#Plus his play style really confuses me? Like yeah he can fly but that seems like it'll make combat hard

[cryptidcalling]

As of tonight I’m officially the proud owner of, in order of pulls, Layla, Heizou, DILUC, Dori, and TARTAGLIAAAAA

[nami-writes]

Seek, And Ye Shall Find - Harry Potter

[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 ]

bravery.

“That’s your bed?” Malfoy— Draco— asks, looking around the Gryffindor dormitory.

“Yeah,” he responds, and watches as Draco beelines to flop on the empty bed beside it. “That’s your bed?”

“Seems like it.” He points up at the plaque on the upper panel in the front. “Room 2, bed 4. They gave me the assignment, I just never showed up to find it.”

“People have been talking about it for months, and I’ve finally cracked the case,” Harry says. “Bloody hell, I’ve been wondering all year why McGonagall hasn’t just magicked it away when nobody uses it. That explains quite a bit.”

Draco chuckles. “Ironic, too. It's right next to yours.”

Harry grins. “Ron won't be very happy. He's in the other bed next to yours.”

“Weasley will live,” Draco says. “Me, maybe not, once he finds out.”

“Oh, I’m not worried,” Harry teases. “You’re very stubborn about not dying.”

“And you’re very stubborn about dying.”

“Suppose we both have a bit of Gryffindor in us, then,” he says, and for the first time, Draco doesn’t disagree.

—

Near midnight, they head out to the Quidditch pitch riding each other’s brooms. Draco insisted on trying Harry’s Firebolt again, then added that he wants to see if Harry’s just as skilled without it, so of course he handed it over and now he mounts Draco’s Nimbus 2001 on the field. It feels just like his old Nimbus 2000, only smoother and more responsive, and he’s surprised at how much quicker it accelerates. Not Firebolt impressive, but impressive nonetheless.

This time, they agree on basic rules for their not-really-Quidditch game. Contact is fine but no magic, bounds are the school grounds, and the winner will be determined as whoever has the Golden Snitch when the fireworks start going off at midnight. Harry asks if they’re just playing Capture the Flag. Draco looks at him like he’s crazy. Harry mumbles something along the lines of “never mind, it’s a Muggle thing”— and the game kicks off.

—

Exhilarated, Harry races along the side of the castle with the Snitch in hand. Riding with one hand is difficult when the other clutches a struggling Snitch but Draco is on his tail and catching up fast. Plus, the fireworks are going to go off any minute and he wants a good view.

He glances behind him, once, twice, and when Draco reaches out to grab his broom he cuts sharply up the wall at an angle so Draco misses just barely. Draco is faster but Harry is more nimble and he adjusts his flying style to reflect that. This is why Draco flew the way he did for their previous match— it wasn’t just fancy moves for show, it was to throw him off. Draco knew the Firebolt had a speed advantage. Having an opponent who can challenge him like that regardless of what broom he rides is refreshing.

They soar above the castle now and dodge pointy towertops and Christmas lights hanging from balconies. Weaving back and forth with Draco, their chase almost becomes a dance and for a moment, Harry forgets they’re supposed to be enemies.

The clock tower passes on his right, Draco on the opposite side, and Harry catches the time: five to midnight. The fireworks should be going off in the courtyard soon and at this rate, Draco’s not going to get the Snitch back. Might as well give him a chance and have some fun while he’s at it.

“Catch!” he shouts and tosses the Snitch across to Draco just far enough out of reach that he has to pitch backwards. Initially surprised by the sudden motion, he recovers and smoothly flows into a loop-de-loop to level back out, but his hand misses its mark and the Snitch flits away. He looks at Harry, confused. “Second chance! Don’t waste it!”

And then he spins around and bolts past Draco, who reacts just as quickly to take off across the top of Hogwarts.

They fly over the courtyard giggling like children and they must attract eyes on the ground but in the moment, there’s nobody but him and Draco and the Golden Snitch. The flashing of the Snitch dodging in and out of the shadows and Draco’s pale hair mussed by the wind are all he sees and Draco’s so intensely focused that for the first time all year, not even he pays any mind to the unwanted gazes on them.

The Snitch dips low to a flat terrace and Draco is locked in, blazing forward at it. Harry might’ve sabotaged himself by giving up the Snitch, because there’s no way he can reach it from where he is.

He can reach Draco, though, and for the second time in two months, he dives off of his broom.

His body collides with Draco’s and together they topple onto the terrace, rolling to a stop when their brooms fall to the ground. The Snitch scurries out of reach again and buzzes in midair, mocking.

“Oh, come on! I had that!” Draco pouts, then glares at Harry. “What is it with you and throwing yourself off of brooms?”

Harry laughs. “Must be that Gryffindor bravery.”

“More like recklessness,” he remarks, but his eyes are bright with his smile.

They sit there, tangled in one another, quiet as they each recover from the fall. Draco is breathless with adrenaline still fresh in his blood, chest rising and falling with his tired pants, and yet he looks so relaxed and composed as he leans back to stare at the Snitch hovering from afar. His smile has faded but there's still that glimmer of excitement on his face. Harry can’t tear his eyes away. He’s never seen Draco so content— so passionate and real— but he decides right there that he never wants to stop seeing it.

The sky ignites, then, with a loud pop and a shriek and a sizzle, and he's mesmerized. So much so that Draco has to look back at him to startle him out of his daze and realize he's been staring at the way Draco lights up under the colors and not the fireworks themselves. He can't help it— apparently the fireworks are each House emblem, and Draco looks damn good in any of the colors.

Especially red.

Harry starts. “Can I—”

—And Draco finishes the thought by greedily leaning in and pulling Harry towards him until their lips meet and Harry can feel Draco's heart hammering along with his own.

Draco’s hand is on the back of Harry's head but he's messy and distracted, too focused on what he wants to figure out how to get it, and it's not enough, not nearly enough. Harry grabs at his shoulder and cups his face and pulls him in close so they're almost hugging over their tangled legs, and he takes control. With little complaint, Draco melts under his command, surrendering all the power to Harry.

Their eyes close and the fireworks are no more than a distant memory. One body pressed against the other, arms wrapped around torsos and necks, Harry vaguely registers losing his balance and toppling over. Draco doesn't seem to realize or care. He tastes like pain and like longing, like craving and desperation, and it's the biggest pleasure in the world for Harry to be the one to fulfill it all.

To both of their utter dismay, Harry breaks the kiss, because otherwise he's going to pass out from not breathing. Draco seems to share the same sentiment though, and pants even harder than he did when he fell off of Harry’s broom.

“Didn’t—” The words catch in Draco’s throat and he clears it, awkwardly looking away. “Didn’t know you could, uh… do that.”

Harry grins down at him. A sudden thought pops into his head and playfully, each of his hands take Draco’s to pin beside his head. He leans down. “Yeah? I didn't know you had enough Gryffindor in you to initiate it.”

“Shut up and kiss me again,” Draco snaps, and he leans up to close the distance.

—

When they finally pull apart— for good this time— the fireworks are long gone. The Snitch has deactivated on its own, sitting on the ground. Draco exhales with amusement. “I guess we both lost, huh.”

“No,” Harry says and smiles. “I think we both won.”

—

Draco has always looked at him with envy and jealousy. But for the first time, he also lets the corresponding admiration and pride show through, and it's the most satisfying feeling in the world.

Harry laughs softly to himself, unable to believe it. He bagged a Malfoy. Or maybe, a Malfoy bagged him.

[heeberry]

My Clumsy Player

(Loona) Jung Jinsoul x Female!Reader

Requested: yes!

Berry: Hey can I request Jinsoul x fem reader where the reader is a basketball player but is clumsy and got injured during practice and Jinsoul takes care of her, very fluffy pls <3

You smiled as you heard the echoes of your girlfriend, Jinsoul cheering you on. The bleachers weren’t filled with many students at your school, but there were a few that decided to watch the schools basketball team play, one of them being Jinsoul.

Jinsoul always admired your hard work, constantly visiting you from time to time to watch you play the sport you enjoyed the most. And seeing you doing something that made you happy, made Jinsoul happy as well.

Getting into the basketball team wasn’t easy. Being rejected multiple times in middle school discouraged you, feeling like you weren’t meant to play in the court with others who enjoyed it just as much as you did.

But when Jinsoul came in she told you how you shouldn’t give up, and just from that it gave you motivation to only try harder.

You always thank Jinsoul after every win or dunk you manage to make, as clichè as it seemed without her you wouldn’t be one of the best players in the team, not to brag about it of course.

Though, there was always a little flaw you had. People have loads of flaws but this one always stood in your way most of the time during practice or games.

Your coach always scolded you for it but in all honestly you couldn’t control it at times.

It was always “y/n! You’re being clumsy again! Get yourself together!” That made you feel utterly upset.

Oh how clumsy you were, no matter what time or place somehow you’ll always end up making a little clumsy mistake. As much as you hate it, Jinsoul seems to adore it.

She only doesn’t like it when you do something stupid and end up on the floor, but that’s besides the point.

Currently you were practicing your three pointers, if your lucky enough you could manage to shoot from afar, but it isn’t that easy. Three pointers were something you were weak at, constantly missing or the ball hitting the rim of the hoop always made you fustrated. Especially when there’s a actual game going on in school, missing a three pointer in front of school mates and people you didn’t know at all put you in pure embarrassment.

You stood exactly on the spot to shoot a three pointer, knees slightly bent and hands fiddling to get to the right position of holding the ball. You suddenly shoot with the basketball in mid air, you silently prayed that the ball was gonna make it through the hoop.

The ball rolled around the rim, it made you anxious if it would even go inside or just go outside like magic.

Soon it slowly stopped, your eyes widening as the ball sucessfully went in the hoop. You heard Jinsoul cheer for you as you turned around with a smile, hands in the air as you shouted in excitement “I did it! I did it!”

“not so fast” the coach came to you, shaking his head “your going to have to do that while someone is trying to steal the ball from you, you know that right?” He asked.

You nodded in agreement, all the excitement flowing away along the wind. You should’ve known something like this was going to happen.

Your coach was hard on you, never celebrating your tiny successes but using it as a advantage for you to get into a one on one match.

Which brought you to your opponent, Hyunjin, shielding you from trying to make the shoot.

You tried escaping her sharp movements and gazes, whatever you did she always managed to get in your way in time. It truly made you impressed but now wasn’t the time to be, souly focused on making that three pointer hoop and making you, your coach, and Jinsoul proud.

Taking a quick breather, you sighed, “you can do this y/n, you can do it” constantly repeating yourself in your head as you spined three sixty away from Hyunjin and ran.

Despite the turns you made Hyunjin still caught up to you, a groan escaping your lips everytime she did so.

If you can’t shoot the three pointer with Hyunjin being in the way than at least for now you could show coach your dunking right?

Well that plan wasn’t played the same way in you imagined it. You ran towards the hoop, jumping on time you smiled at yourself, it was pure success but also a fail. You were about to make this dunk but you didn’t make the three pointer while Hyunjin was in the way.

Or so you thought you’d make the dunk. As you were about to make the hoop you accidently lost focus. You began fiddling with the ball which caused it to jump out your hands making you confused, and before you even knew it you were on the hard floor.

Hyunjin couldn’t even jump with you on time, accepting the defeat. But when she saw you on the floor she panicked, rushing to you along with Jinsoul, who was extremely worried.

She watched from afar at how you were about to make it, slowly rising from her seat, the whole scene making her tense but excited to see you dunk. As soon as she saw the ball fly out your hands she knew things would go down hill. Jinsoul’s heart dropped seeing you fall on the floor, your knee hitting the floor first before any of your other limbs.

It took you awhile to realize what happened, the pain spreading around your whole leg woke you up, gaining conscious you held your breath in, bitting your lips and eyebrows furrowed from the pain.

“Y/n! Y/n! Are you okay?” Jinsoul spoke, lightly shaking you to face her side. Hyunjin squatted to your level, shaken up from your sudden fall “hey are you okay?”

You whimpered in pain when Jinsoul’s slender fingers touched your knee, the pain only increasing so much that tears started to form.

Your girlfriend got up in an instant, lifting you up bridal style with ease and telling your coach about the fall before heading to the nurse. She looked at your knee and frowned, a bruise slowly started to form. “Don’t worry y/n, you’ll be fine”

...

After visiting the nurse she did confirm that a bruise was slowly forming on your knee. “Don’t play until that bruise is healed okay?” She told you, grabbing a ice pack and pressing it against your knee.

You hissed in pain but nodded, “I’ll try my best”

At the moment you sat at the cafeteria, your bruised knee laying on one of the seats. Jinsoul came back after grabbing some snacks for you to distract yourself while she took care of your knee, just like how the nurse instructed.

You smiled when she handed you your favorite snack, opening it up in a instant and shoving it down your throat like it was the last piece of food to ever exist.

Jinsoul shook her head and laughed, you stuffed so much into your mouth it almost looked like you were squirrel, storing things in your mouth.

She moved you closer to herself, bringing the first aid kit out. “Jinsoul you didn’t have to do this” you frowned, feeling bad for her having to take care of you when it was your fault for causing this mess.

“yes I do y/n, don’t worry! It’s better that I do” she smiled, “plus your my number one priority, so I have to take care of you always”

You watched as she applied aloe vera to the bruised knee, the cool feeling hitting the part that hurt the most made you feel slightly relived.

Jinsoul grabbed a elastic bandage, wrapping it around until the bruise was no where to be seen. “Does it hurt if I press on it?” She asked, poking your knee.

You shook your head in response, “no not really, it hurts less than last time so I guess that’s improvement” you giggled.

She smiled, playfully slapping your shoulder before engulfing you in a hug. Resting her chin on your shoulder, she turned her head to give you a tiny peck on the cheek. “How come you lost focus? That’s pretty rare of you to”

Shrugging your shoulders you replied, “I know! I guess I was too excited? I don’t even know” you lowered your head. “I can’t even play this weeks game because the nurse said so”

Jinsoul senses the sadness in your voice, picking her head up she picked your own as well. “Hey it’s okay if you can’t, if you rest then you’ll be able to play better!” She said, trying to lift your sprits.

You slightly nodded your head in agreement, “yeah I guess your right” you said, staring at your knee you soon let a little laugh, “isn’t this the third time I gotten hurt from practice?”

“Elventh”

“Elventh?!” Your head shot up with your eyes widening, “no way! How do you even know?”

She scoffed “I’ve always been there whenever you got hurt idiot of course I’d know how many times you’ve specifically got hurt”

“Besides, your my clumsy player”

You raised your eyebrows, “that doesn’t sound right”

Jinsoul quickly kissed you, catching you off guard, she confidently spoke, “well it does to me.”

[beautiful-and-terrible]

dazed ‘n‘ confused (part 3)

A/N: 3500 fuckin’ words y’all lmaooo i am so stupidly invested in this dumbass and his hot neighbor.

Ship: Rodrick Heffley x OFC

Warnings: underage drinking / drug usage, dubious consent (both parties inebriated), swearing, etc.

---

Nicole shouldn’t have worried so much about what to wear. When she showed up in Rodrick’s garage, his friends Ben and Chris were there, both dressed in ripped jeans and flannel shirts paired over band t-shirts. By comparison, Nicole’s black skater skirt and combat boots felt almost fancy.

“Hey, I’m Ben,” the dark-haired one holding a red electric guitar came up to her and gave her a fist bump. She almost laughed, not having fist-bumped anyone since she was 13. “Nicole,” she replied, smiling.

“I’m Chris!” the blonde called over, waving, before turning back to adjusting his microphone and checking the settings on their audio.

Rodrick seemed to appreciate her style, at least. He came through the garage door, carrying a four-pack of Monster energy and whistled, giving her a quick up-and-down glance, “Hey, groupie.”

Nicole punched his arm as he walked by. “I came here to listen to you play, so… play.”

“Your wish is my command,” Rodrick said with a dramatic bow.

Nicole found a relatively comfortable spot as far from the speakers as she could get - this wasn’t a concert, but loud speakers could still be painful after an extended period of time. The clack of Rodrick’s drumsticks alerted her, and before she knew it there was a blast of noise and a blur of limbs.

Honestly, he wasn’t bad, Nicole thought to herself after they had played a few songs. He could use a little more control, but what musician didn’t get caught up in their music? Glancing outside, Nicole saw that it was finally growing dark out. The sky had turned a soft purple, and she could see a few fireflies flashing in the cooling grass. She checked the time on her phone - 9:15.

“Hey, do you guys know Caitlin?” she asked the group. They turned to look at her.

“Caitlin Irving or Caitlin Peters?” Ben asked, taking an impressive gulp of Monster before burping loudly. The boys fell into fits of laughter. Nicole couldn’t help laughing, too.

“I don’t know her last name, she works at Starbucks, though.”

“Ohhhhhh, Caitlin! Yeah, we know her. Why?”

“She invited me to a party tonight, but I don’t really know anyone but her. Would you guys wanna be my plus-three?”

Ben and Chris high-fived each other, and Rodrick saluted her with his drumstick, whacking himself in the head in the process. Nicole hid a laugh behind her hand, not wanting to embarrass him. “For sure, Nikky. As long as there's drinks, we’ll be there,” Chris said. 

“C’mon, we can take my van,” Rodrick said, shoving his drumsticks in his back pocket and running inside to grab his keys. The other boys started down the driveway toward the white van, garishly painted with the band's name on the side in bold, black letters.

When Rodrick returned, Nicole gave him a smug look. “I thought it needed repairs?”

Rodrick stopped walking mid-stride, looking like a puppet caught on its strings. “Uh. Yeah. Well. My dad helped, when you were over at your house. Getting ready. It’s fine now. He’s the best mechanic I know.”

“Uh-huh. You sure you didn’t just… want to ride home with me from work?”

Rodrick scoffed. “You wish.” But as he rounded the front of the car to the drivers side, you caught the scarlet color of his cheeks against his tan skin. As if he could be any more endearing, he even offered Nicole shotgun. Chris grumbled the entire time, but begrudgingly gave you the seat he had worked so hard to acquire. 

“First stop - Capital. Ben has a fake, so we can BYOB,” Rodrick said, practically peeling out of the driveway. Nicole clutched the seat for dear life, heart stuck in her throat.

“Are you sure this thing is secure?” she squeaked, feeling the seat shaking a little in its bolts.

“No one has been ejected yet, Nikky,” Rodrick laughed.

“Go-go gadget get me the fuck out of here,” Nicole groaned, planting her feet on the floor to try and stop herself from flying forward as Rodrick squealed to a stop in front of a seedy looking liquor store.

Ben barely avoided taking the sliding door off its tracks when he opened the door. Chris lit a cigarette in the back, the acrid scent wafting to the front of the van. Nicole didn’t mind the smell much - honestly it reminded her of her Grandmother's house - but she hoped the smell didn’t linger on her clothes. That would be hard to explain to her mom. Speaking of, she sent off a quick text to her parents telling them that she’d be back late. Luckily, Nicole had always been the responsible type, so her parents trusted her to make good decisions and as a result, let her have free reign of her life (especially now that she was 18).

Ben returned after a few minutes, carrying a 24 pack of Natty Light and lighting his own cigarette.

“You have the address?” Rodrick asked, and you showed him Caitlins text.

“Yo, that's in Heather Hill’s neighborhood. Maybe we can tee-pee her house later,” Rodrick said, already zooming off again.

“Heather Hills?”

“Major bitch,” Chris called from the back of the van. Rodrick shrugged. “She’s not a bitch she’s just… not very nice.”

Nicole laughed, “You don’t have to defend the honor of all women by not calling her a bitch. If she’s a bitch, I believe you.”

Rodrick looked at you out of the corner of his eye, thinking briefly.

“Yeah, she’s a stone-cold bitch. She ran over my foot once. With her car.” 

Nicole grimaced in sympathy.

“Last year, we played at her Sweet Sixteen party, and Rodrick broke her ice sculpture bust. It was awesome,” Ben said.

“Oh, so you aren’t always perfect?” Nicole teased. Rodrick flipped her off.

Soon, they pulled up in front of Caitlin’s house. Nicole could already hear loud music from outside the house, and there were rainbow strobe lights flashing in the windows. Swallowing her nervousness, she followed Rodrick, Chris and Ben up the front walkway.

As they walked in the house, Nicole was hit by the fragrant, herbal smell of weed. From far away, the music had seemed loud, but coming in the house the music seemed to vibrate her ribcage - it was something with a repetitive bass, stuff Nicole didn’t normally listen to but she enjoyed it nonetheless. She followed Rodrick further into the house, trying to find the kitchen, weaving between people dancing and couples making out.

There were people surrounding an island in the center of the kitchen, decorated with colorful bottles of liquor and sodas to mix with. Nicole spotted Caitlin talking to a tall black guy, drinking out of a red solo cup. Nicole gave her a wave, and Caitlin excitedly came over to greet her.

“Hey! I’m so glad you made it.”

“Yeah, me too. I haven’t actually ever been to a high school party.”

Caitlin’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Well, you’re gonna have one hell of a first high school party experience, girly. Let's get you a drink.”

Caitlin turned to the kitchen island and poured about four shots of rum and filled the rest with coke in a red solo cup. Nicole took a sip. She could barely tell it was spiked, so she took a few more chugs and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. 

“Do you wanna dance?” Caitlin asked, and Nicole nodded before following her back to the living room. Already, the rum was making her limbs feel looser and her brain fuzzy. She finished the rest of it in one go, enjoying the feeling of her nervousness and insecurities fading away. Nicole had never been unpopular, per say, but she tended to stay to herself and only had a few close friends at her old school, anyway. It was refreshing to feel included, and she couldn’t help feeling that this was the way her teenage years were supposed to be - loud and exciting and living moment to moment.

As they danced, Nicole swaying in place and occasionally spinning around, she couldn’t help but feeling a little awkward. Caitlin was actually a really good dancer - she knew how to move her body in all the right ways so they hit on beat with the music. Nicole envied her easy grace, but was quickly relieved when Caitlin accidentally bumped into someone, causing them to spill their drink. Nicole stifled a laugh, not at Caitlin’s expense, just at the irony of the timing. At least Nicole wasn’t the only clutz. 

They had been dancing for only a few minutes before Nicole felt a hand on her waist, making her jump slightly.

“Hey, the guys and I are gonna smoke some weed in the backyard. Do you wanna come?” Rodrick said. His voice was almost in her ear, close enough that she could hear him over the blaring music, his breath tickling her sensitive skin. 

She turned around to face him - in the dim light of the house, he looked much more appealing than usual - she hadn’t even noticed he had put eyeliner on, but it made the dark of his eyes look even more obsidian. Nicole nodded, giving a thumbs up, and pulled Caitlin along with her.

“I need you for moral support,” Nicole said, making Caitlin laugh.

“Have you ever smoked weed before?” Caitlin asked.

“Nope.”

Caitlin raised her eyebrows and pulled her closer as they walked to whisper in her ear.

“Okay, take a small hit the first time, don’t try to impress anyone. But breathe it fully into your lungs - I like to start by pulling it into my mouth first, and then inhaling fully. And if you cough, don’t worry, almost everyone does their first time.”

Nicole gave her a grateful look as they approached the circle of people sitting on lawn chairs in the backyard. Ben and Chris were already there, with two other girls Nicole didn’t know. However, there seemed to only be two more lawn chairs available to sit on.

Nicole was about to plop down on the grass before Caitlin grabbed her hand.

“You should sit on Rodrick’s lap,” she whispered, and Nicole almost choked on her drink.

“What?” 

“Dude, he’s totally into you - I don’t know what your sitch is, but I think he’s probably a little nervous about making the first move. Just do it, and if he asks, say ‘sorry, there weren’t enough seats and I don’t wanna get bug bites from the grass.”

Nicole stared at her, mouth agape. The alcohol in her brain was telling her it might not be the worst idea ever. And you know what? Fuck it. You’re only young once. Nicole made up her mind, and squeezing Caitlin’s hand, she walked over to where Rodrick was sitting before primly making herself comfortable on his thigh.

She felt him tense beneath her immediately, before his hand came up to her waist to steady her. Before he had the chance to say anything about it, the joint was passed to him, and he took an impressive hit, the cherry glowing red at the end for several seconds. Nicole watched him with interest, hoping she wouldn’t mess up too badly and embarrass herself. 

Rodrick looked up at her as he exhaled the smoke, holding the joint out to her. Not paying attention, and entranced by the eye contact they were holding, she reached out to take the joint without looking and promptly burned her hand on it.

“Fucker,” she hissed, shaking her hand to try and get rid of the pain. Rodrick just laughed.

“Do you want help?” Rodrick asked, before taking another hit of the joint. He reached up behind Nicole’s head, threading his fingers through her hair, before pulling her down close to his face, their lips inches apart. Nicole instinctively opened her mouth, half from surprise and half in anticipation of being kissed. But Rodrick simply blew a steady stream of smoke into her mouth, - their lips didn’t make contact. Belatedly, Nicole realized she was supposed to be inhaling, so she did quickly, trying to hold the smoke in her lungs for as long as possible. 

Somebody wolf-whistled in the group. Nicole was pretty sure it was Caitlin.

Eventually, she ended up coughing it out, Rodrick rubbing her back but still laughing.

“You’re a green at the green, huh?” Rodrick asked, and Nicole rolled her eyes.

“That obvious?”

“Yeah, but it’s cute. I’m glad you’re having your first high with me,” Rodrick said, smiling sweetly. Nicole’s stomach fluttered. Already, she could tell that this wasn’t alcohol she was feeling anymore - the buzz she had been feeling earlier was replaced by something much slower and velvety, like the world was moving through maple syrup.

“Dude,” Nicole said after a minute, realizing she had been staring at nothing. Rodrick looked at her. She looked at him. They both started cracking up laughing.

“What are we laughing at?” Nicole hiccuped through her laughter.

“No idea,” Rodrick said, wiping his eyes free of tears of mirth.

“Rodrick, pass the J,” Ben called out, breaking the two of them from their trance. Without thinking about it, Nicole leaned back onto Rodrick’s chest, enjoying the warmth of his body. It wasn’t a cold night, per say, but Nicole was only wearing a skirt and a t-shirt, and she had always had poor circulation. She shivered involuntarily.

“Do you want my flannel?” Rodrick asked, already taking it off. Nicole sat up, ruffling his hair playfully.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you just want to show off your arms,” Nicole said, slipping on the warm blue flannel and resting her hand on Rodrick’s exposed arm, once again in a cut-off tank top. Rodrick gave her a funny look.

“What do you mean?”

Nicole suddenly found herself tongue tied. “Uh. I mean. You just wear a lot of tank tops.”

Rodrick raised an eyebrow, but said nothing else. Nicole leaned back against him again, feeling simultaneously self-conscious and exhilarated. They had never touched for this long before. She wasn’t sure exactly what was happening between them, but she liked the direction it was going. Even though they hadn’t known each other long, Nicole felt more comfortable with Rodrick than she did anyone else - even though most of the time she had known him, he had been a nuisance to her. Well… maybe not a complete nuisance.

It was funny to think that only a few days ago, Rodrick was just an annoyance she dealt with at her job and admired from afar, and now she was sitting on his lap, wearing his flannel. She leaned her head back, looking at the stars. She hadn’t noticed that Caitlin had left, but suddenly she appeared over her line of vision, grinning.

“Do you want a beer?” she asked, holding a cold can over Nicole’s forehead. Nicole reached out to take it, sitting up before cracking it open. She wasn’t in the habit of enjoying beer for the flavor, so she’d rather get drunk off it quickly. It tasted like wet cardboard, but Nicole managed to chug it down.

“Damn, girl, where’d you learn to drink like that?” Chris asked, laughing as Nicole belched loudly. 

“Years of rigorous practice and intense concentration, young padawan,” Nicole replied.

“Do you wanna shotgun one with me?” Chris asked, half-joking, but Nicole was feeling overly confident from the buzz she was feeling and readily stepped up to the challenge.

“Whoever spits it out owes the other ten bucks.”

“Fuckin’ deal,” Chris grinned, Ben cheering him on as he threw a beer toward Nicole. She (surprisingly) caught it.

“Wait, gimme one,” Rodrick said, making grabby hands in Ben’s direction, who threw him a beer.

“On three, okay?” Ben counted. They all started to crack open their beers, Nicole with her house keys, Rodrick with his car keys, and Chris with his pen knife.

“One.. twoooooo…. Three!” Ben yelled, and they all tipped their heads back, drinking from the hole in the side of the can. Nicole’s eyes watered, but she was too competitive to back down now. Foam spilled out of the side of her mouth, but she kept drinking. She could hear people chanting her name as she finally threw the beer can down on the ground, raising her hands in victory. Both Rodrick and Chris were covered in beer foam, but Nicole somehow stayed relatively clean, minus the beer she wiped off her face.

“Ten motherfucking bucks, Chris,” Nicole slurred slightly, grinning at him as he pulled out a crumpled bill from his pocket and threw it at her. 

“Rodrick, how the fuck did you lose, dude? You were the one who taught me how to shotgun,” Ben said, causing Nicole to throw her head back in laughter, before letting out another massive burp that lasted for several seconds. The whole group dissolved into laughter. 

Eventually, the joint got finished, and people started to move back inside. However, Rodrick and Nicole stayed outside, talking about whatever came into their heads.

“Were you ever into Greek mythology as a kid?” Nicole asked, watching Rodrick’s eyes go comically large.

“Does Percy Jackson count?”

Nicole pretended to consider it deeply for a moment, before shaking her head. Rodrick pouted. 

“I only got into Greek mythology because of Percy Jackson. So, I think it still counts.

“Fine. But do you know shit about the constellations they’re associated with?”

Rodrick pointed at the sky, at a random cluster of stars.

“For sure - that's Dingus Humongus, he was a Greek hero with the fattest ass known to man.”

“Sounds like my kinda guy,” Nicole replied, sticking her tongue out as Rodrick squawked in indignation.

“Besides a fat ass, what do you look for in a guy? Not, like, that I care. Just. Wondering.”

“Very good English, Rodrick,” Nicole laughed, “I guess my type is… someone kind. And funny. Someone who tries to be cool and is actually a huge dork. And musical, that's always a plus,” she said, feeling very bold as she looked directly at him. It took Rodrick a moment, but eventually his mouth formed a small “oh” as he realized who she was talking about. His eyes flicked down to her lips. Then he frowned, “I am not a dork.”

Nicole rolled her eyes, “And I’m totally not waiting for you to kiss me right now.”

Nicole watched as the color slowly rose in Rodrick’s cheeks, turning them rosy pink, visible even in the shadow-drenched backyard. Nicole decided to pull yet another risky move, and adjusted herself on Rodrick’s lap so that she was facing him, her thighs on top of his arms around his neck. For such a seemingly confident boy, Rodrick seemed more nervous than she had ever seen him, even when he asked her to come to band practice earlier. Hell, he hadn’t even been that nervous to shotgun the joint into her mouth.

“Sorry, I just… I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. I don’t wanna be bad at it,” he confessed. Just as Nicole thought she couldn’t be any more endeared by this boy. She slid her hands into his hair, thick and soft. She leaned in and gently nosed at his jawline, placing small kisses against his warm skin. Right at his jugular, he smelled like cologne and nighttime and boy, the right mix of clean and sexy. Seemingly gaining his courage, he grabbed Nicole by the back of her head and brought her up to his lips.

It was soft, at first, merely a press of skin to skin, but the two gradually deepened the kiss, moving against each other like they were made for it. Nicole felt like her heart might beat out of her chest - or maybe she was just that high.

Feeling emboldened by Rodrick’s enthusiasm, she slipped her tongue between his lips, gently tangling their tongues together. He let out a low moan, and Nicole could’ve blacked out from how turned on she was by that simple sound. The warmth of his body against hers and the slickness of their mouths together caused a rush of liquid heat to form between Nicole’s legs. Goddamn, he was good at this. Nicole wasn’t sure how many girls Rodrick had kissed before this, but if he was a rookie at this she was damn impressed.

Rodrick’s hands, which had been resting on her waist, slowly moved down her ass and under her skirt, causing Nicole to gasp as he started to knead and grab at her cheeks - not hard, but enough to get her even more hot and bothered than she thought possible.

“Is this okay?” Rodrick asked, his voice low and rough. 

“Yeah, I’m good,” Nicole replied, running her fingers through his hair and scratching her nails down his neck. She felt him shiver beneath her, sending a heady rush of power to her stomach and lower. He pulled her closer to him by her ass, so that their crotches pressed together. Nicole was taken aback by the sensation of his bulge pressed against her, but didn’t pull back, instead grinding down on him.

“Are there still people out here?” Rodrick asked shakily. Nicole pulled back and looked over her shoulder - the backyard was empty, thank god.

“No, just us,” Nicole said, turning back and bringing her lips to his ear, biting and licking the sensitive flesh. Rodrick whimpered, grinding up to meet her, and Nicole almost lost it then and there.

The alcohol and weed in her system were slowing her reactions, but also kept her from thinking too much about what she was doing - all she could think about was how much she wanted this. Sober, this might’ve never happened - she was too nervous about what he would think if she ever made a move, constantly overthinking her every word and action. This dumb boy, who rode with her to work, who stayed to the end of her shift and bought her slushies, had wiggled his way into her every thought and every beat of her heart. She knew she was fucked.

She only wished it was literally.

Nicole opened her eyes briefly to catch Rodrick’s gaze, and out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed the red-and-blue flash of police lights. Rodrick caught sight of the lights at the same time.

“Oh, fuck.”

[triforce-princess]

well, i finally 100% completed hyrule warriors age of calamity in its entirety, including post game content, so i’m finally going to write a full review. beware this review will contain every spoiler imaginable so please do not click the read more if you haven’t finished the game yet and don’t want to be spoiled!

tl,dr; this game is a lot of fun despite some of its shortcomings and it’s really nice to see characters get the development they needed in breath of the wild. also a huge improvement gameplay-wise from the first game. if you’re a fan of breath of the wild it’s worth a try, just don’t expect breath of the wild style of gameplay! and if you’re a fan of the original hyrule warriors, you are going to love this a lot. ok now to get into the details. this is extremely long;

about the gameplay; it took me a while to fully adjust to the new controls and mechanics, but once i finally understood it it was so much fun. i originally wasn’t crazy about the sheikah slate runes since it was difficult at first to remember that a. i had that ability, and b. when the proper time to use it was. but when it finally clicked for me it brought a whole new interesting layer to the gameplay that challenged my memory in a fun way. it took me even longer to learn what the use of the rods were but those were great in a pinch once i figured it out. i also loved the flurry rush mechanic since dodging is a pretty important aspect of the gameplay. all these new layers added to this gameplay makes me wonder how i ever put up with the original hyrule warriors gameplay lol. something i wasn’t entirely crazy about was the wall jumping and paraglider stuff? i never really found it useful and it always just became a problem when i was trying to dodge and i’d be confused about why my character was slowly flying around at critical moments.

the camera in this game was pretty frustrating. with the more organic map & lots of tight spaces (which i’ll get more into later), the camera would get stuck a lot and you’d be unable to really see what’s going on and it got pretty frustrating at times. i wish there were some way they could fix that but i’m not sure what they could do without having the camera go out of bounds & show the edges of the map. maybe they could’ve made some of the objects that are in the middle not be things the camera get stuck on though.

i also felt like there were too many special effects going on with some enemies and attacks, sometimes it would cover up large parts of the screen & you wouldn’t be able to see what you were fighting and that was pretty stressful (i found myself frequently yelling “i can’t see!!” when i’d defeat a guardian or something in a room with lots of other enemies. this only became an issue in the later parts of the game though.

now about the maps, i do love how much more organic and natural they are. it’s a big upgrade from the original which had a lot of wide corridors leading into square rooms which were allied/enemy basses. but unfortunately, this causes issues with navigation and the camera getting stuck (like i mentioned before). i had a lot of problems where the map was too natural and i was confused about why i was getting stuck on level geometry when it looked like i could walk through there. i think the breath of the wild style makes this confusing too because you can’t really undo a thousand hours of being able to walk through nearly everything. but also it was just really unclear what was a wall and what wasn’t sometimes. i was surprised i actually had to zoom in on the mini map and look at that to move around at times. definitely an ambitious aspect of the game & i appreciate the effort and detail, but i don’t know if it works that great for this style of gameplay. i also don’t know why they bothered putting so many small details on the ground if they’re just going to pop in so close to the camera. it was kind of awkward when you cleared out all the enemies & were traveling to another location and it was the only noticable thing on screen.

speaking of ambitious, we can’t ignore this game’s framerate issues. it’s the first thing on everyone’s minds when talking about this game. most of the time, it was pretty acceptable. but they definitely pushed this game farther than the switch can go and it shows. i really appreciate the love they put into making this game as detailed as they did, but i don’t know if it was worth it in the long run. there’s only a couple times i can think of where the framerates got absolutely unacceptable, and it always seemed to be when there was a lot of electricity and enemies on screen at the same time. it happened once during the final vah naboris mission and another time where there were a ton of electric lizalfos all shooting electricity at once at the same time you have to fight an electric lynel. but, i’m not the kind of gamer that loses my shit over dropped framerates, i grew up with the n64 & have had to put up with poor early emulation many times in my life so framerates don’t really phase me until it just gets unplayable.

wasn’t crazy about how many late game missions were just boss rushes, but that’s pretty standard hyrule warriors fare. at least it was more fair in this game where most of the time you only had to fight one boss at a time and the next boss wouldn’t spawn in until you beat the first one, so there was no risk of accidentally aggro-ing a boss in another part of the map & have an unfair fight on your hands like in the first game. it was pretty anti-climactic how the seemingly final mission which had the highest recommended level was just another boss rush, and not even the hardest one (it was just a bunch of regular malice bosses in a row).

bit of a side note but i didn’t like having to grind for materials and find koroks for 100%. the koroks weren’t nearly as bad as breath of the wild though, thank god.

i’m pretty disappointed that some content that’s clearly in the game isn’t unlocked in the base game, it’s looking pretty likely that they’ll add it as dlc later & pretend it’s new content to make the game relevant again...i’ve always firmly believed dlc should be extra content that’s added in later. hopefully they’ll add some really cool stuff as dlc alongside the stuff that’s in the game & it won’t be so disappointing. there’s two characters i was sure would be unlocked as playable characters (sooga and astor) but i found it weird that you don’t get them in the post game and instead you get to play as the egg guardian (terrako) and calamity ganon???? talk about subverting expectations. also really frustrated to learn that zelda’s royal dress isn’t available in the base game but its in the files & is just missing one body part?? really hope that’s just a free update and not like, paid dlc. kind of dumb that they didn’t give the devs one extra day to model feet on the character.

about the story; the story starts out really strong i feel, i loved seeing characters get the development they didn’t get in breath of the wild and this game’s story makes breath of the wild’s story feel even more incomplete than it did before this game came out. and actually seeing the story play out in chronological order in real time without link having amnesia gave the story so much more feeling and connection. this is probably my favorite aspect of this game because i was always so disappointed with how disconnected you feel in breath of the wild because of the way the story is told. and it does so much of a better job illustrating link and zelda’s feelings. i’m probably the single most difficult person to convince when it comes to link and zelda being in a relationship or having feelings for eachother and i thought this was quite possibly the best master sword scene in any zelda game;

in previous games link has always had to prove his courage in a variety of trials spread across the land and to me its really boring, especially after how many times its been done. the thing that gets me about this scene is the master sword deems him worthy because of his desire to protect zelda even when he’s been beaten down & disarmed. that was a really beautiful moment to me & i’m glad they wrote the scene this way.

speaking of being worthy of power because you want to protect someone, i wasn’t really that crazy of zelda unlocking her power just because she loves link but honestly this game illustrated it in a much better way & i’m more down with it now. i loved this shot how it really captured what she was feeling;

it’s also in general awesome to see the champions in action, both in gameplay and in cutscenes. i remember being in awe the first time i got to play as urbosa. it feels like we finally really got to know them and how powerful they really were, instead of breath of the wild just telling us they were cool & we just had to believe it.

now for the part i know people say this game is shit because of; the time travel aspect. yeah, it’s a little silly and nonsensical, but honestly, it was kind of fun. and i don’t get how a time travel plot is somehow weird for the zelda series. the most critically acclaimed game of this series, ocarina of time, is entirely revolved around a time travel plot & the heroes would not have won if it weren’t for time travel in that game. yeah, it’s goofy, but this series is known for its nonsensical aspects & plotholes. there’s always some kind of unexplainable magic in this series that solves problems. i don’t think that makes this game shit. plus i was kind of starstruck when i first got to play as sidon lol. i was thinking to myself, man, who would’ve known 3 years later we’d get to play as sidon! crazy! none of the champion descendants were really my favorite to play as but it was still cool to see them & play as them.

something i didn’t understand was why kohga and the yiga clan joined zelda’s cause? i feel like a vital scene got cut. i don’t get why he’d join even when astor betrayed him, considering his group’s ambitions and how many times they tried to kill zelda. and where’d sooga go? the scene of astor betraying them kind of implied he was going to die but we never got confirmation of that, and he even shows up in a post game mission as an ally (no cutscene, just one line of dialogue during gameplay)

as for the ending, i guess it was alright? astor was a really lazily written villain and i just did not care for him at all. kinda don’t even care that we don’t get to play as him (yet, probably). calamity ganon’s design in this game was terrible. and i guess it would’ve been hard to make it work, but no beast ganon? just felt a little to easy to wrap up. despite this i guess it was nice to see hyrule get a happier ending even if it was a bit nonsensical at times. also this is just a bit of a personal thing for me but i liked seeing  hyrule before it was destroyed. it always bums me out when you find a locaiton in game that’s been destroyed & you can only think about what it mightve looked like before. this is something that’s bummed me out since wind waker (was always disappointed you don’t get to see what greatfish isle is like!!) and breath of the wild gave me so much disappointment in that aspect lol.

one final thought but it was odd to me how many lines revali got & how often he interacted with link lol. was weird to see him slowly warm up to link a little towards the end (but of course he’s still a little mean...). no other character acknowledges link as much as revali. this scene confused me the most??

there were so many other people revali could’ve spoken to. he barely even acknowledges teba who was the one who specifically came to his aid!! and the way link looks at him with big puppy eyes?? link barely makes a facial expression at anyone else! and how revali expresses gratitude for the first time in his life after looking at link’s stupid cute anime face and smiles (but he turns around because he would be too ashamed to smile at link i guess)

anyway that’s it, i finally got out all my thoughts about this game. this went on way longer than i intended and i’m sorry if you read the whole thing & it took forever lol. this game is fun, get it.

[praphit]

WandaVision: When you can’t let go of that robo-lovin.

So, I just finished watching "WandaVision", and I must say, right off the bat 

- I LOVED IT!

Disney Plus is finally paying off. I'm in the group of peeps who got DP, not for the mouse, but for the ones whom the mouse is in bed with, and most recently on Mickey's playtime Marvel List - Wanda Maximoff and her robo-boy toy VISION... or is that “THE Vision”? - that seems kinda ostentatious, but whatever.

When I first heard that Wanda was getting a series, I said "Who cares?" I don't care bout no Wanda! What has she been other than a weird pest?

Let's review:

She tried to kill the Avengers, she accidentally injures and kills innocent people, she was getting in the way, so Tony Stark had to get his CPU (Vision) to babysit her, she falls in love with the CPU - can we talk about how strange this is? I didn't say wrong, just different, cuz honestly, we may be headed there soon. That movie "Her" might be a reality with how tech is going these days.

But, imagine I come to your home and fall in love with your laptop (which messes everything up for you with all your devices and your social media), THEN (as Wanda did with Vision), I run off on some romantic journey with all of your devices. Imagine how Tony would have felt, if he was still with us.

She had one job when it came to Thanos, and it ended up not mattering.

Then, went full rage on the wrong Thanos.

Idk if that’s a look (Thanos) pain, release, of he’s listening to his jam. Kinda looks like he’s saying “JESUS”. But, Wanda is pissed.

Wanda: "You took everything from me!"

Thanos: "Lady, I don't even know you!"

I didn't care about Wanda. But, damn, Marvel is so good that in one episode they made me care; one trailer, really.

If you had not seen the trailer for this series, you might be confused by the first episode. 

You might even ask yourself - "What the bleep is this nonsense?!" We want heroes vs villains. We want super-powered explosions. We want capes, ridiculously tight clothes, bulky armor, and anything else that makes no sense to fight in.

You're giving me "Bewitched"?

I DID see the trailer, so I knew going in that it would be a slow burn with some nostalgia, some quirks, and some eeriness; right up my alley.

The change in Tv decade styles btw *chef kiss*

I figured that they'd be trapped in some mysterious, magical world - which they are...

Unless you're super geeky with the funny books, there's no way you'll see what's coming in this mystery.

And it IS a mystery, not only to the audience, but for the characters involved in this show. Don't nobody know what the hell is going on.

But, LaWanda and Vishawn 

(sorry, I just wanted to use this pic - Ha! Y'all are crazy.)had help figuring things out:

Rambo

Yeah, it's actually Monica Rambeau, 

but... admit it, some of you kept thinking about Rambo too, right?? No offense to this actress, but I'd rather see old man Sly play Rambo, and HIM be in this mysterious WandaVision town. Let's get Disney a lil bloody. Wishful thinking, I suppose.

Marvel WILL BE venturing into multiple universes soon, so perhaps Rambo finds his way to team up with The Punisher? Huh?? YEAH!

But, no... Rambeau (meh No personality, but whatever).

Randall Park - 

He's that person we all know who has made us laugh so much in life, that they don't even need to say anything anymore; you look at them and laugh. I love this dude!

Kat Dennings - 

I remember liking her more in the Thor movies.  I found her annoying, this time around.   She joins the mystery to figure tech stuff out, and she's a doctor or something (don't you forget it!). She also asks the team she just meets to get her some coffee, and acts like they're disrespecting HER, by their lack of response. I know she's a doctor and all, but damn! Imagine some electrician comes to your place to serve YOU, they're condescending to you, and then  they ask you for some coffee. Get the hell outta here!

Oh, and there's a dude named “Director Dick”. That's my name for him, but the name fits.

The people in this town are acting out as if they've been scripted for some show. And all of these characters, AND US, get to figure it out together - through antics from different times in Tv culture. 

Times sure were different back in the day:

No social justice issues implanted or cursing or sex or drugs... now, I'm not saying it was a better time, just a different one :) A time when dad jokes ruled! Simple times! Ignorance was bliss. But, it kinda wasn't - not really.

It's like having an animal die on your property somewhere, and it starts to stink. You COULD find the truth of the stench... or light candles everywhere. Some really strong candles - maybe some of those Gwyneth Paltrow candles.

Though the stench might get covered up, the problem is still there. At some point, your kids could find the dead rotting animal... maybe start playing with it... you get the point.

In this show, the townspeople's minds have been taken over by someone or something, and it's torturous for them. So... bliss on the surface, but... not so much, going deeper. I tell you all of this, plus great production in each epi, a good slow-burn mystery, and fun with comic characters in a way we haven't seen before on screen, and hell yeah - Grade: A series.

Now... spoilers.

You might want to leave now.

People, Wanda is the villain here. I'm not sure if that's the message the writers are trying to convey or not, but I don't care; she is the clear villain here.

Here’s Wanda reading some Hell book, conjuring some dark spirits - nbd.

We are rooting for her throughout this show; even after we find out that she has been (even if not maliciously) controlling every one, we still root for her.

I'm not saying that's bad, but we can't forget about what she has done! Remember, I said that the mind control was torturous for the townspeople.

There's a very emotional moment at the end of this series between Wanda and Vision, and between them and their kids (yeah, they have kids... that's a whole other thing). This moment is well done and touching. There's even a bad ass fight between Wanda and the "true... villain"? - of this story. I'll get to her in a sec (There’s a badass Vision fight scene as well).

I loved all of that! But, at the end of the day...

I know Wanda is grieving and all, we all grieve, but we all don't, in our grief, take a whole town hostage, torture the people, all while playing house with our family. That's kinda sick, no??

Are we doing a girl-power thing? or a “witches are people too” thing? or “but she’s doing it all for her family” thing (yeah, they’re not actually real, but whatever)? I don’t know.

I'm not sure that we know what a villain is anymore. It used to be clear - the guy with the beard was the bad guy, or the guy wearing the black outfit was the bad guy, or the people who aren't Americans are the bad guys :)

But, movies like "Joker" and "Deadpool" and Harley's joint have confused some.

Who else would be the villain? There's a character, the villain (i guess), a witch named Agatha Harkness, played by Kathryn Hahn

Here she is saying “I’m the villain? Really? What about her?!!”

   - she's excellent btw; def the highlight of this show; her and Paul Bettany's hair game.

But, let's compare:

Agatha: 

betrays her coven back in the day, sure, but why you bringing up old shit? 

She allows Wanda to play out this fantasy for a while, and even played along. She could have just killed her when she was ignorant; that's what I would have done. She eventually shows Wanda the truth (granted, she then wants Wanda's power, but hey, everything has a price. And for all we know, she would have used all of that power to... cure the worlds diseases or something... though prob not:). Annnd maybe she killed an imaginary puppy. Convo for another time: if you kill something that's not real, does it matter??

That's it!

She didn't (like Wanda): abduct a town, torture its people, bring Vision back from the dead (kinda), endanger soldiers who were just doing their jobs, create weird fantasies (And did she have sexy time with previously dead, fake Vision? This thing gets even weirder if she did. But, let's not go down that path.) Oh, and she magically punted a black woman (Rambo) the length of a football field just for her asking Wanda some questions.

When the townspeople finally regain their minds (Lord knows how long it's been), they look at her with disdain, and I don't blame them.  And what does Wanda do?? - shrug, put on a hoodie, and fly off - to break into somebody's home and read some devil book.

Where’s cancel culture in this universe? 

I know she made us feel, but I ask again, who's the villain here?

Still Grade A stuff for me (again, I loved this!), but c'mon, people.

We get a glimpse of Captain Marvel 2 as well. My fingers are crossed. I actually liked the first movie. But, many others did not, and one of the reasons - Captain Marvel doesn't have much of a personality, and another - she's too powerful (no risk).

So, to answer the critics, we have Monica Rambeau - another ridiculously super-powered hero, with no personality. So, two unrelatable characters flying around in space, as Sam L Jackson tries not to curse. But, if Marvel can make me care about evil ass Wanda, I'll still hold out hope for Capt Marvel 2.

[rainydayhogwartsimagines]

Float (fred x reader)

note: Totally did not intend for this to be that long.

summary: You are a professional Quidditch player. You and your best friend transfer to Hogwarts and meet Fred and George Weasley.

"Hogwarts?! Mom, you can't be serious!" You said. "I'm sorry dear but the next expedition is in England." Your father sighed. "Come on! I'm a professional player I can't just leave!" You said. "Dumbledore said he'd allow you to professionally play for your house." Your mother said. You huffed leaning back into your seat. "Plus, with your insanity I think they'll find you refreshing. It's not like you'll be the only one there, Lizzie is going with you." Your father reminded. It did help that your best friend was going with you to England after throwing a "bitch fit" for being possibly separated from you. "'my insanity' has a name. The Quidditch Free Fall." You reminded. "Yes we're aware of the name dear, it doesn't stop it from being terrifying!" Your mother said. "I didn't time it right once!" You sighed. "And you broke your wrist!" Your father said. The Quidditch Free Fall was made when you went a ridiculous height to spot a snitch and actually jumped off your broom, hitting the ground with it in your mouth. The actual move though, became a move you'd use regularly where you'd resummon the broom so you wouldn't it the ground but land back on your broom.

You sat in the car with Lizzy, looking at the English Architecture around you. "....Excited?" Lizzie asked. ".... As long as I can play quidditch I think I'll be fine." You admitted. "You only think about Quidditch Y/n... What about boysss?" She asked. You rolled your eyes. "Whatever. They're so... Annoying to me." You laughed. "Because at ilvermorny pranksters were... Bleh?" She asked. "Okay, firepoppers on a toilet seat is funny, how did no one find that funny!?" You asked. "Again. Ilvermorny. No sense of humor." She reminded. "You better not get into more trouble Y/n." Your mother sighed as they pulled into King's Cross. "alright! Alright...." You lied. Lizzie saw that glint of "oh I know I'm going to fuck shit up" in your eyes making her roll her eyes and look away. You got your things, running through the wall after hugging your parents goodbye. You and Lizzie exchanged a "holy shit that's cool" look after seeing the Hogwarts Express. You got on the train, sitting in an empty cart as Lizzie read. The door slid open and you looked over. "My bad! Thought my brother was in here, turns out it's just two beautiful girls." The boy flirted. You snorted. "Tell me that line hasn't worked." You said. ".... You're American?" He asked. "Oh really? What gave it away?" Lizzie asked sarcastically making you snort. "FRED. RUN." A identical boy said. "What did you do?" Fred asked. "PUT TREVOR IN DRACO'S BAG." he said. "WEASLEY!" you heard a shout from the other side of the train and you smirked. So they're pranksters... Oh you were so going to love these guys. "Hide in here." You suggested. George didn't hesitate, sitting down immediately and picking up a vacant newspaper to cover his face. Fred sat next to you. "I'm Y/n." You introduced. "Fred. And that's George." Fred motioned to his brother. You handed him a newspaper and he took it, following his brother's idea. A blonde boy soon opened the door. "HAVE YOU SEEN TWO RED HAIRED DEMONS!?" Draco asked. "No?" You responded confused. "They can't hide forever!" He growled before walking away. The second the door slid back, the cart erupted into laughter. "I feel like I recognize you." George finally said after you all recovered from laughing. "I'm a professional quidditch player." You admitted. "Oh shit, you're the Free Faller!" George said. "Yep!" You nodded. "Wicked." Fred nodded. "what about you?" George asked. "I'm just the best friend that tries to keep her out of trouble. She's like you two. A troublemaker." Lizzie said. Fred's interest was peaked. "A trouble maker you say?" He asked. "Yep." You chuckled. "You like pranks?" George asked. "Love them." You answered. "You should stick with us then. You'll live on the edge of your seat!" Fred said. "Count me in. Actually I have a bit of an... Entrance planned." You said with a smirk. "Entrance?" George asked with a smile. "Y/n no." Lizzie said. "I want to and you can't stop me." You said sticking your tongue out. "What's the plan?" Fred asked. "I'm riding in on my broom." You said. "Oh that's cool! After all you're a--" "Quidditch player!" Fred, you and George said in unison with nods. "See they think it's cool!" You said lightly kicking Lizzie. "When you get in trouble I'm not bailing you out." She said. "Nah, Dumbledore would expect nothing less." George said. "Does she have a record?" Fred asked. "Not that big--" "Yes. It's like a fucking novel." Lizzie answered. "Then he's definitely not going to be surprised." George said.

When you two were later called to be introduced to Ravenclaw, Lizzie simply walked to the front. You sprinted forward, summoning your broom to your side and riding it to the front quickly and with style. "Damn it Y/n." Lizzie sighed as you hopped off with a chuckle. She picked an owl feather out of your hair and Dumbledore chuckled. "It is my pleasure to introduce Elizabeth Miles and Y/n L/n." He said. Everyone started talking. "The Y/n L/n!?" Ron asked. "Yep." You nodded. "Your houses were sorted when you visited last week, correct?" Dumbledore asked. You nodded, pointing to the table adorned with blue. "Ravenclaw." You said. "In advance I apologize for my best friend." Lizzie said to Dumbledore. "Any chance I can sit with Gryffindor because I met two kids there and I think they're cool?" You asked. "We don't mind interactions of separate houses. Go ahead." Dumbledore said. You walked over to Fred who had a smirk on his face. "Nice entrance." Fred said. "why thank you my dear." You said tipping a pretend hat to him. "So you're the professional player?" A boy asked. "Yep. Proud to be one." You said with a laugh. "This is my brother Ron, over there is my sister Ginny and these are my family friends Harry and Hermione." Fred said. "Yo." You waved. "Are you excited to be here?" Ginny asked. "Eh. I'm already enjoying the fact that there's two pranksters here. Ilvermorny had like zero sense of humor." You said. "I'm still trying to figure out a good prank." George said. "I'm thinking we screw up the sinks." You suggested. "Why's that?" Fred asked. "Weak pipes...a explosion and poof.... Water everywhere." You said with a smirk. "Fred... I love this girl." George said. "Meet us tomorrow at three... This is going to be bloody brilliant." Fred said with a chuckle. Sure enough. Around four, Snape tried to use the sink and bam... Water explosion while you were all waiting for him in potions. "What's taking him so long?" Lizzie asked. Fred exchanged a knowing glance with you before the door opened and he walked in soaked. You bit your lip, trying not to laugh. "...Due to... Complications... Class is cancelled." Snape said, dismissing everyone. You walked out, Fred, George and you all dying of laughter. "Poor Snape. Bastard looked ready to murder someone." Fred said with a laugh. You smiled... This guy had a nice laugh. "We couldn't have done it without the brains of Y/n!" George said putting a hand on your shoulder. You took a bow making them chuckle.

From that point on the duo became a trio. "The mischievous three" Mcgonagall called you. But with every prank, you seemed to get closer and closer to Fred. George noticed you two, exchanging laughs and smiles. He knew immediately that you two were bound to be something. Finally though, quidditch season started. You seemed to be bouncing that day, sharing the field with Gryffindor. "So. Miss professional." Wood said after laughing at a joke George made. "Would you mind showing us that move?" He asked. You shook your head. "My secret weapon? Now that's just wrong." You laughed. Fred smiled at your laughter making George smirk. "You're really good at flying." Harry said. "Thanks, took years to master. I used to be really crappy at it actually." You said. "Really?" George asked. "Oh yeah. I ran into everything, hurt myself really bad at one point. But I kept trying and eventually I wasn't so bad anymore." You shrugged. "How'd you become a professional?" Wood asked. "Went up against Durmstrang a few years ago and made a sonic boom." You said. "A what?" Harry asked. "It's when you basically move faster than the speed of sound and you send a shock through the air. Sounds like thunder." You explained. "And you did that?" Wood asked. "Yeah. The the professional spectators were really interested after that, next thing I knew I was basically signed on to do quidditch after school was finished and I would sometimes go to bigger games." You explained. "Wow." Fred said. "Yeah. Ilvermorny though... They're so.... Academic. Compared to here they're so... Boring." You shrugged. The next game, Harry got a taste of why you were a professional. You were quick for a seeker, but it's how high you'd go for that snitch that surprised everyone. The snitch was spotted 30 minutes into the game, you and Harry both going after it. It shot up though and you didn't stop until your broom couldn't take the height and just stopped flying. You almost seemed to run up the hilt before gripping the snitch and pushing off, away from the broom and rapidly falling towards the broom. People stood up, watching you fall and maintain the same position before screaming "UP!" and your broom shot out, you gripping it before almost hitting the ground, making the crowd erupt into cheers as you held the snitch. You didn't celebrate with Ravenclaw though, instead you hung out with Fred. "Congratulations Y/n. You weren't joking about that move." Fred said. "Yeah." You chuckled. "How'd you come up with that anyway?" Fred asked. "Well... I was in a particularly challenging match against the Thunderbirds. I was a seeker and so was this guy Jamie. So I was waiting to see the golden snitch when some girl hexed my broom. In the middle of the chaos I noticed the snitch and I had to think quick so..." "You let go." Fred nodded. "Exactly. After I did I didn't exactly do what I did earlier and resummoned my broom I actually ended up breaking my arm after hitting the ground." You said earning a wince from Fred. "What inspired you to make it a move though?" Fred asked. "something about the chaos of it seemed really appealing. making people think that I was falling rather than actually chasing after the snitch seemed like a good plan so.... I started to get really well acquainted with the broom that I was using at the time and before I knew it I was able to basically resummon it whenever I wanted to." You explained. "Smart. I'm beginning to understand why you're in Ravenclaw." He said earning a laugh from you. "I hope you're not upset over me winning..." You said. "Psh. That was epic, how could I possibly be mad at that. I just hope I live to see you do another sonic boom." He chuckled. "The last time I did it it was an accident and I don't know how to trigger another one." You admitted. "with how brilliant your brain is I guarantee you you could figure it out" Fred said making you blush. George sat down in front of you making you look at him. "So, what'd I miss?" He asked. "Congratulating Y/n on her win." Fred said. "Mmm. I've been thinking about our school trip." George said. "Trip?" You asked. "Yeah, we're going to Hogsmeade." Fred nodded. "What the hell is Hogsmeade?" You asked. "Small village. Really fun." George said.

Sure enough during the winter, it actually was. You spent it with the twins, laughing at stupid jokes and drinking butterbeer. You shivered at the snow and Fred wrapped his scarf around you, smiling as you blushed. You kept close to him the whole time, even having a snowball fight at one point. You had the best year of your life, pranks, friends, finally something new.

But your parents were ready to move. Again. "no." You said. "Y/n--" "me and Lizzie were given the opportunity to stay with someone else's family, please I don't want to leave again!" You snapped. Your mother sighed. "....Fine. who's the parents." She asked. So she sat down and asked Arthur and Molly if they'd take you two. Which they said yes. Because it's Molly. When would she ever say no? However now Fred was panicked. "WHAT THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO GEORGE?! MY CRUSH IS LIVING WITH ME!?" He asked frantically. "First off, calm down. Second off, maybe this is good. You're not exactly bad with girls Fred." George said. "I flirt, sure. But this is... This is different." Fred admitted. "How so?" Ginny asked, sitting on Fred's bed eating a cookie. "...I think I love her." He said making George gape and Ginny nearly drop her cookie. "You love her?" Ginny asked. "Maybe? And she's coming here tomorrow." Fred whined. "Well it's not like she's staying in here, she's bunking with me, along with Lizzie. She did say something weird in her letter though." Ginny said. "Wait, she wrote to you?" George asked. "Lizzie did. But she said Y/n had a surprise for all of us." Ginny said. "A love confession?" George asked, making Fred smack him. "She said all of us. Mum and Dad included." Ginny said. Sure enough, the next day you showed up with something in your hand. "What's that?" Fred asked after helping you with your bags. "Tickets." You said. "For what?" George asked. "The world Quidditch cup. I'm playing for Ireland." You said with a smirk. "....Wait so we're--" "Going to the big leagues!" Lizzie said enthusiastically. "HOLY CRAP!" Ron gaped. "annnnddd I even got extra tickets for Hermione and Harry." You said making Ron hug you. You giggled and Fred smiled.

So there you were, standing in a stadium practically shaking. You were in the big leagues now. You swallowed the forming lump in your throat before seeing Fred. You gave a him a smile and felt a surge of confidence before flying up. You versus Viktor Krum. You sat on your broom waiting patiently, occasionally moving out of the way for other players before you noticed something behind Viktor's head. You gripped your broom handle and shot down, following the snitch. He was on your tail, making you anxious as hell as the snitch flew up. You shot upwards, the snitch flying very high into the air. Fred watched you, knowing damn well you were going to do the "Free Fall". You went so high the broom literally seemed to just stop working as you ran up it's side and gripped the snitch before falling. Your broom was next to you, air seeming to bend around your body. That's when Fred realized what was about to happen. "COVER YOUR EARS!" He warned. Everyone near that heard him did, slightly confused before a loud noise sounded off, similar to a clap of thunder before you smirked, gripping your broom and finally returning to the normal position. You held up the snitch and the crowd roared. Course you couldn't hear anything because the noise made your ears ring, but when you finally returned to the tent you were smiling with a medal around your neck. "there's our champion!" Arthur said. Fred scooped you up into a hug and you smiled, squealing with a giggle. "I am on cloud nine right now! I can't believe I did it!" You said. "You made a sonic boom Y/n, that was the most extraordinary thing I've seen!" Hermione said. "Yeah, my ears were ringing for a while there." You admitted. "Everyone at Hogwarts is not going to shut up about this for a while." Lizzie chuckled. "Course not, not only is she the youngest player out there but she's also the reason they won." Ron said. "Makes me wish you were with Gryffindor... We're really screwed when we have to go up against you." Harry said. "Nah, you keep me on my toes Potter." You said with a chuckle. "Dad will probably want your autograph. Mind if you sign this?" Harry asked, holding a notepad. "What's your dad's name again?" You asked. "James." Harry nodded. "To James. Thanks for giving me a cool brother." You wrote making Harry smile as you ruffled his hair. "Excuse me." A voice said making you all turn. "Viktor... Krum." Ron gaped. "Hello. Uh.... English is not my first language forgive me." He apologized. "Hello." You nodded. "I just want to say, I look forward to going to school with you this year." He said. "What?" Everyone asked. "The Triwizard tournament is at Hogwarts this year, yes I heard." Arthur said. "Yes... Hopefully we will work with you miss Y/n." He said. "Good game Krum. You did amazing out there." You said shaking his hand. He seemed fixated on Hermione though, making you smile. "Hermione! This is Viktor Krum. Talk." You said, pushing her forward. "Uhm... Hello?" She said confused. Fred chuckled as you sat down. "I still cannot believe I won." You said. "I can. I knew you could do Y/n." Fred said sitting next to you at the table. "I was so nervous the whole time... I'm just glad you guys came. It would've sucked if you didn't." You said. "why didn't your parents come?" Arthur asked. "They're archeologists sir, they do scientific work across the world... They're in Egypt this year it's why they couldn't be here." You admitted. Fred smiled and put his hand over yours. "We're proud of you Y/n." He said sincerely making you blush. Arthur smiled and got up, leaving you two alone. "So what do you want to do?" Fred asked. "hmm... I saw Draco here... Think we can fuck with him?" You asked. "Oh absolutely. George!" Fred said with a laugh. George walked over, noticing Fred's hand still on yours. "Yeah?" George asked. "Wanna screw with Malfoy's head for a bit?" Fred asked. "Is this even a logical question?" George asked. You three managed to rig a drink that exploded in Draco's face, making him pissed. The worst part was that he couldn't actually figure out if you were behind it.

The school year finally started, all of you already aware of the competition. A few students congratulated you on the win before sitting in the great hall. The Beauxbatons sat with Ravenclaw but you sat between Hermione and Fred, moving at one point so Viktor could sit with Hermione. "So think you'll compete?" Fred asked you, nodding to the goblet of fire. "Hell no. I get embarrassed still over recognition of quidditch. This competition would literally make me want to die." You said. "We'll definitely try to compete." George said. "A competition that definitely violates some sort of safety code? Why am I not surprised?" Lizzie said. "Oh come on Y/n. You'd have this thing in the bag." Fred said. "you have more confidence than I do." You chuckled. "Because I know you can do it." He said, very close to your ear. You blushed, his voice sending shocks down your spine. "... I'll sign up..." You said. You were the first to put your name in the goblet, Viktor following soon after. A few other students put their names in the cup but you thought nothing of it. Until that stupid name pull. "Viktor Krum for Durmstrang." Dumbledore called, earning an applause. "Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons." He said. "And Y/n L/n for Hogwarts." "WHAT!?"

So now you were really fucked. How the fuck were you supposed to participate in this competition!? "This is bad." You said pacing in the Gryffindor common room. "Y/n, it's not that bad, I mean you're talented! You'll be fine!" Lizzie reasoned. "No, Lizzie I will not be fine! I know you read books! I know you know how dangerous this competition is!" You said. "So why'd you sign up!?" Ron asked. Fred said nothing, reading a book and turning it's page with a small smile on his lips. "I just... I figured with the amount of students already here I'd have no shot at winning." You said. "but here we are." George said. "What even is that first challenge anyway?" Hermione asked.

The answer was dragons. Dragons were the fucking challenge. You all had to draw small baby dragons from a bag and find out which one you'd be in a ring with. Yours was a Hungarian Horntail. Of course you ended up with the most dangerous dragon. God damn it. Fred sat next to George in the stands, raising a brow. ".... What's that?" He asked noticing his brother Charlie wheeling a large box out. Oh no. Not a good sign. Definitely not a good sign. He got up, going to the tents where he knew you'd be to find you pacing. "Y/n." He called making you turn. "Fred. Thank God." You said hugging him. "I saw my brother Charlie and knew something was up. What's going on?" He asked. "I have to retrieve something from a dragon Fred. A dragon!" You said. "Well as long as it isn't a Hungarian--" "It's a Hungarian Horntail." You said. "....Fuck that isn't good." He sighed. "Any chance they'll let you back out?" He asked. "No.... I've tried." You breathed. "I can't do this Fred." You said, panic in your eyes. "You can... And you will." He said holding your hands. "And if I fail?" You asked. "Then I'm right here. Any time you need me." He said softly before the sound of a camera went off. Rita. God damn it. "We're dealing with something woman, move." Fred snapped. "Rude... But this is a definite scoop." She giggled before running off. "Oh God I'm not living that down." You whined. "Love, you've got this." He said. "Wait did you--" "Y/n. It's your turn." Viktor coughed out. Oh that's a reassuring thing to see. A fellow competitor looking like he walked through fire with a fucking egg. You sucked in a breath. "I'm right here." Fred said softly. "Well I mean I'll be in the stands but you get my point." He corrected. You nodded as he left and you got ready to walk into the ring. Fred sat back down and you swallowed hard, staring at the dragon. You could do this right!?

Well after being winded from being slammed into a rock you most definitely thought you couldn't. You coughed and looked at Fred. He was giving you a reassuring (yet slightly panicked) look. "That all you've got scaly!?" You coughed out. It geared up to breathe fire and you ducked behind a rock. You had to think and you had to think fast. What could get you out of this!?

That's when it hit you. Your broom. "ACCIO FIREBOLT!" you screamed before your broom shot out and floated towards you. You could feel the heat of the flame behind the rock before you jumped on your broom, earning a large cheer from the crowd. You were safe! Thank God! Now Fred could BREATHE. That's when the dragon's chain decided to snap. "Oh fuck." You whined before shooting off  past the stands. "OH FUCK!" you screamed as the dragon also hightailed after you. You flew to the school, trying to avoid being killed before you were slammed into a tower. "Oh shit, that's going to cost them a few pennies." You said before you lost your grip. "SHIT!" you gasped before bringing your broom closer. You flew out of the way, going through many different areas before finally throwing the dragon off. Fred was freaking out, you not in sight. "Oh God George, I convinced her to do this, what if she's hurt!? What if she's--" "SHE'S THERE!" Hermione pointed as you  flew into the arena grabbing the egg.

You went back to the tents, covered in dirt and bits of roof shingle on your coat. "Christ." You muttered dusting yourself off before Fred ran in. "You did it!" He said. "Yeah! Ow." You winced holding your wrist. "What happened!?" Fred asked, clearly concerned. "Nothing! I just... I hit my wrist on one of the towers before I could actually get away from the dragon." You admitted. Madame Pomfrey looked at it. "Oh this is a simple fix. It's just bruised, take one of these." She said handing you a gummy. You nodded and within seconds the pain was gone. "See I'm fine-" Fred put his hands on the sides of your face, looking into your eyes. "Try not to get yourself killed in this... Please." He said. "...I... I will try." You nodded. He was so tempted to kiss you. But he refrained seeing as Rita Skeeter could be around the corner. He let go of your face and you swallowed hard.

The celebration of you winning was loud, earning you leaving and sitting in the halls while everyone else was losing their mind. You looked at the egg and rose a brow opening it to hear shrieking. "What the fuck!?" You gasped. This had to have some sort of purpose. Especially that shrieking. That egg opened for some reason. So why? "...I need to get this muffled..." You said getting up. So you went to the bathrooms, filling up the bath with water before going in. You put the egg underwater, before poking your head under too.

After listening to it song you concluded that the next challenge with most likely be at the lake. You sighed, standing out in the cold air. "Where's Fred?" You asked George. "I don't know. One of the faculty members said that he was needed for something and he just disappeared and never came back." Lizzie said. You looked in the water. "have I mentioned how much I hate this competition?" You asked. "only every other day." George nodded. "You've got this Y/n!" Ron encouraged. "Yeah, you're going to do fine!" Harry said. Neville managed to hand you something, something that would allow you to swim underwater without needing to come up for air. You jumped in as the sound went off, swimming in the lake. It was dark, cold and murky. Who in the fuck thought that this competition would be a fun idea for children!? You swam in the water for a while, following the other competitors and finding out exactly what you were there for. Fred. Fred was there. "You've got to be fucking kidding me." You thought. You managed to get him free, being the first to come up with someone. Fred coughed and you sighed climbing out of the water. Viktor soon emerged with Hermione. But Fleur came back empty-handed. And you recalled seeing a child down there. "I couldn't get Gabrielle!" She whimpered. You looked at her and then the lake. "stupid morals" it was all anybody heard you say before you jumped right back in. Everyone ran to the edge to see you. Right now it was a waiting game.

One that didn't take very long considering you came back up within fifteen minutes with Gabrielle. Fleur hugged you as you coughed up water and shivered. Fred shared his towel with you, wrapping it around your arms and looking at you. "That was so stupid." He laughed. "I know." You shivered. "But it was brave. And for that, I've got to say you're killing this competition." Fred said making you laugh. You looked in his eyes, the water dripping from his hair. "Congratulations! You survived!" Lizzie said. "Yeah and I'm fucking cold, can I please get some coffee?" You asked making Fred laugh. "Agreed" he nodded.

As school continued it was becoming clear there was some stupid dance coming up. It was basically thrown in your face when McGonagall forced dance classes on you. Fred being your partner made it more bearable though. He was a surprisingly good dancer, him being the one to teach you. "So the Yule is coming up." He said swaying with you. He twirled you and you chuckled before he pulled you very close to him, facing you against him. "Would you like to go with me?" He asked in your ear making your face very red from the blushing. "....Uhm... Y-Yeah s-sure." You stuttered out. For God's sakes-- woman you fought a dragon, but you can't handle your crush being close to you!? "Great." He said, now directly into your ear. Your legs felt so weak right now but he twirled you again so you'd be facing him. "Uhm... F-Fred what are... What are we going as?" You asked. Fred smiled, his hands in yours as you swayed. "Well, we could always prove Rita's theory of us dating to be true. But only if you want to." He said. You swallowed and nodded. "You want to?" He asked. "words aren't forming. Legs weak. Going down." You said. "What--" you fell, making both of you fall and Fred laughed. "Well if I knew asking you out had that effect I wouldn't have done this in a dance class." He said getting up. You took his hand and he pulled you up, kissing you as you came back up. Your eyes were wide but you eventually sunk into it before McGonagall cleared her throat. "...Thank you for the theatrics. We have a class to teach." She said. "Sorry professor." Fred said as you sputtered like a dying engine. Fred snorted and you punched his arm.

From that point on, Fred was always giving you some sort of affection, your favorite being when he'd slink his arms around your waist as you spoke, saying "hello darling." In your ear. When the Yule finally approached you were a nervous wreck. "Y/n you can't even fuck this up. First off: you're gorgeous. Second off : you're going with your boyfriend." Lizzie said, zipping up your dress. "You never told me who you were going with." You said. "George." She said making you turn around. "Sorry. Did you just say George? As in my boyfriend's brother?" You asked. "Yep. See believe it or not, I actually spent time with your friends. George is nice to me. And cute." She said. "...This is so weird. Right?" You asked. "....Okay yes but I'm serious, George is great." Lizzie agreed.

You both walked down, the brothers waiting. "So wait you're going with my girlfriend's best friend?" Fred asked. "Yeah. She's beautiful and smart, what do you want from me?" George said. "Well a warning would've been.... Nice..." Fred said before seeing you. "Holy--" "Shit." Fred and George gaped. "Wow." Fred said looking at you. "Thank you." You chuckled. He kissed your cheek and just kept staring. "What?" You asked. "Love, you're beautiful." He said. "Thank you-- Oh that's so weird." You said looking at George who was kissing Lizzie. ".... Don't I have to present you?" Fred asked. You whined. "Why? Why me? Why did I even sign up for that stupid competition?" You sighed. "Because my persuasion skills are amazing." Fred said making you roll your eyes as you stood with the other champions and their dates. "Holy shit Hermione, you're gorgeous!" You gaped. "thank you-- wow you're beautiful too!" She said before the doors opened. "Crap." You breathed. "Any last requests?" Fred asked. "Don't let me fall." You whispered to him before walking out with the group.

You did that ridiculous dance, actually not screwing up for once. When it ended you were relieved. "Thank God. I hate ballroom dancing." You said making Fred laugh. "You did great dear." He said with a smile. You kissed him, resting your forehead on his. "I'm so lucky to have you in my life." You said softly. "I love you Y/n." Fred said. You smiled. "I love you too." You said softly. A slow song of course came on, Fred pulling you to the dance floor as he held you close, whispering sweet little compliments to you.

When the night ended you and Lizzie both had big smiles on your face, giggling and talking about the night. That night was probably the least stressful compared to the others. As the weeks went by though, the final trial was there, right in your face. You couldn't sleep that night, sitting in the astronomy tower before you heard someone walking up. You turned to see Fred. "hey beautiful." He said, sitting next to you. "Hi." You said, looking out at Hogwarts. "Nervous?" He asked. "Yes... In all of these challenges I have narrowly escaped death..." You muttered. "Nothing will happen. I won't let anything happen." Fred said. "What if you can't stop anything from happening--" "Y/n... I promise if it seems like things will go wrong I will cross through hell to make sure you're safe." He swore. "Plus. I have a good luck charm." He added before handing you a small bag. You opened it to find a leather bracelet. "Is this... The Marauders map motto?" You asked looking at him. ".... Maybe." He said with a smirk. You put it on and kissed him. "Thank you." You said. "You should try to sleep Love. Tommorow will be hard." He said. "...Stay with me?" You asked. He nodded as you both snuck into the Ravenclaw common room. The next morning you were found wrapped in Fred's arms sleeping like a baby. "Hey idiots. Wake up." Lizzie yawned, smacking Fred with a pillow. You groaned, waking up. "Fucking hell." You whined.

You stood with the rest of the competitors. You looked at Fred and kissed your bracelet. You could do this. Right? Yeah. You got this. After all, it's not like there's a dragon! Well there are vines that TRY TO CONSUME YOU IN THE FUCKING WALLS. Upon making this discovery you booked it, turning different ways before seeing it. The cup! And Viktor. Fuck. You sprinted before gripping the handle, unsure if you just tied before landing hard on the ground in front of the crowd. You were alone. Did you... Did you just... Win!? You stood up, brushing dirt off you with the cup in your other hand. Cheers erupted and you jumped. So you did win! You did it! Ayyyeeee! Dumbledore lifted your hand with the cup, declaring you the winner as the other competitors accepted defeat. "And your reward. 1000 galleons." Dumbledore said. "Wait what?" You asked.

So that summer was spent being conflicted on what to do with the money. "I don't need money though." You said to Molly. "Fred, we have another order." Lizzie said. That's when a lightbulb went off. "I KNOW WHAT TO DO!" you gasped making Fred, George, Molly and Lizzie jump. "What?" Fred asked. "A shop! You guys need a shop!" You said. ".... We're not letting you spend this money on us." George said. "Psh. Consider this a business investment." You said. "Y/n!" Fred said. "Babe, you'll actually use this! And what you don't use we can save, it's literally that simple!" You said. "And you're sure? That you want to do this!?" George asked. "After we graduate, game on." You said. "...Mum... I'm in love." Fred said making you smile as he scattered kisses across your face. Molly chuckled and shook her head.

You actually did hold your promise too, after you all graduated they got the money and bought a shop. You would work there when Quidditch season was up, usually taking stock or something. One day Fred was acting... Very strange though. George had to know what was going on. "Fred. What is up with you?" George asked. He looked across the store to see you with a clipboard taking down inventory. "not here." He said. He pulled him to the back. "I'm asking Y/n to marry me. Tonight." He said. "... you've got to be fucking joking." He said. "Well we've been together since our fifth year--" "I planned on proposing to Lizzie tonight." He said. "....Okay this whole 'twins think alike' thing is kicking our ass." Fred said. "...Okay. we take them both out to dinner and propose?" George suggested. "....Deal." Fred nodded.

And that's exactly what happened, both men acting really weird. "Okay what the hell is up with them?" You asked after witnessing Fred trip over air. "...I have no clue. George sliped up the stairs today. Up. The. Stairs. How in the absolute fuck do you fall up stairs?" She said. "...Something is going on." You said. "...And it's dealing with both of them." She said. You all were having a nice night, laughing, smiling, giving each other loving looks. Fred exchanged a look with George and both of them handed you and Lizzie boxes at the same time. You rose a brow and opened it before you gasped. "Oh my God. Fred. Are... Are you actually... Serious!?" You asked. "As serious as possible." He said. Lizzie looked at George with the same expression. "Yes!" Both of you replied in unison. Both men let out relieved sighs and you hugged Fred. "Did you two plan on asking us at the same time?" You asked. "no." Both of them admitted making you snort. "You two are idiots." Lizzie laughed. "But their our idiots." You said making Fred smile.

[chubbyreaderwriter]

Double Trouble

Arthur Curry x Plus Size/Chubby Reader x Mera 

Imagine: You agree to go out with Mera and Arthur but they can’t seem to keep their hands off you. 

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: swearing, heavy touching, implied smut

- requested -

Masterlist

It had been the hardest moment of you life when Arthur and Mera had announced their relationship to you but it was the best day ever when they told you that they wanted you to be an equal part of it. You’d grown up with Arthur pretty much all your life and you had been inseparable. Even into adulthood, you two could be found together wherever you went and you had probably loved him the entire time. But when Arthur went to Atlantis and came back with Mera, you had been confused and jealous. You’d been jealous of her beauty and the way Arthur was completely taken with her after knowing her less than a week. But you were confused because you had found yourself as attracted to her as you were with Arthur. 

They literally looked like the ultimate power couple and you had backed off from them, avoiding their efforts to talk to you. When you finally got cornered by the both of them, that's when they hit you with their big news. You could remember it like it was yesterday. 

You grunted a little as you carried a heavy box of vegetables from the back of your truck into the back entrance into the kitchen of your small restaurant. Yeah, your job wasn't quite as glamorous as you'd hoped it to be. You turned around to get another box when you jumped back from the sight of Mera and Arthur standing in front of you, “Jesus Christ! Don’t sneak up on people like that, god damn.” Arthur outright laughed at your reaction while Mera only held a small smile of amusement on her face.

You sighed and looked at them, “Well spit it out then, what do you want?” “Don’t be like that, you’re the one that has been avoiding us.” You rolled your eyes at Arthur before walking between them to pick up the next box of stock. Arthur moved to the side to be out of your way and crossed him arms over his chest. “Mera and I are together and-” “You came all the way here just to tell me that, don’t you have better things to do than to boast about your relationship status?” 

Arthur groaned out of frustration, “If you’d just let me finish, then maybe I can get to the point.” This time, Mera stepped forward and placed her hand onto your shoulder to get you to turn to her. You wanted to hate her, but you couldn’t. She didn’t do anything wrong, none of them did. Trying not to let your emotions get the best of you, you stood and crossed your arms over your chest, the position being a little uncomfortable due to the puffy coat you were wearing. Your eyes flickered between the two before looking down at the ground. 

“We know how you feel about us and we want you to know that we both feel the same way. So, if you’ll have us, we’d like you to join us.” You furrowed your eyebrows, an angry expression on your face, were they playing some kind of prank on you? Instead of making a big scene, you scoffed, pushing past them both to get to your truck, “Yeah right, nice one guys but you’ll have to try harder than that to fool me.” 

Arthur wrapped his arm around your shoulders, effectively stopping you in your tracks. You were turned to face him and Mera was quick to step close to your other side. Almost ironically, you’d never felt as small as you did right now. Arthur leaned down and kissed you gently, while you felt a delicate hand running fingers through your hair. You panted softly when Arthur pulled away, “You’re crazy.” Arthur chuckled, “Yeah, ain’t we all?” 

That was three months ago and you’ve been slowly warming up to the idea that maybe it was going to work out just like they said it would. Because of your work and the fact that Arthur was an actual king now, there wasn't much time to spend with Mera and Arthur. Until now, you’d never been on a proper date with them. But now Arthur and Mera were spending a couple weeks on land and they wanted to spoil you as much as possible before they had to return back to Atlantis for their royal duties. 

Arthur told you that he was going to pick you up with Mera at about seven and told you that you should dress comfortable. For the past hour or so, you’ve just been sat on your bed in your towel, staring at your closet as if the perfect outfit was just going to fly out of it. You finally got up and started raiding through your closet. The weather was a little warm so you didn't have to worry about covering up too much. It was so difficult to pick an outfit that looked like you hadn't spent hours thinking if it was too much, except that was exactly what you were doing. You sighed before giving up and going with your trust jeans and a low cut, long sleeved grey shirt. It was one of your favourite shirts, because even though it was kind of plain, it showed off just the right amount of cleavage for you. You put on your black, heeled ankle boots and put on your black leather jacket. 

When it came to make up, you had never been very adventurous with it so you just put on some eyeshadow, mascara and a little bit of lipgloss. You styled your hair just how you liked it and went downstairs to wait for the knock on your door. You didn't have to wait very long before you heard a couple sets of footprints on your porch and a familiar heavy knock on your door. You got up and walked to the door, opening it to see how they looked although you knew that they would look good. They always did, you found it the tiniest bit unfair at times.

Arthur let out a low whistle at the sight of you, “ Damn, mami, I’ve missed that ass.” Mera nudged Arthur aside so she could step forward and wrap her arms around your waist and place a soft kiss on your lips, “I missed you as well, though not just your ass.” You laughed and let them lead you out of your house and into Arthur’s car. You and Mera sat in the back, Mera didn't like having one of you in the back so she sat with you in the back, having no problem with leaving Arthur by himself in the front. 

Mera held your hand on her lap while Arthur was driving and she traced patterns into the back of your hand, “I’m glad we have you all to ourselves for these next two weeks, my love.” You smiled, “Well, it’s not like you have any competition to be worried about.” Mera smirked, “Of course not, because everyone knows you’re ours.” She leaned over and cupped your cheek with her other hand, pulling you close for a passionate kiss. Arthur glanced up at the driver’s mirror and grinned, “You girls starting without me? That’s not very fair.” Mera pulled away and licked her bottom lip that had your lipgloss on it, “I just couldn't help myself.” 

When the car stopped, you got out of the car and recognised the place as a bar you and Arthur used to visit frequently but you hadn't really had the time to visit lately. You’d missed the place. Arthur wrapped his arm around your waist and Mera intertwined your fingers with the hand on your other side, the three of you walking inside. The owner knew you and Arthur pretty well so he didn't really ask any questions about the three of you, just glad to see you both happy. You told Mera to go get a table for you three while you and Arthur got the drinks. 

Arthur stood with his arm around your waist still but you could feel his arm dropping lower and lower until his hand was openly groping your ass. You nudged him with your shoulder but he only smirked, “Hey, you cant expect me to keep my hands to myself when you wear those jeans.” Rolling your eyes, you pulled away from him to take yours and Mera’s drinks to your table, sitting next to Mera on one side and Arthur sat on the other side of Mera. That was, until Mera needed to go to the bathroom so you shifted and moved to sit next to Arthur and Mera sat on the other side of you when she came back. 

The three of you talked about random things, but mostly Mera wanted to know what each of you were like when you were younger. “Arthur was a little shit in all honesty. I don't know how I put up with you.” Arthur pretended to be offended but you felt his hand on your thigh, “Maybe that’s true, but if I wasn't a little shit, then I wouldn't be very good at scaring your boyfriends away.” You swatted at his hand but the smirk on his face told you that he had very little intentions of letting go. 

Mera smiled at the two of you and moved her chair closer to you, her hand going onto your other thigh. You bit your lip and looked down under the table where your saw both their hands slowly moving back and forth on your thighs, inching their way higher each time. “I really don't think this is the place to do this, you guys.” Arthur grinned, “That mean you have another place in mind?” Mera moved closer to press her chest against your arm, her other hand twirling a strand of your hair around her finger, “Forgive us for being a tad too excited, it’s been too long since we've seen you.” “It was only a few weeks,” Mera smiled, “Exactly.” 

You kept your attention on Mera, watching her bite her lip as she looked you up and down and you cleared your throat. You held both of their wrists before they could move their hands any higher, “Lets go then, my place.” You don't think you’ve seen Arthur willingly leave a place that serves alcohol so quickly but in this situation, you weren't complaining. The three of you go into Arthur’s car and as soon as the engine started, Mera was on you. She leaned in close to you and kissed you deeply until you broke away for air and she trailed kisses all over your neck. Your head was tilted back and you bit your bottom lip as you made eye contact with Arthur through the mirror, “That’s hot. Never thought I’d live this fantasy so soon.” Mera rolled her eyes, “Shut up Arthur. Drive quicker and you’ll get your turn.” 

You closed your eyes as you felt Mera’s hand slide under your shirt and cup your breast over your bra. Arthur cleared his throat, “Don't touch her ass, I get first dibs on that.” Mera mumbled against your neck, “No promises, she looks too irresistible right now.” You had just started to feel another hand tugging at the waistband of your jeans when you felt the car stop. You realised that you were outside your house so you were quick to get out and you were eagerly followed by Arthur and Mera. 

As soon as you closed the door behind you, you felt two strong hands at your waist and you were turned around and picked up. Arthur wrapped your legs around his hips as his hands went to grab your ass through your jeans, “Mm, you have no idea how long I've waited to get my hands on this ass.” “I got a pretty good idea, we going to the bedroom or what?” Arthur grinned as he carried you upstairs, Mera close behind, taking her clothes off on the way, “I thought you’d never ask.”

A/N: Comment if you want a part two with smut

[thisisnowanmlpblog]

Can I request some Zack x reader fluff? Maybe a cute arcade date and some cuddles once the day is done? I could really use something like that rn. ^^;; Thanks. Feel free to reject.

Hell yeah you can!

Weird abbreviations/words in the fic: y/f/a means your favorite animal, and i didnt want to be copyrighted by nintendo so instead of Mario Kart its Maria Kert

Word count:1124

You woke up as the sunlight filtered in through your windows. Today was supposed to be one of those rare days where you didn't have to fly half way around the world, but as Zack was not in your arms currently you guessed there was a surprise mission today. You got up out of bed and dressed quickly to go see what was up. Exiting your room you headed to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast.

That's when you saw him. Zack, the goofball, was covered with flour and rushing around the kitchen. While he was distracted you slowly approached him why he was a the stoves. he still hadn't noticed you so you decide to give him a big old hug.

”Surprise hug!! Good morning.” you say quietly as not to wake the rest of the team.

”SURPRISE!I am making you pancakes!” he responds. He turns around to face you and return your hug.

“How's my Hunny Bun doing?” he asks as he boops your nose.

“I'm doing good, but Zack?”

”What is it, babe?”

”The pancakes are burning.” 

”Wait what-,” you let go of him and he turns back around “, crap crap crap! Wheres a spatula!?”.he rushed around looking for a tool to help him get the burning pancakes out of the pan while you turned off the stove. He finally finds a spatula but in his distressed state instead of picking up a pancake and putting it on a plate, he picks one up and dumps it directly into the sink which was full of dirty dishes.

Standing there dumbfounded he says ”Ya know what I'm may not be good at cooking but I am good at driving, I will take you out to any restaurant, your choice.” Picking a  place, you hop in the car and think about what's going to be for breakfast.

 You get there and order. Over breakfast you guys discuss what you wanted to do with your day off. You decide on the local arcade as you finish your meal.

The first thing you notice when you get to to the arcade was the 80s retro style. The second thing you notice is a skeeball machine that zack ran over too.

“Bet you I can win the jackpot first go” Zack states as he enters two quarters.

“You’re on” you respond. Zack plays his heart out and almost gets the jackpot, but right at the end, he misses. It was now your turn.

“Now this is how a real master does it.”.You step up and stake the first skee ball and pick a stance. You think, aim and throw! And end up getting zero points. Zack snickers in the background. Okay, well you hadn’t done this in along just try a few more times, and… you got zero on every single one. By now zack is keeling over in laughter.

“So that’s- that’s how a real master does it huh.” he teases.

“Oh shut up” you retort as your face turns red.

“I don’t think I will.”

“Well if your so good at it you wouldn’t mind giving me a few tips right?”

“Of course not hun.”.You play a few more rounds each and then head up to the prize counter to scope out prizes. You couldn’t see anything you liked too much until your eyes landed on it. A stuffed animal of a y/f/a.

”Sir how much is that stuffed animal?” you asked the counter attendee.

”Our top prize? It’s 10,000 tickets for that.”

“Oh okay”. You only had about 200 tickets and unless you played really well for the rest of the day you weren’t getting it. While you were at the counter you asked about if the arcade had lunch options and ordered some pizza.

While you ate your food Zack rambled on about his plans for the day. “So I am planning on getting the full set of neon clothing that they have, with the glasses, hat, necklace, t-shirt, and a temporary tattoo that's going to be around 8,000 tic-. Hey, are you doing okay you seem kind of down?”

“Hmm? Yeah it’s just the prize I really want is 10,000 tickets and I am probably not going to be able to get tat by the end of the day. I will just get a different prize I guess.”

“Hey if I have any tickets leftover I will give you them so you can get that prize.”

“Thanks, Zack”

“You know what will you cheer you up, beating me at Maria Kert!”

“Zack this is an arcade they arent going to have Maria Kert.”

“Oh really? Tell that to the machine over there,”. You turn around and low and behold there was a Maria Kert booth there.“, Race You!”.

With Zack getting a head start, you sprint towards the booth and beat Zack there. If that race in real life was any indication of how you were going to play in game your day was about to become a whole lot better. And it did and you completely forgot about the stuffed animal.

That was until you were exiting. The sun had set and you two were about ready to leave you just wanted to hit the prize counter before leaving.

“Hey look y/n! I just got enough to finish the neon set and get that sweet temporary tat.” Zack expressed.

“Yeah and I should have just enough tickets to buy the stuffed animal,” you told him.

“Hello  sir,” you greet the attendee as you are gathering your tickets “one stuffed animal please!”

“I’m sorry this is only 9,000 tickets.” he apologized.

Suddenly Zack started un-rolling and counting his tickets.

“Zack what are you doing?” you inquired.

“There we go 1,000 more tickets.” he handed the attendee a rope of tickets.

“Zack what about the temporary tattoo you wanted?” 

“If I do get to use it, it will only be a one-time use, plus we can’t have identifying marks anyways. I want you to have something special that will mean something to you.”.The guy behind the desk gave the both of you a confused look and then got you the stuffed animal.” 

“Thank you Zack I really appreciate it you lean in and give him a kiss on his cheek.”

You leave the arcade and go back to HQ. When you get there you go straight to your bedroom and put down your new prize. Zack, after talking to Carmen and Ivy about your day, joins you a few minutes later. Zack curls up in your arms and you wrap one arm around him while the other plays with his hair.

“Good night my love.”

“Mhhm- ‘night Zack.“

[novantinuum]

Crack the Paragon, Chapter 10

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: General Audiences

Words: 5.8K~

Summary: In another world, he doesn’t have his mother’s sword or shield to hide behind when Bismuth lands her strike. The bubble pops.

Steven falls apart.

Chapter summary: In which Steven's done with moping around and waiting for something to change.

You can find the AO3 link in the reblogs! (I have to omit them from the original post these days to ensure this will show up in the tags.) If you enjoyed this, I’d greatly appreciate your support through reblogs here, or kudos on AO3 as well.

A big thank you to my friend Ganaroth for helping me with edits for this chapter!

_

Chapter 10: Beta, Part 1

Morning light filters through the loft’s window and glints off his phone screen, obscuring the selfie Connie just sent from his view. Though at some deep cognitive level Steven’s a bit annoyed at this interference, outwardly he moves on automatic with barely a feather ruffled, rolling onto his back atop the rumpled bedspread. He holds his phone above his face— right over his nose— humming as he admires the photo. She’s grinning, her long hair pinned back with clips. Her eyes shimmer with every bit of joy a smile that wide suggests. True happiness. Before he knows it he feels his cheeks lift, a smile of his own stretching across his face to mirror hers.

The rest of the photo is just as beautiful.

Beyond the railing his friend leans on is a breathtaking view of wild grasses, ferns, and delicate purple flowers, the patches of greenery half submerged in a lake of water as far as one can imagine. A large flock of birds float on the water’s surface some distance away. Behind her, the setting sun bathes the sky in streaks of orange and pink, the warmth of the ambient light kissing her brown skin. It looks like something straight out of a storybook.

Either that, or a dream. A good dream, the kind that lingers in your mind afterward like the sweet scent of wild strawberries.

oh, that’s so pretty!! he types in response, fingers flying over the keys. where is this?

Just as he hits send, though, another message from her pushes through and answers his question:

Morning!!! :DD Soooo rn we’re exploring this really cool wetlands area! Service is pretty terrible out here btw, so I probably can’t talk for a bit. Fingers crossed my texts send!

His heart grows warm as he reads her words. Even if it’s not as good as seeing her face to face, he’s still so happy they can communicate while she’s on her trip. She looks like she’s having so much fun. He wastes no time in sending a whole cluster of hearts, stars, and smiley faces back at her.

But as he watches his message deliver, the text’s bubble shifting from grey to blue, he finds that airy, bubbly feeling he got looking at Connie’s photo pulling away from him like sand and driftwood on the receding tides. Somehow, all these emoticon smiles just ring hollow right now.

Four days have passed since the disaster everyone’s come to refer to in whispers as ‘the forge incident.’ Not many, not enough for the terrifying memory of what happened down there amidst the blackened stone and fire to stop seeping into his dreams, but thankfully enough that the Gems have stopped coddling and babying him about it. (A sweet relief, that, and one of the many reasons he’s not planning on telling any of them about his recent nightmares. Goodness knows they already have enough to worry about.) Four days. That’s it. The thought of just how little time that is leaves him dizzy. Four days since he was almost shattered by someone he thought was a friend. Four days since two halves fused back into a whole, since his gem rotated to expose the facets that before, his mo... that Rose had hid from her friends… from the whole world. Four days since discovering that his pupils apparently morph into pink rimmed diamonds now whenever he taps into his powers. (And wasn’t that just another wallop to the gut for everyone, Pearl especially). Four days without Garnet, without stability, without blissful protection from the truth: that Rose wasn’t truly the quartz she claimed she was.

Steven still doesn’t understand the how or the why of that.

Truth be told, it’s not a topic he’s ready to dwell on yet.

He shifts to sit up on his bed. Somewhere on the distant shore beyond the window’s glass Amethyst is shouting, her rhythmic, guttural battle cries loud enough that they’re audible from inside the house. There’s no end to this on the radar. For the past few days she’s done nothing but seclude herself away and drill, pushing her hard light body to the brink through endless strength and agility exercises. In the light of recent difficulties no one’s addressed it with her yet, but it’s no secret this is partly related to her insecurities about Jasper.  

Meanwhile, Ruby (who finally returned home on her own yesterday morning) sits on the floor right below him, handling the controller of his Grintendo console with an iron grip that would serve as a genuine contender in Beach City’s underground arm wrestling league. He set her up on his brand new copy of Fight Fighters just an hour or so ago. As far as he knows, she’s enjoying it. It’s sorta hard to tell. She certainly hasn’t given up yet, (she’s way too stubborn for that), but it seems like the levels are difficult enough that they’re giving her a run for her money. Glancing away from his phone, he watches her fuss with the first boss fight for a moment. The Gem’s face is— if it’s possible— even redder than usual as she mashes the proper buttons for her character’s combo attack, muttering in syllables spoken too low for him to intelligibly understand.

A few minutes pass. Ruby sneaks in one solid strike, but eventually the boss overtakes her by merit of their sheer size alone, and her character is defeated. Game Over flashes on the screen in bold orange striped letters.

“Aw, phooey! You were really close that time,” he says.

Truth be told, her playing style is kinda… a huge mess, but there’s no encouraging way to say that. Plus, it’s not like it’s a lie to say she got closer to beating this fight than the last time she attempted it. Maybe she’ll figure it out with a few more rounds.

Ruby drops the controller in her lap, and glances back at him. “Heh. Thanks, Steven,” she responds with a weak smile. “At least I finally got in a hit, right?”

“Yeah, you’re getting better every round! You still up for more? We can play tag team together, if you want.”

“Eh, I’m done for today. I’m no good at these kinda games. At least, not without...“

A wave of melancholy envelops her in a flash, suffocating the last glints of light within her burgundy red irises. Inhaling deeply, she lifts her gemless hand, holding it to her chest tight as she mourns what used to be. Steven doesn’t move to say anything, letting her have her silent moment. Reassurance can be nice, but as he’s learned recently, the sad truth is that sometimes not every problem can be solved with a few well-thought words.

Amethyst’s distant shouts interrupt the somber atmosphere like a jackhammer to concrete, yanking them both solidly back into reality. Ruby’s brow creases.

“Is she still at it out there?” she says, frowning as she glances at the door. “She looked exhausted when she came outta her room this morning.”

Steven frowns, stuffing his phone in his pocket. “Yeah. I tried to ask if she wanted to play Topple Tower with me last night, but I’m pretty sure she was ignoring me. I hope she’s okay…”

Sighing, she slumps back against the large swath of comforter that dangles halfway off his mattress, letting her compact, coily hair smush against its surface. “Oh, she’s not. No one in this dang house is. I just wish Sapphire would come back already,” she says, voice cracking as she speaks her name. “She’s been in there for so long now.”

Prompted by her heartbroken words, he glances at the temple door across the house, seeing both Pearl and Sapphire’s gems alight on the central star. Pearl is simply taking a rest in solitude this morning, but as for the blue Gem… she hasn’t shown her face since she disappeared into her room four days ago. It’s beginning to become mighty worrying. And besides, he really misses her. They barely get a chance to hang out beyond the rare emergency. His lip juts out in a small pout.

It’s so hard to move on with life when you’re constantly being reminded of what once was.

Eventually, Ruby decides she’s had enough challenge for the morning and passes command of the controller to him. Figuring he’s got nothing better to do today, he shrugs and starts a new save file. Half an hour or so passes as he grinds through levels like a pro. Now sitting next to him, bundled like a burrito in one of his blankets, the red Gem watches his gameplay with starry eyes, enraptured. He double jabs at the D-pad to call upon a secret ability, fingers blazing across the buttons with practiced fluency. Just as he’s about to hit the finishing blow on Professor Doom, the beach house door slams open. On sheer impulse he flings the controller to free his hands, his whole body seizing upon the sound. Hard plastic clatters against the floor. The world tints pink.

Ruby jolts to attention from inside his bubble, struggling to unwind herself from the blanket's grasp. “Whoa, what’s—“

“Hey, nerds,” Amethyst mumbles, dragging herself and her uncoiled whip through the doorway. The length of the weapon drags along the floorboards like a dejected dog’s tail. Her tired, hardened pupils meet his no doubt diamond-shaped ones, shades of confusion flickering across her expression as she visibly takes note of the shimmering sphere he’s subconsciously enveloped himself in. “Geez, it’s just me.”

“I- I know,” he croaks, flushing red, “s-sorry, I know. You spooked me, ‘s all.”

She squints, and dissipates her whip. “Dude, I didn’t even do anything.”

“I know... It’s just me being dumb, sorry.”

“You’re not dumb,” Ruby reminds him with a saddened frown, placing her gem adorned hand on his shoulder.

He doesn’t respond, instead taking a deep breath and willing the bubble to recede. Once it’s all but disappeared in a shimmering afterimage of hard light, he crawls across the floorboards to retrieve his poor abused controller. Joystick securely within his grip once more, his eyes drift back to his game. Seems he’s in dire health. Not only did his character lose his perfect attack window, but Dr. Doom has healed himself and continued to rail upon him while he remained idle. His heart drops.

“Awww,” he whines, deflating. “I almost had ‘im!”

The temple door slides open, causing both Steven and Ruby to snap to awareness. (For wildly differing reasons of course, but the result is the same.) Amethyst stands beyond the warp pad, about to cross the threshold into solitude once more.

Nooo, don’t leave! his heart cries in silence. You just came back!

This conversation is already the most interaction he’s gotten out of her since their waffle breakfast four days ago. Ever since, she’s hidden herself away to brood and train. He scowls, fingers shifting rhythmically on the casing of his game controller. Gosh, he’s so sick and tired of this. He’s tired of moping, of acting like they can never have a happy moment ever again just because their circumstances are different now. It’s not true. Things can get better! Heck, he’ll make it better! Somehow. Maybe. He just needs to figure out a plan, and soon… before everyone scatters to be on their own again.

Hmm, think, Steven, think think think! What makes Amethyst happy? Destroying trash? She’s been at it all morning already, probably not. Food? Wouldn’t necessarily get her out of the temple.

He eyes a green sock puppet strewn on the floor by his closet. Months-old memories rush through his mind, of wearing a cardboard box on his head, insisting amidst protests that this puppet represented the emerging Cluster.

...Peridot?

They did get along really well at Funland a few weeks back. Hmm. Y’know, that might actually work.

“Hey, Amethyst,” he calls, and sets the controller on his bedspread. She stops halfway through the doorway of her room, motionless, seemingly waiting for him to continue. It almost looks as if she wants him to give her a reason to stay outside. “You, uh- are you done training for today?”

“For now,” she answers in a low voice, rhythmically clenching and unclenching her fists.

“D’ya maybe wanna go visit Lapis and Peridot with me? Get outta the house?”

She turns, lips pursed as she deliberates in depth. After what feels like— to his antsy, impatient soul— an eternity later, she responds with a half-hearted shrug.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

Steven grins. He scrambles to his feet and floats off the loft to the ground floor before she can decide otherwise. “Sweet, let’s go right now!” he says, bursting with enthusiasm. After crossing the room in a flash, he takes ahold of Amethyst’s arm and gently leads her up the steps to the warp pad, the other Gem making no obvious signs of dissent. Good. That’s a good sign. The immediate problem sorted, he glances back from whence he came. “Ruby, you want in?”

She’s still tangled within his bedding, but shifts upon mention.

“Nah, I’m good,” she says, rolling on her back under the covers so that she’s peering at them upside down. “If Sapphire finally comes out, I wanna be here for that.”

Steven nods. “Okay! Well, see ya’! We’ll be back sometime later this afternoon.”

“Probably,” Amethyst mutters, crossing her arms.

“Yeah, maybe longer, maybe not. We’ll see! Feel free to play any of my games if you wanna, okay?”

“And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, ya’ party animal,” the quartz drones, the bite of dull sarcasm seeping into her words.

With a resounding ring the warp activates and whisks them away.

_________

The young half-Gem takes a deep lungful of air as he skips through the grassy countryside, his chest expanding to full capacity. Ah, it feels so good to be outside, and with a change of scenery, at that! He should’ve done this ages ago.

Outside of all the heartache of their recent family crisis, it’s a perfect September day; not too warm and not too blustery. The sky’s almost entirely clear, barring the faint streaks of white softening the horizon's edges. Birds chirp brazenly as they swoop with daring purpose from tree to tree. A few leaves are just beginning to flutter down from their overstuffed boughs. ‘Tis the season! Pretty soon this area will be awash with sprinkles of vibrant oranges, reds, and yellows. Gee, he hopes he can convince Amethyst to goof off in the woods with him again this year. They could go leaf sledding! That was the most fun he’d had in ages when they did it last time.

How is Amethyst doing, anyways?

Masking his worried frown, he glances behind. Her lips press in a sour scowl, her non-dominant hand clenched by her side. Barely a heartbeat passes as she reaches to her gem with the other, pulling her whip into existence in a glittering flash of light. Instantaneously, the crystal tips of the three-pronged flail expand into barbed spheres. She mutters to herself as she grips the handle, unsatisfied. He doesn’t understand why, though? She summoned it so fast! Like, under a second for sure. As far as he’s concerned, that’s awesome!

He watches her summon, dissipate, and re-summon her whip three times in a row before he decides it's time to intervene with her spiraling frustration.

“Hey, don’t ya’ wanna take a break from all that for a bit?” he begins with a measure of caution. “You’ve been working super hard lately!”

“I already am taking a break," she says, slashing at a few rocks strewn on the ground as they climb the last rolling hill. “That’s why I’m here with you, right?”

“Well sure, but breaks aren't supposed to be about training, they’re supposed to be about having fun. And visiting Peridot and Lapis should be tons of fun, I promise!”

Amethyst’s eyes narrow at the very thought. “Yeah, ‘cause when I think fun, I think Lapis.”

“Hmm, I wonder what they’re up to lately,” he muses out loud, hand pressed to his chin.

She lets out a dry scoff, allowing her whip to dissipate once more. “Don’t know, don’t care. Let’s just get this over with.”

He frowns. His shoulders drooping a bit at the sight of her almost hostile melancholy, he glances away.

Thankfully, in a well-timed diversion from the worries of her mental state, Lapis and Peridot’s place of settlement comes into full view as they reach the hill’s summit. Steven’s jaw falls ajar, stopping in his tracks at the sight. (Amethyst, who isn’t paying attention to where she’s walking amidst her brooding, almost rams into the back of him.)

“Whoa,” he says, drinking in the new additions. “Look what they did to the barn!”

He’s not sure ‘barn’ is an apt description for it anymore. No, no. Rather, in the weeks since he last saw Lapis and Peridot, this place has transformed into a full-out homestead.

The grain silo that stood nearby has been tilt at an angle and used to enclose the side of the barn Peridot blew a hole in with her epic giant robot. Their smaller than average lake? It’s now fitted with a ladder, along with metal piping to keep the water level high. Stretched taut between the roof of that silo and a funky hodgepodge spire they formed out of old airplane parts is a clothes line, with a number of shirts and towels hanging off it. Admiring the finer details of their set up, if a person could point at an object and conceivably call it junk, they’ve probably found a creative way to make it decorative. Rusty bicycles, old tires, couch cushions, broken deer antlers, you name it. And then that old truck he slept in every night while working on the drill? It now serves as the proud centerpiece of their little home, the cargo bed solidly affixed above the barn’s entrance. He spots the two former Homeworld Gems sitting up there with the TV, shaded from the midmorning glow with a sun bleached umbrella. Whatever they’re watching, they’re transfixed.

Grinning, he peels away from Amethyst and dashes the rest of the way, feeling the faint breeze dance between his curls. Wow wow wow, he’s seriously got like a hundred questions for them, and a hundred missed hugs to make up for!

“Hey, guys!” he calls, once he’s directly below the truck.

Lapis’s browline raises, attention nabbed. It’s enough to peel her eyes away from the television (is that Camp Pining Hearts he hears??) to meet his. A subtle but undoubtedly caring smile rushes across her face as she sprouts wings and drops from the truck’s bed to greet him.

“Steven! It's so good to see y- oof!”

He nearly barrels her over with his hug, clutching to her like a lone life raft in the midst of the open sea. Surprised and still quite rigid in her affections, her arms awkwardly move to pat his back in return. It’s a silent embrace on his part, yet simultaneously manages to say more than words alone ever could. At this point he’s not even sure words could do justice to the complex emotions that are all jumbled in his head. Only a few short weeks have passed since they hung out together. So why then does he feel like he hasn’t seen either of them in years?

“Steven, Amethyst!” Peridot chimes eagerly, dropping down from the truck and striding out into the sun. She screeches to a halt in front of them, expression pressing inwards in that uniquely inquisitive Peridot-like manner as she takes inventory of the scene before her. “Uhm… Is… everything okay?”

He pulls back from the stunned Lapis, and gently wipes at the corners of his eyes. “Yeah, I’m just really, really happy to see you guys, that’s all!”

“Oh, yes! Of course. It’s only natural to miss the fulfillment of our company,” she says without missing a beat. Turning her gaze to her other visitor, the green Gem balls her hand against her chin. “Amethyst! Something looks different about you…”

She crosses her arms over the white tank top of her new form, her nose scrunching up. “Like what?”

“Have you grown taller since the last time I saw you?”

Amethyst’s eye twitches. An infinitude of silence passes, in which she shoots her a glare sharper than the edges of the crystal studs on her whip. Honestly, being on the receiving end of her weapon might’ve hurt less. Sweat beads at his brow as he watches the situation unfold, yearning with every fiber of his being for a world where he actually feels confident enough to delicately intervene instead of silently standing by as Peridot’s sense of tact veers straight off a cliff.

Behind them, Lapis saves them both and clears her throat.

“O-or… maybe I was mistaken,” the former kindergartener says lowly, flushing with shame. “My apologies.”

There’s a whisper of chill to the air enough to make him shiver as the quartz once more chooses not to respond, and shifts her gaze to her feet. She digs divots into the dirt with her toes, already disengaging from social interaction again, slipping further away with every passing birdsong from the entire purpose of this friendly visit. He presses his lips tight, masking a frown. So far, nothing is going as planned, huh? As big of a dreamer he may be, he can’t say he’s surprised. Nothing in his life has gone to plan since he accidentally slipped on that tree branch inside Lion’s mane. Still, there’s gotta be some way to save this, right?

Come on, Steven, think positive!

Before anyone can quite begin to catch on to his troubled nature, he plasters a manufactured smile on his face. “Wow, you guys are looking good!” he says cheerily. “And I love what you did to the barn!”

“Aww! I know,” she replies, regaining her grin as she glances between him and Lapis. “But wait, wait! You guys have to see the inside!”

And with this declaration, a few magical minutes pass wherein the two of them receive the highest honor of enjoying the Official Barn Grand Tour, presented by the very artists themselves. In a word, it’s a transformative experience. The outside looks amazing, yes, but in his wholehearted opinion the personal touches on the interior decor raises the place’s coziness to the next level. Over the past few weeks, Peridot and Lapis have spent their efforts transforming all the mementos and broken scraps of their lives into art, (or ‘meep-morp,’ as Lapis calls it), displaying the pieces all throughout their shared home. Peridot’s broken audio recorder now rests peacefully on a stand, a sky blue ribbon tied around the fractures at its middle. Touchingly, he learns that Lapis kept the leaf he gave her, delicately propping it upright in a clump of soil. A TV affixed to the ceiling beams with metal cables plays a clip of CPH on repeat. He has a niggling suspicion that the clip she selected represents her lingering trauma about, like... being trapped in a mirror for thousands of years, but according to her it’s merely a fan’s shrine of the show. Still, while discussing books together Connie once told him that all art is subjective and authorial intent is dead, so respectfully he’s sticking to his interpretation. But regardless of its meaning, he’s so, so happy to see her freely making things for herself.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the creative spectrum, Peridot’s green alien plush is floating alongside various hunks of garbage in the hodgepodge aquarium at the side wall. Its slow voyage through the tank is admittedly entrancing, but oh, do those big deep eyes grow more and more unnerving the longer he stares at them. The last straw comes when he watches stuffing slowly drift out of a gaping hole in the fabric at its neck. Subtly cringing, he takes a step back from the glass to go admire something else. Sometimes art isn’t made for everyone, and that’s okay.

It takes a few moments before he makes the proper connections and realizes that the red bow tie Peridot is wearing around her neck used to be that plush’s. Oh… oh geez.

Amethyst, however, doesn’t seem to be buying any of it. In fact, she’s barely cracked a smile since they entered the barn, not even at Peridot and Lapis’ collaborative toilet morp. And who doesn’t laugh at toilets? On any normal day she’d eat that kind of stuff right up.

“This is so stupid,” she mutters, her eyes thin slits as she stares with a frustratingly unreadable expression at the four liquid pillars shooting up out of the bowls.

Disappointment flickers across Lapis’ face like stars on the morning horizon. She quickly releases her iron hold on the water, channeling it into the heart of the tanks. A similar emotion colors Peridot’s features for a moment, and he briefly worries their visit may be cut off short, but after meeting his encouraging glance she shakes it off and promptly begins to move on to the next item of their home tour.

“Alright,” she says, folding her hands behind her back all prim and proper, “I see you're not impressed. But—“

“Hey, you guys!” a familiar voice shouts from the distance, growing closer and closer with each passing moment. “I’m here! I came! Is it too late to join in?”

All four of them whirl around at the interruption.

Peridot squints. “Is that…”

“Ruby?” Lapis finishes, confusion etched across her features with pinpoint precision.

“Ruby!” Steven calls, sliding across the floorboards to meet her at the barn door. “No, you're not late, you’re just in time! Look, look, look—“ He takes her by the hand and whisks her inside, almost sweeping her clear off her feet in the process.

Her mouth falls agape as she drinks in the rustic atmosphere, the air now a good deal lighter thanks to her interruption.

“Whoa… this place looks completely different!”

“I know, right??” he says with an untamable grin. He gestures wildly at all of their unique creations. “It’s art! Isn’t it great? Peridot and Lapis have been showing us all this super cool stuff they’ve made!”

“Yes, I suppose we are pretty great,” the green Gem says, puffing out her chest.

Lapis rolls her eyes in response. No amount of sass can hide the action’s underlying fondness, though. Steven’s no imperceptive fool. She may act pretty aloof at times, but once you get to know her she’s not that hard to read at all. One merely has to pay attention to the subtle shifts in her demeanor. It’s the little things: the incline of her brow, a slight tilt of the head, the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it twitch of her lips as she pretends she doesn’t care as much as she does. And then, the more she trusts you, the less tense her posture is and the more she opens up. It makes his heart sing to know that Peridot has seemingly been added to that roster.

“Eh,” she murmurs with the hint of a smile, leaning back against the wall behind her roommate. “I guess we’re okay.”

Amethyst crosses her arms, her eyes narrowing as she peers down at Ruby. “So, what’s up with you? I thought you said you wanted to mope at the temple.”

She shuffles her feet. “Well…”

“And I thought you and that Sapphire never unfused,” Lapis says, ever so blunt. “Except... for baseball,” she hastily amends. Consumed by a spike of panic, her gaze darts towards the doorway with guarded suspicion. “We don’t have to play baseball again... right?”

“Hmmm… I mean, we could play baseball,” Steven muses, pressing his hand to his jaw.

That’s certainly one way he could encourage Amethyst to enjoy some bonding time with everyone. He has a bunch of fond memories of the last game they played together. Well, okay, so maybe he could’ve done without the ceaseless feeling of dread brought by batting against Homeworld loyalists with unknown intentions, but beggars can’t be choosers. As his first time playing a full game it was still 70% a good time.

Meanwhile, Peridot’s petite frame quivers at the reminder of that day. She grips at her hair, large tufts of yellow poking out from between her fingers.

“Oh my stars, they’re coming back??”

Ruby throws her a bemused side glance. “Uh—“

“Get behind me, Lapis,” she continues, daringly throwing her body in front of her roommate. “I’ll protect us from those Homeworld brutes this time!”

“We’re not playing baseball!” Amethyst cuts in.

His lips curl into a pout. “Aw, but it’d be so much fun!”

She crosses her arms, visibly walling herself off. “Uh, no, it wouldn’t! ‘Sides, there’s no immediate danger, there’s no Homeworld Rubies on our doorstep, so there’s NO reason on this planet I’d play that stupid game again!”

Eyes narrowing with mild exasperation, Lapis nudges her way out from the green Gem’s overprotection. “‘Kay. So, is anyone here actually gonna explain what’s going on, or?”

Nervously rocking on her heels next to him, Ruby rests her hand against her chin.

“Well…”

“Ruby and Sapphire are kinda… taking some time apart?” he delicately explains in her steed, noticing her hesitation. It’s probably something that’s really hard for her to talk about right now, and boy can he relate to that.

“Yeah,” she says in confirmation, kicking her toes against the floor boards. “I didn’t exactly want to, but Sapphy needs her space.”

For all her initial dislike of the fusion Gem, Peridot looks genuinely heartbroken at this revelation. ���But… why?” she asks, peering between the three Crystal Gems in wait of further clarification. “Aren’t you two basically inseparable?”

Faint hints of lemon peel and nutmeg linger in the air like silent sentries to their distress. Steven stands in the kitchen with Pearl, Garnet, and his dad, Amethyst lounging on the other side of the counter, and their dirty breakfast dishes still lying stagnant in the sink. Garnet’s kneeling before him. She’s speaking, but he’s so distraught he can’t quite recall what it is she said. His dad’s hand rests on his shoulder, the pressure ever so slightly working to ground him to this moment again. He’s biting back tears, isn’t he? Trying not to cry for the umpteenth time that day. What happened? What changed? Everything’s fixed, yeah? He’s whole again! They were all supposed to be so happy now, and yet… the sight of the morning sun reflecting off the face of Garnet’s visor as she delivers that ill-fated news is the bitter, tangible proof that they’re not.  

“Ruby and Sapphire have decided they want to take some time apart. Indefinitely.”

Amethyst’s expression is colored with hurt. “But… why?”

In the present he stiffens, suddenly polarized by the realization that the path of this conversation has but one destined endpoint. Sooner or later, his friends will hear about what happened to him four days back, what happened to his family, what he learned about his... about Rose. There’s no avoiding this forever. After all, if they don’t learn it from him, they’ll eventually learn it from someone else. And don’t they deserve to know? This affects them too!

But if the recent past has taught him anything, it’s that the truth about Rose Quartz only succeeds in breaking people apart. It stole Garnet away. It shook his relationship with Amethyst and Pearl to the core. It caused them all to argue and fight, back at the fountain and at home. Give it time, and he’s sure the truth will find a way to press fissures in his relationships with Connie and Dad, too. So what happens, then, when Peridot and Lapis find out? In what way will the truth break them?

Just a little while longer, he promises himself. Just one more good day, please, that’s all I want…

“They, um- it’s just a couples thing,” he stammers, chest growing tight. “It’s just for a little bit. Sometimes people need time away from each other, y’know?”

Ruby‘s expression grows tense, sniffing out his white lie from a mile away. “Steven...“

“It’s totally healthy and normal, and not at all a reason for concern!”

“Kinda sounds like we should be concerned,” Lapis mutters. “All of you have been acting weird this whole time, so spill! What’s going on?”

Their words start to become faint and distant in the shadow of his wildly pounding heart, so wondrously human and organic and alive, and yet so endlessly frustrating in its autonomy. Why can’t he hear clearly? What’s up with that awful ringing he can’t get rid of? It’s almost as if he’s listening to everyone ten feet under choppy waters, but they’re all standing right next to him. They’re right there.

The red Gem scratches at her neck, meeting Amethyst's harsh, crystal-studded glance first. Her mouth opens. Still disorientated, Steven misses a good half of it.

“...wants to tell ‘em?” she finishes, waiting dutifully for their responses.

As expected the quartz remains silent on the matter, feigning indifference as she crosses her arms and returns to staring sullenly into the middle distance. Ruby turns to him next. His skin feels downright clammy now, almost as bad as it did when he was almost dyi— NO! Stop! He shakes his head fervently, sweeping his hands horizontal in a signal for her to cut the conversation. He can’t do this. Not now, not today, not ever, he can’t—

Lapis bristles. “Tell us what?”

“Um, nothing, nothing!” he bursts out, clumsy words pouring from his mouth almost quicker than his brain can move to stack them up. “It’s a long story, and we’re all here to have some fun and shoot the breeze, right? Right. ‘Course we are! So we don’t have to talk about that right now, we can talk about it later, and for now we should try to have a good time and enjoy each other’s compa—“

Amethyst slams her foot to the floor so hard the wooden board underneath cracks. Both Steven and Lapis flinch.

“Ughh, you guys! Stop dancing around the headline!” she shouts. “You really wanna know what happened? Steven almost died ‘cause he got his gem busted, and then we found out Rose Quartz was totally a sham and she’s like, Pink Diamond n’ junk, okay?!”

A stunning silence follows this inopportune announcement, in which he swears he can hear his stomach gurgle. On any typical day he'd be thinking about lunch around this time, except at the moment he genuinely almost feels sick to his stomach. Right now he wants nothing more than to turn tail and run, run away from all of this, and yet chained to his fate just as Lonely Blade was destined to his, his legs remain firmly shackled in place. Standing at his side, Peridot blinks in dumbfounded shock.

“What.”

“S-she’s- You’re a DIAMOND??” Lapis shrieks, water wings shooting from her back on impulse.

“Whaaaat?”

_______

Notes: 

The next few chapters will be a bit familiar to y'all, but I'm not doing a beat for beat rehash, I assure you. Events start similarly here because the world external to Steven’s sphere of influence is still operating the same as it does in canon. The ripples haven’t fully spread yet. After this arc, they absolutely will have.

I do have a bonus scene to share soon- set between chapters 9 and 10. I'll likely post that before chapter 11.

Oh, and by the way- the location Connie's visiting is inspired by a real place- the Harike Wetlands in Punjab, India. Apparently India is actually a series of islands in the SU universe...? But I like to believe there’s still a cool wetlands region on one of those islands.

[anti-the-glitch-bitch]

Into the void

Chapter 2 

Word Count: 3,054

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

I am abruptly awakened by an annoying poking in my side. I groan a bit and try to slap the annoyance away. The poking in my side stops, but now there is a finger poking my cheek nonstop.

“Okay. I’m up. Just stop poking me with that infernal finger before I bite it off.” At that moment, maniacal laughter echoes in the closet. “Anti?” I’m still half asleep when I open my eyes. Beautiful blue eyes are looking straight into mine.

“Ha-ha. Still half asleep, are ya?” Sean chuckles as I scramble for my phone. My cheeks are on fire the moment I hear his cute Irish boi accent. After scrambling for what seems like hours, I finally manage to turn the video off. “Yeah, I guess I am. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I must have been super tired from the flight.” I mumble as I try not to freak out again. Sitting up, I look over at Sean and realize he is sitting on the floor. He must have seen my confusion because he scoots back a bit. “I figured if I was sitting on the floor, ya might not throw another loaf of bread at me.”

“Mark is never going to let me live that down. When I die, it will read. Here lies Bri. She threw a loaf of bread at Sean’s face. Sorry about that, by the way. My body went into panic mode and decided to attack?” Sean just laughs at me and starts to stand up.

“Neither of us will. I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes a commemorative video and tells his fans about all of this. I’m just glad it was soft.” Sean smirks and holds a hand out to me. I hesitated very briefly before taking his hand. With a quick tug, Sean has me out of the closet and on my feet. Huh. Sean is a lot taller than I realized. I mean, I didn’t think he was super short, but I thought he was my height. I’m 5’7”, so I’m not exactly short either, but he seems to be about the same size as Mark.

I stretch for a minute, trying to work the kinks out from sleeping in the closet. Sean walks over to the door to give me a bit of space. Which I very much appreciate. I can’t hear the conniving bastard anywhere, and that makes me very concerned. That means he could be plotting my next humiliating moment.

“You know he did that on purpose, right?” My question seems to confuse him. He cocks his head slightly with a questioning look. “He knows I’m a spazz, so Mark waited to tell me you were gonna stay here, at the second, just to see what happened. Though I don’t think it went down exactly as he expected.” 

We stare at each other for a moment before we both start to laugh. It takes a few seconds for us to calm down. “That does sound like something he would do. He told me you were staying here for a while, but he didn’t warn me that I would have to watch out for flying objects!”

“Exactly! I’m sure he’s hiding somewhere plotting his next big prank.”

“I don’t think so? He told me he had to finish recording. I figured the least I could do was make your lunch since it looks like I interrupted the two of you. That’s why I came looking for ye.” Sean looks so adorable when he blushes. It’s only a slight tinge, but it stands out on his pale skin. It gives me some ideas for a prank or two in the future. “I don’t think I like the look on your face. That’s the kind of look that Mark has when he is up to something.” He backs into the hallway with his hands up as if I might attack him.

I give him an innocent smile as I follow him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m just going to the kitchen.”

“Uh-huh. Yeah, we’ll just see about that.” We joke the entire way to the kitchen. My anxiety is all but forgotten. 

My eyes must be playing tricks on me because as Sean passes a mirror in the hallway, his reflection seems to flicker. For a second, it looks like Anti, green hair and all. Very strange because he hasn’t dyed his hair in forever. His hair is his natural brown color.

What in the actual fuck is going on with me today? It must be because I fell asleep watching those videos. I’m starting to doubt my sanity. I’ll have to lay off the Dark\Anti obsession for a while. Otherwise, someone might try to commit me to a nuthouse.

“Bri? You ok over there?” My head snaps to the kitchen, where Sean is standing by the island. I realize I’m just standing in front of the mirror. I take one last look into it, but all I see is me. “Um. Yeah. For a minute, I thought I saw….” I shake my head, realizing how crazy I would sound if I finished that sentence. “Nothing. Never mind.” I smile when I walk over and see a plate with a couple of sandwiches on it.

“If you’re sure.” He returns my smile and pushes the plate towards me. There is a flash of some emotion in his eyes before it disappears. Worry? Concern? I shrug it off and go rummage in the fridge for something to drink. Cans of Mountain Dew are sitting on the bottom level. Ah, my sweet addiction. Mark makes fun of me all the time because I usually have one with me. Yeah, it’s terrible to drink if as much as I do, but I really don’t care.

“So, any idea on how long Mark is gonna be holed up there?” I start digging into one of the sandwiches. Sean looks up from his phone and laughs. “How do you feel about being on camera?”

“What?”

“I said, how do you feel about being on camera?” Sean puts his hands on his hips, giving me a giant smile. “Um...Ok, I guess? Why?” I have no idea what’s going through his head, so I’m just going to roll with it.

“Great! Mark’s getting everything ready now, but in 20 minutes, all his fans are goin ta know we are staying here. You’re going to make your first appearance on the channel!” He is so enthusiastic about this that it’s hard to say no to him. “It’ll be great! All you’ll have to do is say hi. Mark probably won’t start recording until we get in the room. So, hurry up and eat. I’m goin ta see if Mark needs any help setting up.” He slaps my back and is practically bouncing as he leaves the kitchen. I watch the mirror as he walks past it, but nothing weird happens.

I really, really, really need to lay off those videos. They’re making me hallucinate. Either that or the flight messed me up more than I thought. I sigh and start thinking about this new development that Mark has thrown at me unexpectedly. I should have known Mark would have more than one trick up his sleeve. First, it was Sean, and now it’s getting me on camera. I really am going to murder him. Slowly. Like maybe Criminal Minds style. Munching on the sandwiches, I start scheming at ways to get back at Mark. I’m just finishing the second sandwich when my phone goes off.

Mark: Hey, you finished yet?

Bri: Just finished. Why?

Mark: We have everything set up. We’re just about ready for you to come in.

Bri: Give me 10 min. Let me brush my raggedy ass hair and maybe put on a new top.

Mark: Let me know when you’re done.

I put my plate in the sink and grab my drink. Rushing upstairs, I hear laughter coming from down the hall. It sounds like the guys are having fun. When I get to the guest bedroom, I immediately start looking in the duffel bag for my brush. It only takes a few seconds to find it. My hair is short, black with forest green highlights thrown in here and there. It doesn’t take very long to get it thrown up in a high ponytail.

Next, I rummage through the suitcases until I find my Loki shirt. I head to the bathroom to make sure I look semi-decent. The hairs on the back of my neck start standing up, and I get the creepy sensation that somebody is watching me. The mirror doesn’t show anything, but I look around me because I be paranoid like that. There’s really nothing in here with me, but the sensation only gets stronger.

“Back off, ya spooky bitch!” I sort of whisper/shout in the bathroom. I still can’t find anything here, but it never hurts to set boundaries, in case of, you know…. ghosts. That weird feeling fades away, and I feel like I can breathe again.

Well, that’s not terrifying at all. I check the mirror one last time, grab my drink, and head to Mark’s recording room. I can hear Sean’s voice but can’t make out what he is saying.

Bri: Yo. I’m outside the door.

Mark: Come on in.

“What’s happenin Cap’n?” I saunter into the room and see Mark and Sean sitting at the desk that’s along the far wall. They both turn to look at me with a slight smirk. There is an extra chair by Mark that I head towards.

“Hey, guys!! I know you thought Sean was the surprise guest, and he is, but I have someone else I want to introduce you to. This is my best friend, Bri. We grew up in Cincinnati, and she has finally decided to come for a visit.: Mark laughs into the camera as I give him a push.

“Hardy har har. It’s not my fault you moved so far away, you little shit. Keep it up, and I’ll start posting pics. You thought the Septiplier ship had sailed before? It’ll be 20 times worse once I send these bad boys out into the world.” Mark starts groaning while Sean holds his hands up.

“Whoa. Whoa. Hold it there. Don’t bring me into the equation. I didn’t do anything. I’m pretty sure that ship doesn’t need any more references.” We giggle, and I start looking at the screens in front of me.

One monitor has a bunch of technical stuff up along with a box showing the three of us. Another screen has a chatbox that seems to be really active. Comments are flying by so fast that it’s tough to read, though one reoccurring word catches my eye. Checking my phone really quickly, my suspicion is confirmed. “Hey, so I have a question I need to ask everyone watching.” I stand and get behind Mark. I place my hands on his shoulders and start squeezing. Not enough to hurt but enough for me to feel him tense a little. “How mad would y’all be if I murdered our Markimoo here? I was under the impression I would be on a video, not walking into a Live stream.” 

I give Sean a smirk that instantly puts him on guard.” Neither did Sean. I’m thinking that they might need to beg for forgiveness.”

“He told me not to tell you!!” Sean instantly points his finger at Mark while laughing. “I’m too adorable to be murdered, plus I was afraid if I told you, you wouldn’t show up, and then people would think I was crazy.” Mark leans his head back, giving me puppy dog eyes.

“Fineeeeeee. I won’t murder you, but you’ll have to make it up to me with a very incriminating picture. I’ll be taking the picture so I can post it later, and you won’t be able to delete it.” I ruffle the hair on his head as I get back to my seat. They both give a big dramatic groan. “Now, do you see why I wanted her to show up, though I am slightly regretting it.” His gestures get wilder the more animated he gets. It’s all I can do not to rub my hands together and cackle like a witch. 

The stream goes on like this for a few hours. The three of us crack jokes and play a few games together. I watch the chat and answer the questions I can catch. Sometimes they are about me, but a lot are about Mark and Sean. Most of those are just about wanting a shout-out from the guys.

It’s about 6 pm when I finally have to call it quits. Even with the nap I had, I was tired. “Alright, everyone, I enjoyed being here with you guys, far more than I thought I would, but I’m outta here. It was my first time going across the country, and my body is yelling at me for it.” I wave my hand at the camera and try to suppress a yawn. Mark and Sean make cute little pouts and give a fake sigh. “Aww, well, if you must. Everyone give Bri a round of applause. She is a natural in front of the camera. I might even have her join in some of my other videos.”

I take a bow and walk sluggishly towards the door. As I open the door, I feel a hand gently lay itself on my shoulder. I throw an elbow back, thinking it’s Mark, but I don’t make contact with anything. I quickly turn around and make karate-chopping motions, but no one is near me. The guys are still at the desk. Sean looks back at me and starts laughing. “What the fuck are ya doin? I thought you were leavin?”

I do a few more karate chops, just to be funny before I straighten up. “I’m pretty sure a spider tried to attack me; I’m showing it who’s boss. I doubt it will ever try that again, now that it knows I have mad skills.” Mark and Sean laugh and go back to what they are doing. I continue on my way out, severely freaked out. Chica is lying just outside the door, and when she sees me come out, she starts wagging her tail.

“Who’s a good girl? That’s right, you are the bestest doggo in the world!” I love on her a bit and then pat my leg to get her to follow. “Come on, girl. Let’s go outside for a bit. This house is being a spoopy bitch, and I don’t like being inside a horror game.”

We make it outside without an incident. I immediately go flop in the grass on my stomach. I’ve been here less than 24 hours, and I’ve seen some weird shit in the house. I would chalk it all up to ghosts, but that doesn’t explain why I saw Anti in that mirror. I know I still haven’t been sleeping but a few hours here and there, but that shouldn’t make me see things, should it?

There is no way the egos are real. They’re just something Mark and Sean made up. I may like the concept of them, but there is no way I want to meet Anti or Dark for real. Chica comes over to me, trying to lick my face, causing me to laugh. “Alright, girl. Let’s go back into the spooky house because I need some sleep. If I can…” We go inside, and I go back to the guest room. I don’t even bother changing into my pj’s. I just flop into the bed, falling right to sleep.

The Darkness is alive.

My heart is in my throat as I jerk awake. The dreams are all a blur, but I vaguely remember the Darkness trying to hurt me. The bedroom is pitch black, and I struggle to find my phone on the side table. After searching for what seems like hours, I finally find it and check the time. It’s only 3 am, way too early to be up. 

I can’t sleep anymore, so I get up to get a drink. Not sure if it’s remnant feelings from my dreams, but the darkness in the house feels alive. Almost suffocatingly so. I’m paranoid and jumpy as I walk to the kitchen. Grabbing a glass from the cabinet, I open the fridge and grab the milk. I really don’t need any sugar right now. After filling the glass, I put the milk back. That weird, creepy feeling is back, and I fucking hate it so much. I quickly close the fridge and turn around, punching the air in front of me.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I came here to get away from my life for a bit. Whatever you are, I don’t care! I haven’t even been here a day, so you need to quite with the spooky shit before I lose my damn mind!” I accentuate that with a few karate chops wildly thrown around.

A deep chuckle seems to come from all around me, making me run for the hills. I leave the milk and make a beeline for the stairs. I grab a pillow and the blanket from my bed and run for Mark’s room. The Darkness pulses as if alive, making me a trip on the blanket. I quickly right myself and quietly enter Mark’s room.

Mark’s bed is high enough off the ground that I can throw the pillow under the bed. I wrap myself in the blanket and slide under the bed. Like a child that knows the monster in the dark is real, I make sure every part of me is covered, including my head. This wasn’t going to be a comfortable place to lay, but I wasn’t staying in my room while this spooky stuff is going on. I was so going to talk to Mark about this in the morning.

“It’s not real,” I mumble to myself over and over again. Every once in a while, I throw in a “Leave me alone.” It feels like forever before everything starts to feel normal again, and I can fall back asleep. 

A precious, dreamless sleep.

[bangtan-sonyeonddaeng]

BTS Reaction| You come home crying from work

Namjoon

Namjoon would want to talk things out with you. He truly believes that talking through your problems is the best way to solve them. 

“I just constantly get taken advantage of Namjoon. They take my kindness and willing to work and make me do literally everything. I’ve been overworked so hard the past few days and I just can’t take it anymore.” You start tearing up again and he holds you tightly, allowing you to get out your emotions and frustrations.

“Sweetheart I think you should try to find a new job. Someone as good of a worker as you should be treasured and they obviously aren’t do that. I can help you, just say the word and I’ll do anything I can.” You sniffle and wipe your eyes with your sleeve.

“Thank you Namjoon. Maybe I’ll take you up on your offer.”

“Just say the word and I’ll have you working at our company the same day, okay love?”

Jin

Jin could hear you sniffling from the bedroom. He opened the door quietly and saw your form curled up under the blankets.

“Jagi? Are you okay?” He walks into the bedroom and hears you let out a choked sob. He immediately sits on the edge of the bed and runs a hand over your back trying to soothe you. ”Bad day at work?” You throw the covers off your head.

“How did you know?”

“You’ve been so frustrated with it the past few days, I just figured that’s what it was. Wait right here I know who can help you.” You look at him confused. He walks out of the room and comes back with a smile beaming on his face as he hands you his RJ plushie.

“He always makes me feel better. And he helped Hobi feel better too. I’m sure he’ll do the same for you.” You smile and take it gratefully, holding the plushie to your chest.

“I feel better already. Thank you Jin.”

Yoongi

Yoongi is at the studio when he sees his phone ringing with your caller ID. 

“Hey angel, I’m almost done I’ll be home soon I promise.” He hears you sniffle on the other line. “Baby? Are you okay?”

“No..” He hears you let out a quiet whimper and his heart is aching.

“What happened?”

“My boss is an asshole that’s what. I’m tired of having my kindness taken advantage of.” 

“Hey, it’s okay. Do you want to come to the studio and keep your mind off it?” Your quiet on the other line but your breath seems to have calmed down. “I’ll let you listen to some song off my new mixtape? You can give me your opinion and help me if you want.” You giggle happily into the phone, instantly perking up at the idea of being the first one to hear some songs off his mixtape.

“Seriously?! You’d really let me listen to them before they’re done?”

“Of course! You’re such a hard worker and I value your opinion a lot.”

“Okay. I’ll be there soon. Thank you, Yoongi.”

Hoseok

Hoseok was wanting to surprise you with dinner. He was cooking for you in the kitchen when he heard the front door slam shut and you throw your bag on the ground. He could hear quiet sobs coming from the entry way. 

“Sweetheart what’s wrong?!” He immediately drops what he is doing and runs to your side, hugging you tightly.

“I hate my job. I hate my boss. All he does is take advantage of me and I am sick of it.” Hoseok looks angry, a rare emotion you see on his face. He grabs your arm and starts walking out of the apartment. 

“That’s it. We’re going back to your job and I'm giving your boss a piece of my mind.” You plant your feet firmly into the ground and tug him backwards.

“Hobi, no. It’s not going to do any good.” 

“But-” Just then you hear the beeping of the smoke alarm going off.

“Ahhh!” He runs back into the apartment and you see smoke coming from the pan. “Shoot. I wanted to surprise you with dinner but this is indelible now.” 

“You were going to cook me dinner?”

“Of course, you work so hard and I just wanted to do something nice for you but it back fired.” You hangs his head dejectedly and you run your fingers through his hair, giggling to yourself.

“It means so much to me that you even tried Hoseok. Thank you. How about we just order pizza instead?”

Jimin

Jimin would just hold you close to him and let you vent. He hopes that his touches and assurances that he is right there with you and will always be there for you will be enough to help you feel better. He listens to you talking about how your boss treats you, getting more angry as you go on. You can feel his grip tightening on your hand as you go on.

“Jimin, if you squeeze my hand any tighter it’s going to fall off.” He immediately lets go, blushing as he does.

“I’m sorry honey. I just hate hearing how he treats you. You don’t deserve that.” He lifts you up bridal style off the couch and carries you to bed. You lay your head on his chest and he has an arm securely around your waist while the other plays with your hair.

“Maybe I should just quit my job.”

“Absolutely. Yes. Do that. Before I go to jail for committing and assault please.” You can’t help but laugh. 

“Jimin you wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“A fly? No. Someone who upsets the love of my life? Absolutely.”

Taehyung

Taehyung is mad to say the least when he hears you venting about how your boss treats you. He has half a mind to go to your work place and cuss your boss out but decides against it when he realizes that won’t solve anything. Besides, you’re crying and upset and your comfort and making you smile is his number one priority right now. 

“Hey, love it’s okay don’t cry. I hate seeing you cry.” He wipes your tears away with his thumbs and he kisses your nose, causing you to let out a small smile. “Ah! Was that a ghost of a smile I saw? Maybe I should give you more kisses.” He peppers kisses over your cheeks, forehead, eye lids, neck, anywhere he can reach. You are laughing now at his silly antics and determination to make you smile. “See? That’s better.” He places a final kiss to your lips and when he pulls away you’re smiling at him and he feels like he’s done his part.

“Thank you, Tae. You always know how to make me feel better. I love you.”

“Love you to sweetheart. But if your boss makes you cry again I will kick their butt all the way to mars.”

Jungkook

He hates seeing you so upset, because he doesn’t know if there is anything he can do to make your situation better. He can’t change your boss, and you refuse to quit your job because of your hard work ethic. So he does what he knows he can do to comfort you, he just holds you and lets you cry. He places sweet kisses to your forehead and cheeks in an attempt to make you smile. It works after some time and he’s happy for now. The next day he looks up who runs the main branch of your work place and he calls and asks to speak with the one who is over your boss. 

“Yeah, this is Jeon Jungkook.. Yes that Jungkook. I just wanted to say I went to your establishment yesterday and one of your employees y/n y/l/n was an absolute angel. Really helpful and kind. And such a sweet smile too it really made my day. I think y/n deserves a raise or a promotion or something for all the hard work they do.” 

While you’re at work the next day you are surprised when your boss comes up to you and offers you a higher up position plus a raise. You’r shocked to say the least. You immediately think Jungkook had something to do with it and you question him when you get home.

“Jungkookie don’t lie to me you did something didn’t you?”

“Ah, I may have called your boss’ boss and spoke very highly of you and recommended you get a raise.” He rubs the back of his head sheepishly and you shake your head as you laugh at him.

“Jungkook you’re something else. But thank you, really. That was so kind of you.”

“Of course y/n. I’d do anything to see you happy don’t you know that?”

[tell-mi]

By The Way - Part 3

Months after your last night together both of you tried to get your feelings together. But the day of the Met Gala changed everything again.

Warnings: smut, alcohol, party, sex, language

It was the beginning of April and you were backstage at the Late Late Show with James Corden. You just had lost the Tattoo Roulette game and decided to tattoo the Late Late Logo on your index finger and you promised James on live camera that you will name your next album Late Late and show the tattoo at your cover. The crowd was cheering franetically. James cannot help but laug at that decision and hugged you deeply. Your tour was finally over and the work at the new album was almost done. You had two free months until you start filming for your new TV series.

James knew that there was a thing happening between you and Harry since the two man already met and surprisingly talked about you. He didn't knew you two had sex and especially not in his bathroom. He saw the flirting of you at his party and while you met a few times afterwards he cannot deny that there was something happening between you. To be honest, everyone saw the sparks flying when you two talked to each other.

***

Harry leaned close behind you at the gardenparty of James and threw his hands around your shoulders meeting yours Infront of you. His head resting on your shoulders and a beer in one of his hands. You enjoyed his touches. His body close to yours. It made you feel safe. Not thinking about anything you grabbed his beer and took the last sip. "Hey hey, get one yourself, women!" He dramatically beamed at you. While trying to catch the bottle but finally registered that it was empty. Almost spitting out the drink you immediately fall into laughter with each other. "Shit you made me wet, Styles!" You chuckled out loud. James observing the scene of you two like a proud big brother screaming towards you "No one wants to know what's going on inside your pants Nikki!" You didn't know how to react to that rude joke. Harry couldn't help but laugh his ass off while you stared at him in confusion. "Stop it you idiot" you demanded him. Instead of listening he just laughed even harder. You put the bottle down and began to tickle him to stop. Harry, who is super ticklish couldn't help but go on. "No...Noohioo..stop it, Nikks!" He tried to run away from you and you chased him around the garden encouraging James kids to help you. You had a lot of fun playing around with the kids and every once in a while you looked over to Harry who got caught by your smile and shyly turned his head.

You have never spoken about your feelings. For you it was a friends plus. Being there for each other, calling each other everytime you feelt to talk to someone. It was like love but both of you tried to not fall in love to each other as you knew that your careers don't allow you to really be together for the next year's. Harry was about to record his second album and wanted to go on tour again and you were so engaged in your music, movies and series. Now also as a producer for a Netflix series. Both of you were fine with it and that's why you agreed in Tokio that you try to not sleep with each other anymore right after that last night.

Never the less you still enjoyed the touches and cuddling once in a while. Not to be to obvious for everyone around. As the evening arrived you decided to stroll back home in your LA flat and Harry decided to accompany. Hugging James and Jules goodbye James whispered something towards Harry. You looked at both sceptically. Harry giggled at the words James was whispering into his ears while looking at you with flushed red cheeks. You glared both a questioning look. "Take care!" James hugged you one last time. "I love you, Nikki! Take care of this man, you two are beautiful together" he now whispered to you. "Jaaamey" you pulled out of the hug. He knew exactly from the look on your face that you want to judge him by his words but you kept your mouth shut. "I love you too, thanks and have a good night!"

The way home was slightly silent. The two of you didn't got to touchy while being in public. At the corner of your neighborhood Harry decided to buy an ice-cream for the two of you. "I can recommend vanilla cheesecake" you turned your head towards Harry not noticing that his face was extremly near yours. The look on his face took your breath away. "Breathe, Lopez" he grinned so lovely at you, one hand on your back. "I'll take what she said" he smiled at the old ice cream bar lady who smiled back at the two of you. "For me the caramel cherry swirl, please" Harry payed the ice cream and tipped the waitress a good amount. "Thanks!" You turned to Harry. "For reminding you to breathe, or what?" He beamed at you with a smirk. "You idiot, for the ice cream of course." You bumbed your body into his right side playfully with your tongue sticked out to him. Both of you laughed at each other. You shit chat around a bit until you nearly reached your home. "Caramel cherry swirl?" He dipped his spoon inside your cup and tested the ice cream. With a disgusted face he turned to you "Your taste is really bad, Lopez!" You almost chocked on your last gulp. Gleefull you took the last spoon in your mouth. "Yeah, that's why I fucked you twice. Bad taste!" Harry immediately stopped a few steps infront of your door. You turned around to him "What?" "The Fuck, Berenice!" It was the first time you heard him saying your full name. "What's wrong?" You didn't know what was going on in Harry's mind. He just stared confused at you with a nervous look on his face while both of stared at each other for a longer time. You got annoyed of him not sayin what he wanted and took both empty ice-cream cups to throw them in the bin infront of your door. Still annoyed by Harry's grumpy face you turned to bumping your hips to his to cheer him up. "You wanna come in or what?"

There it was again. That glare of his eyes. It was so familiar to you. He stared at you like the last time you left him in Japan. You only just decided to not fall for each others body again. But it didn't felt right back then. You had spend the whole night together, no minute without kisses or loving each other body passionately. You wanted him, he wanted you, but you were too scared to let your feelings free.

"And what are we doing inside, Nikks?" He asked you. He seemed so broken right now. You could feel how much he wanted you in that moment. But you tried to wash away your thoughts. Sure, Harry was a good looking, handsome and charming manhe was a kind soul. You became familiar with his humour over the last months. And his compliments made your stomach twist and turn every time. You cannot let go of your slightly normal friendship right now agsind was the only thing with came into your mind now. So this time you were the one who leaned in to a hug. But as soon as you felt his warm body around yours you cannot help but pushing your body against his again. He held tightly onto you. His hands on your back pulling you really close. You wanted him just like he wanted you. You both knew it but you also didn't want you heart to be broken. "Fuck, we can't do that." Harry let go of you and left you standing at the top of your stairs. On the last step he turned around. "Have a good night, Niks!" You didn't answer but leaved devastated inside quickly.

***

The night of the Met Gala arrived really soon. You knew Harry was one of the co hosts this year. You neither talked for more than a week nor did you wrote each other anything. You felt heart broken, you missed him, his smile, his smell, his breath against your lips, his hands touching you, his skin against your skin. You were really off track while getting dressed up in your Alicia Rueda Couture dress. Luna was nearly finished with your makeup and began to sleek your now shoulder lengths hair to put it into a low ponytail. "Excited to meet Harry again?" Luna knew that you hadn't talked to each other for a longer time now. "Dunno" was all you could answer her. "Sweets.." Luna pulled a chair next to yours and rested her head on your shoulder. "Why don't you talk to him about you feelings?" "Because I don't even know what my feelings are, Lunes! I like him as a friend, yes. We do work good together in bed, sure. But I don't know what else I want. My body urges for his body and he is the sweetest man I have ever met but it is so hard to let me fall. You sighed " We were about to living our best lived right now. Haven a really good frienship but are to dumb to let go of our bodies." You almost started to cry. Tears nearly ready to fall. "Don't!" Luna demanded you, both of her hands caressing your face "You will ruin your perfect makeup. Not for a man, girl!" She waved her hands Infront of your face to stop your tears from falling. Encouraged by your friend you added "As long as I know that we won't be able to see each other regularly and be sure that a relationship will work, I don't evan want to have one. You know that my last relationship broke because of the less time I had for Sebastian. And with Harry there is even less time. I don't wanna loose him as well" "Alright alright, no man talk anymore. Smile babe! Go out and show them your fierce, okay?" Luna formed a smile with her two fingers on your face.

***

The red carpet was one of the most glamorous of the year. You managed the stairs Infront of the entrance with your floor long dress with a deep back. Your eyes met Harrys a few times. It felt like he was staring at you the whole time. You could nearly feel him staring at you. You knew, by the look on his face, that he has missed you just like you missed him. He was looking hot himself, which you tried to ignore but it didn't really work. A total different outfit than what you have thought but he was super stylish and hot looking in his black lace. He caught you staring at him one time as well. Smirking back at you with the devilish grin which made your heart beat faster, you quickly turned around to hide your blush.

As the official part enden you dressed in a short, long sleeved, light blue glitter dress from Balmain for the after show party. Letting your hair falling loose upon your shoulders and putting on some pink lipstick you felt comfortable and sexy.

You took Luna as your accompany for the night. The two of you enjoyed yourself at the bar. You didn't even count the cosmopolitans you drank until you heard his voice again. "Enjoyed the evening, Ladies?" "Harry!" Luna screamed into his face and hugged him dramatically. "Long time no see!" She turned around to see your reaction. You watching them with an annoyed expression on your face "I think I have to go to the dancehall, there is this cute guy who winked at me the whole night!" "Lunes, wait. We said no male contact tonight. Stay here!" You held her by her wrist and glared her an begging look. She shook her head with a smile and whispered towards you "call me when youve got things done. I will wait in the hotel" while kissing you a goodbye on your cheek. She turned around to hug Harry goodbye. You weren't sure but you would have sworn you heard her say "sort it out!" to Harry. You were still pissed about his behaviour the day he left you at Infront of your house and never had the balls to show any reaction afterwards. "One vodka please!" You asked the waiter. "Two" Harry turned to the waiter and handed you your vodka. "Cheers" he said to you with a roaring move. "Yeah" was all you said to him turning your body away from him. "I need another one please" "Two" you've got even more pissed off "What? You gonna need to encourage yourself with alcohol, or what? What do you even think, running towards me and be nice as before again? Did you ever think about how I felt?" You threw a bitter face towards him. His reaction was all different than you would have thought it will be. He looked down at you chcklimgl shaking his head like he didn't believe you your little scene. You just realized how tall he was, even with your high heels on you had to look up to meet his eyes. He moved nearer to you. You could smell his Tom Ford parfume. He smelled like vanilla, your most favourite scent. You cannot other than push him softly away with your hand seeing him smiling into your way while still shaking his head. "Dance with me" he took both of your hands and pushed you to the dancefloor. "You never dance, Styles. Come on!?" "Wrong, I actually do dance but only with the right dance partner." He said into your ear as the music was really loud. You felt his face near yours.. again. His hands on your hips... again. "And.. I wanna dance with you." "Well, okay, if you leave me alone then." You tried to looked annoyed but deeply inside you were happy to have him back. Reaching the dancefloor you started to sway to the music. Your hips collided to each other, his hands turning you around forcing your arms to his neck. You never know that he was indeed kind of a good dancer. As a latin song started to play, the dancehall was even fuller than before. He pulled your body closer to his. You felt your body slowly heaten up. Those butterflies starting to fly around again. You urged to have him near to you. Leaning in to his ears you sweetly teased him "If I only knew that you would've moved your hips in bed like this I wouldn't even stay here anymore." He pulled back staring at you biting your lips while also smirk devilishly towards him. Harrys head getting closer to you. You stopped to breathe again "Breathe Lopez" he said to you with his famous smirk. He totally knew that you fell for it every time. His hands now dangerously low on your back nearly touching your butt.

It took him a few seconds until his lips crashed on yours. You backed away quickly "Styles, not here. Everyone can see us" "Leave with me!" Was all you heard of him before he grabbed your hand and moved you out of the dance floor and lead you into one of the rooms behind the bar.

It turned out to be a small wardrobe for the assistants. Harry locked the door as you realized where you are standing right now. "A wardrobe, really?" "Shut up an kiss me already!" For the next twenty minutes you can't keep your hands to yourself. You felt like two teenagers who hooked up with each other at their prom. The passionated kisses totally ruined your lipsticks. "I swear, if Luna only knew that you ruined my makeup, she will hit you in your guts!" "You know what?" He answered out of breath while opening his belt. "Hmmm?" You murmured in extase of his hands between your tights. "I don't fucking care about your makeup right now." Your dress was so thight that he can't undress you easily so he just pushed the dress up to your body and pulled down your pants. "Just start already, Styles!" You pulled him close to your body so quickly that he almost crashed against you. Your hands leaving marks on his back. He deply got his tongue into your mouth. He lifted you up against the wall of the wardrobe not letting go of you. As the music was extremely loud outside you didn't care to be silent this time. Harry reached his climax within a few minutes. "Please, don't stop. Don't stop!" You tightly grabbed his biceps while throwing your head back. Harry leaving sloppy kisses down your collarbone until you also finished.

You were out of breath looking at each other with shame. "It happened again" you murmured to him. "Yeah!" He answered while buckling up his belt. You get yourself together and waited for him to also dress up again. Not exchanging a word. It was like you both knew that it shouldn't have happened. Just as you wanted to open the door to leave he stopped you. Cupping your face with both of his hands he leaned in to kiss you softly. You felt relieved. This time he didn't let you go again. "Mhhh" you tried to back away to say something. He giggled "What?" You beamed to him. His eyes on yours. You wanted to say to better stop it but the look on your face told you to better shut up. You saw anything else in him know. Not only passion but also a spark of love what you have never seen before. It made you nearly bite your tongue. "Nothing!" Was all you could manage to say pulling him closer again. He rested his forehead against yours. You were holding hands while standing there still out of breath. Looking into each others eyes you suddenly knew you felt the same. You have missed each other, a lot. "You are so beautiful, Berenice." He kissed your lips softly. "Would you come with me and stay the night?" All you managed to do was smile towards him. But he already knew your answer.

[tvehyungs-gf]

Could you do 1, 12, and 94 with jimin :)

Birthday Kisses and Cacti - Fuckboy!Jimin DrabbleI DIDN’T MEAN TO IT MAKE SO LONG OMG THIS IS AN IMAGINE NOW

✧ What if I kissed you right now?✧ Quit looking at me, you’re making me nervous.✧ This is why we can’t have nice things.

Jimin is a fuckboy, it was evidently obvious with the number of girls and boys who left his apartment every other day. Being his across the hall neighbor was hell and you weren’t sure why you haven’t moved to a new place yet. Maybe it was because you silently hoped that he would come knocking on your door and fuck you till noon or for him to confess his true feelings to you.

You were indisputably pathetic for being head over heels in love with a fuckboy, but you had no fucking shame. It was wack, yet, you didn’t care. Of course, however, you forbid anyone from knowing about your undeniable massive crush on the man. Despite being a nerdy love-struck girl, you did have a title to withhold; the fuckgirl of college.

It was cheesy really. You being the fuckgirl that no one could call theirs and Jimin being the fuckboy that no girl had the chance to ever be in a relationship with. For both of you, you only believed in one night stands and nothing more. However, oddly enough, the only fucking person you wished to be in a relationship was with Jimin. It was weird. And unfortunately, you had no answer that can explain the question of why you liked him. You just do.

And it was already weird enough that the two biggest players on campus haven’t already fucked another yet. Now, that is another question that’s left unanswered.

Speaking of unanswered questions, this leaves us with this scenario. Your best friend, Jungkook, has been nagging you for the past hour about some party that was going down in the ‘Three Kim’s’ dormitory.

“Dude, you have to take me with you!” Jungkook whined, his phone held tightly in the grasp of his hands. Twitter was pulled up on his phone, the tweet mocking you in the face as you read what Jungkook was showing you on his feed. “And I can’t go if you’re not going! Plus, we would be absolute losers if we don’t go!”

You rolled your eyes after reading the tweet from one of the Kim’s themselves, specifically by Kim Taehyung. “Party tonight at the house! You’d be fucking losers if you’re not showing up for the biggest Halloween party! Also, bring presents lol!”

“Why should we go?” You asked with a brow raised. “You don’t even go to college here.” You folded your arms across your chest and watched the younger boy roll his eyes at you.

“And?” He scoffed before looking back at his cellular device. “I was about to go to college here, so technically, it counts.”

Boy, he was reaching. “That really doesn’t count, bro.”

“Aaaand!” He dragged. “I have lots of friends who go here too!” He shrugged. His eyes were glued to his phone before a malicious smirk played on his face. “I think I know what will get you to come to the party.” His eyes peeked up at you, making his face look like a devil in disguise.

“And it is?” You questioned kind of curious.

Jungkook chuckled evilly, the phone he held now shoved in front of your face. It was another tweet by Taehyung. “Lots of people are asking why it’s important to bring presents & its because we’re celebrating our favorite fucker, Jimin’s birthday!”

You were going to fucking go. And Jungkook knew by the look on your face that you guys were definitely going to the party. “Fine.”

Panic. You were in panic mode for many reasons, but let’s start off with the fact that you had no idea what the hell to dress up as. Should you look cute or sexy? Should you cosplay or just go simple? These were tough questions to answer and it made you feel stressed out. And stressed out for what? A party? You really were pathetic.

“Dude, just pick something.” Jungkook groaned. “It’s literally not that serious.”

You scoffed, flicking him off. “Fuck off. I can’t just go there looking like I didn’t put some type of effort. I have a reputation to withhold.”

“Yeah, right.” Jungkook sighed and stood up on his feet. He was seriously one to talk because he had dressed all out. From the doc martins to the black military pants and the matching military top, Jungkook looked like he just got done with his military service but with a twist. He had a deep fake gash on his cheek and vein marks on his skin. To put it lightly, he was zombified. “You should dress up as Lara Croft since you have all those accessories from when you did that Attack on Titan cosplay.”

“Wow.” You gasped surprised. “You actually have a good idea for once.” Quickly, you reached for your grey tank top and a pair of military-style khaki pants.

Jungkook shook his head in disagreement. “You’re so rude today. After everything I’ve done for you!” He sighed dramatically and fell back onto your bed with a bounce. “I get treated like a bag of dirt by my own best friend. Wow!” He gasped. “Life is great.” He continued, eyes closing.

“Oh shut up.” You rolled your eyes and began to get undressed out of Jungkook’s oversized t-shirt and shorts. Quickly, you threw on your cargo pants. “Anyway,” You pulled the tank top over your head. “Who did your zombie makeup?”

Jungkook sat up, his head resting on his palm as he readjusted himself to lay sideways. “Ya know how Hoseok works at the Korean BBQ place?” You nodded with a hum. “Well, his coworker goes to school here and she’s super into makeup and whatever so I stopped by her place before coming back here.”

“Oh, nice.” You gave him a thumbs up and turned back to your closet. Now all you need was to find all the gear you needed.

After a while of digging, you eventually found everything you needed. Once that was done, you did your makeup and styled your hair. “Alright!” You smiled happily. You looked fucking great! “Now we just have to find Jimin a present and then we can head to the party.”

“Finally!” Jungkook cried out excitedly. “I thought I was going to die of old age by the time you finished.”

“I’m actually this close,” You showed him an okay sign to represent how annoyed you were. “To smacking you in the face.”

The boy rolled his eyes. “You haven’t done it already so…” He shrugged. “Let’s go.”

By the time you the two of you finished getting Jimin a present, you found yourselves standing in front of a big house. “Damn, they must be loaded if they can afford to live in this type of house.” Jungkook gasped in awe. His eyes were wide open and you swore you could see a fly dancing in his mouth with how big his mouth was open.

You chuckled. “Yeah, well,” You shrugged your shoulders. “They are rich. Anyway, c’mon lets get inside.”

Jungkook closed his mouth and followed you inside the house.

There were people everywhere with red solo cups in their hands and costumes adorned on their body. You were surprised with how many who actually dressed to par and went all out. But not even a minute later, you both were in the kitchen getting drinks.

Eventually, Jungkook bid farewell without even telling you. You only noticed he was gone when you saw him chatting up with some chick across the room. Typical.

Taking the present you got Jimin, you decided it was probably a good idea to give it to him than to hold onto it all night. So with the quest set in mind, you left the kitchen to find the man of the night. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long to find him because you actually bumped into him in one of the hallways on the second floor.

“Ah, Y/N! I didn’t know you were going to come.” Jimin side hugged you. He was wearing a typical cop costume with the all-black attire, handcuffs, a fake gun, and a hat. “I would’ve dressed up with a better costume.”

You giggled. “Ah, you already have a nice costume, Mr. Officer.” You winked. Gosh, you were in too deep with this crushing thing.

“You do too, Ms. Croft.” Jimin bit down on his very plump bottom lip. “Ah, is that a cactus?” He pointed to the small plant you held in your left hand.

“Oh!” You blushed and handed it to him. “Yes, it’s your birthday present. Happy birthday!”

Jimin laughed and gladly accepted the plant. “Thank you!” He grinned, eyes turning into crescents. “I should probably put this in a safe place.” He turned around and walked towards a door, but before he opened the door, he turned to you with a raised brow. “Aren’t you going to come?”

“Huh?” You were confused. “I mean, yeah.” You followed him inside the office room with a questionable look. Why did he want you to follow him? You stood by the door and watched him set the plant down carefully on the desk that was placed in front of a window.

Suddenly, Jimin turned to you. “Quit looking at me, you’re making me nervous.”

“Nervous?” You asked with your arms folded across your chest. “The Park Jimin is nervous because I’m looking at him?” You chuckled. “Weird.”

He rolled his eyes. “I mean, you are the Y/L/N Y/N. Why wouldn’t I be nervous about you?”

“Because you’re used to girls ogling you.” You shrugged. “I don’t see how I’m any different.”

The cop scoffed as you walked towards him. He leaned back against the desk with arms on either side of him. “You’re the hottest girl here and it’s impossible to get into something more than a one night stand with you.”

If your heart hasn’t already fallen to the floor, it definitely did now. To say you were in shock was an understatement; you were astounded. “Wait, what?” You had to be hearing things!

And now were you seeing things too? Because the blush on Jimin’s cheek wasn’t there before. “I-” He sighed standing up. “Fuck, well, I’m already in a bit too deep and maybe it’s the 5 and a half shots I took that’s making me too fucking confident but I think I like you. I mean, I find you extremely fucking attractive.”

That’s it. You were hallucinating! “There’s no way you feel the same way I do.”

“You feel the same way about me?” Jimin was surprised too. Wow, the odds were in your favor tonight. “Fuck, that’s amazing.”

You literally had no words because everything seemed as if you were just imaging things. “To be fair, we should’ve expected it. Literally everyone on campus expected it.”

“Then,” Jimin took your hand in his and pulled you closer to him. He leaned back against the desk again and looked at you with eyes that screamed hunger and lust. “What if I kissed you right now?”

Biting down on your lip, you took the initiative to take the last step closer to the cop before you. At this point, you could climb on top of Jimin if you wanted to. “Do it and find out.” You winked.

Jimin smirked, his hands released yours as he placed them on your hip and leaned in closer to your lips. His lips were soft, fuck, they were super soft and moisturized that you took a mental note to ask him what type of chapstick he was using when you have the chance.

The kiss itself was fantastic, however, it was quick to escalate into a heated makeout session that resulted in Jimin spinning you around and placing you to sit on the desk. His hands found their way from your shoulders to your hands, holding them.

Your legs voluntarily wrapped themselves around his hips as your hands knocked off the forage hat he was wearing so that you can tangle your hands in his hair.

If someone were to walk in and see what the two of you were doing, they would definitely say that it was some pretty hot shit going on. However, the moment was quickly ruined when Jimin accidentally pushed your arm back making you come into contact with the cactus plant. “Oh fuck!” You whined, your arm stinging from the thorns.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry!” He took hold of your arm and examined it. You were lucky enough to be only pricked with two thorns but it still hurt. “Can I pull them out?”

You nodded. It was quick when he pulled the thorns out. With a sigh of relief, you looked at your arm with a frown. “I should probably put some ointment and a bandaid on it.”

“Yeah…” Jimin agreed. “I’m so sorry, I really didn’t mean to push your arm into it.”

You shook your head, your hands gripping his shoulders. “You’re fine! It’s fine, don’t worry.” You laughed.

“This is why we can’t have nice things.” Jimin frowned as you hopped off the desk. “I’m really sorry.”

“Jimin!” You rolled your eyes. “If I said that we can continue doing whatever we were doing back at your place tonight, would you stop saying sorry?”

“What was I saying sorry for again?”

You smirked. “Thought so.” You held his hand and pulled him out of the room. “Let’s go.”

As you both walked out, you failed to notice Jungkook standing there with his arms across his chest as a knowing smirk played on his lips. He knew that you guys were definitely going to fuck and that Jungkook was definitely going to use this against you.

What an amazing night.

AN: anD I OOP- I GOT WAY TO CARRIED ON WRITING THIS JSNCIK

➝ ask box ➝ bts masterlist

[perreosolx]

Very saddened to finally realize that gerard probably just played with Bert frank and lynz’s feelings but also I cannot judge him and I even understand why he did it at some extent because I’ve literally done that to people too I think of it as not wanting/being ready to come out because maybe he doesn’t even really know for sure his own business so HOW would he explain it?? WHAT would he say?? I totally get that because I am in that territory myself, I haven’t come out to anyone really I mean I told a friend that i liked a girl a long time ago and she kinda did change her behavior around me ever since so that’s why I’ve been so reluctant to really really take that step plus I’m not sure about my gender AT ALL so that’s another thing, and based on my overall background regarding sexuality and gender I’ve never had like an official, serious, fr fr queer relationship, yeah I had that long distance entirely online thing with a girl when I was a teen and I’ve had one time flings but I haven’t been able to bring myself to take the bull by horns or whatever because a serious relationship would require actually going out in public places and introducing my friends and family and I just CAN’T I have SO MUCH to lose and I’m TERRIFIED so my guessing is that there’s a possibility that gerard feels a similar way, like ok maybe not because he’s gonna get thrown out of his parents house but maybe because he really didn’t want to come out and then be forever labeled as The Gay Singer from that band and thus have mcr become a Gay Band because you KNOW that’s exactly what the media would’ve done and honestly it just doesn’t seem fair for everyone else in the band, like I’m sure they probably wouldn’t really give a fuck to be called f*gs or stuff like that but the world just wouldn’t have taken their work as seriously as they have done and still do and they wouldn’t have had the success they did even if they just did the exact same fucking music because like it or not the world STILL is homophobic. Where I think he really really fucked up for no reason tho, was in not telling his own friends this, I really feel like he neve explained this to anyone like maybe MAYBE Mikey but who knows tbh? I feel like he just led both Bert and Frank on and when they wanted the whole deal, go public or something, he just cut them out of his life like some fuckboy, which is why Bert is Still Hurt to this day and why Frank wrote all that angry poetry, and ok I’m gonna allow myself to be annoying for a second here, those two? Doubtlessly in love, man. I honestly feel very strongly about this because looking at them, their interactions, Frank’s poems, their songs, just everything.... it reminds me of me and the girl I first fell in love with, this girl that ALSO played with my teenage confusion and led me on for years on end until I just Had to cut her out because it simply wasn’t letting me live my life, always waiting for her while she was away doing things and people I always had to find out from thirds, this awful feeling when she was away from me and then this divine feeling when we were together, this is what they remind me of. Frank’s longing and Gerard’s indecision. And after letting her go I just went back to dating men and presenting myself as a woman and it was fucking awful, everything about it felt Wrong until I found this boy, this beautiful man that is super artsy, constantly in touch with his femininity, unable to hurt a fly, so soft and funny and pure and wholesome and basically made of rainbows, you know...... like a girl. We’re engaged. But I always end up wondering, am I gonna marry him because I am in love with him or because he’s the closest thing to a girl I’m ever gonna allow my coward self to tie the knot with? It’s a thought that haunts me, because I really don’t know. Which then reminds me, wouldn’t you say Lindsey is a little masculine? With the tattoos and the style and the way she just carries herself with that ugly confidence only a heterosexual man can have? Her fingers must feel rough, I’m sure.

[dragonleesupporter]

Anything (Sanders Sides Wings AU)

WOOOO Second fic! I wasn’t even sure anybody would even read my shiz, but since people seemed to like my first Sanders Sides fic, I’ve gone and made another! Thank you, guys!

Summary: After discovering Patton having an emotional breakdown, Virgil tries to cheer him up. (Moxiety, and some Logicality, if you squint.)

(WARNING: THIS IS A TICKLE FIC)

“Something’s wrong.” Virgil tensed, his sensitivities kicking in as he could tell something wasn’t quite right in the mind palace. He had been listening to music, when he got the sudden urge to check on everyone else. That normally wasn’t a good sign.

           Immediately, he flew to Roman’s room, being able to use his wings since they were no longer a secret. Reasonably, one of the main places for conflict to take place, Roman’s was the first to check. However, as he creaked the door open, all he could see was Roman playing out one of his favorite theatric numbers with…

           Remus?! Oh wait… he’s not really a threat. Never mind. Virgil rolled his eyes and left, setting out for Logan’s room, which was the closest to Roman’s.

           Logan was very sensitive to things he wouldn’t admit, so the anxious side thought it would be best to check up on him. He opened the door and saw the logical trait, sat in a Sherlock Holmes- styled environment. He even had a fake pipe in his mouth. Virgil tried to leave as quietly as he’d come, but the teacher saw him anyway, despite being absorbed into his book.

           “Virgil? Is everything okay?” He raised an eyebrow.

           “You tell me.” The purple side groaned and set off for Patton’s room, Logan shrugging and turning back to his novel. Though still ever curious of what might be wrong.

           “Pops?” He asked. Opening the third door. With the lack of results, he didn’t really expect anything.

           Which was why he was surprised when he saw the whole room as red instead of its normal gold.

           “I can’t believe that little- AAARGG!” Patton sat in the middle of the room, fingers gripping his hair as he hunched his back, facing away from the door. It was obvious that the emotional side had no clue that Virgil was there.

           “He’s our protector, but who’s protecting him?! That d-d-darn snake keeps harassing him! Why can’t he harass me instead? Tears aren’t new to me, and maybe we could have a pleasant chat… But I can’t stand that ba- bast- bad side tormenting him all the time!” The fatherly side stuttered over several bad words as Virgil gaped from the doorway.

           The red glowing of the room slowly died down, leaving a grey, unresolved color in its place as well as a heaving, sobbing Patton on the floor.

           “Please…” He breathlessly begged to what he thought was an empty room. “Just not Virgil. He’s been through enough. Deceit, if you can hear me… the next time you want to bug us for amusement… I… I open my arms up to you. Come to me instead.” Some of Patton’s feathers fell from his wings, fluttering to the ground like weighted ash clusters. After finishing his message, he got up and turned around to see a pale-faced Virgil staring at him, his eyes wider than saucers, and his lip quivering a little.

           “O-oh! Kiddo! Didn’t uh… see you there…” Patton tried to force a smile on, though it painfully showed what he was desperately trying to hide.

           Man, Virgil thought the pain caused by Deceit was bad… but watching Patton lose his mind over an event that conspired weeks ago… it was unbearable. Especially since when these things happened, after the fact, the fatherly trait normally tried to pretend everything was okay, even when it was painfully obvious, he was going to have another fit about that event again later.

           His hair was a mess, eyes glazed and slightly bloodshot, and Virgil’s heart shattered at the tear stains on Patton’s face, as his smile forcefully dug into his face.

           “I’m sorry if I startled you. I’ll be going then… dinner isn’t going to make itself!” Patton clung to his stiff smile, and walked forward to leave but the purple side blocked his path.          

           “Nuh-uh. Nobody’s having any dinner until you get cheered up.” Virgil stared hard into his unofficial dad’s eyes. “Would flying around in Roman’s room cheer you up?”

           “Oh, there’s’ no need, kiddo. They’ll be waiting for their meal. I just want to help with the food tonight. Th-that’ll make me happy!” Virgil could tell that was a lie. Patton was just trying to get out of the situation to avoid potentially making it more awkward. Plus, he always wanted to give, and had trouble receiving.

           “No, dad. You need time to heal. You can’t force yourself to get up that quickly, or you’ll just fall apart again.” He crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows, making sure Patton got the message that he was not leaving his room until he felt genuinely happy, and until Virgil could see that golden glow again.

           “But… but…” The light blue trait tried to argue, but his complaints dissolved into thin air when the edgy side took his hand.

           “Come on, dad. Let’s do something fun.” Virgil tried a slightly softer tone to help relax Patton. “The other two can wait, and Roman can conjure up whatever he wants for dinner! That royal pain ought to learn how to cook anyway…”

           “Wait… does this mean… you’ll spend time with me?” Patton’s eyes got a microscopic sparkle of hope in them as he realized the setting he was just put into.

           “Well, if that’ll make you happy, then yeah. Anything for you, Pop Star.” Virgil played into his favorite nickname to see the smallest hint of Patton’s real smile returning.

           “Anything…?” He asked sheepishly.

           “Anything.” The other nodded.

           “Okay!” Patton’s eyes grew stars and his brown wings flapped excitedly as he tackled Virgil to the ground, hugging him tight.

           Though startled, the purple side reciprocated the hug. He felt this strange security with the fatherly side that he didn’t with anybody else. And though he was never quite keen on hugging, he knew the poor emotional trait needed it. He wanted to do anything that would comfort him. Without realizing, he naturally started nuzzling into Patton’s neck.

           “Nnnnn… hehehehe…” The other started wriggling around, confusing Virgil. When he turned to look at him, Patton’s face was a light shade of pink with him biting his lip, accompanied by a pleasantly wide smile with his eyes closed.

           It didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

           “Aww~. No way. You’re ticklish, too?” The purple side lightly danced his figures over Patton’s shoulders and neck, causing Pat to clamp his mouth shut to stop a squeal from coming out.

           “Hmmmm… heherm…” The fatherly side let a few muffled giggles slip, and Virgil felt something stir inside him at the sight.

           He didn’t know what it was. All he knew was that he HAD to hear more of that laughter. Knowing Patton wouldn’t want to stop hugging him or shove him away, he used this advantage to reach his wiggling figures to his sides.

           “G-gah!”  Patton snorted before letting out a yelp, trying to pull his hugging arms closer to him, but failing with Virgil in the way.

           “Come on, dad. I know you want to laugh.” The darker side teased maliciously, rapidly squeezing the sides of his belly.

           “Gahahaha!” The fatherly trait finally opened his mouth to let delightful, light giggles travel to Virgil’s ears.

           The purple side grew a strange half-adoring, half-malicious smile, now knowing what it felt like to be the attacker. Now he knew why the others had that odd look while they were tickling him about his wings. It was too adorable. Virgil checked for any signs that he might be crossing a boundary, but Patton’s smile was bright, and though he was struggling, he wasn’t actually making any attempt to escape the purple side’s tickly onslaught. Plus, he could see traces of yellow and orange circling around the edges of the room. Not quite gold yet, but getting closer.

           It seemed that the farther down Virgil reached, the higher Patton’s laughter got. He immediately knew where he should attack next. He reached back and grabbed one of Patton’s ankles as he laid flat against the carpet.

           “W-WAIHIHIHIHIHIT!” The blue side’s panic spiked at the realization what Virgil was going to do. “Vihihigihihil nohohohohoho! Ihi’m rehehehally bahahd thehehehere!”

           “That’s exactly why I’m going there.” The purple one grinned evilly before raking his fingernails up and down Patton’s souls.

           “NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IHIHIHI- IHIHIHI CAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHA!” The poor fatherly side couldn’t even form words as full hysteria took hold of him. His face grew bright red and his eyes opened wide to show a crazed happiness deep within them.

           Virgil grew even more mischievous and pulled a feather from his wings. As he sawed the feather in between his toes, the punny side arched his back and tears filled his eyes, desperately trying to yank his foot out of his unofficial son’s grasp.

           “OHOHOHOHOHOHO GOHOHOHOHOHAHAHHA! NAHAHAHAHAHA!” His thrashing increased and his voice reached even higher in volume and pitch, screaming out incoherent gibberish trying to make a sentence.

           When Patton started wheezing and banging his fists against the floor, Virgil dropped the feather and used his hands to slowly, gently skitter up and down the foot, keeping Patton giggling but not completely losing his mind to laughter. When the anxious one looked around, the whole room was sparkly gold, even brighter than usual, it seemed. Patton was still giggling from what was now just a single finger traveling up and down his sole, his whole body shaking.

           “You’re so cute.” The darker side couldn’t help but coo as Patton flung his head back and forth, unable to stop the soft giggles from flowing from him.

           “Virgil, I do believe something is not r-” Logan’s voice was caught in his throat as he opened Patton’s door.  Virgil was towering over the trait in question, teasing him as his fingers kneaded Patton’s thighs. The other trait was chuckling and squirming, but clearly enjoying himself.

           “Man, you’re just ticklish all over! ~” He exclaimed before seeing a shape in his peripheral view.

           His head whipped toward the door and saw Logan TAKING NOTES on the scene before him.

           “Hey!” He shouted angrily, fuming as red as Patton at that moment.

           “Not to worry. I’m just making some observations on how to make Patton happier.” Logan smiled and continued writing.

           “Why would you need that data?” Virgil questioned doubtfully.

           “N-no reason…” Logan flushed slightly before flying out of the room.

           “You feeling better now?” The anxious trait looked down at Patton and saw the brightest smile adorning the light blue side as his eyes sparkled, leftover giggles poured out of him until he could finally get back up again. For real this time.

           “Never better.”