#If not that's fine. But if I keep working on this I WILL go crazy for trying to make references to this ONE book. So stopping now. ]

[lemoncrushh]

Her Album

Summary: Harry has finished recording his album, and he wants her to hear it.

Warnings: Angst, lots of feelings

Word Count: 2.9k+

A/N: A short one-shot written in 2019 in first person from Harry's POV. While this is not necessarily a reader fic, the woman's name is never mentioned. This was written before Fine Line was out, so it's pretty wild to think about it now.

The album was done. I’d made a visit to the studio to hear the final mix and then had lunch with Jeffrey and Glenne. As I drove home, I listened to the songs again in the car, deciding not to stop at my house when I got there, but instead to keep going so I could give one last listen straight through.

I’m not sure how I ended up on her street. It used to be automatic, like taking my shoes off before my trousers, or putting the cap back on the toothpaste. I’d driven down her block so many times before, I probably knew it better than my own neighbourhood.

I sat in the car for a long time, staring up at her window. I wasn’t even sure if she was home. I couldn’t tell if a light was on, but it was the middle of the day and that window was her bedroom, so she could’ve been anywhere else inside. I let the album loop around to the first track again, the opening chords hitting me in the chest just like the first time I’d heard them.

I wanted her to hear them too. I wanted her to listen to the melodies and have them bring back the memories that had inspired me to write them. I wanted her to listen to my lyrics and know they were all about her, even the ones that weren’t as obvious. Songs about love and loss. Songs about sex and lust and forbidden fruit. Songs that sounded like they were about something completely different, hidden behind loose meanings and innuendos.

But they were all about her.

I scrolled through my phone and opened the contacts to her name. We hadn’t spoken in weeks, maybe even months. I’d lost count. Being in the studio had helped to heal my broken heart, and my pride, but it certainly hadn’t erased her memory. She was with me every single day, every moment that I worked on a song.

I almost tapped on her name, my thumb grazing over it. But I stopped myself, turning off my phone, and then my engine. Climbing out of the car, I walked around it to the pavement in front of her building, once again looking up at her window. For a second I considered being like John Cusack in Say Anything, holding up an 80s boom box and serenading her with my music so she’d notice. But I reckoned that was borderline stalking, not to mention disturbing the neighbours, so I made my way to the stairs and climbed them to the second floor.

I stopped in front of her door, staring at it for a good two to three minutes before I even lifted my hand. I took several breaths, wondering if I was making a mistake. She probably didn’t wanna see me, let alone talk to me. She didn’t give a shit about my album. She had moved on.

But I was there. I felt like something had brought me there for a reason, and that reason was to play her my music. Let her know exactly how I felt about her - how she drove me crazy and how she’d hurt me and how I’d hurt her. How in love with her I’d been. How I still…

Finally, I knocked, a little too softly at first, but I didn’t want to startle her. At least that’s what I told myself. When no one responded, however, I knocked again, much louder and with determination.

“Jesus, I’m coming!” I heard her yell from inside. “Hold your-”

She stood before me with a half-eaten apple in her hand, her mouth open and her eyes wide. She wore a t-shirt and shorts, her hair pulled back in a loose bun and no makeup. She looked beautiful.

“Hey,” I said, my voice not quite cooperating so I sounded like a frog.

“Harry.” She said my name in almost a question, though she knew it was me. She just wondered why it was me.

When she didn’t say anything else, I shifted my eyes up and down the hall and shrugged.

“Can I come in?”

I admit, I expected her to nod and step back to let me inside her apartment. But when she shook her head, my face fell.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she remarked.

“Um...why not?”

“Because…” she began, her tone hard as steel, “I just got over you.”

“Over me?” I gulped.

“Yeah. It’s taken me a while, but I finally am,” she explained, placing the apple on the table by the door. Then wiping her hands on her shorts, she leaned against the door frame. “You haven’t shown your face here in nearly three months. I can’t just let you waltz on in here and undo everything.”

“‘m not…” I stumbled, “‘m not undoing anything.”

“Then why are you here?”

Her gorgeous but stern eyes glared at me, piercing through my heart. I looked down at my feet, thinking I’d made a mistake by coming. She didn’t want any more to do with me. I’d waited too long and missed the window. Maybe there hadn’t even been one.

Lifting my head, I looked at her beautiful face again. It was then that I recognized the shirt she was wearing - my old AC/DC t-shirt.

“Looks like you’re not completely over me,” I pointed. I dunno why I said it. It was petty and juvenile.

“What?” she huffed, crossing her arms.

“You’re wearing my shirt.”

She looked down at the emblem on her chest, seemingly just realizing what she had on. With a sigh, she dropped her arms.

“I just like it,” she said, her head held high. “And you basically gave it to me anyway.”

“No, I didn’t.” Shut up, H, you’re making it worse, I thought to myself.

“Well, you left it here. And I ended up sleeping in it. And you never came back, so…” She crossed her arms again in defense.

She was right. The last time I’d been in her apartment, we’d had a massive fight, and I’d told her it was over and stormed out. She’d tried calling and texting me for a couple days, but I’d ignored her, stubborn with pride. When I’d finally agreed to talk to her again, I was only being a right twat, unable to see or accept her side. So, we only ended up fighting again until she said she needed some space.

“I was giving you your space,” I muttered, knowing damn well I sounded like a wanker.

“For six weeks?” she snorted and shook her head. “You have some nerve, Harry.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“What was that?” she stepped closer to me, her brows furrowed. “Did you really just say you’re sorry?”

“Yeah. I am.”

“Sorry for what? For breaking my heart? For being a dickhead? For not calling or texting or even saying one word to me for freaking ever? For telling me it was over in the first place? Or for showing up here now when I’m finally over you?”

I blinked. “All of it,” I admitted.

Her lips twitched, and for a second I thought she was going to smile.

“Fuck you, Harry!” she exclaimed.

Stepping back, she grabbed the door, ready to slam it. But I brought my hand up and stopped it.

“I want you to listen to it,” I said, remembering why I’d come.

“Why should I listen to you?” she asked, her voice cracking.

“Not to me. To the album. It’s finished, and I want you to hear it.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You can’t be serious. You came here so I’d listen to your new music? You really are a douchebag.”

“No, you don’t understand, I-“

“You’re right, I don’t,” she interrupted. “But seems to me you had weeks to explain yourself, Harry. I’m done crying over you.”

She was about to shut the door again when I called out, “I’ve been crying over you, too!”

She stood still, her hand on the door that was opened only a crack. Leaning her forehead against it, I could tell she was holding back tears. I didn’t want her to cry now, at least not over this.

“Liar,” she croaked.

“It’s not a lie, ba-” I almost called her baby, but I knew she wouldn’t like that. Not yet. “Please. Let me in. You don’t even have to talk. Just listen to the album.”

I stood silent for a moment, watching her eyelashes flutter against her pink cheeks. Finally, she let out a sigh and stepped back, opening the door to allow me to step inside.

“Thanks,” I muttered low as she closed the door behind me.

She didn’t reply. In fact, she didn’t even look at me as she grabbed her half eaten apple and went into the kitchen. I stood in the middle of the living room, waiting for her return.

“Okay,” she gestured toward me as she plopped onto the couch. “Go ahead.”

Spotting her laptop on the coffee table, I pointed. “Do you mind?”

She merely nodded and I sat down next to her and opened it. Then sliding my hand into my pocket, I pulled out the USB drive and plugged it in, bringing up the files I’d saved in the studio. With a click of the mouse, the first track began to play, those familiar chords ringing once again. I sat back and watched her, waiting for some kind of reaction on her face.

But none came.

Not when the first track ended, nor when the second song started, the first lyric blatantly about her. I started to get restless, rubbing my palms on my knees and bouncing my leg. I ran my fingers through my hair, a habit she used to tell me was endearing, only now she didn’t give any indication that she even noticed.

Finally, during the third song, I saw her make the slightest move, leaning against the arm of the sofa and resting her head in her hand. We made eye contact for a second before she quickly looked away, her eyes hazy. I wondered what she was thinking. I wanted so badly to ask, to pry it out of her, but I’d promised she needn’t talk.

We were halfway through the album when I caught more movement out of the corner of my eye. I’d been sat with my head down, unable to look at her during track seven, the most intimate and personal song I’d written. My gaze lifted to her, and I noticed her shoulders were shaking. Her head was still in her hand, her cheeks now wet with tears.

I wanted to reach out, to hold her in my arms. God, I wanted that so bad. But I let her be. I knew she needed to cry without me giving false promises that everything was okay. None of this was okay.

I’d cried when I’d written that song. I’d broken down in the recording booth when I’d sung the chorus for the first time. I only just realized as I watched her body shake with sobs that I’d been an idiot for not telling her how I’d felt. But maybe...just maybe she could finally hear me through my songs.

By the time that track ended, I was in tears too. I wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand, sniffling as I tried to compose myself. I sat back on the couch again, my head leant back. I shut my eyes and listened to the next song, one a little more uptempo. I tapped my fingertips on the cushion at my sides, humming softly. This song was about happy memories, when we’d laid on the beach or beside my pool last summer. When we’d been so in love and hadn’t a care in the world. Before all the fighting and jealousy and…

I almost didn’t feel it at first, her hand brushing mine. It was such a light touch, I thought perhaps I was imagining it, lost in the song. But my eyelids fluttered open when I felt it again. I stared at my right hand on the cushion, her slim fingers over mine. She used to like to do that, when we’d be sat together watching a movie, or lying in bed reading. She’d trace my hand and knuckles with her fingertips, her delicate hand dancing over mine before I’d smile and thread our fingers together. It was an unspoken gesture of affection we’d had. I missed it.

God, I missed her.

I raised my head to look at her. I half expected her to be looking at me too, but she was focused on our hands. Her expression wasn’t one I’d hoped either. She looked sad, her cheeks still tear-stained. I wanted to kiss them, make it all better.

I opened my mouth to say her name, but nothing came out. I cleared my throat and she looked at me. I turned my hand over then like I used to, wanting to thread our fingers together. But she pulled away, her jaw set.

“Why’d you do that?” I asked, my voice a deep rasp.

They were the first words either of us had spoken since the music started, and I instantly regretted it, knowing I’d meant to stay silent until the end. We were on track nine now, a couple more songs to go. I still wanted her to hear all of it. I wanted her to know I still felt the same, even though I wasn’t completely over the anger, over the heartbreak. But I’d spilled my guts out in my songs. I was shit at communication, I knew that. I hoped that she could understand it all in my music.

“I...I don’t know,” she whispered.

She crossed her legs then, sat in the corner of the couch. She reached behind her head and pulled at her bun, letting her hair fall freely down her shoulders. She seemed comfortable, at least less resistant than she had when I’d knocked on her door. I could tell she wanted to talk, but she kept her mouth shut because I’d told her she could. I also felt like she was really listening though. And that was really all I wanted.

“That was a really good song,” she surprised me after track ten. But she didn’t say anything more.

Clearing my throat again, I sucked in my lips when the final song started. If track seven had been the most personal, this was the companion to it. This was me giving my heart, me asking forgiveness and giving it back. This was me wanting another chance to prove how I felt about her. I’d known as I was writing and recording it that the possibility of that happening was slim to none. But I had to take a chance. I was tired of keeping it bottled up, being a stubborn prat because I’d wanted my way and had to be right. I was all kinds of wrong. I knew I wasn’t fully to blame for our break-up, but I was taking responsibility and owning up to my part in it. I hoped she could hear that in my voice.

By the time the song was over, my head was in my hands. I perched on the edge of the sofa shaking. I’d already listened to it a handful of times in the studio and in my car, but it hadn’t had the effect it had now, sat in her living room with her beside me. I was sobbing like a baby.

“Harry…” I heard her whisper.

When I lifted my head this time, she was right beside me, her face so close it startled me. Her hands were in her lap, and she wrung them like she was either nervous or was trying to keep herself from touching me.

“I’m so sorry,” I cried. “For everything.”

“I know,” she nodded. “I heard.”

“Will you forgive me?” I asked, turning to face her. I wanted to lift my hand to touch her face but thought better of it. Instead, I hesitantly reached for her hand. I was pleasantly surprised when she let me take it.

“Only if you forgive me, too,” she said.

I let out a deep breath and leant forward. I wanted to kiss her but wasn’t sure if she was ready yet. Lifting my hand this time, I grazed her cheek and wiped a tear away with my thumb.

“I still love you,” I admitted. “I never stopped. I’m just so sorry I waited this long.”

She bit her perfect bottom lip, her big eyes blinking fast.

“I thought I was over you,” she said. “I thought you were over me.”

“Guess we were both wrong.”

She leant into me then, and I took it as my cue. I took her into my arms and kissed her, like I’d wanted to kiss her for months. She felt so good against me, and I quickly found myself shedding more tears.

“We still have a lot to talk about,” she whispered when I released her lips.

“I know,” I agreed. “I promise I’m not walking out this time.”

“Good,” she nodded before kissing me again.

We ended up listening to the album again together while we prepared and ate dinner. There were more tears, but also lots of conversation. We had a long way to go, but I was hopeful.

Something had made me drive down her street. I guess it was me.

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[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Am I (23m) the Asshole for not giving my houseguest (23m) a ride?

We're letting a friend of my sibling's stay at our house while he looks for a job bc he's homeless right now and it's a shitty situation to be in.

He does have a car but more often than not we're driving him around unless he's on 'personal errands', which can see him driving as far as VA or PA (we live in MD). The night before he had an emergency & needed to drive to DC.

He's a cool enough guy, but he's got some living habits that are a little annoying to deal with. (Leaves his stuff everywhere but doesn't help clean being a main one). That and literally everyone who lives here has been helping him out.

My aunt got him an employment opportunity with a high rep restaurant (bc she went to culinary school w/ the owner), my mom let's him use her laptop so he can work on his resume, my sibling rewrote his ENTIRE RESUME for him (bc his initial try got wiped by a glitch & he just gave up I guess), and I've been driving him around everywhere.

Yesterday, a beautiful day, he invited me to come with him ona nature walk. I was ecstatic but as soon as I got ready and we stepped out the house he asked me "okay, so who's driving?"

Despite him inviting me, I was the one who ended up taking us there and back & making annoying pitstops for him right before bumper to bumper traffic. (Fun Fact! I really really hate driving more than I have to!)

Tonight there's an event that I've been excited for all week that he just decided he wanted to go to today, but it's a black tie event & he didn't have any formal wear. He said he'd go to Walmart real quick to pick up a shirt and I thought I'd just meet him there. But then he came up to me and asked if I could drive him to Walmart & the party.

When I told him I didn't want to drive to Walmart for him, he said "oh, that's fine. I just don't have a job right now and I'm trying to save money. But that's cool." Keep in mind I am also unemployed atm.

I left without him & he'll be meeting me at the event but I keep having this nagging voice in the back of my head telling me I'm an asshole bc I had nothing stopping me from giving him a ride other than 'not wanting to'. I guess i'm just looking for validation or smth bc I feel like im going crazy

[lau219]

Enemies with Benefits

Part 14

Previous part here

***!!!Warning: mature sexual content. 18+ readers ONLY. Minors, DNI!!!***

......................................................................................….

Five days later, and Tommy had allowed the club to re-open, feeling satisfied that it was now secure enough to have staff and patrons there again. He actually was pissed at himself for misjudging the integrity of the original lock on the doors and not replacing it all sooner. And although he’d spent a small fortune on the new system, which was apparently the best, he no longer allowed Y/N to ever be at the club by herself. 

“You’re suffocating me, Shelby,” she said to him that afternoon as she found him still behind the bar after she emerged from the stock room in the back. Her ankle was better enough that walking was much less of a challenge, although it still was causing her to limp slightly. As she got closer to him, Tommy looked up from his phone, from which he was answering emails.

“Why are you doing all that?” he asked her with a frown. “Let the bartenders do it when they get here. You’re supposed to be taking it easy.”

“That’s all I was doing the last five days,” she replied as they looked at each other. “If I stay still any longer, I’m gonna go stir-crazy.”

“Are you still limping?” Tommy said as he looked down at her feet with a frown, completely ignoring anything she’d just said.

“No, I’m fine,” she quickly dismissed. “Now, will you please get out of here? You’ll get a lot more work done if you go to your office instead of babysitting me.”

“And you’ll get a lot more work done if you stop fighting it and just accept that I’m sticking around,” Tommy replied.

The tension between them had remained high since the first night he’d stopped by her apartment. Still wanting to make things difficult for him, Y/N had continued to be somewhat elusive whenever he’d texted her and tried to flirt, not giving him too much back when she’d respond, but just enough to keep him on his toes. She also had continued to refuse to let him come inside when he’d stopped by each night to check on her, although she had leaned into him a little closer each time, her lips feathering a bit more sensually and lingering a bit longer with each night’s kiss that she’d leave on his cheek. Truthfully, however, she was having an incredibly hard time continuing to resist him, and she kept wondering when he was going to take her on their next date.

Huffing an exhale and rolling her eyes, Y/N turned her back to him as she set the liquor bottles she’d brought from the stock room in place behind the rail. As she then moved closer to where Tommy was leaning against the back countertop, she spoke again.

“If you’re going to be here, would you at least get out of the way?”

He was right in front of the spot on the back bar where she was going to rearrange some of the glasses, and as she stopped in front of him, he gave her a mischievous look.

“What’s the magic word?” he said.

“Move,” Y/N replied, looking back at him with irritation.

At that, Tommy shook his head and leaned forward, slowly pressing his chest against hers and looking into her eyes. He couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face when he heard Y/N’s breath hitch in her throat and saw her visibly swallow as she looked back at him.

“You’re supposed to say, ‘Please, Tommy,’” he said, the look in his eyes and the tone of his voice unmistakably suggestive. “You have to say it like you really, really want it.”

Y/N could literally feel the dampness that had gathered in her panties with inexplicable speed as Tommy pressed against her and spoke in that tone, but she somehow mustered just enough strength to front nonchalance as she replied.

“Or I can just work around you,” she said.

She then herself leaned forward, now pressing Tommy against the bar once more with her front as she then reached her arms around his sides and tilted her head to see around him. Her chest rubbed against his as she maneuvered to rearrange the glasses on the counter behind him, and she could feel Tommy’s breath on her neck as she kept her eyes focused on her task.

Don’t make this easy for him. Don’t make this easy for him. Don’t make this easy for him. She kept repeating the mantra in her head as she pressed against him, and it was the only thing that kept her from abandoning her task and tipping her head up to meet his lips as he hovered near her neck. Fortunately, before her self-control faltered, the sound of the door opening around the corner caught their attention, and both Y/N and Tommy turned their heads to see Polly walk into the room, her sunglasses still on and Arthur and John tagging along behind her.

They came to a stop, and when Polly looked over and caught the two of them pressed together behind the bar, her eyebrows raised behind her sunglasses.

“Are we interrupting something?” she asked as Arthur and John stopped on her heels and also looked over at them. Amused smirks immediately appeared on each of their faces.

“No, not at all,” Y/N replied casually. “Your nephew here is just helicoptering and refused to get out of my way, and so I have to work around him.”

“I see,” Polly replied with a big smile as she removed her sunglasses and perched them on the top of her head. “Well, don’t let us stop you.” She then busied herself setting her bag on the bar and removing her coat as Arthur and John were walking around.

“You gave her the code to the security system?” Y/N whispered to Tommy as she turned back and looked at him, still pressed against his chest.

“For emergencies,” he replied, his voice also low. “Not so she could waltz in here whenever she wants.”

At that, Y/N gave him a sympathetic yet teasing smile.

“Cockblocked by your aunt and brothers,” she said as she shook her head. “I told you you all were a little too close for comfort.”

With that, Y/N pulled away from Tommy and put plenty of space between them, not allowing him to respond and amused beyond belief.

Tommy, on the other hand, was an unsettling mix of aroused and furious, about ready to combust or punch someone at Y/N’s suggestion that he finally would have made progress with her if they hadn’t just been interrupted.  

“What are you lot doing here? I gave you the code for the security system for emergencies only, Polly,” Tommy said, the edge to his voice apparent. 

“Shelby, don’t be rude,” Y/N said to him over her shoulder before turning back to Polly. “How are you, Polly?” Then she looked over Polly’s shoulder. “Arthur. John. Nice to see you guys,” she greeted the two men.

“Hello, gorgeous, how are you feeling?” Arthur replied, winking at Y/N and receiving a death glare from Tommy behind her back. John, on the other hand, was still heeding the warning Tommy had given him the night Y/N had spent at Polly’s, and he remained silent as he saw the glare Tommy had aimed at Arthur.

“You’re so sweet to ask,” Y/N replied flirtatiously, knowing it would make Tommy mad. “I’m fine, thank you. Hi, John!” She wiggled her fingers at John and batted her eyelashes, and John’s face turned red as he gave her a single wave in response.

“This is an emergency,” Polly replied, ignoring all the nonsense going on as she looked at Tommy. “I haven’t seen this one since the night she was at my house, and I wanted to check on her. Seeing as you won’t tell me anything, I had to find out for myself.” Polly had pointed at Y/N as she’d said, “this one”, and Y/N smiled at her thoughtfulness.

“I’m just fine, Polly,” Y/N replied, getting her attention as she walked over to the end of the bar and leaned across it. “But I do want to thank you again for all your kindness; you have no idea how much it meant to me.”

“I told you, dear, you’re family now, so think nothing of it,” she replied. “Except maybe you could come repay me with a visit once in a while? I can’t tell you how nice it was to have a woman around for a change instead of these kooks,” she jerked her thumb towards Arthur and John.

“Hey! I resent that!” called Arthur, and Y/N laughed.

Looking over Y/N’s shoulder to Tommy, Polly spoke to him as she opened her bag that she’d set on the bar top.

“The other reason I came was to track you down so I could get your signature on these,” she said to him. “Some final documents pertaining to the sale of the club on Dixon Street that you bought. I need to get them over to the bank ASAP.”

Tommy walked up beside Y/N and took the slim stack of papers from Polly’s hand as she also pulled a pen out of her bag and handed it to him. Y/N shifted her eyes and watched as Tommy signed the pages, recalling this particular club he was signing for.

“That place is actually pretty nice,” she commented as Tommy finished signing. “It’s probably the one you’ll have the easiest time with. You may not even need to really change much.”

“You mean ‘we’ may not need to change much, love,” he said to Y/N as he looked at her, and she blushed at his insistence on including her in the statement. He then picked up the papers and handed them back to Polly along with the pen.

“If it’s really the easiest, then we should start there,” Tommy continued. “We can go tomorrow night.”

Y/N frowned.

“Don’t you want to discuss it with the manager first? Let them know we’re coming so we can have a chance to speak with them?”

“Eventually, yes,” Tommy replied. “But first we’re gonna go and just check it out. Grab a booth, order a few drinks, see how it functions.” He smiled. “I did the same thing here, love.”

Y/N narrowed her eyes at him and playfully elbowed him.

“I know that now,” she said. “And had I known at the time, I would have promptly kicked you out on your sorry ass.”

Tommy grinned at her, and Polly grinned herself as she watched their interaction, incredibly pleased with their obvious growing bond.

“You should make a night of it,” Polly interjected then. “Ada will be in town and she can join you two with Arthur and John.”

“Who’s Ada?” Y/N asked, furrowing her brow.

“Tommy’s sister,” Polly replied.

“What?!” Y/N elbowed him again as she looked at Tommy. “You never told me you have a sister!”

Tommy just groaned in response.

“Thomas, shame on you,” Polly said, and then she smiled at Y/N. “She’s dying to meet you,” she said to her.

Y/N grinned, but before she could say anything, Tommy cut in.

“No. No, no, NO. This is not a family reunion. This is business, and Y/N and I are the only two who need to be there. I’m not bringing Ada or those two,” Tommy paused to gesture to Arthur and John, “or anyone else.”

“I’d love to meet her,” Y/N said, ignoring Tommy and looking at Polly.

“She’s a pill,” Tommy said.

Y/N turned back to him.

“Then I know I’ll like her,” she replied with a grin. “It’s settled then; she’ll come with us tomorrow.”

“No,” said Tommy.

Y/N put her hands on her hips as she stood up straight.

“Either she comes, or I don’t go,” she said with finality.

Groaning again, Tommy looked at Polly with annoyance.

“Thanks, Pol,” he said sarcastically, and Polly just grinned again.

After a bit more conversation and showing Arthur and John around the club, Y/N announced that she had to get going, and she began to head to her office to retrieve her keys.

“Where are you off to?” Tommy asked her as he followed her to her office and watched her put on her coat.

“Home,” she replied. “Before I sprained my ankle, I already had about a month’s worth of laundry to do, and then with the ankle, it’s now piled up even more.”

“You want some help?” Tommy said with a wicked grin. “I can sort through your delicates.”

Y/N smiled as she walked up to him and stopped.

“Well, that would be the only way you’d ever get to see them” she said teasingly. “But I think I can manage.”

“Really? Because I got a very different impression from you the other night, and just now before that lot showed up,” Tommy said, jerking his head in the direction of where his family still lingered in the bar.

“Rare moments of weakness,” Y/N taunted him with another smile.

“How do I make those moments happen more often?” Tommy asked with a smile of his own.

Shaking her head, Y/N walked past him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow night, Shelby,” she said over her shoulder. “And remember, if your sister’s not there, then neither am I.”

•.•.•.•.•

Later that evening, Y/N was sitting in front of the TV and folding her laundry when there was a knock on her door. Rising from the couch, she expected to find Tommy when she opened the door, but instead was met by a delivery man who greeted her and held out a shirt box wrapped with a gold ribbon and a card tucked beneath it. After taking it from him, Y/N closed the door and walked back to the couch, sitting down and slipping the card from beneath the ribbon. Upon opening it, she recognized Tommy’s handwriting.

Just in case you still don’t have enough clean underwear...and just in case you have another one of those moments of weakness and want me to drop by.

-Shelby

Setting the card down, Y/N tugged the ribbon and then lifted the lid of the box, and beneath the white tissue paper, she found a beautiful, sexy lingerie set of dark pink lace and satin straps. As she lifted it out of the box, her face flushed and her heart pounded as she thought of Tommy seeing her in this.

Somehow, he’d gotten her size right, and she was too pleasantly flustered to think about how he’d gotten that information. Shaking her head at his cockiness, she decided to teach him a lesson, and, setting the box aside, she quickly grabbed her phone and the lacy pieces and went to her bedroom to change.

•.•.•.•.•

It was late, and Tommy was laying on his couch with the sports highlights on TV as he relished the quiet of finally being away from his family. As much as he loved them, Y/N was onto something when she’d said they were all a little too close for comfort. At the same time, he wouldn’t change the way things were, and he thought about how he’d promised himself a long time ago that he’d never let any of them be in a bad situation ever again. And now, since Y/N had come into his life, she had become a part of that group that he so fiercely wanted to protect, too.

Thinking of her, Tommy shifted on the couch as the thought alone was enough to get him bothered. He would have loved to have her on that couch with him right now, and as he thought about the daring gift he’d sent her earlier, he was extremely impatient to see how she’d act the next time they were together.

Suddenly, the ding of a message alert sounded from his phone, and he reached for it on the coffee table, frowning as he wondered who’d be texting him this late. It was likely a drunken text from Arthur, which was a pretty frequent occurrence. But upon seeing Y/N’s name popped up on the screen, Tommy shifted once more and quickly opened her message, and when he did, his eyes widened before he groaned a curse of arousal.

“Fuck,” he muttered as he looked at the picture she’d sent him. 

An image of her gorgeous body clad in the lacy pink lingerie he’d sent her was displayed across his screen. He practically reached through the phone for her beautiful bare skin, and as he admired her full breasts within the bra and could make out the hint of her nipples through the lace, he exhaled another deep groan as he palmed his cock through his pants, which had rapidly hardened. He could almost feel his fingers slipping beneath the satin straps on her hips, and although she hadn’t included her face in the picture, he could see a few whispers of her long hair as they brushed her shoulders, and he imagined pulling those strands in his fist as she was beneath him.

Y/N: Just wanted you to know that your gift arrived here safely.

Quickly typing, Tommy answered her.

T.S.: I’d feel a lot better if I could confirm that in person. I also need to be sure it fits you properly.

He watched the screen as the bubbles danced while she typed her reply.

Y/N: Oh, don’t worry, it fits perfectly. Can’t you tell?

She then sent another picture of her backside, her gorgeous plump ass on display as the lace skimmed her hips and stopped above her cheeks. Upon seeing it, Tommy was already unzipping his pants and fisted his cock in one hand as he typed with the other.

T.S.: Yes, I can, and you’ve put me in quite the predicament here. I’d love your help resolving it, so how about you come over?

Y/N: I’m sorry to have caused you trouble, but it’s past my bedtime, so no can do.

Tommy groaned again as he felt his precum dripping onto his hand.

T.S.: You’re not being fair, love.

Y/N: Life’s not fair, Shelby. Besides, you’re a big boy, I’m sure you can handle it.

T.S.: I’d much rather have you handle it. And then I can handle you.

Y/N: Oh really? And should I be excited or scared for that?

Tommy couldn’t contain a devilish grin as he read her message and then replied.

T.S.: Both.

Y/N: Sounds enticing. Maybe I’ll take you up on it sometime.

T.S.: How about right now? You can stay right where you are and just leave your door unlocked for me.

Y/N: I’m already in bed.

T.S.: Good, that’s exactly where I want you.

Y/N: Zzzzzzzzz 😴

T.S.: Very funny, love.

Y/N: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz 😴😴😴

T.S.: If you knew what I was going to do to you, trust me, you’d be wide awake and unlocking that door.

Once more, the text bubbles danced, and when she responded, Tommy released a low growl of aroused frustration. 

Y/N: Good night, Shelby. Don’t stay up too late.

Then the notice that Y/N had switched her messaging to away mode immediately appeared beneath her last text, and Tommy threw his head back against the couch. Letting out a rough sigh, he let his phone slip from his free hand as he looked up at the ceiling and cursed under his breath again.

She was going to be the death of him.

@nyxxie-pooh @xsweetcatastrophe @allie131313 @betty21rose @febris-amatoria

@hannibellector @fairytale07 @meister95 @alltoowellbeneaththemangotree @beastofburdenxo

@runnning-outof-time @aphroditeslover11 @galactict3a @natalie--rushman @wild-rose-35

@judig92 @hudson-bay-girl @ladyvenera @yay-im-fucking-trash @k1ng-l3on

@ceirinen @peskybinders @fuseburner @shaddixlife @neonpurplestars89-blog

@devotedlyshadowytheorist @garrison-girl-08

[toniiswrld]

one of my many sick deranged ideas that i discussed with my dearest @tsandoll <3

cw. smut +18 mdni, fem!reader, not really any dom/sub dynamics neither of them are really dominant? yn a little bossy tho, oral (f. recieving)

wc. 1.6k (ki writing something under 2k? crazy...)

the last thing on earth that jaehyun would ever want is for you to be uncomfortable, especially because of him. throughout your relationship with him he's been super respectful, never letting his hands linger on you for too long, he tries to stop his eyes from wandering along your body, and he always stops your makeout sessions before they lead to anything more, just to make sure that you two weren't rushing into anything and that you didn't think he was pressuring you.

but one thing he couldn't stop were the thoughts he had about you in the night when he was in bed, all alone with his hand and the thought of you. he was ashamed of it, he was scared that one day you'd somehow find out that he jerked off to the thought of you almost every night and you would call him a sick freak and you'd break up with him. it all started with a wet dream, you were so beautiful taking every inch of his cock while he rutted into you eagerly, squeezing his hand the same way you do in real life that always tugs on his heart strings. he woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and an ache between his thighs.

ever since then he'd been using his thoughts of you to get himself off at night. it was like torture keeping it from you, he felt like a pervert. smiling in your face as if he didn't cum all over his hands hours before at the mental image of the same face. there was no reason why he couldn't just tell you that he was ready to go all the way with you once you felt like you were ready as well, but he was embarrassed about how he felt.

he knew he couldn't keep in his dirty little secret from you any longer, it was eating him inside and he knew that the conversation could go two ways -- you think he's gross and you never want to see him again, or you think its cute and you comfort him before giving him the fuck of his life. so here he was, on his knees at the edge of your bed while you look down at him. he has tears in his eyes as he explains himself and apologizes, trying his best to gauge your reaction through his teary eyes.

"jaehyun, you're literally my boyfriend. did you think i'd really be mad that you're attracted to me? i'm more upset that you didn't tell me sooner, i could have helped you out." you lean forward and cup his cheeks, making him make eye contact with you while you assure him that everything was fine. he's not sure if you're able to tell, but your words go straight to his dick. he has to bite his lip to make sure this isn't another one of his dreams.

"y-you're not mad?" he whispers and you want to laugh at his sensitive state. but you hold it in and you smile at him, shaking your head so he knows that you really aren't mad at him.

"i'm flattered, actually. can you... can you show me what you do when you think about me?" you try your best to sound confident in your words but your voice shakes a little bit, a little too excited over jaehyuns little emotional moment. something about him on his knees in front of you on the edge of crying had you thinking about all the other things you could possibly make him cry for.

he's quick to nod at your words and take his clothes off. he takes off his shirt and jeans, he stays on his knees on the ground while he starts palming himself through his boxers. his eyes start to flutter shut and you watch in amusement as he gets himself worked up.

you can see the precum that leaks out of his cock and stains his boxers, you want to tell jaehyun to just take his cock out so you can see but you remember you told him to show you what he usually does. almost like he could read your mind, he pushes his boxers just enough for his cock to slip out, his hands instantly making contact with it and he bites back a moan. its so pretty, the perfect length and its thick, tip a pretty deep red with his precum making it glossy in his hand. you want to tell him to get on the bed so you can just suck him off but you hold out.

"tell me what you think about, baby" you were so hot to him like this, and he's whining and squeezing his cock tight trying to gather his thoughts as much as possible.

 he looks in your eyes and feels like he could cum right now.you just smile at him, face unreadable of any real emotions. you bring a hand back to his cheek, grazing the skin with your thumb as you watch him struggle to speak.

“i- fuck– i think about you…” you hum as encouragement for him to go on. with the eye contact you force him to make with you, it was hard for him to think. even if you were telling him to continue he felt embarrassed telling you about his fantasies. “think about your face, your body– love your body so much baby, i think about touching you, how good you’d feel squeezing me, i think about how you smell good, you always smell sso good” he leans forward and dips his head to rest on your leg, face still resting in your hand as he takes in a breath of the skin of your bare legs. you almost think he whimpers after sniffing you, and you want to laugh at him for his desperation, but he’s already felt vulnerable enough today. 

you shift so you can spread your legs open for jaehyun, your thighs sticking together from the heat of your room before you. his head falls between your legs when you do this and he’s face to face with the cloth barrier that hides your pussy from him. he can feel the heat that radiates from you in this spot, and he takes another deep breath to get that scent he’s so badly craved to take in. something about you having a long day and sitting in your worn in panties that were probably now soaked through turned jaehyun on to no end. and you were wearing shorts, they were probably so tight against you and got to rub against you all day. he had to admit he was a bit jealous that your clothes get to be on you at all times. he was definitely going to ask you for a pair of your panties when you two were finished.

“can i eat you out? wanna taste you so bad, please let me taste you baby” 

“go ahead”

jaehyuns orgasm was long forgotten the moment you gave him the green light. he quickly rid you of your top and your bottoms, leaving you in just your bra and panties as he trailed wet kisses up your thighs. he was so pretty like this, drunk on you without having a taste yet.you whine whenever he nibbles on the soft skin of your thighs, pushing your hips up a bit to urge him to hurry up. he got the memo quickly, looking up at you for approval as he got closer to wear you needed him the most. he pushed you further on the bed, that way you could lay down comfortably and jaehyun could ease the burn in his knees from being on the ground for too long. 

pushing your panties to the side, he dove straight into kissing and licking at your clit. you were embarrassingly wet, but you were too turned on to care. it was hard to focus when jaehyun ate you out like it was his last meal. your hands were in his hair as you tried to keep your moans down. you could see the way he was grinding onto your mattress, it made you clench around nothing thinking about how he was making you feel so good while chasing his own pleasure. you grind your hips into his face and he moans into your cunt, you feel it everywhere.

his fingers that were wrapped around your legs move to press against your entrance, he easily slips two fingers inside while he keeps his lips wrapped around your sensitive clit. the way his fingers press against your walls so nicely, and they’re so long, you know you won't be able to hold out much longer before your orgasm comes. 

“j-jaehyun, m’gonna cum-'' you weren't sure that your words were even coherent, but jaehyun heard you loud and clear. he moved his fingers faster inside of you, desperate to feel you cum around him. 

“yes, cum for me, wanna make you feel good”

soon after that you feel that wave of pleasure crash through you and you bite back a scream. the way the orgasm took over all of your senses was overwhelming, jaehyun having you nearly black out just from giving you head. the way your hips eagerly rode out your high on his face triggered his own orgasm, hips pressing deep onto your mattress as his cum pools on your sheets. when he feels your hand push at his head to get him off you he pulls his lips from your dripping cunt, resting his head on your thigh as you two catch your breaths. 

after some hours of cuddling, you two were back at it, trying out every little fantasy jaehyun had thought about in all of his wet dreams.

a/n: first bnd fic!! hope you guys enjoyed it ^_^

[dangermousie]

Because I am a glutton for punishment, I skipped from ep 4 all the way to ep 36 and the break up.

I really really REALLY love that scene so much because it is so in character and shows how much work Xiao Yao and Tushan Jing both have to do to get to lasting happiness.

I remember at the time it aired, I saw people understandably lose their marbles going "did she just dump her boyfriend for being sexually assaulted?!" and I get where they were coming from, but this isn't really how it read to me. The situation is designed to hit at her issues.

The novel makes it clearer than the drama does than the aphrodisiac is something one can fight through the effects of with strong enough determination (and that is what it eventually turns out Jing actually did - his chastity, like a proper noble lady that he is, is intact) but it's not really that. After all, whether it was unfightable or barely fightable, even by the story as presented by creepy fam, man got sexually assaulted with the assistance of his family (literally, granny, fiancee, and brother all teamed up - that was about the only bodily autonomy that hasn't been taken from him at that point!) by any definition and there is no blame to be placed on him. Of course it wasn't right to dump him for what happened to him but also of course it makes sense with all her issues.

The thing is, Xiao Yao means it when she says she doesn't hate him. It's not that she wrongly views sexual assault as cheating (well, sort of, but it ties to her other issues about which more below.) It's that her standards are so impossible (about which more later) and her desire to fight for him is nonexistent - oh she will fight in terms of healing him or protecting him or w/e, but she will not wade into emotional messes. Ultimately, regardless of how it came to be, he now has a woman pregnant with his child (it looks like) that he can't put aside and a family that is dead set against XY. That is vvvvv messy. And he can't fight against all of that by himself but she won't wade into the muck. It was huge enough she was willing to wait for him to disentangle his family mess but that was passive waiting doing nothing. Actively getting into a Jerry Springer situation? No way.

And that is where her standards come in. She wants someone impossibly perfect. I don't mean in body - Jing is cut up and sewn up more than a sample dress pattern and she finds him physically desirable as hell. She wants someone impossibly perfect in fitting to her needs and standards and tests. If you think, the bulk of their relationship in s1 is her setting a series of tests (some consciously and some not) and he has to keep passing one after the other for the relationship to continue. And this is a test he fails for her - yes it may be expecting an insanely high standard to have him overcome the powerful aphrodisiac given him by a trusted family member to boot so he didn't expect it but she wants perfect, however impossible, or nothing. If the score is not 100, she's gonna return it back to the store.

And that's the thing - Tushan Jing rebuilt himself around her - he tailored himself to her to a crazy degree. But yet it's still not enough ultimately because no actual human being can live up to her standard; sooner or later something was going to break. Nobody can be perfect all the time in everything. Everyone who wants to be in some form of relationship needs to figure out what they will tolerate and what they won't. XY is within her rights to decide she won't tolerate giving her heart to someone who is not 100% perfect to whatever she wants BUT the outcome becomes that then she cannot have a loving romantic relationship with anyone, since people are not robots.

The interesting thing is her standards for him are the highest out of anyone in her circle - Cang Xuan fed her hands to worms and Xiang Liu is a gorgeous disaster. And it's fine for her. I think because CX she slotted as family so the issue isn't what he does but what he is (brother) and with XL they aren't in any relationship where there are any expectations.

But with Jing, she admitted to herself she loves him and there is no backstop of him being blood - so she is terrified, and the more she loves him and the more she trusts him, the more terrified she is about being hurt and so the more she loves him, the higher her standards become and the more skittish she becomes.

It's a mess. It is, as I said, not sustainable in long term - we see he spends so much of the season terrified she'll ditch and she spends so much of it skittish. A relationship with such an emotional power imbalance is doomed.

The thing that I love about post breakup is that she gets a salutary shock. She clearly thought she could cut and run - she could break up with him and move on cleanly. And then she finds out she can't. She still loves him, she still misses him, she still grieves him.

And that is so necessary - her reaction to any kind of trouble is to cut and run and it's so ingrained and so a self-protective instinct that she NEEDS to have the running not work, not protect her, so as to realize not just how important Jing is to her, but that it's worth to forgive humanity, to fight for him in messy situations, to deal with complications - because that is the only way she can be happy, that escape doesn't solve things. She needs to realize that abandoning doesn't work, that he's important enough to her life to stick around and fight for him.

And of course Jing needs to realize that kindness is great and retiring is great and all that but bad people will NOT leave you alone, will not leave those you love alone, so you need to fight.

It's an interesting and telling gender reversal.

[safficranger]

Fake Scenarios In My Head #15

Casey stood in front of the mirror in her walk-in closet. Her eyes wandered over every detail of her reflection, her nervous hands smoothing the folds of her dress or flicking away invisible dust.

"Now I look like I'm going to a funeral," she said, trying to keep her voice from sounding whiny.

"I hardly think so," came Olivia's voice from the phone, which Casey had put on speaker and placed on a nearby shelf.

"Makes me look pale. Add a dark veil, and you can call me 'Widow Casey.'"

"Now you're being dramatic," Olivia laughed. "Want to send me another picture?"

"No, I'm changing!"

"Or should I come over?"

"Can you please stay on the phone a little longer?"

"Sure." It sounded like Olivia was holding back a sigh. Casey felt a pang of guilt for keeping her friend on the phone so long.

She pulled out another dress and stepped back in front of the mirror, holding it up to her body. "Okay, this one... it's... blue. Do you remember the wedding last summer? I wore that dress."

"I remember, yes. A very nice dress. Blue always looks good on you!" Olivia's voice came over the speaker.

Casey turned from side to side, critically examining herself from all angles. "I don't know... It just doesn't feel right."

"Casey, what's really going on?" Olivia finally asked. "It's not just the dress, is it?"

Casey paused, her eyes meeting her own reflection. She swallowed hard, and her voice was barely a whisper as she replied, "I think I'm scared. I feel out of place. I don't belong at fancy dinner parties."

Olivia's voice was soft and reassuring. "You're worrying too much. Everything will be fine. You're amazing, and everyone will see that. Trust in that."

Casey took a deep breath. "I don't know, Liv. A gala dinner with cocktails afterward. What does that even mean?" She spoke faster, her voice growing more anxious with each word. "Why did Alex even invite me? I'm just going to embarrass her. I'm Cinderella in a stolen dress."

"Casey, you're exaggerating. Don't sell yourself short. You know Alex wants you by her side because she loves you."

Casey sighed, fighting the nausea rising within her. "Her father will be there," she finally said quietly.

"Oh," there was a brief silence on the other end of the line. "Now I understand," Olivia finally added.

"What if I'm not good enough?"

"Alex loves you, and her father will see that too. It's understandable that you're nervous, but you have nothing to fear," Olivia replied sympathetically but firmly.

"I... know." Casey's thoughts swirled, and she couldn't bear to look in the mirror any longer. "I... need a shower. I'll call you back later." She put the phone back to her ear. "Thank you, Liv."

"You're welcome! Let me know if there's anything else I can do," Olivia responded gently. "And please, don't drive yourself crazy."

Casey ended the call and closed her eyes for a few moments. Taking deep breaths, she tried to control the nausea and at least slow down her thoughts.

"Olivia is right, love."

Casey froze, her back still to the door, startled by her girlfriend's voice.

"How long have you been standing there?" she asked uncertainly.

"Long enough." Alex stepped behind her, gently wrapped her arms around her waist, and pulled her closer. "You look beautiful in that dress." She kissed Casey's shoulder softly. "You're clever, intelligent, charming, warm, and..." the second kiss moved towards Casey's pulse point. "...did I mention you're hot?”

Casey could feel the tension in her body begin to ease. The safe embrace of the woman she loved, her soothing voice, and her gentle kisses worked wonders.

"You don't have to feel obligated to take me with you," she still couldn't shake her insecurity.

"I'm not. I invited you because I'm proud to have you by my side. Because you're my girlfriend." Alex reassured her.

Casey slowly turned around in Alex's arms so that they were facing each other. She searched Alex's eyes for the truth behind her words and found only sincere affection and love. Alex brushed a strand of hair from her smiled warmly.

"Your father... I..." Casey began, but Alex smiled gently and interrupted her.

"He's not as bad as you think. And I'm sure he'll love you."

"But what do I have to offer? I don't have a big name, no..."

"Casey, please." Alex interrupted her again. "None of that matters to my father. He's not looking for a new business partner."

"What matters?" Casey asked quietly.

"I love you! And you make me happy. That's what really counts. That's what my father really cares about," Alex explained emphatically.

"I love you too." Casey felt her insecurity slowly melting away.

"And to quote Olivia again... Don't sell yourself short. You're an impressive woman, Casey. You've achieved a lot and have a big heart."

"Now you're flattering me," Casey said with a shy smile.

"Just stating facts." Alex kissed her gently and felt Casey snuggle against her.

"Better?" Alex asked, and Casey nodded with a wide smile.

"Good Girl." Alex's lips curved into a mischievous grin. "Did I hear correctly that you want to take a shower?"

Casey blushed slightly and nodded. "Yes, I thought it would help me relax."

"How about I join you and make sure you really relax?" Alex's voice was soft and seductive.

[laughterfixs]

No Naps

No Naps

Summary:

The plaza has been rebuilt and its animatronics all fixed up and put back to their former glory. 

Eclipse is now the main daycare attendant running the show. But Sun and Moon notice something…off about the eldest brother. They immediately alert their mother to get to the root of the issue

It had been a good three months since the pizzaplex reopened. 

And so far it seemed things were finally getting back to normal. 

No incidents, no crazy animatronics from underground showing up, no weird viruses. 

No, for once, it was peaceful. The daycare was winding down, Eclipse in charge now with his two brothers being able to relax in their shared mindscape, only being able to interact with the digital world whenever one of them was fronting. 

Eclipse spent that last hour cleaning and putting things up and generally just making sure everything was where it needed to be. 

From the digital scape where Sun and moon could see everything since Eclipse was rebooted, the twins watched their older brother take care of well….everything. 

“Eclipse?” Sun asked while they watched Eclipse clean. “Are you sure you don’t want one of us to take over? You’ve worked really hard today…”

“You keep pushing and you’ll pop a wire…” Moon muttered, jolting as Sun elbowed him in the ribs. “Ghk! Ow!” 

“Shh. What Moon means is, we don’t want you to overwork yourself.” 

Eclipse hummed a chuckle and shook his head. 

“Oh I’m fine guys! You’ve been doing this for so long. I’ll be fine!” 

Sun and Moon looked at each other. Then back to Eclipse. 

“Are you sure Clipsey…?” Sun asked again. 

“Positive! It’s all super! You deserve a long break too!” Eclipse smiled as he walked off to get more work done. Though once he was far enough, he sighed to himself. He had to work hard. He had to prove he was useful…he was good. Or else…they may shut him down, take him away from Sun and Moon again…he couldn’t go back in a nap. He just couldn’t! 

The twins looked at each other as Eclipse walked off. 

“Think we should talk to mom?” Sun asked. 

“Maybe…” Moon sighed. “Maybe she can talk some sense into him. Before he ends up making himself collapse.” 

The two floated up to the balcony where their mother was sleeping. 

“Mooom, can we talk to you?” Sun called, scooting over to sit beside the large dragon’s head, the sleeping beast that hid in the loft of the daycare. 

She gave no answer however, just slumbered away. 

“Mom?” Sun called again while Moon facepalmed. 

“Right…mom can’t hear us in the digiscape…” 

“Oh…shoot…what do we do now?” 

“Have to get her attention another way.” Moon sighed. He looked around and grabbed one of the barrel towers, tossing it a bit of ways away. The squeaky sound caused Ana’s ears to perk immediately. She lifted her head and blinked the sleep out of her eyes. 

“Boys..?” Ana yawned. “That you?” 

Moon grabbed another barrel. “Sun help me out.” 

“Ohhh…we’re making such a mess…”

“We’ll clean it later. For now, mom needs to talk to Eclipse and he’s not going to tell her on his own.” 

Sun sighed but complied with his brother. Ana watched tiredly as the two moved things around, though from her perspective it just looked like things were moving on their own.  

She stood, seeing for the moment, things stopped moving. The dragon tilted her head as she sees the barrels were spelling words. 

MOM CLIPE

“Clipe…?” 

Moon looked to Sun. “We really need to get you spelling lessons…” 

“I know how to spell Clipsey’s name! It’s just hard to make an S with the barrels! And we only had so many!”

Moon sighed. Until Ana called again. 

“Boys. You talkin bout Eclipse?” She flipped a barrel over. “Sun side for yes, moon side for no.” 

“Oooh! That’s a smart idea!” Sun clapped while Moon took the barrel and flipped it to the sun side. 

“Okay…is he alright?” 

Moon bit his lip. He flipped the barrel to the moon side and then again to the sun side. It made Ana tilt her head. 

“…is that a ‘I don’t know’?” 

It stayed on the Sun side. 

“Alright…want me to talk to him?” 

Moon left it on the Sun side, pushing it toward her. 

Ana nodded. 

“Alright…leave it to me sugastars.”

Sun and moon sighed in relief as their mother left the loft. 

“Okay…if anyone can get Eclipse to talk it’ll be mom..” 

Moon nodded in agreement with his brother. 

“Let’s hope…mom sure doesn’t let anything slip past her…”

Ana jumped down to the floor of the daycare and did a quick scan to look for her eldest. There he was, organizing the nap time mats. She slowly walked over to him. 

“Eclipse?” Ana beckoned gently, causing the bot to jump. 

“O-oh! Mom! I didn’t think you were awake! I’m sorry, was I too loud? I can be quieter!” 

But Ana shook her head. “No, dawnrose. Yer brothers woke me up, not you. Seems they’re a bit worried about you.” 

Eclipse blinked and forced a chuckle.

“W-worried? About me? Ohoho that’s silly! I’m right as rain!”

Ana tilted her head a bit. She laid down in front of the attendant. He started looking a bit more nervous. 

“Ya sure? I know ya been working pretty hard lately…And I’m pretty sure I’ve only seen ya give Sun or Moon the wheel after hours…”

“W-well uh…I want them to be able to spend time with you and-and they’ve worked hard for the past few years and I just…want to give them a nice long break…”

Ana rumbled lightly and leaned her head down to nuzzle Eclipse’s hat. 

“Is that all hun? You know you three are supposed to be a team. You can switch out with them during work too and-“

“NO!”

Ana jumped as Eclipse suddenly snapped, something he…well never did. He was usually so quiet and soft spoken, he rarely raised his voice unless he was pushed enough…

She blinked at him, seeing Eclipse cover his mouth and shrink his rays in. 

“I-I-I’m sososo sorry mom, I didn’t mean to, I-I-I-I”

“Eclipse.” Ana interrupted, her voice stern but caring. “Talk to me hun. What’s wrong lately? Why are you so against switching with yer brothers? Out of the three of you, ya never struck me as the one who doesn’t like to share…”

Eclipse fiddled with his hands, fighting with the tightness in his chest. Ana lowered her head to try and get him to look at her. 

“Dawnrose…please suga-”

“I don’t want to go back.” 

“Go back? What do you-“

Ana was taken back as Eclipse started crying, though she didn’t hesitate to hug him to her chest. Eclipse clutched her fur, sobbing against her. 

“It’s alright hun, it’s okay…”

But Eclipse shook his head, hiccuping through his tears. 

“It’s not! I don’t want to go back! What if I get stuck again?! What if Sun and Moon get infected again and-and no one reboots us! What if I wake up to the daycare in ruins again!? I don’t want that! I don’t want to be trapped in a nap again! I don’t want to nap…!” 

Ana frowned, rubbing her eldest star’s back as he released everything. 

“Is that why you’ve been takin charge so much…?” 

Eclipse sniffed and nodded with a whimper. 

“Oh sugar star…”

“I-I’m so selfish aren’t I…hardly letting Sun and Moon out just cause I don’t want to get stuck again.” He hiccuped and buried his face into the fur before him. “I-I’m such a bad big brother!”

“Now you stop that. Yer not selfish, yer not a bad brother…yer scared. And for good reason. What you boys went through was traumatic. What you went through was traumatic. And ya ain’t keepin them from comin out, yer just keepin them from workin and helping you.”

Eclipse wiped his eyes, leaning against the dragon as he processed her words. 

“St-still…I know it isn’t right and…I just kept doing it…I’m so scared of napping and not waking up again for who knows how long…” 

Ana softened her eyes on him and hummed. 

“Well, you want to know something?”

“Wh-what?”

The dragon lowered her head and nuzzled noses with him. 

“Should anything like that happen, yer brothers and I will find a way to bring you right back. I ain’t gonna let ya disappear like that, I wouldn’t just leave yer brothers to get infected either.”

“H-how can you promise that…?”

Ana chuckled at his question. “Cause I’m yer mother, and you’d be amazed what I’d go through to make sure you boys are with me, safe and happy.” She nuzzled under his crescent, getting a slight giggle. 

“Mahaham!” 

“There’s my lil dawnrose’s sweet smile~ maybe we should find a way to keep that smile on there, hm?” 

Eclipse flinched a bit, giving his mother a nervous look as he backed away again. 

“M-mahaham…n-now there’s no need to-to EEP!”

Eclipse tripped as he backed up, Ana catching him with her tail. 

“Nuh uh, suga, you know the rules by now. When my sugastars are upset and have gotten all their frustrations out. It’s time to put a smile back on their sweet lil faces~” 

Eclipse couldn’t help the flood of giggles that escaped him, the giddy anticipation bubbling in his circuits. 

“What’s so funny, dawnrose? I’m not even touching you!” Ana chuckled, her tail laying him in front of her. 

“B-behehe gehehentle…” 

Ana smiled down at the giggly bot and nuzzled his cheek. “Always am, baby. You know what to do when you’ve had enough. Are you ready?”

Eclipse nodded with a snicker. Ana hummed a chuckle, she started easy as she always did for her boys. Pressing her snout to Eclipse’s side and nuzzling. Unfortunately for Eclipse, he was twice more ticklish than Sun and Moon combined! Being the perfect mix of them and all. 

He let out a loud squeak and immediately leaned away from the cold nose and tickly whiskers. 

“EEEHEHEE! Mahahaham! Ohoho stahahars!” 

“I’m barely doing anything~ you can’t possibly be this ticklish, suga~” 

“I-Ihihi ahahaham! Y-your pffteehehehee snrkhkheehee! Your whihihiskehehers!” 

Ana chuckled with him, enjoying playing with him and hearing him genuinely laugh again. 

“My whiskers? Are they that tickly Clipsey? What if I nuzzle…” she moved her head and started nuzzling around his belly. 

“Kh-KEEHEHEHEE! Oh stahaHAHARS! Not-nyahat my-mihi tuhuhuhummy! Mahahamaaahahahaaa!!”

“Ohh but I love gettin yer tummies~ y'all get squeakier than a batch of croc hatchlings~” 

Eclipse snorted at the comparison and shook his head. 

“Nyoohohohoho!” 

“Oh that’s right, yer more like my lil fluttering squeaky bats~” Ana teased with a giggle of her own. “Tiiickle tickle my sweet lil rose~” 

“Ohoho dohont tehehehease!” Eclipse begged, kicking his legs but hardly making an effort to escape his mothers tickly muzzle. 

“Why not~ I thought you boys loved the teasing~ all the tick tick tickies and kitchie koos.” All while she teased, her claws playfully crawled around his sides and belly. 

Between it all, Eclipse spun his rays, his hat flying off his head and cackled, bringing his arms to his chest while he leaned and tilted his torso away on instinct. 

“Ohohoho eee! Oh stahahahars! You-you are sohoho meheHEHEAAAN!!” Eclipse squealed as Ana’s claw found his dent. 

“NONONO NYAHAHAT THEHEHERE! MYAHAHAHAHAAAM!” 

Ana chuckled, lightly tracing around the little dent on his tummy, mimicking that of a belly button on a doll. 

“I swear this spot and yer rays are yer worst spots huh~? Even more so than on yer brothers~”

“NYAHAHAHAA!” 

Ana stopped a moment to let him breathe. She kept a paw over his belly, while he giggled and lowered his arms to hold her paw. 

“You-you stohopped?” He snickered, almost sounding disappointed. 

“Oh not even close hun.” Ana chuckled. “Just don’t wanna overwhelm you. Yer gettin the full treatment tonight~” 

Eclipse grinned anxiously. But excited too. He had begun to love this game with their mother as much as his brothers did. It was nuts how much it helped him feel so much better. 

Ana gently lifted his arms, keeping them above his head.

“Okay. You ready?” 

Eclipse nodded. “R-ready m-mama..”

Ana licked his nose assuringly. Then her claws gently and teasingly skated over the ball joints under his arms. Eclipse yelped and fought to keep his arms up. But his mother’s claws made it extremely difficult as they expertly scritched and glided over the metal. 

“Ohohoho geheheheez! Nonononyohohoho! Ihihit tihihihiAHAHahahahiiickles!!” 

“It tiackles? Well that’s odd, it’s supposed to tickle.” Ana hummed playfully. “Hang on, let’s test here.” She started gently playing with the wires between her fingers, gently rolling them and using her claws to glide across them. 

“Does this tickle dawnrose~?”

“SQUEAAHAHAHAHAHAA!! OHOHOHO MY GAHAHAHAAASH! YES YEHEHEHES YES! IHIHIT TIIHIHICKLES! MAHAHAMAHAAA NOTTHEWIRESPLEHEHEHEASE!!” 

Immediately Ana stopped and let him catch his breath again. 

“Okay, so wires, dent and rays are the bad spots.” She chuckled. “You okay?” 

Eclipse giggled but nodded. 

“I-I’m okahahay. I’m hahaving fun ahactually.” 

“I’m glad.” Ana smiled before starting to nuzzle his rays. “Gonna keep going okay?” 

Eclipse nodded with a giggle, her whiskers on his rays always got him in a stream. 

“Ohohokahahay! Eep! Why-whihi the rahahahays?!”

Ana chuffed against them, earning another quick squeal from Eclipse thanks to the quick puff of air on his rays. 

“Cause they’re cute, I love seeing how expressive they are and I know you and Sun love getting any kind of attention here.” 

Eclipse felt his face heat up at the loving words. He turned away with more giggles. 

“Now don’t you hide from me mister~!” Ana cooed, bringing a claw around to scratch his rays. 

“AHYEEHEHEHEHEE! Mahaham no! Ohoho my rahahahays!!” 

She chuckled pressing a few kisses to his cheek before stopping and leaving his rays alone. 

Eclipse winded down again. 

“Ohoho gohosh…you’re too goohood at thihis…” 

“Well I am yer mom hun.” Ana smirked. “I’m supposed to know how to help you boys feel better and forget all the badness in the day~” she licked his face again. 

“Ready for one more trick I know worked wonders on Sun and Moon?” 

Eclipse blinked curiously. He hadn’t known much bout his brothers’ games in the past. Usually as they wanted eclipse to find out for himself. 

“Oh sure!” 

Ana nodded, laying him in her arms and taking his slippers off revealing the orange lil feet and blue paw pads decorated with golden sparkles. 

“Ready hun?” 

Eclipse looked up at her, nervous and confused. He…really had no idea how bad his feet were. This was the first time his mother fully explored his tickle spots. 

“Uhm…I-I think so..?” 

Ana smiled sweetly and nuzzled his cheek. “If it’s too much-“ 

“I know. Say red. It’s okay mom, I can handle it.” Eclipse smiled. Ana smiled and nodded. She brought her tail around and dusted the bottoms with the fluffy tip. 

Eclipse, not remotely prepared for it, yelped and immediately tried to yank his legs away, falling into a snorting fit. 

“W-wahahait! Wait wait wahahahait! Ohohoho my gohohosh! That’s bahad! Eeehehehe! Pfftahahahaa!! Ohoho stahars, ihihit tihihickles!” 

Ana chuckled, that was about what she expected. She paid close attention to him, but he gave no sign of stopping yet. 

“Hang in there dawnrose…this might be worse.” 

Her claws came around, gently scratching under and between his toes. 

Eclipse’s eyes went wide. He screamed in loud laughter that Ana had no idea he was even capable of. 

“GYAHAHAHAAAAHAHAA!! OHOHOHO NONONO MAHAHAHAM PLEHEHEHEASE AAAHAHAHAHAHAA OKOKOKOKAHAHAY RED! REDRED REHEHEHED!!” 

Ana immediately stopped, letting Eclipse pull his feet away and rubbed them together to get rid of the tickly phantom tingles that remained. 

“You okay?” Ana asked, slightly concerned that she went too far. 

“I…Ihim okay mahaham…hooohehehe…I had no idea I was so ticklish…” 

Ana hummed a chuckle and nuzzled him. “Nice to learn about yerself huh?”

Eclipse giggled and nodded. He then yawned not a second after. 

“…I think I’m ready for a nap…” 

Ana nodded with a smile. “Yer welcome to take one hun…yer brothers and I can look after you and everything else.” 

Eclipse nodded but frowned a moment later. 

“Hey…mom?” 

“Hm?” 

“Just…thank you…for everything. I got so scared I didn’t even think about having you should…things go awry again…I didn’t want sun and moon to be alone again…” 

Ana blinked at him. She went to say something but he spoke up again. 

“I just want you to know…I’m really grateful…and I love you.” 

Ana lowered her ears, a smile coming to her muzzle as she bonked and nuzzled foreheads with him. 

“I love you too sweetheart…I promised Sun and Moon I’d look after them, I’m making that promise to you too…” 

Eclipse smiled. He yawned again and hugged her fur, shutting his eyes as his colors slowly shifted. 

“Night mom…” 

“Goodnight my dawnrose…” 

She watched as Eclipse powered off and Sun took over the body. He blinked and looked up at her. 

“Is…is Clipsey okay?” 

Ana chuckled and nodded. 

“Yes firefly…I’m sure he’ll tell you everything when he wakes up again…for now be a bit patient with him okay? He’s had a long day.” 

Sun nodded, looking to the side and seeing Moon pick up Eclipse slumbering digital form. He smiled as he watched Moon take him somewhere more comfortable to sleep. 

“Okay mom…” Sun relaxed back against her. “I’m glad we have you…I don’t think he would’ve talked to us so easily…” 

“Well…he’s got a lot to heal from. All of us do. But we’ll get through it together.” Ana smiled and nuzzled his cheek. 

“Just like always…” 

Sun giggled gently pushing her muzzle away. 

“Love you mama.” 

“Love you boys too…come on now. Let’s get into the loft to rest before Moon needs to patrol. And maybe I’ll give you boys yer tickles too~” 

Sun eeped at that and shrunk his rays in shyly. Before he could protest though, Ana picked him up from his middle and carried him back to the loft, jumping up onto the balcony with all the grace of a large cat. The next thing that was heard was snorts and happy giggling from Sun. Laughter, as always, filling the daycare from one corner to the next. 

[riacte]

so hey guys i finished dungeon meshi yesterday and i'm still thinking about it

[holocene-sims]

friendship with my semi-hiatus ended, now this sim i made is my best friend 🤝

[dollypopup]

like. . .are any other Polin fans out there that do not give a singular flying fuck about Debling? we should form a club lol because from the very bottom of my heart and with my whole chest: I could not care less about him. Not sorry, I'm tuning into S3 for Pen and Colin and Pen and Colin alone

[altoskh]

Imso tired man. I'm so tired. Why do I work this hard I am so FUCKING over this shit

[fleshdyke]

talking abt anorexia. not a vent or anything just talkin

every time i think about my past with anorexia im always SO baffled that im like relatively normal and healthy. and alive at all tbh. like i was 10 and eating less than 100 calories per day every day and exercising until i physically couldn’t hold myself up anymore (not like that took a lot bc i didn’t eat anything but ykwim) and im just like. normal now. how

[thursdayinspace]

lol unexpected half day off. I'll take it!

[bunnihearted]

🍷

[twisted-leader-of-something]

The Centenary

Something was here.

Something was there.

Some big event was here, forboding across the land. And most couldn't see it.

But Ramshackle Dorm could.

Grim embraced the kindness being shown to him, while Yuu and Quentin. . . were more nervous about the situation.

Everyone around them was more generous than the three remembered, especially at Night Raven College.

More parties and celebrations being thrown for no real reason.

There was more joy in the air. And it seems everything felt that joy.

Well, all but Ramshackle dorm.

It was. . . interesting.

Friends where suddenly more willing to pay for lunch, less homework and schoolwork from teachers.

Everyone was still, well, everyone just with more. . . generosity.

It was strange.

Strange times indeed.

"Dorm Leader Nighty-Sallow!" Yuu called out and Grim came into Ramshackle's dorm lounge to their dorm leader, sitting in her rocking chair.

"Yes?" Quentin answered, stopping what she was doing.

"I found these strange coins!" Yuu proclaimed.

"Even stranger than the other coins with the strange symbols and 100s on them?" Quentin asked, to which Yuu nodded before pulling out three coins-all with pictures of them on it with the strange symbols and 100s plus another set of symbols for their pocket, and putting it on the table.

Grim's chest puffed out with pride. "It's nice to know we're finally getting the recognition we deserve, especially me!"

"But who would do this? And why coins?" Yuu asked, with a hint of worry in their voice.

Quentin pulled out her magical pen-and the coins glowed with magical power for a moment before falling back on the table. "I can't find anything. It seems like totally normal coins."

"Huh." Yuu said in confusion, but Grim's chest puffed out again.

"See! It's a coin of recognition! Someone finally recognizes us for our hard work!"

"But who made it?" Yuu asked, once again.

"Could be the same people made this 100 coins." Quentin said. "And Yuu seems to be able to find use of it, so if you want to keep it Yuu, you can keep it."

"Really?" Yuu asked, with a face that Quentin couldn't tell was joy, confusion, or disgust, so it probably was a mix of all of them.

"Yes. My magic has determined they're harmless, so I don't see anything bad about keeping them if they might help you with whatever you're doing."

Yuu nodded. The coins stayed in Yuu's possession.

"We're going to the National Art Museum in the Land of Dawn!" Dire Crowley smiled to the other dorm leaders.

He'd called an emergency dorm leader meeting. . . for a sudden announcement?

Typical Crowley. Quentin looked at the cheery old crow with scorn.

"I'm sorry?" Riddle Rosehearts, Heartslabyul's dorm leader asked, clearly confused.

But Quentin knew Riddle. Riddle wasn't asking a question, he was panicking at the suddenness of the Dire Crowley's announcement.

"Yay!" Kalim smiled, even pumping his fist in the air before the tattooed boy blinked a few time sand dawned a confused face. "Wait. Where is the Museum?"

"In the Land of Dawn, didn't you listen?" Leona Kingscholar spoke up, his ears twitching in irritation.

"Right, sorry." Kalim rubbed the back of his head.

"An Art Museum?" Malleus leaned over to Quentin.

"It's like an art gallery, only it's more for the public than for one family," Quentin answered to which Malleus nodded.

"Why, exactly?" Azul Ashengrotto spoke up.

"Because they're holding an anniversary party for a '100 years'!" Dire Crowley cheerfully said, making almost everyone in the room sigh.

"We've got a free pass to the Museum because there's an event going on and you've always wanted to go there, didn't you?" Quentin simply looked at Crowley.

"My Ms. Nighty-Sallow! You make it sound like I planned this out!"

"Because I'm pretty sure you did." Quentin sighed and the tablet in the room, representing Idia, made a snickering noise.

"Quentin realy said no mercy today. We stan a girl who ran out of fucks to give." Idia giggled.

"It's true that the Nation Museum of Art in the Land of Dawn is famous for its' art, but this truly is a once-in-a-lifetime for you all as well! We've been invited to the celebration afterward as well!" Crowley said.

"A party?" Vil Schoenheit commented, and Crowley nodded enthusiastically, seeing to make the Pormfoire dorm leader cringe.

Quentin narrowed her eyes at Crowley then looked around the room-the other dorm leaders, besides Kalim, didn't seem all that interested in the event, and if Quentin was honest, neither was she.

A Party? With art people?

No, thank you. Quentin already had enough pretentious people to deal with in her life.

"I'm sorry, Headmaster." Quentin said formally, seeming to grab Crowley's, and well as everyone else's attention. "I don't think I, or my dormmates for that matter, will make to the event. After all, I, much less Ramshackle dorm have no formal clothing for a centenury event, much less have the resources to get there on our own plus our school obligations will prohibit us from fully joining the event because we've been so busy lately. Please go without us."

The other dorm leaders seemed to catch on to what Quentin was saying and they shot smirks at her as if to tell her she'd done a good job, well, besides Kalim, who seemed to be downtrodden at the mention of Ramshackle's financial situation and Crowley who seemed surprised for a moment.

"Aw!" Kalim said, rushing over to the other side of the table and holding unto Quentin's hands seeming to tear up. "You all can't go?"

"I'm sorry Kalim. Ramshackle just doesn't have the resources like the other dorms all do." Quentin said. "We'll have to sit this event out."

But before Quentin could even relish in her clever comeback to Crowley's proclamation, Crowley spoke back. "Oh, there's no need to worry about that."

Several 'Tch!' noises sounded through the air as well as a small laugh from Malleus.

"Because it's a school event! The school will provide the outfits necessary and the transportation."

"Oh, I see." Quentin said, to which Kalim tackled her into her chair with hug.

"Isn't it great Ramshackle can go?!" Kalim smiled.

"Indeed, it is." Quentin said, sighing.

So, Quentin walked back to her dorm and told her dormmates.

"We've got a celebration to go to tomorrow," Quentin told Yuu and Grim, making them confused.

"For what?" Yuu asked.

"We've been invited to an art museum and Crowley wants the whole school to go." Quentin said.

"What's an art musuem?" Grim asked.

"It's a place where pieces of art are put in one place. Normally it's a public place." Quentin answered.

Grim nodded in understanding.

"There's a party afterwords and we're also going to that as well."

"Really?!" Grim's eyes lit up.

"Yup." Quentin sighed.

"When is this party?"

"Tomorrow."

"TOMORROW?!" Yuu and Grim said in almost complete unison, though with completely different tones.

"YES!" Grim cheered, bouncing up and down with his whole body with pure joy.

Yuu, on the other hand, was not happy. They seemed rather confused and worried. "Isn't that too sudden?"

Quentin sighed. "You know that old crow. He does what he pleases."

Yuu sighed as well before smiling. "Well, at least we're getting out of school for this."

Quentin then smiled herself. "Yes, that's one bonus."

The next day, the dorm found a box.

"Open it! Open it!" Grim cheered from his dorm leader's shoulder.

"I'm working on it, Grim." Quentin teased and opened the box.

Inside the box was. . . outfits.

"Outfits?" Yuu questioned.

"This must be Crowley's outfits for us." Quentin said. "I feel bad for Crewel."

"I want to try it on!" Grim said.

"Grim, we have to-"

"I WANT TO PUT IT ON!" Grim quoted, even throwing himself into the box and clinging to the fabric with all the power his tiny paws could muster.

"Grim, listen to me!" Quentin picked up the cat, who still clung to the fabric but seemed to be listening. "We can put them on after we eat breakfast! None us have eaten yet!"

Grim lit up and the proposition. "Oh yeah! Of course we can!"

Grim then let go of the shiny fabric and went rushing towards the kitchen and Quentin and Yuu looked at each other before laughing their way to the kitchen.

After a decent breakfast, Grim insisted the group try on the outfits in his and Yuu's room. So, with a very insistent Grim, Quentin brought the box to the duo's room.

After laying out the outfits, there were three of them, each in a bag with each of their names on it.

A small bag that had the name 'Grim', there was a small silver and purple suit that Grim enthusiastically put on when he saw how sparkly he was. He had a silver sparkly long suit jacket with silver buttons, a white shirt with the same silver buttons, a purple pair of pants with silver buttons, and a small black bowtie. But, after a while, Grim seemed to be struggling to put on the pants before he gave a pleading look to Quentin, a signal he needed help.

Quentin gave a sigh then a smile then looked at Yuu. "I'll help Grim put on the suit. You go put on your outfit in the bathroom, if you need help, I'm here to help. I'll put on my outfit when I know you two have yours on."

To which, Yuu nodded, grabbed the bag with their name on it, and then went out the door, hopefully to go to the bathroom.

Soon enough, Quentin went back to what she was doing and helped Grim into his clothes. First, the pants were a lot more form-fitting than what Grim was used to since, well, he normally doesn't wear anything.

"Hey, is 100 years a long time?" Grim asked, seeming genuine.

Quentin laughed. "As a human, I think so."

"That's not a good answer." Grim pouted as Quentin finished buttoning up his vest, which honestly acted more like a vest.

"I'm serious." Quentin smiled at Grim before she pulled out the coat. "Everything has its own sense of time. Humans only live around 100 years, so for us, it's a long time. But to other species, that may not be as long. Some Beastman can live longer than humans, so they think it's a shorter amount of time, like a few years. And the Fae, well, to them a hundred years feels a little more than what we call a year."

Grim looked at her in wonder. "How long will I live?"

Quentin laughed again. "That depends on you."

Grim looked confused as Quentin adjusted his coat and continued, "I'm not sure what kind of monster you are, so I can't tell you how long you're expected to live. But I can tell you this-as long as you take care of yourself, you'll live a long life."

Grim looked at Quentin for a moment and then spoke again, "So then, what's a 'legecy', and how do I make it?"

Quentin looked at Grim in confusion, but then stopped, as she seemed to have finished. "Ah. Has Crewel been talking about it?"

Grim nodded.

Quentin sighed. "A Legecy-is complicated."

"Complicated?" Grim tilted his head.

"A legacy is something you leave behind after you've done something. It's what happens after an action. It can be good, it can be bad. Like a magical war leaves a legacy of damage to anything around it, or a magician can leave a legacy of people wanting to learn magic as well."

Grim's face scrunched. "That is complicated."

But QUetin quickly grabbed Grim in her arms and hugged him before Grim started to protest. "But you don't have to worry about it. It's too early for you to worry about your actions just yet. You're a young magician. It's okay to be irresponsible while you're learning how to deal with magic. I was irresponsible with my magic when I was still learning how to use it"

Grim looked at his dorm leader seriously. "Really?"

Quentin laughed. "I've done so many stupid things. I used to love flying on a broom-and I'd chase people around just for fun on my broom, or go to the highest place I could when people told me not to. Or I'd play with magical animals that weren't safe for me. I think it's better you learn your magic in a safe place than in the real world-where things can get complicated if you make one wrong move and they'll get mad at you."

Grim looked at Quentin-and but there was nothing there. There was nothing in those eyes of hers. A dead woman lived in those eyes. but Grim didn't have much time to study Quentin before not for long as Yuu walked in their outfit, and all of a sudden-the light in her eyes came back.

"What are you two doing?" Yuu asked.

"Waiting for you!" Grim said, jumping out of Quentin's arms and towards where Yuu was standing.

"You look good." Quentin stood up and looked at Yuu. "I think it suits you. You look like a polished diamond."

"Of my minion does!" Grim said cheerfully as Yuu blushed. "Only we could see their true worth before, but now the outfit they're wearing really shows it."

"Indeed it does. I bet the boys will regret ever treating you badly. after they see you" Quentin laughed

Yuu was starting to become the same color as Riddle face when he was mad. But they thought quickly and grabbed the bag with the dorm leader's name on it. "Are you going to make us do a fasion show by ourselves? Put yours on!"

"Sure, sure." Quentin said and she quickly cast a spell to put on her version of the purple and silver clothes.

The Dorm Leader's outfit was a dress silver princess dress with see-through silver sleeves and a huge white bow with a smaller purple bow on the inside and a purple strand flowing down the dress across the waistband of the dress with a silver asymmetrical skirt with a purple lining underneath. She also had a pair of matching purple gloves with a single silver bracelet on her left wrist and a pinwheel silver bow with a purple gem in her hair.

"You look beatiful, too." Yuu offered.

"Pfft." Quentin laughed as she put an arm around Yuu, the kind of way a close friend would when trying to tease, to pull you towards a place, to hold close and show that you were there. "No way. You look more beautiful then me!"

"No way!" Yuu laughed and pushed on back playfully.

But before the group could say anything else, a white flash of light came from the room, engulfing the room, and taking those inside with it.

Quentin clung to Yuu for dear life as they found themselves in a void of white, Quentin then looked around and saw Grim before quickly grabbing his hands and tucking them as close as she could into her chest as the surroundings around them seemed to be. . . almost coming into focus like a blur camera being adjusted to come back into focus.

Soon enough, Quentin's feet touched a solid surface. Then she started to see the lighting of the area, and then, she finally could see where her dorm was.

She was. . . in front of. . . what would you even call a building as big as this?

There was no way that was a house. It was simply too big for a single person. It seemed like it could fit a whole city comfortably.

A mansion? A castle?

Maybe both with how big it was.

The building in front looked something like a Cape Cod-Victorian styled mansion-castle that glowed with lurid light that shined into the sky as if it was announcing the building to the world. From what Quentin could tell, the building was made from stone, which had silver and purple decorations scattered all over the building, like what looked like party decorations. Ballons and various other objects seemed to be leaking from the windows like there were too many to hold inside and could burst at any moment.

The place looked so glittering and radiant that was almost like it was begging for them to come inside. And if Quentin was honest. . . this place was beyond gaudy. It almost made her sick how extravagant this place was.

Quentin no doubt this place was hiding something. There was no way this was just a party for a celebration. that was an excuse.

This was a display of wealth.

But. . . for what?

She, Yuu and Grim were in a garden of sorts with various displays of statues flowers, and shrubbery of all kinds.

And. . . the place was filled with people coming in and out that Quentin couldn't even get a count of people. . . and filled with noise.

"Quentin. . . where are we?" Grim asked.

"I. . . don't know." Quentin answered. "Are you two okay?"

To which Yuu and Grim nodded.

"Hello!" A voice appeared out of nowhere, and a glowing disc-like mouse head with dots all over that seemed to glow in the dark appeared out of nowhere, as well as a pair of gloved hands coming from the flat disc-like head.

Yuu and Grim let out a screech in panic while Quentin tried to pull out the dorm weapon. . . which had turned into a. . . white cane?

"Oh! I'm sorry, does your world not have technology?" the flat disc-like head creature said, fearfully..

"Um, I'm sorry, where are we?" Quentin asked, putting down the cane.

"The party, of course!" the robot smiled as if trying to calm them down.

"The party?" Grim poked his head out from Quentin's neck.

"Yes! You were invited by Mickey himself, weren't you?" the flat disc-like head robot asked.

"How do you know Mickey?" Yuu asked, and the robotic being beamed.

"Why, Mickey and Minnie knows everyone! They're the ones hosting the party, after all! You three are Mickey's friends, as well, as under Oswald's protection! Mickey never, ever leaves anyone close to him out! Nor would Oswald ever let you all be forgotten!" the robot smiled.

"What are you?" Grim asked, to which the robot head smiled kindly.

"I'm Toodles, I'm here to help you!" the flat disc-like head said. "Now, I know you three don't have much time to party with us-"

"Woah, woah, woah there." Quentin said, even unintentionally slamming the cane into the ground. "We never got an invitation."

The floating flat disc-like head looked confused. "No. You did."

The robot's hands pointed to one of Yuu's pockets. To which, Yuu shuffled through their pockets pulling out the three coins that said a word, and then a "100" and the Ramshackle trio's faces on it, and when the robot saw the little coins in Yuu's hand, he beamed. "See? You have an invitation!"

"Um, how does this count as a-" Yuu asked but was quickly cut off.

"So, like I said before," the robot head started to float away and the Ramshackle trio followed him. "Mickey knows you all have business to attend to soon, but nonetheless, he still wanted you to enjoy the festivities on a day such as this. He said you all can come back later if you'd like, and he'll even provide dinner for you all."

"Dinner?!" Grim smiled, making Quentin sigh.

Toodles smiled with such optimism it kind of freaked Quentin out a little. "Yes! Should I tell him you'll be having dinner with him?!"

"Hold on, can we go to our obligation and see how we feel afterward? We've got a lot on our plate for our event." Quentin quickly jumped in, before Toodles could force them into something else.

But the robot didn't seem phased at all as he and the trio approached a large door with grand cravings on it of a mouse's head. "Why, of course, you can!"

Toodles then opened the door to reveal. . . A grand party with so many people Quentin couldn't even begin to count them. If she thought there were so many coming in and out-she was wrong. There were so many people here she couldn't get a headcount. But she noticed one thing-all of them were wearing white, purple, or both.

Just like her dorm's outfits.

And they were partying it up.

Quentin only had to look around for a few moment before she understood what kind of party this was right now.

She'd seen this kind of party before. Not exactly like this, but in a different form.

This. . . was a pure party on the verge of going into chaos.

Almost everyone where was drunk on pure ecstasy. Like all of them were truly happy.

But before Quentin could deduce what exactly what the party atmosphere was-she noticed there was a small crowd of people around the door, as if waiting for them. An anthroponotic group of animals, to be exact. She could see two white ducks, one male one female, a tall black dog-like creature, two smaller chipmunks, a yellow dog, a female black cat, a female black mouse and. . .

Wait. . . is that. . . ?

She recognized a rabbit and a mouse. They were. . . Mickey and Oswald, right?

They were the ones she saw in her dream when the school was almost taken over by Malleus' Unique Magic.

The rabbit, Oswald, if Quentin remembered right, was wearing a white top hat and rubbing a white cane with an outfit mirroring Grim's outfit, only without the buttons on his pants and an open vest.

The mouse, which if Quentin's memory served her well was Mickey, who was also wearing a similar outfit as Grim. No scratch that-it was almost the exact same outfit, where it not for the buttons on the mouse's shorts being bigger than Grim's.

"What if they got lost? Or they didn't send them here? What if-" the rabbit fretted, alongside the male mouse who had a very worried look on his face.

"Oswald," A female black cat in a white dress and hat spoke up, holding the rabbit's shoulders, and another mouse figure put her hand on the other mouse's shoulders. "Your dorm will be okay. They're probably coming with Toodles as we speak."

"I've brought the last guests, Mickey!" Toodles announced, and the group of animal's heads whipped around to look at the trio. When Oswald saw the three of them, his whole body lit up with joy.

The kind of joy that you get from your guardians when you graduate from school, or doing something great and accomplish something-a mix of pride, pure joy, hope, and love all in one bundle. That moment that you remember as a happy moment for years when you have nothing left.

"There you all are!" the black rabbit smiled, and quickly tackled the three in a bone-crushing hug. The kind of loving hug like they hadn't seen you in a long time. "I was getting worried about you three."

"Um, hi." Yuu spoke up.

"What is going on?" Grim asked.

The group of animals looked at each other for a moment in confusion but after a few moments, they all seemed to have realized something.

"Ah. It must have been so sudden for you all. Sorry 'bout that." Oswald scratched behind his head.

"I'll explain," Micket spoke up. "but first let's sit down and eat. You all must be hungry after the journey."

Grim's once more eyes lit up at the mention of food, but upon seeing his realization, he seemed to snap back to being skeptical, like Quentin and Yuu were. Despite this, none of the other animal-like creatures seemed alarmed they seemed rather relaxed.

Mickey lead the trio to a more secluded area of the party, one where you could still see and hear the party but wasn't as loud as in the main room and the other animals followed suit, almost seeming to form a circle around the Ramshackle trio as they walked towards the spot the mouse had designated.

As the group walked, Mickey kept getting called out to.

"Hey Mickey!" A boy with spikey brown hair called out. "Where did you go?"

"Hey-ya, Sora!" Mickey called back. "I was just waiting for the last of other friends!"

"Ah. The ones you said would be late?" the boy answered back. "You got to introduce me to them!"

Mickey nodded. "You betcha!"

"Mickey!" A man with elf-like apperance with red hair appeared before the Ramshackle trio upside down before looking towards the black mouse. "Are those the ones from Twisted Wonderland?"

"Yup!" Mickey nodded. "But they need some time, it being their first time with this and all."

The man gave a smirk before flying off.

"Mickey." A lion that looked. . . No. The King of Beasts said from a nearby bed. "Don't us me wait too long."

"I won't Scar!" Mickey answered back, with fear in his voice.

Mickey then guided the group up a flight of stairs, and then guided the group to a large table, and gestured to the seats, Ramshackle did find their seats, to and the other animals sat near them, especially Oswald and Mickey, who sat closest to the dorm members.

"To answer your question, Grim." Mickey said. "Well, I think it would be best if we introduce ourselves. You all know me. Just in a different form."

"Different form?" Grim questioned before Mickey nodded.

"Hold on a 'eond." Mickey smiled, before he seemed to change and. . .changed into someone they knew.

The red pants with the white buttons and big yellow shoes and black eyes with no pupils.

"Mickey!" Yuu and Grim said at the same time in joyous voice.

"Aw shucks." Mickey simply said, matching their joy and putting his hands on his hips. "Now you're embarrassing me."

Yuu and Grim seemed to relax after seeing a familiar face, but Quentin didn't.

"This is Minnie, my girlfriend," Mickey gestured to the female mouse that had comforted him earlier who gave a little wave.

"This is Goofy and Donald, who I'd mentioned earlier, Yuu." Mickey smiled, gesturing to the male duck and tall dog-like beings who smiled at the Ramshackle members.

"This is Daisy." the female duck smiled kindly and waved a little at the trio.

"This is my dog, Pluto." Mickey gesturing to the yellow dog.

"And the chipmunks you saw earlier-they where named CHip and Dale. They're off getting food." Mickey sighed.

"Or causing trouble." Donald offered.

"And but not least, this is Oswald, and his wife, Orsentia." Mickey gestured to Oswald and the cat who had comforted him eariler. Oswald and Orsentia beamed at being introduced.

"I've been waiting to meet you three ever since you were sorted into my dorm." Oswald smiled while Yuu looked confused, and now Quentin looked alarmed.

Grim, meanwhile seemed to find nothing wrong here, smirked. "Of course you have! I mean, who wouldn't want to meet the Great Grim?!" which seemed to make Yuu and Quentin sigh but made the other animals laugh.

"Oh, it's so nice Twisted Wonderland could join the party this year!" Minnie said, clapping her hands together, and a wave of nods came from the anthropomorphic animals. "Despite how old you are, you weren't invited to anything so only Mickey could really tell us anything about what was going on over there. I thought they wouldn't allow you all into the party this year, but thankfully I was wrong!"

"Yeah!" Goofy smiled. "It's nice to have some new faces around here!"

"Yeah!" Donald cheered. "I can't wait to see how your story plays out!"

After some chatting, Grim seemed to get more comfortable and Yuu seemed okay enough to go with him eventually, the two first years were led down the stairs with Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Pluto to where the food was.

Quentin watched them as they went into the main party with a look in her eyes that was hard to pinpoint. Sadness? Confusion? Unease?

"What's the long face for, my elect?" Oswald spoke up.

"I'm sorry I just-" Quentin sighed. "I don't understand. I'm really confused."

"You don't have to." Mickey simply said. "This is a party, you're here to have fun."

"That's not what I mean-" Quentin said. "What's all this about Twisted Wonderland and 'new faces'? Who is 'they'? What do you mean by 'your story'?"

Both Mickey and Oswald looked at each other for a moment before looking at Quentin with a smile on their faces. The kind of empathetic smile like they are hiding something-but not without reason. THe kind of smile Quentin saw too often.

Then Oswald took Quentin's hands. "It's alright. You don't have to understand."

"Understand what?" Quentin asked.

Oswald sighed, the kind of tired sigh like a father would give. A sigh that worries the child on the other end, despite the father not meaning to. "There are things in this world that are completely out of your understanding. Out of the laws and principles of your world. Forces beyond comprehension are at play in your everyday life. And while it is scary-it's completely okay."

"You don't have to understand everything," Mickey added, also taking Quentin's hands, placing his on top of hers and Oswald's as if to protect them. "Actually, it may be better if you turn a blind eye to this one. You won't have to feel the pain like we do."

"Pain?" Quentin asked.

"Think of this as a dream." Mickey smiled and said in such a soft voice, it was like he was comforting Quentin as if trying to comfort her very being. "And I think you'll be alright."

Quentin looked at Mickey and Oswald in confusion, but the rabbit and the mouse seemed to want to change the subject, and eventually lead Quentin down the stairs into the party as well.

Mickey and Oswald lead Quentin to the food table and give Quentin one of each food despite her protests and insist she try some.

The food was good-there was many kinds to try, all oddly enough either looked like people at the party or was based on a theme and Grim and Yuu seemed to enjoy it even if people kept coming up to them.

Eventually, Quentin was surrounded by just as many people asking so many questions about her, Twisted Wonderland, what was going on that Quentin was starting to feel overwhelmed. She wasn't sure when exactly sure when she lost track of people, but she did after a while and started going through the motions, hoping she'd survive.

The Great Seven came to the trio first and spoke with the trio. They went parading the three around like favored children to a bunch other other people, who also struck up a conversation with Quentin. Quentin couldn't remember the conversation to save her life-but she thought it was mostly praise and asking about oddly specific things...

Next, Quentin remembers talking to some princesses and princes after the Great Seven, they probably asked the trio were right and then asked them a few questions.

Quentin remembers seeing the people from stories she'd read as a child-The Brave Prince, The Wicked Queen, The Designer Princess, The Lawyer, The Foreign Queen and even the Foreign Princess who all seemed to love her and treated her to lot. Quentin really felt a connection to the Foreign Princess

Next, Quentin remembers a blur of others who were like her-and the rest of it Quentin doesn't remember at all. Things blended into each other until things became as shiny as the silver on everyone's bodies.

Yuu and Grim seemed tired of talking, as after a while, they started to hide behind Quentin whenever someone came up to them like scared children hiding from strangers.

But, before anything else could happen, a clock chimed and everyone seemed to suddenly rush outside.

"What's going on?!" Quentin asked as the Foreign Princess dragged her out, but the Princess simply smiled.

"It's almost time!" the princess in blue smiled as widely as she could.

"Time?"

"It's almost 5:30 for them!" the Princess proclaimed.

Quentin looked confused, but let the princess drag her outside.

When she got outside, almost everyone was outside, looking at the sky as if waiting for something before someone started to count down.

"10!"

"9!"

"8!'

"7!"

"6!"

"5!"

"4!

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

A loud bell rang outside, and as soon as the bell rang, the loud cheer and animals calls ripped through the people around her.

Bottles popped, glasses clinked, party-poppers went off, balloons and streamers were released into the open air and people hugged each other.

A hysteria of joy flooded in the area and infected the people around her.

Quentin looked at the darkness that the light didn't touch.

And all of a sudden, she was in the party, and not in the party at the same time.

Quentin opened her eyes.

"Child of Andalasia?" Malleus Draconia called to Quentin. "Are you alright?"

Quentin reached up her hand. "I fell asleep, didn't I?"

Malleus nodded. "It is time for us to go."

Quentin laughed as she place a arm over her head. "I had a strange dream just now."

"Is that so?" Malleus asked.

"I don't remember much-only shades of silver, purple, gold and black and talking to people and something with fireworks."

Malleus seemed confused. "Was it good?"

"I think so."

[exopelagic]

okay I’m going insane I need to fix my sleep schedule now