing at a fixed pace as much as possible, while watching the condition of tiredness of everyone's pace, synchronizing our breaths

Pag 4

1: It's the least damaging way to climb!!

The pack is coming!

It's Sohoku!

Pag 5

2: Danchiku... this is a good pace

He's good at watching everyone and matching his performance to them

3: You really are his polar opposite

Ah, person who gave me food

4: Rokudai, watch closely

Ye-yessir, teh!!

5: What Danchiku is doing now is the correct way to “pull”

Yessir, teh

You also

6: got your orders, didn't you?

Pag 6

1: From Onoda!!

2: Mountain King and Manami are overtaking the other climbers who had come out!!

Are they going to the lead like that!?

They-

Pag 7

2: What, how, they're so fast....!!

3: Amazing!

So fast!

They're running at an incomprehensible speed

This is a race between the Inter High's

Pag 8

1: two times finalists!?

2: Sakamichi-kun!!

Manami-kun!!

Pag 9

1: It's true, Mountain King and Manami are racing

Yeah, they're fighting seriously

For this year's mountain prize....

2: You seem to be in good condition!!

Yeah!! Manami-kun!!

3: the first day's mountain is gonna be the most amazing!!

4: There's a lot of people in the audience too

Yeah

A huge crowd, the summer air, and the blue sky

Pag 10

1: I wonder if Toudou-san and Makishima-san also felt the wind like this, on Hakone's mountain two years ago!!

2: The sky is blue!!

There's a lot of people in the audience too!!

4: I'm having so much fun chasing after it it feels like I'm in a daze

Pag 11

1: Even though my body is tired and my muscles are exhausted, it feels like my heart is saying “let's go until our limit” and pushing my blood!!

5: Yeah!!

I think Makishima-san and Toudou-san definitely felt like this!!

Pag 12

1: Shooo

Just get ahead of him by a few millimeters

My heart is pounding

Jinpachi!!

Maki-chan!!

2: About the race between them that day, I heard other people saying:

3: “It was fierce”

“It was a race of their souls”

“I saw a battle of the limits of climbers”

Pag 13

1: But looking at their backs, it looked fun

3: Back then we could only imagine it

4: But now, like this

Running against you, who shares the same feeling

Pag 14

1: It's like we can “experience”it!!

3: Yeah!!

Pag 15

2: I didn't think the mountain on the first day was so freeing, that it would make my heart feel so clear

3: It's strange

4: The thing I longed for from the bottom of my heart... my strong wish....

5: even if I couldn't fulfill it at the time

Pag 16

1: it still came true in another form!!

Pag 17

1: You're right!!

Pag 18

1: Mountain King and Manami accelerated again!!

4: The orders!!

Pag 19

1: It's time, go

Switch with Danchiku

2: Pull the team, Rokudai!!

Yessir, teh!!

I received them from

2: Back-gate slope-senpai....

Pag 20

1: My “orders”!!

2: Rokudai-kun

Yessir, teh

3: Please pull the team on the mountain while switching with Danchiku-kun

Yessir, teh!!

4: My first orders.....!!

I'l ldo it with all my strength

Actually

5: I wanted to say “please climb the mountain together with me”

8: Huh!? Together!? The mountain!?

9: When I was in first year, I didn't see the race between Makishima-san and Toudou-san

10: …. so

Onoda....!!

For Rokudai-kun

Pag 21

1: I wanted him to see the race between me and Manami-kun as a first year climber

2: Onoda-kun

3: But it'a not as easy as taking him along to race together

4: If I don't refine my thoughts I'll never catch up with Manami-kun as he is now!!

6: That's why I have another order for you, Rokudai-kun

Another one...!!

7: Look up at the mountain

Send your heart out to the road before you

Pag 22

1: Imagine it with everything you have!! Our

2: our fight to our limits!!

Their fight!!

Pag 23

3: Back-gate slope-senpai!!

Then... on your first year... or your second year- when you'll have a rival....

4: A ri-rival!? Me!?

5: Hakogaku caught up!!

Pag 24

4: Remember about today, please

5: Ah... the guy who came on Minegayama with Manami-san...

Is this guy really the manager....!?

[joanvisitsrome]

stars between us ch.2 : h.c

Hey you guys!! here's chapter two! I'll do everything I can to have chapter three tomorrow. I'm looking to have 8-9 chapters total of this series. COMMENT on this post if you'd like to be added to this taglist.

Summary: You and Hazel spend the first night of the camping trip together

Contains: fluff, hand-holding, one-bed trope, teasing friends, slight angst, hazel talking about the pep rally, hazel talking abt toxic friends, awkward!hazel, nerd!reader

“So, that leaves you and Hazel,” Isabel had pointed out. 

You and Hazel look at each other and smile. Of course you two were fine with sharing a bed. You two got along well anyway. The two of you leave your things on the bed and then go outside to a nearby picnic table. It wasn’t too late in the day, as there was still light outside. The sky was only now just getting darker. The two of you begin to continue your conversation from the bus, picking up exactly where you left off.

“Okay,” you say, “enough about me. Where in the actual universe are you getting bombs?”

“Where else? You really think I’m going to like some deep, dark alleyway to find supplies? I usually just go to Home Depot and grab my supplies.”

“Really?” you ask surprisedly, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m not joking. I’ll take you one day if you’d like.”

“Wow Hazel, stringing your new friend into your bomb-making endeavors.” To this comment, Hazel giggles and plays with the rings on her fingers. She looked absolutely adorable doing this.

“I’d never let you get in trouble for it though,” Hazel adds quickly, “I don’t like throwing people under the bus.”

“Sure you don’t,” you quip teasingly, “If you don’t, then what was that with PJ during the last pep rally?”

“Now that’s a different story. PJ, umm, made me feel, unloved? The fight club has been a safe space for me during my mom’s midlife crisis. I guess when PJ kind of summed up for me that I had no friends, and, um, had a skank as a mom, I wanted to defend myself. Also, they said I was fighting PJ.”

“Well, you have me, so you have friends. And uh, I don’t know about the mom stuff, but she definitely didn’t raise a skank, so that must say something.” Hazel smiles, glad that you at least understood her. She holds your hands, which had been resting on the table.

“I’m really glad we’ve started getting to know each other. It’s nice to talk with someone who’s like me in some ways.”

“Yeah. Even though I’m friends with like Isabel and Brittany and those people, I feel like they don’t understand. Like half of those people don’t even read. Like, the school took away the books and they just don’t care.” Hazel looks at you as you continue rambling, a concentrated, attentive look in her eyes. She seems dazed almost.

“Hazel?”

“Yeah?” she says, shaking out of her daze.

“You good? It seemed like you phased out for a moment.”

“No, I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep well yesterday.” You look up at the sky, which has gone basically dark. 

“Should we go sleep?”

“Oh, we don’t have to. We can keep talking if you want.”

“No no, I’m tired too. Plus, we have a long day tomorrow doing the trash and stuff.”

“Okay! As long as you’re okay with it. I don’t want to force you to do something just because I am.”

“You’re not. Don’t worry about it, Haze.” You hold out your arm, and she links it in yours. The two of you laugh and talk your whole way back to the cabin. She sees PJ and Josie looking at her with teasing looks, lips puckered up. She quickly turns her head away to see you curled up on the corner of the bed, book in hand. It’s an astronomy book about constellations and the stories behind them.

Hazel looks at you as she climbs into bed.

“Whatcha reading?”

“Oh, just a book about the stories between different constellations.”

“OH! We didn’t get to look at the stars like we said.”

“Whatever. We’re both tired, and I’m sure we’ll have even more fun tomorrow doing so. I bet since we’ll spend the whole day together, we’re going to have a great time.”

“Don’t let me forget tomorrow. I’ll feel horrible if you don’t get to look at the stars at least once before the trip is over.”

“Don’t worry Haze, I won’t.” Hazel’s cheeks turn pink at the nickname, but she brushes it off and lies down. PJ and Josie ask everyone if it’s okay to turn off the lights, making you close your book and lie down as well. You assume that Brittany and Isabel are off with the other cheerleaders and that they’ll come back soon. You feel Hazel shudder when the lights turn off in the cabin.

“Hey, Haze, what’s wrong?” you whisper, turning to her under the covers.

“Nothing. Um, it’s just that I, um, kind of, always use a night light? I don’t like the pitch black.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I don’t know.” Hazel turns around to face you. Just then, your hands bump under the covers. You don’t know what overcomes you, but you decide to hold Hazel’s hand.

“Is that okay?” you ask. You hear Hazel’s breathing slow down to its relaxed pace.

“Yeah. Much better. Are YOU okay with that though?” she asks, concerned that maybe you would feel weird holding her hand.

“No, of course not. I want you to sleep well.” You two are facing each other in the bed, only barely able to see the traces of each other’s face.

“As long as you’re okay with it, I am too.”

“Goodnight Haze.” The two of you fall asleep facing each other, and holding hands, and wake up like that the next morning.

taglist: @at1nyzen

[rancidpancakebatter]

"Uhluhu" - [M.M.]

Pairings: Matt Murdock x GN!Reader

Summary: Matt tells he loves you, and you want to say it back

Word Count: 1.6k words

Content: Like nothing. Safe for all.

( Masterlist )

A/N: Sorry, I've been on a bit of a hiatus. Finals are coming up and it's super stressful so I haven't gotten to write much. I found this in my drafts so I'll let yall have it. Hopefully, it will hold you over for a bit.

You had been dating Matt for several months now. You met him as the devil first. He was limping through the alley, and you heard him curse as he tripped over a trash can. When you looked out your window, you saw him collapse face-first in grime. You called out to him but heard no response. So against your better judgement, you climbed down your fire escape to check on the stranger. 

Matt woke up with a familiar feeling of deja-vu. He woke up on a soft towel draped over a couch, shirtless, with gentle hands tending to his wounds. His waking up was not peaceful in any way. He bolted upright with a large gasp ripping from his chest. You fell back on the floor in surprise at his outburst. 

He rattled off a lot of questions, and it took you a moment to respond to them as you tried to coax him into lying back down. You told him your name, where you had found him, and that he was about to bleed out from a bullet wound. 

“Luckily for you, it was a clean shot. I don't know how to fish out a bullet, but I was able to find a decent tutorial for stitches. You should be fine if you rest.”

Matt learned to trust you over time. You never asked for his identity or pushed him to talk about his past. He respected you for that. 

One night you got a text from him. It was only an address. You made your way up in the shaky elevator and knocked tentatively on the door. You were surprised when a blind man answered and greeted you by name. 

He asked you a bunch of questions about The Black Mask and what you knew of him, but you refused to answer, going as far as to threaten him. He chuckled at you as he opened a beer. 

“Trust me, honey, I’m not someone you wanna pick a fight with.”

You bristled at the nickname, but something about his voice was familiar. You raised the candle you grabbed from the coffee table higher, ready to swing if he got closer. 

He walked past you and opened up an armoire in the corner. You couldn’t see what he was doing. He threw something at you that you struggled to catch it. You ran your fingers over the familiar dark material. He heard your heart race before it started to settle again, and he knew then that you had connected the dots. 

“Really? A candle? What was your plan there?” He asked with a teasing condescension you’ve come to love. 

You chuckled as you set it back down. “I was gonna use that right hook you taught me.” 

It wasn’t long until he asked you out, the next day if you remembered correctly. He introduced you to his friends one night at Josie’s. Foggy and Karen adored you, and It was funny to see Matt’s lifelong friend tease him. 

“I mean honestly, what do you see in this ruffian?”

“I dunno Foggy, I guess he’s charming. In his own…weird…brooding way”

Dating Matt has changed your life. You have never known true admiration- devotion- like his. Anything you ask for, he would deliver (if he had the financial means to do so). He had been working on a healthy life balance for a while and with you, he felt he had it. And he felt the need to pay you back for that in any way he could. Flowers, home-cooked meals, cuddles, you name it. 

You were a well-known writer for The Bulletin. You often got to work from home. For the past month, you’ve been working from Matt’s. He had joked a few times about how you “moved in,” and if he noticed the way your heart raced when he said that, he didn’t mention it. 

You had been burned in the past. Pretty severally. So your relationship with Matt seemed almost unreal a lot of the time. While you didn’t have the crushing catholic guilt Matt did, you still had some baggage you were carrying around. 

Last week Matt told you that he loved you. He assured you that you didn’t have to say it back, that he still meant it either way. He’s said it every night as you drifted off to sleep and every morning as he left for work since then. Those three little words. 

You wanted to say them back- you really really did. You knew that if you spoke them, you would mean it; it would be the truth. Truthfully you did. But what a terrifying truth. You wanted to spend the rest of your life with him. You wanted to move in officially. You want to wake up to him every day. You wanted the good and the bad and the ugly. You wanted him, devil and all. But no matter how many hours you spent hyping yourself up, when he came home, you just couldn’t do it. 

You decided to change that today. You couldn’t let him go any longer thinking you don’t feel the same way. You could say it; you had to say it. 

You spent all evening cooking chicken piccata with homemade noodles. You went to the farmers market this morning to get fresh, local ingredients because you know Matt can taste the preservatives on grocery produce. You even baked fresh bread, made fruit tarts, and currently, you were tossing a salad. 

You had put on some of Matt’s vinyls, and when he walked in, he was almost overwhelmed. He could smell your cooking from the front entrance, and it only got closer as he approached his apartment. He could hear you humming and singing along once he got to his floor, and your gentle footsteps could be heard against the kitchen tiles. 

You heard the door open and were sure Matt could hear your heart rate pick up. You walked away from the stove and saw him taking off his coat. 

“Matty!” 

You ran into his arms, and he didn’t hesitate to catch you, spinning you around and holding you close. You melted into his embrace as you buried your head into his neck, taking a deep breath and letting his woodsy cologne wash over you. His hands were pressed flat against your back; you could feel his warmth soaking you to the bone. There’s nowhere else you’d rather be. 

“Your sauce is starting to stick.” You could hear the smirk on his face. He knew exactly what he was doing to you and liked to rile you up. 

“Oh shit,” you mumbled as you dropped down from his arms and raced back into the kitchen to stir. 

He followed after you at a much more leisurely pace, leaning against the island as you worked. 

“Let’s see here, I smell…chicken, lemons, garlic, raspberries, bread, parsley, and…is that fresh capers?”

You grinned, “Yes, bloodhound, these are fresh capers. I wanted to make you a nice dinner. Now go get changed and comfy. It’s almost ready.” 

You felt his hands on your waist and leaned back into him on instinct. He took the opportunity to place a kiss on your temple. 

“On it boss.” 

He stepped into the bedroom, and you began setting up the island. You arranged the plates and placed the glasses of water (and an opened beer next to Matt’s). By the time he returned, you were taking the rolls out of the oven. 

The power Matthew Murdock held was entirely too dangerous. He emerged wearing a v-neck and his trusty grey sweats. You knew he felt your stare. He could probably hear your heart rate pick up at the sight of him. His smile grew into that smirk you knew very well, and you knew he knew. 

Dinner was great and went off without a hitch. He told you about his day, and you did the same. You talked about big and small, and all the things of the world. He continues to complement your cooking, praising you after every bite. You brought out the fruit tarts, and the both of you munched on them happily. 

Matt set his fork down and looked at you curiously. “What’s all this about?” 

You frightened confusion, and Matt decided to play along. “The food was wonderful, but why did you make a three-course dinner? What’s the occasion?” 

You set your fork down, wiped your mouth with the napkin sitting you your lap, and place it on the counter. Matt could sense your anxiety and wondered if something was wrong. 

“There’s no… occasion, per se. It’s more of an announcement.” Matt tilted his head, and you continued. 

“I uh-” You cleared your throat, trying to force the words out. “I…” 

Matt was patient, silently reaching for your hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. His own anxiety melted when he felt your pulse slow. 

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why it’s so hard to say,” you admit with an air of defeat. 

A knowing smile makes its way onto Matt’s face. 

“You want me to guess?” he asked, giving your hand another reassuring squeeze.

“No, no. I want to say it. I want you to hear it come from me.” 

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. You had been practising saying it all day, saying the words over and over again. 

You forced out the words on your exhale. “Uhluhu”

Matt tilted his head, ”What?”

You took another breath and squeezed his hand, “I love you.”

His face split into a grin. You couldn’t help the laugh that escaped you. You suddenly felt light. 

“I love you, Mathew Murdock. I love you.” 

You couldn’t stop saying it. 

“I love you too.” He said, oh so quietly, but his words dripped with their truth.

Tag List: @barbecuetiddy, @heejinw0rld, @Isshecrazyorissheclever, @purple-amaranthe, @rudy-the-winged-wolf, @scorpiolystoned, @tayswiftlovebot, @wannapizzamymindposts, @whoreforklitz,

[calextheneko]

Mario Maker 2 Self Promotion: Super World and Sky Tower Saga

So getting back into Mario Maker 2 and for those who don't know I freaking love Mario Maker. I currently have 80 levels uploaded in the second and forgot how many I have uploaded in the first. Never as many cause I never got enough likes to expand my upload pool in that one. Glad 2 through that mechanic in the trash.

Anyway, this post is just to blow my horn and talk about some of my favorite levels I've made. I'm far from the best or most popular level designer but I do put my heart into them! If any strike your fancy it means the world to me if you play them! So let's go on.

First off if you want to find me and pull up all my levels

Creator ID: GKP-1RT-HNG

Can use that to pull up my profile. If you see the name Calex and my little guy wearing the cat suit you got the right one!

So first up, my Super World found on my profile.

This follows basic 8 world progression, made in the Super Mario world style. I did my best to make it feel like a Mario game while adding in some unique twists. Worlds 1-6 have four stages including a boss stage, and world 7 and 8 have 5 levels including boss stages. I try to stay true to form with fighting the Koopalings and progressing but giving them unique mechanics or battlefields to fight on to freshen the fights up.

The levels start on the super easy side as I've attempted to scale the difficulty up as you progress through the worlds. I'd say world 7 is where you notice a big bump up.

I recently redid the final level of it 8-5: Seat of the King. Mainly, while I liked the original version the boss fight with Bowser took way too long. I wish they had a way to adjust his HP. So I updated it so Bowser will get damaged much, MUCH more quickly, as well as adding in a couple secrets that can let you skip round 1 with him. It's not nearly as hard, but I'll take fun over difficult any day of the week.

Most of the levels I'm proud of are later in the games as I made them more complex as part of turning the difficulty up. 7-1: Blast Off! might be my favorite of the set. As for hardest, for me personally I think 8-4: The Koopaling's Last Dance! As it contains rematches with each Koopaling that you fought throughout the game and then a fight with Bowser Jr. I put two checkpoint flags right on either side of a pipe for this one so you can reactivate them any time you want to save your progress in this level.

I could gush about each level but there are 40 of them total in the Superworld so going to move on so we're not here all day.

Sky Tower Saga

Sky Tower Saga is a series of levels I made back before the game had Super Worlds using the Mario 3 layout. Sky Tower Saga contains much more and often difficult twists on its boss fights and each of the levels has its own boss.

Sky Tower Saga is a five level collection that basically tells the story of Mario's journey to Sky Tower after it mysteriously appears in well, the sky, and his effort to stop Bowser from seizing the tower's strange powers for himself.

Sky Tower Saga Part 1: Journey

Course ID: 402-DQ9-LSG

Journey has you start in a winter themed level, as you platform your way along before reaching the Tower's entrance. Once inside you climb the first few floors before facing Boom Boom. This level is the only completely normal boss fight in the series, as it serves as a warmup level before you enter the tower proper. So Boom Boom has no mechanics. There is sadly a Soft Lock in it, there's an area you can go down under after hitting a P Switch and find a 1-up. But if you don't have the Super Leaf then it's not possible to get back up and eventually you die once the P-Switch runs out.

Sky Tower Saga Part 2: Ascent

Course ID: 1DT-J87-6RF

Ascent where the series starts using vertical levels as you climb higher and higher into the Tower. This level also has far more secrets in it than the first, including eight key coins that if you gather you can unlock a special bonus door right before the boss fight. You can also use the key to skip the boss fight if you want, but kind of ruins the fun. Up to you if you want to get through faster or if you want to fight it! Whatever you feel like! But the fact the boss can be skipped is why I later stopped using red coins in boss stages to prevent that. I just like putting in secrets for people to find. XD I feel it makes things more fun.

Anyway, this time the boss fight is against a Flying Boom Boom but now we start to have new mechanics introduced. This fight has a time limit beyond the actual course timer. As the fight continues one of the walls will closely close in giving you less and less room to move around in. You need to defeat Boom Boom and unlock the exit door before the wall closes in completely and squashes you flat. I left the timer very generous.

I designed it by using a Bill Blaster as the wall. It doesn't shoot anything, but I put it on a conveyor belt that tries to carry it right. However there are switch blocks in the way blocking its progress. Below it is a shell that is fired onto a conveyor belt that tries to carry it right but the shell is shot left making it travel very slowly. At the end of it is a Switch Block. So each time it hits the block the Bill Blaster is released from a switch block and moves right. Meanwhile the shell is quickly delivered back to where it started before bouncing and slowly moving towards the switch again. During the fight you can see it moving so you can see exactly how much time you have before the wall moves again.

Sky Tower Saga Part 3 Secret

Course ID: K47-5M0-5RG

Sky Tower stretches so high into the sky you start to leave the atmosphere. As a result any time you are physically climbing the outside of the tower there will be less gravity. Thankfully it seems the Mushroom Kingdom invented artificial gravity so inside you're fine.

Once again we have red coins to unlock a secret room as you travel up. And once again it can be used to skip the boss fight if wanted. But surprise twist! There are two boss fights! More on that in a second.

Secret introduces something important in the form of the three Fire Orbs with wings that will be seen again. These are used to represent an entity called Tower Soul who will be a problem in a later stage, but for this one you just get a glimpse of them. Meanwhile, the challenge takes in the form of scaling the place while managing the lowered gravity. There is also a snake block to ride, but don't worry there's a two-way pipe right before it so you can exit and re-enter if you fall off and need to respawn it.

As for the fights. It's Bowser Jr with a round 1 and a round 2 against him. The first round is simple, some Throwmps slam down activating an on and off switch which drops Bowser Jr and two red Bill Blasters into the room. You have to hit Bowser three times while dodging homing Bullet Bills and you're done. But round 2 things kick up a bit. Bowser Jr is now protected in the safety of the Tower and you must fight him while dealing with the Tower's defenses. Your only platform is a seesaw that goes up and down but this is to your benefit once you realize what you need to do. You need to jump on Koopa Troopas and then shoot their shell into a small hole where they'll travel down and hit Bowser Jr. If you stand on the left side of the seesaw it will form a perfect ramp that you can slide the shell along right into the hole instead of having to jump into the air and fire it. While you continue to fight the tower will release other defenses including buzz saws so watch yourself as you take it down. This fight is good training for a future fight that's a much bigger problem.

Sky Tower Part 4: Apex

Course ID: W7B-R7W-XKG

Finally you reach the apex of the tower. But as you reach the top, you will find none other waiting for you than Bowser! Charged up with the Tower Soul the entire Tower is now at his command as he attempts to destroy you!

Once again, up in space so low gravity when climbing the exterior of the tower, but most of the platforming takes place in the interior as you climb up the last few floors. Beware of Bullet Bills as they'll be a constant threat when you climb. When you have to charge forward towards a Bill Blaster remember to look for holes in the area you can jump or duck in to dodge the bullets. Also, as you navigate flying beetles and other surprises there might be a chance to grab an unintended upgrade along the way.

Apex is where the red coins stop as I realized I was undermining the levels, as well as this is where you face a much bigger threat for the boss. Bowser himself is the boss fight this time. When you finally make your way up to him, the arena will look familiar. You fight Bowser in the same was as you did in Mario 3, but with a slightly simplified arena. Naturally a you can guess from the previous fight this is just a warmup for the real fight.

Grab the Fire Flower after round 1, it will make your life much easier, I promise. For fight 2, you'll be facing Bowser in a Fire Car, but you have a Fire Car of your own. If you grabbed the Fire Flower you shoot three fireballs instead of one which will make things much easier. Dodge Bowser's attacks and take him out with your own fireballs to proceed forward! However, Bowser is probably the smallest worry you'll have at the moment. The Tower Soul will be seen flying around the map damaging you if it impacts you, as well as there are tons of cannon balls being fired. Navigate the maze of obstacles carefully as you fight Bowser and finally finish off the fight... Except, not quite. At the end of the level you'll see though Bowser is gone, Tower Soul remains.

Sky Tower Saga Finale: Soul

Course ID: 5S2-81B-XGF

It's the final level. With Bowser defeated Tower Soul has gone berserk. If the tower is left unchecked its destruction power will spread to the Mushroom Kingdom. Are you ready to fight an entire freaking tower? Cause you're fighting an entire tower. Or at least the heart of it.

This is a boss stage, no platforming to get here. Instead, you get some power ups and then are instantly thrown into a battle with Tower Soul. That's right, the final boss is a completely original thing instead of being Bowser again! I know it turns out I am capable of originality at times!

Now then...This is what the Bowser Jr fight earlier was practice for. You will see the Tower Soul inside a huge contraptions once you step into the heart of the tower. The ticket is once again to kick shells into a small opening so that it can damage the tower. But it's going to be much harder this time. There's no ramp you can shoot it up through. Now you'll need to either throw the shells from the air, jump up to the hole or time it perfectly off a moving platform to get a hit in. Each time you land a successful hit you'll see the tower start to fall apart as bricks fall from overheard.

This fight took a long time to design and went through a lot of versions. First I had to get it to actually work so that you could get a key for defeating a thing the game doesn't regard as an actual entity. I hit an enemy that's never visible on screen but is killed right after you land your final hit on Tower Soul. That enemy holds the key so that's how I made it look like defeating Tower Soul gives you the key. After I got this working though the fight was too insanely hard. So believe it or not this is the tuned down version of it. Keep aware of the threats around you and practice your timing with shells until you earn victory.

But the level isn't over yet. The Tower Soul flees as the entire tower begins to collapse. It's time for a Metroid this place is gonna explode escape sequence with some fun music. But, how do you escape Sky Tower? Well... You'll see when you get there. Defeating Tower Soul is the hard part the rest of the level is super easy and I don't want to spoil the fun of what's happening.

Anyway that's stuff about my Super World and Sky Tower. I may post more of these with other levels I worked on and their course IDs as it goes on. We'll see how it goes. Will also be trying to come up with some new level ideas cause the itch to make levels is bugging me like crazy now. Thanks for taking the time to listen to me rant, and super special thanks to anyone who plays any of the levels too!

[deputy-buck]

Miscellaneous Tag game

Thank you for makin this and tagging me Mar!!! @ronald-speirs

-

Favorite place in the world you’ve visited?

I haven't been many places at all, and all of the places I enjoyed are neighboring states (Florida, SC, Tennessee, Alabama.) so it's almost the same as being home. I'll say Alabama, went to a cliff that my parents, aunt, and uncles used to climb and camp at all the time, idk what it's actually called but they always called it Sand Rock (take a guess what the rock is primarily made of...) it was entirely untouched when they used to go, but now there's fucking campsites and a huge pavilion there, I hate it bc the pictures my parents took made the place look so perfect and secluded, no trash anywhere. Now there's a fucking dumpster with shit leaking out of it and stupid "Beware! Cliff!" signs everywhere like no shit there's a cliff its a rock wall you idiots-

Something you’re proud of yourself for?

.... girl idk- I guess I'm proud of how regardless of the circumstances, I always stick to my morals and principles. Thanks for that one, dad.

Favorite books?

Oh!!! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!! hmm-

One Bullet Away - Nathaniel Fick. Probably my favorite of all time, it's so well and personally written, made me cry every time I read it.

Islands Of The Damned - R.V. Burgin. I love how simply he wrote it, like he really put his authentic self on those pages and didn't try to seem "more educated" than he was because he was just a little Texas boy and I loved that about him.

Those are really the only ones I can recall details from so I'll stick with those, but I did enjoy Helmet For My Pillow - Robert Leckie a lot, I read that in the truck while waiting for my brother to get out of class,. Generation Kill - Evan Wright was also good but it read so... grade-school-y, ya know?

My To Read list is:

With The Old Breed - Eugene Sledge. Started it but couldn't continue bc it seems like he's censoring himself a bit and IIIIIIII don't fuck with that, I'll power through it eventually though.

Red Platoon - Clinton Romesha. It's by a Medal Of Honor recipient from The Battle of Kamdesh, the only reason I haven't read it yet is bc i will sob about it for days after and I'm not ready for that.

My To Buy list is:

China Marine - Eugene Sledge. I WANT TO KNOW EVERY LITTLE DETAIL OF HIS TIME IN CHINA AFTER THE WAR-

(switching to non-war books oops)

Call Me By Your Name & Find Me - André Aciman. I just want to kill myself really, I want to hurt so bad that I never recover. Both are written in first person though and I hate that shit...

The Power Of The Dog - Thomas Savage. I watched the movie first and now I need to base my whole life off of these pieces of ART like fuckkkkkkkk.

Fellow Travelers - Thomas Mallon. Uhhhhhh yeah I want to submerge myself in this series entirely. Supposedly there's an ass ton of changes from in the series from the book, like Hawk being in the Army in the show and not the Navy like in the book, and I need to know if there are Seaman jokes-

Something that makes your heart happy when thinking about it?

Maizie 💚💚💚💚 my goofy goopy gooby girl 💚💚💚💚 my baby 💚💚💚💚 my sweet little bully girl 💚💚💚💚 the light of my life and the hindrance of my life-path 💚💚💚💚 the most stressful thing I've ever had to deal with day in and day out 💚💚💚💚

also cock. yeah that makes my heart happy too.

Favorite thing about your culture?

The MEN- okay I'll be serious. I'm not exactly sure what my culture is since Southern culture is Black culture (no I won't fight anyone on this unless you've been here, experience life here, and looked into literally any staple of Southern culture and seen that yeah 99% of it is rooted in Black history) and I'm.... Ghostly- I love the sense of community and the general easy-going but also absolutely chaotic feel you get everywhere you go. Like yeah I could get called "baby" and "sugar" and "honey" by the sweet old cashier, and then right when I walk out of the store I could suddenly be helping some stranger pack a deer with ice and have blood all over my hands and arms, the polarity of Southern-ness is great.

When did you join the HBO War fandom? What was the first show you watched?

I want to say two and a half years ago, not really sure though- Band of Brothers was my first watched it back to back like four times, then Gen Kill and watched that one probably four times back to back as well, then The Pacific like two or three times back to back, and now I'm suffering through MOTA.

Have you read any of Easy Company’s books? If so, which ones were your favorite?

I have not. I don't really want to either bc I don't want to realize all the inaccuracies of the show vs the true events. Like the little things, I don't want to watch the show with distain-

Favorite HBO War character and your favorite moment with them?

Oh fuck you Mar, I can't choose!!

BoB: I cannot choose, I can't. I love so many of them way too much that it hurts. Loved whenever Johnny yelled "BULL!!" like yes bestie I would scream his name too-

GK: Poke <3 whenever he was on screen was my favorite. I think his "and all the love in their hearts, from their wives and children. And all that hate, dog. All the hate it took to blow these motherfuckers away. It's destiny, dog! White Man's gotta rule the world!" and that was the first time we saw Doc smile too, love that for them. Alternatively whenever he looks at Brad with his shark-like smile, I would FOLD if he looked at me that way.

TP: SID AND YOU ALREADY KNOW THIS MAR FUCK I LOVE THAT BOY SO MUCH I NEED HIM SO BAD. When he tore Gene a new one about why they were the ones that made it back and not all those other guys, like yes put your boy in line-

MOTA: *crickets*

Do you make content for any fandoms, if so; what sort of content?

HBOwar: Sort of? Not as of late but I have written a few fics and made a few moodboards, can find all of them in my masterlist. I'm sorta working on some TP stuff but it's so hard for me to write for that while FT is consuming my every waking thought.

Fellow Travelers: HAHHAH I CAN'T STOP- Oh I've already made so many little webweaves and edits and a moodboard, and rn I'm working on a puppyplay fic hahah

UFC: I don't make content though I kinda wish I had when I was super-super into the fighters on a personally level lmao

Favorite actor/actress and your favorite film of theirs?

I don't have one, like there's not a specific actor/actress I've watched shitty film for. I usually enjoy Mads Mikkelsen in whatever he does, Jabob Pitts is also lovely, Anne Hathaway is my If I Was Straight actress

Favorite quote/s that you wish to share with others?

"Give what you get and don't complain when you get what you give."

Random fact your mutuals/followers don’t know about you?

Mm, I don't know, I'm always cold and I hate it and will never willingly live any further north than where I currently live, also no further west than Louisiana cause fuck Texas on a personal level

If you’re a writer, do you need a beta reader (say yes so I can be your beta reader 🤭)?

I don't know what a beta reader is please explain SOMEONE-

Three things that make you smile?

Actually being on a job site regardless of how anxious it makes me, I've spent way too long doing what I do from home and not being a part of the installation process.

Hearing other people laugh, idk why but hearing anyone laugh makes me smile.

These pictures of my goofy goopy gooby girl

Any nicknames you like?

Buck is a nickname and I love it cause it's so fucking HICK like ME

List some people you love to see around on tumblr!

@ronald-speirs !! even though like none of your posts from any of your blogs are showing up on my dash?? hate you tumblr-

@ableedingpen !! BRO I WANT TO KISS YOU YOU ARE SO FUCKING AWESOME TO SEE IN MY REPLIES LIKE I GET STUPIDLY EXCITED-

@corkyviolet !! your screencaps are so fucking good and I cry at all of your edits-

@verawhisk !! we don't post the same content anymore but I do still love to see you around, V you are the GOAT

What would you do during a zombie apocalypse?

Shoot myself. No joke, I don't want to deal with that.

Favorite movie?

uhhhhhhhhh, All Of Us Strangers ripped my heart out, not sure if it's my favorite though

Do you like horror movies?

No (sorry Mar) they never appealed to me, I prefer a documentary about real fucked up and gorey events-

Tagging: anyone!!! have fun y'all!!!

[thessalian]

Thess vs Cauldron KAPPA

I swear, one of these days I am going to actually get back to the main quest. Or at least the side quest I keep meaning to do. Then again, I need to have something to do in limited time periods before work in the mornings. But the last two days? Nothing but sidetracking.

YESTERDAY

Right. Metal flowers across the river from the Carja camp. I go swim now. Underwater, I think, because Widemaws and Skydrifters.

...Wait.

Wait that said "carp". I NEED THOSE; LET'S GO!

Fifteen minutes later and I probably have enough carp to suit me. Really. Metal flowers.

...Is it wrong that I prize the data point over the vendor trash, as rewards for those last two metal flowers?

Okay, I really am going to head out in the direction of Talanah's whole deal, but I should get a couple of campfires first--

Wait. Wut.

Oh. Oh, this is Fenrise. And I don't see Gattak anywhere. Buuuuuut never let it be said that I waited for backup before I started liberating the hell out of a place. I mean, as long as I'm here, right?

Well, I've killed like two-thirds of these fuckers and I still can't find a way in. Sonuvabitch.

I'm kind of amused that they think I'd give up as easily as ... well, as they give up looking for me. Sneak sneak sneak--

Aha! Climbing spot! And here we go! Poonk-time is now!

I think we're mostly clear so let's free that Tenakth dude--

...Sir? Tenakth guy? I get that you're probably in a really shitty mood given the being-taken-prisoner and everything? But you're being rude as shit.

And onward to command ... and there's three more of you, and a lot of stealth grass. Bye, guys! POONK.

Okay, so this Asera woman Erend was telling me about is ... in someplace called First Forge. I've been all over the map and I haven't a fucking clue where that might be. But I figure I'll trip over it sometime--

Or I could ask Erend. Thank you, Quest Board.

...Hang on. It says "Kill the rebels" but I killed all the rebels--

Oh. More rebels just ... materialised ... to give Gattak something to fight.

...And you won't let me shoot the rebels from a distance? What the fuck? I really dislike being forced into close quarters, and doing it with game mechanics is worse than it being forced on me!

Show of force by rebels, huh? Taking over the sacred training grounds. Assholes.

Heh; you're welcome, Gattak. I'll probably come by and visit sometime, when you're re-established. But for now ... I'm going to drop a gizmo by Stemmur.

Here you go, Stemmur. I think there's like one more left but I'm going to have to read a serious wiki or watch a lot of let's play to figure out how to get that piece of garbage.

What do I want to see Horizon-world's take on? ...Halloween, I think.

...Stemmur, you're adorable and I love you.

Unfortunately, too tired to do much. But tomorrow? TALANAH.

TODAY

Right. Collecting a couple of campfires.

...Ooh, Fireclaws.

I FORGOT HOW DANGEROUS THESE FUCKERS ARE!

...I also forgot about hitting left-shift to slow time while firing until, like, just now. Fireclaws exploding is always a win.

Okay, I have blown so much blastpaste for smoke grenades. Need to stop at a shelter for more. ...Maybe the one near the coast; see if I can get those pouch upgrades.

Moonfish skin, carp skin, crab and lobster shells, aaaaaaaaand ... a pelican feather.

No. No. No... I DON'T NEED YOUR BONES, MOONFISH; I NEED YOUR SKIN! GIVE ME YOUR SKIIIIIIIIIIN!

THANK you.

Okay. Now. Before I go any further, there's a question mark up there I keep missing. Do I have to go through the Greenhouse for it?

*fifteen minutes later* Evidently, I do not. What does Google have to say about this?

Thank you, Reddit. Swimming swimming swimming...

Aha. Here we go. Data point. I do love the datapoints.

(Is anyone else amused that DEMETER seems to have spent a lot of its time writing really emo poetry?)

Right. I'll spare myself a swim and head for the nearest coastline. There's a shelter up there and--

And thaaaaaaaat's a Shellsnapper. Time to practice my left-shift time-slow manoeuvre.

................THAT. WAS. EPIC!!!

(Translation: it had, like, a sliver of health left, and it had gone underground. I was on a rock, waiting, holding a draw. It leapt right into my face and I fired, hitting it directly in its chillwater reservoir. This froze it and took its last little bit of health, all about a foot from my virtual face. That was awesome.)

...Oh. Oh, this is the entrance to that Cauldron I got told about the other day.

.........Oh, I might as well get it over with while I have the spoons.

And right away we start with Outlast-meets-Subnautica. Greeeeeeeeat.

Okay, in we go.

Fun with crates, wonderful-- AMBUSH!

Slow-time function is WIN. Die, Spikesnouts!

And UP we go.

Well, at least this isn't Outlast-meets-Subnautica. It's more a really intense physics puzzle.

I am nailing this time-slow manoeuvre.

At least this isn't as tense as some of the others on the jumping puzzle thing-- AAAAAA! AMBUSH! GET OUT OF MY FACE!

Mrr. Not as clean as I'd like, but they're gone, anyway.

You're literally setting up a Death-From-Above for me, KAPPA. Thanks. *DEATH FROM ABOVE*

...Ooooooh fuck. I'm going to have to outswim a fucking Tideripper.

............Which is easier than I thought it'd be because somehow, for some reason, smoke bombs work underwater.

Okay. Out of its reach. A little less water and a little more space for me to stand.

I HAVE NO PREP TIME FOR THIS AND ALMOST NO ROOM! FUUUUUCK!

But I do have good aim, time-slowing, and a very good weapon, so eventually, I win.

Okay, definitely need a break and-- oh hell, is that the time? I require bath and food.

Really, I will get to Talanah and Danur and everybody else who wants a piece of Aloy right now. But ... bath. Food. Work in the morning.

[elliottpoetry2]

Ants

Crawling up out of the dirt,

Like climbing up the hill,

Full to where the buildings are sheltering the criminals,

Familiar with my thievery but I just want equality,

Kept pressed under their boat shoes like buried underneath the dirt,

A mystery,

A legendary call,

Whosoever makes their way from underneath them all to raise the fist against their evil will be close to making them fall,

A fist for fighting,

To show them you're not weak at all,

So raise your fist and raise your voice,

For the righteous cause to be your choice,

Out in the street it's so quiet,

Where's the noise?

Nothing to be upset about when demons possess leaders and corporations require groveling to remain employed,

Who are you?

With all the money of the people?

Were the profits for the prophets we'd congratulate you,

But no,

This is a different story,

And all these excuses are starting to get boring,

Don't look at me so naive like demons never lie,

Rebellion just bubbles up with every dissenting verse,

Conversations of operations until its time to rehearse,

Go out there and meet the merchants with poisons ready sold for hearse,

You don't have to be a victim,

The revolution is real...

...

Who are you to tell me what to do?

Like punishing parents so I'll clean my room,

Your filth just stinks like garbage,

I know it's all a lie,

Contorting the faces of human images inside of closed off minds,

To strap you down to a chair and gag your mouth leaving you there,

Scorn for your dissent with bruises so you'll pay,

Fill your mouth with golden coins so you stay quiet every day,

And all the wealth and luxury can really be all you need,

But inside is a soul full of light that needs to glow,

Not filled up with abominations and trash to ruin your image now,

Burned off with subservience to evil shut up by the crowds,

Why are they so ready to defend their own enemy?

Who claws at their flesh and whose friendship was only ever pretending,

Selling many men the dream that their dreams could be sought,

But when they paid with flesh at door the devil only wanted more to be bought,

So all of your pressures here and all of your oppression there,

Don't wrap your arms around my head thinking of me like the dead,

Don't push me around just because of all of the good things I have said,

The final straw and I cut to loose myself from the vice grip of you,

Dreams that I could ever be as free as I should ever be,

And what would I ever do if I was more powerful than you?

[estellardreams]

Chapter 15: Double Trouble

The robot walked up to the trio, stopping in place as the lights turned on around him. His orange eyes turned on, staring at the three enemies in front of him, determined. And then...

"Heads up, furze-pig!" he said, skating towards them and knocking Shadow into a wall while throwing Tempest and Rebel back.

"... What? Is that a fake version of me?" Shadow questioned.

"Faker? Ow, that stings. From the top of my titanium reinforced head, to my industrial grade tookus." the robot threw Shadow into the ceiling, kicking him back and launching him outside.

Shadow skidded back, regaining his balance. 

"The names Chaos Shadow. Like regular Shadow but with twice the edge, and none of the FAILURE!"

"Failure? The only failure here is you impersonating me."

"Oh, contrare, black and red hair. I doubt that I'm the faker here. I'm the coolest and most ultimate lifeform there is, much better than you'll ever be, hot shot!" Chaos charged at Shadow, punching him directly in the face.

Shadow fell back, flicking off a bit of blood from his nose before blocking another attack from Chaos. He continued to attack, with Shadow forced onto the offensive as his hands were in a lock with the machine. 

"Wow. You're pathetic. It's like I'm looking into a mirror... Not." Chaos remarked, staring at Shadow.

"Yep! This is definitely a trap!" Rebel yelped, dodging some incoming lasers from eggforcers.

"Then why'd you agree to follow me here?!" Shadow exclaimed. 

"Because we needed a way in!" Tempest said, knocking back some eggforcers.

"Oh man, I gotta hand it to you. Your just downright pathetic!" Chaos threw Shadow off the building, directly into a trash bin.

"So... Did I ever tell you my three step plan? I'm sure you'd enjoy it." he sat down on top of the bin, keeping Shadow stuck inside.

"Step one is so obvious, I'm shocked you don't know it. I beat you till you're a bloody pulp! Step two, I'm gonna rebrand and be the best person in the world! No one can compare to me!"

Shadow slammed the lid up, throwing Chaos off of it as he climbed out.

"Okay, first of all, can you just shut up already? And second-"

"Ah ah ah! You never heard my step THREE!" Chaos threw Shadow to the ground, pinning him down.

"I'm gonna diversify with my handsome face! With maybe some T-shirts, rock albums, a brand of pizza pockets called "Chaos Shadow's Rockin' Pockets"!"

Shadow groaned in frustration. He hated this bot already.

Tempest and Rebel continued to smash down bots by the gate as they just kept coming. Rebel managed to shoot down the last before running over to Tempest. 

"That's the last of them?" Tempest asked.

"Better be..." Rebel said. She looked down, seeing Shadow struggle to take down Chaos.

"He looks like he could use some help." she said.

More eggforcers flew into the scene, shooting at the two rebels.

"Spoke too soon." Tempest said, deflecting the lasers with her hammer until it was knocked out of her hands and to the ground below. 

"Oh you gotta be kidding me!"

"Go. Help Shadow." Rebel said.

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Yes. You are. That's an order." she continued to shoot at the bots.

Tempest nodded, leaping down and grabbing her hammer. 

"What's the matter? Done being idiotic? That's fun, I'm sure you'll ever understand the truth: That you'll always be a wreck of a lifeform." Chaos said, only to get slammed down by Tempest's hammer.

"... Thanks." Shadow thanked.

"So, should we- AH!" she was thrown off of Chaos as he got back up.

"Two on one?! Tsk, Tsk. That's cheating. Guess I'll have to even the odds!" Chaos swing-kicked Shadow into the wall.

Tempest swung her hammer towards him, him seemingly dodging and even sitting on an anti-homeless bench in the middle of the fight.

"Stand still!" she yelled.

"Miss me, miss me, now here comes my FISTY!" Chaos punched Tempest, sending her colliding into the wall and losing her hammer.

"Hey! Back off!" Shadow summoned chaos spears towards the robot.

Chaos Shadow stared at him, summoning a massive prismatically charged chaos spear. Shadow felt himself tense up towards the massive spear directed towards him.

He flew back, narrowly avoiding getting hit by the laser. He needed some sort of plan, maybe to drain down his battery... But with energy construction skills like that, perhaps...

"Hey! I'm better than you!" Shadow taunted at the robot.

"Hey! No~ I'm better than you. I'm the best!" Chaos said.

"Then you have to be faster to prove it."

"Fine then!"

"Good luck with that, faker." Shadow took off skating. Chaos Shadow skated after him.

Tempest watched them leaving, turning back and leaping up the wall to help Rebel fight back the eggforcers some more. 

"What have I done...?" Venice watched in horror, watching the scene unfold of Chaos fighting back Shadow with ease.

"A great service... for us, that is." Eggman said.

"Mighty charitable of you, selling out your black chum like that. Even if it was just a slip of the tongue." Done-It said.

"The hedgehog has met his match. Chaos Shadow will destroy him! And with our endless supply of power, the resistance is all but over."

"And what do we do with him?" Deep stared at Bullet.

"Hm... Lock him up, we don't need him anymore." Eggman said. Bullet froze, staring at them wide-eyed.

"And what about those flickies?" Don't asked.

Babble babbled, yelling as he pointed towards Bullet then made a smashing motion with his hands.

"... Isn't that excessive? I gave a pass on the energy extractor beforehand but-" Eggman began.

"No. You're not killing them." Bullet snarled.

"Eggforcers. Take this rat back to his cell." Deep directed.

Eggforcers grabbed Bullet, beginning to drag him away. He began to speed up, his shoes already beeping that he was going too fast before he threw the bots back at the super computer. 

"Wanna know what I hate?! ALL OF YOU FUCKING COUNCIL!" he yelled, bolting off and down the halls.

Eggman sighed, trying to turn the super computer back on and managing to do so, only to see that Bullet had broken into the secret garden in their base and rescued the flickies. 

"All eggforcers within the Yoke, divert forces towards the Garden." he ordered, clicking off.

"... That should get him locked back up, idiotic pest..." 

He refocused, turning back towards the rest of the Council. He began to head into the room with the shatterdrive inside with the rest of the group. Venice tried to head over, only for an eggforcer to grab him by his restraints. He yanked his hands away. 

"Now that we've seen what the shard can do on a small scale, what say we widen our lens? Personally, I've always felt my sector could use more smokestacks."

"Must you be so pedestrian? What we need is a museum! Something to commemorate our achievements. Colonnades, archways, friezes, busts...-" Deep began.

"Theme park." Don't cut in.

"Ugh. Save it for the bridge and tunnel crowd."

"Theme. Park."

"Museum!"

"Smokestacks!"

"Theme park!"

"Everyone pipe down! Staying local was never part of the plan. Conquer, then divide, remember?" Done-It said.

"The old man is right... for once. However, with this much shard power at our disposal, we don't have to conquer those worlds... We can transform them into whatever we want, just like that. No more oceans, no more jungles. With the proper adjustments to the Shatterdrive, the portals could stay open as long as we need. We wouldn't have to go anywhere! Imagine universal domination from the comfort of our own home!" Eggman said.

"Uh, wouldn't do that if I were you..." Venice said.

"Who's asking you?"

"The portals aren't natural. Keeping them open will have repercussions on a universal scale."

"The varmint makes sense." Done-It said.

"What makes him the expert?" Don't asked.

"I invented the shatterdrive technology." Venice said.

"And we're improving it. Pay no attention to the squirrel." Deep shut the shutters, locking Venice outta of the conversation in their room.

"Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Why fight over one New Yoke when we can have five?" Eggman cackled.

Venice was led away, only to see the eggforcers get smashed to pieces by a blue blur. Bullet landed swiftly, holding onto a cage for the remaining flickies. Venice looked at him, then noticed that he had thrown away his shoes. 

"I'll break you out, come on." he said. 

"No, I need to stay." Venice said. 

"But... The council are horrible. I can give you freedom!" 

"No. I have a plan to get the shards and help Shadow. You go to the resistance base and shelter the flickies." 

Bullet paused, looking at the chirping birds, then back at Venice. 

"... Alright. I'll go. Bye, Venice." Bullet ran off and out of the base.

Shadow skated down the streets, with Chaos easily catching up and keeping up with him. 

"Hey." he winked, speeding up. Shadow skated faster, trying to overtake him as the two ran up to the rooftops.

"Found you!"

"Stop that!" Shadow yelled.

"Stop that!" Chaos Shadow mimicked.

"Seriously!"

"Seriously!"

"Shut up!"

"Shut up!"

"Stop copying me!"

"Stop copying me!"

Shadow leapt off the roof, with Chaos following after him. He overtook him, speeding ahead before charging back, knocking him down. 

"And down he goes! Who's the greatest now?" he remarked.

"Just shut up already!" Shadow yelled back.

"Oh, I'll show you how to shut up." Chaos said, trying to throw him down.

"Hey, gotta hand it to you... You don't just lose, you lose EPICALLY!" the bot threw Shadow down an alleyway.

"Just face it, hot shot. I'm the Ultimate Lifeform."

"Just shut up already." Shadow looked over, seeing a truck pass by on the street. He got an idea, speeding off.

Chaos chased after him. Shadow swerved quickly, running up to where the truck was and looking back. He leapt out of the way, seconds before Chaos collided with the truck, which crashed into the wall. 

He sighed, running back towards the resistance. As he began to make his way towards the Yoke, he spotted Bullet speeding up to him.

"Wait... You ditched your shoes?" he asked.

"They regulated my speed. Plus, they sucked." Bullet said, running ahead.

"I'm sure they did. This way." Shadow directed.

Jewel finally saw the two blurs fly past her, running up to the resistance base. 

"Shadow! He'll lead me back to me beauty..."

Eggman, Done-It, and Don't headed outside their headquarters, overlooking the entire city. 

"Doctors! Rejoice! For today, we demonstrate the true power of the Shards..." Eggman began to make his speech. 

"Must you make a speech every time? Just do the thing." Done-It said. 

Eggman scoffed. "Fine. Whatever. Dr. Deep. Begin Operation "Chaos Terraformation". Start it up!"

Deep began to turn on the machine, it charging up with prismatic energy. 

"Energy extraction from the Shards is underway. Over to you, Dr. Babble." Deep said. 

Babble began to press some buttons, fully charging up the machine. The interface positioned itself, shooting out prismatic energy as it generated a portal. 

The portal was massive, shifting to green. Inside Boscage Maze, massive buildings began to emerge and crowd the jungle, as the scavengers watched in shock and anger that their world was being destroyed. 

The interface positioned itself again, firing out more prismatic energy. It generated a blue portal this time, leading directly into the world just like the previous one. Inside No Place, buildings began to rise out of the ocean, crowding around the boat. 

"At last! Our empire blooms." Eggman declared.

Bullet and Shadow ran up the gate and regrouped with Tempest and Rebel, smashing back the eggforcers that were about to attack them.

"Shadow? Bullet?!" Rebel asked. Tempest was very quick to point her hammer towards Bullet.

"Hey. He's on our side." Shadow cut in. 

"Side? How?" Tempest asked.

"Look. The Chaos Council used me, kept me under their control. They tried to discard me and kill off my friends... So I rescued them and escaped." Bullet explained.

Her gaze softened, looking towards him. 

"... Alright, fine. Come on, we're breaking in to get those shards." She directed them to follow her.

The four began to make their way down the halls, Chaos Shadow charging up on them and immediately throwing Shadow down to the ground. 

"Heya, jerk. Miss me?" he remarked.

Shadow got back up, dodging a kick to the face and throwing Chaos around the room. He swerved, slamming down onto him. He grabbing him by the foot and spun him around, chucking him down the halls.

Shadow leapt back, punching Chaos in the face and knocking him back. The bot kicked him back, throwing a punch that Shadow caught. 

"Heh, now this is fun." Chaos generated a prismatic spear, forcing Shadow to let go of him as he fell back from it.

"I'm picking up at least two more Shard signatures undiscovered somewhere in the Void. Which means..." Eggman began.

"To each his own Shatterverse." Deep said.

"And then?" Don't asked.

Babble babbled.

"Here, hear!" Done-It cheered, coughing a little. The council celebrated that they were clearly winning this.

Chaos Shadow continued to chase Shadow down the halls, managing to make multiple hits before slamming him to the ground.

"So... Who's the Ultimate Lifeform now?" Chaos asked.

"You wanna know the biggest difference between you and me?"

"He's got us!" Tempest slammed Chaos back with her hammer.

"And you're on your own." Rebel prepared to shoot him down, only for Chaos to grab her shooter and throw her back into Tempest using it.

"Cheap, lousy jerks. Friends are all a weakness!" he said.

He charged into the fight, throwing Rebel back again. Tempest grabbed her hammer, leaping off the walls and preparing to slam her hammer down on him.

Chaos narrowed his eyes, leaping up and swing-kicking her down to the ground. Bullet swiftly knocked Chaos down, only for the bot to throw him across the room and slam into Tempest and Rebel. 

"Hey! Leave them alone!" Shadow got up, standing in front of them.

"After I'm done with you..." Chaos got into a hand lock against Shadow. "I'm gonna destroy all your friends!"

Just then, a coconut hit Chaos as Jewel charged in. "Avast, scurvy dog!"

She slashed her hammer into the bot, throwing him back. 

"Jewel?!" Shadow exclaimed. During all of the chaos, he completely forgot that Jewel was now in New Yoke.

"I owe ye one for saving me hide. But once we're squared, it's every one for themselves when it comes to me beauty." she said, flying over and continuing to slash at the machine.

"I must've taken too many punches today..." Rebel said.

"That makes two of us. And two of you." Tempest said.

"Don't question it. Just focus on beating down that robot." Shadow said.

"Yeah!" Tempest held her hammer tightly.

She charged in, slamming her hammer down on top of the bot. Bullet ran back in as well, throwing Chaos up as Jewel and and Rebel kicked the machine down at once. It beeped, it's eyes becoming X's signaling that it had died.

"Shiver me timbers! Ye be me!" Jewel said, staring at Rebel. 

"Um... What are you saying?" Rebel asked.

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. But it didn't feel like an earthquake at all... 

"What's happening?!" Bullet exclaimed.

"And you, Doctor..." Eggman stopped the moment the ground began to tremble.

In the void, everything began to shake and vibrate as the portal's fog from their outer rings, shifting to purple. 

"Well... This is new." Infinite commented inside the void as space began to shake and rumble.

The rumbling stopped, bringing reality back to stabilization. 

"What was that? An earthquake?" Don't asked.

"No, bigger. A ripple in time and space." Eggman said.

Babble chuckled a little.

"The varmint was right, guess that's what happens when one goes drilling holes in reality. You overeager fools!" Done-It yelled at them.

"Whatever it is, we can fix it later. No sense stopping now." Eggman said.

Venice watched from inside their base, looking back at the new eggforcers guarding him. These imbeciles were going to tear apart the Shatterverse at this point!

He stared at his shackles, then at the bots. He took out a quill and used it to pick through the lock, unsnapping the shackles. Once they hit the ground, all four eggforcers stared at him. He swiftly grabbed all of them with his psychokinesis and crushed them to pieces. 

Venice began to run towards the Shatterstorm, only to stop once hearing the supercomputer pick up the audio from the current fight going down. 

"Shadow! Are you there?" Venice called through his communicator.

"Yes, but I'm busy. I'll call you back." Shadow was about to sign off.

"No! I have an idea. You need to lead Chaos Shadow to me. Can you do that?"

"... Yes. Just tell me where to go."

"On it."

Shadow turned his attention to Chaos Shadow, who was pinned down by Bullet, Jewel, Tempest, and Rebel. 

"Hey, faker!" he yelled.

The bot looked over, seeing Shadow taunt him to come after him. 

"Shadow wait!" Tempest yelled out. Chaos threw them all back, speeding after him.

"... I'm starting to think he likes traps." Rebel commented.

"Does he, though?" Jewel asked.

Tempest looked between the two, confused.

"This is... Too weird."

"Definitely." Bullet agreed.

Shadow ran off, letting Chaos Shadow chase him down. 

"Quick, take a right." Venice directed.

Shadow turned towards the right, running down the hallway. 

"Then a left!"

He swerved left, running down those halls.

"Take a right, then up the stairs!" 

He turned right, making his way towards the stairway. He ran up them as Chaos continued his pursuit.

"Exit the top floor! The lab is at the end of the hall!"

Shadow kept going, making his way towards the lab. He saw Venice, swerving back. 

"Lead him this way!" Venice called out, heading over to the machine.

Shadow ran back, directing him to go towards where Venice was directing. He leapt up as Venice fired off the prismatic beam, ducking under it as it struck Chaos head on. The robot flew outside, it's scraps skidding to the ground. 

"There... We did it." Venice breathed a sigh of relief.

"Look, I want to apologize and-"

"The council used you, too?" Shadow asked.

"I... Um... How'd you know?"

"Let's just say, a new ally told everyone that the Council is normally like that."

"Oh... Okay."

Shadow turned his attention back to the shards, seeing how unstable they're becoming. 

Venice drifted over a case with three holding boxes inside, opening it up. He brought the shards into each holder, dropping them in before closing it shut. 

"There we go, now we can leave-" Shadow said. 

"Aha! Stop right there, varmints!" Done-It yelled, charging up his cane towards them.

"... I hate this place."

Bullet belongs to @son1c

Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

[blank-ace]

@cojick I’m almost sorry

[lostinthewiind]

Piss Off Your Parents - Part 9

Ukai Keishin - Haikyuu

Synopsis: freshly turned 18, you want to prove to your parents that you aren’t a child for them to push around anymore. First, get a job at the local corner store. Second, use the store owner’s 26-year-old son with piercings and a cigarette addiction to piss your parents off. Third, accidentally fall in love.

Rating: PG13

Warnings: arguing, harsh language, swearing

Song → 18 by Anarbor

Previous → Part 8

Next → Part 10

The trek up the stairs from the store to the apartment felt like climbing a never-ending escalator that was going the wrong way. After the day you had had, you were both mentally and physically exhausted and ready to call it a night early.

Thankfully, as if you had finally hit a stroke of luck that day, Keishin had texted you saying that he would pick up dinner on the way home, saving you the exertion of having to leave the apartment again. So, with that information in mind, you kicked off your shoes for the day and fell unceremoniously onto the couch in the living room.

As you sat down, you heard the envelope in your back pocket crinkle and the sudden noise seemed to completely fill the otherwise silent apartment.

Ah yes, the envelope.

Pulling the decision to your future out of your back pocket, you stared at it for what felt like another hour or so. No matter how long you held the envelope in your hands, you couldn't force yourself to open it. You simply didn't want to.

At some point between when your mother had handed it to you and now, you had subconsciously decided that you wanted to choose your own path forward despite what the decision letter may or may not say.

Feeling strangely empowered and confident, you stood to your feet and ventured into the bedroom where you slipped the envelope into one of the drawers Keishin was letting you keep your clothes in and tucked it underneath one of your sweaters. Maybe one day you would open the damn thing when whatever was inside wasn't weighing so heavily on your mind and future, but today was not that day.

Just then, you heard the front door open and knew Keishin had arrived home. Closing the drawer, you plastered a smile across your face and exited the bedroom to greet your boyfriend.

"Welcome home, Dear," you giggled, trying your best to fake the part of a doting housewife. "How was the volleyball game?"

Keishin chuckled softly as you took the takeout bags from him. "It was a close game, but they pulled it together in the last set and won."

"Oh, good!" You placed the bags onto the table before retrieving some plates and chopsticks from the kitchen.

"How was your day?" he asked as he pressed a chaste kiss to your cheek.

You sighed as you thought back on your day. "It was okay," you answered, not really wanting to go into much more detail than that. You doubted Keishin wanted to hear about your minuscule problems with rude customers after the long day he had clearly had.

Keishin, however, picked up on your uncertainty right away. "Doesn't sound okay," he commented. "Want to talk about it?"

You shrugged. "Just some shitty customers. Seems I had forgotten how poorly low-level workers are treated sometimes . . . just threw me a little," you said. "I'll be fine. Just glad the day is over now."

"You and me both." He flashed a smile as he turned to head for the bedroom. "I'm just going to change quickly and then we'll eat."

"Sounds good." You started dishing out some of the food. "I was also thinking we could watch a movie tonight as well. I could use something to clear my mind."

"Sitting on the couch with a beer is an ideal evening in my book," you heard him respond faintly from the bedroom. "There's a new action movie that came out. I think it's about-"

You waited for Keishin to finish his sentence, but when he didn't, you cocked your head and looked toward the bedroom doorway. Before you had the chance to call out to him, he appeared in the doorway shirtless, eyebrows furrowed and the envelope from the university in his hand.

"W-why do you have that?" you asked, the look on his face upon discovering the letter making your heart drop. "That was in my drawer . . . why were you going through my things?"

"I was looking for my sweater, the one you always steal," he answered. "Y/N . . . what is this?"

Rounding the table and approaching Keishin, you snatched the envelope out of his hand. "That is one of the many reasons why my day today was so shitty."

As you turned to head for the kitchen to toss the envelope in the garbage and rid your life of it, Keishin followed you. "You didn't get in?" he inquired.

You shrugged. "I have no idea. I didn't open it."

As you moved to toss the letter into the trash, Keishin grabbed your wrist and stopped you. "Why are you throwing it out if you didn't open it yet?"

"Because I don't care what it says. I've decided that I'm going to stay here with you and work at the store. This is the life I want . . . the life I get to choose for myself."

"You should still open it," he reasoned. "You might change how you feel about it when you see the result."

"I don't want to change how I feel about it." You shook your head as you gently pried your wrist out of his grip. "No need to make things more difficult than they need to be. I've had enough difficulty for one lifetime, thank you very much. This decision is easy, and best of all, it makes me happy."

Gesturing to the envelope, Keishin sighed. "But this is what you wanted. When you told me about your dream to play soccer at the University of Tokyo, your face lit up. Why are giving up on your dream before you've even given yourself a chance to experience it?"

"Dreams can change, Keishin," you told him before sighing and deciding to humour him for a moment. "Okay, let's say I open this letter and somehow did get in. What then? I couldn't pay for that school in my wildest dreams; not without my parents' help. Sometimes dreams are just childish and unrealistic. So I found a new dream, one with us living here together."

"You could apply for student loans. Tons of people do." He folded his arms across his chest. "I don't think this is about the money or your parents. I think this is about us. You've gotten comfortable here."

Throwing your hands up into the air in exasperation, you huffed. "And so what if I have? Is that really so bad?"

"I just don't want you to throw away an opportunity like this over me."

"Over you?" you cocked a brow. "Because you're, what, trash? Not worth it? A lowlife? A burnout?"

Keishin bit at his bottom lip. "You know what's not what I meant."

Inhaling deeply, you glared down at the god-forsaken envelope in your hand and began to tear at the top. "Let's not fight about something that probably isn't even going to happen." You pulled the letter out and unfolded it, your eyes scanning the text quickly. "The University of Tokyo is notoriously difficult to get into and I-"

Keishin quirked a brow when you stopped mid-sentence. "What does it say?"

A broken laugh was the only thing you could manage as you lowered the letter and shook your head. "Un-fucking-believable." You handed the paper over to Keishin, the edge crumpled from where your grip had tightened when you read the decision.

Keishin looked at the page for all of two seconds before he found the bolded 'Congratulations' and a huge grin spread across his face. "You got in!" He was way more excited than you were about this. "This is good news. You can play soccer at the University of Tokyo. Come on, you can't tell me this doesn't make you at least a little happy."

"I wish it did," you answered honestly. "I wish it were that easy."

"It is! It can be." Keishin set the letter down on the counter and took your hands in his. "Student loans, part-time jobs, it's all possible. Sure, it might be a little tricky to work out, but it's totally possible."

When you didn't respond, Keishin hooked his fingers under your chin and tilted your head up to look at him. "Accept the spot at the university. Follow your dream," he told you.

". . . but I'll have to leave you." You felt the words catch in your throat and tried your hardest not to start crying. "You make me happy—you're the first thing that's made me genuinely happy in a long time—and I don't want to leave that for a chance at something that might not even work out."

"But what if it does work out? You don't know that it won't," he said softly. "Don't end up like me, looking back at your past and wondering what might have been if you had just chosen a different path. I know this might seem good enough for now, but how will you feel after ten or twenty years of working the same dead-end job for the same shit pay all while getting treated like shit by people who look down on you? Look at how one day of catering to pretentious assholes made you feel. Do you really want to live the rest of your life like that?"

"But what about you?" you asked, your voice shaky.

Keishin dropped his head, a few stray strands of hair falling into his face. Unlike that morning, when he had been asleep with loose hairs in his face, he looked annoyed and frustrated now. The bags under his eyes and tension lines on his forehead were a stark contrast to the soft, peaceful face you had woken up to that morning.

"Don't throw this away over me," he repeated. "Don't throw your future away over a 26-year-old burnout."

Lip quivering, you sucked in a deep breath. "I thought you were different . . . but you're just like everyone else."

Keishin eyed you. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You said I should make my own decisions and live my life how I wanted but it was all a facade." You slipped your hand out of his and took a step back. "In the end, you're just like everyone else . . . you think you have a right to plan my future for me without giving me a say in the matter. You want to tell me how to live my life just like my parents."

"How could you say that?" Keishin almost snapped but managed to collect his anger before he did. "All I want is what's best for you."

You scoffed as you wiped a tear from your cheek. "If I had a penny for every time I've heard that I'd have enough money to pay for the University of Tokyo and then you'd get your damn wish . . . I'd be gone."

"When did I ever say I wanted you gone? Why are you so adamant that going to Tokyo means we can't be together?"

"Why are you so against just letting me make my own decision about this?! Why do I have to go to play soccer at that fucking university and leave you? I don't want to leave you!"

"Why not? Why are you so damn hung up on someone like me?!"

"Because I love you!" The two of you froze in place the second those words left your mouth. Chest heaving from the shouting and high emotions, you snapped your mouth shut before you said anything else in the heat of the moment.

Eyes wide, Keishin stared at you like a deer in headlights. "You what?"

You debated whether or not you should repeat what you had said, but by then, the damage had been done. "I love you," you breathed. "And I know you told me not to fall in love with you . . . but I did. I fell hard and fast and now I'm stuck in you and I cannot possibly leave you so please stop asking me to."

You waited for what felt like an eternity for Keishin to say something, say anything. He opened his mouth a few times like he was about to, but nothing ever came out.

"Keishin . . ." You took a cautious step forward. "Please say something."

Keishin swallowed hard before looking you directly in the eyes. "If I said I didn't love you back, would you go?"

You felt your heart crack and the sensation of being punched in the gut spread throughout your entire body. "Is that what you're saying? You don't love me?"

"If I didn't, would you leave?"

You inhaled sharply. "If you look me in the eyes right now and tell me that you don't feel the same way that I do; that everything over the past few months has meant nothing to you, there would be no possible way I could stay in Miyagi," you answered truthfully. "If you tell me that you don't love me and that you never have, I would have no reason to stay in this prefecture."

Keishin's lips parted once more. "Y/N . . . I-" His brown eyes locked onto yours and you could feel what he was about to say even though he never did. "I . . . I can't do this right now."

With that, he brushed past you, grabbed a sweater from the bedroom and threw it on before storming out of the apartment, leaving you and the now cold takeout food alone.

Tears in your eyes and a lump in your throat, you turned to look over your shoulder at the decision letter sitting on the counter, practically taunting you.

You should have thrown the thing out the second your mom dropped it off. Or better yet, maybe you should have never made that deal with Keishin and applied for the university in the first place.

[chosonore]

part one | oblivion

oblivion [noun. the state of being unaware or unconscious of what is happening around one]

pairing: kamo noritoshi/f!reader

summary: your relationship with noritoshi was like a game of cat and mouse; no matter how hard you tried to escape from him, he would always find his way back to you.

wordcount: 3.9k

content/warnings: friends to enemies to lovers, language, noritoshi is kind of a dick but i promise it gets better so please don’t lose faith in him, we’re not strictly following the manga timeline bc while i am reading it, i do have a goldfish brain, lowercase intended

a/n: hello, here’s the first installment of my sanguine series! it’s the prequel of this drabble (nsfw) i wrote the other week while i was working on the outline of the fic. it’s a little slow burn because i wanted to spend some more time exploring their relationship and the groundwork for it, so yeah. i’ll try to update it regularly, but since i’ve only planned five parts for sanguine, it might take a while bc i want to take my time with it. if you want to stay updated with the series, i’ll post the masterlist to it shortly! i do hope you enjoy it though :) and stay safe, everybody! [tagging @sukirichi​ the sukuna to my yuuji, who just gets spammed when i start rambling about my aus but always screams with me (´• ω •`)]

masterlist - next 

"y/n!" you look up to see miwa storming towards you, thrusting a book in your direction. "could you- could you please give this to noritoshi? i borrowed this book from him like a week ago and if i don't return this anytime soon, i think he's gonna kill me." 

scowling at her, you look at the book in disdain. you wanted to avoid crossing paths with noritoshi as much as possible and miwa was well aware that you didn't like hi- 

"please," miwa pleaded again, taking your hands and placing the book in it. "i'm really scared of him. he always looks like he's going to shoot me soon. even todo is pretty nice if you don't interrupt his takada-chan time!" 

you sighed in annoyance, you just couldn't say no. ever since coming to the kyoto metropolitan curse tech, miwa and you had been pretty close because you strongly disliked the other students. most of them were arrogant and stuck-up, thinking they were better than the other; the two that belonged to the three clans were even worse. on your first day here you'd promptly gotten into a fight with mai, disliking how haughty she was and trying to prove everyone that she was better than them. much to your chagrin, the fight ended in a tie.

"fine, but you owe me some mango," miwa's face lit up in relief and she gave you a thumbs up before dashing to her room, most likely to escape noritoshi's wrath. you inspected the book. was it even worth returning it? maybe you could just throw it in the trash. if noritoshi ever found out, he'd kill miwa first and then you. you let out another sigh before making your way towards the training grounds. he most likely was outside to practice, either with one of the guys or alone. as you were nearing the training grounds, you could already hear the sound of arrows whistling and the dull thuds of them hitting the target. it was hard to spot him through all the trees; you weren't entirely sure where he was. your ears perked up when you heard him release another arrow until you realized that it was heading your way. this bastard. fortunately, you were able to slash the arrow clean in the middle, angrily pointing your sword in his direction. you still couldn't see him anywhere.

"you fucking idiot! you could've killed me," you snarled, stomping deeper into the forest. an amused laugh echoed through the trees. 

"you're acting like i can't control my arrows. it's not my fault you let your guard down," noritoshi retorted smugly, lowering his bow as he saw you approaching. you were fuming, hurling the book at him. how dare he? you watched with satisfaction as it hit him square in the chest - who was caught off guard now, huh? he deserved it anyways. 

"miwa asked me to return your book," you curtly explained and turned back around to leave but apparently, noritoshi had other plans. instead of saying anything else, he just followed you which unsettled you even more. 

"stop following me." 

"who said i was following you? i'm just going back to the dorms. i'm sorry you can't handle me being near you."

you whirled around, sword pointing dangerously close to his neck. he smirked at you triumphantly, it was just too easy to get a rouse out of you. "another word and i'll cut you, seriously. you're pissing me off," you gritted your teeth, hating that you always fell for his stupid games. he knew you all to well, what made you angry, what made you happy, what motivated you. once upon a time, you'd thought the same about him; until he changed so rapidly, so unlike your expectations. you were worlds apart and yet you'd reserved an ounce of hope that he wouldn't turn out to be as arrogant as the clan heads. swift as the wind, noritoshi grabbed your wrist, dragging it upwards and towards him until he could lean down to you. your heartbeat sped up - holy shit why was he so close to you - and you froze in shock. 

"i'd like to see you try, princess," he whispered in your ear, the grip on your wrist tightening. "you wouldn't dare to."

the first time you met noritoshi, he was sitting outside in the garden with his mum. both seemed to have a good time. noritoshi's hair was tousled from the soft summer breeze and he had a soft smile on his face, happily munching away on the snacks that were displayed on the table. while he looked friendly enough, you were wary of meeting and talking to him because you felt kind of queasy around the kamo family. you couldn’t quite place a finger on the feeling, the older members of the family intimidating you to no end. much to your dismay, you felt like you had to be watchful - your parents worked for the kamo family, so naturally the apartment you lived in was close to the estate. you avoided any run ins with the adults, they weren’t exactly friendly to you. noritoshi’s mum had befriended your mum and they spent a lot of time together when possible. and yet you’d never met noritoshi before, seeing how busy he was with his various classes.

the fit that you threw, not wanting to tag along with your mum, was long forgotten when you’d spotted the jar of cookies on the table. before your mum could react, you pulled your hand away from hers and quickly ran towards it. “hello miss!” you greeted enthusiastically, your eyes shining at the sight of the sweets. “my name is y/n! i’m here with my mum and i uhm… could i have some of the cookies? please?” when your mum finally caught up to you, she scolded you quietly and greeted the other two, taking a seat beside noritoshi’s mum. you pouted, immediately climbing on her lap as you refused to sit next to the boy. his mum handed you a cookie which you happily took and thanked her politely. noritoshi was curiously eyeing you; it wasn’t often that he saw other children around his age and he didn’t have any friends to play with. his everyday life revolved around reading books, studying, taking archery classes and sometimes spending time with his mum. noritoshi barely even knew what fun was - he’d only ever felt at peace when he was around his mum.

“y/n, sweetie, why don’t you go and play with noritoshi?” your mum prompted but you immediately shook your head, hiding your face in her chest. she simply laughed and shook her head, brushing your hair back softly. “come on, noritoshi is really nice. you can be his friend one day, right? didn’t i tell you that friends are important?” 

you frowned. then huffed. when she worded it like this, there was no way you could refuse. the cartoon that you religiously watched featured a group of friends that went on adventures and helped each other out. you’d told your mum that you wanted to be like that too! begrudgingly, you slid off her lap and trudged towards noritoshi who looked at you with big eyes. you held your hand out, waiting for him to shake it. “my name is y/n. uhm… nice to meet you,” you shyly whispered, eyes darting away from him. 

it took a while until noritoshi reacted, shaking your hand gently and answering: “hello y/n, i’m noritoshi.”

much to your surprise, noritoshi was actually fun to be around with. he showed you his collection of books, the bow that he was practicing with and you often played the card game you’d received for your birthday together. he was smart and witty, often explaining you things that he’d read in a book but he was also attentive when he listened to you ramble about the other kids in school or when you told him about the cartoon that you were watching. for you, noritoshi was becoming your best friend - for noritoshi, you were his first friend. he cherished you and how unabashedly true to yourself you were. spending time with you was something he looked forward to; you always made him laugh and you didn’t care whether he lived up to the kamo family name or not. to you, he was simply noritoshi. you were like a fresh breeze of air in his life.

noritoshi didn't quite understand why the elders were always so hard on him, so strict and unrelenting. they expected only the best results from him and didn't show any understanding when he exhausted. he didn't enjoy practice anymore, the lessons becoming a chore and burden on his mind. but whenever he saw your face light up at his newly acquired skills, he thought it was worth the trouble. you came to visit him everyday after school, never skipping a day. sometimes he questioned why you weren't visiting your friends from school but you shook your head, poking his chest indignantly. "you're my best friend, 'toshi. of course i'd want to spend more time with you." noritoshi was glad you always chose him, without fail.

even though your parents had always warned you to be careful around noritoshi because his family was strict and didn't like outside influences distracting the heir, you never really strayed from his side. noritoshi didn't have any other friends, who would keep him company or listen to his troubles then? you didn't understand why your parents were suddenly going back on their word. they'd always told you that family and friends were important. you couldn't pinpoint your feelings for him - but your parents saw it. it was obvious; the stars in your eyes when you looked at him, the slight blush on your cheeks when he complimented you and how happy you were when you got to spend time with him. the more time you spent with him, the more they were worried for you. 

"'toshi!" you yelled in excitement as you ran towards him, waving wildly. he dropped his bow and turned to you, a soft smile gracing his lips as he opened his arms to hug you. you squeezed him tightly. two weeks you hadn't seen him due to a school trip after which you got sick and weren't able to leave the house. you'd missed him a lot and you were excited to show him the souvenirs you brought him. 

"look, i bought you an omamori!" you handed him the small object, then pointing on your bag to show him the one you'd bought for yourself. "i got myself a matching one too! my teacher said it wards off evil spirits and brings you luck." noritoshi's smile was bright, so bright. he was happy you thought of him and were always kind to him. your eyes widened as he leaned in to kiss your cheek before thanking you. the two of you were blushing, neither saying a word but not minding what had just happened.

the day noritoshi's mother left the estate was the day you were slowly starting to lose him. noritoshi grew more forlorn and didn't seem to easily find joy in anything anymore. the departure left a deep, deep gap in his heart. it had shocked him deep to the core when she left him. him. why couldn't she stay? why did she leave him when she was the only person who protected him, loved him? she did say that she was hindering his growth but who was she to decide that? he didn't want to become stronger, didn't want to protect other people like she'd told him to. he wanted to stay with her. "'toshi? 'toshi!" a concerned voice broke through his trance, pulling him back into reality. "i asked you a question! you weren't even listening to me." 

you were pouting at him, tugging at his sleeve impatiently. noritoshi apologized, patting your head to soothe your temper. "what do you want to do in the future? mum said it's important to work towards your dreams!" you asked him curiously, grasping his hand to hold it. the gesture filled him with indescribable warmth, drawing him in like a moth to the flames. "my mum said i have a special power, i can heal people! i want to become a doctor in the future, so i can help everyone that got hurt," you explained to him so earnestly that he felt bad for the lie he was about to tell. noritoshi didn't have big dreams or ambitions just yet. he didn't even know what would be suitable to him - he was strictly following orders, never allowed to think for himself. 

but when he looked at you, he only had one wish. "i think… i think i want to help people, protect them. especially those that i love."

with each year passing, you noticed that noritoshi was putting more and more distance between the two of you. at first you'd brushed it off as the stress of his training and number of classes he was attending. but as you spent less and less time together, the weight of the situation didn’t escape you. he was easily irritable, cold and arrogant, often rude towards employees of the kamo estate. every now and then when you’d scold him for being an asshole, he’d simply scoff at you and haughtily ask you how it was any of your business. you sighed, tossing and turning in your bed as you thought about how much noritoshi had changed. it kept you up at night, just thinking about how he wasn’t your ‘toshi anymore. you didn’t know this person. ‘toshi was always gentle and kind, he tended to overthink many things and sometimes he was a little bit of a crybaby but you still loved him regardless. you sneaked out of your room, finally mustering up enough courage to ask your mother for advice. the thought of her discovering your blooming crush on noritoshi was scaring you. your parents were wary around the kamos despite working from them - even more so ever since noritoshi’s mother left and the elders had free reign over her son.

“noritoshi! noritoshi, stop walking away from me! hey, i’m talking to you!” you yelled frustrated as you were trying to keep up with him. noritoshi was crossing the garden in long strides, it was nearly impossible to stop him as you couldn’t catch up to him. you lunged forward, getting hold of his sleeve and tugged him back harshly. noritoshi yanked his arm out of your grip, glaring at you annoyed. 

“what do you want from me? i have better things to do than to quibble with you,” he hissed irritated. you couldn’t believe him, he had the nerve to dismiss you like this when he was in the wrong? 

“you know exactly what i want from you! you can’t just go around and talk to people like you did before just because they’re not from a reputable family! noritoshi, you’re not any better than them just because your last name is kamo.”

as much as noritoshi scared you, you stood your ground. you knew he didn’t take you serious, not with the amused look he gave you. in the past month or two, noritoshi was suddenly hit by a growth spurt - you barely reached his shoulder now and he took advantage of that to mock you, often treating you like an armrest. he pat your head condescendingly, pouting at you in fake regret. “aw, did i hurt your feelings? did i make itty bitty little y/n sad?” he mocked you, before abruptly grabbing your cheeks to make you look at him. “i don’t care what you think of me, cry all you want. i strongly suggest you hold that sharp tongue of yours if you know what’s good. know your place.” 

tears filled your eyes; noritoshi had never talked to you this way. what has gotten into him? your heart broke in pieces, unable to take the pain any longer. you were no longer his equal but below him, much like everyone else.

“mum?” you cautiously knocked at the door of her study, waiting for her response. your mother was most likely still awake and dealing with paperwork like she usually did. upon hearing the affirmative noise she made, you flitted inside, closing the door behind you so your father didn’t catch any wind of this. it was already embarrassing enough and you were sure your mother could offer you better advice. you gingerly took a seat on the armchair, grabbing a pillow and hugging it close to your body. how were you going to approach this? hey mum, i have a crush on noritoshi and he’s weird to me now and i don’t know why? uh yeah mum, i caught feelings for the guy you warned me about and now i look like a fool crawling up to you like this? 

“it’s about noritoshi, isn’t it?” your mother interrupted your stream of thought, spinning her swivel chair towards you. 

“huh? oh no it isn’t, why would it be? i have-” 

“y/n.” 

“ugh okay fine, maybe it is about him,” you sighed defeated, of course she would look right through you. she always seemed to know what you were thinking, even when you hadn’t confided in her before. “but promise me you won’t judge me!” the look in your mother’s eyes told you that she was going to judge you regardless but you knew she meant well - she simply wanted the best for you.

“i- i just don’t understand why he’s been such a pain in the ass lately. and he’s been treating everyone like dirt too, including me! mum, he’s becoming someone else and i… i don’t know what to do,” you sniffled inconsolably, wiping at your eyes with the sleeves of your sweater. she wasn’t supposed to see you getting emotional. “he’s always busy and when we do get to see each other, he doesn’t want to spend time with me. what if he doesn’t like me anymore? and i don’t like how he’s treating you! it’s the same issue with the elders, they don’t know any human decency at all!” 

your mother motioned you to scoot over a little and sat next to you, wrapping her arms around you and patting your back to console you. while she meant well, it accomplished the opposite - you broke down in tears, unable to stop your sobs. “i just want my ‘toshi back,” you whimpered upset, burying your face in the pillow to muffle the sound of you crying. “i know you didn’t like that i became good friends with him but i couldn’t help it and i just really like him and- you weren’t supposed to find that out.”

“sweetheart, i know you love noritoshi,” she handed you a tissue. “you let a lot more on than you were aware of; dad and me always knew you were in love with him.” as if on cue, your sobbing stopped and you just looked at her in disbelief. she knew. she knew. you wanted the earth to swallow you whole. “i think it was always pretty obvious, to be honest. you always looked at him as if he was your entire world and no matter what happened, you were always by his side. i know it’s hard to accept when a dear friend is changing but sometimes you just have to, right? both of you are still growing, there’s no way of telling how your personalities change.”

“but i don’t want him to change like this,” you protested stubbornly, glaring at her. she was talking about it as if it was a matter of simply discarding a bad apple in the trash. it wasn’t easy and it made you anxious. you grew up together, shared secrets and memories. he was the person you’d always looked up to.

“y/n.” your mother sounded stern but you didn’t back down, not yet. “is it really worth it? if a person is changing so rapidly and you’re not getting through to them, you’ll have to let it go. there’s only so much you can do. people grow apart sometimes, it’s only natural. you have to let go of them, temporarily, so you both can heal and grow. y/n, i know you’re being stubborn about this but you’ll have to let him figure things out on his own. fate has curious ways to bring people back together.”

when the time came, noritoshi left to attend the kyoto metropolitan curse tech school without telling you a word. you were disappointed, apparently you weren’t worth saying goodbye to. whatever his reason was, it must’ve been pretty important. important enough to forget the promise that you’d always stay in contact. you wondered whether he'd change again, for the better maybe? maybe you would reconcile when you could finally attend the school as well and train together. you were excited to show him your sword skills, having received your family's heirloom, an elegant steel blue sword. though your skills probably weren’t up to par with the other students, you still wanted to show them off, show him what you’d learned in the year that you spent apart.

noritoshi had changed but not for the better. holy shit, did he get on your nerves. the first time he'd practiced with you, you realized that he had mutated into an insufferable know-it-all. he would give you backhanded compliments or make snide remarks about your posture, how you were supposed to hold your sword, how inefficient your fighting style was. sometimes you wished you could just beat him for once and have him shut up. there was no denying though, noritoshi was way too strong and you had a long way to go. judging from the reactions of the others, barely anyone had beat him either. 

and just like that, your feelings for him were buried. you’d taken your mother’s advice to heart, keeping conversations and interactions with him to a minimum but somehow noritoshi always found his way to you. he was everywhere and a quarrel was inevitable. noritoshi got under your skin and he knew how to push your buttons. why he chose to pick on you was beyond your comprehension; he didn’t pay much attention to the other students nor was he particularly liked by them. just how much was he going to get on everyone else’s nerves? out of all the second years, todo aoi was the most amicable; you had the (dis)pleasure to run into him on your first day and for some reason, he took a liking to you. while he was loud and boisterous, mostly doing whatever he wanted, you couldn’t deny that he was a good friend. even though he didn’t care about anyone as much as he cared about takada-chan. at one point, he’d looked at you in sympathy when he caught you staring at noritoshi, patting your shoulder (too forceful): “i’m sorry, y/n, i’m so sorry.” 

you still didn’t know what he meant by that.

ps.: todo knows and he’s kinda judging you for your taste in men 

[takemebacktowheniwassane]

Part 13!

-

Evan: Fight me!

Jared, behind him, holding a knife: *Mouths* Do not.

-

Connor: I desire moisture.

Zoe: Just say 'I want water' like a normal human being.

-

Connor, to Jared: Stop calling yourself hot. The only thing you can turn on is the microwave.

-

Evan: What goes up but never comes down?

Jared: The amount of stress you bring me daily.

-

Miguel: How would you like your coffee?

Connor: As dark, and as bitter as my soul.

Miguel: Got it, one cup of milk with extra sugar coming right up!

-

Connor: I could kill you if I wanted.

Jared: Oh yeah? So could any other human being.

Jared: So could a dog.

Jared: So could a dedicated duck.

Connor:

Jared: Your not special.

-

Jared: How the hell are you still alive?

Evan: Honestly, I am just as confused as you are.

-

Jared: *Pulls back the curtain while Evan is showering*

Jared: Did we-- Evan, stop screaming, it's just me. --Did we run out of cheerios?

-

Larry: So what are your political beliefs?

Heidi, trying to sound like she knows what she's doing: Well, I think Pikachu would be a lot more powerful if he had a gun.

-

Connor: Stop failing!

Evan: Don't tell me what to do! I'll fail right now!

Evan: *Succeeds*

Evan: Dang it!

-

Evan: I am a responsible adult!

Jared: *Raises brow*

Evan: I am an adult.

Jared: That's much more accurate.

-

Connor: My ultimate goal is to punch God in the eye, just to spite him one last time.

-

Jared, trying to impress Evan: I re-initialized the entire command structure, retaining all programmed abilities, but deleting the supplementary preference architecture.

Zoe: He turned it off, and then turned it back on again.

-

Evan: So, Jared is no longer aloud to take the trash out at night.

Alana: Why?

Evan: Because I've caught him trying to train raccoons to fight five times in a row.

Jared, arms crossed and pouting: You'll be thanking me when the third raccoon battalion saves your ass.

-

Zoe: You are irrationally angry 365 days a year.

Connor: Well, that's just your personal opinion. I don't have anger issues. Do you guys think that I have anger issues?

Jared: Well, you see, I wouldn't call them 'issues'.

Jared: Issues are something you can fix.

-

Evan: My dad's name is just mine as well, so technically I'm just Mark Jr.

Jared: But who comes up when you look up 'Mark Evan Hansen' on google?

Alana: That's what I thought!

Jared: One Mark to rule them all!

-

Jared: Hello, it is I, your favorite person.

Evan: Oh actually, Zoe's my favorite person.

Jared, annoyed but holding it in: Okay, then.

Jared: It is I,

Jared: That bitch.

-

Alana: What's it like being tall?

Zoe: Is it nice?

Miguel: Can you reach comfortably for the cupboards?

Evan: We live in constant fear of the short ones, who, in my experience, will climb 4 chairs, 2 boxes, a small coffee table, and 6 oddly placed stools to get what they want.

Jared: It was ONE time!

-

Alana, who just won Evan at armwrestling: I am strong! I beat Evan at armwrestling!

Connor, who has beaten Evan at armwrestling at least 7 separate times: Anyone can beat Evan at armwrestling.

Evan, who really just lets everyone win at armwrestling to be nice: Hey-

-

Miguel: Connor's gonna kill me.

Zoe: No, he'll probably just make me do it.

-

Evan: We can't tell you because your not a member of the club!

Jared: What club?

Connor: The Hating Jared Kleinman Club.

Jared: What the fuck? I should be the president of that club!

-

Alana: The clock is ticking! We don't have time for this asinine tomfoolery!

Jared: The unmitigated poppycock?

Zoe: Extravagant hogwash!

Evan: Okay, stop.

-

Evan: How do you tell someone that you want to have sex with them in a polite way?

Connor: Excuse me Mr, would you give me the honour of indulging in sexual activity with you?

Jared: What the fuck is wrong with you two?

-

Jared: *Speaking Spanish*

Evan: I know, I know.

Alana: You speak Spanish?

Evan: No. I just know the phrase 'this is all your fault' in every language Jared speaks.

-

Zoe: The ritual. To perform it requires a sacrifice.

Connor: Sacrifice? I nominate Jared.

Jared: Wait, what?

Connor: Because you're little, you'll fit on a barbecue.

Jared: I'm 5'9, it's like average height in most of the world!

Evan: It's not that kind of of sacrifice guys!

-

Zoe: Connor won't wake up, what do I do?!

Jared: Did you try kicking him??

Zoe: Yes!

Jared: Then I'm out of ideas.

-

Evan: I asked Zoe out.

Jared: Oh, I'm sorry.

Evan: Why?

Jared: I just assumed she said no.

Evan: No actually, she said yes.

Jared: Oh.

Jared: Then I'm sorry for her.

-

Evan: It’s impossible to make a sentence without using the letter a.

Alana: Despite your thinking, it is quite possible, yet difficult, to form one without the specific letter. Here’s one more to further disprove your theory.

Jared: Fuck you.

-

Jared: Zoe, I know you love Evan. I mean, we all do, he's a very nice person and I totally respect him deep down.

Jared: But I think he might be a fucking idiot.

-

Zoe: How high are you?

Connor: Hm, I don't know how to say it in feet.

Evan: No, she's asking you about what drugs your on.

Connor: Oh, antidepressants, why?

-

Evan: Connor gave me a Get Well Soon card.

Alana: Awhh, that's nice of him.

Evan: I wasn't sick, he just thought that I could do better.

-

Evan: Hey Jared, Connor just broke my seashell lamp,

Jared: Neat, I'm gonna die alone.

Evan:

Evan: Okay, you win.

-

[During the 'Evan using everyone and being a fucking asshole' segment]

Alana: You really believe in Evan?

Jared, annoyed: Luckily, he believes in himself enough for both of us.

-

Heidi: You don't need my blessing to go kiss Evan. In fact, I was pretty sure you were already kissing Evan!

Jared: Nope.

Heidi: In that case, as the archbishop of Jared's fully awakened gaydom, I give you my blessing to immediately leave and rectify that as soon as possible! Go now, my child, and kiss Evan right on the lips!!!

-

Connor: Go. Let it out. Cry, Evan. If you don't, your tear ducts will get blocked up, and then when you get old, you won't be able to cry.

Alana: Just when we thought it was safe to add you back into the conversation.

[xxkellsvixen19xx]

Rainbow After The Storm Andy Biersack X Reader

Word Count: 1,129 

Waning: Angst

What if I told you, life was built to break?

What if I told you "If you love someone, set them free,If they come back they’re yours."

In perfect life; in perfect place.

Every dream was mine to lose,

And that's what it took to lead me back to you.

What had actually happened?

It was all a blur almost the yelling, things being thrown across the room.

Honestly they had both gone through worse.

They felt the others pain on each other's skin.

The way Andy speaks almost breaks Y/N's heart. The sound of shattering glass fills the house,and that’s what makes her eyes widen. 

Y/N’s eyes stare at him she says nothing. She doesn’t have to, her gaze says it all. A thousand words are held in the gaze she bores into him, and Andy knows it, too.

She bites her lip and tighten her grip on the water bottle in her hand. The plastic crunches with the pressure,and she feels hot tears stinging at her eyes. It’s not fair.

Andy's POV…

I knew things were getting rocky between Y/N and I, what would he do to fix this?

My eyes wandered to the horizon the sun was just starting to rise,peeking out from behind white clouds and casting a shadow over the California horizon. 

I took my cigarette butt tossing it in the trash bin inside - and climbed out the window and up to the roof. 

2 ½ hours later...

Y/N entered the kitchen to throw away the trash in her hand just as I was climbing back in through the window.

“Are you sorry?” she asked, I reached for a lighter that had been thrown onto the counter and probably forgotten about for a while, waiting for use. “This keeps happening, Andy, every single time.”

I cringed at that point as I lit up a cigarette holding it between my fingers, speaking while I took a drag.

“But I mean it, I really am sorry! I mean it every time, (Y/N).”

What a damn lie.

“If you meant it, it wouldn’t keep fucking happening.” The words left her mouth in a hiss, I took a step back as she saw my expression shift to frustration.

“Well maybe if you believed me, things would be better. You always just run away to the roof instead of trying to resolve shit, and I’m tired of it!”

Now that pissed me off, with an angry huff I blew smoke from my lungs. “I don’t want to resolve things? Maybe I would if you stopped fucking getting into my shit." I yelled back at

"Maybe if you'd stop drinking so much you'd be a decent damn person Andy." 

The two of us started yelling over each other, blood boiling.

It was the issue, you knew it, and you had been trying so hard to whip the addiction. It was starting to push Y/N's limit with how bad Andy's drinking was turning out to be. 

I winced at the harsh yet true statement, a part of my heart shattered. 

Y/N's POV...

Andy's eyes looked full of pain,hurt,sorrow. They normally had a glint in them when they gazed upon me. A glint so full of love and hope that outdid the average human to even hold such a powerful look it could even murder. No ordinary being deserved to have that power, the kind that sweeps me off my feet and leaves me speechless every damn time.

Everything stood in silence: not a single car dare move along the street, nor  a person speak. It was a delicate silence that if anyone even moved it would shatter and impale either of us -like glass- and it would use the pain as a way to force us to remember how it feels. The silence would hold us down and laugh as it watches us try and scream because it has no remorse for anything or anyone that dares near it. 

Andy broke the silence first  "I'm sorry, my love."

"Don't say that."

Andy broke at this. He needed to say it. To him it was true. Y/N was his love, his life, his world; he meant it with every fibre of his being. Without Y/N , he wouldn't have made it this far so Y/N meant everything to him.

The hole torn open in.Y/N chest feels infinite, as if the vast blackness of space suddenly splits open and begins to suck the sky out. Being married to Andy at first was amazing but during that four years it was at the 3 year mark his drinking began. The fighting was a common occurrence almost daily and the two of us drifted further and further apart. A deep ache and void taking residence where her heart once was. 

Once so  cheery our life together. I miss those days but love and happiness dissolves, print without fixer, a past without present, images faded to shadow. My sadness at what came.across as a sort of betrayal: not mine, the cosmic kind that destines us to be confined to the corridor of our own pain, never glimpsing at each other to notice it.

Vision restricted by the enlarged perimeter of self. Where to begin? How to forge words that join two pasts so fractured within themselves, edges abutting? 

What do about our marriage? Where do.we began? Tears now dropping despite I was trying.so hard not to cry again. So much of forg3 boils down to fear. Not one of the seven deadly sins, but surely the most potent of mine. Fear of not knowing if we can get back to the way we once were. Fear of not knowing if we can get back to being so much in love as if nothing had made the impact it had. Self-centeredness and even feeling unsure.

I look right at Andy. You’re not so different. We all have pain.

Yes, Y/N, we do. He responded and for the first time in a long time calm. No yelling, no arguing,.no.glass shattering.

Suffering. Struggle. Separately shared. Little resolutions, he says. Little reconciliations. What you would call the spark of the divine. That’s what I think we get here, in this life, on earth. I reach out my hand, resting it on Andy's shoulder. We both lean toward each other and with a strong yet firm movement he pulls me.close to him. With effort, I meet his eyes not surprisingly we feel in love all over again as if we had never stopped. "I love you Andy Biersack today, tomorrow and forever even when I die I'll never stop."  "Neither will I baby girl…. neither will I." 

[managedmischiefs]

BAD DAY//MATTHEW GRAY GUBLER

word count: 3k

warnings: body image issues

before we get into the writing i just wanted to say that i’m not, in any way, criticizing mgg’s body in this fic. it is never my intention to make others feel bad about their bodies. i have plenty of experience w that and it feels awful. if anyone has a problem w this fic then please let me know. thank u.

i collapse onto the couch after a long day of cleaning the house, blasting music and dancing around while i have time alone. the house has been in need of a serious cleaning and when i woke up this morning with the energy to be productive, i didn't let it go to waste. the dishes were washed, all the laundry washed and folded and put away, rugs vacuumed, trash put on the curb, bathrooms scrubbed down, and mirrors cleaned of scuffs. and by dinner time, i've finished and feeling accomplished.

matthew has been away at work all day and was only able to spare me one text around lunchtime to tell me that he might be later than usual. i responded with a text that was far sweeter than it needed to be, professing my love multiple times and adding a slew of cute emojis. days that run long typically mean bad days, and bad days mean a very upset boyfriend. that never ends well.

when matthew doesn't arrive home by six, i send him a text to let him know that i'm going to order chinese food for the both of us, and that he can eat when he returns home. i get nothing in return.

i watch tv while i wait for the food to arrive and only half pay attention to whatever is on the tv. my only thoughts are of my boyfriend and how horribly his day must be going. the food arrives and i put it away for later so that neither of us have to eat alone. i take my place on the couch again and wait anxiously for the door to open.

surely enough, the front door swings open and matthew comes stomping in. i hear his backpack hit the floor and then his keys following, and then the door slams closed. he doesn't come into the living room where he know i always am when he gets home, and instead goes rushing up the stairs and presumably to the bedroom. surely enough, the door slams shut a second later.

a heavy sigh falls from my mouth. i shut the tv off and go to pick up the things he had thrown onto the ground. i give matthew a moment alone to collect his thoughts and once i've tucked away his keys and hung up his backpack, i make my way up the stairs and to our bedroom.

i knock on the door softly before entering, my heart breaking at the sight before me. matthew is sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands, arms trembling and shoulders shaking. i can hear him sniffling softly, fighting back tears. he looks so helpless and so broken and in the five years that we've been together, i don't think i've ever seen him like this after a day at work.

i close the door gently behind me, and when the door clicks, i see matthew flinch slightly. "hi, sweetheart," i whisper, walking a few steps closer. "can i do something for you? can i help?" matthew hesitates with his answer, sniffling before nodding a tiny bit. "yeah? okay, what can i do?" i move to sit next to him now, a few inches away. i know he won't give me an answer when he's in this state, but sometimes, just asking helps. so i just sit and wait with him as he fights off his tears.

"you can cry, you know?" i whisper. "you can cry if you need to. don't hold it in." matthew shoulders start to shake even more, his hands sliding up and into his hair. he tugs on the strands, letting out a strangled sob for the first time. my heart absolutely breaks, and i reach forward to place a hand on his back, stroking up and down the fabric of his tee shirt. "baby, i'm here right. it's okay. you're okay."

he reaches his hand back and clutches my hand, tugging on it, but not lifting his head. i scoot closer, but as soon as our legs are touching, matthew's other hand starts pulling at my thigh, trying to get me even closer. so i move to stand in between his legs, pulling his hands out of his hair so he won't give himself a headache.

and once his hands are away from his hair, he grabs my waist and pulls me right into his lap, tucking his face into my neck. this is the time that he finally lets himself go, sobbing into my shoulder and holding my waist as tight as he possibly can.

"oh, my love," i coo, brushing my fingers through his hair and running my fingers up and down his spine, "i've got you. i've got you. just let it out. i love you so much."

he hiccups and trembles as he cries, and cries, and cries. i rock him back and forth just slightly, hoping the movement will bring him some sort of comfort and tranquility. and i'm not sure how long we just sit like that, holding each other as i whisper sweet nothings into matthew's ear. but eventually, his cries slow down and he's just shaking in my arms, clutching my sweater.

"can you look at me, baby? it's okay, i've got you," he lifts his head slowly, staring at me with bloodshot eyes and wet cheeks, pretty lips pouting and nose scrunching up as he sniffles. but i give him a smile, raising my hands to wipe the tears off his cheeks and brush his hair off his forehead. "hi, my love."

matthew's lips quirk up in the slightest but they don't stay that way. "hi," he whispers, voice cracking.

"so do you wanna talk about it or go do something else?" i keep touching his face, wiping the new tears away and letting his nuzzle his cheek into my hand.

"something else, please." he says.

"okay, that's fine. are you hungry? do you want dinner? it's in the fridge, i can go heat it up."

"no, no, i'm not hungry." he shakes his head, turning his head to place a kiss on the palm of my hand. "i think i wanna go take a bath, if that's okay?"

"of course that's okay. you do whatever you want. do you want me to come or do you wanna be alone?" matthew just shrugs in response. "okay, well, why don't you go alone and i'll come by in a little while?"

"yeah, okay," matthew nods and slowly ushers me off his lap, dragging himself into the connected bathroom. he closes the door behind him and i hear the water running a few seconds later.

i can honestly say that i've never seen him so upset, at least not in recent times. he's had his fair share of breakdowns over the years but this feels different. he's been upset over a bad day at work or not getting a role, but i can't recall a time when he cried that much.

i go downstairs and, regardless of what matthew said, heat up the food i ordered. i know that he doesn't have time to eat on busy days and usually tears through the fridge and pantry when he gets home. he didn't do that today so i can only imagine how hungry he is.

i leave the food in the microwave so it will stay hot and then head back upstairs. i knock gently on the bathroom door, waiting for a response that i never get. "matthew?" i crack the door open just the tiniest bit but don't poke my head in. "is it okay if i come in for a few minutes?"

i hear the water sloshing around before he hums. "mhm."

i enter the hot bathroom and close the door behind me. matthew's legs are pulled up to his chest, forehead resting on his knees and arms wrapped protectively around himself. i sit down beside the tub and reach over to run my fingers through his damp hair.

"sweet boy," i coo softly, "i know you said you don't wanna talk about what's making you upset, but i think it'll help. i don't wanna force you, but i wanna help you feel better." he leans into my touch when i trail my fingers down his cheek, almost purring like a cat.

"m'dizzy," matthew murmurs so quietly i barely even hear him.

i furrow my eyebrows at him, cocking my head to the side. "you're dizzy? from the heat in here?" i jump up and open the bathroom door so some of the heat can travel out. "did you drink enough water? have you eaten enough today?"

matthew shakes his head no, sniffling yet again. "no."

"no," i repeat, defeated. "well, i heated up the chinese i ordered and i left it downstairs. so maybe you can jump out of the bath and come eat and you'll feel better? sound good?"

i stand and hold matthew's towel out for him as he slowly climbs out of the bathtub. i watch him carefully, making sure his dizziness doesn't overcome him. not that i could do anything like catch him if he fainted. he’s too tall and i’m too short. i pull the plug on the drain and usher matthew back into the bedroom.

i watch in careful silence as he pulls on pajama pants and an oversized sweatshirt, scrunching up his nose in the most adorable way. and once he's dressed, he turns to me with his shoulders hunched forward, almost like he's waiting for me to tell him what to do and where to go. i've been doing it since he walked in the door so i suppose he's too far gone that he needs me to continue.

i give him a small smile and grab onto his hand, leading him down to the kitchen. i point to a barstool in a silence instruction to take a seat, and retrieve our food from the microwave.

"so," i state as i sit down and dig into my fried rice, "i finished the next chapter of my book today! it's not the best writing i've done so i'm gonna do extensive editing on it, but at least it's done. i've been stuck on this chapter for weeks and i'm just relieved that i can move on."

"i'm sure what you've already written is amazing," he half heartedly, stabbing a piece of chicken before pushing it off his fork again.

i keep talking about my writing process, and observe him as he plays with his food and doesn't eat anything at all. i've finished my food in ten minutes and matthew hasn't eaten anything. he responds every now and then with short sentences or one word answers, and doesn't lift his head much.

i throw out my containers and fill up a glass with water and ice, placing it beside matthew's hand. i sit on the barstool beside him, facing him instead of forward. "you haven't eaten anything, sweet boy. you need to eat. did you eat anything today?" matthew ducks his head even further down and shakes his head no. i resist my urge to sigh. "okay, can you tell me why? i made breakfast for both of us and i thought you ate."

"no," he shakes his head again. "i don't- i just don't wanna eat."

he's never acted like this before and it's truly heartbreaking. he doesn't seem like the man i feel in love with and he's even a completely different man from the different man he is when he's upset. this is a new version of my boyfriend that i hope makes a one time appearance.

matthew takes a long breath and pushes around his rice before starting to speak. "last week, on set, i had a fitting for outfits for the episode we filmed today. and the kevlar vest that i've been using for years didn't fit. it was too small. so i," he hesitates, and then tilts his head a little towards me. i instantly bring my hair up to his wet hair and start scratching his scalp, "i just, well, this past week i just decided to eat less and hope that i could fit into the vest today. but it didn't work. it was still too small and it looked absolutely horrible. i looked horrible. ugly."

and yet again, my heart breaks for him. i've never really heard of matthew having issues with his body, except for the off comment that he didn't look good in an outfit or that it didn't flatter him. nothing to this extent. but i've had my fair share of body image issues over the years and matthew has always been quick to remind me that i'm stunning, regardless of whether i'm wearing an extra small or a large.

"i'm sorry you feel this way, love," i drag my hand back to the nape of his neck and play with the short hair there. "and i know exactly how it feels to not fit into clothes that you used to fit into. but you've helped me realize that we don't keep the same body every year. our bodies change as we get older. remember that red dress you really liked on me? it doesn't fit me anymore because i'm not as skinny as i was when we met. but i got a new one that suits me better. it's okay for your body to change and there's nothing wrong with it. you're beautiful no matter what, or handsome, if you'd prefer that."

matthew nods, wiping his cheeks when he finally lifts his head. "i just looked so bad today."

"i'm sure you didn't. i always tell you that i look horrible in outfits you think i look good in. everyone is always really hard on themselves and that's natural."

he drops his head again and let's go of his fork, letting out a heavy sigh and resting his hands in his lap. but i stand, moving his hand away and sitting down on his lap, placing my hands right on his ribs. "when you filmed season twelve, you started to work out more. remember?"

matthew nods. "yeah, of course. what does that have to do with anything?"

"you thought that you would put on weight in muscle, and that's exactly what happened. your shoulders got broader, your thighs got thicker. and you know what?" i lean forward until our noses are touching. i manage to get a tiny smile out of him when i give him an eskimo kiss, our noses rubbing together. "i absolutely loved your body before and after you started working out. you know how much i love your thighs. they're sexy, baby. i know that me telling you things like this doesn't really help but i love your body, no matter what it looks like. what your body looks like doesn't define you."

"really?" he gives me the most adorable puppy eyes. "you like my, you know, my body?"

"i love your body, matthew," i move my hands down from his ribs to his stomach, slipping them under his sweatshirt and placing them on his bare skin. "i love everything about you." matthew lets his head fall forward and presses his forehead into my shoulder as i let my hand continue to roam his skin. "i'm not gonna force you to eat if you really don't want to, but i don't want you to starve yourself either. so i'm gonna go, okay? i'm gonna go sit in bed and you can either eat or not and not feel pressured by me staring at you, and you can join me when you're ready."

i place a kiss on matthew's nose before retracting my hands and heading back to our bedroom. part of me wants to hold him down and force him to eat all of his food and another part of me knows that letting him make his own decisions is the right choice. forcing him to eat when he feels badly about his body is the worst thing i could do. it could make him spin even further out of control and that is obviously the last thing i want.

so i curl up under the duvet on my side of the bed and flip the television on, skimming through the channels until i find some random romcom that i watched with matthew years ago. i leave that on and start scrolling through my social media.

just a few minutes later, matthew comes wandering into the room and closes the door behind him. when he walks towards the bed, i notice he's holding his pint of fried rice in his hand, and while i would normally not support eating in bed out of fear of getting the sheets dirty, i make an exception for this.

he gives me a weak smile as he climbs in beside me, instantly tangling his legs with me. i roll over and rest my head on his chest, bringing my arm around his stomach, resting my hand in his sweatshirt pocket. i try my hardest to ignore it as matthew scoops rice into his mouth slowly. i can tell it's a little bit of a chore for him to be eating, but nonetheless, i'm proud of him for doing it, even if he only eats a few pieces of rice.

"we watched this movie a long time ago. one of our first dates, right?" matthew mumbles.

"mhm," i nod against his chest, "we watched this in your house in the living room and ate pizza and complained about the acting."

"i love you," matthew randomly confesses, leaning down to press his lips to my forehead. "thank you. i don't know what i'd do without you."

"well, you'll never have to find out because you're stuck with me," i quip, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "and i love you too. a whole lot. and i love your tummy too. i think i might love your tum more than i love you. no offense."

[fal-carrington]

168 hours without you

Pairing: Kamilah x Mc

Disclaimer: Characters belongs to PB

A/N: Mother has arrived bitches

Prompt: Married life was something so new, so strange and wonderfully good, being a wife was something Kamilah would never have imagined she was extremely good at, but when Mia has to travel to a business conference and spend a week away, Kamilah will have to deal with the 168 hours without her wife, can she handle it?

tag list: @made-me-deep-blue @gavryllo @kamilahtopme @nighthuntresskatherine @iam-the-fuckin-queen @whoinvitedalx @thepotatobleh @zerozone-80 @shanuuh @scarlet-letter-a0114​ @soundtrackforlife​ @thecleveridiot09​ @wildsayeed @deereboy97​ @justejuste727​ @ilovekamilahsayeed​ @otakufangirl-12 @sapphics-choices @desireepow-1986

The penthouse, 21:45pm

Leaning against the threshold of the door, Kamilah stood silently watching Mia, with her back to her, patiently packing her suitcase, folding piece after piece and placing them in her Louis Vuitton suitcase.

"So, are you leaving already?" The question came out in a low tone, but enough so Mia could hear it.

"Yup" She answered without turning around, her attention focused on her purse and the items she was going to put in it. "Do you think it would be too much if I put on a sixth dress? I want to keep my options open."

Kamilah shook her head when she heard that, an affectionate smile on her lips.

"In all my business trips, I never considered adding more than two dresses, but you seem to be the exception to the rule."

Mia laughed looking over her shoulder with her greenish eyes, and that bright dimpled smile, which made Kamilah's heart soar with a certain frequency, more than she would like to admit out loud.

"I am aware, Mrs Sayeed." She smiled and went back to what she was doing.

Kamilah crossed her arms and entered the room, seeing Mia going on a business trip to London, leaving her at a crossroads of feelings.

She was proud, incredibly proud that her wife had ascended to such an important position as COO of Raines Corp, even though Adrian was now completely devoted to his position as Senator of New York, he still remained CEO, and the promotion her wife had received was more than deserved.

However, another part of her heart still remained restless, both were married for only 4 months and that was still all too new for her, and seeing her wife travel, and spending a week away negotiating with investidors in London and leaving her in New York alone in their penthouse, made her heart restless more than she would have liked.

"I know you're worried about me" Mia broke the silence, surprising Kamilah before she could say anything. "But it'll be okay, I promise. I won't mess up this opportunity."

Her words left Kamilah surprised in those mere seconds, and Mia saw this, her green eyes carefully watching her wife recover her composure and her usual stoic look.

"I-" Kamilah began to say, but was interrupted by her young wife.

"Telepath, remember? I know you don't like it when someone invade your mind. It's not as if I'm reading your thoughts on purpose, sometimes it gets out of my control." She shrugged.

"What I mean is I know the importance of this trip and the seriousness, and it's an opportunity to show Adrian that he wasn't wrong to give me the COO job, and to show you that I've matured."

A smile escaped Kamilah's lips before she could contain it.

"I know. I see it, every day."

"You know you could go with me." Mia approached Kamilah, a small trace of hope in her eyes.

Kamilah smiled at her words. As much as she wanted to go with her wife, she knew that this was to be her trip, and the success of the negotiation depended exclusively on her, and Kamilah did not want to steal her merit or distract her from her goal. Besides, she still had to keep her company in control too.

"You know my company needs me, even if I am supervising from home, and my garden needs my attention too."

"I knew you'd say that" Mia gave a smug smile that Kamilah knew perfectly well and turned her attention to her bag.

"Okay, I think we're all set." Mia climbed up the zipper of her purse, looking around at all her necessary utensils on the bed. "I think I've got everything I need."

"Dresses"? Check. Heels? Check. Dryer, toothbrush, notebook and everything a modern woman needs to survive on a trip? Check. Joke cards to tell at the meeting? Check."

Kamilah rolled her eyes.

"You're not taking this." She said by approaching and taking the joke cards out of her wife's hands. "That'll stay with me."

"Hey! I got great jokes there." Mia tried to take them back, uselessly.

"Are you seriously considering telling jokes during an important business meeting?" Kamilah arched one of her eyebrows, knowing Mia that was a silly question. Of course she would.

"I don't see a problem with that, it's to relieve more of the weather and tension. I do it when I'm nervous."

"Absolutely not." The Egyptian vampire ripped up the cards and threw them in the bathroom trash.

"Uh... You know I have a copy of these with my assistant, right?" Mia said pointing to the bathroom.

"You're unbelievable." Kamilah rolled her eyes again.

"I prefer the term ‘misunderstood amazing genius’, but we can work with that one too.”

Mia checked her wristwatch.

"Alright, I have to run so I don't catch traffic."

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather use the jet? I'm not using it."

"Of course not." Mia took her bags out of bed without the slightest effort and put them on the floor, wearing her overcoat that was on the bed. "It's a business trip for Adrian to make a profit, and besides, I'd much rather travel at the expense of the company and Adrian than yours. It's my way of fighting capitalism."

Kamilah didn't contain her smug smile.

"Do I need to remind you of your salary before we go to argue about capitalism?"

"Nobody's perfect." Mia fired back while finishing the final touches to her makeup.

Kamilah accompanied her with her handbag, while both went down the stairs towards the elevator. Mia left her bags on the elevator floor and took a step towards Kamilah.

"I love you." Mia fired before Kamilah could say anything. "Kind of a lot."

Kamilah laughed a little, smiling affectionately.

"I love you too. Very much." Mia wrapped Kamilah's neck with her arms, standing on tiptoe and giving her a long, warm, deep kiss.

"I'll miss you every day." Mia said. "I don't know how I'm going to sleep without you, I got used to sleeping with you, you know? Because when I hug you when we go to sleep cuddling, your hot ass warms me up during the night. And there's this way that we sleep that you fit in with me, which is so good."

"Was that supposed to be a declaration of love?" Kamilah arched an eyebrow, the humor evident in her face.

"Of course it was." Mia rolled her eyes with a smile on her lips. "I love you, babe." She said leaving kisses on Kamilah's cheek and lips.

"All right, before I go I want to say goodbye to someone else, where is he?" Mia looked over Kamilah's shoulder, looking for that little fuzzy ball.

"Come on, kid." She whistled with her fingers, and seconds later, a little Corgi's puppy appeared in the penthouse living room, with his tongue out, his collar leaping as he ran, stumbling on his own paws trying to get to Mia.

Kamilah watched the scene with her usual stoic look, maybe that dog was the animal personification of her wife, — dumbass, hyperactive, always cheerful and clumsy.

"Who's the good boy? It's you, Dexter. You're mommy's good boy." Mia got down on her knees to welcome him, picking him up on her lap and pouring kisses into his hairy body. Dexter reciprocated her affection by cheerfully wagging his little tail.

Kamilah remembered perfectly the day Mia adopted Dexter.

"Please, please?" Mia followed her through the penthouse, while Kamilah kept busy with some reports from her company that had just arrived. 

"No." Kamilah responded without diverting her attention from her reports.

"Why not? I won't even buy it! We won him. My cousin's dog had puppies and she asked if we'd want one, I don't see why not adopt one. He'll keep us company."

Kamilah sighed, stopping in the hall, turning to look at her wife.

"We live in a penthouse..."

"...Which is very big, by the way."

"The dog will bark and defecate and leave excrement all over the house, and I don't know if you've noticed, but I have objects over 2000 years old in this house, worth millions, which would make me very angry if some animal destroyed them.”

"It could be our son, love."

"When your mother asked us when we'd give her grandchildren, I don't think it crossed her mind that it could be a dog. The answer is no." Kamilah walked down the hall again.

"Don't you love me anymore?!" Mia screamed after her trying to keep up, frowning.

"I love you, even too much. Stop being dramatic, I'm doing this for your own good."

Mia ran in front of her and crossed her arms, staring at the tall vampire, the woman who for many could be the worst nightmare of their lives.

"You want to bet me we'll adopt him?" Mia smiled with conviction. 

Kamilah gave her the smile back.

"Nothing you do will convince me to keep him. I am a woman of my word."

...

"What were you saying?" Mia lifted her face, with a sarcastic smile on her lips, the apparent victoriness before her wife.

Kamilah opened her mouth to answer, still panting. Her chest descending and rising as her breathing returned to normal. Ignoring her wife's words, she took it upon herself to pull up her pants and fasten her belt, then closing the buttons on her shirt.

"I can't believe you convinced me through sex."

"Fucking mind blowing good sex, by the way." Mia laughed leaving a kiss on her right shoulder.

"You can keep the dog, but I don't want him near my plants, my things and my garden, you hear? You're responsible for him," she said standing and leaving the room.

...

"I don't want to be late, I better go." Mia stood and left him on the floor. "Take care of him, okay? His things are in the kitchen. I think you two can keep each other company while I'm gone."

Kamilah rolled her eyes.

"Looks like I don't have much choice." Mia gave her that bright dimpled smile, came up and kissed her.

"Behave yourself while I'm gone." She gave her that look Kamilah knew well, a funny look, but deep down, Kamilah knew about her wife's jealousy, and she had fun knowing that. "I promise I will behave and not cause any confusion."

"As if you could keep that promise." Kamilah laughed, gently kissing her lips.

"Well, at least I can promise to make you proud. I'll make you proud of me, you'll see." Mia got in the elevator and pressed the button.

"Call me when you get to the hotel." Kamilah said, Mia just nodded before the doors closed. "And so there were only two left."

Day 1

The alarm clock next to the bedside began to ring, showing that it was already morning, the CEO passed her hand through her tired eyes, she sighed, her hand stretching out to her right side, finding only the emptiness.

She was not there. But her perfume remained present, as if she had slept through the night next to Kamilah. The Egyptian woman stood under her elbows and lit the lamp beside the bed, turning off the annoying alarm that sounded over her ears. Automatically she looked to her right side, being greeted by just a smiling photo of Mia in a portrait beside the bed.

"It's weird not having you here and waking me up with all that noise you make in the morning." Kamilah laughed at herself with that thought and sat down, looking for her slippers.

As she looked down, she was greeted by Dexter who was nibbling her slippers with his little teeth.

"How you got up here I'll never know." Kamilah sighed and took her slippers and put them on. The dog sat down and looked at her, tilting his head to the side. "Well, good morning to you too."

Kamilah put on her black robe, and left her room going to the bathroom for her morning routine involving a great dozen hair and skincare products. After finishing, she directed her attention to the kitchen after a good breakfast, being followed by Dexter who ran as fast as his little paws allowed.

With the intention of preparing her breakfast, Kamilah turned on the coffee maker and set out to prepare her pancakes. With Mia absent, she knew perfectly well that she would not get her morning coffee made by her wife, she would never admit it, but she had a weakness for the coffee made by Mia.

As soon as she set the table, Dexter's bark caught her eye.

"Are you hungry?" She asked to him. Then, she made sure there was food and water in the bowls, which made him run to her to eat.

Never that she thought she would have a dog, Mia really was a box of surprises, it was amazing how she made Kamilah agree to everything.

Sitting at her usual place at the table, having everything settled and reading the newspaper, her cell phone started vibrating on the table and Kamilah caught him, seeing a picture of Mia on the screen. She smiled unconsciously.

"Hey!"

"Good morning, my love." Kamilah smiled.

"Okay, first of all, hotel rooms on the penthouse are incredible! Ugh, you don't know how I missed sleeping with you. And that wonderful thing you do in my hair, you know what I'm saying?"

"I certainly missed sleeping with you too, and you stealing all the bed space, sleeping on me and stealing all the covers for yourself."

"It's not my fault what my subconscious does and I've apologized!"

Kamilah laughed lovingly.

"How's the trip?"

"It's great, I've been to three stores and yes, I ignored you and bought you a present, even though you said it wasn't necessary."

"You're impossible."

"Just fulfilling my duties as a wife. How are you doing? I bet it sucks to stay in New York without me. Without my coffee, without my good morning kisses, and without me to put my Angry Birds socks on your feet every cold night." Kamilah smiled, feeling her playful tone on the other end of the line.

"...Every time I wake up they're on my feet."

"You're welcome."

Kamilah laughed affectionately.

"Well, since you asked, the house is slightly quiet without you. Just the way I like it."

"Oh, come on. You love my noise." Mia laughed. "So, how's Dexter?"

Kamilah spied over the counter, finding him on the carpet.

"Right now he's in a war against a rubber duck." Kamilah listening to the shrill sound coming from the duck being attacked.

"Aw, send me pictures of him later."

"Absolutely not."

"Is everything okay in there?" Mia asked, worried.

"It's all right, my love. I'm fine, and yes, I'll be fine for the whole week."

"That doesn't mean I won't call you every day just to make sure." Mia replied stubbornly, making Kamilah laugh. "I miss you, a lot. I can't wait to come back and see you."

"I miss you too, love. When you come back maybe we could go to that shady restaurant in the suburbs you love to go to."

"Excuse me, I like my shady restaurant in the suburbs, thank you very much, it was the restaurant I used to go to when I didn't have a dollar in my pocket when I started in New York, I have to stay humble, but OH, HELL YES!". Her excitement was so infectious, Kamilah barely noticed the smile on her face.

The CEO could clearly hear voices in the background behind Mia.

"Who's there with you?"

"Just Tyler and Nathalie, my assistants. They're discussing which of my cards I should use first."

Kamilah rolled her eyes.

"And I told you not to use those cards."

"When will you and Adrian learn that I do the opposite of what I'm told to do? It's in my nature."

“Your brat.”

"I have to go, I have a meeting in a few minutes and I have to finish my paperwork. Good luck with your garden and your reports, sweetheart. I love you." Mia said a few seconds to say goodbye and hang up.

“I love you too.”

Kamilah sighed, a week without Mia would probably be something new, especially knowing that since the wedding they have not separated for a long time, now she would have to spend a week alone, just her in that big apartment, with all her attention on her plants, and with an unexpected company.