#PLEASE that Will wood song was MADE for Bill I swear

[maximumjinx]

Steven Universe Gravity Falls AU

~Yknow what they say, if you run out of content, ya gotta make it yourself. This is a ? shot (I might continue or not who knows not me) please don’t ask for more I have 18 unfinished fanfics on this site.~

California was nice, Steven had to admit. The people were nice, the food was fantastic, and the weather was splendid. It reminded him a lot of Beach City. Though there were just so many people, and traveling north, Steven was beginning to long for something small and simple again.

Oregon was the perfect place for that, right?

“Ronaldo wants pictures of Bigfoot, and if anyone can find him, its you Steven.” Petey’s voice was faint on Steven’s phone speaker, tossed into the passenger seat as Steven blindly picked a highway exit.

“Sure Petey, but couldn’t Ronaldo just go to a circus?”

“Not big feet Steven,” Petey emphasized, “Bigfoot.”

“Saying it twice isn’t helping buddy.” Steven was half paying attention. He was focusing on the winding roads and the looming trees surrounding him. Deep, in the pit of Steven’s stomach, he felt something start to tug him toward one direction farther away from the highway. He wasn’t quite sure if it was a good or bad feeling yet.

“Forget it, I’m going to take a blurry photo of that mean Gem in the woods and say its Bigfoot.”

“Just don’t let Jasper catch you, she’s no joke when she’s angry.”

“I saw her ripping grass out of the ground I think I’ll be fine. Later dude.”

Steven heard a small click and smiled to himself. He’s happy to see how far the people of Beach City have come and how they’ve taken to the gems. He remembers when the Crystal Gems were once the outcasts of town that locals warned you to stay away from.

He looked up to see a welcome sign.

“Gravity falls. Well, that’s a funny name.”

—

Steven wanted small and simple but he feels he may have overshot it.

This small town had exactly three attractions. A town museum that mentioned marrying woodpeckers (Steven couldn’t figure out if that was a normal human thing, like taxes and velcro), a small diner, and as one local described it ‘some tourist trap’ deep in the woods. It was a sticky summer day and the former two attractions didn’t have airconditioning. Steven gambled on the last stop in hopes of stretching his legs and maybe finding a source to the strange feeling in his gut. It had become much stronger since he entered this small town. Alluring, but nothing related to Gems as far as Steven could tell.

He parked in the nearly empty lot and stepped out. Jacket wrapped loosely around his hips, Steven made his way inside.

A girl that looked about 13 was petting a pig on the front porch. She was incredibly reflective, and depsite the heat wore a knitted bedazzled sweater that made her glow like a disco ball in the sun.

She looked Steven up and down as he approached, a wide smile taking up her face and Steven saw bright braces with colored bands.

“Hi!” She launched upwards, startling the pig away, “I’m Mabel, but you can call me anytime.” The girl winked and stuck out her hand, palm facing the floor.

Steven blinked.

“Mabel, stop scaring away the customers!” A gruff voice yelled through the screen door, and soon an older man stepped out in a suit, wearing a fez and eyepatch.

Immediately the old man squinted at Steven, sizing him up.

Stanley Pines knew this teen wasn’t local, but he wasn’t sure if he had any money. For all he knew he was another boy trying to hit on his giftshop cashier, Wendy.

Oh well, a customer is a customer.

“Come in, come in, and see our mystical and magical wonders!”

“Magical?” This could be it, Steven could figure out why this town has felt off. Maybe it was gem related after all.

Quickly this older man who had introduced himself as Mr. Mystery gave Steven a tour of what looked like failed taxidermy projects. Now Steven may have a lived a sheltered childhood, but he felt pretty confident there was no such thing as a Sashcrotch. And so far, nothing had felt magical or mysterious.

“That concludes our tour! Here is our mistifying giftshop and it’s purchasable wonders!”

“Right...” Well, at the very least he was able to spend some time in airconditioning.

There was a girl behind the desk in plaid that looked about Steven’s age, and just a half inch shorter than him. She looked bored, flipping through a magazine as a young boy that looked a lot like Mabel made googly eyes as he swept by the door.

Steven guessed there was no harm in asking around.

“Hi, I’m Steven.” He smiled easily, walking up to the register.

“No refunds, even if an exhibit bit you.” She sighed, peeking up before turning back to her magazine.

“Oh no, nothing bit me, I just wanted to know something.”

She looked up to get a better look at Steven and gave a small smirk.

“Sure, but only because I like your shirt. Mr. Universe merch, now that’s a deep cut.”

Unbeknownst to Steven, Dipper Pines would had been watching the exchange felt a twinge of uneasiness as this out of towner talked with Wendy.

“Have you ever seen anything strange or weird actually happen in this town?”

Wendy’s smile dropped.

“Why do you ask?” Her eyes flickered to Dipper, just for a moment, and that was all he needed to rush over.

“Excuse me sir, please buy something or exit the store.” Dipper spoke in the deepest voice he could muster.

Steven looked over with a questioning expression.

“Oh sure uh-“ He blindly reached for the wad of bills that his dad had given to him before he left. Steven pulled out a hundred dollar bill and put it on the counter. Wendy looked up baffled as Steven stuffed the other cash back in his wallet.

“Boy was I wrong about you kid!” Mr. Mystery, seemingly materializing out of nowhere, now bounded over. He had loosened his tie and lost the eyepatch which turned out he never needed.

“Whaddya wanna know? I’ll tell you everything. There’s gnomes in the woods you know-“

“Grunkle Stan!” Dipper protested loudly, dragging his Stan away and harshly whispering at him.

“Did you steal that money?” Wendy asked as Steven watched the pair whisper fight in the corner. He turned back to the girl and gave a sheepish smile.

“Uh no, my dad gave it to me before this roadtrip. He’s actually Mr. Universe.”

Wendy lit up.

“No freaking way! Your dad is Mr. Universe? I only got into him since he managed Sadie Killer and the Suspects and they always perform covers of his songs on tour, I can’t believe he’s your dad!” She rambled, stars in her eyes. Steven beamed, he loved when people praised his dad’s music. Greg really deserved it.

Steven learned Wendy’s name and they swapped stories back and forth, only interrupted as the girl from outside slowly rose from the behind the counter beaming.

“A cute musician that loves weird stuff, take me now.” She swooned. Steven blushed profusely, not used to the attention.

“Sorry, my girlfriend Connie probably wouldn’t like that very much.” He said gently. Mabel looked him up and down and pouted.

“I can wait, but not forever.” She warned, and winked, bounding to break apart her grunkle and Dipper, who are now whisper screaming with arms flailing.

“I wasn’t going to mention that Dorito shaped jerk! Just the normal stuff!”

“It’s dangerous! He could be a spy, or government, or another stack of gnomes!”

Steven raised an eyebrow and looked at Wendy. She chuckled and shrugged. Steven carefully approached them.

“He can hear everything you’re saying anyways so might as well tell him!” Mabel interrupted, nodding towards Steven as he came up.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m definitely not government.” Steven technically didn’t exist at all. He never had a social security card and didn’t have a birth certificate.

Dipper only glared. Rich strangers with an interest in the paranormal didn’t come through gravity falls without some kind of agenda.

Steven hated the conflict he was starting. No information was worth this family fighting.

“Okay,” he surrendered, hands up, “I’ll just go. I’ll stick around town until tomorrow if you change your minds”

“Wait Steven-”

“Let him go Wendy,” Dipper glared as the boy in pink walked out, “We can’t trust him.”

“But I was going to ask for Sadie tickets...” Wendy groaned, defeated.

“There’s something weird about him.”

“Great!” Mabel beamed, “He’ll fit right in.”

~.~

Steven wasn’t crazy about sleeping in his car, but was seriously considering it after seeing the state of his motel room. It looked like it hadn’t been used in decades, a thin line of dust covering every surface. He was also pretty sure they didn’t even have free ice. 

“Wish Pearl were here..” He mumbled, exhausted. He curled up on top of the covers, fully clothed, and let sleep take him.

Being Steven Universe however, meant rest was sure to allude the half alien. 

Steven found himself in a dark space, fog all around him. Before a word could come out of his mouth he heard a fast, repetitive muttering. 

“Stranger...Wendy looked pretty today..Can’t trust...Tell no one...Ford isn’t here..”

“What, the-” Steven quietly walked toward the source of dialogue, and saw the faded silhouette of the boy from the Mystery Shack. His back was turned to him, but Steven recognized the blue vest and mosquito bitten legs. 

“I thought I was over the dream hopping.” Steven spoke a tad too loudly, starting the young boy - Dipper.

“What-” Dipper’s eyes grew wide in panic, and the boy fell back harshly.

“No, no, you can’t be in my head!” 

“Wait, I’m not-” Steven tried to reassure him, stepping carefully towards the boy but Dipper let out a screech of terror, sweat gathering around his temples.

“Bill sent you didn’t he?! He’s not really gone- he’s going to hurt Mable again-” Dipper began to hyperventilate. 

“Dipper please,” Steven took a step back, arms in the air in surrender. 

“I-”

“I’m not going to hurt you I swear on the gems.” He placed a hand over his heart. “This is a total invasion of privacy but it’s something that happens when someone’s emotions are out of control-”

“How are you here?” Dipper demanded, scrambling to his feet. “Tell me what you are and what you want.”

“I’m just passing through!” Steven insisted, then lowered his tone to calm the younger boy. “I’m kinda of magnet for weird stuff. I just wanted to help in case anything was going on.”

“We deal with things just fine around here.” Dipper spat, then watched as Steven deflated. He seemed tired, like he hasn't slept well in a while. 

“So what are you anyways? How can you be here?”

Steven winced, and laughed nervously. “It’s kind of a long story..”

Dipper raised and eyebrow and swept his arm around the void dramatically. 

“You have until dawn.”

~

“I thought that was a conspiracy theory, it wasn’t even covered by major news outlets.” Dipper look exhausted, cross legged on the unseen floor as he ran his hands through his hair. 

“I think Garnet is pretty persuasive when it comes to government and reporters. They all kinda fall in love with her.”

“She’s the one that’s really two aliens?” 

Steven shook his head with a small smile. “It’s hard to explain but yes, I guess that comes close.”

“That’s actually insane. I’m insane, aren’t I?” Dipper stood up, leaving Steven on sitting next to an empty space. “It’s been too quiet around here and now I’m so desperate for weird, that I’m making it all up in my head.”

“I get that feeling.” Steven smiled without humor, “but no, this is real. I’ll prove it when you wake up.” Steven felt a shift, the fog in the void getting denser. 

“Sooner than I thought, you’re an early riser huh?”

Dipper looked back at Steven, panicked. “You’ll come to the Shack again right? In just a bit?”

Steven smiled. “Promise.”

~

Dipper woke up to his sister braiding his hair. Mabel still had her pjs on, and a make up kit next to the bed. Dipper frowned, tasting strawberry shortcake. 

“Stop testing party looks on me, Mabel.”

“Stop having my face structure and maybe I will.” She grinned, covered in blue glitter. 

Dipper quickly washed up and got dressed for the day, feeling like he was anxiously waiting for something but not quite remembering what. 

He felt like he had a strange dream last night...

He quickly remembered, choking on cereal as Steven walked into the shack right as it opened. Hair slightly frizzy from the heat and eyes strangely tired. Maybe dream hopping took energy that he anticipated. 

“Steven!”

“Meal ticket!” 

“Grunkle Stan.” Mabel chastised as Dipper rushed over to the older boy. 

“Good morning everyone.” 

Dipper stopped short, slightly hoping that everything he experienced wasn’t just his imagination. That everything exciting and weird and interesting wasn’t always trying to kill him, ruin his life, or steal his candy. 

Steven looked tired, like he had been doing this much longer than Dipper, but he had still come out with enough energy to smile. 

“Not insane?” Dipper asked hopefully, quietly. Steven snapped his attention from his Grunkle and Mable bickering down to the Dipper. He gave a reassuring smile, eyes quite serious. 

“Not insane.”

[tammythompson-singslikea-muppet]

Reconciliation (Stan Uris x reader x Richie Tozier, Reddie)

I'm finally back! It's probably been a year since I posted Betrayal and shit has really hit the fan since then, but here I am a year later with part 2!

Here is a link to part 1

Warning: swearing

Aged up: 18/19

You tried to catch up with Stan as he power-walked out of the house. He stopped short when he realized his car wasn't there. "Stan" You catch his attention and he turns around. His chest rising and falling at a quick pace, "You heard everything in there?" Stan's voice was quiet, much quieter than just a minute ago. You nod and he sighs. "I'm sor-" You cut him off "Don't be" You take a step forward and bring your hand up to push some curls out of his face. He leans into your hand, not stopping himself for once. No yearning, no shouting in his head over his actions. Just the feel of your soft palm against his cheek. Stan takes a deep breath, feeling himself calm down in the wake of your touch. "Can we go somewhere?" Stan's voice barely above a whisper. "Of course."

Richie leaned back against the wall and slid down to the floor. He brushed his hands through his hair 'God I fucked up' "Man you really fucked up." Richie looked up. "Thanks, Bill your a real help." Bill put his hands up in defense. "I gotta say I really didn't see that one coming," Eddie spoke up. Bill and Mike nodded in agreement. "I mean I knew *something* was going on but holy shit I didn't think they were in love with each other," Beverly added. "We know Stanley's in love with her but is she in love with Stan? I mean she was just in a serious relationship like a week ago" "Yeah I wonder what happened to that relationship?" Ben's eyes sharp at Eddie, voice stiff and slightly viscous, "Alright! Alright!! None of that!" Mike's authoritative voice made it known he was seriously done with all the fighting. "She loves him" The group turned their heads at Richie's small voice, Ha stared down at the floor and spoke softly. "She may not be in love with him right now, but I could see it. She's falling for Stan."

Eddie looked over at Richie. A mix of emotions reached throughout the boy. He hated seeing Richie like this, but he also hated that it was about you. Mostly he hated that it was about you. He couldn't control it, no matter how much he wished that he could. What is it exactly that Richie is so mad at? Is he upset that he potentially ruined his relationship with Stan? Is he upset that Stan is in love with (Y/N) or that Stan claimed he neither loved nor cared about (Y/N)? Is Richie still in love with (Y/N)? If so is he mad that (Y/N) could be in love with Stan or that she is moving on so quickly? Eddie couldn't help but feel like he was still second to you. It's not like Richie chose to tell you. He kept telling Eddie that he would for at least 2 weeks, but then she found out in her own way. Eddie feared that maybe he was never gonna tell you. Or now that you found out does Richie regret it? 'Alright, Alright Eddie calm the fuck down! Just go talk to Richie.' "Eds?" "Yeah Rich." "I'm gonna go." Richie's tone sounded soft, defeated. It broke Eddie's heart to see him like this. "Yeah sure I'll go grab my keys-" Richie cut him off politely. "I'm just gonna walk. I think I wanna be alone right now. I'll call you later." Richie placed a hand on the back of Eddie's head pulling him close and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "OK. Be safe please."

"Where are we going?" You ask Stan who is driving and keeping silent. "You'll see. Um, go into the glove compartment a find the clear tape." You scrunch your eyebrows together. "You been stashing things in my glove compartment, Uris?" You found a clear tape and put it into the radio. Temptation by New Order flooded in through the speakers. A smile grew on your face as you turned the volume nob up. Stan looked over at you for a second just to see your growing smile. "I made you a tape and left it in here for the next time you complain that there's nothing good on the radio." A fit of giggles came from your mouth. "Stanley Uris made me a fucking mix-tape." You continued to laugh. It brought a smile, growing wider by the second, to see you so happy and blissful listening to your favorite music, a song he loved as well.

And I've never seen anyone quite like you before. No, I've never met anyone quite like you before.

Richie's emotions were confusing him now more than ever. He loved (Y/N). He truly did, but he just wasn't in love with her. Guilt consumes him every night before sleep and every time he sees you. He never wanted to hurt you. But when it comes to Eddie he's impulsive even a little reckless. Richie knew that he fucked up massively. Not only with you but with Stan and he even feels so with Eddie. He felt that if he just would have been honest with you before jumping into things with Eds maybe Eddie wouldn't have lost his best friend. He still couldn't wrap his head around how much of an idiot and a dick he was about Stanley. What in the fucking hell would lead him to believe that Stanley Uris of all people would fuck around with someone's feelings like that? He had already caused (Y/N) enough pain maybe he was trying to be a hero or something. Do something right for once, but of course, it was just another gigantic fuck up! Executed wonderfully by your very own Richie Tozier. Richie had noticed that he walked straight to the quarry. He picked up a stone and skipped it across the water.

Stan pulled the car over along where the road stopped and the tree's started. "Come on." Stan walked over to your side of the car and opened the door for you and held out his hand. You took his hand and walked beside him into the woods. "You trying to get me to some secret secondary location?" "What, you don't recognize where we're going?" You looked around a bit and shook your head. "Well, then I guess it will be a surprise." "I guess this is the day I get murder in the woods. Goodbye world you were never all that good to me but at least my murder is hot as hell." You almost couldn't see Stan's blush from how much he was laughing. You're hands brush as you walked close together. Stan felt a little nervous to take it, it's not like he hasn't held your hand before but right now he feels it holds so much more. 'Good' he thought to himself. 'It does mean more. Let it mean more.' He took your hand in his and warmth spread throughout the both of you. Just the two of you holding hands walking through the trees with Stan pointing out some birds to you, felt so blissful. At this moment you realized you had never felt this way with Richie. The two of you had a lot in common and play off each other well jokes and conversation-wise. But maybe that wasn't all a relationship needed. You had felt that's why Richie and you were so perfect together. Maybe this was finally the start to forgiving Richie and regaining some normalcy, realizing that maybe we weren't perfect or meant to be after all. If this is how Richie felt with Eddie you felt that you could somewhat understand why he was so in a rush to have it. It was scary how new this thing with Stan was yet how important it felt to you. You would go to the ends of the earth to protect what you had with Stan, no one in the world made you feel as safe and comforted as Stanley Uris. What Richie did, going behind your back, was in no way how he should've handled the situation. You let him into some of the most vulnerable spaces in your mind and life, entrusting him with your heart and your deepest thoughts, that you were his only person. That wasn't something easy to forgive, not something to easily recover from, especially having that trust broken with someone else with who you were very close. You may be happy and blissful at this moment, but you definitely knew the consequences of Richie's actions would come back to rear its ugly head sooner or later. But you believed that understanding was one of the first steps toward forgiveness. The more you walked the louder the sound of running water became. Soon you could even see the running water. You realized Stan had brought you to the barrens.'But why the barrens?' you thought to yourself. You reached the edge of the water and looked over to Stan. "C'mon" he grabbed your hand and stepped out onto a rock in the water. You did your best to follow, it finally dawns on you that you were headed toward the clubhouse.

When you got to the small clearing Stan went ahead and lifted the hatch to the small underground area where the losers used to hang out. "I've only been here a couple of times." You said as you climbed down the ladder. "Yeah, I guess we started hanging out other places more." Stan walked over to the hammock getting in. He smiled and reached his arms out like a little kid asking for a hug. You raised an eyebrow at him. "I know. I always feel like I'm gonna fall out of this thing, but it's safe I promise." "Okay," You say drawing out the word in a skeptical tone. You yelped as it wobbled and Stan gripped his arms around your waist as the hammock swung a little. "See, safe." You let out an amused huff and relaxed into Stan. Your back was pressed against his chest, both of your heads finding slightly uncomfortable spots in the crooks of the other's neck. "I remember one of the first times Eddie ever brought you to hang around with us was down here." Stan played with your hands in your lap. "I remember looking over and seeing you smiling, talking to Beverly. It was really hot out, your cheeks were pink. Richie gave you his shower cap and you, him, and Bill talked about comic books." You closed your eyes just listening to Stan talk softly into your hair. "Beverly came over to me when she noticed. She was joking around told me to stop staring, that it was rude. I hadn't even noticed that I was staring. I got nervous cuz, -hoping you didn't notice. You were so beautiful I couldn't help but stare." You blushed and let out a chuckle, your stomach filling up with butterflies. "I don't expect you to say back any time soon, and I in no means want to rush you, but I-" Stan paused, thinking about the impact of his words. He started to think maybe he should give you a little time, but then you leaned your head up to look at him. And when he looked down into your eyes there was no way stopping the words from falling out of his mouth. "I love you." The look in Stan's eyes was intoxicating, you could have stared in his eyes for the rest of both your lives, but instead, you brought your hand up to his jaw and tilted your head bringing yours and Stan's lips together. Equally as intoxicating as the look in his eyes. The two of you felt as if you were floating on clouds. Like you two were the only two people in the world. You pulled away and smiled, Stan pressed his forehead against yours. "I know" You and Stan laughed.

"Ok Rich. You just need to apologize. I'm sure they'll forgive you. They're your friends, basically your family." Richie walked back into town talking to himself. "And you hurt them and accused them of shitty things and now all your friends will hate you forever cuz you were a total dick and even their grandchildren will hate the name, Richie Tozier." Richie stopped for a second and groaned, rubbing his hands up and down his face under his glasses. He took a deep breath and continued walking.

Mike opened the door to Richie. "Hey man, come in." "Is Eds still here." "Yeah, he's in the living room. Rich," Mike put a hand on his shoulder. "He's worried about you. We all kinda are. There's been a lot going on with you four I just want to remind you that if you need someone to talk to we're all here for you buddy." "Thanks, man." Richie continues into the living room and sees Ben and Eddie talking. He breathes a sigh of relief, knowing how much it hurt Eddie that Ben wouldn't talk to him. They hugged and Ben got up off the couch and saw Richie. "I'm really sorry Richie. It was really rude to treat you like that-" Richie cut him off. "It's ok man really, I get it. She's your friend, I was a dick." "Yeah but you and Eddie are my friends too." "Well then what do you say Haystack," Richie extended out a hand. "Back to buds." Ben agreed and shook Richie's hand. Richie took a seat next to Eddie on the couch. "Hey, I'm glad your back I wanted to-" Richie leaned in and kissed Eddie. "As much as I love you and your adorable rambling I wanted to apologize." Eddie was suddenly very nervous. He thought to himself 'Shit this is it. He still loves Kassidy.' "Sure, Sure yeah. Umm a-about what Rich?" Richie took Eddie's hands in his fiddling with them out of nerves. "About everything. About not telling Kassidy. About not even being decent enough to break it off first so neither of you would get hurt. All of this would have been so much easier and nobody would've had to lose any friends. I'm just so sorry Eddie, I love you and I never wanted to hurt you like that." Eddie was so relieved to hear those words come out of Richie's mouth. He put a hand up to Richie's cheek and leaned to kiss him. "I love you too Richie." Richie chuckled in relief "Thank fuck."

You and Stan walked back to the car hand in hand. "So what do you wanna do now? " You leaned your back up against the car door "Oh I don't know maybe some more of this." Stan leaned himself against the car by his forearm and with his other hand lifted your chin, leaning down connecting your lips. You hummed against his lips. "Well, I do love doing that." "Do you want to go back to your place-" Stan pressed a small kiss on your neck "Watch a movie." "Shit!" Stan's head shot up. "I left my house keys at Bens." "We can sneak through your bedroom window." You push yourself off of the car, past Stan, and walked to the other side pulling your door open. "I don't wanna go back there either but with any luck, Richie won't be there." Stan groaned and got into the car.

You wrapped your knuckles on the door and Mike opened it with a smile. "I just forgot my keys." Mike let you in past him to the table where the keys sat. You quickly walked over to the table and grabbed your keys. Turning around back towards the door you catch Richie staring from the couch next to Eddie. For once you didn't feel the wind knocked out of you. But you couldn't say that the feeling of wanting to punch him had dulled any. You carried on toward the door when Richie called out your name. You sighed and banged your head on Mike's front door and contemplated for a second whether or not you should pretend you didn't hear him and keep walking. Apparently, you had stayed there a bit too long. Richie tapped two fingers on your shoulder. "I was just wondering if you would let me talk at you for a second. You don't need to say anything, or react in any way really-" You turned around and put your hands on his shoulders. He froze silent as you drew a deep breath. "I forgive you." It wasn't easy to say, you weren't even sure it was true. A part of you wanted to keep him dangling in wonder and guilt but you knew that you would eventually fully forgive him and the more you saw him moping around the more you would most likely enjoy watching him suffer for what he did. But if he just thought that you had forgiven him then maybe he would go back to his old trashmouth self and you all could move on.

Richie was taken by surprise, to say the least. He felt relief for a fleeting moment until he remembers Stan. "He's out in the car" He heard him speak softly. She somehow always knew what was going on inside his head, that's what made him think that she was so great, that they would be so great together. Against your better judgment, you grimaced and said, "I can give you five minutes. But he has the car keys so I can't promise he won't dive off on you." Richie threw his arms around you and squeezed you, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" "Yeah, sure get off me" He smiled at you, "Sorry." As Richie walked out the door he turned back to you, "He wouldn't drive off without his best girl." Richie started making trumpets sound in the tune of 'A Long Long Time' by Kitty Kallen and closed the door. You rolled your eyes as you and Mike laughed

Richie fell silent as he walked up to your car with Stan in the front seat. He raised his hand and tapped on the window. Stan kept his stare forward and locked the car door. Richie sighed. "Stan please." Richie heard the click of the car doors unlock and walked around to the other side and got in. "I'm so sorry. I was being a complete shit of a person and totally overreacted. I do care about her, I do! That's why I got so angry and it totally fucked up my judgment." Stan wasn't saying anything and it started to make Richie even more nervous. "I was angry and confused and I honestly don't know where all of that came from. That's not what I think of you at all, you gotta know that, Stan. You're one of my best friends and the best dude I know and I'm so sorry I said all of those things. I know I really fucked up." The two of them sat and stared out the windshield, Richie's leg bounced up and down from nerves until Stanley broke the silence. "I'm sorry too. That I turned my back on you. I couldn't understand how you had the most perfect girl right in front of you and seeing you hurt her made me angry too. I mean we all saw you and Eddie happening eventually, but I didn't think you two would go and do that. I love her and I guess I let that get in the way of our friendship." "I mean dude I don't really think I could blame you. I've seen the way she looks at you. It can make someone do stupid and crazy things." "Well then I guess that explains why you are so stupid and crazy," Stan laughed, "Eddie looks at you like that 24\7." Richie turned away laughing and hoped it hid the bright red flush on his cheeks. "I can't believe she actually forgave me." "Yeah me neither, to be honest." Stanley dead-panned. "Buuut," Stan took a calming deep breath, "If she can forgive you, then I guess I should too."

Eddie walked up to (Y\N) hesitantly as she was laughing with Mike. Mike saw Eddie and took that as his cue to leave, or rather to eavesdrop from the kitchen with Beverly, Ben, and Bill.

"Thanks for uh.. for forgiving Richie, he's been a wreck," Eddie said. "N-not that I've been fine! I-I feel completely terrible for what I did. But I mean I-I-I'm not trying to make you feel bad for me or anything. O-or for Richie. I just mean that we're both really sorry. I'm so, so very sorry (Y/N)." Eddie stammered through quickly. Man, do your shoes look mighty interesting at that moment. 'You forgave Richie why is it so hard to forgive Eddie. Maybe because we only gave Richie a premature apology so we could all get back to normal? Should I have to do that with Eddie too? Fuck that neither of them deserves it!' You fought back and forth with yourself in your head before finally looking up at Eddie. You took a deep breath, "I know...I-" Eddie cut you off "You don't have to." "I feel like I should." "You already kinda forgave Richie I know that's a big thing so you can hate me for as long as you need I deserve it." You smiled at Eddie and walked out of the house. Richie saw you walking towards the car and stepped out leaving the door open for you. You got in and leaned over to Stanley cupping the side of his face to bring him closer and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Stan started the car as you buckled. You tucked your legs up onto the seat and curled up to get comfy. Stan rests his hand over on one of your legs as you closed your eye

taglist: @elisaa-shelby @trashxqueen @igotahammer @pillowjj @screechinglawyer @campcampie

[imonthinice]

The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 6/?

Word Count: 2.6-2.7k idk exact

Author’s Note: Y/N - Your name, A/N - Any name (your best friend’s name)

MUSIC IS INCLUDED THIS TIME! Please enjoy my personal music playlist, or at least a snippet of it.

TO THE PERSON WHO REBLOGGED AND SAID THIS WAS CUTE (at least the first part) you straight up made me cry omfg

Warnings: Swearing, gets really fucking heated at the end (no sex, yet), no beta bitch we die like Jason Todd

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12) (Part 13) (Part 14) (Part 15) (Part 16) (Part 17) (Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20)

Outfit Context:

Y/N:

Jason:

(Cause I finally found an outfit I liked on the boy, men’s fashion isn’t my strong suit,,, heh :) )

“Sorry, is my mouth hung open?” he asked.

“Yes, sir. Very much so,” she mocked.

Jason closed his mouth and outstretched his hand for Y/N’s, cupping it with both hands and kissing the top of it.

“You just look so lovely, Y/N.”

“And you’re chivalrous, Jay. Now, should we get going?” she asked, putting her free hand on top of his two.

“Yes, let’s go,” he let one of his hands go of hers and lead her to the Porsche he brought with him, not intertwining his fingers with hers.

He opened the passenger’s side door and let Y/N get in, not letting go of her hand til the last moment he could hold it. He got in an turned on the radio,

It felt like a good night, for dancing in the moonlight,

In empty streets, well, everybody's got a reason why,

If we could only just get it right,

Maybe it will all work out like in the movies,

But I know Romeo must die before the ending,

With a final poison kiss delivered gently,

Because you don't get lucky twice, and that's the truth,

“Sing to me sweet just like my memory, 

If New York City Still moves me then I’ve found something real,

I’ll be okay, I could go on for days,

But I just don’t have the courage that it takes to be real,

And even if it’s dark at least we’ll be together,

Slowly sinking in the Earth to lay forever,

You better grab a hold and hold on for your life,

Because you don’t get lucky twice,

No, you don’t get lucky twice,” She sung with the tune.

Without the Bitter the Sweet Isn’t as Sweet - Mayday Parade

“You, you have the voice of an angel,” he said.

“It’s not that hard to mimic works of art with my voice.”

“Did you ever take singing lessons?”

“I did when I was younger, so I could sing French lullabies to my cousins.”

He placed a hand on her thigh as he drove them through the countryside of Gotham to Metropolis, taking the long way on what seemed like purpose. So he could encapsulate the moment in his memory for as long as he knew her and what she was to him. She was an adventure waiting to happen, a love story not yet written to tell for ages, a rock ‘n’ roll song written to please the masses in hidden corners of the world.

And to her, he was a masterwork of intertwining memories of pain, sadness, luck and beauty. A mind of complexity she was just waiting to dive into and see how it functioned. A story behind the white tuff of hair he had, why he was jacked to the masses if he was a book nerd. A story of his favourite book and his favourite sibling, his favourite trope, his love, his pain, him.

The moments where she stuck her hand out the window and traced symbols into the Autumn air swirling past the two as they cruised down the empty back roads. When he laughed as she sang Reste by GIMS and Sting. He didn’t understand the lyrics, but she did, and she called it a love song. Well, he got the parts Sting sung, but French wasn’t a language he knew like she did.

“I guess being Bilingual helped you out massively with that one, huh?”

“It’s a talent I never knew I needed, apparently.”

“Well, you did know you needed.”

“That’s fair,” she laughed, “ I guess I did always need it as a skill.”

“Do your cousins speak English too?” he asked.

“Yeah, a bit? It’s better English than my father.”

“Can he not speak English?”

“Well, he can, just not well. But my mother is also Bilingual in English and French so they never had to worry about my father being bad at English. My twin sister and I grew up knowing both languages,” she rambled, still playing with the wind, “I guess it’s a one-up I have on a lot of people, being able to just talk and talk in another language, travelling advantage,” she kept going, Jason intently listening to her as she went on and on, he liked the silence being filled by her voice, “You know? You might know, I don’t know how you were raised to a T,” she finished.

“Well, I can assure you I only know English so you have that theoretical one-up on me, too. But I choose to see that one-up as something you can teach me as time goes on and we progress,” he paused, “If you’re down to get serious eventually, that is,” he panicked.

“Well, maybe we’re at that point where we can say we’re casually seeing each other and exclusive, but not serious. Hopeful, but not pressuring ourselves into something that’s going to be put under a lot of pressure as we go on,” she said, still playing with the wind.

“We’ll see about that after dinner.”

“Where are we even going?”

“Fancy little restaurant with a balcony facing over the city,” he assured.

“Really out here living for the moments?”

“Well, most girls crack under the pressure of the paparazzi, you, however, flipped them off, and that’s being rewarded for showing that you can’t give a fuck about those dingy ass tabloids and how they treat you, by taking you out to nice places,” he said.

She laughed, “I’m glad I’m never going to live that one down, it was really fun to do.”

“I hope it continues as we go along, I would hate to see that behavior change when it brings a smile to everyone who’s ever been harassed by paparazzi” when they pulled over for a second, Jason quickly loosened his tie a tad, “Honestly, I want to ditch this fucking tie,”

“It’s not you,” she said, “It’s just not.”

“And you know me that well to take that guess?”

“I could see you struggling with it from a mile away, Jason. Maybe the fancy restaurant isn’t us,” she laughs, “But we aren’t going to not take that dinner date.”

“Oh we’re so going to take that date, but I’m thinking from here on out we do whatever the fuck we want, no fancy dates. Thoughts?” he asked.

“Done deal,” she said.

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

In the restaurant, the two of them were basically the worst people to be there, it was levels of fancy that neither of them actually wanted, they both wanted simplicity, but they both thought the presence of the other person was enough of a takeaway from the completely wrong choice of restaurant. They had Dick to blame for this one, and Jason made that clear to Dick in a joking text while Y/N snuck off to the bathroom to ‘fix her hair, she was actually checking her breath.

Dick, this fucking restaurant is a god damn bust, man. We aren’t you and Barbara, that’s what we’ve discovered today. lol.

Bummer! We really like that place.

I can see why it screams Dick and Barbs.

You kissed her yet though?

No.

Wuss! Cat got your tongue? Just do it, man.

And at the same time, Y/N was texting A/N about Jason and what to do,

Girl! Thank you so much for reminding me to bring mints, my god, food ruins your breath so much.

You really want the pretty boy kiss huh?

No, I’m eating the mints to not kiss him, YES I WANT THE KISS.

Ha! Honesty is key, just go for it.

She laughed as she packed her phone into her dress pockets (Yeah there’s fucking pockets :) ) and went to leave the restroom to meet up with Jason again. To which, Jason had already paid and tipped the waiter.

“I could have at least helped on the tip, Jay.”

“I tipped him 200%, but if you want to drop more cash, go for it.”

“You tipped that much?” she asked while slipping in a 50$ she had on her.

“Of course, food service workers deserve a lot more than what they get, especially when they have to deal with terrible customers,” he said as he went and grabbed her hand again, not intertwining fingers again, “And my best friend, Will, he complains about people who don’t tip and praises people who quote ‘over tip’ but I think that he deserves 200% each bill for the shit he puts up with.”

“Did you tip him when we went there?”

“No, I called in a ‘No questions asked’ favour. And before you say anything, he did the same to make me babysit his daughter-”

“Your best friend has a daughter?”

“Well, he’s older than me, but yeah, he’s a single dad because her mum kind of sucks, lovely little girl, I’m her godfather.”

“Does she call you Uncle Jason?”

“Well, Uncle Jay, it’s like one of the only works she knows how to say properly, and Dada,” he laughed, “Great little girl,” he said, nervously, “This doesn’t change anything, does it? ‘Cause if he, knock on fucking wood, lord forbids, dies that will be my daughter.”

“Well, he’s not dead and you’re not worrying that he’s going to die, so nothing has to change. God kids are god kids, noble that you took on your best friend’s kid if, lord forbid, anything happens to the man, really,” she assured.

He sighed and kissed the back of her hand, “Then that is just a gift on top of what I did,” he smiled and lead her back to the Porsche once again, opening the car door for her and she slightly turned on the radio, he let out a small laugh to himself, he got the pretty girl. He got into the Porsche again and began backing out.

“There’s something about ditching a really expensive dinner date that leaves you wanting more,” she said, absent-mindedly.

“What kind of more?” he asked.

“The kind you see in the movies, fully exposed and adventurous, you know?”

“Well, we could always sneak into the Wayne Manor Gardens and dance the night away under the stars like lovers do,” he half-joked, placing a hand on her thigh again and pretending like he did it subconsciously, but he was hyper-aware, especially when he caught her smile as she laughed.

“Wayne Manor? With your brothers, sisters, dad, and grandfather?” she paused, “If you’re serious, then no, not tonight. If you’re pulling my leg then, hell fucking no,” she joked.

“Maybe one day, then, huh?”

“One day, for sure. When it isn’t scary to accidentally run into your family on their property running around with you,” she said.

“Well, we can always go into the Wayne Enterprises Ballroom and dance the night away, no one should be in the office for a while and even then since there are no classes in the entire school tomorrow you can just hide out in my office if we stay too long,” he paused to make sure she was still listening, “Security can’t question me because I’m Bruce Wayne’s son, and security is tight as fuck so paparazzi can’t get to us,” he paused to put a little bit of pressure on her thigh, “What do you say? Can I have this dance, Milady?” he half-joked.

“You want to know something Jason?

“Always, Y/N.”

“I took dance lessons when I was younger, can you Waltz?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am, I can.”

“Then I’m in, let’s go.”

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

She loved the feeling of being back in her new hometown, Gotham. So when they pulled into the massive black building, she felt even more welcomed, security at the gates did ask ‘Who’s the girl?’ but Jason just explained it very easily,

“You know that date of mine that flipped off the press and you lot loved it?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” the man responded.

“You can call me Jason, you know that. But this is that girl.”

And they were let through the parking gates and into the underground parking system, they had to travel surprisingly far to Jason’s reserved spot in the lot, but the did get there before it hit AM. Once out of the car, Jason grabbed her hand and they ran into the building’s employees doors. It was a tight squeeze, but the feeling of Jason pressed so close to her sent chills down her spine. They went through many halls and reached the Ballroom, and entering it was like a dream for her.

Walls lined with intricate shapes and colours, but the colours never brought away from the stage at the far end from the door, the curtains seemed to redden with each step towards them, the 3, maybe 4 chandeliers hung above her like crystals in the ocean, it was amazing and beautiful. Checkered floorboards to give it a little bit of dimension, but it was the same colour as the main wall so your brain and eyes wouldn’t hurt after looking at it. It was stunningly beautiful and that’s what drew her in.

When he grabbed her hand and put on Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine, pulling her close to his chest and slowly Waltzing her around the room, spinning her when it felt right for him to do. Neither of them worried about the sloppiness or how it looked to the naked eye because it was for them. no one got satisfaction like they did at that moment. And grabbing her for one last dip was Jason’s goal when the ending of the song hit, although out of breath and his face stuffed in her chest as they both panted, he did pull her up so they were face-to-face on the dancefloor that they wiped clean.

“Did I tell you that you look stunning, Y/N?”

“I think you mentioned it a few times, Jay,” she said, staring directly into his eyes.

“Well, I mean it.”

“And I’m going to mean this,” she paused, taking her hand and placing it on his cheek, “ The way your eyes are a green-blue tint makes me lost in them, they’re like a sea of this mind I find myself liking more and more every day,” she paused to put her other hand on his other cheek, “And the way your nose and cheek freckles frame them is amazing.”

And he went for it. Somehow when he pressed his lips into hers, it felt like they were meant to match, and they both opened their mouths to play the coveted game of tongue-war, but they didn’t play by the rules, it was soft and sweet but full of passion and love, not lust. His hands would travel to her waist and lightly grip her, while her hands would travel to his neck and drape around the back of it.

They pulled away at the same moment to take in air, something they had clearly been missing as they were connected, they both let out a small chuckle before she put her hands in his hair and went in for round 2.

This time it was hungrier, and they both played with the shapes of the other so much more as time went on, he would grab her ass and she would pull on his hair slightly before he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist and moved one of her hands to the nape of his neck, this time, they would break for seconds only to start moving towards his office, which, conveniently, had a couch.

To say he threw her on that couch would be an understatement, he fucking thrust her on that couch and climbed on top of her, it was like 3 days of passion and lust combined themselves in a matter of minutes from their first kiss to them meeting on the couch. They both knew deep down that it couldn’t escalate further than this, especially at 1 in the morning, but time moves fast when you’re connecting in this way.

They finally broke after their passionate exchange and he fell to her side and began to spoon her, “Worth it,” he whispered.

“Worth what?” she asked.

“It was worth it to take a chance and defy my anxieties to ask you on that first date.”

“I don’t like a reality where you didn’t ask me on that date.”

“Neither do I, and I’m positive of that.”

[watchyourbluesturngolden]

songs that make me think of vampy and why

this is for drea and leyla ONLY thank u

daylight- taylor swift "i don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you, i don't wanna think of anything else now that i thought of you" bc vampy loves her so much he only wants her 😔 midnight love- girl in red "I know I'm the last one you try to call but I always give in to give you it all" "your silver is my gold" bc miss chiropractor treated him terribly but he loved her with everything and would have gone back to her no matter what watch you sleep- girl in red this one is obvious: bc vampy watches bloodbag sleep :) also "the scar on your spine, you fell off a roof when you were nine" is all appreciating the tiny details about someone and that is definitely something vampy would do :( paper rings: taylor swift "i hate accidents except when we went from friends to this" line without a hook- ricky montgomery "oh baby i am a wreck when i'm without you" bc vampy loves bloodbag so much he just wants to be with her always 😔 dead girl in the pool- girl in red this one is kinda weird but i feel like bloodbag is gonna die at some point and then vampy will just be like "theres a dead girl in the pool (or wherever her corpse is laying slfjskldfjkldsj) i don't know what to do" and then he's gonna make this face

bad habits- ed sheeran bc he was just slutting around before he met bloodbag demons- imagine dragons dont make fun of me for this I KNOW but fr it's vampy renegade- taylor swift "you wouldn't be the first renegade to need somebody" he needs bloodbag 😔 starting line- luke hemmings i can't really explain this one but it's like how you always talk about how his happiness is overshadowed by the fact that he's a monster or whatever million dollar bills - lorde "theres nothing i want but money and time" and vampy has literally all the money and time :) solar power- lorde this is harrys hot girl anthem idk happiness- taylor swift "there'll be happiness after you, but there was happiness because of you" this is him reminiscing on miss chiropractor i wanna get better-bleachers "i didn't know i was lonely til i saw your face" "I didn't know i was broken til i wanted to change" come on 😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔 good 4 u - olivia rodrigo this is his fuck u song for miss chiropractor my tears ricochet- taylor swift "if i'm dead to you why are you at the wake" it's ironic innit 😌 what a feeling- one direction "what a feeling to be right here beside you now, holding you in my arms" please 😔 "everybody needs someone around" 😔😔😔 "but i can't hold you too close now" bc he has severe attachment and commitment issues :) all you had to do was stay- taylor swift "had me in the palm of your hand, then, why'd you have to go and lock me out when i let you in" omg miss chiropractor really hurt him 😔 king of my heart- taylor swift "and all at once you are the one i have been waiting for" bloodbag @ vampy 😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔 cruel summer- taylor swift "I love you ain't that the worst thing you ever heard" bc he knows getting close to bloodbag will ultimately only lead to pain for everyone involved "i don't wanna keep secrets just to keep you" bc he can't tell bloodbag everything about him even tho he probably wants to :( thank u next- arianna grande this is weird BUT if miss chiropractor hadn't fucked him up so much he never would have met bloodbag tear in my heart- 21 pilots again don't make fun of me for this I HAVE AN EXPLANATION "you fell asleep in my car i drove the whole time but that's okay i'll just avoid the holes so you sleep fine" if bloodbag fell asleep in his car he would definitely do this :( shape of you-ed sheeran "now my bedsheets smell like you" his room probably smells like honey and lavender all the time now and he's probably foaming at the mouth constantly cowboy in LA "let's skip the club, lets skip the crowd, i wanna take you on a date" bc they both hate clubs!!!!! "I'll hold your hand I'll hold the door bc that's how i was raised" he's a gentleman 😔😔😔😔 & burn- billie eilish "i'll sit and watch your car burn with the fire that you started in me, but you never came back to ask it out" idk for some reason this has vampy and miss chiropractor vibes take me to church- hozier religious trauma babes 🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼🕺🏼 speechless- dan+shay "i'm speechless, staring at you standing there in that dress" love 😔 yours- russel dickerson "i came to life when i first kissed you, the best me has his arms around you, you make me better than i was before, thank god i'm yours" SCREAMING AND CRYING AND SHAKING tolerate it- taylor swift "i know my love should be celebrated, but you tolerate it" MISS ******** DIDN"T APPRECIATE OR CELEBRATE HIS LOVE MIA- anarbor "thinking about my life and everything i did wrong along the way"😔 lay low- josh turner for when bloodbag and vampy go to a cabin in the woods for a week and just love each other 😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔 who can save me now- anarbor "you stabbed me in the back" this one is pretty literal LSKFJLKSJFLKDSJ "you could have at least been kind enough to let me turn around" ouch 😔 dopamine- anarbor "i'm hooked on your dopamine" vampy and bloodbag ugh lie to me- 5sos this give me vampy and ******** vibes "i wish we never met, cause you're too hard to forget" "while i'm cleaning up your mess i know he's taking

off your dress" bc she probably cheated on him while they were together 😔 and he would have stayed with her if she told him she loved him, even if he knew it was a lie 😔 cotton candy- yungblud it's just a happy song with good vibes like bloodbag and vampy currently have :) small talk- niall horan i don't even have to say anything here pillowtalk- zayn "so we'll piss off the neighbors" chappy 9 vibes dancing with our hands tied- taylor swift "i loved you in spite of deep fears that the world would divide us" vampy rn 😔 once in a lifetime- one direction vampy will live a million lifetimes but he will only ever have one bloodbag 😔 holy ground- taylor swift "tonight i'm gonna dance for all that we've been through but I don't wanna dance if i'm not dancing with you" they've come so far omg 😔 since we're alone- niall horan "you can show me your heart, if you put it all in my hands no i swear no i won't break it apart" crying if i could fly- one direction "for your eyes only i'll show you my heart" rollercoaster- bleachers again i can't explain it but it makes me think of him 😔 so long- niall horan "so if we knew all along why did it take so long" good question bestie current location- LANY "i need your current location to be my current location" they're idiots in love and want to be together all the time 😔 why dont we go there- one direction "hey i don't want you to be the one that got away i wanna get addicted to you you're rushing through my mind i wanna feel the high i wanna be addicted" well hes already addicted to her blood so might as well like you lots- LANY bc they both have issues and can't say love lmao too much to ask- niall horan vampy though wanting love was too much to ask of miss chiropractor 😔 walking in the wind- one direction this one just has his vibes man 😔 heartbeat- carrie underwood "dancing to the rhythm of your heartbeat" bc vampy is obsessed with listening to bloodbag's heart (fan behavior if you ask me) idfc- blackbear this is vampy and ******** bc "tell me that you love me even if it's fake" city of angels- 24kgoldn "i sold my soul to the devil for designer" yes this made me laugh the woods- olivver the kid "waking up in the middle of the woods" "don't you wanna get out of here, out of the woods" flashback to when he was dead in the woods oop "you brought me down to the river, and you pushed me in, hoping that the white rapids would challenge my ability to swim" bc... she's a murderer omg this verse is talking about leaves and i'm freaking out it fits 100% this is crazy "You pick up two handfuls You tell me they're all dried up & dead You know that's nothing like us We'll live forever instead" just a little bit of your heart- ariana grande vampy bc he loves so deeply and completely that he will give all of himself to someone even if they won't do the same my strange addiction- billie eilish bc he is addicted to her blood :) cross your mind- niall horan this is vampy and ******** "love the way you hurt me and it doesn't even cross your mind" "leaving me in pieces (literally lmao) but i swear it's worth it every time" everywhere- niall horan that scene where vampy smelled some perfume or soap or something and it made him think of bloodbag 😔 everything makes him think of her now 😔 "swear it's hard to think it's hard to breathe when you're in the air" put a little love on me- niall horan "you're the only one i need" 😔 bend the rules- niall horan VAMPY AND ******** ALL THE WAY "i'm not saying that you're lying but you're leaving out the truth" heartbreak weather- niall horan "all of my life i've been sleepwalk living, running around the same bars i've been in, it can be so lonely in this city, but it feels different when you're with me" bloodbag and vampy 😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔😔 mr loverman- ricky montgomery "i miss my lover man" vampy is probably dramatic like this all the time now that they're official 😔 bad blood- taylor swift again, just for the irony 😌 vapor- 5sos "i want to breathe you in like a vapor i want to be the one you remember i want to feel

your love like the weather all over me" they're so in love like this 😔 catch fire- 5sos "all my life i've been waiting for moments to come" he's been waiting for bloodbag his entire life 😔 beside you-5sos "i wish i was beside you" they want to be together all the time 😔 black and white- niall horan "that first night i was standing at your door fumbling for your keys then i kissed you" ARE YOU KIDDING ME not in the same way- 5sos this is vampy and ******** just bc they were so toxic lkfjskldfjsdlkjf lonely heart-5sos "and i haven't slept in days" lmao ghost of you-5sos "my feet dont dance like they did with you" thinking about when vampy danced for bloodbag and what if they break up 👁️👁️ why wont you love me- 5sos vampy at ******** 😔 he just wanted to be loved 😔😔😔😔😔 fool's gold- one direction "i let you use me from the day that we first met" "i know your love's not real, but that's not the way it feels" STOP IM SAD last first kiss- one direction "let me be your last first kiss" i want them to be together forever 😔 truly madly deeply- one direction "foolishly completely falling and somehow you kicked all my walls in" bloodbag really snuck into his heart huh 😔 fireproof -one direction "nobody saves me baby the way you do" ugh 😔 long story short-taylor swift "clung to the nearest lips long story short it was the wrong guy" (or in vampy's case the wrong vampire) gold rush-taylor swift "and the coastal town we run around has never seen a love as pure as it" bloodbag and vampy are all i want 😔 no judgement- niall horan bc vampy would never judge bloodbag 😔 daddy issues- the neighborhood again im not even gonna say anything here new angel- niall horan "the touch of someone else to save me from myself" this is vampy 😔 god is a woman- ariana grande vampy after he brought bloodbag home the first time something like this- the chainsmokers "just something i can turn to, somebody i can kiss" ALL VAMPY WANTS IS LOVE sweater weather- the neighborhood idk this song makes me think of him all of me- john legend "all of me loves all of you all your curves and all your edges all your perfect imperfections" KSFLKSDJFKLDJSFLJSDKLFJDSKL i like me better- lauv "i like me better when i'm with you" she makes him a better person 😔 sex- eden "oh no, i think i'm catching feelings" vampy when bloodbag went on a date with someone else half a heart- one direction bc bloodbag completes him 😔 theyre so disgusting 😔 only angel- harry styles "turns out she's a devil in between the sheets" woman- harry styles vampy when she was on a date with someone else bc hes a jealous moron temporary fix- one direction this has chappy 1-2 vibes a.m.-one direction when they first started falling in love and he wanted to be with her more often 😔 something great- one direction "i want you here with me like how i pictured it so i don't have to keep imagining" through the dark- one direction just all of this song 😔 happily- one direction "you know i wanna be the one who holds you when you sleep i just want it to be you and i forever" 😔 electric love- borns "i can't let you go now that i got it" canyon moon- harry styles they're just happy like this rn 😔 sunflower vol. 6- harry styles "kiss in the kitchen like it's a dancefloor" "mouth full of toothpaste" when they brushed their teeth together 😔 adore you- harry styles obviously

[f00pyf00p]

Art Crossed Lovers

Fandom: Sanders Sides  Characters: Logan, Virgil, Janus, Roman, Patton  Rating: Teen and Up  Relationships: Romantic Analogical Warnings: Swearing, Robbery, Police, Guns, Gunshots, Injury, Major Character Death Word count: 4553 Summary: The sirens came at precisely 7:24 pm. They were a minute and 12 seconds late; exactly as Logan had predicted. Indeed, when Virgil glanced at him, he found his lover’s normally sharp expression tinted with smugness, especially as the flashing lights drove right past their hiding place. Other Notes: Analogical Week Day 2: Song/Stars @analogicalweek

Read on AO3

Song: Partners in Crime (Set It Off)

The sirens came at precisely 7:24 pm. They were a minute and 12 seconds late; exactly as Logan had predicted. Indeed, when Virgil glanced at him, he found his lover’s normally sharp expression tinted with smugness, especially as the flashing lights drove right past their hiding place.

Virgil still felt tight. So far they had been successful- the evidence of that lay behind him- but all it would take was one misstep. One dropped eyelash, one unexpected flash of a camera.

“We need to go,” he said urgently. He glanced down at the car’s ignition. At the moment, the key lay in it, unturned and silent. “They’ll double back.”

Logan’s face was impassive. “We move too early, we’ll be found.”

“It’s the same thing if we move too late,” Virgil countered.

He could tell Logan was weighing his words, but they didn’t have time to think: they had to move. Now.

“Trust me, L,” Virgil urged.

That seemed to do the trick. Logan’s hand fell to the ignition. His eyes narrowed and Virgil could practically see the gears in his head turning as he figured out how to get on the highway quickest, which roads he needed to take to blend in, and where they could ditch this car in turn for another one.

The key turned and the car roared to life.

It was loud. Loud enough that Virgil almost told Logan to turn the blasted thing off, but Logan’s foot had already hit the gas.

There was no turning back now.

Logan drove calmly. He stopped at the stop signs, slowed as the lights turned yellow, and stayed exactly five miles above the speed limit at all times. There was no sign that the car did anything but belong there. Nobody who looked at this average, law-obeying car would connect it with the million-dollar paintings stowed carefully in the back.

The highway ramp was in view. Something within him unfoiled as they made it onto that bridge and he relaxed further when it was confirmed that the highway had enough cars on it that they wouldn’t be inconspicuous.

Logan merged quite quickly. He pulled into the fast lane, behind a medium gray car that looked almost identical to the one they were in, and sat back.

“Good call,” Logan told Virgil gently.

“I always make good calls.”

Logan glanced off the road for a brief second, solely to raise his eyebrows before bringing his focus back to the cars around him.

“Ass.”

A quirk of Logan’s mouth was the only answer he gave.

Okay, so maybe over the years Virgil’s decisions hadn’t always been perfect. His anxiety was a double-edged sword; sometimes it made exactly the kind of cut Virgil needed to figure out all possible ways out of a dangerous situation. Other times it sliced his hands and Logan and Virgil were left to clean up the blood.

But right now, his fear had pushed them out of their hiding spot. If they had stayed a moment longer the red and blue lights they had so carefully avoided for years might’ve finally shone on them.

Logan drifted into the middle lane, leaving the twin of their car to pull ahead of them. Virgil watched it go silently and reminded himself that everything was going to plan.

They were ready for this.

“Logan!”

But Logan had already spotted it. Sitting in wait, just in view, was a police vehicle. Its lights were off but Virgil could easily imagine the white plump man behind the wheel, holding a speed gun and waiting for a car to make his life slightly more interesting.

Like the rest of the cars around him, Logan hit the breaks. His speed fell- 85, 76, 70- and Virgil gripped the sides of his seat until his hands turned white.

“If we get pulled over-”

“They won’t take us alive,” Logan said. The words, which should not have been comforting in any shape or form, helped Virgil to take a breath and remember the plan.

Because they had planned for this too. Being pulled over, being talked to, what to say and how to say it. And if things went so south the cops figured out just who they were….

Virgil’s hand fell to the gun straddled in his hip.

They wouldn’t separate them. When it came down to it, the only thing that would split up Virgil and Logan was death.

The police car was behind them now. His light remained off and the extremity of Virgil’s extra tension eased away as Logan and the car's speed around them re-picked up.

“Next exit,” Virgil reminded him.

Logan’s lips curved up in his not-a-smile but totally adorable way. “I’m plenty aware, Virgil, I assure you.”

His blinker flicked on and he slowly moved over to the merging lane. Their speed dropped slightly but the roar of the highway was just as deafening and centering as before.

Logan clicked his blinker on again and moved to get off. It was a fairly busy turning point; he wasn’t the only car getting off and they had to come to a stuttering halt before being allowed back on town roads again.

The stillness was awful, but it would’ve been worse to be alone. There was safety in numbers, Virgil reminded himself, even if numbers forced the damn car to stop when all he wanted to do was get to the stupid dropping point.

Logan turned them left, down roads wooded dark roads until they finally landed at a dark empty parking lot, picked solely for its lack of cameras. Plus, not five minutes away was a car dump- a very easy place to dump one car and pick up a brand new one.

7:58.

“We’re early,” Virgil whispered.

“We expected that.”

“I hate being early.”

“You hate being on time and late as well.”

Virgil glared at Logan. A heavy sigh made its way from his boyfriend and Logan let his hand fall on Virgil’s knee and stroke it in calming little circles with his thumb.

“My apologies, Love. I’m tense.” Logan looked over at the car’s digital clock, where the stubborn “58” remained. “I’d also prefer to not be early.”

Virgil’s heart melted a little at the admission. “Forgiven,” he promised, before leaning forward and planting a kiss on Logan’s left cheek.

Logan looked so adoringly at him, Virgil nearly shoved him away.

7:59. The moment the number turned, a tiny white car pulled into the parking lot. It parked right beside them, leaving just enough space for the man they had been contacted by to jump out and walk up to Virgil’s window.

Virgil rolled it down.

“How’d it go?” Janus asked curtly.

“Exactly as planned.” Virgil’s voice had fallen back into its harder “don’t-mess-with-me” tone he always got when dealing with clients. Behind him, Logan's eyes shone like a wildcat in the dark. “Can I assume you weren’t followed?”

Janus snorted. “Please.”

Logan and Virgil glanced at each other. After a brief moment, Virgil nodded and Logan hopped out of the car, leaving the engine roaring, and opened the back door.

There were five different paintings back there. All five had been stolen from the Samburu tribe of Northern Kenya. All five had traveled around the world for a bit, earned themselves a reputation and a large net worth, before finding their way to a famous art gallery.

A famous art gallery that now found itself five paintings short.

“We’ll check in with both you and the Samburu in about a week to ensure these ended up in the right spot.” Logan’s client voice wasn’t as rough or as nasty as Virgil’s; it was pure ice and it nipped whomever he turned it on.

The noise that came from Janus was practically a snarl. “You think I would steal from my own people?”

“I think we will be checking in with you and the Samburu in about a week.” The frost from earlier had turned into a blizzard. Logan turned his back on Janus and silently helped the man move everything from car to car. Once things were situated, he slipped back into the front seat and waited.

Janus dropped a bag through Virgil’s open window and into his lap. Virgil didn’t bother hiding how he opened it and slowly rifled through the bills.

It was all there. At an obscenely low rate considering the amount of effort they had gone through to get those paintings, but plenty for the two of them.

“Make sure you change license plates,” Virgil advised.

Janus had the wisdom to nod as Virgil rolled his window up. The two of them left first, as quietly and quickly as they could without being suspicious.

“Well, Logan,” Virgil said as he stowed their money into his black hoodie, “Shall we go?”

Logan pulled into the car dump, another one of his half-smiles dancing over his face. “Indeed.”

It took them no time at all to find the car they had stashed here, hidden beautifully amongst the rubble and broken vehicles. Virgil replaced the license plates with ones they had gotten earlier while Logan made it his business to completely destroy the ones they had driven the stolen paintings around in.

Then he set the car on fire.

By the time it was done burning out, Virgil had finished with the old one. They hopped into it, this time with Virgil at the wheel, and took off into the night.

It was time to lie low for a bit.

__

“In other news Art Museum The Centre of the Mind has recently been visited by the Art Crossed Lovers. They stole five paintings: “The Sunrise” worth 34 million, “Lifting Up” worth 65 million, “Gardens of Forever” worth 22 million, “Father of Life” worth 12 million, and finally, “Wretched Dream” worth 47 million. Unlike the previous heist, nobody was harmed in the taking of these paintings however-”

Virgil glanced over at Logan, who was gripping the frying pan a little harder than normal. Slowly, Virgil pushed from their kitchen table, leaving the radio to amuse itself, and slunk around Logan’s back. “Smells good, baby,” he breathed.

“Thank you.” Logan relaxed back into his hold. “The eggs should be done in a few minutes.”

“The Centre of the Mind was considered one of the hardest places to get into, with top-of-the-line cameras, motion detection, passive infrared sensors, as well as RFID tags put into the paintings to track them. However, while no technology seems to have been turned off or broken in any way, there is no evidence of anyone other than the guards being in the building at any point in time.”

Logan had taken on the more smug look of his.

“All RFID tags were found stuck to the wall where the painting had previously been. With no way to track the paintings, officials can’t be sure where they’re headed.”

“You can guess,” Virgil muttered.

Logan’s huff of a laugh was like music to Virgil’s ears, and he rewarded the noise with a gentle kiss to the neck.

“Previous experiences with The Art Crossed Lovers suggest that all five artworks will arrive with the Samburu people of Northern Kenya, where the artwork originated. Officials ask that museums be on their guard-

“Eggs are done.” Logan turned his head sideways to look at Virgil the best he could. “Would you like to let go of me now, Love, so we can eat?”

Virgil responded with a whine and buried his face into Logan’s neck.

“The eggs will get cold.”

“Fuck the stupid eggs.”

“Hmmm.” Logan’s voice was light, slightly teasing. “How about we make a deal?”

Virgil stayed silent.

“We’ll eat breakfast, as nutrients are important, and if I remember correctly-” he jerked his head towards the radio, still spreading what they had done last night. “We burned quite a number recently.”

“Don’t care.”

“In return, you may have cuddles.”

Virgil’s eyes narrowed. “I’m a thief.”

“Accurate.”

“I can just steal cuddles.”

“Virgil-”

“And eggs.”

“...What?”

“Put the food on a plate.”

Looking more amused than anything else, Logan reached up into one of their cupboards and removed a large white plate. He piled the scrambled eggs on it and then, with Virgil still locked around his waist, added to the buttered pieces of toast he had finished a moment before.

Virgil took over. He led Logan over to the couch, sat him down, and then instantly wrapped Logan’s arm around him.

“Cuddles and nutrients.”

Logan kissed the side of his head. “Indeed.”

__

They normally waited at least four months before even planning to resurface again. This time, however, Logan got a call from a group of indigenous people in Mexico only three months into their rest period claiming that seven paintings were stolen from them and currently residing in the art museum the Gallery of Dreams. They checked up on it and of course, the group was telling the truth.

“We should wait a little longer,” Virgil muttered. “This is too soon. The museums are still on high alert.”

“The museums have been on high alert since our first three,” Logan responded. “The paintings are culturally significant. They need them in a month.”

Virgil pursed his lips. “So much could go wrong.”

Logan’s hand covered his but when Virgil glanced over at him he found that his boyfriend wasn’t looking at him but at his laptop, filled to the brim with different notes about the museum, the people, the paintings, and who would be picking them up.

“The escape route is easy.” Logan clicked onto his tab with a map. “It's practically right next to a popular highway and from there we can head to Marieville-” his finger jabbed a town- “pick up a car, wash down the other one, and head through Bardsbury-” his finger pointed again- “where Remus can pick them up.”

“What about cameras?”

Logan paused. His fingers clicked across the keyboard rapidly. Virgil let his head fall on Logan’s shoulder as he worked, quietly taking in the websites before-

“Okay, not Marieville then. It looks like Hamtree has fewer cameras and if we switch and clean cars out in this dead spot, we’d be fine.”

“Logan?”

“Hmm?”

“How close is the police station to that dead spot?”

A string of curses came out of Logan’s mouth, and Virgil smiled rather faintly as Logan had to rework their exit again.

A smaller, louder part of him reminded him that planning the escape was usually easiest, and if they were having this much trouble with just that it didn’t bode well.

“Got it. We’re heading to Lumbire.”

Virgil glanced over his route. Cameras were accounted for. They’d drop off a clean car before the heist so they could switch out and head for Bardsbury. Police stations were all over 15 minutes away from all of their spots, except for the Museum. They’d blend in, get out, find a new vehicle, and get out again.

It was simple. Perfect. Something they had done 1000 times.

“Alright,” Virgil surrendered. “What do we go about that.” He jabbed the museum with a single finger before settling back into Logan’s side.

“We gather information,” Logan replied. An arm swung itself around Virgil. “I’m certain we can figure something out.”

__

They’d been hanging out next to the Museum for the past few weeks. It had been a quick move- neither Logan nor Virgil had much stuff- and since then, it had been nothing but work, work, play, and then some more work.

Especially since it was two days to the heist.

Virgil lounged across the couch, a cup of very bitter coffee in one hand, quietly going over the plan.

He had managed to grab them some police uniforms. Nothing that would fool an actual cop, but realistic-looking enough that when they buzz the security desk and tell him they were coming about a disturbance, nothing would be questioned.

There would be two security guards. It would be pretty easy to trick them out of the security room; people were pretty compliant once they saw the cop uniform, and then further compliant when they saw the gun. Both would be handcuffed and blindfolded.

Virgil took a sip of the coffee to try and calm his nerves.

Logan would enter the security room and hack into their technology. He had estimated it would take him under five minutes to make sure everything would come up blank for the time they were there. If the button to call the police had an easy-to-find wire, it would be cut.

Neither of them believed such a wire would exist.

From then on, it was just a race. Get to the paintings, load them into the car, and then get out of there. If things went really really well, the police wouldn’t even be alerted till morning.

Virgil pursed his lips and glanced over at the male sitting a couple of feet away from him. Logan was frowning- never a good sign- and looking rather blankly down at their notes.

“You good?”

Logan didn’t respond.

“L?”

His boyfriend blinked and turned to him. “Yes, Love?”

Virgil rolled his eyes and maneuvered around, placing his coffee on the table in front of the couch and dropping his head upon Logan’s lap. “You good?” he repeated.

Logan’s hand fell into his hair. “I was thinking about our escape route.”

“Yeah?”

“It might be smarter to avoid the highway since we’ll be moving in the early morning.”

Virgil paused. He went back over their plan silently, trying to piece what Logan said into it.

It wouldn’t be a big change. They’d still be going to the same towns, still have the same stopping points.

“We’d be on the road longer.”

“Indeed.” Logan gnawed on his bottom lip. “That’s why I haven’t brought it up with you yet. I’m not wholly convinced it's necessary, especially since the cops won’t be notified.”

They fell silent again. Virgil mulled it over.

“I’m for side roads.”

Logan’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? You hate last-minute changes.”

Yeah, and the butterflies in Virgil’s stomach were not thanking him for deciding this. He swallowed and curled closer into the warmth of Logan’s lap and gently stroking of his hair.

“I know. But I think this is a good one.”

Logan licked his lips. “Alright then,” he decided. “We’ll go side roads.”

__

They parked as close to the Museum as they could get without it being straight in the front. Logan turned the key, turning the car off, but left the key in the ignition in case they had to go at a moment's notice. Both of them pulled hats down to cover their hair and Logan pushed his glasses up his nose.

“Ready, Love?”

“Ready, Baby.”

The two of them opened their respective car doors at the same time. Logan straightened the fake police badge on his shoulder and strode right up to a door off to the side and hit the buzzer.

A voice came over the intercom. “Hello?” It came out a little nervous, slightly shaky. “Can I help you?”

Virgil watched with some amusement as Logan took a breath and practically sunk into the person he was supposed to be embodying until it wasn’t his boyfriend the art thief that stood across from him.

It was just a cop.

“Yes, we’re here about a disturbance call,” Logan's voice was curt. “Do you mind if we just come up and poke around? It won’t take long.”

“I’m not supposed to allow-”

“We’ll be quite quick,” Virgil jumped in. He made his tone warmer than Logan’s, softer. He’d learned enough about this person to know they would appreciate it. “I’m sure it's nothing, but protocol, you know.”

Logan’s mouth quirked up.

“Al-Alright then, Yeah, I’ll buzz you in.”

Almost as he said it, there was a loud buzzing noise, and Logan opened the door. The two of them strode into the building and just before the door could close, Virgil stuck an old keycard in between the lock.

There was no need to worry about getting stuck indoors.

They padded their way up to the security guard. Both Logan and Virgil’s hands had come to rest on the small handguns on their waist. They had each only fired from it during a heist once- but during practice earlier, neither had missed a mark.

“Hi.” There was a 20-something-year-old sitting behind glass. They wore large oval glasses and stared out at the two of them with big brown innocent eyes.

They probably shouldn’t have taken a job as a guard.

“Do they… ” Logan looked the guard up and down and then over at Virgil. “Do they look like…?”

Virgil had to keep from smiling. God, his boyfriend was good.

“Are you Patton Lennon?” he asked. He tried to keep the warmth from earlier while adding a bit more roughness and suspicion.

The guard reacted exactly as Virgil wanted them to. They pulled back, away from the glass, away from the system- and away from the button that called the police.

“I- Yes, but why-”

“Come out.” Logan left no room for negotiation. “We have some questions for you, Mx. Lennon.”

It was almost too easy. Patton instantly left the security guard area. As the door opened, Logan caught it on one hand and pulled it the rest of the way open, as if he were holding it for them. Patton didn’t seem to find this strange, though Virgil watched their eyebrows knit together as Logan stepped into the room.

It was too late for them anyway. Virgil pulled the gun off of the guard's waistband and handcuffed him before Logan had even made it to the control panel.

“What are you…” Patton’s eyes widened. “You’re not cops! Are you…”

“Don’t fight and you won’t get hurt.” Any warmth had died in the chasm of terror eating Virgil from the inside out.

Logan's eyes flickered over the system. “This is garbage. You don’t even have RFID tags.”

Patton shrugged helplessly.

“Well, better news for us.” Logan's fingers flew across random buttons. “Alright Love, we have an hour before anything starts showing us in here. Shall we get started?”

Virgil nodded quietly.

Logan strode out of the security room and let the door fall closed. His lips pursed as he looked at it; apparently, there hadn’t been any wire to cut off the police button.

They would just have to be extra careful.

“Where’s the second guard?” Logan’s question was directed towards Patton, who gave the same helpless shrug from earlier. However, something in his eyes flickered and it made Virgil nervous. He looked around them.

“Baby-”

Bang!

Bang!

The first thing Virgil felt wasn’t the pain but the pushback. The bullet had shot clean through his shoulder, whirling him against the wall behind him. It wasn’t until he had fully sunk to the floor did the pain hit and he remembered to pull out his own gun.

Logan was much more reactive than he was. Before Virgil had even registered the pushback, his boyfriend had whirled around and fired straight through the second security guard's forehead.

Patton screamed. “ROMAN!”

“You move, you die.” Logan’s voice was like nothing Virgil had ever heard before. It wasn’t ice; this was pure fire, pure fury, and the slightest amount of desperation. “Got it?”

Patton just sobbed out that guard's name. Roman, Roman, Roman.

Logan ripped off the police shirt and pressed it against the wound. Virgil whimpered as it hit him and despite his best efforts, tears pooled in his eyes. He closed them tightly, trying to breathe, even as each breath sent shockwaves through his body.

“I’ve got you, Love.” Both of Logan’s hands worked Virgil’s wound, using his blue tie to wrap around the police shirt and hold it there. “This is going to hurt.”

“Baby, I'm a little scared.” He was not at all happy with how pathetic his voice sounded, and how no matter what he tried he couldn’t pull the sobs back in.

“Now don't you quit on me.” Logan’s voice was soft, but not meek. “I’m going to tighten the tie. Okay?”

Virgil nodded. Sweat beaded down his forehead and he let his head drop back.

“3. 2. 1.”

Logan pulled and the tie forced the shirt tight around the bullet hole. Virgil let out a scream and he felt Logan shudder with it. When he opened his eyes, he found tears glistening on his boyfriend’s face- tears that Logan was quick to swipe away.

“I’m alright,” Virgil whispered. “Where’s…” His eyes widened. “Baby, Patton-”

It was far too late. The guard had already smacked that police button, having snuck into the security guard’s room while Logan tended to Virgil. Patton’s eyes went wide as they looked over at the pair of them, and they whimpered as Logan turned to them, face unreadable.

“Come here.”

Patton decided not to argue. The moment they were within distance, Logan’s arm came up, slamming the butt of his gun into Patton’s temple with more ferocity than Virgil had ever seen his boyfriend exhibit. The guard collapsed to the floor, unconscious, and Logan put handcuffs around his ankles before leaning over to Virgil.

“Come on Love. We’re going.”

Virgil wasn’t about to argue. He tried his best not to whimper as Logan lifted him up, but from the pained look on Logan’s face, he had failed miserably. Slowly, they made their way over to the door, the door that would lead to their car, and that would lead them out of here.

They could still make it.

Weee-ooowww Weee-ooowww…

Virgil’s heart fell. He glanced over at Logan, who pressed a firm kiss to his temple.

“They don’t take us alive,” Virgil told him.

A flicker of a smile appeared on Logan’s face. “Do you wish to go down in a blaze of glory, Love, or here?”

“Is that even a question baby?” Virgil faced the door, and the lights he knew lay beyond them. “Let’s make sure we’re remembered.”

It would be difficult for Virgil to fire a gun. His right arm wasn’t able to move, and the left was strung up and around Logan’s shoulder, to help his boyfriend to keep from dropping him. But Logan unclipped Virgil’s gun from around his waist and passed it to Virgil’s left hand, so the tip faced forward.

There wouldn’t be any aim, but Virgil was ready to cause a little chaos.

Logan swung the door open and stepped both of them through the frame. They looked out, over the sea of flashing police cars, and the policemen and women huddled behind them with their guns up in the air.

“This is the sheriff's police department! Come out with your hands up! We have the place surrounded!”

Virgil grinned. He could barely hear the calls of the police officer; it was blocked by the harsh pulse thumping in his ears, pounding in his wound.

“Put your weapons down!”

Logan cocked his gun.

“Put your weapons down!”

Logan and Virgil looked at each other. Eyes locked, Logan leaned forward and slammed their lips together. Just as they met, both Virgil and Logan pulled the triggers on their guns.

The Art Crossed Lovers were still kissing when the answering shots blew their brains out.

[wrctings]

Bill Guarnere x fem!reader | Happy Halloween

happy october 31st everyone! for this imagine, i’m mixing two of my favourite things, halloween and this angry (actually soft inside) italian <3 🎃 (this is based on the character portrayed by frank john hughes, all my respect goes to the real bill guarnere and his family, which i by no means mean to disrespect). I wrote this while listening to The Yodeling Ghost by Bring Crosby and The Andrews Sisters, so that could be a nice song to read this to ❣️

October 31st, 1945 

You stopped in the kitchen doorway to a sight that coated your heart with a warmth that even the thickest of blankets couldn’t have generated. You almost didn’t want to enter the room anymore, a smile instantly lightening your features as you allowed your gaze to longer linger on the scene you had just walked in on, coming to a halt as though unwilling to shatter the moment you had just caught.

“Daddy, when are we going to go?” A little girl, no older than ten, with bright eyes fixed upon her dad’s frame, was gently tugging at the man’s shirt. 

“Soon, Y/child’s/n, soon. I swear you’re even more impatient that I am, aren’t you?” Bill shook his head but a twinkle of fondness could also easily be discerned in the man’s gaze, which briefly landed upon his daughter’s face before his attention went back to the reason why the child’s patience was wearing out. Indeed, on the table before Bill sat an emptied pumpkin — its innards and light-coloured, almond-like seeds having been set aside in a nearby bowl —, and your husband was making an effort to craftily dig into it with a knife.

“Then we’ll go?” Y/child’s/n asked hopefully, hauling herself on tiptoe to better observe Bill’s endeavour. 

“Then we’ll go,” he promised, cutting through the hardened surface of the fruit with quite a bit of struggle to form of a serrated mouth. “I swear you’re even more impatient than me, aren’t you?” he gave her a quick smile as he continued his task. Once he was done with carving such an outline, he could then push the cut-out surface out of the way, leaving a whole in the shape of a grin. ‘There you go,” Bill put the knife down, rubbing his hands together as he took a final look at his creation, then seized the pumpkin and showed it to your daughter. “What do you think?” 

“It’s not a very scary pumpkin...,” the little girl commented with a chuckle, though her face showed a pleased expression.

“Not a very scary pumpkin? Let me tell you, I’d be really scared if I came across a pumpkin like that,” Bill retorted, giving the pumpkin a fake suspicious look that made your daughter laugh, and you couldn’t help but join in. This drew your husband’s attention, whom gave you a joyful glance as soon as he noticed your presence in the doorway. “See,” he continued, addressing the girl, “I wouldn’t trust it too much. But thanks to it, I have a feeling somebody’s gonna get some candy tonight.” 

“I have the same feeling,” you said fondly, stepping inside the room to join your daughter and husband. Bill got up, leaning on his prosthesis to regain his balance, and gave you an affectionate smile before he washed pumpkin flesh off his hands. 

“Mommy, are you going to go treat-or-treating with me and daddy?” Y/child’s/name wrapped her small hands around your leg as she shifted her head backwards to give you an inquisitive look. 

“Do you want me to?” you replied tenderly, hearing Bill’s footsteps come closer behind your back, meaning that it would soon be time to grant your daughter’s wish.

“Yes!” she answered cheerfully. “Please come with us!" 

“Then count me in,” you stroke your daughter’s back, nodding decidedly. “But before that, you need to put on your costume. Come on, I’ll help you out. I’m sure that daddy will manage not to get too scared of Mr Pumpkin even if we leave him alone with him for a bit,” you gave Bill a playful, loving smile. 

“I’ll be on the lookout for anything suspicious from Mr Pumpkin,” Bill answered gravely, and the two of you exchanged a knowing and affectionate glance as you were leaving the kitchen in your daughter’s wake. 

*

You were standing at the bottom of the staircase a quarter of an hour later, readjusting Y/child’s/n’s halloweeny cape as the little girl expectantly hopped up and down, struggling to remain immobile.

“Daddy! Look!” As soon as Bill appeared in the doorframe, she spun on her heels to face him, a proud beam shimmering upon her lips. “I’m a vampire!” 

“Wow,” holding the pumpkin he had carved earlier, your husband came closer to take a thorough look at the girl’s new disguise. “You’re a terrifying little vampire! Ain’t nobody stands a chance against you.”

“Now I can scare Mr Pumpkin if he tries to scare you,” Y/child’s/n announced confidently, eyeing the jack-o’-lantern as if she was giving it a warning. Such a bravely sweet statement made Bill’s and yours parent’s hearts melt and your husband picked her up, momentarily putting the pumpkin down so he could plant a gentle kiss on her cheek.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he told her with a smile not devoid of emotion as you rubbed his shoulder.

The three of you then put their shoes on, Bill once again getting hold of the jack-o’-lantern, and you took off for the Halloween-night trick-or-treating which your daughter had been awaiting so impatiently. The sun had already almost set, only remnants of fading warm light rippling upon the ginger and brown leaves that rustled on the trees all around, but most of the houses’ porches were alit with lanterns or lights, some of them even placed inside of carved pumpkins used as decorations. You were not the only ones to have gone out on that evening, meeting some your neighbours whom you greeted before your daughter energetically shot the decisive question: trick or treat? Even without approaching the houses, your pumpkin already filled with a few pieces of candy, which your daughter counted before urging you to go up to the first front door. Her father lifted her up so she could ring the doorbell by herself, and you waited for your neighbours to show up, Bill carrying your pumpkin-container while you were in charge of other sweets that you could give away for other trick-or-treaters. 

“Good evening,” you greeted the woman who opened the door, a sheepish smile slipping onto your lips as your daughter joyfully exclaimed: trick or treat, even forgetting to say hello first. 

“Well, look at you,” the woman laughed kindly, visibly finding the child’s enthusiasm endearing. “Good evening. I’ll see what I can do for you.” She reappeared a few moments later, carrying a piece of chocolate candy that she put into the pumpkin that Y/child’s/n insisted on taking from Bill. “There you go.” 

“Thank you very much, Ma’am,” your daughter replied, this time not giving politeness a miss, which got her another smile from the woman. 

“Thank you, we’re sorry for the trouble,” Bill apologised, though giving your daughter a fond glance as he did so.  

“It’s nothing, I’m glad I won’t be tricked by this very frightening vampire,” the woman shook her head breezily, but your daughter’s face shone with pride at the fact that your neighbour had got her costume right, and found her scary. 

After warmly wishing the woman a good evening, you set toward your next destination. To make your daughter content, you decided to try your luck at all the houses bordering your street, and thankfully got a positive response from every one of their inhabitants — to give away candy was one of Halloween night’s customs, so everybody played along in a joyous atmosphere, especially since your daughter managed to remain polite in spite of her being giddy with excitement. You and Bill couldn’t have been prouder, congratulating the girl on her behaviour and promising her that she would get to taste some of the candy you had collected when you would come home.

Your little expedition came to an end around an hour later, tiredness starting to weigh upon Y/child’s/n as you left the front yard of the last house you had visited. Her eyelids fluttering shut while you were heading back home, Bill ended up picking her up, handing you the jack-o’-lantern, and cradling her in his arms so she could rest peacefully. Although she awoke when your husband and you took her up the stairs leading to her room, then helping your daughter undress and get into bed, her misty state of mind made the drowsy little girl forget all about candy and she quickly cuddled up to her stuffed animal, letting you tuck her in and tenderly kiss her goodnight. You softly closed the door, your daughter already fast asleep, and found yourself alone with Bill.

The two of you quietly went back downstairs, careful not to make any loud noises lest you disturbed Y/child’s/n’s slumber, and in a few minutes you were inside the living room, the door shut behind you. Warmth was flooding the room, the fireplace still ablaze with remnants of fluttering flames and the wood inside crackling cosily, which made an appeased sigh part your lips. You were home.

“Y/child’s/nickname fell asleep quickly tonight,” Bill commented, taking your hand in his. “That was a really good Halloween celebration.” 

“But it’s not over yet,” you had had an idea, a smile now spreading upon your face as you let go of your husband’s hand. You came up to the radio stationed near the fireplace, turning it on, and after a few seconds of uncertain hissing and murmuring from the frequency modulation, music spilled from the machine, its jazzy notes instantly swirling in the air and engulfing you and Bill in their rhythm, smooth and ample like velvet to the ears. Matching the date, you realised that it was Halloween-themed after catching some of the lyrics.

“There,” you grinned, turning back around to meet Bill’s inquisitive gaze. Moving along to the song, you came back to him, putting your arms over the man’s shoulders. “Now, I’ve got you all for myself,” you murmured with longing playfulness, your mouth still curved. 

“I’m all yours, darling,” your husband’s dark eyes anchored in yours, he slid his arms around your back, his body drifting along the shifting of yours. He had never told you out loud, but dancing with you had always felt incredibly special to him; in spite of losing his leg, it made him feel whole, like he could do anything. Like he was still himself — and he was. He was incredibly strong, and you would forever be proud of him. 

As you danced, Bill kissed you slowly, savouring every contact that you shared, before pulling away, which allowed you to look into his face. Waltzing shadows from the fireplace were grazing his skin, skin which you had left so many breathless kisses on, and the amber of his iris appeared lighter in the dimly-lit living room, reflecting the glistening of embers in the fireplace. You had feared losing him so intensely, back when you went through the war together, and now he was standing there in front of you, so alive. And even though the memories of what happened after you had learnt about Bill’s injury still sometimes cut through you like a blade — sobbing uncontrollably in Cpt. Winters’s foxhole, Cpt. Nixon had even offered you his flask of alcohol as Richard had tried to console you best he could —, at least your pain had been alleviated by the certainty that he had made it. You had come home to him, and he had been there. 

But on that merry Halloween evening, nothing could have clouded the sheer and simple happiness of dancing with your husband to a spooky tune. You hands in his, you moved along to the music, your merry state of mind translating into the suavity with which your limbs moved in synch; Bill had even forgotten about his prosthetic, feeling like every move was effortless with you. Though being the night of horror, for the two of you that 31st of October was marked with blissfulness that would have made even the scariest of creatures meek. And perhaps, at that very moment, some ghost was watching you from the corner of the room, daydreaming about a long-lost love that it had suddenly set its mind to find again. 

[lovelymaybankk]

sober - rafe cameron

song fic based on ‘wish you were sober’ by conan gray

a/n - i hate rafe bur drew starkey is smmmmmmmemmevr sexy. i wrote this in less than an hour at 2:30-3:10ish so sorry

tw - drug/alcohol use, 1 mention of throw up, swears obv

wc - 1,107

this party’s shit, wish we could dip

go anywhere but here

y/n stood beside her boyfriend, arms crossed. she had an uneasy look on her face as her boyfriend spoke loudly to his friends around him. she didn’t fit in. although she was a kook, she wasn’t a party girl. especially a party that had drugs. she can handle beer, but drugs were a new type of hate she held. her hand wrapped around rafe’s bicep as he started walking, leading the girl through the house and down the stairs as his friends followed. biting her lip, y/n trailed behind him but stopped short at the sight she saw. shirtless teens and on the glass table were two baggies, one holding white powder and the other holding what seemed to be blunts.

y/n’s face turned up in disgust, pulling away from rafe. he stopped, looking at her with what seemed to be concern. “whats wrong?” rafe took her hand, only for her to pull away.

“rafe..” y/n’s tone was quiet, looking from the table to him again. rafe swore that he was sober. 

“babe, its nothing.” rafe promised, smiling at her. “i won’t do that much.” that was reassuring.

y/n didn’t speak, just watched as rafe turned and sat at the table. his friends cheered as he took one of the dollar bills, rolling it into a tube. beside him, kelce handed him a beer.

don’t take a hit, don’t kiss my lips

and please don’t drink more beer

rafe chugged the beer, shaking his head and grinning lopsidedly. y/n walked closer, now behind the boy. he set down the empty bottle, fixing the dollar bill in his grip. topper watched y/n’s face of discomfort before opening the baggy that held the cocaine. he split it into different lines for rafe, who quickly snorted them. he whooped, getting the others around him to whoop too. y/n stayed quiet. 

rafe turned to face his girlfriend, smiling carefully. “see? i have it under control.” his tone was more coarse than usual, but y/n trusted him. he grabbed her arm and pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her lips before turning to do another line.

i’ma crawl out the window now

‘cause i don’t like anyone around

y/n watched in disgust as the boy she loves became a new person. he took the lines quickly, shaking his head and messing up his hair which was so neatly gelled back. turning on her heel, y/n’s head started to spin. she hadn’t even drank anything, but felt drunk. she rushed up the stairs quickly, holding onto the railing as her feet hit the wood harshly. 

pushing through the crowd and bumping into people, y/n left as fast as she could. rafe was still there, in the kiss. but she had never seen him act like that. as he took the lines, he became louder and more desperate. somebody she didn’t know.

kinda hope you’re following me out

but this is definitely not my crowd

rafe turned as soon as he felt the emptiness behind him. he watched through blurred lines as the girl he loved run up the stairs. he wanted to chase her, standing up quickly. his head spun, making him fall back into the seat. from then on, the night was a blur.

y/n pushed her way outside, head pounding suddenly. a hand brushed her arm, making her head snap that way. sarah cameron. “hey,” sarah smiled, not really knowing the older girl but she had seen her around the house. “you’re y/n right? dating my brother?”

y/n nodded, confusion on her face. “yes. why? is he ok?”

sarah bit her lip, staying quiet. “last i saw him he was with somebody else.”

nineteen but you act twenty-five now

knees weak, but you talk pretty proud, wow

y/n’s knees almost gave out. she didn’t move. sarah stayed silent. it could mean anything, y/n told herself. taking a deep breath, y/n closed her eyes and suddenly everything in her mind was blank. she couldn’t hear anything. “where is he?” she brought herself back to earth, eyes opening.

ripped jeans and a cup that you just downed

take me where the music ain’t to loud

trade drinks, but you don’t even know her

y/n made her way through the crowd, taking a left and instead of going down the stairs she went up. how long had she been outside that rafe had already gotten up the stairs? even in his state? she opened every door, calling out for her boyfriend. she opened one more to see her boyfriend talking to another girl, both sitting right beside her. y/n wanted to vomit. 

“are you fucking me?” y/n flung the door open more wide. rafe, out of shock, tossed the beer he held onto the carpet below him. he cussed under his breath, looking up at his girlfriend with bloodshot eyes.

“hey babe.” rafe spoke nonchalantly, standing and stumbling his way to y/n. the girl rafe was hitting on rolled her eyes and left, pushing y/n’s shoulder with force.

rafe almost fell into y/n’s touch, making the girl sigh. “one time.” y/n mumbled, leading the intoxicated boy down the stairs (it was a struggle) and through the crowd. 

 save me ‘till the party is over

kiss me in the seat of your rover

y/n led the boy outside, heavy breaths the only thing she heard. not the music, or her drunk boyfriend. he shook at her touch, a grin laid on his face as he blabbered on about whatever. 

y/n pushed him into his seat in his car, sighing heavily. he sat in the passenger seat, head held high as he continued to ramble. y/n wasn’t also in the state to drive, under plenty of stress and also seemed to be a little drunk. she slid into the drivers seat, forehead resting on the steering wheel.

rafe turned to her, stopping what he was saying. “you’re pretytyyyy.” his words were slurred and barely understandable, a grin still on his face. y/n turned to him, a small smile on her face.

as mad as y/n was at the boy, she loved him. “so are you.” y/n hummed, starting the car. rafe leaned over, slipping a little as he kissed her. it was soft, like he didn’t want to break her. but there was also a force of lust behind it. he wanted more that night.

real sweet, but i wish you were sober.

[chanlixformysoul]

Sounds easy, right? [ Chanlix ]

rating: mature

word count: 2217

chapter: 1

next chapter: 2

summary:

➥ Felix was sent to kill Chan but he got hurt and now Chan is nursing Felix back to health, they might also fall in love on the way.

song recommendation:

estimated reading time: 17.1 minutes

ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎❝᷀ົཽ≀ˍ̮ ❝᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚˚

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Felix would sneak his way in, kill Chan and get his goddamn money.

But oh boy he was in for a ride. The 'Big Boss' as people would call him wasn't that big nor great at all, he was just the co-CEO of the company, one position away from being the big CEO. His brother, Chan's dad, died besides his mother 7 years ago in a car accident , leaving Chan as CEO of the company. The Big Boss used Felix whenever he wanted to, but he never put Felix in a position like this before, to kill a person. He knew that if he disobeyed the Big Boss he would get beaten up and tortured, plus he would never get the money promised back and the fact that he was a cat hybrid didn't help either. The Big Boss told Felix to kill Chan, he would sneak in his house and get rid of him because he needed to not because he wanted to.

Sounds easy, right?

Well it actually isn't, not when Felix tripped because the welcome mat at the entrance was crooked sending his head into the door with a loud thump sound. As he tried to get away fast he lost his balance and was sent once again flying down the big and grand staircase. The door immediately opened, revealing a distressed looking man, shirt halfway undone and one shoe off. Felix knew Chan rushed outside because of the noise that he made but he couldn't help but admire his figure.

'Hey buddy, care to explain?' Chan said as he crossed his arms one over another raising his eyebrows.

'I umm... actually.... sorry, I gotta go.' But little did he know that falling down a huge staircase can do this much. Pain started to shoot from his ankles to his ribs and back. The big impact with the door sure left it's mark as he felt blood dripping from his blonde locks to his eyebrows. He pulled himself from the ground, trying to not make a fool out of himself more than he actually did earlier, wincing and shooting silent cuss words at himself for being so goddamn stupid.

Before he could walk down the street, he wanted to run but he weighed his options and he knew that if he started running it was only a matter of two steps before he came crashing to the ground once again.

He was about to do his second step but suddenly a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

'What the heck happened to you?'

'Oh... as I said I have to go, sorry.'

'You're not going anywhere, not with that head of yours.'

Felix couldn't believe what just happened, he screwed up the mission. He could say goodbye to this month's rent, goodbye to any decent meal he would allow himself to buy with the money check. Maybe if Big Boss would have some mercy he could leave him and not kill him, maybe he would understand, but deep down Felix knew he was gonna be tortured again by the thoughts of affording to even live when he opens his eyes every morning.

He couldn't stop trembling and his legs started shaking with fear of being killed by Big Boss because of his failed mission. Before he knew it he started crying, like full on sobbing and at last collapsed to the ground leaving a distressed Chan picking him up and urgently calling his doctor to come see the boy.

Chan was confused, really confused. This boy, he wanted to do something, right? But at the same time he couldn't help but feel a little weird because of the younger one. He had such a pretty face, rosy cheeks accompanied by constellations of freckles, lips that looked like petals of the rarest and finest flower you could find on earth. Chan found himself admiring the boy after the doctor left. As the doctor said it there weren't such serious issues but it wasn't something little either. The paper entitled prescription was long and let's say not even close to Felix's budget.

Chan kept a washing cloth by his side all the time, slowly stroking the youngest arms and forehead. He placed Felix on his bed justifying his actions in his head saying 'the couch is too small'. As he was making his way to the kitchen,Chan saw a little head that popped up in his bed. He made sure to bring the glass of water and the pills that the doctor prescribed. Felix woke up, and by that he knew he had officially fucked up real hard.

He tried to escape the blanket, kicking it off of him but the pain started once again as well. His ribs, back, legs, head and ankles hurt like hell. As he cleared his vision he saw Chan... he was done for sure.

'Hi there, I see that you woke up. Don't worry just stay in bed and take these. Oh and the bill for the medication, I took care of it.' He simply said smiling while placing the pills and water down on the nightstand.

Felix immediately came to his senses when Chan sat besides him on the bed. He tried to get off the bed but he was once again stopped but this time not only by the immense pain, but by strong arms.

'Where are you going?'

'To my house? I didn't ask for your kindness you know? You could've just let me be on the ground. It would've been better that way for the both of us trust me.' Felix said with no emotion in his voice.

'Hey, you can go to your home once you will recover, I'm not letting you out like this especially at this hour.' That made Felix turn his head for the nearest thing that indicated time only to read it as 11:34 pm. Fucking great isn't it. He knew the busses wouldn't be out that late and he knew that from this wealthy neighbourhood to his small apartment was an immense distance that he couldn't travel by foot.

'At least tell me your name, mines Chan.'

'Felix...'

'That's a cute name, Felix.' Chan said while trying to get the younger one to look at him in the eyes. He was getting closer and closer until he saw that Felix was crying once again.

'Hey what's wrong? Did I make you uncomfortable?'

'I failed, I'm gonna be left in the streets again, I'm so sorry. Please let me go, please. I'm a bad person, you don't want me here.' Felix continued sobbing, putting his hands to cover up his face and turning his head so Chan couldn't look at him.

'No you're not a bad person, Felix. If you want you can stay here with me, I'm always lonely, I rarely go out because of my work. I'm either at work or at home. You can stay with me for as long as you want to, I won't force you, just come here...' Chan says looking at Felix with gentleness in his eyes before climbing over the mattress to hug the youngest little frame.

'It's okay, Lix, I'm here you don't need to worry'

'Why are you being nice to me? I was supposed to do a bad thing to you.' He says sniffing and letting more tears fall down.

'Felix, I like you, that's why I'm being nice to you, I want you to stay with me, please tell me what's wrong' Chan said, voice trembling, not knowing what to do.

'Please don't hit me or do something, your uncle s-send me to kill you, I didn't want to but he would torture me if I didn't and I wouldn't get the money, I need the money so I can live, I'm sorry ' Felix sobbed harder than before as he looked at Chan. Chan shifted, Felix immediately twitched expecting a slap and then to be beaten up and thrown away just like Big Boss's men do with him all the time, Felix was shaking so much he fell out the bed into the hard and expensive wood flooring. His back started hurting more but that didn't matter he started to run to the door. Chan was quick and caught him pulling him to his chest.

'Did uncle really say that?'

Felix couldn't even look in Chan's eyes as he nodded. Tears trailed down his cheeks again.

'I'm sorry, I'm going to leave you. I don't have the money for the medication but I will give it to you, I promise just please don't hurt me. I swear I will disappear and you don't have to see me again, I promise...' Felix cried into his hands, his knees starting to give in so he dropped to the floor. He winced in pain as he made contact with the floor. He felt exhausted but he would go to his apartment, he had to.

Chan quickly went down to Felix picking him up while whispering that he's not mad at him and that he is just a little shocked. Felix was still saying that he didn't need to be carried, he just wanted to go home but Chan insisted that he will have to stay here till his pain is gone. Felix being exhausted physically and emotionally he agreed. Chan carried Felix to his bed placing him gently on it.

'Let's sleep for now, we will talk tomorrow,ok?'

'It's ok' said Felix going down on the floor again, this time intentionally. Chan just watched the younger not understanding what he was doing.

'Good night.' Said Felix as he laid on the cold flooring, feeling his back and ribs ache.

'Felix I-' Chan was cut off by Felix.

'Oh sorry, I will go in the living room'

'No, don't do that. I was just wondering what you were doing on the floor?'

'Trying to sleep?' He said looking confused as well.

'Felix, come here' Chan said as he patted the space next to him.

'I know we've just met a few hours ago but please stay with me, I beg you'

'I don't know, Chan, I have nothing to offer you, I have no family, no friends, no money, I'm also a cat hybrid. I'm practically useless, better off dead.' He said as he slowly got on the bed, staying on the edge so he could occupy less space than he needed to.

'Don't say that, come closer, I want to hug you if that's ok'

Felix didn't say anything he just got closer to the older. Raising his head to look at Chan, he found the older's eyes comforting, this time Felix hugged Chan burying his face in Chan's chest and collarbone. Chan let out a chuckle, Felix feeling the vibration through his chest.

'So what's your answer?'

'If I'm not a bother, I want to stay.'

'That's perfect then, can we sleep like this? I want to cuddle you while sleeping.' Felix turned red feeling his ears burning.

'O-ok then' Chan only nodded in agreement, setting them down. Felix didn't know what to do so he just stayed still not even daring to look at Chan.

'Do you not want to cuddle?' Asked Chan as he propped his head up a little.

'I never did it before, I don't know what to do...' he looked down in embarrassment.

'Really? That's okay. Do you want to face me or not?'

'I want to see your face'

'Okay then, sweetheart, come closer'

Felix could only smile at the sudden nickname clinging to the older, as he snuggled into him.

'I'm sorry for everything'

'You didn't do anything, bub, it's all ok now, we are together and that's what matters in the end.'

'Aren't you mad at me? I got you in so much trouble...I feel bad, i didn't want to accept the task, but I didn't have another choice, they would torture me and beat me and then throw me out like a dog... I didn't want that to happen again, I'm sorry Chan, I really am...' Felix said looking up at Chan, putting a hand gently on Chan's cheek.

Chan put his hand above Felix's hand noticing how tiny it was.

'Don't worry, it's none of your fault, you were the victim and as soon as you get better we will go and confront uncle.'

'No, please don't do that, please. You will get in trouble for me and he will come for you. I don't want to lose you' Felix started tearing up again but now Chan was here for him. Chan held him closer whispering that everything is okay.

'Don't worry Felix, uncle will be punished for everything he has done to you. I can't believe he will actually do that to someone, how cruel can one be?'

'Thank you, Chan, for helping me and letting me stay with you.'

'Felix, no need to worry, okay? You're here with me from now on. Let's sleep, it's gotten late.'

'Thank you, Channie.....' Felix mumbled cutely as he drifted into the land of dreams but this time his dreams weren't nightmares this time, his dreams were full of Chan's face, laugh, touch.....he was feeling happy. Was he allowed to feel that way?

᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎❝᷀ົཽ≀ˍ̮ ❝᷀ົཽ⁎⁺˳✧༚˚

my ao3: Mrs_SnowPitch

my wattpad: ChanlixForMySoul

my masterlist: iza’s masterlist

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Nate and Danny: The Lucky Ones

This is just a little recovery drabble - someone a while back requested a sweet moment with Nate and Danny, so here it is! You know, to get you all nice and relaxed before the next BTHB piece.

CW: Referenced past abuse/violence, noncon, drugging, dubcon (on both sides), trauma recovery. But, you know, I swear this one is really sweet at heart. Some hint of spice. Like PG-13 spice. 

Tagging @bleeding-demon-teeth, @spiffythespook, and @special-spicy-chicken. Also I owe a debt to @orchidscript for this one, as it pulls from a scene she and I wrote out a while back in a different context. Oh, and here is a link to the song that is in this piece if you haven’t heard it before.

“No, Danny.”

“Please? Come on, Nate, please, it’ll help, I know it will.”

Nate looks up from his position lying in the bed, where he’s been for the past three days. Danny stands between him and the window, and the hint of sunshine outside lights a halo around the red hair, turning the edges to a brilliant gleaming copper. Danny’s face is slightly shadowed this way, not exactly silhouette. It fades out the scars until they’re barely visible, lessens the hint of silver-gray visible just at his scalp if you know where to look.

But it doesn’t matter how dark the shadows make Danny’s face, Nate can still see the vibrant warm blue of his eyes.

Danny’s wearing a heavy sweater and soft cotton pants - he’s always wearing sweaters now, even as the weather begins to warm, even as flowers bloom in the landscaping at the edge of the apartment complex’s parking lot and the leaves bud on the trees outside. The sweater is a deep green, nearly the same color as Nate’s own eyes, and sets off every inch of the redhead’s pale freckled skin.

Nate swallows against the way the guilt pricks at him, a million little needles that never leave him alone. He hasn’t moved in days because he’s been thinking about how much they’ve all lost, and his sense that the life he is building here - taking care of Danny, going to therapy, watching Ryan Michaelson be the world’s biggest jackass until he looks at his brother and suddenly that drops and melts away into a devotion Nate has never seen before - is all going to be ripped away.

It was too easy, sending Bram to prison.

It was all too easy, and it won’t last.

Nate looks up at Danny, who gives him a shy and nervous smile, and thinks, My hands tied you to the headboard even when I begged him not to make me. My hand held the knife. My hand pulled your head back by your hair so he could watch the blood drip in your eyes. My hands helped him put the muzzle on your face that last time, my hands cleaned you up when he let you back out of the cellar, my hands, mine, I am covered in your blood. I am complicit, I’m as guilty as he is, it doesn’t matter what happens with his eyes.

I deserve to be dead.

Why am I here?

He slumps back onto the bed. “L-Leave me alone, Danny. I j-j-just want to stay here today.”

“No.” The word is a surprise to both of them - when Nate blinks and looks up, Danny’s eyes are wide and a little frightened at himself. 

Nate swallows hard against the rush of self-loathing as he reads the thought clear as day across Danny’s face: puppies don’t get to say no. “I, I mean…” Danny’s jaw sets, and Nate is even more surprised by the look of determination when those blue eyes move back to his. “I mean it. No. This always helped me when we did it up in the woods. I want to help you, Nate. I want you to believe me when I say I want you here. I want, um, I want… I want you to get out of the bed. Okay?” As though all his strength had bled out in his words, Danny’s shoulders slumped a little, hunching into himself, making himself smaller. “... please?”

It’s the crack in his voice on the final word that gets Nate to move. He’d tried to kill a man to save Danny. He’d burned down the cabin and driven away in the middle of the night. Whatever he was - however guilty - Danny didn’t see him that way.

Danny never seems to see the man that held him down to be hurt - only the man who watched movies with him late at night and helped him pick bundles of wildflowers to press, only the man who would sometimes kiss the bruises Bram had left with perfect tenderness. Danny saw the man who had saved him and not the man who was the reason he had been broken in the first place.

Danny saw the man who stitched him up after he was forced to step into the trap and not the man who had done nothing but uselessly hold him while Abraham made him do it.

Whatever he is, has been made into, Nate had discovered the ability to stand up when Danny needed him, in the end. Danny needs him to stand up now.

So Nate pushes back the covers, which seem to weigh three tons, and slides his feet off the side of the bed. He leans over for a second, hands on the edge of the bed, just sitting in his pajama pants and looking down at himself - the wicked stripe of pale, faded scar up his torso (Ashley), the twisted one along his collarbone (Bram), the smaller pockmarked places knives had gone in and out of him like love (Bram, always Bram, endlessly Bram).

When Danny holds out his hand, Nate reaches up with his good one to take it, lets Danny pull him up off the bed. Danny holds both of his hands, grip gentle and barely-there on the bad hand so as not to push the misplaced bones together.

“This helped, when you used to do it with me,” Danny says softly, looking down at him, and Nate tilts his head back to look up. It’s always so strange the way Danny can seem so small until you stand next to him and realize how tall he is, the height he hides as much with his personality as with the way he rolls his shoulders forwards and curves his spine.

If he disliked Ryan a little less, he’d ask if he was always like that, or if that was something he’d only learned in the cabin. After all, he and Danny had only seen each other a handful of times before Abraham came for him.

Nate had met some people and kind of fallen in with them, and Danny had been on the periphery of the group. Most of Nate’s interactions with him prior to the night Danny had come over to watch a movie with him - and Bram had finally hunted Nate down - had involved pretending not to watch Danny push and shove and dance with a crowd in a dark bar in front of a stage. Pretending his mouth wasn’t dry, that he wasn’t staring at the way Danny moved when the sweat slicked him up, dampened his shirt, left little bits of red hair stuck to his forehead and the back of his neck as he knocked back another drink, shot Nate a half-shy, half-bold flash of toothy smile before he went back to the crowd.

Nate had spent the time they were around each other pretending he wasn’t interested, because it wasn’t safe to be interested. Then he’d let his guard down, and here they are, nearly five years later, a broken puppy and Bram’s black-haired prince who burned down the fucking castle.

Danny takes Nate’s other hand in his, tilting his head with a nervous, shy smile, and Nate lets his eyes move back up to the halo of sunlight around his hair. Maybe Bram named the wrong one of us the prince. “H-How long have you been awake?” He asks, voice low and deep and uncertain. Danny smells like his shampoo and soap, an odd mix of flowers and something like mint. This close, Nate can tell his hair is still the slightest bit damp.

(do you like him better this way, baby?)

Of course I like him better free

(but he was so good for you, before)

He’s better for me now

Nate shakes off the thoughts, the hint of Bram’s voice that never quite leaves him, and sighs. “Fine. We’ll t-t-try it. But if it doesn’t w-work, you let me get b-back in the bed, okay?”

“It’s a deal. It’ll work, Nate, I know it will.”

There’s hardly enough room, with Danny’s big bed and his desk and a dresser, but Nate lets himself be pulled, moving to the one space in here big enough for what Danny wants to do. Now that he’s agreed to it, Danny’s smile has shifted, widened, become more certain of itself and sincere. It crinkles the scar tissue at the bridge of his nose, makes the broken line of his jaw on each side less obvious, makes the tiny pinprick scars from the sharp pieces that stuck off the metal and jabbed his skin less noticeable.

Nate wants to touch the scar, to trace it with his hands like he does when Danny is scared or goes too far inside his own head for them to follow. The touch that brings him back when he’s lost in the woods. He never wants to stop touching the scars, rub his thumbs right into them until they both forget what made them.

He swallows as Danny moves him, the taller man’s face gone serious and thoughtful, his eyes a little distant, lost in thought, in memory.

He made me hurt you so many ways, and when I can’t get out of bed, you still come here to pull me up.

There’s an infinite, innate capacity for forgiveness in Danny that Nate cannot begin to fathom, is utterly unprepared for. He doesn’t deserve it, didn’t expect it. He expected to be tossed out as soon as his testimony was done, as soon as his part in putting Bram away was over. Instead, Danny spent a day with his parents and came back shaking, fucked up, but with enough promised money to cover Nate’s therapy and medical bills and an offer to let Nate stay here as long as he wanted to stay.

Forever, Nate wants to say, but he never does. I don’t know how to start over any longer. I don’t want to start over without you.

“No, come, come here,” Danny murmurs, sliding an arm around Nate’s waist, pulling him close until they’re pressed together. Danny’s hipbones, still sharp from years of never eating enough, push just a little against Nate’s abdomen. “Too far away.”

“Wh-why?” Nate asks, and he’s asking a dozen different questions with that one single word - afraid of what the answer might be for most of them, desperately wanting an answer to the rest.

“Because it worked, when you did it on the days I didn’t want to get up off the mat. Because it worked, then. It can work for you, too.”

Danny’s arms slide around him, and Nate echoes the motion, his forehead dropping to rest on Danny’s shoulder, feeling the jut of his collarbone even through the heavy fabric of his sweater. When Danny starts to move, Nate moves with him, the slow shifting back and forth of a middle-school dance but without what Nate’s grandmother had called ‘space for Jesus, Joseph, and Mary’ between them.

He fights the hint of helpless, sad laughter, the thought of what his grandmother would think of him now, slow-dancing in the bedroom of… whatever Danny was to him. Whatever they were to each other.

(I’ve met real gods, you know - and real gods never forgive you)

Nate swallows, and he must tense, because Danny’s arms tighten around him. “Here, let me help the wrong thoughts,” Danny whispers, and Nate closes his eyes at the rush of shame there. Wrong thoughts, Bram’s words in Danny’s voice.

(do you think you’ve earned forgiveness, sweet thing? do you think you’ll ever earn it?)

Danny begins to hum, slightly tuneless and off-key, resting his chin on Nate’s hair, the two of them still moving slowly, back and forth. He’s too aware of Danny’s body, of the warmth of the arms around him. He’s too aware of the scars that his hands caused at Bram’s command, inside and out.

He’s too aware of what he’s done, too sure that he will never, ever deserve the forgiveness that Danny never stops offering him.

“I c-can’t-” He starts, and Danny’s arms tighten even more, until they nearly hurt, until they nearly steal his breath.

“Yes, you can,” Danny murmurs into his hair. “I could, for you. You can for me.”

There is silence, for a while, the sun cutting stripes through the blinds across Danny’s old wooden desk under the window, the rumpled covers with the quilt on top. The green of Danny’s sweater soft against his cheek, the hint of dark red and copper blending in his hair. He knows just what Danny’s eyelashes look like right now, closing against his cheek, bright, light ginger-copper and so long it’s fucking ridiculous - no one should have eyelashes that long.

“Better?” Danny whispers - and it almost is.

(your body belongs to me, your love is for me, your life is mine)

Nate shudders and shakes his head.

Danny nods against his hair, and there’s quiet for another little while. He’s not sure how long, because all he can think of is how much he doesn’t deserve this moment. He should be in prison right next to Bram, in his own solitary cell, a menace, a destroyer, a villain in Danny’s narrative.

Then Danny starts to sing.

It’s halting and cracked in his hoarse, rough voice, and Nate turns his head so his ear is against Danny’s shoulder, mouth just barely brushing the skin of his neck. This way he can feel the vibration of sound through Danny’s chest.

“It was a Monday when my lover told me, ‘never pay the reaper with love only’,” Danny sings, off-key, but Nate presses his lips together and his ear a little more against Danny’s sweater, listening to the soft sound. He knows this song, doesn’t he?

He’s heard this song before, but where?

“What could I say to you,” Danny sings, “Except ‘I love you’, and ‘I’d give my life for yours’?... I know we are, we are the lucky ones-... I know we are, we are the lucky ones. I know we are, we are the lucky ones, dear…”

“Wh-what are you s-s-singing?”

“Sssshhh,” Danny says softly, and Nate falls silent again. Danny never gives orders, never gives commands. He’s submissive and eager-to-please, nervous and worried all the time. This version of him is vanishingly rare, and Nate wonders if this was what he was like with his boyfriends, before - and Nate just never had the chance to learn about it, then.

“The first time we made love, I wasn’t sober,” Danny sings, voice warming a little, “And you told me you loved me over and over-”

I’m s-s-so sorry, I’m so s-s-sorry, Red, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, j-j-just look at m-me now, okay?

(what are you waiting for?)

‘Kay, can do it, can look-... your eyes are bleeding, Nate, like green sky, you’re stained glass, you’re a fucking saint sparking fucking starlight fuck, ah

J-Just look at me, Red, just look right at me, it’s going to be oh-okay, it’s okay, I d-d-don’t want to, I promise, I just, I have to-

(of course you want to. and if you don’t, I will)

Sssshhh, s’okay if it’s you. Always if it’s you. I want you too. Saint Nate, ha, Saint Nate saint… Saint Nathaniel, patron saint of, of puppies and fuck, what’d he put in my drink? Shit, you feel so good, don’t stop

Fuck, R-Red, I’m so sorry

(stop holding out on him, baby, he’s asking for it)

“-how can I ever love another, when I miss you everyday?” Danny kept singing, shifting them back and forth with the slightest movements in rhythm to his song. Nate kept thinking he’d heard this song before, somewhere, in his past, in the life before Abraham. 

There was a life before Bram.

“Remember the time we made love in the roses? And you took my picture in all sorts of poses-”

Look at this, Nate! It’s like all the flowers bloomed at once this year! Here, let me make you a dandelion chain. My friend Kelli taught me how to do this when we were kids, let me make you one, it’s like a crown, like you’re a, a prince for real.

G-G-Go for it, Red, I’ll pretend I d-don’t look ridic… ridic-... that I don’t look stupid.

You never look stupid, you’re the smartest person I’ve ever met. Here, I’ll make chains for us both, that way we both look stupid, right?

Right.

You could never look stupid, you know. You always look so good.

Wh-what?

Never mind. Let me grab more dandelions, I’ll be right back.

Danny with the yellow dandelions woven through his hair, grinning at him, a flash of white teeth and crinkled scars and the sunlight that turned his freckles darker and darker while his skin stayed pale and white. Sitting shirtless in the garden while they worked, sun burning his shoulders reddish pink, the smile on his face when he settled the second chain on the top of Nate’s head.

And Bram never saw that moment - that memory was theirs, alone.

“-How can I ever get over you, when I’d give my life for yours?”

I tried to kill for you.

“I know we are, we are the lucky ones-... I know we are, we are the lucky ones… I know we are, we are the lucky ones, dear… my dear…” Danny’s voice cracks again when he tries to hit the high notes, and Nate is struck by how fucking awful his singing voice is, and how he doesn’t care at all, it sounds amazing to hear it.

Like watching him dance in his kitchen when he thought no one was watching, barely hitting the high note. The way his heart had leapt when Ryan had popped out onto the patio with a finger on his lips, the sound of Danny’s music blaring in the kitchen behind them, and whispered, come on, motherfucker, you have got to see what he’s doing now.

“It’s time to say I thank God for you,” Danny sings, “I thank God for you… in each and every single way-... and I know, I know, I know… it’s time to let you know, time to let you know, time to sit here and say…”

I’d kill for you again.

“I know we are, we are the lucky ones-”

I hurt you.

“I know we are, we are the lucky ones-”

I couldn’t save you for four fucking years.

“I know we are, we are the lucky ones, dear…”

I loved you so much and I still couldn’t save you.

“We are the lucky ones, dear…” Danny’s voice trails off, the two of them still moving in rhythm, and Nate takes a deep breath of the smell of Danny, the simple scent of his skin layered under clean soap and that weird floral shampoo he buys. His hands tighten in the fabric of Danny’s sweater.

“What’s that s-s-song?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s… it’s B-something, Naked…”

“Bif Naked,” Nate blinks. “I knew I kn-knew that song. I used to l-l-love her… where d-d-did you ever hear that song?”

“... promise not to laugh?”

“C-Cross my heart and hope to d-die.”

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Nate has to bite back the instinctive laughter in return, and barely manages it, and feels Danny stiffen a little. “Don’t judge! Ryan loves Buffy, or did. We watched all the reruns. She and some guy dance to that song, and I… I liked it, so I downloaded it and listened to it a bunch. I was listening to it earlier cleaning the kitchen, and it… made me think of you. Of… of us.”

There’s a silence that stretches between them, comfortable but weighty.

Then Danny says softly, “There’s an us, right?”

“Danny, I w-w-want to go back to the bed,” Nate replies in a rush, and feels Danny’s shoulders drop a little. Feels the sudden well of fear that threatens him. “W-wait. Don’t, just… just let me f-f-finish. I w-want to go back to the bed and I want y-y-you to come with me.”

Danny pulls back and away all at once, and Nate swallows back the spike of panic that he’s crossed a line, gone too far. They’ve done nothing more than this, than maybe a few kisses, since they came back. He doesn’t deserve any more. He doesn’t deserve this.

Danny catches his eyes, and Nate thinks, no one could ever earn the forgiveness you never stop giving me.

The scarred hands find their way up to his face, rough fingers with skin calloused to near-numbness by years of being forced to work too hard, to hurt himself. Nate’s own hands cover them, the pads of his own fingers pressing into the scars without flinching, without fear. He doesn’t mind Danny’s hands, he never has. He loved them clean and he loves them scarred. He loves the body he knows too well and for all the wrong reasons.

He wants to erase all the wrong ones, all the times Danny was hurt, and cover him over in something new. But maybe he isn’t the right person, for that - maybe Danny needs someone else, someone who isn’t complicit, who isn’t guilty, who isn’t-

“Yeah, let’s go to the bed,” Danny says, and smiles. Nate’s heart breaks, but it beats harder, too, and he can’t reconcile the two feelings, the sense of being given a gift, again, that he should never have been given at all.

“D-don’t, you don’t have t-to,” Nate says softly. “I know that y-you, that you need to take time-”

Danny leans in to kiss him, and Nate hasn’t felt the warmth of his lips quite like this since that night in the truck, since he took the muzzle off and Danny came back to life. “I need time,” Danny agrees, nuzzling against the side of his face. “But I have time. And I have, um, I have you. Can I have you, too, and time? Do I get to have both?”

Nate hesitates, uncertain what answer he’s meant to give to that, what the question even means. Then Danny grabs him by the hands and pulls him back to the bed, pushes him onto his back, and Nate’s uncertainty breaks apart and melts under the sudden weight of Danny climbing on top of him, pressing him into the soft blankets and the mattress that gives just a little under their weight. Danny kisses him again, slowly, wonderfully, hands running slowly up Nate’s sides. There’s a surety, a certainty, to him that Nate would give anything to see more of.

Nate, look, the body had a canoe in this shed. Do you… do you think I could lay down in it? Do you want to see if we can, um... do you want to?

Look, I found baby rabbits. Do you think the mother’s around here somewhere?

I, um, I made you this - for you. Do you like it? Is it okay?

Do you think we would have really gotten together, if it hadn’t been like this?

I’ll take a shower before he gets back, Nate, he won’t ever know.

Danny’s hands slide rough-skinned over Nate’s shoulders, feeling over the scars Bram left on him. He licks at the scar on Nate’s lip, the tiniest nick that only shows when he smiles, really, and finds his way to his ear and down his neck, trailing lips over the circles that Ashley cut into him, over and over again.

“D-Danny,” Nate murmurs, sliding hands up into his hair. “Danny, don’t d-d-do anything you don’t w-want to do-”

“I want to,” Danny says softly. “I want to. I want to all the time, but I’m not, I’m not supposed to want to any longer-”

“Hey.” Nate’s fingers tighten just a little in his hair and Danny stills, looking at him with the blue eyes, the sun catching them just right to make them seem almost to glow. His face is flushed and red, and Nate smiles at the sight of him, the way he bites his lower lip, just a little bit. “You  get to w-w-want whatever you w-want, now, remember? We’re free.”

“Free,” Danny breathes out, shivering at the word. His hips press just a little into Nate’s, and he can’t quite catch his breath at the way that feels. Warm and human and he feels like a live wire under Danny’s body, shifting a little at the press of Danny against him. “I get to say no, now, right?”

Nate nods, slowly. “You get to say no. Forever. Anytime you w-w-want. Even right n-now, Danny. Tell m-me to fuck off, and I will. No hard f-f-feelings.”

“I don’t want you to fuck off. I want you to...” Danny colors, bright red covering up the freckles and scars across his cheeks, and they both realize the joke Danny wants to say at the same time as they realize he’s not quite ready for that, yet.

“You d-d-decide what happens now,” Nate says, firmly. “All y-you, Danny. Every step of the way.”

Danny swallows, hard, and lowers himself until he’s resting on his elbows, their bodies touching from breastbone all the way through their legs. The weight of him isn’t nearly enough for his height, and Nate feels the curve of his muscled shoulders, down his biceps, slides his hands up under the sweater, pushing it up to feel the rippled whip-scars that line his upper back. “If I get to say no, Nate, I want… I want to, um.” Danny looks to the side, shyly, then back at him. He leans in to kiss him, one more time. “I can’t... not to everything. But to a little... I want to say yes.”

[lemonietrinket]

Mishap ||| Yuta x Reader

Summary: Yuta is not known for his woodwork skills. He is also not known for any common sense that would also come with it. However, good things can be made of the worst scenarios, and Yuta is not completely inept—no matter what Winwin tries to assert. Genre: Comedy Warning(s): Some swearing (2x s**t) Word Count: 2361 Theme Song: Rock it For Me - Caravan Palace AN: I tend try to make my oneshots gender-neutral but in this circumstance, this is a fem!Reader. Sorry if this puts anyone off :(( Also this is written in 3rd person so, that’s a thing? Anyways this has been a long time coming (remember that yuta fic i mentioned i was writing back in like november of something? this is it bois) so I hope the wait has been worth it

~~~

Yuta had made a mistake.

This wasn’t unlike Yuta who, known for many talents such as his sharp tongue and wit, as well as his dashing good looks, was not particularly known for rationality and sense.

And—yes, perhaps in hindsight he should have asked the landlord how thick the apartment walls were, and yes, perhaps he should have requested Johnny’s help in the matter, who, though lacking in the same departments as Yuta, did possess more of a proficiency in woodwork. However, that would require more than three levels of sensibility—an area of which, Yuta was steadfastly stuck at level two. 

And so, there Yuta lay, crooked upon the debris of his IKEA shelving he’d been attempting to attach to his wall; the lower half of his body in his apartment, the rest... well, that was in next door’s.

Now normally, he would have presumed, this wouldn’t have been such an issue, lacking the grand scale characteristic of Yuta’s mishaps. The person who inhabited the next-door apartment was very busy, he’d rarely bumped into her, and when he had, it was always notably a very brief encounter. Always in a rush, Y/N was a good neighbour, Yuta knew. Never one to bother a soul, she was respectful, determined and very focused upon her job. Yuta also had discerned—from that good wit I mentioned earlier—that she was also rather easy to fluster.

He hadn’t inclined to discover it, and was rather startled to find it, but the first time he spoke to her and he’d met her gaze, she plundered from the realms of reserved and controlled into (oh he couldn’t help but describe) a bumbling, blushy mess.

Which was cute.

But he never had intended to encroach on your personal space. You were career-focused, and he probably also had too little time, if he was quite honest with himself; in the end, he figured that your story was not for his co-authoring and thus he would, quite rightly, let you be. 

However, Fate—or was it Misfortune?—had other ideas.

Because this was a Yuta-scale mishap. 

As not only was Y/N in the front room of her apartment when Yuta ever-so-suavely-and-totally-not-accidentally flung himself through the wall, she was also only garbed in a very, very small towel. 

.

Truth be told, this was another action of Fate or Misfortune, as Y/N had, in fact, messed up her timings again.

Keeping on top of all the small, consistent tasks of her job that each day held was an easy enough assignment. However, the ability of micro-managing seemed to not have seeped into her home life, hence laundry day had been the most recent victim to pay the price.  Thus, Y/N had relinquished her exit from the shower to be garbed in a spare, slightly-bigger-than-average handtowel.

It did the trick—it wasn’t as if anyone was going to see her, right?—and all seemed well, even as her boss who out of poor mind—or was it spite, because quite frankly why would a man in possession of a soul call on the landline after being begged eight times to not do so for the sake of a humongous phone bill—rang the landline to enquire about the progression of a report she was managing.  She headed into the main room, shivering at the chill emanating from the window left ajar out of habit, and answered, carefully and intrinsically masking her exasperation so he would be unprepared for the earful he was going to receive the next morning.

The wired phone that seemed like a good idea at the time (which was based on the vintage style, block baby blue matched to the curtains and looked chic as hell—just a shame the lead didn’t extend beyond a couple of feet) hung loosely in her hand, held at just a distance so the cold plastic wouldn’t come into contact with her bare skin and brand her with stab of iciness.  Even as the man tumbled through the wall and onto her silver carpet.

Her eyes drifted across the cacophony of torn plaster, scraps of tawny grain strewn amongst the immaculate sea of grey, before they rested upon the sheepish smirk of the man pretending that this hadn’t impacted his confidence in the slightest.

“Hey.” He flashed a gleaming smile. Though upside-down, it perhaps appeared slightly more menacing.

Y/N screamed. It was uncharacteristic, but a reflex nonetheless and she sighed at herself exasperatedly, willing her body to move towards something to throw instead.

Yuta’s grin immediately slipped from his face, as he spun himself onto his front, a palm levied in an apology. “Sorry, I’m so sorry, this was a mist—”

Y/N clutched at her towel, haphazardly trying to pull the hem further down her thighs, while not letting it slip from her torso, her feet twitching to head towards the kitchen. 

Yuta felt his throat tighten out of sheer embarrassment, snapping his eyes closed and pushing through with his frantic apologies. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I’m not looking—I won’t! You... I...”

Watching him tilt his head away, his eyes no longer trained on her, Y/N managed to retrieve her rationale, as well as her breath. “What the hell are you doing?!”

“I...” he swallowed, hand falling to support himself on his elbows, “was putting up a shelf—”

“A shelf? You’re in my apartment!”

He glanced back, biting his tongue to stop himself remarking ‘only half’, he knew this was not the time for jokes, and kept his eyes firmly closed. “I know, I’m sorry, I misjudged—”

“Yeah, no shit!”

“—the wall, I’m so sorry, I—”

“Stay here!” Y/N ordered. “Don’t move! I’m not discussing this with you right at this moment, when I’m not...” Words faltered as she was reminded of her bare skin.

“No, of course, I’ll be right here, I promise. Please, do whatever you need.”

The sincerity in the strange man’s voice shocked her, to say the least. She still wasn’t going to leave him to his own devices, however. A spark of inspiration hit her, as she snatched her mobile from the end table, propped it up on the sofa and set the camera on record.  Then she slipped back into her bedroom, throwing herself into the first clothes she could find.

Yuta very hesitantly opened his eyes once he heard footsteps pad away and a door close. 

The first thing his eyes met was the mess he’d made on her lovely carpet. The next thing was the sight of just how little of the shelving remained, with bits of wood scattered like a shipwreck upon a silver ocean. The final thing was the phone propped op on the couch opposite, no doubt recording his moves.

Smart, he thought, as he sheepishly waved at the camera lens.

Y/N returned very quickly, slipping back through the door, her eyes focused upon the man sat like a schoolboy amongst his carnage. Dressed in unmatched pyjamas, her features were harden in concentration. In her hands was a wooden pole, fashioned with a metal hook at the end. Yuta swallowed thickly. She was holding it most definitely as if she knew how to use it to make it hurt. 

And Yuta couldn’t deny that she probably did. 

“What’s your name?” she demanded, after several seconds of eyeing him up and down.

“Yuta. Nakamoto Yuta.”

“You live next door?” 

He nodded compliantly. “Always have done. I was here before you moved in.”

“How long?”

“Sorry?”

“How long were you here before I moved in?” Her eyes searched his for something. Yuta couldn’t tell what however.

“I...?” he stuttered. He didn’t know what to say to that, or to reassure her. “I don’t know, really. A few months? I haven’t really been counting anything.”

She stared him down, eye to eye, weapon brandished to her intruder. He raised his head further, palms raised in surrender, slightly fearing the worst.

Then she put down her guard, hook knocking the floor. 

“I recognise you now,” she sighed, looking at him with disdain, “you really are my neighbour and you really did just break through my wall because you really are that shit at woodwork—Jesus. Christ.”

How she hadn’t recognised him at first astounded her too. He had grown out his hair, yes, and he seemed a little broader, but his eyes were the same dark spools of wonder that she’d accidentally stared into for too long in that one encounter. And anyhow, it wasn’t as if the small changes made him look any different, it just made him look more...

She caught her words before she finished that sentence. He fell through your wall, she asserted in her head, you cannot go anywhere near words like that around someone dumb enough to—

He cocked his head quizzically. She was talking as if she knew him, after all.

Y/N discarded her weapon—which he now recollected was a tool to pull down the ladder on the side of the building—against her sofa which she collapsed onto, retrieving her phone languidly. It was as she pressed the button to stop recording when she glanced at him.  She paused. “Mark? Friend of yours? He told me one time that you’re not exactly the best at woodwork.”

He couldn’t help but smile. “Oh Mark! Mark Lee? Yes, yes, good friend of mine!” It was only then that the realisation sunk in. “Wait, Mark said what—?”

“You didn’t hear anything from me,” Y/N sighed, leaning forward to get a closer look at the mess of the wall and on her floor. “Well, that must be a good... what? Tenner? Down the drain?”

Catching onto her question he shook his head. “No, 30. Plus hinges.”

Her eyes widened. “Jesus.”

He picked at one of the slabs, splintered at one end and snapped completely at the other. “Yeah, I made the mistake of choosing one of the slightly more expensive units...”

When he looked back up, Y/N was shaking her head desperately, brow creased and vision narrowed upon the hole in the wall.

“Yuta! You—” she exclaimed, hesitating before looking at him. Her eyes were pained, breath shaky as she clenched her fists at her knees.  “Do you have any idea how much that is going to cost, Yuta?” she managed. “I can’t afford barely any of the prices required to fix that! Do—do you know how much your stupidity is going to cost me?!”

The words fell from his lips without a moments hesitation. “I will pay for all of the repairs,” he said earnestly, “I’ll cover all of it.”

The woman was stunned to say the least. Her breath stopped, silenced, and hung in the air as if it had been snatched away from her, as she stared into his eyes, searching for honesty.

“You’ll pay?”

“Yes.”

“For all of it?”

“Yes.”

“You’ll take full responsibility?”

“Of course!”

“You’ll pay f-for the hole?”

“Yes.”

“And the re-plastering?”

“Yes.”

“And the paint?”

“Yes!”

“And my broken plant pot?”

“There was a plant pot?!”

She pointed to the scattered soil and ceramic shards to his right, and the overturned shrub bowed amongst it.  “Yes, his name is Jeffrey.”

“I’m so sorry Jeffrey!”

“It’s ok he’s a strong boy.”

“Thank god. I’ll pay for Jeffrey too.”

“For his lavish new pot?”

“He’ll have the best damn pot in the entire garden centre.”

Honesty was all that she found.

She straightened in her seat. “Well that’s going to be a lot of money.”

“It’s fine,” he waved a hand, “it’s my fault entirely, and besides, you’ve got better things to spend your money on.”

She frowned. “Like what?”

He glanced around her apartment’s living room. “Fancy things no doubt. Things to make you happy, things to make you smile. Things you need to distract yourself from all the mess required to fix the huge ones stupid men make of your walls.”

She laughed softly at that. Though she stopped herself, there was something about the way he spoke that meant she couldn’t help but be amused, even in spite of the situation. His voice of silk, ebbed with a lilt of something, and flowed through her head like streams of water flowing back to the sea on a sun-kissed beach.

“I think you’re right,” she hummed, rising to her feet. Stepping carefully towards the carnage, she outstretched a hand. “Need some help, Mr Nakamoto?”

He took a glimpse down at the pieces of wood and plaster and bits that made up a wall. A glimpse was all he could muster though, as he felt his eyes be drawn back up to meet yours again. He felt the need to stare into them for as long as he could, not that he could deduce quite why. “I think I could use some, Miss...?”

“Y/L/N.”

He took your hand, levying himself out from the carnage with your aid.

“Thank you, Miss Y/L/N.”

“My pleasure,” she replied, curtsying swiftly with a scoff as she headed towards her dining table.

Dusting himself off and checking the scale of the mess, he only looked up when she returned. He accepted her open laptop with open arms, but confusedly to say the least. It was logged on, with the cursor flashing along the search bar. 

“Y/N...?”

She peered over her shoulder coyly. “Well, you promised to get me the best pot for Jeffrey. You’d better start searching for it.”

He grinned, feeling relief wash over him. Sitting on the sofa where she had been perched, he placed the laptop upon his thighs.  “And once I find it?” he enquired neatly, eyes glimmering at the back of her head, caressed with tresses catching the setting sunlight from through the window.

Slapping a replacement pot found from the depths of her cupboards on the table victoriously, Y/N stepped over towards Jeffrey laid strewn on the carpet. Cradling him in her hands, she made her way to temporarily re-home him. “Well then... I guess you’d have to take me to the shop and buy it for me.”

Gazing at your back, he felt his lips twist into a smile, catching onto what you were inferring.

Maybe this wasn’t a mishap after all. Perhaps it was a Yuta-scale twist of fate, instead.

~~~

AN: im sorry this is so late, but its up now!

i tried real hard to funny i hope i succeeded :((

thanks for reading!

Masterlist

[twdeadfanfic]

The first to blow your mind Pt.1

Welcome to my new mini-series!

Daryl Dixon x Reader

*Summary:  It’s Daryl Dixon’s 18th birthday and he can’t stop his brother from dragging him to the strip club, one of Merle’s favourite places, to celebrate. There’s a new singer there, a girl with a beautiful voice and a beautiful smile, even Daryl can see it. Little does he know, he’s going to meet her again at the woods soon. This was a request but it got out of hand.

Daryl’s POV. Teen Daryl.Pre-apocalypse. Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Angst

3341 words.

Chapters: 1/8

Link to masterlist is in the info of this blog.

I know this story is different because it’s pre-apocalypse, it has teen Daryl, and it’s all from Daryl’s pov...but I’m excited about it and I hope you all will like it too, please let me know your thoughts. By the way, I didn’t come up with the idea of the song that the reader sang, it came for the request, it was a nice choice!

***I’ve been reblogging a lot of young Norman pics to get in the mood for teen Daryl, if you want to check it! Some of them are really how I imagine him in this story: https://twdeadfanfic.tumblr.com/tagged/tftbym ***

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It didn’t take long for Daryl to regret having let Merle drag him to the strip club. It wasn’t the first time he tried, but this time Daryl hadn’t managed to get away from it, with Merle saying it was his 18th birthday present and what not, literally dragging him to the club. 

So there he was now, with his brother and Merle’s group of friends, feeling as out of place and awkward as ever, surrounded by half-naked girls and men hollering at them to take more clothes off, and honestly, he didn’t see the point.  

He didn’t like his brother’s friends, he wasn't interested in getting high like they did almost every night. He had never been tempted,  seeing how the drugs made Merle a mean, bigger asshole, out of control, getting into even more trouble. He wasn’t interested in paying girls so they’d take their clothes off or seeing them naked either, if only it made him more uncomfortable. 

“Come on, baby bro!” Merle’s voice was so loud Daryl was sure he could be heard in the whole club, not that it was big to begin with, and Daryl cringed, shrinking into his seat. “That one has her eyes on you!” Daryl scoffed, rolling his eyes, but he glanced to the half-naked girl for a second before dropping his gaze to the ground again, making Merle guffaw as he shoved a bill into the dancer’s underwear. “Booze’s on me too!” 

Daryl swallowed the drink that Merle passed him in one go, hoping he’d get wasted soon and it’d made it easier to deal with Merle and his friends, but it only made his headache go worse. 

At some point, the music changed and Merle elbowed him. “That's the new girl! She's been here for a month or so. You gotta see that ass!” Merle laughed and Daryl looked up from the floor and to the stage in time to see a girl stopping in front of a microphone. She wasn’t half naked like the others but wearing a tight, deep red, sequin dress. “She’s super hot, isn’t she?” Daryl shrugged but nodded, he supposed she was beautiful.  

“Wait until she takes off the dress” Merle let out a big laugh. “You’re wearing too much clothes sweetheart!” He hollered at the girl, unnecessary loud considering they were as close as possible to the stage, and Daryl tried to make himself as small as possible on his seat again. 

The girl just winked at his brother, and then she began singing. 

You've been a bad, bad boy

gonna take my time, so enjoy

There's no need to feel no shame

Relax, and sip upon my champagne

Cos I wanna give you a little taste

Of the sugar below my waist, you nasty boy. 

She had a beautiful voice, Daryl had to give her that, he hadn’t expected he’d see something like that. All the men had gone quiet while she sang, even his brother, which wasn’t an easy thing to achieve. 

Oh baby, for all it's worth

I swear I'll be the first to blow your mind

Now, if you're ready, come and get me

I'll give you that hot, sweet, sexy loving 

Merle was right, she was beautiful, a smile on her face as she sang, her body rocking with the music, as if hypnotizing him, and Daryl found himself staring at her, he couldn’t help it. 

Hush now, don't say a word

I'm gonna give you what you deserve

Now, you better give me a little taste

Put your icing on my cake

You nasty boy. 

Daryl’s eyes followed the girl’s hands as they roamed over her body and he swallowed hard, blushing, but he couldn’t make himself look away. 

Now give me a little spanking

Oh, oh, is that all you've got?

Come on now, don't play with me.  

“I’ll spank you, just come here, darling, and take off that damn dress!” Merle hollered, laughing, making Daryl cringe again, but if the girl heard him she didn't seem to care, still singing with that dreamy smile on her face.  

Oh, give me that hot, sweet, nasty

Boy, don't you make me wait[

Now you better give me a little taste

Put your icing on my cake

You nasty boy. 

The song ended, the music changed and the spell was broken. The men were back at hollering at the girls and Daryl was back at looking at the floor. 

“Come here, sweetheart, and lose some clothes!”  

Daryl heard his brother cheering and when he looked up he saw him calling for the singer as he waved some bills on his hand. The girl let her dress fall to the floor as she approached them, revealing black, lace underwear, and Daryl quickly dropped his gaze to the floor again. 

“It's sweet you come to watch me sing almost every day,” the girl said and Daryl looked up just enough to see Merle shoving some bills into her underwear before dropping his gaze to the floor again.  

“Not as sweet as that ass of yours, that's what I come to see!” Merle guffawed. “You know what sweetheart, it’s my baby bro birthday!” Daryl felt his brother throwing an arm over his shoulders, roughly pulling him to his side. “Why you don’t give him a private show as a present, uh?” Daryl's cheeks heat up, his heart beating hard, and he managed to break free from his brother’s grasp. 

“It doesn’t seem he likes me much.” The girl chuckled awkwardly and Daryl said nothing, eyes fixed on the ground. 

“Goddamit…what’s wrong with you, lil’ bro?!” Merle grumbled. “Ignore him, sweetheart, you have the attention of the best, big brother. He gotta embarrass me everywhere, being such a pussy.” 

“Shut up!” Daryl snapped, glaring at his brother, who was smirking as if he had accomplished whatever he’d been trying to do. He forced himself to look at the girl as if trying to prove a point. She was beautiful indeed, her smile sweet as she looked at him, and she looked younger than he had realized.  

“Happy birthday, darling…what you say, do you want a private show? That’s not really something that I do, but well, could make an exception for those eyes of yours.” She winked at him and Daryl’s heart skipped a beat, it was being hard not to look away. “Well, these straps are looking too bare, aren’t they, darling?” She wiggled one of her shoulders, hooking a finger under the strap of her bra and pulling at it. “Maybe get your brother to decorate them with some bills and I’ll think about giving you that private show…” 

She leaned over towards where he was sat down until Daryl’s eyes landed on her neckline and he couldn’t keep it together any longer, sitting up abruptly, almost pushing the girl away. 

“I don’t need any of that!” He snapped, storming away, gritting his teeth in shame as he heard Merle’s and his friend’s loud laughs. 

“Told you sweetheart, a pussy!” 

* 

During the next days, Daryl couldn't stop thinking about the night of his birthday, the strip club and the girl, feelings of embarrassment and shame making him blush red again. Merle had kept teasing him, laughing at him when he managed to make him snap.  

He didn't know why but he couldn't get that singer out of his head, no matter he tried, his brain kept replaying her song and he kept seeing her smile, seeing her winking at him, calling him darling...He was sick and tired of it all, and he was doing his best to forget about that night and ignore his brother’s teasing.

About a week later, Daryl was walking through the woods, hoping to find some squirrels or a rabbit, when he heard some noises. As he walked closer, he recognized a voice singing and then she saw a girl walking around.  

Daryl lowered his crossbow, wondering what she was doing there, he had never seen someone there, though the girl seemed oblivious to his presence. She spun as she sang and then she spotted him, jumping a bit. 

“Shit, you scared me!” 

Daryl didn't say anything, just looked at her. He had thought he recognized the singing voice, and now he was almost sure it was her. She looked very different without makeup though, and younger, and even her voice as she spoke was different than when she’d talked in the strip club, less husky. 

“You hunting or something?” She asked when he still didn't say anything, and Daryl nodded. “Didn't know I was in risk of getting hunted.” She chuckled quietly.  

“I'd never seen none here,” Daryl said quietly.  

“I know, that's why I decided to come for a walk.” 

It seemed she didn't know who he was, and why would she, sure a lot of men had come and gone to the club since his birthday and sure she smiled and winked to everyone, she hadn't even really looked at him.  

“By the way, hi! You’re the birthday boy!” Or maybe she did know who he was, and Daryl found himself blushing at her words. “You're the brother of Merle, he’s a loud guy but he comes almost every night and tips a lot.” 

Daryl nodded in silence, looking down 

“It's a good night when he shows up, I never get as many tips as when he does.” She chuckled again.  

“You give him a lot of private shows?” Daryl didn't know what made him snap like that, maybe the embarrassing memories of that night.  

“I told you that day, I don't do that. And anyway, it doesn't seem that safe to do private shows to half the men that go there, you know…” 

“You seemed pretty ready to give me one.” 

“I knew you weren't going to say yes, you seemed scared of me.” She giggled softly and Daryl blushed in embarrassment, glaring at her. “Or maybe you don't like me, dunno.” 

“What if I had said yes?” 

“Well, I would have asked for a very generous tip to your brother and then you'd have found that I'm actually not that good of a dancer.” She chuckled awkwardly. “But I wasn't worried, you looked harmless, you seemed sweet despite the guys you were with. It just seemed a good way to get more tips from your brother.” 

She shrugged and Daryl didn't know what to say to all that, he knew she had talked to him like that back then only for the money, but still...he wondered if she was playing with him now too, and laughing at him. He didn't know what to do. 

“I ain't sweet.” He snapped. Merle called him that sometimes as an insult or to laugh at him.  

“Well, you don't look harmless now with that thing.” She pointed at his crossbow.  

Daryl wondered if she might think he would hurt her...it bothered him but it shouldn’t surprise him, most of the people of that town thought all kind of things about the Dixon’s...some of the things they thought about Merle and his friends were true, but others weren’t. 

“I ain't gonna hurt you or nothing.”  

“You hunt a lot?”  

“Gotta eat.” 

“That must be so cool, being able to fend for yourself.”  

Daryl just shrugged again. 

“Your brother has kept coming to the club but you never came back.”  

Daryl didn't know why she was still trying to talk to him, with how awkward everything was, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not but he couldn't make himself walk away.  

“Look, I'm sorry about that night, the way in which you left, I didn't mean to make you feel bad or anything.”  

Daryl just scoffed at that. “Why you talking to me now? I ain't gonna put nothing in your bra if that's what you're trying to get.” 

“Yeah, cos I'm a stripper who only does shit for money, how did I forgot.” The girl snapped. “You know, I was wrong about you.” 

She turned over and began walking away, further into the woods, and Daryl didn't know why but he felt a stab of guilt in his gut that made him follow her.  

“You're going in the wrong direction.” 

“What?” 

“You're walking away from the town.” Daryl pointed behind them.  

“Maybe that's what I want.” The girl looked at him defiantly.  

“You're gonna get lost.” 

“I can take care of myself.” 

“Whatever then, I don't give a shit.” Daryl turned to walk away and despite his words, he was relieved when he heard the girl walking behind him. 

“How comes you don't get lost?” 

“I know these woods.” He shrugged, he had been going there for years now.  

“You talk like you had been coming here for years and years but what are you, like fifteen?” The girl giggled and Daryl glared at her. “Don't look at me like that, I'm just kidding! You looked too young to be in a strip club though.” 

“I'm eighteen.” He grumbled. “And aren't you too young to work in one? You can't be much older than me.” 

“I'm not too young, I turned nineteen months ago, and it's not like this town has a lot of jobs to offer you know. I need it… How was that that you said? Gotta eat.” 

“You don't have family or nothing?” 

“My mom died a year and a half ago.” The girl looked down and Daryl felt a stab in his heart he hadn’t felt in years as he was unable to stop the memory of his mother from coming to his mind at the girl’s words.  

“I'm sorry.” He mumbled awkwardly.  

“Don’t have none else so I gotta work, so I dropped out of school and began working as a cashier until they fired me a couple of months ago and then the only thing I found was that club… I wasn't sure they'd hire me, I hadn't danced before but I guess they liked that I sing...Can't dance as much as all that other girls do, but well, I try...” She chuckled quietly, wiggling her hips a bit, but Daryl thought she sounded sad. 

“You sing well.” Daryl couldn’t stop himself from saying it aloud. She was beautiful too, Daryl didn't know how she could have thought the club might not hire her.  

“Thank you!” The girl gave him a bright smile and Daryl felt his stomach knot with strange twirls. “You know, once I've saved enough money I'm gonna go to the city and try to be a real singer. I know it won't be easy but it'd be better than this shit town, can’t wait to leave… Gonna need a lot of your brother’s tips for that.” She giggled. 

Daryl said nothing, just kept walking in silence. 

“What about you, got anything you want to do with your life?” 

“Why you keep talking to me?” Daryl didn’t mean to snap, didn’t mean to be rude, but he couldn’t understand why she’d still try to have a conversation with him, why would she tell him all that, why would she be interested in anything about him. He didn’t know what might she want from him, he had nothing, he wasn’t his brother. 

“Dunno...Just trying to be friendly.” The girl shrugged, her smile gone. “I’m sorry, I won’t bother you more.” The girl followed him in silence and Daryl didn’t know why, but it made him feel bad.  

“There’s nothing I want to do with my life.” He muttered after a little while, when he could already see the town ahead. He had never thought about it, he just followed Merle around, doing what his brother wanted, and he didn’t know if there was something else for him to do, he didn’t think so. 

“There must be something...there’s nothing you really, really like doing?” The girl walked a bit faster until she was walking next to him, making him a bit nervous. Daryl shrugged, he had never given that any thought. 

“Dunno...I like the woods I guess.” 

“Me too.” The girl gave him one of those smiles that made his stomach do funny things. “It’s only the second day I go for a walk, but I think I really like it. It’s quiet.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Or it was until you bumped into me and I started talking your ear off, right?” The girl giggled, though she sounded a bit embarrassed. 

“Didn’t mind it.” It was true, much to Daryl’s surprise, he usually didn’t like to talk to people, especially if he didn’t know them. He wasn’t used to be with anyone who wasn’t his brother and his friends. 

“Yeah?” The girl smiled again and Daryl hummed a yes. “I thought I was annoying you.” 

“Nah...just don’t know why you’d want to talk to me.” Daryl found himself admitting, though he regretted it as soon as it left his mouth, making him feel silly. 

“Maybe I think you’re interesting.”  

Daryl looked at her at that, taken aback and sure she was messing with him and laughing at him, but she was looking down. Daryl felt lost. It didn’t seem like the girl was laughing at him, but he couldn’t understand why she might think he was interesting, or why she was still trying to talk with him. 

“I’m Y/N, by the way.” The girl gave him another smile, she still seemed genuine, but Daryl wasn’t sure he could lower his guard, could trust that the girl wasn’t just messing with him, laughing at him behind his back. Still, some part of him wanted her not to stop talking to him. 

“I’m Daryl.” 

“I know” The girl nodded, smiling shyly. “It’s nice to meet you properly...well, I’m not sure it was nice for you.” The girl chuckled awkwardly, and Daryl didn’t know what to say. It hadn’t been not-nice, but he also felt awkward and nervous, and they just walked in silence further into the town. 

“I’m going to that direction.” The girl pointed to the right, stopping to look at him as she chewed on her lower lip. “Are you going to go hunting to the same place tomorrow?” 

“Maybe.” He should, he hadn’t hunted anything today, but he didn’t know why Y/N might care. 

“Well, maybe I’ll to go for a walk to the same place tomorrow too,” Y/N said, Daryl still didn’t know why. “So maybe we’ll bump into each other again.” She looked at him as if expecting him to say anything, but he didn’t. “Or maybe not...okay, I gotta go, sorry for bothering you.” 

Was she saying all that because she wanted to see him again? It made as little sense to Daryl as her wanting to talk to him, but for some reason it seemed she wanted to, and it didn’t seem to be because she was trying to trick him into something or laugh at him. 

Did he want to see her again? Daryl wasn’t sure. He'd never had friends or anyone who wasn’t his brother, none who seemed interested in talking with him like that girl was, and he didn’t care, he was good alone. He didn’t know why someone like that girl could want to get to know him, but something in him made him want to know her too, no matter she made him nervous and awkward, no matter he still couldn’t understand why she wanted to talk with him. 

The girl began walking away and Daryl made his decision. 

“Same hour than today?” 

The girl turned to look at him, a grin illuminating his face, making Daryl’s heart beat faster. 

“Yes!” 

As he watched her walk away, Daryl wondered if he’d regret it...he wondered if he was already regretting it. Still, as he walked to Merle’s place, he couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips as he thought about Y/N. He didn’t understand that girl or why she seemed to want to be her friend, he wasn’t sure if he wanted her to be his friend, but he knew he wanted to try.  

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So...it seems Daryl made a friend! Or he’s on his way to try and make one! What did you guys thought?

 I’d really like to know your impressions, since this is a new thing and different from my usual stuff, so if you have a moment, please leave me a word!

As always, English is not my first language so sorry if there are mistakes.

If you want to be tagged (or removed from the tags) let me know!

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[mllyweasly]

THE HEART IS HARD TO TRANSLATE; IT HAS A LANGUAGE OF ITS OWN.

𝖖 𝖚 𝖔 𝖙 𝖊 𝖘

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴.” - Margaret Atwood, Moral Disorder and Other Stories

“𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘵. 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘚𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘪𝘵. 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵.” - Geraldine Page

“𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦...𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘺 𝘐 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥.” - Veronica Roth, Allegiant

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦.” - Daniel C.L

“𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴.” -  L.R. Knost, Two Thousand Kisses a Day

𝖇 𝖆 𝖘 𝖎 𝖈

NAME: Molly Elizabeth Weasley née Prewett NICKNAMES: Mol, Mollywobbles (only by Arthur) AGE: Thirty-one BIRTHDAY: October 1st, 1949 GENDER: cis female PRONOUNS: she/her

𝖋 𝖆 𝖒 𝖎 𝖑 𝖞

MOTHER: Iolanthe Prewett FATHER: Darius Prewett SIBLINGS: Fabian & Gideon Prewett SPOUSE: Arthur Weasley CHILDREN: William ‘Bill’ Weasley (9), Charles ‘Charlie’ Weasley (7), Percy Weasley (4), Fred & George Weasley (twins, 2), Unnamed sixth child.

𝖕 𝖍 𝖞 𝖘 𝖎 𝖈 𝖆 𝖑 𝖆𝖙𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖇𝖚𝖙𝖊𝖘

FACE CLAIM: Gugu Mbatha-Raw BUILD: Fairly short stature, average build. Currently seven months pregnant. HAIR: Short, tight ringlets. HAIR COLOR: Dark brown. EYE COLOR: Dark brown. SKIN COLOR: Brown. DOMINANT HAND: Right. ANOMALIES: Stretch marks on her stomach from her six pregnancies, particularly with the twins. Though she has healed some of these with magic, she prefers not to do so, she earned them, after all.  SCENT: Various cooking spices, rose scented soap, and honey. ACCENT: English. ALLERGIES: Lobster, though she’s never tried eating it and so isn’t aware. DISORDERS: None. FASHION: Dresses mainly in muggle clothing -- finds robes too formal and restrictive. Dresses for comfort rather than for style, often looking like she’s just thrown whatever she could find on before leaving the house, but somehow manages to pull this off. NERVOUS TICS: Talks too much, about anything that comes into her mind. Paces back and forth, can’t sit still. Frets over other people, to the point of becoming an annoyance. QUIRKS: Constantly muttering (and swearing) under her breath. Insists on everything being done a certain way. Checks the locks twice before going to bed. Can guess the exact time with surprising accuracy. 

𝖑 𝖎 𝖋 𝖊 𝖘 𝖙 𝖞 𝖑 𝖊

RESIDES: The Burrow BORN: St Mungo’s Hospital, London RAISED: Falmouth, West Country PETS: Grew up with a family owl, Uric. Currently has a family post owl, Errol.  CAREER: Former OB/GYN healer at St Mungo’s hospital, currently a stay at home mother, and homeschooling her children.  EXPERIENCE: E grade N.E.W.Ts in transfiguration and defence against the dark arts, O grade N.E.W.Ts in herbology, charms, and potions. Entered healer training program after graduating from Hogwarts, and chose to specialise in OB/GYN healing magic. Made her way through the ranks and eventually became head of the department before retiring after the birth of her second child, Charlie. Now works as a homemaker and homeschooling her children. EMPLOYER: Unemployed.

POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Neutral (Order sympathetic). BELIEFS: The Prewett children were always raised to be skeptical of the blood supremacy  MISDEMEANORS: None. Was once almost caught sneaking back into Hogwarts at 5:00am, but she managed to make it back to the dormitories and only had to face the wrath of the Fat Lady while Arthur was apprehended by the caretaker at the time. FELONIES: None. DRUGS: Marijuana, back in the day. Wouldn’t even touch the stuff now. SMOKES: Absolutely not. Thinks it’s a filthy habit and gets angry whenever Arthur even mentions it as part of his work. ALCOHOL: Occasionally, not as often as she did before she had children. DIET: Very good, and a variety of different cuisines. Molly has always loved to cook, she finds it comforting and loves the joy that her food can bring to the faces of those she loves. As a result, the Weasleys (and anybody else who comes to visit) are fed very well, a nice balanced diet, taking inspiration from a number of sources.

LANGUAGES: English.

PHOBIAS: The deaths of her friends and family. HOBBIES: Cooking, baking, knitting, used to play Quidditch and though she hasn’t in years, would likely still be very good if she were to get on a broomstick and try it out. TRAITS: { + }: nurturing, compassionate, assertive { - }: stubborn, domineering, self-righteous

𝖋 𝖆 𝖛 𝖔 𝖗 𝖎 𝖙 𝖊 𝖘

LOCATION: The Burrow SPORTS TEAM: Chudley Cannons GAME: Wizard Chess, though she has recently been introduced to a muggle game that Arthur learned about at work called Monopoly, and quite enjoys this, too.  MUSIC: Celestina Warbeck. MOVIES: Doesn’t watch them. FOOD: This lamb stew she learned how to make from her mother, it’s delicious and it reminds her of home. BEVERAGE: Camomile tea. COLOR: The lighter shades of orange.

𝖒 𝖆 𝖌 𝖎 𝖈

ALUMNI HOUSE: Gryffindor WAND (length, flexibility, wood, & core): 10″, English Oak, quite inflexible, unicorn hair core. AMORTENTIA: Cooking food, old wood, and her husband’s cologne. PATRONUS: Bear. BOGGART: The corpses of her family.

𝖈 𝖍 𝖆 𝖗 𝖆 𝖈 𝖙 𝖊 𝖗

MORAL ALIGNMENT: Lawful Good These characters have a strong moral character. Truth, honor, and the welfare of others is all-important. They are convinced that order and laws are absolutely necessary to assure that goodness prevails. Lawful good beings will not want to lie or cheat anyone, good or evil. They will not stand for treachery and will not let obviously dishonorable people use their own honor against them, if they can help it. They will obey the laws and customs of the area that they are in, but will attempt to find legal loopholes to disobey a law which is clearly evil or unjust. MBTI: ESFJ-A MBTI ROLE: The Consul (Assertive) Consuls love to be of service, enjoying any role that allows them to participate in a meaningful way, so long as they know that they are valued and appreciated. This is especially apparent at home, and Consuls make loyal and devoted partners and parents. Consul personalities respect hierarchy, and do their best to position themselves with some authority, at home and at work, which allows them to keep things clear, stable and organised for everyone. ENNEAGRAM: Type Two ENNEAGRAM ROLE: The Helper Twos are empathetic, sincere, and warm-hearted. They are friendly, generous, and self-sacrificing, but can also be sentimental, flattering, and people-pleasing. They are well-meaning and driven to be close to others, but can slip into doing things for others in order to be needed. They typically have problems with possessiveness and with acknowledging their own needs. At their Best: unselfish and altruistic, they have unconditional love for others. TEMPERAMENT: Choleric-Sanguine The Choleric-Sanguine combination is driven by two temperament needs. The primary need is to get results. The secondary need is to be accepted socially. Either need may dominate their behavior depending on the requirements of the situation. The Choleric and Sanguine natural tendencies combine to produce a result-oriented person who needs to be around people socially some of the time. This combination naturally likes being the leader and is often an executive. WESTERN ZODIAC: Libra People born under the sign of Libra are peaceful, fair, and they hate being alone. Partnership is very important for them, as their mirror and someone giving them the ability to be the mirror themselves. These individuals are fascinated by balance and symmetry, they are in a constant chase for justice and equality, realizing through life that the only thing that should be truly important to themselves in their own inner core of personality. This is someone ready to do nearly anything to avoid conflict, keeping the peace whenever possible CHINESE ZODIAC: Ox Oxen are the hard workers in the background, intelligent and reliable, but never demanding praise. Oxen are honest and earnest. They are low key and never look for praise or to be the center of attention. This often hides their talent, but they’ll gain recognition through their hard work. They will never surrender to fate and rarely think of choosing an alternative. This no doubt leads to a life of struggles. But no matter what, they will walk down the road they choose until the end. Despite this stubbornness, they think and react quickly. PRIMAL SIGN: Elephant Determined, romantic, and idealistic, those born under the sign of the Elephant are concerned with hard work, fairness, and intellectual pursuits. Like their animal namesake, members of this sign have strong bonds with family and close friends that overrides nearly every other concern. Generous, diplomatic, and (mostly) peaceful, Elephants guide their daily activities with a focus on the future as well as a work-hard / play-hard attitude. TAROT CARD: The Tower, The Chariot TV TROPES: Mama Bear Apron Matron Determinator Former Teen Rebel SONGS:  I Will, Mitski When the Day Met the Night, Panic! at the Disco Home, Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeroes Landslide, Fleetwood Mac All This and Heaven Too, Florence + The Machine Canyon Moon, Harry Styles

IDEOLOGIES: There’s no problem that can’t be solved over a home cooked meal. Not all acts of heroism are remarkable. All children are born with goodness inside them. It’s sometimes okay to put those you love over the greater good. Family is the most important thing.

[ellagracehargreeves]

“The Spark” Music Playlist.

Here’s the Playlist on Youtube! The songs are also individually linked below!

I don’t have spotify or any of the other music things because I don’t listen to much music and I am BROKE! 

(PLEASE GOD DON’T MAKE FUN OF MY VIDEOS IF YOU LOOK, I WAS A SMOL DUMBASS CHILD I SWEAR I’M LESS CRINGY NOW OK, I PROMISE.)

Love y’all. And I love these songs, Here’s why:

Lean on me - Bill Withers : Ella’s lullaby. Vanya started singing it to her around the age of 1 when she heard it on the radio at the 7/11 while she was trying to calm a fussy Ella. She began singing along with the song as a last ditch attempt, and it surprisingly worked like a charm. Ever since then, Cara and Vanya, mostly Vanya, sing it to Ella sometimes at bedtime, substituting the words with “Mother” and “daughter” when needed. It always calms Ella down.

Hazy Shade of Winter - Gerard Way (feat. Ray Toro) : …. Duh. Plus this gets me hype for Ella being powerful and happily violent and just being a part of the Hargreeves clusterfuck. ….This just slaps.

Cold Blooded - Khalid (slowed) : So this doesn’t fit entirely, but basically to me this feels like what Vanya feels when she’s empty, sad, and just blank, but then she sees her daughter being happy. It doesn’t erase the deep sadness within her, but it strengthens the resolve that she has. She will give everything she has for her daughter, just to make sure she’s warm and happy. Also this song makes me think of Ella forcibly cuddling Vanya on the couch when she is having a bad day.

(Slowed Down) Elastic Heart - Sia : Just…. V a n y a.

Dancing with your Ghost- Sasha Sloan : This song makes me think of Vanya and Ella and Cara, being happy and dancing together and making memories, but at the same time Vanya struggles with her guilt involving her siblings. She can see them sometimes within her girl, she can see them as she makes the memories. She feels like she doesn’t deserve to be happy, because she never has. She struggles with that feeling when she feels so happy her heart could burst. This song also makes me think of the relationship between Cara and Vanya, it just makes me think of Vanya trying not to cry over something but then Cara pulls her head down to her lap and runs her fingers gently through her hair and Vanya can finally let it out and it’s peaceful and happy.

(Slowed down) I found - Amber Run : Vanya…… If the commission wins.

(Her mouth is open in a silent scream as she cradles the small body towards her, this can’t be happening, no no no nonononono not her baby-

Why aren’t they helping her- Please, she’s hurt, can’t you see-?- She can’t tell the difference between her tears and those of the heavens, between the tears on her face and the blood on her hands-)

(She is no longer herself, she is a steadily growing drum-beat of pure pain and grief and power and she is not thinking but the very earth shall pay for the blood that has spilled, HER FLESH AND BLOOD-)

Somebody That I Used To Know (slowed down) - Gotye (ft. Kimbra) : The Hargreeves siblings and Vanya, after her betrayal is revealed. They feel like they should’ve been told about Ella, even if they weren’t close to Vanya at all, which is valid. But Vanya remembers them as being cold and shitty to her and tbh she’s only telling them for Ella’s sake. Plus this song is just melodramatic and I feel like it would fit the Hargreeves in any situation. Like, I can see Klaus or Diego stubbing their toe and then having this song playing in their head. They’re all extra as hell and this song works for any betrayal.

( slowed down ) lovely - Billie Eilish (ft. Khalid) : This is honestly one of my favorite songs, especially slowed down. I just listen to it while writing because it’s beautiful. But it also kinda reminds me of Vanya and her glass wall, constantly struggling with the feeling of being trapped and being stuck within her childhood abuse. She fights against it for Ella, her beautiful Ella, who gives her hope no matter how trapped she feels. This song is just a sad bop tho. Good shit.

Night Bus (Slowed) - Gabrielle Aplin : A happier sounding bop, but still slow and chill. I know it’s about lovers, but we ain't gonna take it that way okay. 

“I’m on my way home to you for the last time” obviously doesn’t fit, because Vanya wouldn’t leave her daughter alone, ever, but this song kinda makes me think of Vanya gradually letting Ella go and letting her be her own person. Like, she’s still her mom, and this song also makes me think of the love between them. It makes me imagine Vanya watching Ella play in the park, or maybe watching her interact with the other girls at Gym, and thinking to herself “She’s got this. She’ll be okay. I don’t have to stay so close, she’ll still come back to me in the end even if I let her go.” 

Also, this song is calming but happy, instead of most of these which are calming and sad. I needed a happier song, one that made me think of hugs and playing outside and having snowball fights and happy squeals and playing tag with wide involuntary smiles and flushed cheeks. In short: ‘Tis a bop. A happy bop. Happy times.

revenge (slowed & reverb) - xxxTentacion : Makes me think of Vanya, disillusioned, believing that her siblings have known about her powers this entire time. Makes me think about her thirst for revenge, to make them feel the soul-deep infraction against her. Makes me think of Vanya being torn between keeping her daughter safe, keeping her terrified daughter comforted, and her revenge. Torn between holding the one she loves most and punishing those who were supposed to love her. It makes me think of agonizing indecision.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I don’t know if this scenario will happen in the fic! I’m not sure how things will go down, and how Vanya will find out and react to her powers. I’m making this shit up as I go! But this song made me think, “What if?”

Dollar For Your Sadness - Unlike Pluto : (They hurt her daughter, her world, her Ella, She will DESTROY them, ALL OF THEM-)

JOLT - Unlike Pluto : The lyrics perfectly describe Vanya’s eternally growing resentment, her struggle of trying to forget her childhood, her trauma, her siblings, while raising her daughter. Trying to leave the past behind so she can move on with her Ella and Cara, her real family. They’re all she has now. Aren’t they?

(Also, Jolt. Electricity. Sparks. Heh heh heh. I’m so clever.)

Villain of My Own Story - Unlike Pluto : I’m unsure of this one, not sure if it fits. Vanya getting fed up with her siblings’ muttered remarks and snide comments? (*unconvincing cough* Diego and possibly Luther) Her just going “yknow what fuck all y’all you can suck a cattapilla dick” and being angery and pissed off? Tbh I just put this song in here because I discovered Unlike Pluto yesterday and went feral. 

Maybe Vanya during the explanation, or her when she snapped at Diego? (The first time) or maybe it’s just her feeling so put down and invalidated and such a failure that she just goes “fuck this.” Vanya when Ella got bullied? It makes me think of the moments where she’s ticked off and her powers show up but just barely bc she eventually calms herself.

It makes me envision a young girl, possibly Vanya, idk, in tattered, dirty clothes, running down an alleyway in slow motion, and all I can see is the back of her hair flowing in the wind as she runs, the bottoms of her feet as she takes another step. I can see her checking behind her to see if she’s being followed, her hair whipping on her face so she can hardly see. It makes me think of frustrated anger, just an overall feeling of “FUCK THIS SHIT.”

Whatever. I listen to it when I write. It’s in the playlist.

Stay and Decay - Unlike Pluto : (Cartoon masks and gunshots. Flashing lights, ears covered tight, eyes squeezed shut, tears staining her cheeks, fear-)

(Mommy? Mommy! Mommy, no, nonono-) 

(There’s dark blood staining her small, small hands- they hurt Mommy, they hurt her, she’ll hurt them- Mommy’s blood dripping- spilling, flowing- onto the wood floor and why won’t it stop-)

(-MommyMommyMommy- Please Mommy, I’m scared-!)

(She’s running after them, her feet hitting the ground, her mother’s blood splattering behind her, Mommy yelling garbled, broken protests- ringing ears, pounding heart, eyes sparking green, r a g e- )

(-she’ll get them, she’ll hurt them, she has to, THEY HURT HER MOTHER-)

Rocky Mountain High - John Denver : :) this is Cara’s favorite song, and my mother likes it as well :) Cara hums it a lot, and sometimes she sings it to Ella. Vanya’s not approving of it, because the song is about WEED, but she doesn’t do anything to stop it. Cara finds the hidden meaning hilarious when she sings it to the child.

everything i wanted (slowed + reverb) - Billie Eilish : Vanya has everything she needs, but she’s still drowning inside herself. Vanya has everything, yet she still feels so so dead. But Cara holds her, smelling like forest leaves, and Ella smiles at her, looking like beautiful starlight, and they make it better. They will always make it better, and she loves them.

The Phoenix - Lindsey Sterling : Ella. Ella, dancing in the air. Ella, hugging her mother tightly. Ella, sweet, gentle Ella- bright as the sun itself, Ella, powerful Ella. Ella, her happy light infecting everyone she meets, Ella, her excitement emerging in response to every new thing she encounters. Beautiful, beautiful, chaotic Ella- adjusting reality with a twitch of her finger. Ella, summoning a tornado full of destructive everyday things with a single tantrum. Ethereal Ella, dancing and laughing and smiling and hugging and throwing and yanking and crushing and destroying Ella. Just… Ella. Loving, Obliterating Ella.

That’s all I have for now! I gotta admit, writing all that out kind of drained me. I might reblog this with additions as I add them, if you guys want! Thanks for checking out this glance inside my process.

[beaubatns]

–––– song prompts

here is a list of twenty-five of my favourite songs that i think can turn into exciting stories or plot lines. please tag me if you do any of this, because i would like to see your take on the these songs! there are two ways that you can do this; you can simply base your story off the whole song, or just the snippet of the lyrics that i put in this post. have fun!

edit: i put the jonas brothers’ lyric on sam smith’s leave your lover, but it is now corrected!

while we’re young by jhene aiko

–––– baby, while we’re young, i think we should do something crazy. like say ‘fuck everyone’ and just run away from the daily routine. i’m telling everybody you’re mine and i like it, and i really hope you don’t mind, i can’t fight it. you know i cannot hide it ‘cause i am so excited that i finally decided on you. ‘cause it’s been another perfect day with you, wanna lay with you, spend the night with you, then spend my life with you, alright. baby while we're young we should just have fun; we should just do whatever we want and tell everyone that we fell in love with each other, that we found the one in one another.

like a star by corinne bailey rae

–––– just like a star across my sky, just like an angel off the page, you have appeared to my life, feel like i'll never be the same. just like a song in my heart, just like oil on my hands, oh, i do love you. still, wonder why it is; i don't argue like this with anyone but you. we do it all the time, blowing out my mind.

capital letters by hailee steinfeld

–––– but then there was you, yeah, then there was you, pull me out of the crowd, you were telling the truth. i got something to say now, ‘cause you tell me that there's no way i couldn't go, nothing i couldn't do. i want to get louder, i got to get louder. we 'bout to go up baby, up we go, we 'bout to go up baby, up we go. we're blowing out speakers, our heart a little clearer. we 'bout to go up baby, up we go, we 'bout to go up baby, up we go. for worse or for better, gonna give it to you in capital letters.

all the way by frank sinatra

–––– when somebody loves you, it's no good unless he loves you, all the way. happy to be near you when you need someone to cheer you, all the way. taller than the tallest tree is, that's how it's got to feel. deeper than the deep blue see is, that's how deep it goes, if it's real.

the way you look tonight by frank sinatra

–––– some day, when i'm awfully low, when the world is cold; i will feel a glow just thinking of you and the way you look tonight. yes, you're lovely, with your smile so warm and your cheeks so soft; there is nothing for me but to love you and the way you look tonight.

easy by mac ayres

–––– feeling like i'm runnin' away. never had the chance, chance to say: i can say that loving you is easy, i don't need to prove a single thing. somewhere along the way i guess you got under my skin. i put all my cards out on the table, you ain't ever gonna show your hand. iwould rather hold you close than try to understand.

day 1 by honne

–––– you'll always be my day one, day zero when i was no one. i’m nothing by myself, you and no one else; thankful you're my day one. i got lucky finding you, i won big the day that i came across you. ‘cause when you're with me, i don't feel blue. not a day goes by that i would not redo. everybody wants to love, it's easy when you try hard enough.

so close by jon mclaughlin (enchanted soundtrack)

–––– you're in my arms and all the world is calm; the music playing on for only two. so close together and when i'm with you, so close to feeling alive. so close to reaching that famous happy end. almost believing this one's not pretend. and now you're beside me, and look how far we've come. so far we are, so close.

i like me better by lauv

–––– to be young and in love in new york city. to not know who i am but still know that i'm good long as you're here with me. to be drunk and in love in new york city; midnight into morning coffee, burning through the hours talking. damn, i like me better when i'm with you. i knew from the first time, i'd stay for a long time 'cause i like me better when i'm with you.

paris in the rain by lauv

–––– all i know is, we could go anywhere, we could do anything, girl, whatever the mood we're in. yeah all I know is getting lost late at night, under stars, finding love standing right where we are, your lips, they pull me in the moment; you and i alone and people may be watching, i don't mind 'cause anywhere with you feels right, anywhere with you feels like paris in the rain. we don't need a fancy town or bottles that we can't pronounce, ‘cause anywhere, babe, is like paris in the rain when i'm with you.

tightrope by michelle williams (the greatest showman soundtrack)

–––– some people long for a life that is simple and planned, tied with a ribbon. some people won't sail the sea 'cause they're safer on land to follow what's written; but i'd follow you to the great unknown, off to a world we call our own. hand in my hand and we promised to never let go, we're walking the tightrope; high in the sky, we can see the whole world down below, we're walking the tightrope. never sure, never know how far we could fall. but it's all an adventure that comes with a breathtaking view: walking the tightrope with you.

rewrite the stars by zac efron and zendaya (the greatest showman soundtrack)

–––– you know i want you, it's not a secret i try to hide. i know you want me, so don't keep saying our hands are tied. you claim it's not in the cards; that fate is pulling you miles away and out of reach from me. but you're here in my heart, so who can stop me if I decide that you're my destiny? what if we rewrite the stars? say you were made to be mine. nothing could keep us apart, you'd be the one i was meant to find. it's up to you, and it's up to me, no one can say what we get to be. so why don't we rewrite the stars? maybe the world could be ours tonight.

when you look me in the eyes by jonas brothers

–––– if the heart is always searching, can you ever find a home? i’ve been looking for that someone, i'll never make it on my own. dreams can't take the place of loving you. there's gotta be a million reasons why it's true. when you look me in the eyes and tell me that you love me, everything's alright, when you're right here by my side. when you look me in the eyes, i catch a glimpse of heaven. i find my paradise when you look me in the eyes.

can i be him by james arthur

–––– you walked into the room and now my heart has been stolen. you took me back in time to when i was unbroken. now you're all i want and i knew it from the very first moment, 'cause a light came on when i heard that song and i want you to sing it again. i swear that every word you sing, you wrote them for me, like it was a private show, i know you never saw me. when the lights come on and i'm on my own, will you be there to sing it again? could i be the one you talk about in all your stories. can I be him?

so this is love by irene woods and mike douglas (cinderella soundtrack)

–––– so this is love, so this is love. so this is what makes life divine. i’m all aglow, and now i know, the key to all heaven is mine. my heart has wings and i can fly; i’ll touch every star in the sky. so this is the miracle that i’ve been dreaming of. so this is love.

right here, right now by zac efron and vanessa hudgens (high school musical soundtrack)

–––– can you imagine what would happen if we could have any dream? i’d wish this moment was ours to own it and that it would never leave. then i would thank that star that made our wish come true, ‘cause he knows that where you are is where i should be too. right here, right now, i'm looking at you and my heart loves the view, ‘cause you mean everything. right here, i'll promise you, somehow, that tomorrow can wait for some other day to be. but right now, there’s you and me.

the last time by eric benet

–––– the first time i fell in love was long ago. i didn't know how to give my love at all. the next time i settled for what felt so close; but without romance, you're never gonna fall. after everything i've learned, now it's finally my turn. this is the last time i'll fall, in love.

a love that will last by renee olstead (the princess diaries 2 soundtrack)

–––– i want a little something more. don't want the middle or the one before. i don't desire a complicated past. i want a love that will last. say that you love me, say I'm the one; don't kiss and hug me and then try to run. i don't do drama, my tears don't fall fast. i want a love that will last. i don't want a just a memory, give me forever. don't even think about saying goodbye 'cause i want just one love to be enough and remain in my heart till i die.

1000 years by kt tunstall and bleu (tinker bell and the neverbeast soundtrack)

–––– a thousand years is a long long time, even for a star up in the sky. i could count the tears and the long long nights, but i'd rather just remember how you smile. in a thousand years, i know that our love will still be here. so close your eyes, my dear, knowing that our love is going to last one thousand years.

can’t sleep love by pentatonix

–––– tell me, am i going crazy? tell me have i lost my mind? am i just afraid of loving, or am i not the loving kind? kissing in the moonlight, movies on a late night, getting old. i've been there, done that; supposed to be hot, but it's just cold. somebody wake up my heart, light me up, set fire to my soul. 'cause i can't do it anymore. give me that can’t sleep love. i want that can't sleep love; the kind i dream about all day, the kind that keeps me up all night. give me that can't sleep love.

once upon a dream by mary costa and bill shirley (sleeping beauty soundtrack)

–––– i know you, i walked with you once upon a dream. i know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam. yet i know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem, but if i know you, i know what you’ll do. you’ll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.

leave your lover by sam smith

–––– i don't have much to give, but i don't care for gold. what use is money, when you need someone to hold? don't have direction, i'm just rolling down this road, waiting for you to bring me in from out the cold. you'll never know the endless nights, the rhyming of the rain or how it feels to fall behind and watch you call his name. pack up and leave everything, don't you see what i can bring? can't keep this beating heart at bay. set my midnight sorrow free, i will give you all of me. just leave your lover, leave him for me.

get here by oleta adams

–––– you can reach me by railway, you can reach me by trailway. you can reach me on an airplane, you can reach me with your mind. you can reach me by caravan, cross the desert like an arab man. i don't care how you get here, just get here if you can. you can reach me by sailboat, climb a tree and swing rope to rope. take a sled and slide down the slope, into these arms of mine. you can jump on a speedy colt, cross the border in a blaze of hope. i don't care how you get here, just get here if you can. there are hills and mountains between us; always something to get over. if i had my way, surely you would be closer. i need you closer.

[jfpisadearqueerdeer]

Dancing On Our Own, Part 3 | A Perciver Fic

1999

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

Oliver rolled his eyes at the question. It had been twelve years since they first met, six years since they had gotten together, five years since they had moved in together, and a year since the war. If he wasn’t sure now, he would never be sure.

“We are literally signing the adoption papers. There’s no going back now.”

Five months after the war, Percy had sat him down, and asked if he wanted to adopt. There were a lot of children that were orphaned in the war, and once the wizarding orphanage had been set, even newborn babies had been flowing in. Oliver agreed readily. One, he had always loved the idea of being a father, and two, he knew Percy wanted this. After the war, Percy had to go to therapy many times a week, and he had even left the ministry for good, taking a job at Hogwarts instead. Ever since Fred had died, Percy hadn’t felt whole, at least that’s what he told Oliver, and Oliver was sure this was his way of feeling whole again.

“And we’re sure about the name?”

Oliver rolled his eyes again. They had discussed the name thoroughly for months. And when they had seen the brown haired, blue eyed, baby girl, both of them were sure that the name fit her perfectly. He nodded his head and Percy smiled at him gratefully. Oliver still couldn’t believe he had the luck of meeting and falling in love with Percy Weasley. He looked at the picture of their new daughter, the picture he took when they had first met her, the picture he now kept in his wallet at all times, and smiled.

“Winifred Margaret Weasley-Wood… welcome to the family.”

2003

“I can’t believe we’re doing this again.”

Percy looked towards Oliver and laughed. Winnie was sitting in Oliver’s lap as they signed the papers in almost the exact same spot as they did the last time. But this time, they already had one daughter, and they were about to gain another. The name had been a hot debate, Percy wanting to choose a name like Rebecca or Lucille, and Oliver wanting a name like Wendy or Maisie. But ultimately, Winnie was the one to choose.

“Are we sure that Winifred here made the best choice in names? She is four after all.”

Winnie glared at her papa (Percy). She may have been four, but she knew enough to be upset when her papa or daddy called her by her full name. And, yes, of course, she was sure of the name. Both of them had been listing off names for her, writing down the ones she was interested in, and then listing them out again for until she narrowed it down. Oliver joked about how, somehow, by magic, she got her papa’s smarts.

“We can’t go through months of choosing again. It’s either this name or we just name her Baby Girl Weasley-Wood and get it over with.”

Winnie then glared at her daddy too, as if to say that that wasn’t going to happen. She had chosen a name and that was that in her mind. It was the best name possible for her new little sister, who had vibrant red hair and bright brown eyes. Winnie had only met her once, but when the baby had rapped her tiny little fingers around her own, she knew she would love her little sister. Her papa’s voice broke through her thoughts.

“And you two are completely sure of this?”

Oliver nodded, rolling his eyes, and Winnie mimicked his actions. Her Papa was such a silly man, asking stupid questions that had easy answers. She watched as her papa and her daddy laugh and exchange looks about the way she acted, and she loved it. They loved her so much, and she knew it. And now, she would have a little sister to share the love with. Her daddy was the one who spoke next.

“Well, Winnie, you better shape up if you want to be a role model for Megara.”

Winnie smiled. Megara Rhys Weasley-Wood, she thought. The bestest little sister in the world.

2004

Winnie wasn't sure why Papa and Daddy had been leaving her and Nutmeg with Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur so often, but she knew it was for some sort of surprise. And she couldn't wait to find out what it was.

She was playing hide and seek with Uncle Bill, Teddy (who was also at Bill and Fleur's house), and Victoire, when she heard her Papa's voice at the door. And then her Daddy's voice too! They were talking to Aunt Fleur, and she ran out from behind the couch, effectively losing the game, and finding out the surprise.

Her Daddy was holding a baby! A beautiful baby girl with wispy blonde hair. She had a new sister, she knew it right away. "Whst's her name, what's her name?", she whisper yelled, knowing how easy it was to wake up babies (Megara wasn't even two, after all).

"Gwendolyn, but we're going to call her Wendy," her Papa said to her, gathering her up in his arms. Winnie wrapped her arms around him, and smiled. She loved being a big sister, and now she was even more of one.

2005

“Winnie! Come down stairs, please. We have a surprise for you and Meg.”

Winnie rushed down the stairs in her night gown, which was really just her daddy’s old Quidditch jersey. Her papa and daddy had been hinting at a surprise for nearly a month. And now she was finally going to learn what is was! When she got to the living room, she was absolutely delighted.

“A puppy!”

The puppy was black and brown, a boy, and her papa called him a Border Terrier. Names for him rushed through her mind, but one stood out. Winnie’s other nickname was Honey, Meg’s was Nutmeg, and Wendy's was Pumpkin, so it only made sense for him to be named after some sort of food too.

“Coriander. Cory for short.”

She said it, as if there was no question on whether she was going to name him, and her papa and daddy both nodded approvingly. Meg was only two, but even she babbled happily and nonsensically when she heard the name. Winnie smiled. She loved moments like these when everyone was happy. She rushed towards Cory, and lifted him up into her arms, falling to the ground in the process. She laughed like crazy, letting Cory lick at her face, and laughing even more when her two-year-old sister joined her on the ground, crawling on top of her to “save” her from their new puppy. She was so lost in the fun, she didn’t hear her daddy’s next words.

“I love you, Perce. And I love this family we’ve created. I love everything about our lives.”

2010

“I’m going to miss you, Nutmeg. Cory too.”

Winnie couldn’t believe that she was going off to Hogwarts. It felt too soon. She didn’t want to leave her daddy, or her papa (even if it was only for the train ride, seeing as he was still going to be a teacher), or her little sister, or her puppy. She was going to miss each and every one of them terribly.

“You’re not going to miss me at all, Winnie! You’re not going to have time!”

Winnie smiled at the small joke her sister had made, one she had been making for weeks. They both knew about Hogwarts’ extensive library, and also knew that Winnie would not be able to resist the temptation. There were just so many books and Winnie wanted to read all of them. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t miss her little Nutmeg. And, of course, her other siblings too, who were with Gram and Gramps.

She leaned closer to Meg, and said, "Don't forget to help Daddy out with Wendy, Joshie, Romy, and Penny. It's your job now." Meg nodded dutifully, still smiling. And finally, Winnie turned to her Daddy and Papa.

“Don’t be anxious, Win. Everything’s going to be alright.”

“Yeah. And we’re sure that Teddy and Victoire will sit with on the train.”

Her papa’s and her daddy’s words calmed her a little bit. But then she froze, asking her daddy if he had asked Teddy and Victoire to sit with her. He blushed profusely, realizing he was caught, and nodded, his face full of embarrassment. But she was even more embarrassed. How could he?!

“Dadddddy! You can’t just do that! Now they’ll think that I have no friends!”

Both her daddy and her papa rolled her eyes at that, and Winnie facepalmed. Of course, she wouldn’t have friends, she hadn’t started Hogwarts yet. But that didn’t mean she wanted her daddy asking her cousins to sit with her. She could find her own friends.

“Winnie, it’s going to be okay. They’ll ride with you on the train, and then you’ll be at Hogwarts with me, and it will go by in a flash, I swear.”

Her papa’s words calmed her. She had it easy. She was going to Hogwarts with her papa, who would look out for her. And she would be one of the few students to do so. Well Victoire would, since Uncle Bill worked there too, and so would another family of kids that she couldn’t remember the last name of, but that was all.

“Okay. Okay. I can do this.”

Winnie muttered these words to herself as her papa and her daddy followed her on to train, helping her with her suitcase. She muttered those words to herself when they placed her chest in the luggage bin above the compartment that Teddy, his friends, and Victoire were in. She muttered those words to herself when they bid her goodbye once again, walking off the train. She muttered those words to herself when she left the compartment, not wanting to be around so many people, and found an empty one. And then she started singing her own version of her daddy’s and her papa’s favorite song.

“I think I’m alone now,

There doesn't seem to be anyone around

I think I’m alone now,

The beating of my heart is the only sound,”

“You have a pretty voice.”

Winnie looked up, blushing, and saw a girl, who was dirty blonde, and had pale, glittering, blue eyes. She smiled at the compliment and slid over in her seat, to make room for the new girl.

“My name’s Madeline. Couture. Madeline Couture.”

“Winifred Weasley-Wood. Winnie for short.”

She was still nervous about Hogwarts, but it seemed like she might have a new friend. She told her daddy that she could make her own friends, and now, she had. She would spend the train ride with Madeline, visit Teddy’s compartment when she needed to change her robes, and see her Papa at school.

All was (almost) well.

2013

Winnie was fourteen when her dad's adopted her final sibling, Elliott. It wasn't truly a shock to her, other than the fact that this would be the last one they would adopt. She could barely believe it. Not getting a new sibling every couple of years would be so strange...

She held Eli in her arms, taking it all in. He would be her youngest sibling. A tear slipped down her cheek, and she wasn't sure if she was happy or sad. She loved having so many siblings, and up until now, she was sure that her family would keep on growing. But this was it. She would only have six siblings.

But Winnie couldn't help but smile at the adorable little boy in her arms. If he was going to be her last sibling, then she was going to savor as much of his childhood as she could.

2014

“Marry me.”

Percy looked up in surprise. He and Oliver had been together for just over twenty years, and they had never even brought up marriage before. It wasn’t legal in the muggle world, and therefore, wizards had to comply to those rules as well, as to not rise suspicions. He, of course, knew, that the muggles had finally made it legal, but he didn’t give it a second thought. After all, Oliver would have brought it up if he wanted it.

“What?”

They were in his office at Hogwarts. Oliver had surprised him for the day and the first thing he said was a proposal. A two-word proposal while he was standing in the threshold of Percy’s office door. So, it wasn’t exactly what Percy was expecting.

“I said: Marry me. I want to get married. I want to have a wedding. I want to have a ceremony for all our friends and family, and have the girls wear matching dresses, and have Josh and Eli wear adorable matching suits, and have a first dance, and most of all, I want to be able to call you my husband. Say yes. Please.”

For the last twenty years, Oliver had given Percy everything he wanted and vice versa. They had kissed. They had gotten together. They had moved in together. They had supported each other. They had adopted their kids. They had gotten two puppies, a cat, and an owl. So, did Oliver really think Percy could say no? Not that he wanted to, of course, but Oliver truly looked as if he thought Percy would say no.

“Yes.”

It was a simple answer, not overly exciting or anything. But Oliver still tackled Percy in his chair, making them both fall to the ground. And he started singing their song. The past twenty years had no been perfect. There had been fights, there had been times when they didn’t speak to each other; but Percy had never stopped feeling an overwhelming love for his long-time best friend slash boyfriend. As he listened to the song, he realized something: this song was theirs, but it didn’t quite fit them anymore.

“I think we need a new song.”

2014, continued

"Almost twenty-seven years ago, my dads met on their way to Hogwarts. And ever since then, they have been each other's best friends. They have depended on each other, taken care of each other, and loved each other so, so much.

Six years after they met, they finally got together. In those six years, they had built a friendship that could overcome anything, time after time, whether it be awkward moments or tear-jerking fights or the fact that my Papa was apparently a bit of a prick sometimes," Winnie said, beginning her speech at her dad's wedding.

Everyone laughed at the last comment, and she heard her Uncle George say, "More like all of the time." People laughed even more at that comment.

"Despite all of those things, they got through the next six years, even surviving a war together. They were luckier than most," she said, shooting a watery smile at her Uncle Lee, who had been in a relationship with her namesake.

"Barely a year after the war, they adopted me, and I couldn't be more thankful that they did. For the past fourteen years, plus some, they have given me everything they have, only expecting me to love them in return. And I do. And I know that, because they taught me what love is."

"Love is caring for someone more than you care for yourself, and knowing that they care the same for you. Love is what holds them together, through all the hard times, the rough patches,and the fights. Love is the hope that has gotten my dads through the past twenty-one years together. Love is what they have, and what they share, and what they give me and my siblings and my cousins and my aunts and uncles everyday. They are so full of love, and they deserve all of my love, and more. This one's for you dads. I love you," Winnie said, taking the mic out of it's holder, and began singing Love Is, a song that came out the year they had gotten together.

"They say it's a river that circles the earth

A beam of light shining to the edge of the universe

It conquers all

It changes everything

They say it's a blessing

They say it's a gift

They say it's a miracle, and I believe that it is"

Winnie loved her dads. She loved her siblings. She loved her cousins, and aunts and uncles, and grandparents too. She loved all of her family. And she loved her best friend, Maddy, too. She just hadn't realized it yet.

[rebellingstagnationblog]

Toyland - Perry Como

@pharaoh-ink asked for a Quackerjack chapter where we explored him working during the holiday season before he was a villain. 

@anachrolady made this gorgeous art piece for this story. Please go commission them! You will not be disappointed! Click here to see what they can do and their prices.  

You can also find their work here: http://www.darkwingtower.com/

The World of Color show soundtrack will pick up again with tomorrow's story. But for now, onto Quackerjack!

It had never been a toy shop in the Negaverse; it looked like it had been a bookstore instead. Quackerjack didn't know why he had wanted to visit except that the idea had consumed him to the point where no other thoughts had been circling in his head the past few days.

So he'd come.

And now that he was here.

He didn't like it.

It had looked better in the Prime Universe. When it had been his.

Sitting in the middle of the abandoned shop, with the roof half caved in and plant life crawling up what remained of the walls, Quackerjack cast his mind back. Visualized his toy store. As it had once been in another universe a lifetime ago.

—…—…—…—…—…—…—…—

The most wonderful time of year was reserved specifically for those who didn't work in retail. Long hours, unreasonable requests, a staggering amount of product being shoved onto the floor only to fly off the shelves moments later. Constant turn around, money flying everywhere, and emotions running high.

It was enough to cause many an employee to swear off the Christmas season. Or to quit retail all together.

But to Jack, it was a magical time of year.

Colors were brighter. Displays were alive with their moving trains and flying reindeer. And the children. Eyes wide with wonder, hopes so very high for what was to come on the 25th day of December.

He enjoyed this time of year so much that he'd even gone so far as to design his shop around a Christmas song. The licensing had gone through so he'd been able to name if after the song in question. Toyland.

From the outside, it didn't look any different from the other stores lined up along the block. A rather ordinary shopfront, the name carved into a wooden sign that hung above the doorway, a jester hat — his logo — painted across the bottom, complete with golden jingle bells on the ends. Large bay windows bracketed the door, giving a clear view to his displays and window dressings. The purple door was the only sign that something was different about this particular store, and often brought in customers to investigate.

The interior of the shop was lovingly crafted from the crown molding to the hardwood floors, dark and light woods playing off of one another across the shop. There were areas with rugs laid out surrounded by plush chairs and small tables where the children were encouraged to unleash their imaginations and test out which toy would be so lucky as to go home with them. The shelves lining all the walls were a smooth varnished wood, always stocked full of the latest and greatest toys. "Toyland"'s lyrics were painted in loopy gold script along the crown molding, a constant reminder to Jack about the sanctity of his vocation.

A large pine tree stood proudly in the center of the shop, children scurrying around and playing with the toy soldiers, nutcrackers, stuffed mice, rocking horses, and dolls that had been set up in an elaborate battle scene around the base. The Nutcracker was extremely popular this year. Which Jack had (correctly) predicted. Not that he was saying his predictions always came true. They just usually did. What could he say? He knew the toy game and how to use it to his advantage.

"Hullo, Mr. Jack!" came a small voice.

Jack leaned over the counter to spy a small girl, hair in messy curls around her face. "Hello, Alex!" he cried, smiling down at her. He spread out atop the counter so as to maintain eye contact with her and kicked his legs up merrily behind him. "Why weren't you at playtime today?"

Playtime was a daily occurrence at Toyland. Jack gathered all the children in the largest section of the shop and debuted his newest creations, allowing the kids to test them out before the products hit the shelves. Some of his regulars, like Alex, prided themselves on attending playtime religiously, and weren't afraid to speak their minds about what worked and what didn't.

Alex's brow furrowed and she drew her beak into a frown. Her mother placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Mr. Jack asked you a question."

Squaring her shoulders and looking up to Jack with no apology in her big eyes, Alex said, "I was in detention, Mr. Jack."

"So close to Christmas?" Jack lamented, placing his beak in the palm of his hand. "What happened?"

"Mrs. Kapla said I was fighting, but I wasn't. Honest! There were bullies pushing Emily around at recess, and she's too small to push back, so I did it for her." Alex crossed her arms. "And I'd do it again."

"Alex!" reprimanded her mother.

"I would!" the girl insisted.

Jack smiled down at her. "I'm proud of you for standing up to the bullies, little playmate. But maybe next time you could get a grown up to help you?"

"There wasn't time!" Alex said, throwing her hands up in desperation. "The bell was about to ring and we were all gonna go back inside and no one saw it happening except me so I had to do something!"

Alex's mother — he never bothered with the names of the grownups; they were all boring people who had forgotten how to use their imaginations — looked at Jack, her eyes half-lidded. "Do you see what I have to deal with?"

Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes and returned his attention to Alex. "You were very brave."

Alex looked at him, hope in her eyes. "Really?"

"Oh, yes. How about this: when you see the bullies pick on someone again, you can help out your friend and then tell a teacher later?"

Alex cocked her head to one side. "I guess that could work."

"Of course it will work! I'm a genius after all."

"A genius toy maker," Alex corrected, already sarcastic at the age of nine. He loved it. "It's not the same. What did you and the other kids play with today?"

"Oh! Let me show you!" Jack careened over the counter to join Alex, hurriedly digging through his pockets and kneeling down to her level. "You've heard of wind-up toy soldiers. How about a wind-up ballerina who can dance on her own?"

"Outside of a music box?" She sounded skeptical. "How does she balance?"

"Magic," Jack said with a grin, pulling out the ballerina and setting it on the counter. He wound the key in the doll's back and it began to dance, arms and legs gracefully moving to a song played by a phantom orchestra. Alex was transfixed, her little hands gripping the edge of the counter as she watched the toy dance.

Her mother mouthed, "Thank you," to Jack but he waved it away, focusing on Alex. Her reaction was what he really needed. He was proud of this particular toy, but the opinions of his playmates were essential to his creative process.

"Does she have to be in pink?" Alex asked eventually, glancing at Jack.

"Well, ballerinas usually wear pink, don't they? What other color would she wear?"

"Whatever color I want. There could be different tutus. Besides, she'd have to have different clothes for all the ballets she dances in."

Jack's eyes grew wide. "A whole wardrobe of costumes." He jumped up, a grin on his face as he turned to his cashier. "A whole wardrobe!" Leaping up onto the counter, he exclaimed, "A WHOLE WARDROBE!"

The adults in the store looked horrified by his actions, hurriedly looking away from him or whispering to one another. Some of the children looked curious while those who'd participated in playtime earlier today looked disappointed that they hadn't thought of the idea first.

Scooping up the ballerina and sitting atop the counter, Jack grinned down at Alex. "You can't get anymore detentions. I need you at playtime."

Alex smiled. "You do?"

"Yes! No one else came up with that idea. It's genius! Isn't it genius, Claire?" He turned to his cashier.

The young woman smiled back, making Jack's stomach do several loopty-loops, before leaning over the counter to cast her sunshine on Alex. "Absolutely. Mr. Jack knows a genius when he sees one."

A customer approached the counter, toys in hand, and Claire invited them forward while Jack jumped down to join Alex again.

"Tell you what, little playmate, why don't you take this ballerina with you?"

"Don't you wanna keep her?" Alex asked, staring at the doll with wonder on her face. "So you can make more?"

"I have more that aren't finished yet in the back. You take this one and in a few months, bring it back and we can set you up with a whole closet full of tutus and costumes."

Alex glanced up at Jack before grinning and taking the doll gently from his grasp.

"What do you say to Mr. Jack, Alex?" her mother promoted.

Cradling the doll close, Alex said, "Thank you, Mr. Jack."

"No, no. Thank you. You always make my toys better." He winked at her before waving goodbye as her mother ushered her out of the store.

A customizable ballerina. Why hadn't he thought of that?

The rest of the day flew by in a whirlwind of ribbons, scotch tape, and colorful paper as he rang up customers and boxed his latest and greatest creations. As the hustle and bustle wound down, Jack worked on putting the store back in order while Claire closed out the registers.

Or, he was supposed to tidy up. He kept getting distracted watching Claire count the bills with her long graceful fingers. Seeing her tuck a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. Observing how a faint line appeared between her brows as she totaled everything up. She'd worked at Toyland for a few months now and had become one of his favorite employees. Not just because she was pretty and did funny things to his insides, but because she was kind and patient and saw the same wonder in the children that he did. Because she sometimes took part in playtime with them and gave good constructive feedback.

Because, to her, these weren't just toys. They were a realm of possibility. A chance to help mold young children's imaginations and explore a better tomorrow.

"I know you're watching me."

Jack tripped on the edge of a display case and nearly took out his teddy bear brigade. Righting himself, and hoping he at least looked suave doing it, he glanced over at the counter. To where Claire was watching him with a knowing smile on her beak.

"N-no," he said weakly, leaning up against the dollhouse display and crossing one foot over the other. Like the cool kids in movies. "I was just…." Unable to find a decent excuse, he loped over to the counter, nearly tripping over his own feet along the way, and gesticulated madly to distract her. "Do you think we need some decorations across the front here?"

"The children would pull them down. You know how excited they get." Claire leaned over and studied the bare wanes coating of the cashier's desk. "Though, it could benefit from something."

"See? Just what I had been thinking. We are on the same wavelength."

Claire glanced up with a smirk.

Jack felt his cheeks heat. He cleared his throat and crouched down, trying to visualize something in the blank space. "A mural, perhaps?"

"Or more song lyrics?" Claire stacked the money together before slipping it into a bag and zipping it closed.

"That's an idea! There's gotta be more songs about toys out there." Jack cocked his head to one side, as if the angle would help lyrics fall into his head.

"I've always liked 'Pure Imagination' myself." Claire said. "Reminds me of you."

"Am I as mad as Willy Wonka?"

"Madder."

Jack glanced up, mock offense on his face.

Claire grinned and rested her forearms on the counter, her elegant hands entwining with one another. "You have to be mad to make all the amazing toys that you do."

Jack straightened up, an eyebrow raised. "I'm not sure if I should be offended."

Claire's smile grew soft as she leaned down. "You can be whatever you want to be."

Jack was about to give his retort, but it died on his tongue when he realized how close they were. Only the smallest of inches separating them. Her pale green eyes suddenly the center of his world. The smile slowly slipping off her face as she studied him, her beak opening as if to say something.

She seemed to be getting even closer. Maybe because he was stretching up towards her. Or was she dipping down to him? Both, he realized, as the distance between them grew smaller.

Her eyelids fluttered, long eyelashes sweeping over her cheeks. His heart was racing, the pulse pounding in his ears.

A sharp rap on the front door had Claire jerking backwards, her cheeks coloring as she glanced towards the noise.

She pulled her beak up into a polite smile and scurried over to open the front door. "I'm sorry, ma'am, we're closed for the evening."

"Oh, can't I come in for a moment? I promise I'll be quick. Its just, my son hasn't stopped talking about this Wiffle Boy, and all the other stores I've been to are sold out."

"What's a wiffle?" Jack asked, crossing the shop to stand behind Claire.

"Wiffle Boy. He's a character I think," said the woman, pushing her hair out of her face and shrugging. "I don't really know much beyond it's all these kids are talking about. Do you have anything that's Wiffle Boy?"

"I haven't heard of any board games about a Wiffle kid," said Jack, glancing over at his inventory. Was there a new release? No, he would have heard about it. Maybe if he knew what a wiffle was, knew what shape or color he was looking for….

"Oh, not a board game!" said the woman. "A video game."

Jack turned back, a sneer on his beak. "We don't sell video games here. We sell real toys. Toys that inspire children to create and become well adjusted adults, not something that will desensitize them to violence and turn them into criminals."

The woman's eyebrows rose.

Claire motioned over the woman's shoulder, saying, "There's a video game store down the street. You might have better luck with them."

"I'll try there, then. Thanks, and sorry to trouble you." With that, she bundled down the street to the video game shop that had opened up just after Halloween. Blinding lights flashed through the windows, sure to induce a migraine with their colorful and constant strobing.

There was no finesse to the display. No class. No sense at all. It was all just thrown together, the electric components whirring and blinking in a desperate attempt to pull in wayward shoppers.

The worst part was that it worked on some of them. Children would bounce when they saw the store, distracted by the shiny things inside. Jack didn't like those children; they were the ones who looked at his toys and asked, "But what does it do?"

Claire closed the door with a snap, and ensured their printed sign was turned so the "Closed" side faced the street. "I should probably get going," she said, sending a smile up to Jack as she walked back to the counter and scooped up her money bag. "I have shopping to do myself before I go home."

"Sure, sure," said Jack, giving one last cursory glare to the gaming store. "Thank you for all your help today."

"Of course," she said before disappearing into the stockroom.

Jack turned off the lights in his display windows and was straightening up the train village when Claire returned, buttoning her coat with her purse hanging off one shoulder.

"Don't stay up too late. Even mad geniuses need their sleep."

Jack grinned. "I'll do what I can."

"That means you'll be in that workshop of yours all through the night trying to get your ballerina's wardrobe sketched out."

He shrugged. "These toys won't invent themselves."

"I suppose not. But rest is important, too." Stuffing a hat on her head, Claire nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Jack tucked his hands into his pockets, suddenly unsure what to do with them. "See you tomorrow."

Claire gave him one last smile before exiting the shop, Jack locking the door behind her. He glanced up at the words painted above the frame. The letters were in need of a fresh coat of paint. He would have to book his artist after the madness of the holidays.

He turned off the lights and headed to the stockroom where a staircase curled up to his apartment. Before closing the door and retiring for the night, he paused at the foot of the staircase, hand on the railing, and looked out over his shop. As was his custom.

With the Christmas lights the only beacon shining through the darkness, the words over his doorway practically gleamed. "Once you pass its borders, you can never return again."

Jack flicked off the Christmas lights and climbed upstairs to his apartment where his workshop lie in wait, ready for an evening of experimentation and innovation.

—…—…—…—…—…—…—…—

Quackerjack was startled out of his memories when he heard an insistent banging on the door. Who even knew he was here? He stomped over and flung it open with a ferocious scowl on his beak.

Which he immediately wiped away when he saw who was standing on the stoop.

"Get your stuff," snapped Negaduck, his expression dark. "We're leaving."

"Where are we going?" Quackerjack asked.

Negaduck glared. "I said get your stuff." He spun and marched away.

Quackerjack bounced after him, his pockets already stuffed with toys.

They joined Megavolt, who had been standing a few feet away, and the three of them trudged through the Negaverse with Negaduck in the lead.

This song, in particular, I played on repeat while writing Jack’s dialogue and characterization.