#Someone on my dash was like 'lol they blocked me' about a kid that came to THEM to act weirdly on the offence on a topic

[sege-h]

The kids are not only not alright but theyre just downright stupid rn

[lokilickedme]

Somebody help me chill, this is insane.

(under the cut because long and also pretty traumatic, for me at least)

Crazy neighbor, remember her?  Her son destroyed a piece of equipment we had attached to one of our trees at the fenceline last week, she denied it and called us insane liars - that’s the most recent craziness in the ongoing saga of the neighbor from hell.  I was sitting here reading my dash tonight and happened to glance over at the monitor for the surveillance camera husband got me the other day to watch that exact spot (where the equipment was smashed) and guess who I see bent over looking through the fence peering very closely at that exact spot?  Neighbor’s equally insane son, who we know did the actual dirty work.  And I, stupid like I am, took a screenshot of him and then immediately jumped up and ran outside in the dark in my pajamas (nearly 9pm, pitch black, their porch light is off because obviously they’re doing something they don’t want to be seen doing) and I ask “Excuse me, what are you doing?”

This lunatic immediately starts SCREAMING at me - I mean top of his lungs SCREAMING abusive threats, calling me a stupid psycho whore bitch, yelling at me to get my ass back in my house and generally just acting completely off his rocker unhinged nuts - and then his mother comes out and comes over to the fence and gets in my face while I’m just standing there and tells me to mind my own business.  I say I am minding my business, I saw him looking through the fence at my property right where we had vandalism happen last week so I came out to find out why he’s interested in my property.  She laughed in my face and said “No he wasn’t, he was standing right here looking at his phone like this” and she does this little pantomine of someone looking at their phone, which is funny because she wasn’t out there when he was doing it and there are no windows on that side of her house at all.  I ignored her and asked “What are you looking for?”  He kept screaming incoherent animal noises and insults from behind her so I asked again, “What are you looking for?”  And that crazy woman grinned at me and said “We’re just looking to see what kind of new devices you’ve installed!”

OMG.  She didn’t even take a breath in between lying and then contradicting her own lie.  And she’s grinning smugly at me the entire time, gesturing around pointing at our property cams and mosquito light (it flashes and apparently she thinks it’s watching her) and my bedroom window - which means she’s been snooping.  There is a cam sitting in my windowsill, aimed at the spot where the device was smashed.  Every bit of this equipment is on our property, some of it behind a privacy fence.  I tell her it’s none of her business what kind of devices we’ve got on our property, but she just yammers over me, and of course numbskull is still ranting like a psycho behind her, screaming at me to mind my own business and get back in my house and leave them alone.  At this point he’s pulled out his phone and shoved it over her shoulder toward my face and is recording me, which is just...fucking hilarious...because I’m literally doing nothing but standing there in shock and awe at how nuts these people are, and he’s still screaming abusive curses and names at me while he’s recording.

Anyway, for about 4.5 minutes we stood there with them shouting over me (I know the exact time because it was later discovered that our doorbell cam recorded audio of the entire event) and a little ways into it he screams “I WILL TEAR YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF!!”

At this point psycho woman finally turns around and says “Addison Case!” and pushes him back.  He lunges at me and she tells him to go call the police (??what??  I mean...I wish he had...my phone was in my hand frozen solid, locked up because of the glitchy surveillance app I had to install to see the camera, or else I would have called them myself - but my god they really thought I was the one the cops needed to come for??).  Meanwhile I’m just standing there on my own property in the dark in my pajamas, all 5 feet and 120 lbs of me, while this rabid animal - he’s a 21 year old college boy - is lunging at me and screaming nonstop, calling me a fucking whore bitch loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear it while his phone’s camera light is in my face blinding me.  Crazy lady smiles that smug shit eating grin of hers and tells me to get back in my house, leave her alone, and move the hell away so she can live in peace.

Wow.  Just...holy shit.

This is the person who has allowed her dog to attack my very small 8 year old son on our property and send him to the hospital with injuries last year, then attempt to attack him again 2 weeks ago (he is now 9 at the time of the second attack) - again on our own property (in our back yard this time, in our front yard the first time), has allowed her dogs (multiple) to bark all night long and keep us awake (she leaves them outside and then goes away for the weekend and they bark the entire time she’s gone), then she had her crazy violent son destroy the BarkBox we put in our tree on our side of the fence last week (we put it up as a humane way to get the barking to stop without having to listen to her call us insane liars every time we complain about it).  Yet...she kept repeating over and over and over for us to leave her alone and stop harassing her.

All I could even do was stand there shaking my head.  It was surreal.  And frustrating, because they wouldn’t even let me get a word out without screaming over me, and she was doing that infuriating Karen thing where they shove their hand at your face and grin smugly while they’re telling you what you better do or they’ll call someone to make you.

I actually started laughing, it was so ludicrous.  She’s committed all those vile offenses against us and we’re the ones that need to leave her alone.  We’ve had to file four police reports against her and we’re the ones that are making her life miserable.  I just can’t stop thinking about that Liar Liar movie where the repeat offender keeps calling his lawyer to complain that the cops won’t stop arresting him and the lawyer finally yells THEN STOP BREAKING THE LAW ASSHOLE!!

It’s just like that.  My god.

SO -

She tells him to call the police again, and this limp dick shoves that phone light right up to my face and says “You think she’s worth calling the cops over?  Look at her, she don’t look worth it to me.”  And bitch starts laughing.  My god, these people are subhuman, I swear.  I’ve never seen anyone act like this in my life, over a person doing literally nothing to them.

So she finally orders her rabid son (who is just about foaming at the mouth, I swear he’s making these barking animal noises at me, it’s weird as hell) into the house and they walk away, with him still ranting like a madman until the door closes behind them.  I immediately go inside my own house and call my husband, who was way out at the back of our property in our camper (he self quarantines each day after work out there to protect us because there have been a lot of covid cases at his workplace) and he didn’t know anything was happening.  He immediately runs up to the house and I tell him I caught neighbor’s thug son messing around at our fence and that when I went out he threatened to kill me.

Tom grabs something - I don’t even know what it was, I think it was this piece of board that was sitting by the door, we’ve done a shelving project recently and a couple of leftover pieces have been there for a few days - and he stalks outside toward neighbor’s house.  I hear him yell COME OUT HERE BOY!!! and I stg you guys, if I wasn’t on the phone calling 911 I might have thought about getting naked right there and then because damn.

So anyway, let’s not go there.  This is serious by god lol (look for this to show up in a fic soon though because material like this doesn’t get handed to you for free every day).

I call 911 and say the neighbor’s son just threatened my life and for them to come quick because he’s still over there but I know he’s going to leave any second (this is his mom’s M.O, the two times the police have tried to go talk to her she gets in her car and leaves before they can get from my house to hers, and I know he’ll do the same because COWARDS).  Tom comes back and says the little pussywillow wouldn’t come out of the house.  He’s breathing fire, you guys.  Pure fucking fire.  I tell 911 to get somebody out quick before the kid leaves, and just about 2 minutes after I hang up he does just that - we see him blast past our house in his truck and he’s gone, and then the police arrive about 3 minutes after.  I’m so mad I can’t see straight.  If they’d been able to see him in the state he was in, they’d have arrested him on sight.

Two squad cars (big SUV’s) pull up and block her driveway with full lights flashing, which makes me laugh because suddenly we’ve got neighbors coming outside to see what’s going on.  I meet the officers outside, and the crazy bitch next door does the same, yelling “Hello Officer!” and waving to them as they’re coming up to my porch.

They talk to me and Tom for a long time, I tell them everything that happened, they interview Big (he and Little were inside the open door and heard it all), we fill out our statements and talk with them more until one officer goes next door to talk to neighbor.  We can hear her dripping her fake sugar and spice while they’re talking on her porch and my husband loses his shit - he heads toward her house and yells “We got the entire thing on recording, don’t even try to lie!  Your kid, threatening to kill my wife?!?”  (he’s referring to the camera in my bedroom window, which actually only recorded about 2 minutes because I don’t have it set up correctly yet, but they don’t know that). The officer yells at him to get back, which, yeah - he shouldn’t have done that, but for god’s sake the woman’s peckerhead son just literally threatened murder on a member of his family, this is the final fucking straw and he’s mad.  And as he’s coming back across the yard the officer that stayed with me points at our new doorbell camera, just freshly installed as of about two weeks ago, and asks if it’s on.  We haven’t even really figured out how to use it yet, but yes, as far as we know it’s on.  The incident happened around the side of the house, but the doorbell records audio.

God bless technology.

I invite the officer inside the house and Tom gets his phone, pulls up the app for the doorbell, and starts skipping through the recording looking for the right timestamp.  Up till this point all they have is me saying the guy screamed a lot of abusive profanities at me and threatened to tear my head off, and they’re taking me serious but probably not that serious, you know?  Neighbors fight all the time, wars start over barking dogs, things get exaggerated, we’ve all seen the TV dramas.

Until Tom finds the segment on the footage and starts playing it to them on his phone.  It’s kind of quiet because we were a good distance away, but you can hear the guy screaming just like I said he was.  The officer asks if we have a speaker we can play it through so he can hear the words more clearly, because he needs proof of threat and that’s entirely in the words.

You guys, I’m tellin’ ya, sometimes you get a chance to fucking SHINE.  My husband is a musician and this cop is asking him if he’s got a good speaker.  So within minutes Tom’s got this huge venue-style amplifier designed for broadcasting music to the back wall of a freaking stadium pulled out into the livingroom and he’s hooking his phone up to it, and then he hits play and the other officer comes back from next door to join us and I can tell by the annoyed look on his face that neighbor bitch has likely charmed him and shed a plethora of persecuted tears and spewed her lies about how we’ve been harassing her forEVER and I think for a second that it’s a total loss now, he’s made his mind up in her favor.

And then...away we go.  Tom cranks the volume on the speaker and they both lean in to listen closely.

Just about a minute into the recording they have their proof - thugnuts screaming I WILL TEAR YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF!!!

Both officers nod, close their notebooks, and the second officer makes a phonecall while the first one turns to me and says “That’s terroristic threatening and it’s a class C felony.  You’re going to need to go to the PA’s office with all the reports you’ve filed against them so far and all your evidence from tonight including that recording and hand it all to them.  They’re likely going to issue a no-contact so that he can’t interact with you ever again.”

This is a victory, but it’s just the first step, and I feel sickeningly disheartened that it’s all in my lap to do everything.  I want them to go demand his whereabouts from his mother and just go get his ass and haul him in.  But no, I have a ton of legwork to do now because these horrible people won’t fucking stop.

After several more minutes of me asking questions about what exactly we need to do and where we need to go, etc etc (I’m competent but I’m also fucking rattled, someone threatened to kill me tonight and I’m blanking hard on the instructions he’s giving me) they finally wrap it up and leave.  They’ve been in my house for a half hour waiting for me to finish filling out the report (I had to ask for more paper because honey I’m getting ALL the details in there) and I can just imagine how freaked out neighbor is when she sees what time they finally move their cars from in front of her driveway.

And now I’m coming down from the weird calm that I had through the entire event, and my heart feels like it’s going to EXPLODE.  I had heart surgery two months ago, do I need this??  The pathetic part is that I know now just how stupid those people are, and I know this won’t be the end from their side by any means.  We’ll start finding more stuff broken, or he’ll start climbing over the fence back at the back of the property to steal stuff from husband’s tool shed, or my tires will get slashed.  These people are that dumb and hateful, they proved it tonight.  He said if we had animals he would kill them, and then he made the same threat against me.  How stupid does a person have to be to stand there with his phone out recording himself ranting and making threats against a woman standing in her own yard in her pajamas?  Big tough man there.  And his mama grinning at me the whole time, telling me I’m crazy and she’s concerned for her own safety because of me, while her son is standing right behind her threatening my life.

I’m just...my god, I don’t even know what to think.  I thought people only acted like this in TV dramas, seriously.  I’ve seen some shit in my life but this particular brand of stupid has up till now evaded me, but now it’s been in my face and I’m sort of in shock.

I don’t like guns.  At ALL.  Tom has always had at least one hidden carefully away, safely locked up away from the house, but now there are two inside my house in immediate grabbing range.  He insisted that I let him show me how to use them.  Rules were laid down for the boys - never touch, never, don’t even get close to them - and now there is a box of shotgun shells on my fireplace mantel and a singleshot rifle by the door.  I hate this so damn much.

Don’t pick it up unless you’re ready to use it, he told me.  Without even thinking, I said back, “If I touch it it’s getting used.”

I HATE THIS SO FUCKING MUCH

My god.  I told the cops that the drug lord that lived over there four years ago was a better neighbor than this woman.  They didn’t even laugh.

I guess they’re right, now that I think about it...it isn’t funny.

[outrunningthedark]

How are you this fine morning? Just wanted to say again how much I appreciate your ray-of-light blog. (It also helped me see I've been doing a good job curating my dash because I didn't see any of the negativity, just people complaining about the negativity lol. Eddie is moving to texas?? Like where on EARTH did that come from?)

For the sake of everybody's nervous systems, I hope folks can just let themselves enjoy this ride we are on, can allow themselves to continue to be surprised and delighted. Instead of locked in to an expectation (or hopelessness!) that basically guarantees misery. Queer trauma is real and we'll do all kinds of things to protect ourselves from the pain of inevitable disappointment. But, selfishly, I have so appreciated the collective joy and elation of this past week (at poor eddie being shot, we are so sick...) and hope it continues.

I don't know about you, love, but my day was going just fine until some teenage girl decided to start shit on Twitter! 😑 (I honestly wish someone in Oliver's camp would teach him how to utilize the block button. His social media experience would be so much more pleasant.) This season's been lackluster for me (A*a and T*ylor's resurgence has put fandom heteronormativity on display...), but one of the things I have thoroughly enjoyed is being SURPRISED by each and every Buddie interaction/detail because we genuinely have no idea what's coming every week. The highlights: ✨ "Eddie and Hen went back to their kids months ago." I'M SORRY. WHAT. THEY WERE ROOMATES??? AND WE DIDN'T GET TO SEE IT??? WHERE DID EDDIE SLEEP??? ✨ When Eddie came to stand next to Buck against the firetruck as Buck was checking his phone ✨ "Hey, at least it's not a tsunami. Right?" LISTEN!!! I AM GOING TO KEEP YELLING ABOUT EDDIE TRYING TO MAKE LIGHT OF SUCH A TRAUMATIC EVENT BECAUSE HE KNOWS BUCK STILL FEELS GUILTY ABOUT LOSING CHRIS!!! ✨ Eddie making sure Buck's rope is secure 😍 "This is Diaz. Be advised, Buck's about to touch down." THE WAY A LINE LIKE THIS WILL MAKE ME SCREAM WHEN THEY'RE CANON, THOUGH??? WHAT IF EDDIE CALLS HIM SOMETHING ELSE??? ✨ Remember when Buck was being sent in to help Chim with the girl in labor and he's telling Eddie what the plan is? "Copy that. You ready?" It's such a *small* moment, but Eddie making sure Buck is good to go is EVERYTHING. ✨ THE DAMN SOLAR SYSTEM MOBILE HANGING FROM CHRISTOPHER'S CEILING ALL OF THE SUDDEN??? WHAT IS THAT ABOUT??? ✨ THE REALIZATION THAT EDDIE MADE SURE BUCK WAS PART OF CHRISTOPHER'S QUARANTINE BUBBLE ✨ FAMILY GAME NIGHT!!! Christopher asking Buck to go to his apartment to play video games!!! Eddie giving Buck the "try me" stare!!! ✨ Eddie "I can know weird stuff, too" Diaz is my favorite Eddie Diaz, bye. HE LISTENS TO BUCK. HE TRIES TO LEARN NEW THINGS. ✨ Christopher and his (other) dad conspiring to buy Eddie a Hildy - "We got him." "Thanks, Buck." 🤭 ✨ “Just gonna be you and me.”  “Her? You’re going with her?” Buck, sweetie, I’m so sorry he did that you! ✨ “You did not build [Christopher] a skateboard.” // “Yeah, well. Buck helped.” HE JUST HAD TO MAKE SURE SHE KNEW. ✨ “I think we’re gonna go to my parents in El Paso to eat.” DO YOU KNOW HOW OFTEN I THINK ABOUT THIS??? WHY MUST THEY TORTURE US WITH THESE UNNECESSARY DETAILS??? ✨ “For the love of God, please follow Buck back on insta.” SUCH A GOOD HUSBAND. JUST WANTS TO MAKE BUCK HAPPY. ✨ Cagney and Lacey are on the case 🧐 ✨ Eddie telling Bobby Buck is on the phone with Dr. Copeland because he has to work on “de-escalation techniques.”  ✨ “Maybe Chimney needs to stop talking to him. Could set him off. *awkward pause* Sorry. Bad choice of words.” Forever curious why Buck is the only character (so far) to acknowledge Eddie’s PTSD??? ✨ Eddie validating Buck’s feelings after the meeting with his parents and placing his hand on the punching bag because he knows Buck won’t hit him 😭 ✨ “Defective parts, as it turned out.” // “Hey, that’s not on you.” EDDIE WILL NOT LET HIS HUSBAND TALK ABOUT HIMSELF LIKE THAT. ✨ “Show-off.” // “I had to do it.” // “I know you did.” (That’s Eddie’s version of “I love you”, for the record.) ✨ “I’m sorry, what was that?” // “Check.” OKAY, HUSBANDS! WE SEE YOU! ✨ “Still not sure what inspired the software update.” EDDIE LOVES BUCK JUST THE WAY HE IS, THANK YOU. ✨ “You’re allowed to give yourself some time, you know. To process.” Buck might be willing to forgive his parents, but Eddie? Eddie thinks they don’t deserve his love. At least not right then.  ✨ The hubbies laughing about the clowns and Eddie stopping himself from touching Buck 👀 (Still curious as to if that was in the script or Ryan went “my bad!”) ✨ “IT’S LIKE THE UNIVERSE IS SCREAMING AT YOU AND YOU REFUSE TO LISTEN.” ✨ I gotta shout out Mama Hen for everyone’s *other* favorite line from Jinx - “Ana who?”  Okay, I’ll stop there before I bore y’all to tears. ALL OF THIS RIGHT HERE? Happened in the first SIX EPISODES (including the crossover) and we knew NOTHING about ANY OF IT. I’m not gonna tell anyone how to feel about the possibility of canon!Buddie, but I hope that this post has helped you realize the unknown is what has made season 4 so special to us. 💖

[branzycrafted]

that syscourse post just came up on our recommended which i find so ironic bc i read the post saying littles shouldnt have social media while scrolling through my own social media account as a little like. oh. ok.

its such a weird take like. i had to be the host for a while so it was fine for me to be in high school and working a job, but not to be online? like? i drove us to school at 6am but i cant look at #webkinz on tumblr?

and not to mention like. if we see dangerous things, we switch. and even if we cant switch, i can deal with it enough to block them or get the post off our dash. even if im small i still live in an almost adult system and i still understand what the brain understands and know some of what the brain knows, and that includes stuff like curse words ill see online and what tags i should block so i dont see weird things. if im ever fronting "alone," austin is usually there by default so theres still an adult alter to help if i need it, and if he isnt or if its too blurry, i was still a host and had to have times where i took care of myself and protected myself otherwise we wouldnt have gotten by during the time i was our host. and when im like smaller i have like an army of people who adopted me as their younger sibling (/hj) to monitor anything that we come across online, and theyre all adults/older people and most of them are protectors whos focus on fronting with me is to keep my spaces safe.

like. even the syskids that act like real children like toby and like me half the time, our brain has still seen what its seen and knows what it knows, we wont like discover bad stuff through social media, we were traumatized to be here and know bad stuff exists bc we went through it. and we know how to handle ourselves to survive and to function, i wouldnt have been a host if i couldnt do that. theres syskids with multiple roles and syskids who are hosts and syskids who are older or agesliders and syskids who are protectors and syskids who just know how to take care of the system, and in general, syskids arent like singlet kids in the sense that we have the lived experience of an older person and the brain of an older person. a 6 yr old singlet didnt go to highschool, i did, i can handle myself online and talk to people like im older even if im not bc our brain is still older than me and at the end of the day its also my brain. im a kid, but im not helpless. it would be more dangerous for null to be online than it would for me, or for bug despite them being an adult. an alter's vulnerability and capability has nothing to do with age.

they were so confident like it was such a hot take and such a good cool thing like it was so profound but it was so not. like. literally not at all

-🌼

(I hope you don't mind me answering like this let me know otherwise!!)

YEAH!!! Literally I saw that and was like "Well I literally know of child alters who don't act like little kids like you apparently think they all do", they were so confident in their take and the replies were like lol you're so wrong

We have adults in-sys who have been more vulnerable than the children sometimes???? It's so not about age?????? And again it's REALLY bold to go out and claim that every system ever that lets their littles/syskids touch social media is an idiot and not keeping them safe. Cause that also is So Wrong!! As far as I know we've had syskids on social media to some degree while actively being with someone that was watching over them??

Also!! Body age goes above alter age!! That goes both ways, it goes for adults in minor-bodied systems and minors in adult-or-almost-adult-bodied systems or whatever. A 9 year old in a system that's like 20 bodily would not at all be on the same level as a singlet 9 year old—

I recall one reply saying they should replace it with "vulnerable alters" if anything and yeah I to some extent agree, like still not necessary 100% true but it's better than just broadly saying littles/syskids. Literally just,, any alter considered vulnerable can do whatever it's just that they should have someone with them to keep them stable or safe or vice versa.

And again I think it's so hypocritical how they said "let the kids live" but were actively making a point that would not be "letting the kids live" cause like you said if you wanna go on social media to look at webkinz you should be allowed to, that's literally "letting the kids live", letting them look at things that bring them some kind of happiness or comfort. "Let the kids live but actually don't just coop them up in headspace cause they're oh so unsafe otherwise" lol

Grrrr child alter can literally work a job but can't go on social media to look at content relating to a kid's game >:((( WE'RE HERE BECAUSE OF TRAUMA BUDDY LIGHTEN UP A LITTLE

[spencerreidimagines]

Lovely Little Details

//Word count: 1.7k

Warnings: none

A/N: hey y’all, sorry for the late post!! This just a little coffee shop imagine that foreverrrr to get out of my head lol. Hope y’all enjoy! p.s. there usually is a read more link but I’m on mobile so this post is just gonna be left as is until I get my hands on a laptop :)

It was in a quaint coffee shop that Spencer had first laid his eyes on her. She was tucked into a corner, with her head low and her eyes steady. Her hands cupped a steaming coffee mug dotted with stars and hand painted constellations, as her eyes followed the wandering city-goers through the window beside her. A leather journal was splayed open before her; with a shift of her elbow, he caught a glimpse of the ragged manifestations of her thoughts.

He spotted lines and dots and creatures lining the side of her page, her sketches on the journal's edge were specific; definite. He followed along the coils and stray hairs that sprung from her high bun, the slope of her neck, the slight smile that rested upon her lips...

Spencer sighed and righted himself in his seat to face the nearly empty coffee cup before him; he had been staring, he realized. He clacked his fingers against the table as he silently hoped the splinted moment when they caught eyes hadn't been as noticeable as he felt it was.

A name was then shouted in the background, and through the bustle of the cafe he heard the soft kick of someones hasty steps. He'd held his breath as he ran through the incredibly slim chances that it might be that stranger from across the room, a slight knot curling in his stomach as he had no idea what to say to this woman if she decided to confront him. When he felt a tap on his shoulder, his face shriveled into a grimace before he fixed himself to face this stranger, his eyes soft and apologetic.

"I think this might be yours," a mild voice floated to his ears, "They handed me the wrong drink, then just gestured over here so..."

"Oh," he responded, surprised, before reaching to take the cup from her hands and nodding in thanks, which she waved away with an awkward smile resting on her lips.

"I also noticed you staring earlier," the beginnings of an apology began to push against his lips before she continued on, "Which normally would throw me off but, you're kind of cute, so I thought I'd just...invite you to sit with me for a while."

His brows shot up in surprise before he composed himself and checked his watch, thankful that he still had about half an hour before his lecture, "Sure," he responded as he began to gather his things.

"Alright," she sighed, donning an accomplished smile before she turned on her heel and crossed the room to return to her seat, nerves now beginning to fester in her core as she absently scanned over her notes to distract herself from the growing pit in her stomach.

‘what on Earth was I thinking?' she thought to herself before she stifled her thoughts as Spencer set his things along the back of the chair and sunk into his seat. He flashed her a courteous smile once their eyes met.

"I have to admit," he started, "I'm a little surprised that you'd invite me over here after you caught me staring."

“You know, I'm surprised myself," she admitted with a small chuckle, "I don't usually do things like this, but something about you caught my attention," She paused as her gaze flicked to his hands playing at his sleeves, he was fixing the watch to peek out of his tweed jacket, "do you have somewhere to be?" she asked.

“I have a, uh, lecture in half an hour," he responded, his voice stern and yielding against her open ears.

"You're a teacher?" she asked, brow raised in intrigue, to which he nodded with a shrug, "That explains so much about you."

"It does?" he asked, his head lightly cocked to the side.

"Mhm," she hummed, taking a sip from her mug, "You seem like the scholarly type." His eyes flicked to the side as he digested her oddly forward answer, "What's your name?"

"Spencer," he said before he quirked his brow to silently request for her own.

"(y/n)," her gaze wide and inviting, before she set her mug down with a soft clink, and rested her chin onto her hand, "So tell me about yourself, Spencer, there has to be more to you than teaching."

"I only teach lectures occasionally," Spencer flitted his eyes to the table, her unwavering attention slightly overwhelming, yet warm enough to keep his own tethered between them, "majority of the time, I work in the behavioral sciences unit, in the FBI."

Surprise and intrigue flashed across her features as she raised her mug to hide her gleaming smile, "Behavioral sciences unit, huh? So you study people?"

"That's actually a misconception," he began, "we investigate federal crimes through a behavioral lens. The creation of this department is actually a pretty interesting story," She nodded for him to go on, and as he spoke, (y/n) followed his hands as they fluttered about, "When it was first established, most of the general public didn't believe that serial killers could've had the capacity for compassion in their early lives."

"Well, in their defense, it's pretty hard to see someone as a compassionate human being after you've been a direct witness to the families that they tore apart," (y/n) responded, frankly, "So, what changed their minds?"

"The profiles started working," he said matter of factually.

(y/n) just nodded, a simple frown on her face as she digested his information, "It must've taken years for a turn around like that," she lowered her mug, "I can only imagine how hard it must've been to get that department off of the ground."

Spencer scoffed, "Yea, not many people liked to change their minds back then," he responded, accents of jest and spite dancing along his words, "So, uh, what do you do?"

"I'm an author," she responded, pride flashing across her features before melting into rested humility.

Spencer's eyes flashed before his tongue dashed across his lips, he could only imagine the worlds hidden away in her mind, "How long have you been writing?"

"Oh, I've been writing for years, and it was a challenge to find a way to get paid for it," she responded, dismissive yet firm with her voice, "nobody believed me when I said that I was going to open up the world through my words; make it seem more inviting and colorful than it's turned out to be."

He watched a storm roll across her gaze as she followed her rippled reflection in her mug, her finger lightly playing at the rim. "I know I probably just sound like every other starving artist out there," she chuckled, "but I've dreamt this big since I was a kid, so a couple of naysayers aren't going to stop me from doing what I love."

Spencer nodded, "I know how hard it is to be doubted by the people who are supposed to support you," an empathetic smile flickered across his lips, "it took my mother years to accept my career path."

"Oh, yea?" she asked, "I had no idea you could meet so much resistance in becoming an FBI agent."

Spencer chuckled, bashful, "Most of the resistance came from how young I was. The other training agents were nearly ten years older than me when I started."

(y/n) startled a bit, "Ten years? How young were you when you started working for the FBI?"

"Twenty two." He answered simply, and upon realizing her blase response, he quickly followed up with, "Most agents join the FBI in their mid-thirties."

"Oh, I see I have a genius on my hands," she jested, "somehow, that doesn't surprise me." She muttered wistfully, her hands interlocked under her chin. "The jacket, the hair, the wide intelligent eyes; you have scholar written all over you."

"You could tell that just from what I was wearing?" He asked, a mild wonder tinting his words.

"Mhm, writers study people too," she responded nonchalantly, "passers by present so many details of who they are on the surface."

He spared himself a glance as her eyes turned to the bustling city goers, drinking her in as much as he could. The white sheen of the snow covered sidewalks bounced off of her skin; she seemed to steep in the weak winter sun. He followed how her shoulders rose and fell with a wistful breath before she darted her gaze back down to her journal, her fingers caressing the page as kindly as the breeze that spins autumn leaves.

"That's how I make sense of the world," she started, "those little characteristics that no one pays any mind to make the world so bright for me, and I want to share that perspective with as many people as I possibly can."

Spencer felt the apples of his cheeks grow warm as he gathered the earnest hope held in her eyes while she cradled the page between her finger tips. Her drive to share her craft ran so deep; she was so open and honest.

Before he could get another word out, his watch beeped, drawing both of their gazes to his wrist; their half hour was up. The rising excitement in his chest deflated as he began to tuck his watch back into its place, “I hate to cut this short, but I have to go.” He said, apologetically, “When can I see you again?”

"I'm not going anywhere any time soon." An easy grin spread across her lips as she scanned her frenzied notes, “I like to come to this corner of the coffee shop whenever I have writer's block, and I usually don’t leave until I have a decent story on my hands."

Spencer's lips quirked up to a grin that matched hers, before he nodded and stood to gather his things.

"On the off chance that I do leave before you’re done lecturing," she started, grabbing a napkin and scrawling something across it, "Here's my number. I would love to see you again."

His grin widened as he took the napkin and pocketed it before gathering the rest of his things, “I’m glad you invited me over here,” he said bashfully with his hand gripping his satchel’s strap.

“I am too.” (y/n) responded, her hands cupping her mug once more, while she smiled softly, “now go before you’re late.”

With a curt nod and a gentle wave, Spencer turned on his heel, and made his way to the coffee shop doors, a slight bounce in his stride as he let his mind travel mere hours ahead of him when he could see (y/n) again. Her and her idiosyncrasies drew him in, and he could not wait to figure her out.

[feferipeixes]

is it just me or is tau with dipper and an adder stone a really cool concept??? like 👀 at any content w it. not like. im not trying to pressure you into making anything or anything im just. sharing mutual love for an interesting concept??? yeah lol

Yeah it is really cool! I’d never heard of adder stones before that post but they seem pretty dope. I know you weren’t trying to pressure me into making anything but here is a small thing I thought up~

===

“Dipper! Hey, hey Dipper, Dipper look at me, look at meeeee, your sister! Check this out, hey!!”

Dipper, sitting on a rock in his striped swimsuit, was hunched over a shard of black glass he’d found while walking along the beach. He groaned at the sound of Belle’s voice and curled up tighter. “Not now!” he barked back. “I’m busy studying this volcanic rock I found. I read that people used to use them to send secret messages and do magic yknow.”

Belle’s padding footsteps came to a halt inches away from him. “The only secret code on that rock is the one that says you’re a nerd,” she said, shaking him by the shoulders. “And you don’t need a rock to tell you that ‘cause I’m nice enough to do it for you! That’s just the kind of gal I am.”

He rolled his eyes and looked up. “What is it?”

His sister posed dramatically like the models she’d seen on TV, which she personally thought made her look very enchanting thank you very much despite the fact that she was ten and had sand all over her legs and swimsuit. “Look at my dazzling jewelry!” she announced, showing him her right hand.

Dipper raised an eyebrow. “You put a rock on your finger.”

“Yeah!” Belle pulled her hand away and held it up to the sky. “I found this cool rock with a hole in it like a ring! Now I’m just like a beautiful swan maiden from that movie Kidnapped At Dawn.”

“Oh my stars, Belle, you don’t want to be like the girl in that movie,” Dipper grumbled, looking back at his piece of glass.

“Oh yeah? Well... it’s still a cool ring! Maybe Danny from Mrs. Penlip’s class and I will get married someday and he’ll give me a ring juuuust like this one!”

“Ew, that’s gross!” Dipper got up and snatched the rock off his sister’s finger, to her loud dismay. “The getting married thing and the putting a weird rock on your finger thing.”

“Give it back!” Belle shouted, her face turning red. “Okay maybe not Danny -- he did pee on the slide at recess last year -- but someone else then!”

Ignoring her, Dipper put his hand out to block her from grabbing the rock, and used the other to hold it up to his eye. “Just gotta check out the damage here,” he huffed, trying out the voice of the professor from Dr. Researchman because it was his turn to act out a character from his favorite show. “Gotta see all the beach gunk you got on yourself -- whoa.”

Belle stopped flailing and cocked her head. “Whoa?”

“Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaa,” Dipper breathed and swung his head around. Through the rock he could see a massive pink lizard, stretching as far down the beach as he could see. It looked sort of like a salamander but it had red frills around its head and a catlike smile. The... whatever it was... seemed to notice his attention, as it winked at him and started crawling away.

And that wasn’t all he could see. There were little sparkling bits of fluff everywhere in the air. One close to his head made a buzzing sound and flew into his gaping mouth. He yelped and tried to spit it out, but as far as he could feel with his tongue there wasn’t actually anything in there.

“Belle, this is so cool!” he said finally. “If you look through the rock you can see all this invisible stuff! I can’t - I can’t even explain it, I uh, I gotta sketch some of this in my notebook!”

Without taking the rock away from his eye, he scrabbled around behind him to try to find his notebook.

Belle put her hands on her hips and pouted. “Yknow, it was my rock first,” she said. “I should get to look at the invisible stuff first.”

“Finders keepers, losers criers,” he shot back, sticking his tongue out.

“It’s losers weepers -” she started, glaring at him, and then faltered. “Whoa. How are you doing that?”

At last grabbing his notebook, Dipper flipped open to a blank page and started doodling. “How am I doing what?”

“That thing with your eye!” Belle squeaked. “Through the ring rock, your eye like turned completely black! How are you doing that?”

“Uhh.” He finally took the rock away from his eye and squinted at it. “I dunno. That’s kind creepy. Hey wait...” he added, catching a glimpse of his own hand through the opening. “It makes my nails look really long and pointy too. What is this thing?”

“Let me try, let me try!” Belle squealed, grabbing the ring back. “I wanna see if it makes my eyes go all creepy too! It could be a really cool Halloween effect, yknow?”

Looking at her brother, she started to put the rock up to her face, and for a split second something dark and horrible flickered before her eye, like the worst nightmare she’d ever had come to life, sending a shiver down her spine as it came into focus, and -

“Belle! Dipper!” Lionel’s voice came from a little bit down the beach. “It’s time to go!”

Belle shrieked in surprise and fumbled the rock. It went shooting into the air and landed somewhere in the sand. Both she and Dipper gasped and dropped to their knees to search for it.

“Kids?” Lionel said, much closer now. The twins looked up at him, disappointment written all over their faces. “Come on, let’s go. I bet you two are hungry -- I know I am -- and I saw a great restaurant on the way here that serves ice cream burgers. That sounds good, doesn’t it?”

“Oh boy, does it!” Belle shouted, jumping up and running toward the car, lingering thoughts about the stone already dashed.

“You coming, Dipper?” Lionel asked.

Dipper picked his hands up and watched the sand filter through his fingers. “Yeah, I guess,” he murmured. He stood up and gave his dad a weak smile, then ran ahead to catch up with his sister.

“Hey Belle,” he said when they reached the car, both panting from exertion. “Um. Did you see any of the cool stuff I was talking about? In the rock?”

She frowned. “Iunno. I didn’t really get a good look at it. There was something kinda scary in there but I dunno what it was.”

Dipper kicked at the pavement with a sandaled foot. “That blows. It was so cool -- it was like there’s all this hidden magic stuff all around us and we just can’t see it.” He sighed as their father caught up with them and started to unlock the car. “I just. Wish I could see that sort of stuff all the time.”

(Only a couple of years later, Belle saw Dipper’s eyes go dark again, and from then on he no longer needed a magical rock to truly see the world around him.)

(AO3 link)

[main-bangtansmauyeondan]

Still With You (images before and after text)

🎄 Day 10 - Still With You

MASTERLIST

a/n: Happy New Year!!!!!!! For those ten people (lol) who have been following this AU, I am so so so SOOOOO sorry it took me a while to update. I hit a major writer’s block and I needed to find inspiration to continue with this. Plus, I really think this is too short from what I have in mind and I have to squeeze the rest of the story in for the remaining chapters. Now, I AM rambling. I promise, on my next AU (hopefully?), it will be better. I’ll work extra hard on it. :) 

Even before receiving that text from Jungkook, Bunny, your beloved Bichon Frise has already alerted you that someone is outside when she leaped from where you two were sitting on the couch and dashed to the door. Weeks after Goldie, the Shih Tzu you adopted back in college has passed away due to a viral infection, Jungkook surprised you by bringing Bunny home. She's so white and fluffy that it reminded him of a bunny rabbit, whom you always playfully referred to him as, and he didn't want you to dwell in the sadness caused by Goldie's passing, so he decided to adopt her. Jungkook and Bunny were head over heels in love with each other, that you knew she also felt the emptiness caused by your break up. Dogs can tell the passing of time by the smell of the air, and during the first few weeks of your break up, at exactly 6:00 PM, Bunny would run towards the door, tail wagging, waiting for Jungkook's cuddles and treats. Although you two did not live with each other as a couple, Jungkook used to swing by your apartment everyday after work and sometimes stay during the weekends.

Tossing your phone on the couch, you got up and headed for the door, cursing yourself in the process, for agreeing to talk to Jungkook. You grabbed your wooly cardigan from the coat rack and wrapped yourself in it, shrugging off the cold that's a tell-tale sign that Christmas is just around the corner. You passed by the monitor on the vestibule to check if Jungkook was really right outside your door... and he was. Dressed in a black coat and a beige turtleneck, he had both hands in his pockets, had a worried look in his doe eyes, and had been nibbling on his lower lip, wondering if you would let him in or leave him outside to freeze. You contemplated right at that moment if you would let him in or not. Sure, you saw each other at events after your break up, but you never really interacted. This would be the first time he would set foot on your apartment again since the day he decided to drop everything you two have shared in the last four years and walk out of your life for good.

---

"What is it that you want to talk to me about?" you finished dusting cinnamon powder on the peak of the blob of whipped cream sitting atop a cup of steaming hot cocoa. You pushed it across the kitchen island to Jungkook before crossing your arms across your chest.

“I wasn’t kidding when I asked for five minutes of your time--”

“Okay, and you’ve been sitting there for two minutes already.”

Jungkook stood up and rounded the kitchen island over to you in a three-second span, making you step back in shock. The next thing you knew, you were enveloped in a tight hug, and a familiar whiff of musky cotton fills your senses.

“Jungkook, what are you doing?” you froze, and as much as you wanted to get away from him, you couldn’t deny the comfort of familiarity that you felt wrapped within his embrace. Instead of answering, Jungkook tightens the hug even more and buried his face in the crook of your neck. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry, YN. Please take me back.”

Hearing those four words sent shivers down your spine. The pain and the angst came rushing like a stream and it prompted you to push him away with all the strength that you could muster. “Are you serious!? After everything that happened, you’re just gonna waltz into my apartment, say sorry, and expect me to take you back just like that?” It came out almost a whisper. You’ve never been one to raise your voice in an argument, let alone, in an argument with Jungkook. Neither does he. Jungkook is calm, collected, and has the patience of a saint. That’s why when he started getting mad at the tiniest things, and he started snapping at you over something petty, they felt like flags in the brightest shade of red waving at you, signaling the end of your relationship.

Running a hand over his face out of frustration and shame, Jungkook looked away, nibbling on his lower lip. But it only lasted for a few seconds because he stepped closer again, cupped your face between his hands and looked into your eyes. “I made a mistake, I am a coward. I shouldn’t have left you, I’m just so scared, sweetheart,” his eyes roamed all over your face trying to read your blank expression.

You removed his hands from your face and he didn’t resist it this time. You turned around and leaned against the kitchen island, trying to ground yourself. You were not prepared for this confrontation. To be honest, you’re not even sure how to assess this situation. What is he doing in your apartment? Why is he trying to mend something that two months ago, he was so sure he wanted to leave broken.

“Of what?” You asked with your back still on him. “What were you so scared of?” You tensed up when you felt Jungkook’s arms wrap around your waist.

“Of not being enough for you.”

“What?!’

“I wanted to prove that I am somebody. I wanted to excel in the film industry. I wanted to know the ‘right people’ and get recognized for my craft. I wanted-”

“That’s why you left me for her…” you said bitterly.

Jungkook did not try to deny it. He also did not try to stop you when you wiggled out of his arms and started pacing across the room.

“Jungkook, your five minutes is up. I can’t do this. I can’t have this conversation with you.”

“YN, baby, please hear me out. I AM somebody. I EXCEL in the film industry. I KNOW the ‘right people’ now and I AM recognized for my craft. But I feel empty. I don’t wanna do this alone, YN. I want you with me, I want you by my side. I want to do everything with you, babe. Not with anyone else, but still with you.”

[you-did-well-moon]

The Warmth Provided (2)

Type: Fluff, Angst, Crack, college au, friends to lovers au

A/N: The second part is here!! Which means we only have one more part to this little series! Disclaimer, not all requests I receive will end up like as big as this. Lol y/n keeps on with her booboo the fool antics in this one as well. At this point, idk if Sungjin and y/n will even stay friend jk yes I do. Don’t be afraid to talk to me and enjoy!!

TW: Reader neglects herself, awkward situations, toxicity and unreal depiction of Sungjin

Part 1| Part 2| Part 3

You scrambled to bend down and look under the table seeing the whole time you had been touching and rubbing Jae’s leg which was right next to the actual pole. You quickly pressed your legs to the front legs of your chair. Shock made your chest tighten and a cold feeling settled in the pit of your stomach. You apologized to Jae through your fingers which you had slapped on to your mouth when you saw what you had done feeling your face grow unbelievably hot. 

Jae was able to squeak out an accepting “it’s ok” to your insistent apologies, clumsily standing up and saying he had to go to class which you knew was a lie because you remembered he didn’t have class until hours later. He practically ran out of the cafeteria.

You sunk down in your seat burying your head into your hands feeling your body tremor with embarrassment and shame. You felt the need to be in your apartment snuggled into your bed and away from the other people in the cafeteria who you unrealistically felt were all staring at you although no one had actually seen what happened. 

 You were so sure that even if you were able to keep your feelings from Jae, you had just unintentionally still put a little strain on your friendship with the accidental game of footsie. You were so flustered and eager to get back to your dorm, you forgot Sungjin’s hoodie in the chair which had been next to yours. 

Instead, Jae’s jacket kept you warm on the walk back to your apartment. 

/-/-/-/

You pushed your face farther into the pillow pulling at your hair. No matter what you did, the embarrassing scene that had happened earlier that day kept replaying in your head, also filling your head with insecurities you had not had to face in a long time. You really hoped Jae had gotten over it and didn’t hold anything against you. 

You weren’t even sure you could turn up to your wednesday sociology class you had with Jae when you were so embarrassed. You really felt like just staying in bed instead of having to face the consequences of your clumsiness, but no, you knew you had to face reality like the responsible adult you were.

You screamed into the pillow. Who were you kidding? You still ate Cheerios and drank Capri Suns. You were the farthest thing from an adult a person could possibly be. You sniffed feeling shame still taking route in your chest. Missing one day for that class wouldn’t hurt right? 

A loud sound blared against the shell of your ear making you jump and gasp,  making yourself sit up and fumble around for your phone which had been right next to your pillow. You jumped off your bed, the alarm on your phone being a reminder for the fact that you had agreed to meet up with Sungjin and Dowoon at the coffee shop a few blocks from campus next to a cute little antique store. 

“I’m such a mess” you muttered, dragging yourself off the bed and taking a look in the mirror. You shrugged at your reflection deciding all you really need to do was brush your hair since it had been messed up while you tossed and turned wallowing in self pity on your bed.

You looked around for your shoes not finding them where they usually were at the foot of the bed before tripping on one of them when you remembered you had thrown them at the wall in frustration. Somehow you still managed to make life harder for yourself while crying about making life hard for yourself. You did not find any amusement in the irony of the situation.

You slipped on your shoes tying up the laces trying to make sure you wouldn’t accidentally step on them. What you were wearing was good enough to go out in public. It was a simple crop top paired with some ripped jeans and hightops. Simple, but you barely had time to finish your cheerios that morning so spending any more than five minutes on your outfit was out the question. 

You brushed through your hair making sure there were no stray hairs sticking out from the top of your head or any other parts of your hair. Checking the time, and you realized you had around 15 minutes to get to the cafe, and the bus ride usually took ten minutes. You made sure you had your wallet, phone, and other essentials grabbing the closest jacket you could find (which was thrown over your desk chair), and you dashed out the door excited to see your friends and eat the yummy treats the cafe had to offer. 

You also couldn’t wait to whine about what had happened with Jae knowing Sungjin would do his best to console you, probably more scolding than anything, and Dowoon would laugh at you. You didn’t notice you had taken Jae’s jacket until you were already on the bus, and Jae’s pine vanilla scent was the only thing your nose took in  making your chest thrum with warmth. 

You accepted your fate wincing and ducking your head, tugging the jacket tighter around you not having the nerve to take it off when it was so cold in the bus. Why couldn’t you just pay attention to what you were doing for once in your life.  Now you were stuck with your crush’s jacket, the same one you had embarrassed yourself with, and the cologne was now the only thing your mind could focus on.

The scent that surrounded you made you feel a sense of peacefulness calmed by the notion of the comfort you always felt around Jae. He made you feel safe, but you wished he wouldn’t have the ability to make your emotions go into such a frenzied mess. Being in love was hard sometimes, but you guess it was worth it if it meant hearing his laugh, or seeing his smile.

You were snapped out of your love struck thoughts by the bus abruptly stopping forcing you to check which stop you were at only to rush to the doors once you realized you were at your stop, shouldering past people and muttering apologies you scrambled down the steps checking the time on your phone. You had gotten there with about two minutes to spare. Luckily, the bus stop was only two buildings down from the cafe, so you didn’t have much to walk. 

In your short walk to the quaint cafe, you took some time to appreciate the sense of home the little town gave you.

The sun was sinking peeking out from the canopy of trees in the park just a few minutes away from the street you were on. People walked up and down the sidewalk laughing amidst their individual conversations, and the bushes lining some of the stores’ windows bristled with the fresh afternoon breeze. Purples, pinks, oranges, and yellows coloured the sky as the sun was starting to give way to the moon. You couldn’t stop the serene smile making its way onto your lips at the seemingly peaceful night.

You instantly spotted your two friends at the corner of the room closest to the bookshelf covering the wall it was placed against. You bounded up to the table smiling in greeting and putting your things down next to Sungjin. 

“I’ll be right back, i have to go order” you were going to turn away but a hand around your wrist stopped you. “Don’t. I already ordered for you” You turned around confused at Sungjin. He knew your order and had memorized it a long time ago, but he hadn’t ordered anything for you in years. You opened your mouth to thank him, but your words died in your throat when you saw your best friend’s expression. His eyes were glaring a hole into a spot on the table, and his eyes were hooded with his lips pressed into a tight line. 

You felt worried. You knew that look. He only got that look when he was mad at you. It didn’t really happen often. Last time it happened was when you lied to him about being at home when in reality you were walking home from the library very late on a cold night. 

You wracked your brain for something you had done wrong but came up with nothing. You looked at Dowoon for help who was sipping on his drink with a pitying look in his eyes. He raised his eyebrows at you before gesturing next to Sungjin at the ramen hoodie placed there. 

You squeezed your eyes shut feeling your chest dull with guilt. You peeked an eye open at Sungjin agitatedly shifting in your seat. 

“How did you find it?” you questioned giving a small smile at the waitress as she came to leave your order. You poked at your food pouting because you just felt your appetite basically disappear. 

Sungjin vaguely gestured at Dowoon, still not looking at you. You looked at Dowoon who shrugged. “I saw someone I know carrying it to the office, probably to the lost and found, and I recognized it. Took some convincing to the person, but honestly do I look like a thief? Especially that ratty old thing. Like hell i’d ever wear that.” Dowoon scoffed, truly unbelieving and dodging a paper napkin Sungjin threw at him.

“That ratty old thing is what you use as a pillow half the time punk. Y/n stop playing with the food and eat it like a normal person.”

You gave a wide eyes stare at Sungjin wondering how he knew you were doing something he could scold you for. You refrained from being too surprised.  After All, at this point in your relationship he could tell how you were feeling just by a look in your eyes . You shoveled a big piece of your dessert into your mouth hoping it would save you from having to answer any questions or talking in general. 

“I very specifically told you to give me my hoodie back yet you went and took it with you, even losing it! I mean you did the first thing I told you not-” Sungjin finally turned around to face you, tone like that of a mother before abruptly cutting himself off. You turned around, your mouth still stuffed from your dessert. You saw his gaze focus on the jacket engulfing your smaller frame feeling an icy kind of shame run through your body. 

You shifted your body away as if trying to hide the jacket that quite literally hung off your body with how big it was. It was already big enough on Jae, and there was no exception with you.

“Why do you have his- Jae’s jacket?  Since when are you so close he’s giving you his jacket?” his wobbly voice made you awkwardly chuckle taking a long sip of your drink. 

“Well” you awkwardly chuckled, “I was eating lunch with him and his friends, and they noticed your hoodie and started acting really weird so I took it off. Then the cafeteria was really cold and I really couldn’t stop myself from shivering, and Jae tried giving me his jacket and while he did that I kinda realized i’m in love with him. Then, we sat down and I also kinda played footsie with him” somewhere along your answer you had started rambling, so to shut yourself up you shoved the entirety of what was left of what you had ordered into your mouth.

As you kept chattering, Sungjin’s eyes grew wider, and his mouth fell further open. 

“It took you this long to finally realize you’re in love with him?” Dowoon’s genuinely amused question was drowned out by Sungjin’s whisper yell “You played footsie with him?” you winced shrinking in your seat. What was supposed to be soft bread now felt dry and harsh as you swallowed it.

“It was an accident” you nervously played with your hands “I thought his leg was the pole under the table” your eyes flickered up at Sungjin dumbfounded expression before going back to your empty plate. “That’s the part where you’re supposed to laugh,” you muttered.

“I really don’t understand how someone can have such a small amount of brain cells” Sungjin’s dumbfounded expression changed as he leaned in to the table putting his chin on his hand and looking out the window. You couldn’t see his face, but you took note of the sad smile on his lips. You knew your best friend, and you knew he was trying to play something off by joking around. Sungjin always did that. If he felt awkward or was trying to hide something, he joked around to ease whatever tension had taken a hold of him.

You felt trapped. You and Sungjin have always had so much communication in your relationship, and you always told each other what was on your mind even if it was a silly thought. You told each other everything, but these past weeks he seemed to be keeping so much from you. 

Were you losing your best friend? 

Maybe he had finally grown tired of you. Your insecurities stopped you from reaching out to him and asking him what was on your mind when a few days ago you wouldn’t think twice from cheering him up. You felt a pressure building up in your chest making it hard to breathe. 

Dowoon’s low voice spoke up paired with an anxious smile as if he himself could also feel the distance enveloping the two close friends. “What else did you expect? This is Y/n we’re talking about '' You and Sungjin both laughed, but it was strained. 

The rest of your time was filled with an unusual silence between you and Sungjin with Dowoon trying to make conversation, yet neither of you really indulged in Dowoon’s attempts at lighting up the mood only replying with small hums and chuckles. 

You were too busy thinking about what could have possibly put such distance between you and your friend of years, and if you could fix the quickly diminishing relationship. Meanwhile Sungjin was too busy thinking of how he was already losing you and preparing himself for the inevitable point in time where you would leave him without looking back happily walking away in Jae’s arms.

You said goodbye to each other with tight lipped smiles. You guys had always said goodbye with a tight hug and a promise to see each other later. 

On the bus ride home the pressure in your chest turned into heaviness weighing you down with uncertainty of what would become of you and your friend. No, not your friend. Your brother. Part of your family. You really didn’t know how you could live without him. You thought you were dumb. Would Sungjin really leave you like that? Without explanation nor reason? You felt stiff changing into your sleeping clothes and as you collapsed onto your bed. 

He hadn’t even called you peaches.

You didn’t really get much sleep. Thoughts of having to face Jae in your class the next morning and thoughts of why Sungjin was acting so off tossing and turning in the space of your tired mind. You hoped maybe you could just sleep through the whole day not having to deal with your crush or your best friend. Your reasoning being that It was friday, and you deserve a break. You knew that was a stupid reason, but you had no energy to really think of anything. The uneasy feeling at the pit of your stomach wouldn’t lighten up no matter what you tried. 

You would have to eventually face both anyways, and you knew it was absurd to avoid what would only fester and burden everyone involved the longer you let both situations be. You wished for time to turn back to normal when everything was normal. When you didn’t know you had totally fallen in love with Jae, or when you hadn’t done whatever you did to piss Sungjin off to the extent of him treating you so coldly. 

You honestly didn’t really want to return to a time when you didn’t acknowledge the feelings you have for Jae. Knowing what the warmth feeling in your chest was when you were around him was such an amazing feeling and just being around him made you happy, but it was hard not knowing whether he felt the same or not. By association, your mind traveled back to earlier that day when you had basically felt him up and you groaned scrunching your eyes tugging your blankets tighter around your frame in search of comfort. 

You tried thinking to a time when you had gotten any sign of him returning your feelings,  but it was hard to come to any kind of conclusion when he acted so friendly with everyone. It was difficult to decipher whether how he treated you was any different to how he treated others. It was one of his qualities you had fallen for. Even if he is feeling uncomfortable himself, he always tried to make other people comfortable and his generous friendliness had never failed in him gaining many friends. He always put himself after others trying to make their days brighter by doing and saying all kinds of foolish things. 

Jae lived to make others smile. It was one of his favorite things to do. He loved bringing happiness to those around him, but he also never failed in listening and offering words of encouragement to whoever needed it. You knew because he had done it all for you. He had made you laugh and lifted up your mood on multiple occasions, but he had also never failed to offer a hand of support when you needed it. 

Looking at the time on your phone you sighed seeing you would have to get up in about two hours. You closed your eyes forcing all thoughts out of your head and being able to fall under the blissful blanket of sleep. 

You woke up two hours later body feeling heavy with no energy at all and a faint tiredness making your limbs weak. You threw on some ripped jeans, a hoodie, and some converse after you got out of the shower. Your movements were slow and your feet dragged as you got ready for the class so exhausted you walked right past Jae’s jacket hanging off your chair which you had sworn to return today.You also forgot the important fact that the class you were going to was the one with Jae in it. 

You didn’t even bother eating anything knowing your body would only feel weaker later from the lack of nutrition, and your stomach would push against your ribs in protest to your choice of not eating anything You were just  too depleted in energy to really put any effort in taking care of yourself. You walked out of your dorm building simply nodding at people who greeted you too worn out to give your usual greeting and smile in return. You yawned the whole time you walked to the science building which was luckily not far from your dorm. 

You walked sluggishly, at a much slower pace and vastly different from the bouncy stride you had on a daily basis. You were too beat to really pay attention to any of your surroundings with your mind set on autopilot not really thinking of anything but how heavy your shoulders and head felt. Everytime you blinked it stung with the need to shut your eyes for a longer amount of time to rest both your body and mind. 

You fought to keep your eyes open, but even the chilly wind blowing against your face was not enough to stir any energy in you. The colorful leaves seemed monotone at that moment, their vibrant colors usually making you feel an excited little tingle in the base of your stomach, but today the colors just seemed to mock you with the vigor they danced and twirled with which your weary body could only wish for. 

You entered your class with a huff shouldering your bag into a more comfortable position while searching for your usual seat. You froze when you remembered this class was Sociology. The one and only class you had with Jae. You could already see his fluffy blonde hair, and his hunched form in his regular seat to the left of yours.

You hung your head letting out a tired exhale simply accepting your demise. You walked down to one of the rows near the front groaning as you fell into your seat and immediately buried your head into your arms relishing in the nice feeling of getting to close your eyes. You felt someone staring at you and you tried ignoring it, but you couldn’t stop the prickling sensation at the back of your neck knowing who it was. 

You slightly raised your head so only your eyes were peeking up from your arms meeting Jae’s worried eyes which instantly widened at the dark bags under your eyes and the paleness taking over your usual lively face. You shoved your face back into your arms, body slumping into an uncomfortable position. 

“You look like-”

“Don’t”

“-hell”

“Gee, thanks Jae for your encouraging words” you mumbled into the sleeves of your hoodie too tired to really snap back with your usual sarcasm. It was silent for a minute before gentle hands were shaking your shoulder and a sharp voice was telling you to get up. You grumbled since you were finally falling asleep even in the limb numbing position you were in. You sat up slouching in your seat and pouting at Jae who simply rolled his eyes digging into his bag. 

He took out your favorite snack and you figured he probably stopped by the convenience store again. He pushed the food towards you looking expectantly at it. You simply narrowed your eyes just wanting to curl into the warmth of your hoodie and sleep. Jae narrowed his eyes back at you tightening his jaw and crossing his arms. He pushed the packaged snack closer to you to which you simply clasped your hands together in your lap. 

“Eat”

“No”

He tried once again, voice firmer. “Eat”

Your response was the same. “No”

“Y/n” You knew the call of your name was a warning. 

“I’m not a child Jae” he slightly nudged your foot with his. “Then stop acting like one”

You stayed silent determined to get your way until Jae suddenly leaned closer making your breath catch. You avoided his gaze, but he ducked closer to look into your eyes holding the food with one hand and softly grabbing one of your hands to place the food into it. “Eat it. Please”

You shook your head letting out a small smile and ripping the packaging open. “Well when you say it like that” only getting met with an earnest “Thank you” when you put the first bite into your mouth. 

“What about you? Have you not eaten” your words were muffled from the food in your mouth, but Jae just let a chuckle rumble his chest. “Aww is tough little Y/n worried about me?” you started choking, mouth set into a frown from trying to fire back with a comeback forgetting you were in the middle of swallowing your food at the  moment. 

He let out an airy laugh this time patting your back and fixing his glasses. “I’ll be fine Y/n, just eat loser. I don’t want to hear your stomach grumbling the whole class period, it’s annoying dude”

You let out a miffed grunt only making him laugh again as he settled in his seat. The professor finally came in immediately telling the students about how his dogs had eaten his books (covers and all), so we only had to take notes today while his new shipment of books got delivered.

You finished the snack feeling a little better with food in your stomach, and brushing yourself off. You didn’t notice that Jae had taken off his hoodie until he held it out to you. You looked at him confused and he mouthed “Pillow”.

You gratefully smiled at him giggling when he winked at you and whispered “I’ll cover for you” much alike to what you said on the first day of this class when you two officially met. You missed the slight tint to the tip of his ears when you snuggled your face into the soft fabric of his hoodie much more comfortable with something supporting your head. It didn’t take long for you to fall asleep, and you were so deeply asleep you didn’t feel when Jae brushed the hair from your face finger lingering on your cheek bone. 

You didn’t notice the soft looks he gave you every once in a while slightly smiling at your peaceful expression while writing the notes which he would give to you sooner or later probably blackmailing you into going to the new barbecue place in town. If you heard him right now, you would laugh. He didn’t need blackmail  for you to spend time with him. 

He just didn’t know that. 

Jae felt like he could breathe easier. Your cheeks were regaining some of their color, and the crease between your eyebrows had disappeared with your mouth falling slightly open. Your chest rhythmically rose and fell giving him the assurance you were having a restful and fittless sleep. 

He knew you had trouble sleeping sometimes, so he was glad you were finally getting a nice chance to catch up on all the sleep you had lost. Jae briefly wondered what it would be like to wake up next to you, cute lidded eyes adoringly staring at him and giggles spilling from your  pink lips as he playfully tickled you. 

Jae shook away the thought clearing his throat to calm the pounding of his heartl. His torment was luckily cut short from the professor’s voice calling out the end of class. 

He took extra time putting everything back in his bag, even putting your things back into your bag because he wanted you to sleep as much as you could. He eventually shook you awake with gentle hands heart fluttering in his chest when you slowly blinked your eyes at him stretching and thanking him. He offered to walk you to class which you took with some teasing. 

“So there’s a party tomorrow the boys and I planned” he started off words feeling heavy on his mouth. Maybe this could finally be his chance. 

You hummed before letting out a light gasp, “Ah, it’s one of those famous parties you guys have where you can only go if you were invited by one of the boys from the frat right?” 

Jae slowly nodded his head turning to look at you. “Have you not gotten invited yet?”

You shrugged your shoulders pursing your lips. “Sure I have. Sungjinnie and Dowoonie have invited me a thousand times. I’m just not much of a party person”.     You didn’t see the tick of his jaw when you said their names so affectionately before he shook it off with a goofy grin.

“Ah yes, what do you do? Sit in your room and watch Princess and the Frog for the millionth time” he scoffed nudging your shoulder with his. 

You nudged him back harder causing him to stumble. “Hey! don’t hate on Princess and the Frog you fool. It’s timeless, so get educated before I force you to watch it until you’re so sick of it, you won’t even be able to look at a frog” your ramble made him throw his head back and laugh fixing his glasses as his eyes crinkled. 

“Would you come if I invited you?”

“That depends. Are you inviting me?”

He stopped at a vending machine nervously swallowing but calmed by your usual teasing demeanor. 

“I am” the lump in his throat didn’t allow him to say much more than that. “Then yes, I’ll be there” you had to bite your lip from smiling too widely ignoring the excitement floundering in your chest. 

Jae couldn’t control himself, a wide smile overtaking his face as he got two drinks handing you one and ruffling your hair. “Great, I would have had to never let you eat my Starbursts again if you said no.” You rolled your eyes no longer fighting the beam on your lips looking at your favorite drink in your hands feeling nothing but happiness bubbling in your stomach. 

He started walking away when you called out to him, your eyes shining mischievously. “You better not leave me alone. I get lonely drunk” His laughter rang around the hall while he turned his head to smile brightly at you. “Wouldn’t dream of it”

He turned back around apologizing to someone he almost bumped into. You clutched the drink in your hands, the smile on your face still not leaving. At that moment, you really did feel like you could run for miles if it meant having Jae smile brightly at you like he had just done. Your chest drummed with a light kind of elation. You had never looked so much forward to a party than you did for the one happening tomorrow. 

You texted Sungjin when you got to your dorm. 

You: im going to the party tomorrow

You:  any advice??

Bob: I didn’t invite you?

You: Jae did…

Bob: Oh

Bob: See you tomorrow then

You stared at your screen confused beyond belief at Sungjin’s weird behavior blissfully ignorant of your best friend’s inner turmoil as he was given further proof he was “losing” you. You hadn’t accepted one of his invitations since the start of the year. You took a deep breath trying not to snap at him in text messages frustrated by his cold attitude. You simply decided you would confront him tomorrow at the party having enough of him acting so distant. 

You would absolutely not lose your best friend. Not Sungjin. Not like this. You were interrupted by a sound notification from your phone.

Bawk Bawk: Plz get at least 5 hrs of sleep today nerd. 

Bawk Bawk: I don’t want to be dragging around a zombie tomorrow. 

You: Yeah yeah whatever mom

He simply sent a meme of Younghyun rolling his eyes making you huff out a laugh as you put your phone to charge being able to fall asleep at a much faster rate than normal. 

[therainroguefanfiction]

⁂ How Do You Love? (Tenipuri) o1

📑 Table of Contents 

Genre: Friendship, Family, Angst

Word Count: 1,512

Pairing: ??

World: Prince of Tennis

Author’s Note: Another series I started a while back lol Dunno if I’ll ever continue it, but I wanted to post it anyway c:

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“I’m home.”

I looked up from my racing game for a brief second before returning my attention to the TV. I easily missed the other racer that was trying to break my drift around the corner. He ended up slamming into the guard rail for his trouble. “Welcome back. How was the tournament?”

“Boring. I couldn’t find anyone strong.” I heard the pout in his voice followed by the thump of his tennis bag hitting the floor. He plopped down beside me, his head falling onto my shoulder. “Do you think there will be stronger opponents in Japan?”

“Dunno.” I wanted to shrug but the weight on my shoulder prevented me from doing so. “It can’t be any worse than here. Maybe that’s why dad wants us to come back home – goddamn it Carlos, keep up.” I scowled at the NPC driver who couldn’t match my speed. Honestly, drift trains are easily the most annoying event in the game. It takes skill to stay off the gas enough for the others to stay with you while maintaining enough speed to perform a drift all while trying to avoid the other drivers that exist only to bump into you and try to ruin your otherwise perfect drift.

“When’s our flight?” He paused for a moment. “And what’s for dinner?”

“Tomorrow at noon. Traffic will be rough so we need to leave by ten-thirty at the latest.” I finished the drift train in first place, easily overcoming the target score. “What do you want to eat? McDonald’s?”

I felt him nod against my shoulder. “Can I stay here? I’m tired.”

I smiled softly, ruffling his soft dark green locks. “Yeah, go ahead and take a bath. I’ll grab you some food.”

“Okay~”

I grabbed my keys off the table and slipped my boots on. “Make sure you lock the door!” I heard his mutter of agreement as I closed the door. When I made it outside of the apartment building, I was met with the crisp spring air. The sun was low over the horizon, hiding behind tall buildings. The streets were full of people rushing home from work and heading out to eat, shop, or party. Honestly, there are so many people living in New York, it was suffocating. I’m happy to be returning to Japan, even though it’s been a long time since I was back there.

McDonald’s was only three blocks away from my apartment building so it didn’t take long to get there. Naturally, the place was friggin’ packed with people – it took longer to get my order than it did to walk to the damn place. I finally got my order and slipped through the crowd of people, out into the street.

I slipped into the alleyway because if one more person bumped into me, I was legit going to punch somebody. One drastic difference between Japan and America is the fact that Americans are dicks. That’s one of the main reasons I’m so happy to be leaving the country; maybe I won’t get into quite as many fights in Japan.

“Well, well, what do we have here?” An arm slung around my shoulder and the stench of body odor and alcohol reached my nose. “You shouldn’t be out alone, little girl.”

I scowled, shoving his arm off of me. “Fuck off,”

“Am I making you mad, she-demon?”

My eyes narrowed at the older man. “I’m not in the mood to deal with you. Find someone else to deal with.” I started to walk away.

“Where’s that precious baby brother of yours? Home alone, aye?” His laughter was cut off by my fist in his face, sending him flying back against the alley wall.

I dashed away toward my apartment building, not caring about the people I shoved out of the way. I rushed up the stairs and nearly slammed into the door as I forced the key into the lock, throwing the door open. It bounced against the wall from the force I used. I was about to scream Ryoma’s name when he came out of the hallway, a confused look on his face.

“What’s wrong, nee-chan?”

I took a deep breath, kicking the door shut with my foot before approaching him. I set the food on the table as I went and grabbed the fluffy white towel around his neck. He pouted when I started to dry his dark locks. “Nothing. I thought you were still in the bath.”

He narrowed his cat-like eyes at me but said nothing. That’s one of my favorite things about him – he always knows when I’m lying, but rarely questions it.

“Don’t stay up too late. It’ll be a pain to wake you in the morning.” I ruffled his hair before returning to the door to make sure it was shut and locked tight. If that bastard was really dumb enough to try and harm my baby brother, I certainly won’t make it easy for him. Thank god we’re leaving tomorrow.

A fresh start in a new country. Ryoma will be safer in Japan.

I flopped onto the floor in front of the coffee table, staring at the TV screen. My GT-R was banged up and bruised, despite not even being on the road; you could only hit it if you aimed for it. I scowled, bringing up the map and marking the closest gas station. I will never understand how people find it fun to slam into the car of a player that’s not even there.

Ryoma fell into the recliner, the paper bag crinkling as he pulled out his food. “Have you eaten, nee-chan?”

“Before you got home.”

Ryoma sat in the living room with me for the next hour, watching me playing my racing game until his eyes began to droop. When his breathing evened out, I closed out my game and carried him to his room. I tucked him under the covers before climbing into my own bed. I pulled out my phone to find a new message from my friend, Kenko.

We met during my first year of middle school. I had been the foreign kid that couldn’t speak Japanese. The other kids were scared of me because I had punched another kid on my first day. My dad, of course, managed to sweet-talk the principal, convincing her that I was just acting out because I was still adjusting. It was complete bullshit, but she bought it and I wasn’t expelled. Kenko had been the only one not afraid of me after that.

Naturally, I had tried to push him away – I was a complete bitch to him and I even threatened to hurt him – but he still stayed. He spoke English so it was easy to communicate with him, and he offered to help me learn Japanese. Before I knew it, he had wiggled his way in and had become a good friend of mine. Even after I left Japan to watch over Ryoma, he still kept in contact.

✉ ‘You weren’t planning on telling me, were you?’

I raised my eyebrow. How had he found out? I made sure not to mention anything about returning to Japan. I figured it would be a nice surprise for him. He’s a genius, sure, but unless he’s also a stalker, there’s no way he could have found out.

✉ ‘What do you mean?’

✉ ‘IDIOT~ I know you’re coming home tomorrow.’

✉ ‘Am I? News to me.’

✉ ‘Remind me to smack you when you land~’

I scowled.

✉ ‘Smack me and you die. How’d you find out, anyway?’

✉ ‘Your father asked me to get your enrollment paperwork together~ Guess what school you’re going to!’

My eye twitched in annoyance. That damned old man… I should’ve known.

✉ ‘Seishun Gakuen with Ryoma.’

✉ ‘Negative~ You, Winchester-san, will be attending Rikkai Daigaku alongside the brilliant tensai, Yasujirou-san.’

Rikkai? What school is that? I did a quick google search and found the school’s website. It’s in Kanagawa… isn’t that an hour or so away from Tokyo? Why the hell would my old man let me go there? I thought I was supposed to watch over Ryoma.

✉ ‘Tensai, my ass. Why the hell am I going to Rikkai?’

✉ ‘Your dad thought it was best that you have a friend at your new school. Don’t want a repeat of middle school, right?’

I narrowed my eyes at the message. Thinking about it, that did make sense. Kenko could probably keep me from breaking someone’s nose because we both know that someone is most likely going to piss me off as soon as I step into the building. Still… I’m not too happy about not going to the same school as Ryoma. I’ve been watching over him for so long.

Another message came through, breaking my thoughts.

✉ ‘I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry, Ryo-chan will be fine. He’s a strong kid.’

I’ve always hated how he can read my mind, even on the other side of the planet. I didn’t respond, setting my phone on the floor next to the bed before rolling over to face the wall.

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[lizzybeth1986]

Quick Thoughts on The Royal Heir, Book 1 Chapter 1

• We're back! Hopefully with a better series this time, but I'm not going to keep my hopes too high.

• If my QTs are clogging up your dash, I recommend you block these particular tags: #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, and optionally #long post.

• Much like my Book 3 QTs, I will be exploring as many playthroughs as I possibly can to see how each LI's route is being written. Last book, this experiment definitely helped me figure out that they were putting more effort into some characters and less into others, and I'd still like to keep an eye out for these things as much as possible.

• I feel this QT might be shorter than my usual (edit: joke's on me - it's not!! 🙈), mostly because the opening chapter itself is...pretty light, and is mostly meant for us to spend time and have fun with our chosen LI. Plus a tiny smidgen of buildup to the premise, which is having a child in Cordonia. But I do have a theory about the overall theme that I'm going to be expanding on towards the end of the chapter.

• Okay that's it for preliminary explanations, it's time for me to start with the chapter! XD

• Ooh. Oooooooh. This loading page now has tidbits about Cordonian society!! Interesting.

• Title: Happily Ever Afterwards

Alternative Title: Be Grateful We're Letting You Have This Much Sex For Free This Week, Because That's The Last Time It's Happening.

• I'm extremely offended they're making me wear that Pepto Bismol outfit again.

•

...thanks so much for reminding me you still don't care about Hana, PB! 🙄 Everyone else remains to be some version of "loyal", but Hana is still considered more for her skills than for her own steadfastness, even though she was the most hardcore-loyal of the four (SHE LEFT HER FREAKING HOME. HER FREAKING FAMILY. FOR YOU. While the other three were certainly loyal and honorable to the MC, they definitely didn't have to completely cut ties with their families to do right by the MC).

• The "fairytale" aesthetics of the frame story were what drew people into TRR in the first place, so it's not too surprising that the LIs and MC give a nod to the flagship series with a "once upon a time". If you're with Liam, it goes straight from "falling in love with the Prince" to what his relationship with her taught him, before the happily ever after. If you're with one of the other three LIs, it specifies that she came there for Liam but fell for someone else. Sounds a lot like Maxwell's book 😄 In Maxwell's playthrough, in fact, there is a reference to it when the MC calls him a "famous author".

•

(Screenshots organized as follows: 1 - Liam, 2 - Drake, 3 - Maxwell, 4 - Hana. Liam's and Hana's are my own. Drake's from @thefirstcourtesan, and Maxwell's from Kaitlyn Walker's YouTube channel).

The other interesting thing to note is that in Liam's playthrough, he leads the narration. While in everyone else's the MC is the one who steers it. One reason I can think of is that the narrative still treats this story as Liam's story as much as it is the MC's (if I'm right about the theme) - which...has honestly always been a sore point with the fanbase in TRR. That would depend on how us and our baby are now further involved with Cordonia in the story. Another factor for why she leads the narration...could be that essentially, the MC took initiative in the other three relationships, while in Liam's case it was he who took a more active role by proposing to her.

• The little story ends with this question from the MC:

Question: But what happens after Happily Ever After?

Answer: Mess. In Cordonia it's always mess.

• Cordonians (specifically the upper classes, since I don't know enough about the common populace to tell, since they're, yknow, practically invisible) are addicted to tea, apples and fucking shit up where they don't even need to.

• ANYWAY. What (literally) happens after 'happily ever after' is a tropical honeymoon on Liam's private island. In the case of the other three, he allows them access to the place and gives the staff instructions on making the stay comfortable for them.

• Now, since Liam owns the island and has probably visited it a could times, he shows more familiarity with it. He tells his wife that on previous trips the island had more rustic accommodations, but the villa they're now staying in was prepared recently. Additionally, the butler welcomes Hana, Maxwell and Drake as newcomers to the island, considering it's their first time. With Liam, there is an air of familiarity - he calls the butler by his name (Javier) and enquires about him and his wife (Mariana) - to show us perhaps how familiar he is with this holiday spot.

• Why the hell does everyone call Liam "Your Highness"? It's been two whole books since he became King, and the proper title for a monarch is "Your Majesty". How is it that Constantine gets to rake the MC over the coals for calling him Your Highness, yet Liam has to hear this from practically everyone. From Javier to freakin' Protocol-Monitor-Madeleine! The disrespect, I tell you!

• Okay so we're having a candlelit dinner by the ocean, and we get our first OOTD. Cute beach dress, has bright flowers and some crochet work on the bodice. I bought it because I couldn't bear to have Esther stay another minute in that Pepto Bismol of a dress.

• LOL @ all the LI responses to "this spot is right where the sharks are!"

• Tuna sashimi and pineapple aioli, huh? I have never had either so idek what that's supposed to taste like (someone on this writing team likes pineapples). I remember having to cut down on tuna during pregnancy, which meant no more Subway sandwiches since the tuna sub was the only one I liked at the time. IIRC most of my family were also cautioning me against pineapples and papaya during my first trimester!

• My gosh this butler doesn't waste much time jumping into assumptions huh?

• Also Javier, why is Cordonia's future so dependent on the well-being of my foetus even if I'm not ruling the country?

• Does Cordonia have sex ed? My money is on no. (esp in the Hana route).

• So there are two parts to the way the premise of wanting to have kids is built up in this sequence. In the first part, the LI impresses upon the MC the need to have children soon after the wedding. The second part addresses the urgency - the "why right now?" factor, and explores the LI's personal emotions towards having children. This bit also feels a bit like a follow-up to the Valtoria balcony scene in Chapter 15.

• The first part is pretty similar for Drake, Hana and Maxwell - all three of whom are now married to a Duchess and are aware that securing the duchy is important. They word it in their own distinctive styles, but the gist is pretty much the same. In Liam's case, since he is the king of the country, he speaks more about Cordonia and its tensions with neighbouring countries.

Take note of this because I'll be returning to this point later. (also who are the writers trying to convince about Cordonia's size. "Small kingdom" my ass).

• I'll be going by the LIs' personal reasons to have a baby now, one by one, along with a summary of their views on children in the Valtoria balcony scene last book (since this scene clearly references that diamond scene if you've bought it last book).

(Screenshots: Liam's and Hana's screenshots are mine, Drake's is from @thefirstcourtesan and Maxwell's is from Kaitlyn Walker's YouTube channel)

- Liam: Liam's love for family and need for children is well-known throughout the series. In Book 1, he's dropped hints about wanting to have a different kind of family dynamic from the one he'd experienced as a child, and in Book 2 there were multiple references to wanting to not be Constantine - both as a King and as a father. In the balcony scene in Book 3, Chapter 15, Liam tells us a number of things - about the value of having more heirs for succession, of him always dreaming of having at least 3 children, about Kenna, Cordonia's most legendary warrior queen which leads to an interesting factoid about how the rules of successions for both the throne and duchies are not gender-specific (he also cites Olivia and Penelope as being in line to inherit their duchies). In this sequence Liam undoubtedly has more to say about the political aspect of having an heir than the personal, but his statement about "someone missing" in their lives is of no surprise when he's been enthusiastic about kids for three books straight.

- Drake: Drake perhaps gets the lengthiest 'personal' bit of all, revolving around his eagerness to be a father and his own family history. This scene has Drake speaking of wanting a child with "your eyes and my hair", but most of all of Savannah and her little family, and wanting the happiness his sister is experiencing now. The writing often manages to tie Drake's thoughts about his future family with his past: in the Valtoria balcony scene, his memories of his father and his desire to bring up his own kids the way Jackson did are dominant in the conversation on children. He speaks at length about the absence of a proper 'home' so far in his life (stating that his room at the palace always felt like "a room in someone else's house") and how high on his priority list the prospect of having children is. The Valtoria scene shows him eager to have kids asap, and this scene builds up the same urgency. You're left in no doubt that he wants those kids now.

• Maxwell: Maxwell's route of this scene soundly pretty sudden, tbh. In his Valtoria scene, Maxwell expressed doubt and nervousness when it came to children, citing the example of Bartie ("I love palling around with little Bartie and everything, but if he bonks his head or something, I can just hand him back to Savannah. When it's your kid, you're the one people hand him to."). While this is referenced in TRH's dialogue when Maxwell jokes about forgetting diapers and baby socks - it's a pretty big jump from the man who didn't exactly feel ready to have children yet, and not enough work was done to justify that shift. This could be somewhat excused in the beginning of Book 3, when the narrative had just begun to treat him like an LI, but they've had an entire damn book and several months after to reflect on how to write him properly. That is...if they actually gave a damn.

- Hana: They don't even have the excuse of "relatively new LI" in Hana's case. Because she is the lone female LI married to a female MC, her scene should have been a lot more extensive and explored her urgency to have children so soon after their wedding, a whole lot more. There are tiny changes, like the one where she hints at the "logistical concerns" that come with two women considering a family, and where she speaks of giving her child the childhood she never had (which, frankly, is an extremely vague statement and could be applicable to more than one character in Cordonia). But there is urgency that, again, isn't properly explained in the scene. Even Hana's Valtoria scene doesn't have much that would explain why she would want a child barely weeks after her wedding. The Valtoria scene does have her outlining her dreams for the duchy (along with a joke about her enacting "Beauty and the Beast") and her happiness at the thought of being a mother (she maintains that out of the things expected of her, motherhood is the one she looked forward to). They could have spent some time thinking up a reason for why Hana would rush this, even before anything has happened, or outlined something personal and not ultra-generic. Both Maxwell and Hana deserved a lot better than this.

• Maxwell speaks about possibly forgetting diapers (PLS NO MAXWELL NO) and baby socks (um okay not as bad but depends on the climate), and one of the MC's dialogue options is to say..."diapers and socks are overrated". Guys your kid won't care how much fun you are when they have a bum rash.

• A-ha! Diamond scene. First-chapter diamond love scenes always come cheap in these series' (12 diamonds) and are usually quite a steal.

• ESTHER HAS NEW LINGERIE OMG I'M SO HAPPY I'D BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR SO LOOOOONG 😭😭😭😭

• ...and it is also matches Liam's underwear. Maxwell's too 😅

• The scene is nice, there are variations between the ways the LIs work up their appetite before they finally roll in the...well, sand 😅 Maxwell has what they call an "ocean duel", Hana's fulfills her lifelong dream of carrying and spinning around her wife on a secluded beach, Drake chases the MC through the water...and Liam just enjoys being a huuuge tease, okay? 😂

• Oh God, why are they still using the old LoveHacks sexytimes music. That "DHUM-boom-ta-doom-DHUM" beat drives me nuts, and not in a good way. You have better music now, PB! Like the sexytimes tunes from RCD and PM. Use those!

• My gosh this entire group is quite horny for dominant duchesses, aren't they. Every last one of them. Each playthrough has these four gazing at the MC in wonder and telling her some variation of "I think you ordering me around is hot". Olivia could trample over them all with spiked heels and they would thank her!

• As always, when something suspicious happens, my dumbass MC goes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and never thinks about it again until shit actually goes down. This woman will never learn, will she.

• Anyway! We now move on to the rest of the honeymoon, summed up in three-four varying scenes per LI:

(Screenshots: Liam's and Hana's screenshots are mine, Drakes is HIMEME's YouTube channel, and Maxwell's is from Kaitlyn Walker's YouTube channel).

- Liam: Focused and dedicated. And insatiable as hell. Sex on a bed (SHOCKING!), sex after his wife points out what could be an apple constellation during stargazing (the MC effectively killed Liam's boner for Cordonia, I see), sex after having chocolate strawberries at a sunlit pond, sex again on a bed (Why is he getting four? 🤔). While the staff is still around somewhere on the island. This is a man with a mission.

- Maxwell: Fun and playful - kind of a "let's live wild and do daredevilry while we can!" vibe. In one Maxwell and the MC cliff dive into the ocean, debating over the wisdom of such risky adventuring when they may possibly be having a baby. In another, the MC watches, concerned, as Maxwell eats a raw squid appetizer. There is a nice callback to Maxwell's House sigil - the kraken - when he tells her that a squid would never hurt a fellow squid. The third shows them playing Strip Monopoly in the comfort of their bedroom.

- Hana: Adorable, caring and looking through every detail. Hana's three scenes involve her showing the MC the sights around the sunlit pond (which Hana and the MC lovingly call the "Hana Lee Honeymoon Itinerary"), watching the sunset under blankets, and this little scene of them choosing sperm donors for their baby:

It's a nice addition, but it still doesn't explain why they couldn't have waited a few more months. Nothing has happened yet in the timeline of the story, the women are (they believe) finally safe and happy, and while Javier seems to believe that babies born to a couple that consists of two women pop out of nowhere, I'm hoping the denizens of their duchy will have at least a little more common sense (this is Cordonia, so "hope" is the operative word).

- Drake: Langorous, relaxed and contented. Stargazing on the beach (I wonder whether this was a nod to the meteor shower scene in Book 1), whiskey on a patio/balcony/whatever in the afternoon, and eating roasted pork by the fire. Plenty of sex but also lots of outdoors, which means lots of the stuff Drake enjoys doing.

• Aaaaaand it's time for sexy scene 2! The couple are now relaxing in bed on the last day of their honeymoon, and the LI proposes a momento in the form of a sensual photoshoot (which comes with artwork of the LI in their underwear, posing for the MC) The male LIs pose with their hands at the back of their heads, smirking at the camera, while Hana strikes a coy pose, leaning against her hand. It's a quick, fun scene that's supposed to squeeze as much alone-time out of the couple as possible, because from here on the focus may shift to other things. Basically this chapter is meant to be one giant (but largely safe for readers) smutfest. I like the artwork - it's different and I guess meant to be a little more realistic than the usual full-page art in the books (like the engagement and wedding photos with your LIs last book), which is why I think it takes a little getting used to. I know it took me some time!

• Maxwell got an underwear upgrade too!

• We've now come to the end of our honeymoon, our bags packed and ready for our return to Cordonia. The chapter ends with us seeing a "familiar face", who could either be Liam (if you married someone else, and he doesn't show any expression) or an unspecified person (if you married Liam, and he looks ultra happy). Now that could either be related to some paparazzi-related stuff, if the flash of light was paparazzi-related, or it could be a fake-out and he's actually brought along the rest of the gang to surprise you. Idk and I don't want to speculate too much on this, mostly because something more interesting caught my eye.

• So that's it for my thoughts on the scenes themselves! On to the "general thoughts" section.

• General Thoughts and Potential Theories:

- As a first chapter for a new series that is still tied to an older one, it worked. It mirrors the light feel and sensibility of TRR's very first chapter, in that both chapters build an illusion of a fairytale-like place, with hints of the darkness within emerging the next chapter onwards (in this series though - since we're already familiar with Cordonia - the darkness is lightly hinted at this chapter itself). In a lot of ways I think we're going to see a lot of parallels between TRR and this new series.

- Unfortunately, one of those similarities also includes the imbalance in the writing for the LIs. Specifically with Maxwell and Hana. It's the most glaring in the dinner scene, which builds for us the premise on which this entire book stands (the topic of pregnancy). There are ways you could have them make the jump from nervous about having kids to excited, if you tried - there are elements in their storyline that could have helped us understand their urgency.

- I played Liam's route first, and was happy overall with it but I still have my misgivings. The good in terms of Liam's story is that he gets importance because the story is also about him and his country, where we are staying. He gives us some very important details in his route, and personally I like that his role as Guide To The Intricacies And Nuances of Cordonian Society still exists...but you can't deny that there were things in his storyline which should have been addressed and never were. I hope those are addressed this book. If they do the same this time around, it will only be to their detriment.

- Also, I find it highly ironic that Drake is the one to mention Savannah and Bartie when it was MAXWELL who was more involved in helping her with the child. Sure, he was - as he confessed in that Valtoria scene - more the "fun uncle" type, but he was still pretty heavily involved. Still keeping track of what Savannah needed and what Bartie would want. In his own final Book 3 scene, Maxwell is shown having an amazing rapport with little Bartie, playing peekaboo with his nose. I can barely count scenes involving Drake and Bartie with the fingers of one hand. Why couldn't Maxwell reference that last moment in Book 3, drawing up some inspirational moment from it? Like spending more and more time with Bartie changed the way he felt about kids? Or maybe that Savannah or Bertrand said something regarding the joy children bring to him. Anything that gives us some idea of when this shift happened.

Maxwell may have been new last book. It may have been a struggle to know what to do with him last book. But that isn't the case right now. By now they should have settled in their writing of him and figured out ways to make his story make sense? To give him more depth rather than simply reducing the man to the court jester? Maxwell's story was supposed to be about him growing, the scene in Valtoria was supposed to be about wanting to be a good father for his future children but fearing he might fail...yet the writers have the same man say the exact opposite. Maxwell's family history was thrown away for no good reason last book, and was replaced by Savannah drama. There was more space given to Savannah's love story with Bertrand (which didn't NEED the entire book to gain fruition) and Drake (optionally) enjoying humiliating Bertrand. That time, energy and effort could have gone in building up Maxwell, getting an insight into what happened to the Beaumonts that they became so poor...but no. The only Beaumont that mattered seems to be Savannah (and we know exactly why). And going by the fact that they're going to force an entire wedding storyline involving Bertrand and Savannah down our throats, that still seems to be the case.

- Hana's is even more worrying considering that it was poles apart from the rest of the playthroughs and therefore SHOULD have had more thought. Yes Hana loves the idea of being a mother. Yes Hana loves children and has a nurturing nature. But the urgency is still the same as the others' in her playthrough, and it made absolutely no sense. There was a clear dissonance between their current situation and the rush these two were in.

Hana's deserved at least some more time in her dinner scene. Maybe one where she could speak about growing up an only child, with no companions and not even toys. She could explain the loneliness involved in having a small family with parents who gave her more duties than affection, and then speak about giving her kid a better childhood. There isn't even any discussion about which of them should be the person carrying (we know it will be the MC, but why it has to be her in their case is anyone's guess).

What the team have done here is give Hana the bare minimum, after an entire two books of giving her even less than that. I know I'll probably be judged for thinking negatively rather than being cautiously optimistic, but the fact is that the moment this team feels they can get away with tossing scraps or less than that, they can and will do it. It's not stopped them before: not from botching up Hana's storyline, not from giving Hana fans a reception full of goof-ups and shoddy writing, not from pairing her with her bully. Perhaps last year I would have been happy and grateful to see Hana and the MC calling each other "my wife". This time...I refuse to settle for just mere scraps. If you can give thought and care to Liam and Drake's storylines, you'd better be able to do the same for Hana and Maxwell, otherwise what's the point of reviving this book? What's the point of using Hana specifically in two of your ads as bait for your lesbian/bi/wlw fans?? Might as well let the entire series rot in the trash where it belongs in that case.

- I've heard theories about our child becoming heir to the throne, thanks to a possible future arc that may make Liam unable to have children. I personally hate this possible plot line for two reasons:

1. As it is the MC gets more importance than she deserves, whether or not she actually puts in the work. She becomes a front-runner during the social season even if she fails. She becomes a Duchess even if she lacks even the most basic skills, while Hana who has done way more than she ever had for the country gets nothing, not even a needle-point's worth of land. She becomes Champion of the Realm even if she is literal garbage throughout that book, when that title could have easily gone to Olivia or Hana instead if she didn't earn enough to get it. And now to have her kid be made an heir to the throne? For no good reason? Get outta here.

2. Forcing Liam into yet another storyline that is tragic and painful (and I'm pretty sure the writers will find yet another excuse to write a thesis on Drake Walker in the time they could be using to let Liam actually break down, or vent. If they couldn't be bothered to explore the man's feelings when his own father died, do you really think they will bother with him in this??) on top of whatever else he's had to experience so far? At this point I can do with less of that. I'm honestly sick of storylines that put Liam in very uncomfortable, painful situations with very little space for him to air out his grief. Give the man a fucking break. Let him have some breathing space to rule his goddamned kingdom, get him a fantastic therapist and get him better friends while he's at it. Pushing him into yet another messed-up situation when you've barely even scratched the surface with what his experiences have done to him, is really just drama for the sake of drama, nothing else.

- Nonetheless, since this is about a pregnancy and a future heir, I believe there will be plenty talk about succession, and about the importance given to fertility and children in Cordonian society. But as with the social season in Book 1, the engagement tour in Book 2, and the wedding + Unity Tour in Book 3, I believe the pregnancy itself is a frame story. The kind of story that justifies the glitz, the glitter, and the glamorous events...that can serve as a temporary gloss to cover the conflicts within. All while the inner stories reveals those conflicts, layer by layer (again, if it's done right. Book 3 is a good example of a great premise ruined by bad writing. I sincerely hope this book does not go in that direction).

- Remember those screenshots I put up in that dinner scene from Liam's route? About Cordonia's tensions with its neighbouring countries, and how the country may be viewed as vulnerable? I think that's where the actual theme of the story lies.

Books 1 and 2 mostly revolved around the illusion of Cordonia - the fairytale kingdom - before the MC herself is confronted with the tensions brewing within. Book 3 was about strengthening Cordonia through resolution of internal conflict. It was about learning about the intricacies of the country, its most powerful duchies, their histories and identities, Cordonia's messy, complicated history - to tackle the problems that lay within.

I feel like Book 4 would be taking a natural progression from resolving internal conflict to finally standing united as a nation against outside forces. Constantine - in his conversation with the MC in Shanghai - hints not only at groups within Cordonia that wanted to destroy the monarchy, but also foreign powers ("suffice to say there are those who envy Cordonia's prosperity...". Not the royal family's - but "Cordonia's").

Keeping a united front and showcasing strength through pride in the country - ergo 'patriotism', or perhaps 'national integration' since Cordonia is home to many different cultures and geographical locations (I originally wrote 'nationalism here, but now realize there may be negative connotations attached to that word in today's times: thanks @musicallisto!) is often viewed as an asset against alien forces. The MC is now a part of the monarchy/nobility, and will be irrevocably tied to the country's future - so it makes sense that she will now dig into the deepest and most intimate parts of Cordonia's history, and go several steps further in helping to unite the nation.

- Why do I theorize 'patriotism' or 'national integration' as being a theme? There are several reasons for this:

The Unresolved Storylines: We still have a ways to go in understanding Cordonian history. We don't know which other forces were involved in previous assassinations, and we don't have a clue what happened to Liam's mother. All we do know is that other people and groups that we have probably not even seen yet, may have been involved. Francesco (who also knew Liam's mother) and Xinghai, the only foreign delegates/visitors that we got to network with in Book 2, have minimal roles so far but SEEM to have had some influence when they were introduced earlier. Francesco particularly could have some sort of role to play, given what we were told about him in Book 2. Now would be a good time to explore why he needed contacts with these people (other than the fact that Xinghai is Hana's dad). It's possible that nothing will happen and we may not even see these two, or exchange any important information, but I'd still hope that there is some importance to their appearances in Book 2.

The Connections We Made In The Engagement Tour: Meeting Francesco in Capri was related to getting access to EU markets for Cordonian products. The engagement tour itself revolved around grabbing international attention towards Cordonian problems - one of which was the tsunami that hit Portavira, which we learn more about in Book 3. There is a possibility that these threads may be picked up in the future.

Both the above points hint at possible threats, or allies. At this point we can't exactly determine who is friend and who is foe, but it is clear that neighbouring countries - and indeed countries we have associated with in the past - will play a pretty big role in the way we view Cordonia, and in the way we direct the narrative of this country.

The Artwork: I love this part of my theory because it is the most based on actual evidence rather than guesswork. The idea of a nation depends as much on items of familiarity and symbols, as it does on history. It's why countries have national animals, anthems, fruits. Why art depicting national and local legends can often be considered almost sacred. The book has barely even begun yet, and already it is FILLED with all kinds of things symbolic to Cordonia.

Let's first take a peek at the cover art:

Now let's ignore Liam's and Drake's (busted) faces in this cover and focus on what the three are holding.

The MC holds a rattle in her hand, and the jewel within the rattle looks similar to a ruby, which has been associated more than once with apples in the story (Cordonia's most valued variety of apple is the Cordonian Ruby, Liam's wedding gift to the MC is a ruby in the shape of an apple. The same rattle shows up in the second cover [on the left] as well. It's a stretch, I know, but I've got better evidence. Stick with me).

Liam holds a onesie with a crown design on the front - and we know that "for crown and country" is a popular phrase, especially for toasts, in Cordonia. Drake holds out a toy lion: the lion is the national animal, and holds a place of pride in the national Coat-of-Arms. The throne on which the MC herself sits, is blue and gold - both considered national colours. That's at least 4 symbols related to Cordonia vying for our attention on the same cover!

I mean, even Book 3 had just two major symbols - the apple (related to Cordonia) and the phoenix gown (related to Valtoria) - featuring on its cover.

The biggest proof to me, however, is not the cover, but the loading page. To be more precise - what is written above that loading page. A number of Choices books (BB, for instance) write little factoids about the world they are building above the loading bar, which players can read while they're waiting for the chapter to load. This wasn't a common practice with TRR, but they've definitely started it now! Some of the commentary is usual stuff - about gaining advantages through outfits, welcoming you back to Cordonia, etc...but THIS TIME there are tidbits of information given to us as well. And 80% of those involve apples!

Here are a few I managed to catch. One fact on the importance of apples in Cordonian culture, two specifically on the Cordonian Ruby itself including a rare recipe, and two old proverbs (this isn't the only time we've heard apple-related proverbs in the books - in Book 3 for instance, Bertrand refers to their trip to Fydelia as 'slicing two apples with one knife'). Proverbs in general often give us an idea of what people within a region hold up as important, as so connected to their life experiences that they can use those familiar objects as motifs for things that they see in daily life (eg. proverbs in my home state, Kerala, often refer to things/animals we find locally: jasmines, coconuts, jackfruit, dogs, elephants).

The fact that the apple features so often and with such emphasis in the loading page itself - and we have already seen what this simple fruit means to Cordonia - indicates to me that this national symbol - and the idea of the nation itself - will be of great importance. Not only will we be exploring foreign relations, IMO, but we'll also be learning how to build a national narrative that will benefit and strengthen Cordonia.

What's also interesting is that the apple symbolizes fertility to the Cordonian people as well - the apple cutting ceremony during a wedding (as explained by Regina to Leo's fiancée in RoE) is "a symbol of the fruit the tree will bear - you being the tree, of course", and there are chances that the fruit may feature often within the context of pregnancy/having children as well.

• That's all for now, guys. I hope to write more and theorize more as the chapters progress! Until then, I hope you enjoy this one, and I'd love to hear what you have to say.

• I did the Hana screenshots for this chapter, since the first chapter allows me to play repeatedly within losing keys, but I won't be able to do so from Chapter 2 onwards. If there are any Hana fans out there who keep screenshots of scenes in their route and are interested in sharing, I'd love to hear from you and will definitely credit you for the screenshots I put up!

• If you'd like to be tagged in future QTs, please let me know! Tagging @nikkisha16 for now since she asked xD

• Until Saturday, folks!

[ravynfyre]

see, what had happened was...

Reading a post here reminded me of a little anecdote from my misspent youth, and it gave me a tickle that I just had to share with all y’all...

so, once upon a time, oh, about 18 or 19 years ago (dear gods, has it really been that long ago? fuck I’m old), I was attending Yaoi-Con in San Francisco. You know what Yaoi is, I hope. If you don’t, how the hell have you managed to stay that innocent with all the slash I have been reblogging here on my dash?! Anywhoooo... The previous year, the convention had been in this *lovely* hotel, The Radisson, if I recall correctly, right in the heart of Japantown in good ole SF... but Yaoi was THRIVING in the midst of its heyday, so the convention had outgrown that hotel, and it had been forced to move closer to the downtown to another, larger hotel and convention space.

Now, not a problem in and of itself. And, in fact, that year, being downtown ish, and near a lot of amenities like Kinkos and office supply stores, turned out to be a Very Good Thing. But the problem arose when the convention that had been occupying the space tha Yaoi Con was supposed to have, had not completed clearing out when they should have, and ran late... by, like... six hours? or maybe more?

Now, this hotel-slash-convention center was large enough to have TWO convention areas for relatively modest conventions. They could combine those areas for one larger convention, or keep the two, smaller, conventions separate. They were separated enough that neither convention would have to have anything to do with one another at all, in an ordinary course of things. However, with the group that was supposed to have vacated the Yaoi Con convention space, NOT having vacated it yet, the Yaoi Con attendees were forced to line up and wind that line all throughout the center, and into the hotel, and then sort of into shared lobby space with the other convention, where some mingling occurred.

Now, thing was, these two conventions actually shared a similar age demographic. Both conventions were skewed heavily toward young adults... in the 18-24 ish range, with the other convention skewing just a tiny bit younger (down to 16ish) and Yaoi Con skewing maybe up to the 28ish range, but not many. But that’s.... where the demographic overlap... ended. You see, the OTHER convention... well... it? It was...

The Bay Area Baptist Youth Association.

that’s the main punchline. there’s more amusement under the cut. It’s just not quite as funny as the main punchline, so I’ll save everyone’s dash and cut it.

Yeeaaahhhhh.... And they were all SO VERY CURIOUS about all these - primarily female - young folk lined up waiting to get registered for the other convention in the hotel. What was it all about? Oh, animation and comics? Really? Japanese animation? Like that Anime stuff? How cool! Maybe they could come have a peek? No? Oh, why did everyone think that they wouldn’t like it very much? Made for girls mostly? Like that really cutesy stuff? Not quite? Oh! You have some examples? Wait, why shouldn’t she show us? Is there something wron--- oh. Oh. oohhh. Umm... And... it’s... it’s all like, um... that? Some is better? What do you mean “better”? You mean more than kissing? But... but, they’re... They’re both.... *whispers* boys. oh. um. okay. There’s, um... a lot.... a lot of you... uh... here for this? Wow. We, uh, we should go, uh... We’re going to go. To our... Bye.

Everyone around the main group that interacted with the knot of poor, young, Baptists, just busted a gut, and had a long, and bit rowdy, giggle over the whole thing, as they clustered up and tittered over the situation. The Baptist Youths were having their own little giggles and snickers and scandalized snorts in their areas. Meanwhile, our con goers waited impatiently in knots and clusters of young women, gathered around their doujinshi, tittering over glowing cones of light and pretty kissing boys, and getting noisier and grumpier, and more and more restless, as hotel staff meandered past and gave us all the hairy eyeball now and then, while muttering darkly into their radios. It had been a long time since anyone from the actual Yaoi Con staff had wandered past with any updates, and word from up the line/down the stairs said that the doors were still firmly closed, several hours past Registration Opening time. The proverbial Natives were well pst restless and were starting to froth.

This was about the time that the firefighter in me realized that if someone didn’t step up and start controlling the crowd/line, that the hotel would have no choice but to ask us all to step outside, and we could, conceivably, end up not having a convention at all. So I handed off my registration stuff to a friend who stayed in line, just in case everyone around us in line decided not to be assholes and let me back in after what I was about to do, although I understood that I was probably just setting myself up to end up at the back of the line anyway, and then stepped out to start wrangling unruly kids. A hotel manager came by not two minutes later, surprised that the egresses were no longer blocked, the hallways were passable, people were no longer unruly, and occupancy zoning for each area was now actually being adhered to. I got a nod from them, she spoke to someone via her radio about how everything was under control now, and she wandered off. 

Fifteen minutes later, someone from the Yaoi Con convention staff wandered past, saw me working crowd control, and asked who the hell I was, and whose section I was working under. I explained I was no one, but that things had been getting a bit unruly because of the delays, and that the hotel staff had been looking a bit frustrated with the line, as if the were about to take action against us, and so, with my emergency services background, I stepped up to try to keep things under control so that we didn’t get kicked out. If I overstepped, I was sorry, and if that was a serious enough infraction, I would accept not being allowed to register, but I didn’t want the entire convention to suffer just because of restless pre-registrants. She looked me up and down, then  grasped my sleeve and told me that I was coming with her, and started tugging me along. I figured, well, shit, I really was about to get banned from Yaoi Con, which would suck big time, but, at least SF has tons of touristy things to do?

Instead, she dragged me down to where they were struggling and rushing to try and finally get registration officially set up, now that they had finally been given access to that part of their space, and she asked me for my badge name. She looked up my badge, handed it to me, then made me a second badge - that had STAFF on it in great big letters - and handed me a cloth armband that said “Yaoi Con Staff”. “Congratulations. You’re now on my Registration Staff. I’m Nightshade. I run Reg. I deputize you to run the line up there. I got a call from the hotel management about half an hour ago that the line was out of control and if something wasn’t done about it, they were going to shut us down, but I wasn’t able to get away to go check until now, and I don’t have anyone else to work up there. So, now I do. You go do your thing, whatever it takes. Thank you!” And then she sent me back into the wild, like a dazed little bird, caught in a net, only to be freed by a kind fae and flung back into the sky, wondering just what the fuck had just happened to it.

And that is how I ended up becoming a member of Yaoi Con Staff. I pretty much owe it all to a rude convention not clearing out on time, and to the Bay Area Baptist Youth Association in San Francisco. LOL

[prettywordsyouleft]

Not For The Coffee

Summary: You didn’t know why he would always come to your bookstore or how he knew the weather so well, but on one very clichéd afternoon, you were glad he came for more than the coffee.

Pairing: Lee Minho (Lee Know) x reader

Genre: clichéd fluff

Warnings: none

A/N: this idea popped up one night after midnight and I just let it flow. It’s really cliché and predictable, but I love fluff like this all the same! Also, I’m new to writing for Stray Kids so don’t hate me too much if Minho’s personality isn’t like this, lol.

Word count: 2385

You checked your watch and smiled when you looked up, he was precisely on time.

For the past two months, he came to your bookstore every Tuesday and Thursday just after the lunch rush, ordering a coffee and sitting down at the table under the stairs.

There was something different about him compared to all your other customers though, he always brought his own book with him. It often made you wonder why he came to a bookstore when he could read his books anywhere else.

It couldn’t be for the coffee. Whilst you had basic barista skills that satisfied most customers, you knew that the café across the road had superior brewing skills. If he wanted to drink a coffee and read comfortably, he could do so there.

The only thing you could think of was the environment. Your parents had started this bookstore twenty years ago. It held a lot of nostalgia within its walls, housing books from many decades and languages. It was a popular place for people to get lost in and you found yourself inspired whenever you were here. Even though you managed the store these days, it never failed to feel magical to you when you walked through a row of bookshelves, surrounded by literature that told a tale to you without even being lifted up off the shelf.

You decided this had to be the reason he would avidly sit there from one in the afternoon until your shift ended at five, always disappearing by the time you returned with your belongings from the office. The afternoons were the quietest until about four and you could get a lot done during these hours. Even so, your eyes never strayed far from him.

He intrigued you.

He was handsome, with the warmest brown eyes you had ever seen on another person, a light shining in them that captivated you when he chuckled at your banter as you made his coffee. And even though his order never changed he would deliver it in full every time and then ask you how your day had been. He was friendly and his smiles made you weak in the knees.

You knew he was younger than you, he’d seemed to be a college student and you wondered if he was popular within his school. Did he have girls hanging off his smiles and staring at how small yet beautiful his hands were? His eyelashes were long though and when he would talk with you sometimes you would watch him blink just to see how his lashes brushed the top of his cheeks lightly when his eyes were closed. Had others noticed that about him? You were worried you stared too much whenever he was in the store.

“Hello,” he greeted warmly and you returned the greeting warmly, asking if he’d like the usual again. He ordered an Americano like always and waited for you to make it for him. You had offered many times to take it to him if he wanted to take a seat but he never once let you, standing on the other side of the counter and talking about the weather outside or something casual. Today was no different.

“It looks like it going to rain later today,” he mentioned and you noted the umbrella he had wedged under his arm against his side. “Did you bring an umbrella?”

“Really?” you asked as you shook your head softly. You were never as prepared as he was. “Hopefully it won’t be too bad when I leave.”

“I’m guessing getting caught out last time didn’t teach you a lesson, Y/N,” he teased affectionately and you couldn’t help but blush.

There was something about the way he said your name and the fact that he chose to use it. You still had no idea what his name was yet and it seemed odd for him to be on a first name basis with you but you had no idea what his was.

He was too elusive and you were too shy to ever ask outright.

Sometimes you felt like he wanted to tell you. As if it were on the tip of his tongue, waiting to come out in casual conversation but he had no real need to start introductions when your name badge had already helped him learn yours.

“I guess not,” you murmured, giving him a small smile as you slid his drink towards him. “I’m sure I’ll be fine if it does.”

“I’m sure you will,” he agreed before going to his favourite spot with a final smile in your direction.

You busied yourself with marking some books on sale before you allowed yourself to look at him again, noticing he was reading another Keigo Higashino mystery novel. It was fitting that he liked to read mysteries.

He was quite the mysterious type himself. 

You were up on the second level of the store when you heard the first sounds of the rain falling on the roof and you groaned lightly at the now constant battering of the weather. You glanced down to where he sat and he caught your eye, smirking lightly at your disgruntled expression. He turned back to his book then, smiling to himself for a few minutes. You could tell he wasn’t reading in that time, his expression usually was as intense as the words he was soaking in. His lips played with his smile for only a moment more and you sighed heavily, placing back the books you had removed onto a shelf when you noticed a book had fallen to the ground and you leant down.

You were taken by surprise when a loud clap of thunder rumbled outside and you let out a small squeal, flinching at the sound and your reaction too. You banged into the shelving behind you and whined, partially from the pain and more so from the dramatics of your reaction.

It was only you two in the store right now and you groaned, he would have definitely heard you.

“Are you okay?” he asked a moment later and you shot your head up from your crumpled position on the floor, eyes wide with how fast he had made it up those stairs. Your cheeks flared with colour and you nodded rapidly, his hand reaching to help you up all the same. “They didn’t say thunder on the forecast.”

“Not everything can be predicted,” you said as you righted yourself, his hand still lingering around your lower arm. You were feeble for enjoying his touch so much. You wondered at that moment if he had carried the lightning from the storm into the bookstore, little currents felt like they were shooting up and down your arm.

“No, but it could have prepared me better to help you not get hurt,” he replied, eyeing your arm with a narrowed gaze. It was only then that you noticed the graze just below your elbow and you sighed.

“I’ll go sort this out. Thank you though,” you told him and bowed, slipping away from him and darting downstairs to the office. Once inside you only realised that your heart had been beating too hard all that time. You were a couple of years too old to be this affected by someone as young and handsome like he was.

Yet, you liked the flutters you had in your stomach over his care. It was the first time he had strayed from his usual coffee banter and then reading routine.

Bandaging the graze up, you then walked back out, the four o’clock customers soon entering the store, bringing in the cold and the wet with them. You hurried to make endless amounts of coffee and ring up book orders for people, smiling when your part-timer arrived to do the evening shift. The hour had passed too quickly and you were sad to realise you hadn’t gotten the chance to thank the boy, with all the chaos, since the incident upstairs. When your eyes fell to his usual spot, he was already packed up and heading for the door.

After running through the tasks you needed to be done, you went to grab your bag from the office, grumbling anxiously about stepping out into the bad weather. You could tell the storm had picked up and you weren’t looking forward to dashing through the evening pedestrian traffic to the subway entrance when it was three blocks away.

All the same, when you stepped outside you knew the convenience store down the road would have already sold out of their umbrellas they sparsely stocked by now, so the only option you had was to use your bag to protect your hair and face as you stepped out from under the awning. You mentally made a note to read the weather forecast more frequently.

You expected more rain to hit you when you did step out and frowned a little when none did, glancing up to see an umbrella above you. Your eyes went to his and for a moment he simply smiled at you. “Did you predict this?”

“I should have, shouldn’t I?” you asked with a smile and he chuckled.

“I felt like it would be rude to let you get rained on again.”

You fell into step beside him and then glanced up at him. “I’m older, I should know better.”

“Ah, we’re bringing our age difference into this,” he said with a playful smile, nodding once. “Does your age mean I should not share my umbrella with you, noona?”

You gasped as he threatened to take it away and you darted under to stay next to him, something in his eyes indicating he liked that you reacted that way. You scrunched up your face a moment later. “You can’t address someone as noona when the other party isn’t close enough to know your name.”

“Minho,” he shot back immediately, relief coursing through him. “Lee Minho.”

His name suited him too well.

“How long have you wanted to tell me your name, Minho-ah?” you asked and he grinned at how comfortable you called after him.

“How long had you itched to know it?”

You both shared a knowing glance; another mystery was solved between you. As you both walked to the subway, you realised you hadn’t asked Minho if this was the direction he was heading in. You blushed at just taking advantage of his company and umbrella hospitality. For some reason, Minho seemed to see the thought process and smiled.

“It’s not a problem to walk you to your stop,” he told you and you nodded softly. He shifted closer, his face being the closest it had ever been. You had to hold back the urge to reach out and touch his cheek where his lashes had just brushed upon as he blinked slowly. “I could walk you here every time if you like? Then we could slowly get the answers to our own puzzles.”

You stared at him as he smiled charmingly at you, trying to understand why he was paying so much attention to you. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to know more about him; you had so many questions to ask him now that you were talking outside of the bookstore.

Like why he came to your store with his own book in hand.

Before you could ask the question, you realised you were now at the entrance to the subway. You stepped under the covering and Minho didn’t follow, remaining under his umbrella still out in the rain. It was time for you to depart his company now and you were disappointed.

But he didn’t seem to be. His face was alive with his endless smiles and you tried to figure out what to say whilst you kept soaking in his handsome face. You instinctively moved back under the umbrella and he blinked before leaning closer to you. “It’s not the coffee I come for. Though it’s definitely gotten better.”

“Then?” you questioned and he chuckled, biting at his lip and then shook his head. “Oh come on Minho, it’s been driving me mad trying to decipher why you would come to my store when you don’t read the books we have.”

“Oh I’m definitely reading what you have in store,” he rebutted and grinned again. “Your story is the one I’m most intrigued about. I feel I’m onto chapter three of it now.”

“My story?” you repeated and he nodded. “You come to see me?”

“I was looking at books in the front window one day when I saw you come and change the display. I guess you intrigued me more than the covers did so now that we’re past the introductions stage, maybe we’ll get to see the storyline progress further?”

You liked the way he was referring to your connection and it made you smile coyly, giving him a little shrug and stepping out from under the umbrella. You weren’t ready to meet the part of the story where everything built up quickly before some kind of obstacle got in the way. You wanted to continue enjoying this, keeping some the mystery intact. It would make for a good story if you did so.

“Chapter three may be one where not a lot is uncovered,” you admitted and Minho nodded eagerly, chuckling again.

“I’m good at reading so don’t expect me to give up so easily.”

“Oh I didn’t expect you to,” you agreed and Minho watched you. You waved at him and stepped back. “I hope you keep reading, even if this story isn’t as typical as most.”

“My kind of tales are never the typical kind, Y/N.”

He turned to leave then, waving over his shoulder and exciting you that Thursday wasn’t far off. It was an odd experience to walk away from today in the midst of a storm feeling this comforted and warm.

You realised it was the effect Minho had always held over you.

You just hoped that whatever charm you had over him would help him keep building up the story between you both because you wanted to get to the end and find the conclusion only lead into making this a sequel. Perhaps a series.

You were certain you could intrigue each other for some time yet.

_________________

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[an-all-write-life]

Later, Alligator

Pairing: Platonic!Dick Grayson x Reader

Warning(s): Anxiety, lots of angst, death

A/N: This fic started as just a simple idea, than exploded into 5500+ words. 😂 I hope you guys have as much fun reading this as I did writing it! Also, I wrote this as a completely platonic relationship, but take it how you will lol.

Friendship is a powerful bond that brings people together. These bonds can be stronger than steel and weather the most powerful storms, but they can also crack under pressure and fall apart when put under strain. Few are the bonds that survive the ups and downs of life, but rarer are the bonds that withstand a lifetime.

Bonds like that come once in a million years.

Lucky for Dick, that once in a million years happened on an overcast day when he was eight years old, just a few months after Bruce had taken him in.

That was the day he met you, and you changed his life forever.

_____

“Master Dick, please go upstairs and change into the clothes I laid out for you.” Alfred said as he organized the papers on the coffee table.

“What? Why?” Dick asked, looking up from his book.

“Master Bruce has set up a play-date for you.”

Dick groaned. “A play-date? Alfred, I’m too old for play-dates!”

“Regardless, Master Dick, you will be spending the afternoon with them. I recommend you make the best of it.”

Sighing dramatically, Dick dragged himself upstairs and changed into the clean clothes Alfred had set out. Bruce was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs and clapped him on the shoulder.

“Ready, chum?”

Dick frowned, an unusual expression for the young boy. “I’m too old for play-dates, Bruce.”

“Well, think of it as ‘hanging out’. You’ll be going to school with [Y/N] in the fall; I thought it would be nice for you to meet her.”

The young boy’s mouth dropped. “A girl? Bruce, you didn’t say it was a girl!”

“Why is her being a girl such a big deal?” Bruce asked.

“Because she’s going to want to play with dolls or somethin’!”

Bruce kneeled down so he was looking into Dick’s eyes. “Dick, it would be rude to cancel now, so you’ll have to make the best of the situation, okay? Besides, who knows?” Bruce smirked. “You might even have fun.”

Crossing his arms, Dick huffed. But before he could speak, the doorbell rang, signaling his doom.

Mouthing ‘Be polite’ to him, Bruce opened the door and greeted the group assembled outside. As he ushered them inside, Dick caught a glimpse of a young girl about the same age as him, her hair pulled back in a ponytail and her [e/c] eyes wide as she took in the size of the Manor. She slowly wandered away from where her parents were talking with Bruce, her eyes glued to the giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

Tearing her gaze away, she finally saw Dick standing at the base of the stairs and grinned. “Hi. You must be Dick.”

He nodded. “Hi.”

“I’m [Y/N].”

The two children stared at each other, that awkward realization that they were expected to play with someone they’d never met washing over them. Finally, her mother spoke from the doorway.

“Alright, [Y/N], your father and I are leaving. We’ll be back in a couple of hours to pick you up, okay?”

“Okay, Mommy! Bye Daddy!” She said, running over to give them a quick hug, and then they were gone. Silence fell over the room once more until Bruce spoke in a cheerful tone.

“Dick, why don’t you take [Y/N] up to your room and play?”

Dick pouted ever so slightly, but a quick glare from Bruce stopped him from protesting. “Sure.”

Motioning for her to follow him, he led her to his room and sat down on his bed, pulling his legs up to sit cross-legged.

Once again, her eyes roamed the room, taking in every detail. “Wow. Your room is bigger than my kitchen.”

Dick shrugged and laid on his back, thinking that Bruce never said he had to talk to her.

Several minutes passed in silence before he heard the bedsprings creak as she sat down. “It’s okay, you know. I don’t mind if you hate me.”

Abruptly sitting up, Dick gave her a confused look. “I don’t hate you.”

“Really? You’ve barely said a word to me.”

Dropping his gaze, Dick sighed. “It’s not your fault.”

“I know you don’t want me here. If I was you, I wouldn’t want to be around people either.”

“What do you mean?” He asked, furrowing his brow.

She shrugged. “If I’d lost my parents…I dunno, I think I would hate everybody.”

When Dick didn’t reply, she went on.

“My Dad told me not to mention your parents, but I think that’s stupid. If you love someone, why wouldn’t you want to talk about them—even if it’s painful? Wouldn’t you want to remember the good times?”

Lifting his head, Dick met her gaze; her eyes shined with intelligence far beyond her years. She bit her lip, suddenly shy.

“But I mean, if you don’t want to talk about them, that’s okay. I’m sorry for bringing it up.”

“No, it’s…it’s okay.”

“Oh. Okay.”

She lapsed into silence, swinging her legs.

Several minutes passed before she spoke again.

“Can I ask you something?” She asked, meeting Dick’s eyes.

He nodded. “Sure.”

“What was it like living with the circus? Were there animals? Did you get to play with them?”

A giggle escaped from Dick. “One question at a time.”

“Sorry,” She ducked her head. “Everyone says I ask too many questions.”

“No, I don’t mind,” He said quickly, a soft smile on his face. “I think it’s cool that you’re curious.”

Lying on his back, a faraway look in his eyes, he started talking about his time with the circus. She lied down next to him, listening attentively to every word.

_____

It was several hours later when a knock came at the door. Bruce poked his head in and smiled when he saw [Y/N] and Dick on the floor playing a board game.

“Hey, you two. I hate to interrupt, but [Y/N]’s parents are here. They’re waiting downstairs.”

Her face fell for an instant before she turned to Dick, grinning. “Race you there!”

Before Bruce could protest, she and Dick were racing down the hallway. She dashed down the stairs, Dick right behind her. At the bottom of the stairs her parents were chatting with each other, looking up when they heard feet stomping down the steps.

She skidded to a stop to avoid colliding with her parents, and Dick bumped into her, both of them toppling to the ground in a fit of giggles.

Disentangling themselves, the occasional laugh escaping, she and Dick faced each other, suddenly at a loss for words.

“It was fun playing with you,” She finally said while her parents exchanged pleasantries with Bruce.

“Yeah. You too.” Dick replied.

Bruce placed his hand on his ward’s shoulder. “It’s time for [Y/N] and her parents to go, Dick. Say goodbye.”

Dick’s voice was barely a whisper. “Goodbye, [Y/N].”

Her nose scrunched up, soured by his words. “I don’t like goodbyes. They feel so…final. Like you’re never going to see each other again.

“But we’ll see each other again. So it’s not goodbye-it’s more of a…see ya later, alligator.”

“’See you later, alligator’?” He repeated, cocking his head to the side.

She laughed, shaking her head. “No, silly, you’re supposed to say ‘After a while, crocodile’!”

Dick grinned, his eyes crinkling. “Well then, after a while, crocodile.”

_____

“He’s so hot.”

“Seriously. It should be a crime to look that good.”

“Give me a piece of that booty any day.”

You rolled your eyes as you caught snippets of the girl’s conversation from your place leaning against one of Gotham Academy’s countless pillars, a book open in your hands.

“Oh! Here he comes.”

Lifting your gaze, you relaxed into a soft smile as you saw Dick coming your way. But before he reached you, he was blocked by the group of girls that had been talking about him just a moment before.

He smiled politely as the girls giggled and flirted.

“So, Dickie, are you going to Anderson’s party on Saturday?” One of the girls asked. You thought her name might be Carla.

Dick shook his head, the polite smile still plastered on his face. “No, I’m afraid not. [Y/N] and I have plans.”

“Who?"

He gestured to you, still leaning against the pillar. You gave a small wave when the girl’s gazes fell on you.

“That’s [Y/N].”

Carla frowned and trailed her fingers up his arms seductively. “Wouldn’t you rather spend the evening with someone more…like me?”

Dick quirked an eyebrow, his face unreadable. “I’m good, thanks.”

Excusing himself, he slipped past them and walked by you, heading for his next class.

Hugging your book to your chest, you fell into step beside him. “Oh, Dickie,” You swooned.

Dick shoved you playfully, a genuine smile tugging at his lips.

You laughed. “Come on, Dick, you know I’m the only one in this entire school that’s immune to your charms.”

“Not true. What about Mrs. Delany?”

Snorting, you shook your head in disbelief. “You do realize you’re the only one she gives extensions to on assignments, right?”

He opened his mouth to retort, but no sound came out. “Crap. She does, doesn’t she?”

You erupted into laughter as you both entered the classroom, quickly finding your seats after a stern look from the teacher.

After classes, you and Dick were waiting just outside the school, backpacks slung over your shoulders when you voiced a thought that had been plaguing you all day.

“So…Carla was really coming onto you earlier.”

Dick gave you a perplexed look. “I guess…?”

“If you want to go to that party with her, you can. I don’t mind.”

“[Y/N], what has gotten into you?”

You shrugged. “I dunno. Just…I don’t want you to skip out on things because of me.”

Dick was silent for a count of three before he burst into laughter, nearly doubling over.

You stared at him in shock, brows furrowed. Once he caught his breath and wiped the tears from his eyes, he straightened and met your gaze.

“You’re kidding, right? I don’t care about some stupid party—and I definitely don’t want to go out with Carla. I’d rather hang out with you, [Y/N]. You’re my best friend.”

“You are so cheesy.” You rolled your eyes, but Dick could hear the affection in your words.

“You’re stuck with me; get used to it,” He said, bumping you with his shoulder.

Laughing, you shook your head. “Well, you’re stuck with me, so I guess that’s fair.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Before you could reply, your dad pulled up and honked to get your attention.

“That’s Dad. I gotta go.” You jogged to the car, calling as you climbed in. “Later, alligator!”

Dick waved. “After a while, crocodile.”

_____

“We are officially high school graduates!” You cheered, jumping up and down.

Dick grinned at your enthusiasm. “No more classes, tests, or homework.”

You stopped bouncing to look him in the eye. “At least until college.” You glanced furtively at your parents and pulled Dick out of earshot. “Do you know what your plans are for that? I know things have been…tense between you and Bruce.”

“Honestly? I don’t have a clue,” His shoulders slumped. “Things haven’t been getting better with Bruce. Maybe me going away to college would be good for both of us.”

“Well, whatever happens, I’m here for you, Dick. You can count on that.”

A smile tugged at the corners of Dick’s mouth as he pulled you into a hug, squeezing tightly. “Thanks, [Y/N].”

You responded by squeezing back, putting all your strength into it, hoping to lend some, if not all, of it to Dick.

When he pulled away, he stood a little straighter, held his head a little higher, a genuine smile on his face. Your eyes lit up as a thought struck you.

“Oh, hey! Sign my yearbook?” You asked, pulling it out of your bag.

Dick laughed as he took the book and the pen you offered. “You know people finished signing these weeks ago, right?”

You shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a procrastinator.”

Signing his name with a flourish, he handed back the yearbook and you slipped it in your bag.

“Thanks.”

“’Course.”

Glancing over Dick’s shoulder, you frowned. “Don’t look now, but here comes Principal Daly.”

Dick groaned. “She probably wants me to thank Bruce for all the donations he’s given this year.”

You stifled a giggle. “Want me to stick around?”

“Nah. Just come back in about five minutes with some sort of emergency that only I can resolve.”

“I’ll make it dramatic,” You winked and clapped him on the shoulder before disappearing into the throng of people. “Later, alligator.”

_____

Flopping onto your bed, you used a college pamphlet to fan yourself. The summer heat was in full force despite the late hour and you couldn’t sleep.

Brushing a sweaty strand of hair off your forehead, you opened your window in the faint hope that a breeze would come through.

Going back to your bed, you stared up at the ceiling, your mind wandering to what Dick might be doing tonight.

As if that very thought had summoned him, a tap came at the window and Dick crawled through a moment later, the red and green of his suit dull in the moonlight.

“Dick? What are you doing here?” You asked, giving him a concerned look as you sat up.

He stood frozen in front of the window, his midnight hair falling into his eyes as he struggled for words. “[Y/N], I-“

Walking over to stand in front of him, you placed a hand under his chin to lift his head up and used your other hand to remove his domino mask, unshed tears shining in his blue eyes.

“Dick, what happened?”

“Bruce.” Dick choked out, a sob escaping his throat.

Narrowing your eyes worriedly, you ushered him over to the bed, where he collapsed, his head in his hands and sobs wracking his body. Sitting next to him, you rubbed circles on his back while whispering soothingly.

You stayed like that for nearly an hour, Dick trembling on the bed as you tried in vain to comfort him.

Eventually, Dick pushed himself into a sitting position and took a deep, hiccupping breath. You had an arm wrapped around his shoulders, your hand gently squeezing his.

“Bruce, he-“ His voice cracked. Swallowing, he tried again. “He…he tried to fire me. Told me to…to hand over my ‘R’.” Dick’s fingers shook as he traced the yellow ‘R’ on his breast.

“He can’t do that,” You said, your voice indignant. “Robin is yours, he can’t take it away.”

“I told him that. And then…I told him I quit.”

You were stunned into silence, your mouth hanging open as fresh tears rolled down Dick’s cheeks.

“Oh, Dick,” You whispered. Pulling him into a hug, you ran a hand through his hair while he buried his head in the crook between your neck and shoulder, his tears soaking into your shirt.

After several long minutes, you pulled away just enough to look into Dick’s eyes.

“Do you want me to go kick Bruce’s butt? ‘Cause I will. You know I will.”

A brittle laugh escaped his lips. “No, it’s okay, [Y/N]. I-this is good. Being here with you, I mean.”

“Okay,” You whispered, nodding before pulling him back into an embrace.

“Is…would it be okay if I crash here tonight?” Dick asked, his voice hoarse from sobbing.

“Of course.”

Disentangling yourself, you walked to the door and clicked the lock into place. You shrugged when Dick gave you a curious look.

“Hey, as far as my parents are concerned, I’ve never had a boy in my room before. Gosh, I can’t even imagine what they would say if they saw you here.”

Dick cracked a smile as you tossed him a blanket and a pillow. “So you’ve just been lying to your parents for the past five years?”

You smiled mischievously, relived that Dick was starting to bounce back. “Maybe~.”

Chuckling softly, he shook his head. “Hey…thanks for this, [Y/N].”

“Yeah, whatever.” You smiled to show that you were only joking. “G’night, alligator.”

“Sleep tight, crocodile.”

_____

Frantically running your hand through your hair, you let out a breath through clenched teeth, desperately trying not to fall apart. You knew you were probably just overreacting; you hadn’t slept in days and you couldn’t remember the last time you’d eaten a proper meal. Top that with double shifts at work and several assignments that were due within the week, you could say with absolute certainty that college sucked.

Clutching your phone in your hand, your thumb hovered over the green call button. Every time you convinced yourself to press the button, to ask for help, a voice in the back of your mind whispered, telling you that asking for help was weak, that you were weak. No one else was struggling this much; why couldn’t you keep up? Maybe you didn’t belong here. Maybe you should just quit now instead of waiting for the humiliation of being kicked out because you’d failed your classes.

Your finger trembling, you pressed the button and lifted the phone, the dial tone ringing in your ear once, twice, three times.

Just as you decided to give up and drop the call, a voice came from the other end of the line.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Dick,” You said, your voice cracking. You mentally cursed your vocal cords.

“[Y/N]? Are you okay?” Dick asked, concern lacing his voice.

And that, as they say, was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Tears stung your eyes as you let out a sob, everything spilling out at once.

“I can’t keep up, Dick. I’m behind in all my classes and I can’t flunk, Dick, I just can’t. Work has been crazy all week and I’ve been doing double shifts and I just-I can’t handle it. I’m not good enough.”

“…When was the last time you slept, [Y/N]? Or ate?”

You blinked slowly, casting back in your memories. “Uhh…”

“Okay, never mind. Listen, I want you to go to bed right now and take a long nap. I’ll be there when you wake up.” Dick said.

“What? No, Dick, you don’t have to do that.” You protested. “Bludhaven is over an hour away and I’m sure you’ve got better things to do tonight. I—I’m okay, really. It’s fine.”

You could hear Dick sigh on his end of the line. “I appreciate the attempt, [Y/N], but I’m serious. I’m coming over and you’d better be asleep when I get there.”

A soft smile tugged at the corners of your mouth. “Roger that.”

You could practically hear Dick’s grin as he said ‘See you soon.’ Hanging up, you stumbled to your bed and fell into a blissful sleep the second you closed your eyes.

When you opened your eyes, the sun was peeking through the curtains, its soft light welcoming you back to the world. Not bothering to change out of your sleep-rumpled clothes, you padded out of your room to the kitchen, where Dick was leaning against the counter sipping a cup of coffee. His eyes brightened when he saw you and he put down the paper he’d been reading.

“Hey, [Y/N]. Sleep well?”

“Actually…yeah. I did.” You replied, smiling as you took a seat at the counter.

“Hungry?”

You nodded just as your stomach rumbled loudly. “Starving.”

Fixing two plates, he placed one in front of you and sat down across from you with the other. “Bon appetit.”

“Did you make this yourself?” You asked as you lifted your fork, admiring the tantalizing colors on your plate.

“Sure did,” Dick replied, his fork already halfway to his mouth.

“It looks delicious,” You said, taking a bite of the eggs. Your face immediately soured as the rough texture dried out your mouth and the rotten taste burned your tongue. Covering your mouth with your hand, you spoke around the lump of food in your mouth.

“Mm, Dick, this is…disgusting.”

Dick wore a similar expression on his face and he nodded in agreement. Spitting your mouthful into your napkin, you tossed the rest of the food in the trash, Dick doing the same.

“I ordered a pizza,” Dick said as you both took seats on the couch. “I also got people to cover your shifts for the rest of the week, and extensions on all but one of your assignments. I started on some research for it though, and you’re welcome to use it. This week, you need to focus on taking care of yourself, [Y/N].”

“Dick, you didn’t have to do all that.” You said, shocked by his actions.

“You scared me last night. I’ve never heard you sound like that before.”

“Like what?” You asked, averting your gaze and picking at a thread in your shirt.

“Broken.”

Your eyes flickered to meet his before falling again, tears blurring your vision.

“I’m sorry, Dick. I didn’t mean to dump all of my problems on you-“

Dick took your hand and squeezed it reassuringly. “No, [Y/N], no. You don’t have to apologize. You’re my best friend—you can come to me with anything. I love you, and I will always be here for you. Okay?”

Nodding, a tear slipped down your cheek and you brushed it away. “I know. I just feel like everything’s…too much. I can’t keep up with the workload. I’m a failure.”

“You are not a failure. Everyone’s struggling; it’s college. It’ll get easier, I promise.”

The corner of your mouth quirked up into a smile. “Thank you, Dick. For everything.”

He pulled you into a hug, his arms wrapping around you comfortingly. “Anytime, [Y/N].”

Dick’s phone chirped from his pocket and he reluctantly pulled away to look at the screen.

“Crap. I have to take care of this.” He said.

“Nightwing stuff?”

“Yeah. Will you be okay here by yourself?”

You nodded and glanced at the clock. “My roommate should be back soon.”

“Okay. Call me later?”

“Of course. Be careful, alright?”

Dick flashed his signature smile. “Careful is my middle name.”

“Suuure.” You said, rolling your eyes. “See ya later, alligator.”

“After a while, crocodile!” Dick called as he walked out the door.

_____

Tapping your foot impatiently, you hefted your bag higher on your shoulder as you waited for Dick to show up. You’d gotten off the subway nearly twenty minutes ago and he was nowhere to be seen. Pulling out your phone, you double-checked that yes, Dick had said he would meet you at the station.

You typed out a text asking where he was and hit send just as someone tapped you on the shoulder. Whirling around, you came face to face with a grinning idiot.

“Where have you been, Dick?” You asked.

He chuckled at your demeanor and took your bag. “When I told you I’d meet you at the station, I meant the police station. But when you didn’t show, I realized you thought I meant the subway station. So I hustled my butt down here before you went on a rampage.”

Cracking a smile, you shook your head and pulled him into a hug. “You are such an idiot.”

“Thank you.”

“So…police officer, huh? How’s that working out?” You asked as Dick led you down the street.

“Uh, not bad. It’s kinda nice, actually. I get to help people by using the law.” He said.

“And then putting on some tights and breaking it after shift?” You teased.

Dick laughed. “Pretty much.”

After walking a few more blocks, Dick proudly gestured to a building.

“This is it.”

Your gaze roamed over the brick building, nearly identical to the other ones on the street except for the sign proclaiming ‘Bludhaven Police Department’.

Nodding slowly, you said, “Wow.”

Dick pouted. “You’re not impressed?”

“It’s a building, Dick.”

“…Touché.”

“Can we go inside?” You asked, peeking in the window. The room was bustling, officers rushing back and forth and taking statements from civilians.

Dick shook his head. “Chief practically begged me to take this weekend off—I don’t think he’d be too pleased if I showed up.”

“No worries,” You said, shrugging. “Maybe another time.”

Dick took your hand and after some wandering, led you to his apartment, putting your bag on the couch.

“Nice place,” You commented, looking around the room.

“Thanks,” Dick said, rummaging in the fridge. “There’s only one bedroom though, so I’ll take the couch.”

“Dick, I’m the guest, therefore, I will sleep on the couch.”

“It’s a crappy couch, [Y/N].”

You sighed. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Fine then. I’ll take the couch.” You said quickly.

“Then it’s settled,” Dick said. “Wait…what did you say?”

You smiled innocently. “Too late, you agreed!”

Dick groaned as he handed you a glass of water. Tucking your legs underneath you, you turned to him.

“So, any sights in particular you want to show me this weekend?”

Nodding, Dick took a sip of his drink. “Yeah, I wanna take you to the amusement park, the boardwalk, oh, and I have to take you to Bill’s, they have the best donuts…”

You giggled as he continued to ramble, excitement written all over his face. You talked until late afternoon, eating a quick dinner of ramen noodles before Dick dragged you to the rooftop, insisting that what was up there would be worth nearly slipping and falling off the fire escape. Grumbling, you followed him, knowing that a bruise would appear on your shin in the morning.

Climbing the last of the steps, you gaped at the beautiful view surrounding you. The sun was just setting, the last of its gentle rays warming your skin. The sky was a breathtaking watercolor of reds, oranges, and the softest pink you’d ever seen.

Dick watched with a grin as you slowly twirled, taking in the beauty of the sunset.

“Dick,” You said, breathless. “This is…amazing.”

“One thing Bludhaven has over Gotham—the sunsets.” He took your hand and led you to the edge of the roof and you sat down, feet dangling over the edge.

You watched the sun sink below the horizon, the sky quickly going dark. Sensing that there was something else Dick wanted to show you, you waited in silence.

Gently touching your arm to get your attention, he pointed wordlessly to the sky, a soft smile on his lips. Following his finger, you saw the first star twinkling in the night sky, like a pearl at the bottom of the ocean. You couldn’t help but think of a lighthouse shining in the dark of night, a beacon for those who were lost.

You watched in awe as a shooting star streaked across the midnight sky.

“Make a wish,” Dick whispered.

Closing your eyes, you wished with all your might. When you opened them again, Dick was staring at you expectantly.

“What?” You said.

“What did ya wish for?”

Laughing, you shoved him playfully. “If I tell you it won’t come true!”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Pretty please?”

“No.”

“…With a cherry on top?”

“No!” You exclaimed, giggling. “I’m going back inside. Maybe that’ll teach you a lesson, Mr. Nosy.”

You stood up to leave but Dick grabbed your hand and pulled you back down, a pout on his lips. “Don’t go.”

Resting your head on his shoulder, a content sigh escaped your mouth. “Never.”

_____

“I wish I could stay longer.”

Dick wrapped his arms around you in a warm hug. “Me too.”

“I swear this weekend was shorter than usual. We should look into that.” You joked, hugging him back.

“I’ll check on the time-space continuum first thing tomorrow.”

A bittersweet smile on your face, you pulled away and sighed. “I’m gonna miss you, dork.”

“Same,” Dick said, tugging affectionately on a lock of your hair.

Despite the sounds of the train station rumbling around you, a comfortable silence fell between you, both of you enjoying being around the other, before you spoke again.

“Hey, why don’t we make a promise?” You said. “We’ll never go more than two months without seeing each other.”

Dick grinned and held out his pinkie. “Sounds good to me.”

Linking your pinkie with his, you shook on it. “Gosh, the last time we saw each other face to face was…”

“When you had a meltdown last semester?”

You bit your lip and nodded slowly, a reluctant grin spreading across your face. “Heh. Yeah. Thanks again for doing all that.”

Shrugging a shoulder, Dick waved it off. “Hey, don’t worry about it. How are things going now?”

“Good. Really good.”

Before Dick could reply, an announcement rang out over the speakers.

”Train 3A is now boarding. All passengers must present ticket upon boarding.”

Turning to face him, a smile tugged at your mouth as you hugged Dick one more time. “That’s my train.”

“Stay safe, [Y/N].” Dick said, waving as you dashed off to your boarding station a hurried promise of ‘I will!’ tossed over your shoulder.

He watched as you found a seat and turned to look out the window, eyes lighting up as you spotted him. Although he couldn’t hear your voice, he saw your lips shape the age old words that had become tradition between the two of you.

“See ya later, alligator.”

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he grinned and called out, the words rolling comfortingly off his tongue.

“After a while, crocodile.”

_____

“Smart. Beautiful. Caring. Strong. Thoughtful. All of these words, and dozens more, describe [Y/N].”

Dick gazed out at the assembled crowd, grief etched into their features. His eyes landed on your casket for just a moment, his vision blurring as tears formed in his eyes before he clearing his throat and continuing.

“[Y/N] always had a kind word to say, whether she’d known you for five years, or five minutes. She saw the good in everything, in everyone.” He chuckled softly, a tear falling. He wiped it away. “That’s not to say she didn’t get angry, though. She did. She could be quite the firecracker when she wanted to.”

Dick paused, preparing himself for what he was about to say.

“All of us here today had the privilege of knowing [Y/N]. I’m blessed to say that I’ve known her since I was just eight years old. She…” His voice cracked with emotion. “She was my best friend. I wouldn’t be the man I am today if it weren’t for her. Meeting [Y/N] was the best thing that ever happened to me. And I’ll continue to be thankful for having had her in my life for the rest of my days.”

Looking out at the crowd one more time, Dick stepped down from the podium and over to your casket. He placed a gentle hand on it and closed his eyes, his tears falling onto the polished wood. After a long moment he walked back to his seat, watching as your parents stepped up to the podium, clinging tightly to each other for support.

The rest of the ceremony passed by in a blur of condolences, shared memories, and tears. Standing in a corner by himself, Dick stared blankly out the window of the church hall, his thoughts as stormy as the weather outside. Through the raindrops dotting the window, he could see your headstone and the freshly churned dirt in front of it.

Noticing that no one was paying attention to him, he grabbed a flower from a centerpiece and headed outside without bothering to grab his coat or umbrella.

The rain had slowed to a light drizzle, the drops falling delicately from the sky. Dick stood next to your headstone, a lump in his throat and tears stinging his eyes.

Laying the flower on your headstone, he took a deep, trembling breath.

“I wasn’t ready to say goodbye, [Y/N].”

Dick ran a shaky hand through his hair. “I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was call your phone. It wasn’t until I heard your voicemail that I…I remembered you wouldn’t pick up.

“How am I supposed to live without you? You-you were a constant in my life. I knew I could count on you to catch me when I fell. You were always there for me when I needed you.

“I love you, [Y/N]. You were my best friend. And I—I don’t know how to…to go on without you.”

Tears were flowing freely down his cheeks now, mixing with the rain dripping from his hair. “I wasn’t ready, [Y/N]. I wasn’t ready.”

Falling to his knees, he let out the sob that had building within him all day. With no one around to fake a smile for, he let his calm demeanor fall, shoulders shaking with heavy sobs. He allowed himself to acknowledge all the emotions he’d pushed aside after hearing about your death. For the past week he’d been holding it together for your parents, your friends, taking it upon himself to be a source of comfort for them. That was his role in life, wasn’t it? To be a comforter, a rock for others to lean on.

But now, he let himself cry and scream at the injustice of it all.

The rain continued to fall, soaking his hair and clothes. It was only when a weak ray of sunlight broke through the clouds did Dick look up, having exhausted all his tears. Wiping his nose on his sleeve, he stood up, his pants stained from kneeling in the mud.

He took a breath to steady himself, the cool air stinging his throat. His throat was raw from screaming.

“I’ll never forget you, [Y/N]. You’ll always be in my heart."

His eyes stung as fresh tears flowed down his face, his heart aching in his chest.

“Goodbye, crocodile.”

Everything tag list: @rogrsnbarnes @avengerdragoness @fangirlnova @sonoflac @redhoodparker @pythiaaa @silversilvercat @purplemetahuman @emmadevr @jaybirdxarsenal @harpertoddfangirl  @superpeanutwastaken @rynne311 @miss-alys  @nxttime @mizmahlia  @thebeastwrites @local-fandom-trashcan @gamer-princessx @rnindexplosion @mimikyu-of-death

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[cruzrogue]

Enter My World

This came to me after seeing the train wreck of what Robert Queen has done. Two powerful families of Starling/Star City have failed so many people including themselves. Anyways I decided to write a piece that is like Bizzaro World where The Merlyns and Queens didn’t screw everything up and actually were pillars of the community, and omg good parents past and future.

So, I was writing for the OFAE project and got stuck in the middle part so when that happens other stories pop in my head like this one. I need to write them down and maybe explore more in depth. I have no idea if anyone will want to read this… But its like therapy for writer’s block. I need to figure a piece out in my OFAE gift to push forward. I’m so close to being done once this hurdle is past.

Anyways if you like or not, I’m always open for criticism or whatnot. Thanks for reading my babbles.

Of course, I had to create an age graph. LOL

Now to the premise of an AU Olicity story... 

 The Merlyn household normally silent at two in the morning. Little pattering of feet stops at a large wooden door as little fingers wrap themselves around the antique knob and cracks the door open enough to fit through. With another thunderous clap and flashing light filtering through the large windows the little girl dashes to the bed hoping the occupant there will let her hide under the covers as the storm passes through. The older boy already sensing his visitor pushes the bedcovers up so she can slide in. His embrace calming them both as the rainstorm has them on alert. The shapes of the tree branches making shadowy monsters dancing upon the walls keeping him frozen in his bed with fear until what he deems as his younger sister bravely adventures into his room under such extreme circumstance. Grateful to hold her petrified body to his as they ride out this terrifying experience together.  

The latest clap of thunder makes both children jump as the door of Thomas Merlyn’s room opens up wide as heavy footsteps walk to make sure the blinds are drawn. The troublesome weather wasn’t broadcasted so no one had made sure to make the bedrooms’ scary proof for the young residents of this dwelling. As the blinds are fully enclosed the shadowy monsters disappear. As soon as the visual effects were tamed Tommy looks to the man in his room that he calls his father.

Malcolm doesn’t have to see to know that his son isn’t alone and a little girl who he considers a daughter is huddled under the covers with his son. Though with his wife now turning on the bedside lamp he can see the little lump and strands of honey brown hair poking out from under the covers where Felicity hides. Rebekah already sitting by the edge of the bed pushing down slightly to where she can see tear-stricken eyes.

Rebekah’s sweet voice already helping the little ones on the bed feel secure. “It’s okay we are here.”

Malcolm taking his seat by Tommy’s side as the boy looks for his dad for strength. “The storm is moving away soon.” He doesn’t need the question spoken as he answers. “I’m not going anywhere.” It’s enough of a response to invoke his boy to grab his dad and be held as his fears of the monsters are subdued once again. “It was just wild branches from a tree. You’re safe.” Malcolm holds his son until he can feel the boy truly calm down and lay back on the bed.

Rebekah has the girl wrapped in her arms as sweet nothings are spoken. As the storm truly dies down around them the woman looks at her husband as they contempt if Felicity should be placed back in her bed or let her fall asleep here where she sought comfort. With a shake of Malcolm’s head, the response of the little girl remaining here with her brother is answered.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just a few miles away at the Queen residence. As the storm is brewing the children of the household are held up in their own parent’s room. The large four-post wooden encase that holds an over abundant mattress usually beds the couple of the homestead. Shortly after the first crack over the large estate where the noise echoes over the large open rooms. Oliver is already on the move as he passes one of his younger sister’s rooms. He doesn’t need to open her door as little Emilia is already joining him with her stuffed bear as they head to their parent’s room quickly before the next boom in the sky happens.

They stop at the door; Oliver’s little knuckles swiftly hits the door in hurried successions knowing any moment another frightening thunderclap will scare the duo waiting to be rescued by their parents. As the large framed door opens up and they see their father they automatically run into his awaiting arms.

“Hush now, it’s going to be alright.” Robert says as he watches them both jump on the large bed as they both safely watch their mother trying to calm their baby sister Thea.

The one-year-old quiets down significantly now that she sees her siblings. Moira sports a soft smile as she can already feel the difference in her youngest as the trio are reunited safely in her room. Looking at Robert as he’s already wandered to their bed to join his children as the intense weather beats down against the brick and mortar of the family estate. Tonight, the room will be filled with two generations of Queens as they wait out the storm and find comfort in each other in sweet dreams rather than nightmares of loud bangs and the sporadic light show.

“Momma?” Emilia small voice says before adding, “Can we have pannycakes tomorrow?”

Moira autocorrecting, “Pancakes.” As she then says, “Sure, I see why not. Now go to sleep my darlings.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5 years later…

“She is my sister man. You can’t just go and kiss her.”

“First of all, she kissed me.”

“Yea, but you liked it.” Tommy accused Oliver as he watches his friend be nonchalant about the whole thing. “What if I kissed Mila? Huh? You say you’d be okay with it?”

“No. I wouldn’t. But it’s different.”

“Really? Because she is your sister?”

“No. I know you don’t have those feelings for Emilia and Thea is like six so that be gross.”

“Fine, but all because you like Felicity doesn’t mean shit. She’s just twelve years old, and you know she’s making a big deal about training situation.”

“Their boobs Tommy, say breasts if you need to but its normal girlie stuff.”

Tommy makes a mumbling sound as his friend’s words are annoying him. “I don’t want to know about my sister’s boobs okay?”

Oliver rolls his eyes. He has two sisters and has spent enough time in Felicity’s orbit to know what the opposite sex talks about. Never mind the little remarks Aunt Reba and his mom that he overhears just like his friend who chooses to play dumb.

“Okay Tommy. We’ll both act like Felicity isn’t growing up.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“She still is the one to kiss me and I for one am not upset about it.”

That statement made Tommy blanch as another thought entered his mind.

“Tommy are you okay? You don’t look good.”

Tommy gives Oliver a deep stare as he says, “What… What if the other boys notice? They notice these things, right? I know I do. Oh my gosh my sister is going to be gawked at. What am I going to do?”

Oliver is worried that Tommy is way to freaked out. “Relax.”

“Relax? She’s my sister!” Tommy knows that Felicity is adopted but to him that is still his sister.

“She’s also very smart. Not only that but she has us.” Oliver pats his friends back as the boy begins to calm down. “Okay?” Adding to make Tommy feel better, “She’s my best-friend’s sister and also care about her. You know when we found out about the nut allergy and she was hospitalized I was there so you know how much I care.”

Tommy looks at Oliver with a nod. He knows how everyone important to him was there. Even with him going home with his dad he knows that Oliver stayed there when Felicity was scared to be alone even though his mom was also there. He’ll never will admit it out loud but seeing his best friend be so distraught over Felicity brought a comfort to him. He isn’t blind to the affection that is blossoming between those two. Though there is no way he will flame the fire and make it easy. That is his sister after all.

Oliver still worried asks, “Are we good? Are you okay?”

“Yea, I’m fine. But don’t you dare make it a habit. I’ll punch you in the face if you… you know.”

Oliver just nods there isn’t anything he can say. If he agrees to keep away, he’ll lose the closeness he has with her. He likes her near. If he says that out loud, he can create a distance with his best friend and he doesn’t want that either.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week later…

“You haven’t been around. I thought we were going to watch…”

“Felicity, I’m sorry. Just busy I guess and there is a load of school work and my dad wants me to apply for the summer junior thing.”

“I just miss you.”

Oliver tries not looking her in the face as he creates a lie that will probably hurt her but after another conversation with Tommy, he relented saying he’d make an effort to keep her at bay. “There is this spring dance coming and well my mom thinks I should really put the effort in being able to dance so I’m really going to busy.”

“Oh.” Felicity has heard Tommy talking about it. He says he has his eye on a certain girl he is going to ask to go with him. Their mother prodded for more information and finding out it is a big deal. Hearing Oliver talk about it she wonders who he will ask to be his date. “Do you have someone in mind?”

“Ah! Sure, you wouldn’t know her.”

Felicity nods but like always she prods deeper, “Classmate, right? I bet she’s really something if you like her. Hope she can dance to.”

“I like her enough and she’s really pretty.”

“I guess this means you’ll be too busy for us.”

“Hey, I’ll always be around you are my best friend’s kid sister.”

She gives him a forced smile as she can feel the brush off. She’ll have to get use to this she thinks. He is sixteen now. Doesn’t mean she likes it. She isn’t too close to his sister Mila who kind of resents her close friendship with her brother and Thea is sweet but between her nanny and older sister Felicity doesn’t think she’ll spend as much time in the Queen home anymore.

“I guess I’ll see you around.” She turns around to walk away when she decides that if this is it. That he doesn’t like to spend time with her anymore she has to say her peace because she already knows in her heart what losing people does. It creates a void.

A car accident around her seventh birthday took her parents. She knows pain but she’s lucked out that with one tragedy it led to her finding another family who also rocked their own sad tragedy. She was a key for them to heal as their own love for her has mended some invisible walls of pain. “No. I don’t buy this Oliver!”

“What?” He says surprised.

“You were fine a week ago.” She looks at him trying to read the boy she cares more about than she willing wants to admit but she knows she cares for him. To her he is more than just a friend of Tommy’s he is her confident and they share their own little world. It is a world that holds possibilities but it simmers on some low fervor as being near one another gives the other an extension to feel something that has no words because their experiences in life are limited but they know. She isn’t willing to let it go. Not without a solid reason. “This… this is happening because I kissed you.” Realizing this she just shakes her head. “It was merely a one second kiss.”

“Felicity.”

“It was. Wasn’t it?”

“I’m really just busy…”

“Please… I’m not an outsider who doesn’t know you. I’m sorry if I freaked you out. I promise to never kiss you again. Just don’t ruin our friendship.”

Oliver sighs as he looks to the sky for answers. When he his face comes back down and he looks at the girl before him waiting for an answer and he finally spills the truth, “It’s not our friendship I’m worried about. Tommy is my best friend since forever and… and I feel like this…” He points between them. “Is something that is dangerous and…”

Her head tilts listening to him as she takes his answer and thinks its full of baloney and she calls him on it. “Dangerous? I’m freaking twelve years old Oliver. I have no idea what is in store for my future but I know here and now as I missed a week of listening to you being you. We’ve known each other for five years. Five years Oliver. You seriously want to throw it all away?”

“I’m not going anywhere. I just need to distance myself. Find myself I guess.”

“Without me? You mean. Because you aren’t pulling away from anyone else. Right?”

“I’m sixteen. I also don’t see you as my sister, so that kiss if just a second opened a floodgate with your brother. His reasons make sense and I’m older so I should know better. I’m doing this for what is best for the both of us.”

“I don’t understand. But then like you said I’m just a kid so what would I know.” She shakes her head as she says one more thing before leaving him to create this mess. “Somethings aren’t fixable.”

“Felicity? Felicity…” She is out of his sight and he wonders if he just made the biggest mistake that with time will be unfixable as they go their own ways but yet be close enough to see opportunities lost. They already don’t share the same circles. They are in each other’s orbit but he realizes she is too young even if they are only four years apart. She plays with dolls still and well he needs to remind himself of that as he wants to be more of an adult. He is doing what is best for the both of them. It’ll get easier…

[psychosistr]

Wait for You- Part 1 (CaeJose Dancer!AU)

Part 3 of my CaesarxTrans!Joseph Dancer!AU. I feel bad putting these two through some pain this time, but I apparently can’t write people being/falling in love without introducing some angst into the relationship XP

The inspiration for this chapter’s title is “Wait for You” by Elliot Yamin and you’ll probably see why in the second part T~T

Joseph sighed as she reclined back on her couch. She was sooooooo bored…

She knew she could probably do some chores around her apartment, but she hated cleaning- well, she hated hard work of any kind, really. She had a ton of comic books and video games and movies to keep her preoccupied, but none of it was appealing to her at the moment. There were no classes to teach today, no practices to go to, absolutely NOTHING to do.

She spotted her phone across from her on the coffee table and an idea popped into her mind. With a big grin and the faintest of blushes along her cheeks, she scrolled through her text conversations to Caesar’s number. It had been a few days since the night he took her home after destroying her suit for her (her mom had been irritated about it, but let her off with only a mild lecture) and they’d been texting pretty regularly since then. They hadn’t actually had a chance to SEE each other since that night, though…

Well, might as well try for something now, right?

Joseph smiled as she typed out a message and sent it to Caesar.

“Caaaeessaaarrrrr, I’m boooooooorrreeeeedddddd :P Are you doing anything right now? We could go grab lunch somewhere- I know a great pizza place nearby. Let’s go there so I can listen to you complain about how un-authentic it is, lol XD”

She saw him typing back a reply within less than a minute. A bubble of hope built up within her until it burst when she read the reply.

“My apologies, mia angela, but I’m actually meeting a friend for lunch. I work a short shift tonight, though- perhaps we could go out for dinner instead?”

Joseph pouted a bit at that. She really wanted to see him sooner than that. Plus, waiting until dinner meant that she’d still be bored all day. But, at least she’d get to see him..

“Okay, fiiiiine, I’ll wait til tonight XP Text me when you get off so we can pick a place.”

“I will. See you tonight, bella dea ;)”

She couldn’t help a small laugh when she read his reply. He was such a flirt, even when he was just texting. She still liked it, though, because it showed how interested he was in her.

She stretched and got up from the couch. “No use hanging around here, I guess…” She decided she might as well use the free time to go for a jog. After all, she’d have plenty of time to shower and change before seeing Caesar tonight...

Joseph had her earbuds in, her phone strapped to her arm via a holster, and was jogging down her usual route while listening to her workout mix. She got some stares from people when they saw her running around in black spandex workout shorts, a sleeveless pink mid-riff revealing top, and her usual sneakers and green and yellow scarf, but she ignored them as she usually did.

She slowed to a stop when she got to a street corner, having to wait for the light to change. As she waited, she looked around out of boredom. Her eyes landed on a familiar but unexpected sight, though:

Caesar, sitting at a table outside of a local café.

“Oh, that must be where he’s meeting his friend.” She said to herself while taking out her earbuds.

She was about to go say hi to him, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw someone walk up to Caesar. SOMEONE being an admittedly cute girl with blond hair, big doe eyes, and an adorable but clingy white sundress that showed off that her eyes weren’t the only pair of big things on her…

Joseph watched with wide eyes, frozen in shock. No, surely that couldn’t be whom Caesar was meeting for lunch, right?

Her fleeting hopes were dashed to the rocks when Caesar saw the girl and stood up, greeting her with a smile and a kiss to each of her cheeks as he said “Ciao, bella!” before pulling her chair out for her so she could sit at his table with him.

Joseph’s chest felt tight. She didn’t want to believe what she was seeing, but it was hard to deny it…

She saw the light change and quickly crossed the street, taking cover behind some trees on the corner. She peeked from between a few branches, giving her a perfect vantage point.

Unfortunately, she quickly found that she couldn’t follow any of their conversation. ‘Are you kidding me?! She’s Italian, too?!’

Sure enough, the girl and Caesar spoke Italian fluently back and forth, occasionally brushing hands or passing bites of food on their plates once they ordered and had their food brought out in a way that clearly spoke of familiarity. As Joseph watched the pair eat and talk, she couldn’t help but think of how cute they seemed together- two pretty, blonde, Italian people sitting at a café…it made her feel sick…

Deciding she couldn’t stand there and watch the scene unfold any longer, she put her earbuds back in to block out their voices and ran home as fast as her feet would carry her.

Her mind swam with questions: Who was that girl? Were she and Caesar dating? How long had they known each other? Had they been dating since they both lived in Italy? And if that’s the case, what was Caesar doing with Joseph? Was she just a side-piece? A passing fancy? Or was that just how he treated all women and she’d just mistaken it for something more?

Then there was the question that hurt the most, the one that she’d been trying to avoid since her first dance with the Italian: Caesar was a handsome, charming, charismatic guy who could easily get any woman he wanted, so why would he waste his time with someone like Joseph when he could have a cute girl like the one at the café?

Whatever the answers were to those questions, she decided she didn’t want to know. She wouldn’t be someone’s side-chick and she sure as hell wasn’t going to cry over something as stupid as a boy.

Even if that boy made her feel so special…

She canceled her plans with Caesar that night, responding to the text he sent with a vague “Something came up” and nothing else. She didn’t bother reading what he sent in reply. She also didn’t bother checking her phone for any of the other messages he sent over the next two days. She had to distance herself from him emotionally.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t avoid seeing him at class…

As she did her warm up stretches in the corner as usual, Caesar approached her. “Jojo? Is everything alright?”

She wanted to shout at him that NO, EVERYTHING’S NOT ALRIGHT, but she kept her cool and replied evenly. “Yeah. Everything’s fine.”

Caesar frowned slightly at her tense reply. “O..kay..I was just concerned- I didn’t hear back from you after you said something came up.”

“I was busy.” Another clipped reply, but she couldn’t help it. She wasn’t very good at hiding how she felt, but she knew that if she spoke she’d have a meltdown in front of everyone.

Fortunately, her mom saved her by starting class and Caesar was soon distracted learning today’s lesson and choreography. Unfortunately, it was another lesson that required a partner.

Predictably, Caesar came up to her with his usual charming smile. “Jojo, would you like to-?”

She cut him off before he could finish. “Actually, I’m sitting this one out, so you should go ask one of the other girls.”

She felt a brief moment of guilt when she saw the surprised and slightly hurt look on his face before he gave an understanding nod and went to ask someone else. Joseph refused to feel bad about this- he was the one who’d gotten her hopes up, damn it, why should she feel bad?

Still…when she saw him dance with another girl in class, it made her feel jealous..even if she wished it didn’t…

She used her mom’s office as a hiding spot after class was over and waited there until she was sure everyone else was gone before heading out to the parking lot. Her plan seemed like a failure, though, when she saw Caesar waiting outside in his riding clothes expectantly.

Joseph took a deep breath and set her face in a neutral expression as she tried to walk past him. Caesar was having none of that, it seemed, and he stood in her way as she tried to get through. She kept her neutral face as she looked him in the eyes. “What?”

“Why are you avoiding me?” Caesar got straight to the point, his gaze firm but with an underlying confusion and sadness. “I thought we were getting along-”

“Yeah, I thought so too- guess we were both wrong. Now move.” Joseph said in an irritated tone as she shoved him aside and continued on her way.

She would not cry in front of him. She would not breakdown and demand answers like some cheated lover in a bad romance novel. She would keep her cool.

<-Previous Story Part 2->

-From the Beginning-

[hysterialevi]

Legend pt. 3

Author’s note: Sorry these chapters haven’t been that frequent. Lately I’ve been running a bit low on motivation and I didn’t want to rush anything out, so that’s why these parts have been taking centuries to release lol. But I’m excited to get back to work, and I hope you all enjoy this fic. Thanks for being so patient and sticking with me through all these stories. Love you guys :)

From Bruce’s POV

THAT NIGHT

Rushing through Gotham’s streets in the Batmobile, John sat beside me and happily spoke to himself as we carried on with our nightly patrol, keeping an eye out for any criminals that could’ve been running amok. 

Even though the clown was technically supposed to be hiding from the Agency right now, that didn’t stop him from wanting to help me with my work as Batman. And considering the situation we were in, I wasn’t in much of a position to turn him down. 

Recently, the crime in Gotham had become relentless, and ironically, Waller’s presence didn’t do us any favors. If anything, the director and her agents just seemed like different types of criminals to me, and it was my job to get them out of the city. Fast.

I just hoped John would actually follow my code. I had no problem putting my trust in him, but he wasn’t exactly a man of restraint, and the last thing I needed was for someone to get killed tonight. Lord new this city had seen enough death.

“So, what’s the status, Bats?” John asked with an energized, toothy grin, breaking the silence. “See any baddies on the loose?”

I squinted slightly at the road ahead, gazing through the beams of my headlights.

“Nothing so far.” I replied. “Things have been pretty quiet tonight.”

“Why the nervous look?” He commented. “Isn’t that what we want? Or are you just getting bored? ‘Cause I certainly am. I wanna punch someone already! Hehe!”

“Well,” I said, hugging a corner, “I was expecting to see at least a robbery by now, but it’s been peaceful. A little too peaceful for my liking. It’s almost as if Gotham’s...waiting for something. Biding its time.”

John shrugged. “Sounding a bit paranoid there, buddy. But, hey. Who knows? Could be because of the Agency. I mean, heck -- if weirdos like me are hiding from them, I imagine common criminals would also want to keep out of their sights, too. Not to mention we are driving around in a giant murder machine. Not exactly subtle.”

“...That’s true, I guess.”

“Relax, Brucie,” he reassured with confidence, patting my shoulder. “I swear, you’re gonna have a full head of grey hair before the sun rises. You have a partner now, remember? This burden is no longer yours alone to bear. I promise, if I see anything out of the ordinary like that shattered window up there, you’ll be the first to know.”

A pang of realization hit me at that statement and I came to a sudden halt, causing John to lurch forward like a slingshot with a yelp.

“What?” I asked, taken by surprise. “Where?”

John regained his composure and peeled himself off the dash, pointing upwards at what appeared to be an apartment building. 

“There...” he said with a slight groan. “I bet someone used it to break in.”

I furrowed my brow at the scene and prepared my gear, slowly exiting the Batmobile.

“...Or out. Come on. Let’s go take a look.”

THE APARTMENT

Grappling up to the broken window with my arm around John, the two of us landed on a simple balcony as we discreetly checked inside, making sure whoever caused this damage wasn’t still around.

“...See anything?” John whispered, peeking over the sill. 

“Looks clear,” I observed. “But the apartment’s a mess. There was definitely some sort of struggle here. Be on your guard.”

Activating my earpiece, I contacted Alfred as John quietly hopped inside ahead of me, navigating his way around the toppled furniture.

“Alfred,” I said lowly, “John and I have come across a peculiar scene in a nearby apartment. It looks like a fight took place here...and a rather violent one at that. I’ll send you the address, but don’t call the GCPD just yet. I want to inspect the area first.”

“Of course, sir. Keep me updated...and please, be careful.”

Returning to the situation at hand, I started examining the wrecked apartment and the clues scattered around me as John conducted his own investigation, both of us trying to formulate a cause for this mess.

Some of the furniture had been broken, numerous dents had been beaten into the walls, and a flickering lamp rested on the floor along with some shards of glass. How did the neighbors not hear any of this? Were they simply gone when it happened? ...Or did someone make sure their lips stayed shut? I had to find out.

“Batman!” John called, beckoning me to the kitchen. He was kneeling down by something, but the counters in front of me blocked my view. I hurried over.

“What is it?” I asked. “Did you find anything?”

Carefully treading through the ruined furniture, I stepped next to my partner and crouched beside him, only to come to an abrupt pause when I noticed there was a man lying against the stove with a gun in his grip.

Both his shirt and hands had been stained with blood -- most-likely his own, considering the wound on his abdomen -- and his face was riddled with severe contusions. Judging by their freshness, this man was attacked today.

“...What do we do?” John questioned. 

I reached for the man’s gun, checking the magazine. None of the ammunition had been depleted.

“He didn’t have a chance to fire,” I concluded. “The attacker must have taken him by surprise. Or at least been quick enough to bring him down before he could defend himself.”

John gazed at the disarray around us. “...Well, he certainly put up a good fight without the gun. Maybe he was trying to get to it?”

I nodded. “Possibly. Hang on a minute. I’m going to see if I can identify who this man is.”

I contacted Alfred again.

“Master Bruce,” he greeted, sounding relieved. “How goes the investigation?”

“There’s a body here,” I reported, “but I don’t recognize their face, and neither does John. I need you to search the database for any possible matches.”

“A body?” He repeated grimly. “Oh, dear. What do they look like?”

I scanned the victim. “Male. Caucasian. 185 centimeters. Short blond hair and a beard. Appears to be around his early thirties. Has a distinct series of tattoos on both arms and on the side of his neck. Scar just above the left brow bone.”

Alfred was quiet for a minute.

“...Find anything?” I checked.

The butler deemed successful.

“Sir, I’ve just looked up the address you sent me and cross-referenced that with any people who fit your description...and there’s only one match. His name was Joseph Hunt.”

I froze in shock, falling silent as I suddenly realized who this man was.

“Joseph Hunt?”

“That name mean something to you, Bruce?”

I examined the man, a series of memories rushing through my head as I observed his somewhat familiar features.

“I went to school with Joseph as a kid,” I concluded. “If I recall correctly, he was always quite the bully. Didn’t exactly have any friends. Clearly, not much has changed.”

“...Indeed,” Alfred confirmed in an uneasy tone, searching for more information about him. “According to the codex, Hunt had quite a troubled life. Despite going to the same school when you were children, it seems that the two of you took very different paths as adults.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Hunt lived a life of crime,” he explained. “It says here that he was involved in multiple robberies, drug deals, burglaries, and even an attempted murder. Of his own father, no less. He also worked with The Pact for a time. It...certainly raises the question of whether Hunt was the...true victim in this scenario.”

I caught on instantly. “You think someone killed him out of revenge?”

“It’s definitely a plausible explanation. You can’t commit that many felonies without making enemies, Bruce. Just look at Thomas. Behavior like that is always certain to be your undoing.”

I glanced at John for a moment who was still busy rummaging through the evidence around us, eagerly waiting for an update from me.

“True, but unfortunately that doesn’t really narrow it down,” I countered. “There were loads people working with The Pact, and who knows who he was mixed up with before then? I only know one of his victims personally, and they’re in prison right now. It had to be someone else.”

Alfred paused. “Wait, you know one of his victims?”

“Yeah,” I responded casually. “Oswald Cobblepot. He’s not a victim of Hunt’s crimes -- as far as I’m aware -- but he was one of the kids Joseph would bully back in school. And I’d always be the one to protect him...” my voice softened at the recollection, and I couldn’t deny that I felt a tad nostalgic thinking about my childhood. 

But I quickly snapped back to reality with a gentle cough, bringing my focus back to the crime scene. “Ahem. Like I said though, he’s in prison. So it couldn’t have been him.”

Alfred was unconvinced. “...The Batcomputer would disagree.”

My mind went into a state of alarm. “What are you talking about?”

“Official records would tell you that Cobblepot is still being held in Blackgate, when in reality, he was released just two days ago at the request of the Agency. For what reason however, I couldn’t tell you. Details are close to nonexistent.”

“Dammit,” I cursed. “Why would the Agency set someone like Oswald free? They know what he’s done -- what the Penguin’s done. Surely, they wouldn’t trust him...but then again, Waller does have a habit of using criminals in place of her own men. I mean, look at Harley and Selina. Hell, she even slapped a collar on Bane. I guess there’s really nothing stopping her from recruiting one extra pair of hands.”

Alfred agreed. “I’m afraid you could be correct, sir. Question is: why now? And why Oswald? Out of all people, what’s convinced Waller that she needs his help? Nothing good, that’s for sure.”

“We’ll figure that out later,” I said. “Right now, I need to deal with Joseph. We can’t just leave him here--”

“--The hell?!” A man’s voice interrupted. “Get away from me...!”

Whipping around at the sudden outburst, I let out a quiet gasp when I saw that -- contrary to what I was expecting -- Joseph was actually still alive, and attempting to swat John away with a very weak, bloodied arm. 

“Geez!” The clown exclaimed. “I was only trying to help!”

Joseph’s head whirled towards me, revealing a pair of fatigued, darkened eyes.

“...Batman?” He breathed out, recognizing my mask instantly. “When’d you get here...? What’s...what’s happening?”

I carefully approached the panicked man.

“It’s all right, Joseph,” I comforted in a low, but gentle tone. “You’re safe now. My partner and I just arrived a few minutes ago.”

That only seemed to confuse him more.

“You know who I am? How do you...ah, what the hell. I don’t even care anymore. What do you want from me? You here to arrest me?”

I knelt down next to him.

“Slow down, Joseph. We’ll get to that, but I need to ask you a few questions. First things first: do you remember what happened? Or when it happened? Do you know who the assailant was?”

Joseph appeared to relax slightly, and his shoulders slouched out of relief, but the rest of his temperament still felt incredibly restless.

“...I-It was...after I got home,” he recalled, his body limp with exhaustion. “Don’t know what the exact time was, but the sun was down already.”

“Where were you before that?” I asked. A faint look of shame spread across his face.

“The Stacked Deck. I go there quite a lot. Guess that’s why it was so easy for the attacker to figure out my schedule.”

I found that a bit strange. “Wait, you think they were studying you?”

Joseph shrugged. “It would make sense. I mean, when I opened the door, he was just...standing there. Right in the middle of my own, goddamn apartment. Like he was expecting me or something.”

“That does seem odd,” I agreed. “Any idea who he was?”

The shame in his expression grew even more prominent at that, and his head lowered out of guilt.

“I was gonna shoot him at first,” Joseph confessed, gesturing to his gun, “but when he told me who he was... When I finally saw his face... I just...couldn’t. A stupid fuckin’ move, I know, but I just didn’t have it in me.”

I urged him to go on. “Who was he? Do you have a name?”

His lifeless stare sharpened with concern, and his jaw tightened out of anxiety.

“...Oswald Cobblepot.”

Shit, I thought to myself. Alfred was right.

But...it still didn’t make any sense. Joseph wasn’t a saint, sure, but he never caused enough trouble for the Agency to notice him. At least, not while I was with them. 

So, why would they let Oswald go after him? What did Waller gain from killing some random criminal? Was Joseph really that much of a hindrance to them? I doubted it. This whole situation was a mystery...and I had the feeling Joseph knew more than he was letting on. But it was time I let the GCPD in. If the Penguin was back on the streets, they needed to be aware.

“I think I’ve heard enough,” I concluded, rising back to my feet. “John, keep an eye on him. I’m going to contact GCPD.”

“Wait!” He insisted. “...Do you really think handing him over to them is a good idea?”

I halted mid-action, my hand paused just beside my earpiece. 

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it,” John continued. “Waller has her boot on Gordon’s neck right now, and she’s certainly not interested in helping Batman at the moment. If we give Joseph to her, who knows what’ll happen? She could just finish the job behind closed doors, and then we’d never figure out the rest of the puzzle! Besides, this guy was with the Pact! And he clearly has history with that Cobblepot punk, too. He might know some things we don’t. Things that we can keep hidden from Waller...”

I mindlessly began to lower my hand.

“...That’s...actually a good point,” I admitted. “But what would you suggest we do with him instead, then? Like I said before, we can’t just leave him here.”

John scratched the back of his head in thought. “Why not bring him back to the cave?”

I stared at him in bewilderment. “You’d let him inside the heart of our operations?”

“You know me, Batsy,” the clown reminded, placing a palm over his chest. “I have a knack for reading people -- just like I read you back when we first met -- and something tells me we can trust him.”

I crossed my arms. “And if we can’t?”

John scoffed. “Pfft, you’re Batman, for Pete’s sake! What’s one common criminal to deal with if things go awry? We could handle him easily! Unless, of course, you’d rather risk Waller getting her hands on him...”

I sighed in defeat, glancing back at Joseph reluctantly.

“...I’ll consider accepting his help,” I announced, causing John to clap excitedly, “but we’re not taking him to the cave. Not for now. In the meantime, get him to the Batmobile. If we’re going to move him anywhere, we need to patch him up first.”

Pulling Joseph’s arm around his shoulder, John eagerly lugged our new “friend” to safety and gave me an approving thumbs-up, strolling away merrily. Meanwhile, the other man wearily stared at me in wonder -- almost as if he had been expecting a much worse outcome -- and simply allowed my partner to drag him off as he said a quick word.

“...Thank you, Batman.” Joseph croaked, his voice raspy and wounded. “A man like me doesn’t deserve your help, but you gave it anyway. I won’t...I won’t forget this.”

I nodded firmly at him. “You refrained from taking a life tonight, Joseph. I’m sure you’re a better man than you think.”

He brought his eyes to the floor in sorrow, a hint of regret coating his intense gaze.

“Yeah...I used to tell myself the same thing.”