#THAT WENT!!!! NOT AMAZING BUT NOT AWFUL DARE I SAY OKAY??? AVERAGE?????

[hella1975]

ONE EXAM DONE RAGHHHHH

[wormstacheangel]

Suptober Day 1: Harvest

wc: 1.7k tags: fluff with the side of tiny case fic, established relationship, spoilers but cw they are drugged with cider,

It was a long hunt. One that they accepted as their last one, but, of course, they can never sit still enough not to take an easy local hunt. By local, he means a two-day trip away, but still, they saved a couple of old folks from a ghost, which was fun. Dean sure enjoyed getting thrown around until Cas finally burned the dentures.

Like he said, long hunt.

They stayed at a nice little Airbnb overnight. During breakfast, their waitress told them of the Harvest Festival a town over. Cas was still a little bruised up, but Dean convinced him to go, at least to try their famous apple cider.

“We’ll make a day of it! Just me and you.” With that, Cas agreed, taking Dean’s waiting hand across the table.

The festival was lively when they arrived in the afternoon, with more people than they expected considering the small town they were in but apparently when they say famous they meant it. The tents lined up with food from funnel cakes, donuts, chicken, and some pumpkin spice beer that Dean chugged down even though it tasted like shit.

They eventually ended up with bags filled with treats and souvenirs to take home to the kids--Sam and Eileen fall into the kids’ category. They each held a bag while Dean held Cas’ hand tight in his own, dragging him around from seller to seller, buying and tasting as he went.

“We should start heading home, or soon you’ll be too full to drive.” Cas teased as Dean finished off their bag of apple crisps. “You think we’re feeding an army.”

“Considering how Jack eats, we might as well be.”

“He gets that from you, you know.”

They continued their banter as they made their way out of the festival and to the parking lot.

Then they were stopped by a woman wearing a volunteer pumpkin shirt, “Aw, leaving so soon? Don’t ya wanna stay for the fireworks?”

That quickly took Dean’s attention, brightening up his whole face so much that once again, Cas couldn’t find it in himself to refuse. Instead, earning himself a small kiss on the cheek as a thank you before being was dragged to the car to drop off their items.

Once back in the festival, they walked around until another volunteer told them about the amazing view of the fireworks at the middle of the corn maze.

“It’s a small maze, but in the middle is a little hill. So it’s usually first-come, first-serve. But I haven’t heard of anyone taking it as of now.”

Once again, Dean was easily hooked in and took Cas along for the ride. Not that he was complaining. He enjoyed watching Dean get excited over small things, things he wouldn’t have permitted himself to get excited for before. Of course, it helped when Dean hooked his arm around Cas’s waist to tug him close, whispering, “Ever kissed someone in a corn maze, Cas?”

“You know I haven’t, Dean.”

That did it for Cas. A promise of a spectacular kiss that will put the fireworks to shame.

At the entrance of the maze stood a cider cart, and Cas made a beeline for it. “I at least wanna be warm if you are going to make me walk around in the cold.”

“On the house.” The saleswoman winked at them, and something uneasy passed through them, but they ignored it as she motioned them to go right on in that the fireworks should be starting soon.

They took their hot cider and walked right in, taking hold of their hands as they walked through the maze in comforting silence. Watching the sky above them change from orange and pinks to the dark night sky.

When the maze opened up to a clearing, Dean started to run—taking the small space on top. It was tall enough to see over the cornstalk and watch the lights twinkle from the festival up ahead. They could even see groups of people exiting the maze from their left, and for a second, Dean wondered why they didn’t run into anybody on their walkover. It looked like a lot of people were going through the maze, but nobody passed them.

That thought was quickly dismissed as the first firework lit up the sky, cheers from the crowd echoed the loud boom, and Dean felt secure with an arm hooking around his shoulders to bring him in closer. So they sat there watching the firework show and polishing off their now cold cider until Cas couldn’t wait another second.

Gently, he turned Dean’s face just enough so they could start the kiss slowly. The snap crackle pop of the fireworks above their heads just kept lighting up the fuse between them until Cas asked for them to find another place to spend the night.

“Should we go now?” Dean kissed down Cas’s jaw, feeling the hastily nods instead of seeing it. “Okay. Okay, let’s go.”

They both stood up and took one last look at the view before they got down. Turning left, where they were sure they saw the other folks exit from before. Every few steps, they pulled each other for another kiss-- smiling into them like giddy newlyweds--until they started to realize they’ve been walking for way too long.

The fireworks had long been over, and they soon realized it was their only source of light. It soon became so hard to see anything that they didn’t dare let go of each other’s hands. They tried to go back to the hill to see if maybe they could see the trail from there, but it was like it never existed in the first place.

“Fuck!” They turned the corner to find another dead-end. “Isn’t this shit for children!”

“You know we haven’t seen or heard anyone in a while. Not since-”

“We came in here. I know. I was thinking the same thing earlier when we were on the hill.”

“Why didn’t you say anything then?”

“Cause you stuck your tongue in my mouth and impending doom took a backseat.”

They started to run, calling out for help as they did, but it only felt like they were going in circles.

Then Dean yelled, “Hallelujah!” When a flashlight shined into their faces.

“There you two are. It’s time to go.” The old man sounded so relieved to find them. He didn’t look sinister. He didn’t even make it sound like they were gone for that long. “You two okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah. We got lost, I guess.” Dean shrugged, watching as Cas stared ahead of him.

“Many people do. But they always find their way out, though.”

They followed the man out of the maze while Dean’s knuckles brushed alongside Cas’. They were listening to the man recite a memory when suddenly Cas tugged at Dean’s arm.

“Dean.” It was a shocking gasp.

“Cas?” Dean turned around to watch; Cas’s eyes rolled to the back of his head before dropping like a ragdoll. “Cas!”

And just like that, Cas was out to the world.

Dean fell to his knees to take Cas into his arms, but it was useless. He was heavy, and Dean’s body was starting to tingle, his muscles becoming weaker with every passing second.

“Don’t you worry about your little friend.” The man flashed his light on Dean’s face. Blinding him, but Dean kept glaring up at him. “Just like you, he won’t feel a thing.”

“What did you do to him?” He tried to growl, but it came out too breathless for it to be threatening.

“Same thing we did to you. Same thing we do every year to a couple of tourists.”

Dean could feel himself slipping out of consciousness, but he kept trying to shield Cas from whatever was coming.

“Don’t fight it, boy.” The man walked over to him, raising his flashlight high above his head. “Hate it when they struggle.”

And with a single hit, Dean was knocked out. Falling over Cas. Hoping that at least he gets killed first this time around.

Dean woke up again when he felt someone kicking his legs with little to no effort. His arms were numb, and he realized it was because they were pulled back and tied around some huge boulder.

“Dean?”

Dean recognized the voice and happily groaned out a complaint. “Hate small towns. Creeps. All of them.”

Cas chuckled in relief. “Glad you’re okay.”

Dean blinked a couple of times before his eyes focused, looking across from him to find Cas in the same position as him. Cas looked dirty, a few scratches on his face from being dragged, which made Dean furious—tugging at the ropes that hold him back from checking for any more injuries.

“Fuck! Shit! You okay? They hurt you?”

“Not as much as they did you.” Dean didn’t feel much pain besides the stretch on his shoulders and a raging headache. “I guess that’s not true. You have a swell on your head.”

“Yeah, well, I went down swinging. Unlike you.” Cas didn’t look amused, but he looked concerned. Dean followed his gaze, looking for an explanation or a way out. “I guess we’re either bait or dinner.”

“I’m used to being bait.”

“And I’m used to being dinner. Well, aren’t we a match made in heaven?” This time Cas glared, and weirdly enough, it made Dean relax a little. “Okay, so what’s the plan?”

The plan was simple, while Cas may not be a full-powered-up angel, he was still an angel. And he was stronger than an average human. So with a little more force, Cas had his arms free, rubbing his wrist while shrugging at Dean, “I always see humans do this.”

“Yeah, cause it hurts, so if you can just-” Dean motioned for his arms and Cas quickly reached to untie him. Then, when they were both free, they once again started to look around the empty cornfield. “I say leave now and call for backup; come back in the morning.”

“Considering we have no weapons, I think that would be for the best.”

“So much for date night.” Dean took Cas’s hand, and they quickly started to get themselves out of there. Running like maniacs as they pushed through the endless corn.

“I actually enjoyed myself today. You know, before the whole being drugged and left for dead part.”

“Really? That was my favorite part.” Dean joked, squeezing Cas’s hand as they made their way to safety. “You think all the stuff we bought was drugged?”

“Won’t stop me from having another donut.”

“Man, I love you.”

[thorne93]

History Repeats (Part 4)

Prompt: Life’s hard, right? Well throw in a not so great job, a broken heart, and chasing a pipe dream in LA. But could someone come along to make all the bad shit disappear? Or is he just another heartbreak waiting around the bend?

Warnings: language, drug addiction, alcohol addiction, angst/heartbreak, adult themes (??)

Word Count: 2386

Note: Aesthetic made by @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​ because she’s absolutely amazing Beta’d by @like-a-bag-of-potatoes​ and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​ . Brainstorming from @carryonmyswansong​​

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

Before you knew it, you’d fallen into a routine with Hayden, somewhat. It wasn’t like clockwork, but there was definitely something that had become part of your pattern.

It seemed that Hayden would drop by a few nights a week and ask if you wanted to hang in his room after you got off. You always said yes because for the first several nights, it was a good way to vent and relieve some stress. You two swapped stories of hard working days, then it always seemed to work into the heartbreak you were both still going through. Realizing that not being with your exes was best, and accepting that fate were two very different things, especially for Hayden, having a daughter made it all the worse. 

But after a while, the visits went from bonding, being each other’s support, to being fun filled and like normal friendly hang outs. The two of you talked about Rachel and Jason less, and talked more about yourselves. At one point, he even hooked up his video game console and for several visits, they turned into video game tournaments between you two. It was a fun, easy way to blow off steam after work. 

Of course, sometimes you couldn't meet because he had an early day or you were exhausted from your shift, and that was okay. This was just two friends hanging out and there was no pressure for either of you to constantly want to hang out. In fact, for both of yours’ sakes, and for the sake of the anxiety that you both had, you didn’t over do it, knowing that being sociable for a long time wore on you both.

He listened to you about wanting to be a singer and you shared some of your lyrics with him and he told you stories of his aspirations as an actor and things he was proud and not proud of. Every time he talked about his acting, you felt awful because you were pretty sure you’d only seen two or three of his movies, so you couldn’t tell him your thoughts on any of his work. But he never seemed to mind, he was just happy to have someone that even wanted to talk with him about it. 

Tonight, nearly a month after the first time you’d hung out, you’d gotten onto the topic of how you got into singing, and feeling that it was the only thing you were above average at.

“You can’t be serious,” Hayden admonished.

“No, I am. Come on, name one quality about me that’s better than average,” you challenged, knowing he wouldn’t come up with anything.

“You’re an excellent manager,” he noted.

You laughed, throwing your head back. “Oh, thanks. I’m so good at my job. I’m good at organizing people and running a shift. Big whoop.”

“Okay, fine. How were you in school?”

“Average. I made B’s most of the time.”

“Well you kick my ass on Overwatch all the time, so there’s that,” he said and you wrinkled your nose at him. 

“Har, Har. No. I’m talking real, true talent. Like you! With acting!” you said, pushing on his leg slightly.

“I’m not so sure,” he remarked with an eyebrow twitch and half smile. “But I will say I was fairly good at tennis. Almost got a full scholarship and almost competed on a professional level.”

“See? Like that. That’s amazing. I can’t swing at a damn ball to save my life,” you said, falling back on the couch and throwing your arm over your face, tired from your work day. 

“I bet that’s not true,” Hayden tried in an overly sweet voice.

“You’d lose that bet,” you said, your arm still covering your eyes.

“Good thing I’m not a gambler,” he joked with a laugh and you returned it. 

“I’ll just stick to what I know best,” you said, sighing. 

“Or...I could show you,” he quietly said. So quiet, you weren’t sure that’s what he said.

“What?” you asked as you sat up and removed your arm, looking at him.

Clearing his throat, he repeated himself, speaking up as he did so. “I could show you. How to swing at a ball. Then maybe, in your eyes, you’ll be good at something.”

You eyed him for a moment suspiciously, then you began to laugh as if it were absurd. 

“No...Why?”

He shrugged, his eyes darting forwards, his elbows on his knees as he was leaned forward. “Like I said, to help you.” 

“That’s it?”

“Jesus, Y/N, why are you so skeptical of someone wanting to help you?” he asked, and it meant to come out as a tease, as a joke, but his tone was harsher than he intended. 

He went to apologize, opening his mouth to do so, but you stopped him. Hanging your head, and toying with your fingers, you softly answered, “Because I’ve never had it happen and it be innocent. People don’t just...help people for the hell of it.”

“Well I do and I’m going to help you be a good tennis player,” he vowed.

“Oh, really, Hayden, you don’t want a racket in my hand. I’ll kill you,” you said, shaking your head. “It’ll fly out of my hand and crack your skull. Or I’ll launch a ball right into your chest.”

He laughed, not taking you seriously. “I doubt any of that will happen.”

“I’m serious! This is a terrible idea!” you said, raising your voice, despite the fact that you were about to laugh too. “You really don’t want me handling sports equipment!”

“I’m sure I’ll survive,” he assured. “We’re going.”

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

Now, it was three days later, it was your day off and his, and Hayden was taking you two a recreation center to teach you tennis.

You dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, something comfortable because you had a feeling you’d be moving a lot more than usual. Hayden was looking rather adorable in shorts, a polo, and a baseball cap. He really did look like a tennis player.

The two of you grabbed the equipment and made your way to an indoor court, setting up. All the while you were so worried you wouldn’t be able to hit a single ball. He got everything in place, handed you a racket, then took his place on the other side of the court.

“Have you ever played?” he called across the court.

“A few times in high school.”

“So you remember the rules?”

You shook your head. “No, not really.”

“Okay, no problem,” he said before diving into the rules and logistics of the game. If the ball landed here, this happened, if you hit it here, this happened. If the ball comes at you like this, swing the racket like so...so on and so on. He was a really good teacher. He kept things simple and concise, perfect for you since you never played sports.

Then, the batting began and you were a disaster on the court. You couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn, you were flailing wildly everywhere, and you were slow. Hayden laughed once or twice, but you couldn’t blame him, in fact, it was kind of cute when he laughed at you, because to be honest, you were laughing at your efforts too. 

“Time out,” Hayden suddenly said as he walked over to you. “I think I see the problem,” he noted as he approached you, getting so close you could feel the heat off his body. 

“What?” you wondered as you looked down at your hands, feet, and racket, curious as to what he saw.

“Your footing,” he explained. “Half of tennis is making sure you’re setting your body up to accept the ball, no matter which direction it comes from,” he said as he moved behind you and put his hands on your hips and pivoted them and you followed the motion, trying to suppress the shiver  that wanted to escape due to his nimble hands on your sides. Hayden was your friend, and the last thing you needed was to develop feelings for him. 

“Now set your left foot a little more towards the net,” he instructed softly and you did as you were told. “Now bend slightly at the hips, a little more forward. Great!” he said, stepping back and eyeing you. “You’re holding the racket all wrong. It’s not a baseball bat, you don’t need to grip it like this,” he said, showing you how you were doing it. “If we were playing baseball, that would be perfect. A nice, strong, hold. But in tennis, you need a looser wrist, some range of movement, so that if the ball goes a little farther than you expected or comes back to the left, rather than the right, as you anticipated, you can pivot and shift quickly.” 

You nodded, understanding. 

“Okay, so take your racket,” he said and you took it in both hands, and he slid behind you once more, his chest pressed flush against your back as his body molded around yours in order to show you better. “Now put your hand here,” he said quietly, his voice practically right beside your ear as he took his hand and held yours and placed it on the racket correctly. “And the other, here,” he instructed, physically moving your hand again, adjusting your fingers as need be. “There we are,” he said, a smile in his voice and you turned to smile at him proud that you were finally in a good stance.

Yet, when you turned your head, he was gazing at you already, his eyes were smoldering. Your mouth went dry as your eyes went between his stare and his lips, his hold still firm around you. There was a charge in the air that was nearly strangling you two. Neither of you dared move, your eyes just holding the gaze that you shared, afraid to do what you wanted to do so badly. 

Eventually you both of you moved at the same time, clearing your throats.

“Thanks for showing me that,” you quickly said, trying to erase the tension still hanging in the air.

“Yeah, yeah, any time. I’ll just...go over here and we’ll try again, now that you know how to hold it.”

You nodded, as he took his spot on the other side of the net. He served the ball, and you didn’t hit it the first time, but on the third try, you did, and it felt great. You cheered and jumped, excited that you were finally getting the hang of this, while he congratulated you and ran up to give you a high five which you happily returned.

The two of you continued to play, and it was actually fun now that you could somewhat play. You still were no where near his level of expertise, but you were much better than you had been when you started this afternoon. 

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

After tennis, the two of you had worked up an appetite so Hayden offered to take you to dinner.

“Are you sure you want to?” you asked, knowing he sort of hated being out due to potential media coverage.

“Yeah, it’ll be fine,” he assured with a shrug and a smile as you two got back to his car. 

“I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t wanna do…” you said uneasily. Of course, you’d love to hang out outside of his hotel room, but if it would put him in a situation he didn’t want to be in, then you didn’t want to do that.

“No, I’m more than happy to go,” he said with a smile. 

“Well if you’re up to it, I’d love to,” you agreed with a grin.

With that, you two found a nice restaurant that was tucked away from everything else, off of main streets and areas, a perfect place for a man not wanting to be seen. The two of you had a great meal, chatting about tennis and he said maybe one day he’d teach you hockey and with an instructor like him, you actually jumped at the chance. Laughter about your performance today went between you two as you shared old stories about your little experience with athleticism and he told you all about his experience and how he almost went pro. 

All in all, it was a wonderful day, and it didn’t stop there. The two of you went on a stroll in the park that was just a couple blocks over. Walking side by side, taking in the beautiful, simple sights of nature, it was so serene. Being around Hayden was so easy and effortless.

You hadn’t really talked to your old friends in a while and Jason and you hadn’t spoken since the breakup. But you didn’t really miss them. You didn’t miss constantly pretending to enjoy being out and about all night. You didn’t miss that when you and Jason broke up, no one really checked on you or cared too much. The first day or two, you got a couple of texts from friends, but after that, it was radio silence. No one asked again how you were doing after that, and for you, it sent a pretty big signal that they weren’t the type of friends you could count on in a bad situation. That made it evident they didn’t need to be in your life. 

Same for Jason. He didn’t talk to you about your issues, he just decided for the both of you that he didn’t want to be in a relationship any more so he just ended it. No talk. No discussion. Just a “this isn’t working out” speech and he was out of your life. He didn’t even respect you enough to talk about it or give you much closure.

Hayden didn’t seem like a man who would do that. A man who would abandon friends in their time of need, or just up and leave without much of an explanation. That’s what you liked about him. He was sweet and reliable and it was refreshing. 

After the walk, he drove you back to your place, where you hugged him tight and thanked him for a wonderful day out. Thank your lucky stars you had a friend like him.

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

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History Repeats:

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[the-record]

The City of Romance (Part 4)

Summary: On Spencer’s mandatory leave, he plans a trip to Paris, France where he meets an unforgettable face.

Part 4 summary: It’s Christmas!

Italics: Translation French to English. Bold: Song lyrics

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Non-BAU!Fem!Reader

A/N: Ahh yes the beloved fluff. There will be angst (as there is in any relationship) and some other things but we all know how much I love love. Like it’s sickening. 

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Check out my masterlist here!

“Spence! You ready?” 

At 6 months, Spencer asked you to move in with him. You spent a lot of time at his place already so you of course said yes. His place already kind of felt like yours so you had a natural routine down. Today was different. To most it was you average Friday. Last day of the week before the notorious and anticipated winter break. For you? For you, it was the day your class was going to meet Spencer. They had been begging you after seeing a polaroid of the two of you in your phone case. So, you asked him to come in and read to the class. 

“Yeah, one second!” You were putting on your coat and boots when Spencer came out. He was wearing the usual white button up and cardigan with dress pants and converse. The best part of that day’s outfit, was his tie. It was white with navy blue, to match the cardigan, silhouettes of dinosaurs on it. They were something your kids had an infatuation with. You giggled softly when you saw it.

“Nice tie. Boy genius is starting to seem like fitting nickname.” You winked at him before throwing his coat at him. He miraculously managed to catch it from across the room.

“Shut up. You’re literally wearing a 1950′s style Christmas dress with mistletoe in your ponytail.” You gaped at him and scoffed.

“It’s for teaching!” He raised his eyebrows. “The kids love history and I thought this would be perfect. My lesson plan has us teaching them about Christmas throughout the decades.” You took out the small plant from your hair and held it over the both of your heads. “And this... This is for you.” You leaned into him, on your tiptoes, placing a kiss on his lips before pulling away and putting the branch into your hair again. You gripped his hand in yours. “Now, come one before I am late.”

He followed your lead, walking behind you out of the apartment before heading to school on the metro. School was never kind to him, but if you were there everything would be okay. You were practically buzzing from excitement. Like his team was his family, these kids started to feel like yours. You couldn’t tell them things that you could tell adults, but they were the most understanding people in the world and you would do absolutely anything for them. When you arrived outside the school, hand in hand with Spencer, her thought you might just run all the way down and speed up time so the children got there quicker. If you could do that, you would’ve. Instead you walked with Spencer and prepped the room for teaching. You set out cards for every kid and set up the party later today. You printed and got worksheets prepared while Spencer chose what he was going to read. Finally the day was set and ready and the kids were set to arrive soon. Spencer sat in the back reading so he didn’t disturb the usual morning routine.

Kids began to line up at the door where you stood. “Good morning class! I know we are so excited about our guest and the party today but we still have lots of learning to do!” You called out, standing in front of the line. “At each of your spots is your morning work along with a coloring page for when you finish. Hang up your coats and bag and do those while we wait for all of our friends to arrive!” You walked inside the classroom with little boys and girls following you in. You sat in the front, correcting if a child ran or didn’t put away their stuff the right way. Spencer watched in awe as you interacted with every single human in the room. He watched as you helped kids with the math or reading they had been assigned.

“Ms. Y/L/N?” You looked up from the paper you were looking at to the voice you heard. It was a little girl named Charlotte. 

“Yes Charlotte?” You made eye contact with the small girl, something you had established was good for making conversations.

“Is that your prince in the back of the room?” Your face flushed as a smile made it’s way on your face. The same giggle from this morning erupted from your lips.

“Yes sweetheart. That is my prince.” You winked at Spencer from the front of the room. “Okay kiddos, today is very exciting. Last day of school before winter break and a party! However, we have lots of learning to do. That starts with fixing our calendar!” 

The day went smoothly and everything was fun and exciting for the kids. You were so grateful for Spencer being there because if it wasn’t for him, you would have never even made it to lunch time. 

“Alright, when the kids get back we have social studies, then story time, and wrap up the day with the party. You my good prince, are going to be helping Ms. Y/L/N the rest of the day.” You told him. He and you had stayed in the classroom to eat pizza the secretary had ordered for all teachers.

“Okay, I have to ask. Why am I the prince?” You smiled and covered your full mouth with your hand before telling him the story.

“The girl ran down the stairs, leaving only a glass slipper. She had to get out before the clock struck midnight.” Your phone buzzed in your jean pocket. It was Spencer. He never called you in the day and he was supposed to be on a case right now. You sat the book down making sure not to lose the page. “Sorry kiddos. Everyone stay here and chat while I take this.” You left the gabbing children to answer the call in the hallway. “Spencer? Are you ok?”

“Hey, yeah I’m okay. We got the unsub and I’m heading home early...” He trailed off. 

“What’re you not telling me?”

“It’s nothing, it’s just- I wanted to check on you. Something really big happened today and I can’t explain it but I just needed to know you were okay.” You smiled.

“I’m okay.” You peered back into your classroom. “School is almost done, I have to get back but I’ll see you when you at home, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Go teach some kids for me. I love you.”

“I love you too.” You hung up the phone and walked back in, still checking your phone.

“Ms. Y/L/N? Who is that in the picture with you on your phone?” You scrunched your eyebrows together, flipping the rectangle in your hand to look at the back. Your face relaxed when you saw the picture of you and him. Penelope had taken it when you were dancing with him to You Belong with Me in David’s backyard.

“That’s... That’s my bestfriend.” You spoke in a hushed tone.

“Is he your prince?” You let out a laugh through your nose.

“Yes. Yes, he is my prince.”

“Wow. That is adorable and now I have a favorite kid.” You smiled and looked at the time. The kids would be getting back in a minute so the both of you quickly cleaned up. You sat for a moment, nursing a Dr. Pepper while you waited for the sound of tiny feet rushing to the door. When you did you quickly stood up to open the door. The people outside the door quickly filled the room as you got ready to teach. 

“Was your guys’ lunch good?” There were yeses around the room. “Well that is absolutely magnificent.” You turned to the front of the room to start teaching. “Should we get started on social studies now?”

“Alrighty ighty, that is all we have left today. Who knows what time it is?” Every kid from every table raised their hand in excitement. “Dominic.”

“Story time!” You smiled.

“That’s right! Now i want everyone to welcome our guest!” You grabbed Spencer’s hand and pulled him to the front of the classroom. He sat down in the chair you had pulled up. “This is my very good friend Mr. Reid. And Mr. Reid does really good story time voices so I need you all to listen,” You pointed to your ears with both hands. “Watch,” Your fingers moved to point at your eyes. “And think,” You moved your hands one last time to point at your head. “About the the story!” You winked at Spencer, signaling for him to get started.

“Hey kids!” There was an abundance of hellos and heys from around the room. “My name is Mr. Reid but you can call me Spencer. Today we are reading one of my all time favorite books!” He pulled out a book from behind his back. It was one that your father gave you many many years ago. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” He opened the book and began to read. “Every Who down in Who-Ville like Christmas a lot. But the Grinch who lived just north of Who-Ville did not!” Each voice differed from the other. His Grinch voice was hearty and deep making the children giggle, while his Who voice was higher and peppy. You sat next to the children, watching in awe just as they did. You didn’t look away not for a second. You didn’t have to. They were all entranced by his magical voices. No one talked and no one dared to move. The story was too compelling.

“And the minute his heart didn’t feel quite so tight, he whizzed with his load through the bright morning light, and brought back the toys! And the food for the feast! And he... He himself! The Grinch carved the roast beef.” He closed the book, soaking in the claps and whoops from the children. From you... 

“Well Spencer that was absolutely fantastic! Do you guys agree?” Claps and screams floated around the room, bouncing off the walls to his ears. “Alright settle down, settle down. I know we are all very excited about the amazing story we just heard but we must get ready for our party!” You walked to front of the room and flicked on the lights that were off. “Okie dokie. I need everyone, when I say go, to walk to their cubbies and grab their coats and bags. Then I want everyone to walk back to their seats and place their belongings on the back of their chair before walking to get in line. I want no talking until we get in line so we can hurry and get down to the gym for the party! Ça sonne bien?” “Sound good?”

“Sounds good!” They all announced loudly.

“Alrighty, go!” They all rushed to stand up but walked careful around, packing up their bags and coats. “Your voices really are fantastic Mr. Reid. I think I might need you to come and read more often.” He blushed at your words.

“Well thank you Ms. Y/L/N. If we weren’t standing in a room filled with kindergarteners right now, I would totally kiss you.” You giggled and look down at your hands trying to hide the blush rising to your cheeks. “They really adore you ya’ know.”

“Not as much as they adore you Spence. I’ve never seen them so interested in a book before.” You looked around to see the little humans were all in line staring at you in silence. “Well...” You cleared your throat. “I heard that moms and dads are setting up right now, so I want everyone to be quiet and walk down the hallway single file. Can you do that for me?” They all nodded and you started walking down with them behind you to the gym. “Everyone go in and listen to Mrs. Jenkins so she can tell you what to do! I’ll be down to take outside for dismissal in a little! Be good for Mrs. Jenkins!” They all walked in their quickly leaving you and Spencer in the hallway. You grabbed his hand and pulled him back to your classroom. “Come on, I have something I want to show you.” You and him ran down the hallway to your room where you shut the door and walked to your desk. You pulled out a box wrapped in brown wrapping paper. You held it out. “Open it.”

He took the box carefully and slowly undid it. He opened the large purple box under the wrapping to the reveal a picture frame. It had a picture of you and him. It was from one of the dinners you went to. You had asked the waitress to take a photo while he wasn’t looking. You and him were laughing about something. 

“Turn it over.” He did just that to see a note from you and the lyrics to You Belong with Me.  As he read it you saw his eyes fill with tears. He set it down gently, careful not to break it before pulling you into a sweet kiss. 

“Thank you Y/N/N. I love it, so so much.” You smiled. “I love you, so so much.”

“I love you too.” Your arms fell around your torso and his around your shoulders in a hug. He kissed your head before resting his chin on the same spot. You could stay this way for the rest of your life.

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You were woken up by the sun peeking through the blinds. You were cuddled up next to Spencer’s half clothed body. He was combing through your hair with his fingers. 

“Mmm, good morning prince.” Your voice was thick with sleep.

“Good morning princess. Merry Christmas eve.” You smiled realizing what day it was.

“Merry Christmas eve.” You pulled yourself closer to him. “When did you get back last night?”

“Very late. I didn’t wanna wake you so I just got in bed and you cuddled close to me. I figured that would do until I saw you in the morning.” You chuckled lowly on his chest.

“I’m glad you’re back. I was nervous you would miss Christmas.” He placed a kiss on your head.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world sweet girl. I wouldn’t even dream of it.” You pulled the sheets higher up to keep warm. “You excited for dinner tonight?” Your heart dropped when you remembered. You didn’t answer. Instead, you looked at your hands which were drawing shapes on Spencer’s stomach. “Baby? What’s wrong?”

“My dad. It’s my second Christmas without him. These dinner’s were his idea.” A  lone tear rolled down your cheek and onto Spencer.

“Oh baby. I’m sorry. I know this may not be what you want to hear, but it gets better. I mean I speak from experience. I know our situations are a little different, but my dad may as well be dead. We don’t have to go if you don’t want either. I can only imagine how hard this all is for you.” You shook your head.

“I have to go. It’s to honor him really. Thank you.” He nodded and pressed another kiss on your head before getting up. “Prince, what are you doing?” He grabbed your hands and pulled you up.

“I am taking my amazing, beautiful, sweet, kind, fantastic girlfriend to our kitchen to make her coffee and breakfast.” You smiled and leaned into him.

“You might have to carry me.” So he did just that. He picked you up and carried you to the kitchen, placing you on the cold counter tops. “Jesus christ!” He looked at you with concern in his eyes.

“What?”

“I’m in a shirt and my underwear. This counter is fucking freezing.” He smiled and shook his head.

“Just sit still and look pretty while I make you coffee.” You rolled your eyes and put your hands under your thighs to try and keep them off the cold slab of rock. Not much later Spencer handed you a sweet cup of coffee. You had grown to like his overly sweetened coffee and now requested it. You sipped on the mug as Spencer rubbed his hands over your legs. They inched closer and closer to the inside of your thighs. You set down the mug and took his hands in yours.

“Baby.” He whined at your actions and snuck his hands out from yours, getting back to what he was doing. “I’m gonna be late to set up if you don’t quit it.” He smiled even more.

“You better call Rossi, and don’t even think about making a noise.”

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

“I am going to kill you Spencer Reid! We are so late right now!” You ran around the bathroom putting in jewelry. 

“That’s not what you said earlier!” You reminded you.

“Well earlier I was happy and now I am stressed because we are going to be late! Are you ready?” You looked from the bathroom doorway to see him sitting on the bed, completely ready.

“Waiting on you princess.”

“Save it.” You grabbed the presents from beside your bed. “Let’s go.” 

The door opened to a very cheery Penelope. “Y/N! Oh my goodness you look absolutely gorgeous! Wow, you are just-”

“Penelope, let them in it’s cold outside.” You silently thanked JJ.

“Yes, sorry.” She opened the door to let the both of you inside. He took your coat to hang up while you went in to see your friends.

“JJ!” The girl pulled you into a hug. “I missed you.” She pulled away.

“I missed you too. I think your uncle did too.” 

“Oh shit.” Your hand quickly covered your gaping mouth. “Something... let’s just go with something came up.” You felt an arm around your waist. 

“Something most definitely came up.” You rolled your eyes.

“Hey pretty boy finally decided to show up. Y/N, how are you?” 

“Very tired and ready to go to sleep. How are you D?”

“I could say the same. However none of us will ever say no to a meal from Rossi.”

“You can say that again!” You turned to see Penelope now in the living room reaching out a glass of wine to you. You graciously accepted.

“Thanks Pen. Speaking of, where is David?” You looked around the room and didn’t see him. “And Aaron?”

“I don’t actually know. Now, come on we have been waiting on your both to start eating and I am sure the boys are getting antsy.” You held Spencer’s hand as you walked into the dining room. 

“Y/N!” You looked to see both little boys running at you. You didn’t even have a chance to know what was happening before they pummeled into you. You ended up falling backwards right onto your ass thanks to your decision to wear heels. 

“Boys!” JJ quickly came and swept them up. “Y/N I am so sorry about that. Are you ok?” She reached out a hand to help you up while Spencer gripped your arm for extra support. They both helped you up and back to your feet.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You smoothed out your dress. “I’m going to go get David and Aaron. I can only assume they are in his office talking about work.”

“Wait!” You turned to see Spencer grabbing your wrist. “I got it, go sit down.”

“Spence, I got it.”

“No, Y/N really. Let me.” He bit the inside of his cheek, a nervous habit.

“What is going on, why are you being so weird?” You folded your arms in front of your chest.

“Baby it’s nothing, just let me. Please.”

“Fine. Whatever, I’m gonna go sit then I guess.” You walked away without another word. The team could read you like a book. You were annoyed. Bothered. Upset. Confused even. 

“Pretty girl, you ok?” You didn’t even look up to talk to Derek while you sat down.

“Fine.” You took a sip of your wine. “Why is Spencer being so weird? Like why couldn’t I just go get them? I mean David is my uncle not his. What is up with him? Was it me? Did I do something wrong?” You dropped your head into your hands. “Does he really just want to get away from me for a moment? Am I just overbearing?”

“Y/N.” You looked up at Emily. “He’s fine. Just... just trust us okay?” She could see you were still concerned but you agreed.

“Yeah. yeah, okay.” You took a large swig of wine and quickly refilled the glass. 

You were awkward and cautious the rest of the night. You made sure not to be touchy, not to bring much up, not to talk to much really. You just tried to be in the background. This didn’t go unnoticed. Everyone noted how you would almost touch Spencer but pull yourself back. Or how you would open your mouth but close just as quickly as you opened it. They all noticed how closed off you became. Especially Spencer. He knew why but he wasn’t ready just yet. He had to go get the present from Rossi who had ordered it for him because he wasn’t very tech savvy. 

“Present time!” Garcia announced. They had thought about just doing secret Santa, but you and Penelope had insisted on buying everyone gifts so you all had decided to just do presents. You all passed them around. JJ and her family were the first to open. Then Penelope, Derek, Emily, Rossi, Hotch and Jack, Spencer, and finally it was your turn.

The Jareau-LaMontagne’s had gotten you a blanket and spa day kit. They knew how kids were, having one, and thought that you might need something about having to be around them for hours 5 days a week. Penelope got you stuff for teaching. Derek got you a gift card for your favorite store. Emily got a necklace you had told her about months before. David got you lots of candles and your favorite snacks. Aaron got you and Spencer some useful household things. Spencer got you a cardigan to match one of your favorites of his.

“Thank you guys, I really loved it all.” You smiled at all of your friends.

“Actually, I have one more thing for you.” You turned to look at Spencer with scrunched eyebrows. He pulled out a small black box and you thought you might throw up. “Don’t worry. It’s not what you think, I’m not proposing.” You let out a breath of relief. He opened the small box to reveal 2 rings. One was a thicker ring with the cut out of a dinosaur and the other, a dainty ring with the dinosaur cut out attached. Your eyes welled up with tears. 

“Baby...” He the smaller one out and placed it on your left ring finger.

“It’s a promise ring. A promise of my love for you.” You pulled him in for a kiss not even caring for the audience around you. When you pulled away you buried  your face in his neck and hugged him as he pulled you into his lap. “I love you sweet girl. Don’t forget it.” All of your worries floated away as he said those words. He loved you and that is all you ever needed.

[wastelandcrown]

logan lark’s adventures in trying to appease his parents

CHAPTER 2: meet the plastics (but more stressful emotionally)

Summary: Logan Lark is a fairly average high school student. By all means, he should be impressing his parents on all grounds. Except...he doesn’t exactly have a social life. So after his parents give him puppy dog eyes, he decides to join the local theatre's youth production. Good grief...His life is about to get weird isn’t it?

Warning: Potential ooc behavior, Roman is a theatre brat to the highest degree (Sorry Roman stans), Remus being Remus

Notes: This fic is based off an idea from @under-the-blue-moonlight. Logan makes a Friend, Roman is a Brat, and the experiment finally begins

Pairings: Eventual Intrulogical, Eventual Rociet, Eventual One-Sided Logicality, Platonic Analogical, Platonic DRLAMP

Word Count: 2057

As soon as he arrives he realizes he probably should have mentally prepared himself more. Janus opens the door to the men’s dressing room, and he gets a small glimpse of the chaos. 

Roman is loudly and dramatically singing along to some musical theatre song playing over the room’s speakers, Remus is playing a game of cat-and-mouse game with a kid Logan didn’t notice before for a cup of coffee, and Virgil is perched on one of the makeup benches with his knees pulled up to his chest and a Nintendo switch in his lap.

“Boys,” Janus begins, and only Virgil looks up, “I invited Logan-” 

At that, Roman halts in his tracks and wildly gestures at Janus, “You deceitful little harlot! You told me you were going to intimidate him!”

“I did, I’m very scary.” Said harlot replies, then looks at Logan to back him up. 

So Logan nods because there’s no use in lying to them. He had intimidated him for a short time, though he never thought it was bad-natured. 

With a huff, Roman turns on Logan, “If you even think of auditioning for the lead-”

“That won’t be a problem. I intend to get the smallest part possible.” 

Janus smiles at him with that, “See, Roman? Not a bad guy, just a newbie.”

Roman is about to speak again when Remus crashes into him and they both end up on the floor. 

“Remus get off!” The shorter brother screams with a push, “I’m getting dust all over me!” 

Remus cackles and springs up to stand, he doesn’t bother brushing himself off but offers Roman a hand, “Just for that, I’m gonna sweep and pour all the dust into your pants!”

“Don’t you dare!” He shouts again but takes Remus’ hand nonetheless, and then begins to brush himself off. 

Confused, Logan speaks up, “Why did you crash into him in the first place? He was fairly easy to avoid?”

“I’m just unpredictable like that!” Remus says to him, then with the same vigor as before continues to chase down the boy with the coffee cup. 

After another five or so minutes of Remus running around, he managed to tire himself out and laid on the floor underneath Virgil. The boy with the coffee, who introduced himself as Remy, sat down with Roman and Janus to discuss the show. Things were fairly quiet, and Logan was still standing by the door. Janus, Roman, and Remy were much too busy to call him over, but Remus gave him a smile and beckoned him to join him and Virgil. With another deep breath, he walks over and takes a seat. It would be important to gather information for his chart. 

“Hey, nerdy wolverine! You looked like a lost puppy over there!” Still on the floor, he looks up to Logan in his chair.

He blinks slowly, then nods, “I...suppose that’s one way of putting it.”

“Can you blame him?” Virgil mutters, “It’s his first day and he has to deal with all of you.” 

“I am a fucking delight to be around, Virgil!” Shouts Remus, sitting up straight and pouting at him. Then he gets up all the way and sits on the counter with Virgil, kicking his long legs like a child. 

“I don’t believe we have been formally introduced,” Logan begins, looking up at Remus, “My name is Logan Lark.”

The taller boy tilts his head to the side, and grins, “Do you have a stick up your ass or is that just how you talk?” 

“I-Why would having a stick up my behind affect how I talk?” Logan asks and adjusts his glasses. 

Both Virgil and Remus laugh at that. While Virgil’s is soft and he hides it behind his switch, Remus throws his head back and cackles. Logan watches, and he notices the exceedingly sharp canines in Remus’ mouth. He doesn’t know why he’s watching in the first place. Perhaps his strangeness is particularly captivating up close. 

“He’s asking if you’re uptight.” Virgil offers him, and then Logan gets it. 

He shakes his head, “I don’t think so. Just boring.” 

“Awe, Logie!” Remus coos at him, “I bet you’re super fucking interesting! And if not I can always corrupt you and make you interesting!” 

Logan wonders if he could. Despite his boundless energy, extreme bluntness, and extravagant ideas of fun, Remus seemed nice. In a weird way. 

“Logie?” Virgil asks with a scrunched up nose.

“It’s a nickname, dumbass!” Remus shouts with a scowl.

“I don’t mind.” 

This seems to set off a debate about the merit of Remus’ nickname choices between the pair on the bench. While they debate, Logan eats his granola bar. He hadn’t been thinking when he said he didn’t mind. He did mind, or he usually would. Nicknames were usually given to him maliciously, but he hadn’t minded them from Remus. It seemed in character, despite the little he knew about his character.

 Unknowingly, he had drifted into his thoughts, only realizing when Virgil waved a hand in front of his face. 

“Think it’s time for actors to get to work.”

Logan smiles as he snaps back to reality, “Oh-Thank you.” 

He pauses when he gets up and gives Virgil a nod, “I wish I had known tech was an option.”

“It usually isn’t, but you’re quiet enough for Joan to let you hang out in the booth when you want.” Virgil gives him a small smile like he knows Logan is not having a particularly great day, then turns back to his game. 

He reminded himself to breathe again, as his chest tightened when he approached the others and sat down. 

They spent the next few hours listening to the soundtrack and discussing who they would cast, what roles they wanted, and their skill sets. To Logan’s surprise, the music was actually very interesting to listen to. Hip-hop and rap were not what he was expecting. Though, it wasn’t unpleasant. He actually found himself enjoying a lot of music from the genre and hearing a musical in the style was refreshing. His father, bless his soul, mostly played things akin to The Sound Of Music. 

“So, Logan,” Janus asked pointedly, “What can you do? Theatre speaking.”

“Does it matter? He wants ensemble!” Roman sighed, rolling his eyes. Logan made note of that, Roman-types are certainly going on the bottom of his chart. 

“Our ensemble has to be good, Roman. Not just you.” Hisses Janus, rolling his eyes as well. Roman and Janus seemed very similar, though he much preferred Janus. He seemed like a team-player. 

He cleared his throat to speak, then his voice choked anyway as he began, “I am able to sing, though I feel for this show it is important to share that I can rap.”

“No fucking way!” Exclaimed Remus, who now looked like a kid in a candy shop. He couldn’t be angry at his surprise, it is shocking. He wears a necktie. 

“What Remus said!” Chimes in Remy.

With a strange look in his eyes, Roman sputters out, “You can rap!?” 

“Is it that surprising?” Of course, it was. He spent nearly the rest of the afternoon proving to the others that he could rap. At some point, Janus had sarcastically asked if he would consider auditioning for Hamilton, and this made Roman nearly explode. Figuratively. 

By the time the afternoon was over and the others were going home, he had been worn out by the social interaction and overall exuberant energy. Sitting in the lobby now, waiting for his father, he saw Virgil and Patton coming out of the theatre together. 

“Logan!” Patton exclaimed and ran over dragging Virgil by the sleeve, “How was your first day!”

“I think it was probably tiring, he spent the afternoon with the idiots.” Scoffs Virgil, and Logan nods in agreement.

“Yes, Virgil is right. I’m exhausted and we barely did a thing.” Logan mutters, undoing his tie slightly. Had he been this tired all day? 

“Oh goodness, that sounds awful! Do you need a ride home?”

“No, I’m waiting for my father. He works in the building.”

“Okay! Make sure to get a good sleep tonight, tomorrow I’m sure Janus will put you through the wringer!” Patton smiles brightly at him and walks off.

Before following, Virgil gives him a look and then hands him a slip of paper, “That’s my number. Text me when you need a break tomorrow.”

Logan is stunned silent and all he can do is nod while Virgil catches up to Patton. 

He’s too tired to think, so he simply rests his head against the back of the seat until his father arrives. His father probably realized how tired he was, so he didn’t talk to him much. They got in the car, got food, and went home. Their apartment smelled amazing when they got home. His mother had been baking again. When he all but collapsed onto the couch, his mother handed him two cookies with jelly on them and he smiled. As he sat and ate, his mother and father sat next to him watching TV. He was about to get up and drag himself through his nighttime routine when his mother began to run a hand through his hair and pressed a kiss to his forehead. 

When he woke up the next morning in his bed, he knew he had fallen asleep on the couch. He hadn’t realized how exhausted and stress-ridden he had been yesterday, but a full night's rest had helped significantly. Now that he was much less tired, he took out the paper with Virgil’s number and put it into his phone. Showering, dressing, making coffee and toast, his routine was simple but it made him feel a lot better. Then he remembered the chart, and he finally felt like himself again. With his focus renewed, he had an hour now before he had to leave with his father. He managed to make himself lunch and pack a small bag in fifteen minutes, before getting out his pens and a fresh notebook from his desk. 

On the front of the notebook, he quickly wrote “Hamilton Performance Experiment”, and then got to work. The first six pages were reserved for a later time when he could further write in them. He assumed his time would be spent most with Patton, Roman, Remus, Janus, and Virgil. So, each got their own page, then an extra page for others he would meet. If they became important, he could give them their own page and write the page number next to their name. On page eight he began his chart. It had everything a good chart should. Clean black lines, an x and y-axis, a title. Perfectly organized. He decided to organize by week, so on the x-axis, he wrote down each day of the week. The y-axis was numbered one through ten on a scale of how easy each person was to be around. Using different colours of pen, he made a small key and put a small coloured dot to assign each person to a certain number ranking. 

Roman was firmly placed on zero, he had nearly made Logan want to throw himself out of a window. Literally. His ego was so enormous that it overshadowed every other thought Logan may have had about him. Patton was a seven. Though Logan did not particularly relate to his bubbly personality, he was very helpful. He did not seem the type to slack off either, though he would need further research to confirm that. Virgil was a ten, without any doubt. Calm, quiet, and helpful to him. If he could work with people exclusively like Virgil he may never have an issue again in his life. Janus was a five, as he had been helpful but he seemed much less altruistic in his help. Logan admired his ambition, it seemed like he had the show's best interests in mind. Then there’s Remus...He had Logan stumped. He was certainly wild, but he wasn’t horrid to be around. Logan puts him as a five, for now, because he feels like he needs much more time to figure out Remus. 

When he got into the car today he felt much more prepared. He had food, an ally in Virgil, and his notebook. Maybe today would be better. 

[ourplaceinthecosmosphff]

Chapter 6. Meet Cute

‘You're the only person I've ever met who seems to have the faintest conception of what I mean when I say a thing.’

Virginia Woolf

Harry had a bottle of Champagne on one hand, which he’d grabbed from a waiter waiting in the hall. I had two fistfulls of my dress in mine, trying to keep up with his fast, slightly giddy pace, as we made our way towards emptier parts of the palace, passing by bored security officers on our way.

We continued playing as we did.

“Truth or dare?” I asked.

“Truth.”‌‌

“Have you ever killed anyone? Be honest.”‌ I asked, seriously, and he immediately started laughing. “Even by accident.”

“No! Have you?”

“Not yet. I’m saving my youth.‌‌ We’ll see what happens in the future.”

“If you knew you would never be caught, which crime would you commit?”

“Who’s to say I‌ would commit any crime?” He gave me a teasing look. “Fine. I‌ want to drive at a really ridiculously high speed.”

“Boring.”‌ He said, right before grabbing my hand and quickly pulling me into a hard right through big golden doors that led us into a beautiful, green drawing room. “Okay, protocol. Which really wild thing you wish you could do, but can’t because the press would never forgive you?”

“Hm.”‌ I thought on it for a while, distracted by the pretty painting near the window. “Wear a crop top.” I‌ confessed, to his amazement. 

“Really?”

“You have no idea how hard it is to be a woman in this position.‌ Anything I‌ do is scrutinized a lot more than anything my brother does. So yes, there’s a lot of fashion options that are simply not open to me.”

He held open the door for me, “Okay, I’ll allow it. I would also like to see you in a crop top.”‌ He added, quickly, in a low tone. “Now, what’s the wildest thing you have done that the media doesn’t know about?”

This was trickier; I‌ looked around at the high ceilings and spotted the black, round glass fixtures at strategic positions.

“Go on, there ought to be something!”

“Oh, I‌ have an answer… I‌ just can’t answer here. Is there a room around with less, or hopefully none, cameras?”

His smile grew, as he started pacing a little more determinedly. “...I’m intrigued.”

“While we wait, truth or dare?”

He sighed. “I can’t focus now!”

“Tough. Choose.”

“Truth.”

“If you had to choose between going naked or having your thoughts appear in thought bubbles above your head for everyone to read, which would you choose?”

He grinned. “Hm, well, most people have already seen me naked, it was a pretty popular tabloid front page, not to brag, so... I suppose I would rather you didn't know the extent of what you do to my thoughts… yet.”

My first instinct was to blush, fast. He added that yet with such vigor, such promise, it was hard not to wonder, it was hard not to immediately ask what I did to his thoughts. Tell me everything, my heart begged; I want to know all the dirty details. 

But something wasn’t right. The more I thought about it, the more his lighthearted, casual, overtly nonchalant tone seemed like a cover. The essence of what he was saying, after all, didn't feel like a laughing matter.

I remembered what he was talking about, albeit faintly. Something about a wild night in Vegas, an untrusted, unchecked female guest, and a nude picture snapped in secret and sold to the highest bidder.

“I'm sorry that happened to you.” I told him as he guided me into a room.

He looked at me, surprised, and shrugged. “...I should have known better.”

“Your security sure should have.”

He sighed; a small, resolute, forced smile hadn’t left his lips yet. I hadn’t thought I was able to dislike a smile on him, but I didn’t love that one.

“What can you do?”

“Still. I'm sorry.”

He nodded, looking at the carpet. I walked in, hearing the door close. Once inside, I realized this smaller than average palace room was mostly a deposit area with well organized boxes along some shelves. 

I walked to the end of the room, so the lights streaming in from outside would help him see it, as I reached to the zipper on my side.

“So, what have you done?” He asked. When I looked back at him, his smile was a little more sincere. “I can’t wait to find out. I do have a few guesses-What, what are you doing?!”

I was unzipping my dress. I smiled at him and approached, sustaining his look as I‌ did. Then I turned to the side, holding the fabric to my chest, but allowing the back of my dress to fall open slightly.

“Oh.”‌ He let out, softly; almost in slow motion, automatically as it didn’t seem like he had even noticed this, his hand reached over to me.

He touched the back of his delicate, cold two fingers to the skin over my ribcage, under my right arm, where a tattoo of one tiny daisy, barely as thick as two of my fingers, laid just below my arm, a little under the direction of my breasts. I moved my bra so he could see it, green stem and white petals and all. I felt his fingers draw them out softly, agonizingly slowly, making it feel bigger than it was, making chills erupt over my entire body; something I hoped he wouldn’t be able to see. 

“Any particular meaning?”‌ He wondered, whispery. 

I shrugged, slightly. When I answered, it was in a tone that matched his, making the moment feel all the more fragile.

“Margueritte means daisy in French. They can symbolize innocence, purity, or new beginnings. I like the new beginnings meaning. There's also the Roman myth of Vertumnus, god of seasons and gardens, who fell for Belides, a nymph. He pursued her, who in order to escape his affections, turned herself into a daisy.”

He looked up at me, the corner of his lips curving up slightly, one brow reaching up. 

“A metaphor?”

“Ha-ha.” I said, monotone, making him smile. "You know, daisies are actually two flowers combined into one. The inner part and the outer petal section, and because they blend together so well, some people also say they symbolize true love."

“I like that meaning more.”

I rolled my eyes, but my smile was sincere.

“They also mean the person who gifts them can keep a secret, so I appreciate the irony.”

“Nice.”

His touch was so delicate I was barely aware of it; it rested there for a few seconds before he seemed to shake out of a trance, and removed it quickly, coughing a timid laugh.

“Sorry.” 

I shook my head, smiling. “I don’t mind.”

“I wish I could have one.” He told me, as I closed my dress again, with some difficulty.

He approached, offering me his hands with a questioning look; I nodded, and he closed my zipper smoothly, barely touching my skin again. 

“How have they never seen it?”

“No crop tops, remember? And one-piece bathing suits.” I told him. “And a healthy disregard by the media for any monarchies other than yours.”

He laughed. “You don‘t know your luck.”

“Oh, I do.” I assured. “Anyway, that’s me. Wild, I know.”

“Yes, your tiny flower tattoo is very wild, Mary.”

We exchanged an amused smile.

“So, where to next?.”

He looked around, raising his hands to showcase the boxes. “What, are you not entertained?”

Laughing, we made our way out of the room and continued walking.

He walked us out of the room and through the majestic halls of Buckingham Palace we went, me always stopping by the beautiful artwork or vases to try and commit them to memory, and him always telling me I could google that later, he wanted to show me the spaces not everyone got to see, which was a pretty great pitch.

Eventually, I had to sit down in a red velvet sofa. 

“You try walking through an entire palace in these shoes!” I told him when he rushed me again. 

He replied by coming over, picking my shoes in one hand, and offering me the other. “I’ll carry them for you, let’s go.”

“Harry,” I started, laughing, taking his hand and reaching over for my shoes, “I’m not going to walk around Buckingham Palace barefoot!”

“Why? Everyone is across the palace in the state room.”

“Yes, but if we run into anyone, it’ll be a scandal! This is the type of thing people leak! I will bring shame to my country!”

“Dramatic.” He rolled his eyes. “But alright, how about this?” He kicked off his own dress shoes, carrying them in the same hand as mine. “Now we’re both bringing shame to our countries.”

And so we continued.

He pointed out the rooms where famous, important people had been hosted through the years, dared me to touch a fancy, expensive looking statue and when I got very close slowly, he said ‘boo!’ and I jumped three feet back. Eventually, he grandly opened the double doors that led into a wide, white room filled with gold fixtures in every crevice.

“Oh. Wow.” 

The first thing I did was to walk right to the center of the room, spin around slowly trying to look at everything at once, and then carefully sit down and lay on the floor, one hand to my tiara to make sure it wouldn’t fall.

“Uhm. What are you doing? You can’t be that tired!”

“First of all, rude. You clearly have no idea how easily I get tired. And secondly,” I offered him my free hand, “come here.”

Smiling, he left our shoes on one corner of the room and approached, holding my hand with his and laying by my side carefully. “Now what?”

“Look.” I told him, looking up at the ceiling. 

It was high, wide, and with white and gold in a beautiful round, geometric pattern. Even from a distance, it… gleamed.

“Oh... Huh.” He said, slowly. “I had never noticed that before. It’s… kind of nice, isn’t it?”

My only response was to smile. We allowed the silence to reign for a while, our breaths filling in the space it left out. Our hands were still clasped together lightly, but it didn’t feel weird. It felt… just right.

“Sometimes it’s really easy to forget how awful it is being royal, isn’t it?”

From the corner of my eyes, which I kept fixed above, I noticed him turn his head to watch me.

“Yes.” He replied. “It is.”

The ceiling was really just part one of the amazing things in this room; there was a marble statue of Sappho, a classic painting of Queen Alexandra, crystal chandeliers, and a 1775 french roll-top desk. 

Harry was looking at me, expectantly, as I examined each little thing.

There were two mirrors on each of the side walls, another atop a fireplace, and three sets of mirror double doors.

“Why were our ancestors so obsessed with their own image? There’s a whole mirror hall at the Palace in Wolhounn, done as a replica to the one in Versailles.”

“They didn’t have TVs.” He replied, with a shrug. “Mirrors were like magic.”

He pushed open the double doors to the far end of the room and guided me through a few other magnific rooms until we were in what he called, ‘the center one’. He left our shoes in the floor, then pulled me to the center glass doors and pulled open the curtain covering it, only a tiny bit, to allow me to locate myself within the view. We were exactly in front of the mall, the front of the palace, right before the balcony where his family walked out regularly on formal occasions. 

I was already impressed, but he wasn’t done. He crouched down and asked me to follow him, opening the door carefully and sneaking out on his knees. Realizing what he was doing, I followed, careful with my dress. If we stayed down, even the reporters waiting to see us leaving the palace after the dinner wouldn’t be able to spot us.

“This is usually covered when we come up here,” he told me, gesturing to the holes in the front of the balcony wall. 

We sat down next to it, peaking over under the moonlight, at the view ahead. I could see the black and golden gate of Buckingham, the big fountain ahead, with Queen Victoria's monument in gold atop it. Far beyond, the mall's long, straight street, surrounded by the Hyde Park trees, and the lights of the city of London ahead.

“This is… just amazing.”

He smiled. “My mother taught me this trick.” 

There are no fairytales about honest conversations. We never got Cinderella’s heartfelt conversation with the prince, explaining what she’d been through at the hands of her family; if the prince ever asked Snow White what did it feel like to die, we didn’t get to hear about it. Did Rapunzel ever get nightmares about being back in the tower? What was that therapy session like? I suppose, at the end of the day, there’s no right time to have a difficult conversation. 

I don’t remember what made me decide it was now or never; was it the way the gleam of the moon and lights of the outside shone in Harry’s eyes, and only I could see it at that very moment, when the whole world had no idea we were there? All I remember in hindsight is taking in a deep breath as I watched him, and turning around to stare back at the closed glass doors, as I told him:

“We met when I was eight.” 

He looked at me, confused.

“I’m sorry. I… I didn’t intend to make a thing out of it. It sort of just… happened. And now I feel bad. And I feel that if I don’t tell you now, it might be worse later. Because it’s not actually a fun story.”

His brows furrowed, betraying the worry as much as his gulp did. He nodded.

“Hm, Okay? So, you… You were eight?” He seemed to do the math in his head.

I‌ nodded. “You were twelve.”

He blinked, once. Looked back outside through the hole in the balcony wall, and then nodded as he turned around to sit next to me. “Oh.”

I held in a deep, bracing, breath for two seconds, and began, at last, to speak.

“My aunt Marilou was living in Britain at the time. Her husband is Irish-Scottish, they lived in London, so my father and I came to visit and we met them for a holiday in Scotland. It was meant to be a family trip, but my brother had the flu so my mother stayed home with him. Eventually, after we were in Scotland for a few days, he sat me down to talk.”

I ventured a look at Harry, who was still stoically looking ahead.

“My great-grandfather had passed away only a year before, and even though I was too young to fully grasp the gravity of the situation, I remembered how… somber the whole house was for the whole following month. Well, my father asked me to remember that, and then told me that a friend of his had passed away only that week. Her family was staying nearby, and he wanted to stop by to offer his condolences on our way back home. He wouldn’t normally bring me to something like this, but we were already on schedule to leave, and it just made sense. He told me to be quiet, and respectful, like when grandpa died, and dressed me in my most serious dress, a green one, and we rode into this beautiful, big stone house with ivy covering the walls.”

Harry fidgeted with his hands in his lap, and laid his head back.

“I remember now.”‌ He said. “In the garden… It was you?”

I‌ smiled, sadly. “I‌ walked over to you, and sat down beside you where you were sitting behind a stone wall nearby the fountain. You looked like… like you were hiding.”

“I‌ was.”‌ He confessed.

“I’d met her, just a couple of years before. I remember like it was yesterday. She was wearing this white flowy dress, with shoulder pads. She was just so pretty. She looked like one of my Barbies. I was completely blown away… It was a royal tour to Savoy that she did with your father, I must have been six. After she said hello to my parents, she… she lowered down and said hello to me, but I just looked down, I‌ was so shy... She brushed my hair with her hand, and said I‌ looked really pretty in my bow. My mom had tied this black ribbon around my head as a headband, and had made a bow in the top. Very nineties.”

He smiled, slightly. But it was enough to make me feel better. Slightly.

“I‌ managed to say thank you, and she asked if she could borrow it, so I‌ nodded, and she smiled. It made me feel… grown up, you know? Seen. She was just so nice… I spent the rest of the trip waiting for the right time to give her my bow, but ended up not seeing her anymore, so every time I looked at it, I thought of her. And when I‌ realized that was the friend my father was there about, in that beautiful stone house-”

“Balmoral.”‌ 

“Yes, Balmoral. I‌ felt heartbroken. So I found my black ribbon in my suitcase, before we got there, and kept carrying it around in my hands as my father had tea with your father and grandparents. He told me I could go see the garden if I wanted, so I did. That’s when‌‌ I found you.”

“You didn’t speak English.” He smiled.

“No, you didn’t speak French.” I returned, making his smile grow a little bigger. “But I think we got on alright.”

“I’m going to be honest,”‌ he started, “I just wanted you to leave me alone.”

“Oh, I’m sure! Now. Back then, I‌ was just happy to find another kid. You helped me sit up on the wall with you. And you asked who I was. I did understand a little bit of english, so I said I was Princess Margueritte, of course, but in French, so you just stared ahead and pretended to understand. And I said, in French, we were there about the nice Princess who’d died… and then you said your mother was dead... I understood that too.‌”

“How come I barely remember this?”‌ He wondered, more to himself than to me.

“It was a difficult time. Memories are… fragile.” He nodded.

He looked at me, eyes wide, brows still furrowed. “You gave me a ribbon.”

I‌ smiled. “‌I did. The one I had in my hand, the one your mother said I‌ looked pretty in, and asked if she could borrow.‌”

“You said it was hers.”

I‌ grimaced. “I’m sorry. I was eight. I meant, I‌ wanted to have given it to her, I didn’t mean to lie.”

“No, it’s okay. I‌ just…” He sighed, heavily, running a hand down his face. “I still have it. I‌ saved it. I‌ have it in my drawer. I‌… I don’t know how I‌ forgot about it until now, but I‌ always just kept it because it was… hers.”

“Sorry I basically lied about it.”

He smiled. “Let’s chalk it up to a mistranslation.”

I‌ nodded. “So, anyway. That’s how we met.‌ Soon after, my father’s aide came to get me and we left back home to Savoy. A few days later my parents attended the funeral.”

A few seconds went by, then a few minutes, as we breathed peacefully watching the reflection of the moon and stars on the glass of the double doors, with our backs to the street. I couldn’t know what he was thinking about, but I was thinking of the irony of all our privilege being almost relative to the unfairness that came with it. I wondered if that was what he was thinking of, and if this was weird enough for him to take his distance now.

Instead, I felt his hand reach for mine, which he held firmly, warmly, in his.

“Thank you.”

“For… for what?”

“I don’t know… For telling me.”

“…I should have just said that three days ago.‌ I’m sorry. It’s weird, isn’t it?”

He shook his head, and looked at me. “Thank you for giving me a piece of her, all those years ago, at the time when‌ I‌ needed it most. I‌ was…”‌ he shrugged, “devastated. And then I had that piece of fabric in my hand that was hers. Every day afterwards, I‌ held it in my hand, thinking of her. I still do, sometimes. And it was because of you.”

We sat there, holding hands, for a long while. Passing champagne back and forth, drinking straight from the bottle, trying to find a way back to ourselves.

“Truth or dare?” he asked, and I smiled.

“Truth.”

“Why did you and Christopher break up?”

He’d talked about something awfully personal, so I figured it was only fair I did the same.

“He… We weren’t... There just wasn’t a way to make it work.” 

He looked at me with his piercing blue eyes for a long while, and I sighed, knowing deep down that wasn’t the truth.

“I’ve known him my whole life. He was my first crush, kiss… everything. We started dating officially just out of school, he also went to college in America, he’s a year older than me, so he was already there when I moved. We were only about one hour away from each other. But then he graduated and got a job in Chicago and we broke up because it was just too far away. We got back together a few months later, he got a job in New York, and we moved in together after I graduated while I did a one year internship there.”

“I didn’t realize you lived in America that long.” 

“It was four years in University, Harvard offers a special degree where I could get a bachelor’s and master’s at the same time, so I graduated from Law School at the same time as undergrad.”

“Nerd.” He teased, making me laugh.

“He got an offer in Savoy, and I had to come back because, well… I’m me. But my job is in Tallmound, which is a big city about two hours away from the capital. It’s sort of the business center of Savoy. And Chris’ job was in the capital. So we went from living together to doing sort of long distance again.”

“That isn’t that far, though, right?”

“No, and I wasn’t worried. But… with our long hours, it was just… hard. Still, he was my only serious relationship for the past… eight years. My family has known him forever, they love him. And the press has known of us for that long, too. I guess they assumed as soon as we were back home, with our degrees, there was nothing stopping us from getting married. And eventually, they started… asking.”

I heard him let out a long sigh, which more than anything he could have said, let me know he understood.

“Suddenly, there was this… understanding that we were supposed to be planning on getting engaged soon. And Chris, I think, started to realize what marrying me would really mean.”

“Would he be expected to work?”

I sighed. “Yes, I think. As a spare, I’ve been allowed to have a private career so far, and I’ve been able to plan for a future career, as well. There are limitations, of course. I can’t work criminal cases, for example. So I think he would have been able to do his own thing, too, with limitations, maybe, which I told him. But, eventually, I think we would both be expected to help my family full time. And, honestly, I don’t mind. I like working, I like the royal work, and I think I’ve found a good balance, I think with some talking we could find something that worked for us. But… Well, he never gave me the chance. I guess, maybe, he didn’t think it was worth the hassle.”

There was a silent pause as my words hung in the air.

Then, he sighed. “What an idiot.”

I held down a smile for as long as I could, but then I looked at him, and we started laughing. And then we laughed so hard it was a little too loud, so we thought it was safer to crawl back inside.

I adjusted my dress; Harry put the empty bottle on a center table as I walked around the room once more, noticing the gleaming details in the matching Chinese vases by the doors, pretending I didn’t know he was watching me from afar.

“Do you-” I started, “Do you ever think of just… walking away? From all of this, I mean?”

I didn’t know why I asked, but I think maybe I wanted to know if his answer would match mine.

“Every day since my mother died.” He shrugged. “It’s sad, isn’t it? We were born into some of the most beautiful places on Earth, and all we want to do is leave.”

I smiled, not daring to look at him. Those were the words inside of me I had never dared utter.

“Wait.” He said. “So, when you got here, three days ago, and you were sexily mad at me-”

“Sexily?” I asked, in a shocked chuckle.

“Were you mad because I didn’t remember meeting you when we were kids?”

My smile froze on my lips; “Not… exactly.”

“Okay?”

Sighing, I adjusted my posture, and looked back at the vase, which was almost as tall as I was. 

“So… when I was about eighteen,”

“Ten years after we met.”

“Yes, I had recently graduated from boarding school and finished my military training-”

“Your what?!”

I rolled my eyes, impatient. “Six months military training is mandatory for all the men in Savoy, and optional for the women. As members of the royal family, we are encouraged to opt in to promote our country’s military.”

“Oh. So, you… you have a uniform and stuff?”

I tried to emulate his best dirty grin, which I had grown to memorize, “Why? Are you into women in uniforms?”

He smile, wide. “I’m into you in a uniform.”

I laughed loudly. “God…”

“You asked!”

“Okay, so, moving on… I was about to move to America for University, but a friend from boarding school who is British was having a big party for her 18th birthday, so I took the train to go to her party and see my friends before moving across the Atlantic…” I turned to look at him, trying to ignore the red still in his cheeks, “Do you know a Clara Clearmont?” He seemed confused. “Big house in West Brompton-”

“As in Timothy Clearmont?”

“Yes, that’s her brother.”

“Oh! Yes, I know Tim. Well, we have friends in common.”

“Do you remember being invited to his sister’s birthday party?”

His eyes became unfocused, and then he squinted. “Yes, he would usually invite everyone, their house is huge… It was a cool, wild part- Oh.” He looked down. “Oh, I’m not going to come out well in this story, am I?”

I smiled, ignoring his question. “So, I was having a grand old time, hanging out with my friends, trying to avoid these really loud, drunk British boys who’d just arrived-”

“Oh, God…” He murmured.

“I went to the bathroom, and right before I opened the door to leave, I overheard some people just outside, talking about the birthday girl… Apparently now she was 18, Clara was, and I quote, fair game.”

“Okay-” He tried to interrupt, but I wasn’t done.

“One of the boys talking mentioned her friends from boarding school were hot too, and one of them, can you believe it, is a princess as well!”

He sighed, longingly, avoiding my eyes.

“And then a voice, now familiar to me, responded, in a slur, oh I saw that one, she has a weird face!”

“Marie…” He started, now using the exactly right pronunciation to my name.

“I opened the door, because I wasn’t about to just stand there and listen to how wrong my face was, but before I could even get past them, the same voice pointed to one of my closest friends and said, and I quote, that one I could just bury myself into all night.”

He used both his hands to cover his eyes, and brushed them up to grab two fistfulls of his hair, eyes still closed. I gave him his time.

In truth, it was hard even for me to conciliate the boy I’d heard say such ridiculous things in a drunk haze years before with the smiley, flirty guy I’d spent the last three days being increasingly charmed by. Sure, he was a flirt, but 29 year-old Harry did not come off as rude, or drunk. Especially not after tonight.

He let out a long breath. “I am so sorry.” I smiled. “Really, I am. I… I was in such a- no, no… no excuses. I’m, I’m just really sorry.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“In my defense,” he started, and I tried to prepare for whatever came next, “I was an arse at that age.”

I laughed. “Yes, I know.”

“No, really, I was just… a dick.”

“Yes, I believe you.” I nodded still, teasingly.

“I was… I was just all over the place, I… I had no idea what I was doing… And I promise you, I soon realized just how much of a dick I was and started… trying to be better. I still am, actually. But… god, I’m sorry, Mary.”

“...I know.”

I wasn’t sure how, or if I was right at all. But I did believe him. No one was perfect at twenty-two. Particularly people who went through what he did at such a young age. Royalty screws most of us up, some more than others, and he had it particularly bad. 

“Honestly, now that I say it aloud, it does feel… stupid to have held it against you all these years when I didn’t even know you.”

“I don’t know, I think you were right to.”

“Well, I guess. But still, people change. I have. I believe you have, too.”

He smiled, and let out another long breath. “God, Jane Austen would be disgusted at us.”

We laughed. “Yes, resolving the main conflict in three days with a simple, honest conversation? She’d be out of business.”

He smiled.

“Truth or dare?” I asked.

“Truth.”‌

I‌ turned to look at him, hands clasped behind my back. “Do you find a girl to flirt with on every state dinner you attend?”

He laughed, blushing. “No, actually. In fact, this is my first state dinner.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I must say, 10/10. Would definitely recommend state dinners to a friend. The company is particularly interesting.”

“Wow, how momentous. I‌ didn’t know I was witnessing history tonight. Did you also think there would be dancing like in a Disney movie ball? It’s what my sister thinks.”

He smiled, offering me his hand. “Why not? Let’s do it.”

I‌ twirled in my dress towards him, making him laugh, and took his hand with a grandiose gesture. 

“This way I can tell her that there was actually dancing this time!” 

“Exactly.” He nodded, pulling me close, passing an arm around my waist faster than I could understand. I wasn’t sure if I was dizzy because of the champagne, the smell of citrus on him I could smell again, or the way his blue eyes felt so invasive from up close.

“What shall we dance to?”‌ I asked, in a whisper. 

He reached into his pocket, clicked away in his phone, and then returned it to his pocket. We waited as the song started, and he put a delicate, questioning hand on my waist. I was just starting to appreciate his citrus smell when a strong, beat, following a male voice started on a song that was definitely a lot more upbeat than he had intended. I knew this because his eyes widened and he hurriedly found the phone to change the song, but I‌ was already dancing to the beat, still holding on to his hand as I did, laughing at the shock in his face.

“I‌ clicked on a random playlist.” He justified. “It was supposed to be romantic songs…”

“Well, it is!”‌ I‌ returned, “It’s just a happy, romantic song!‌ Come on,‌ Harry”

The song went on to the chorus, now even dancier, ‘Now my feet don't stop movin', and my eyes won't stop lookin', and my mind won't stop racin' with the thought of you’.

He finally surrendered, and started dancing with me, moving his hips in a way no British person should be allowed to. And when the singer said, ‘If you could come one step closer, and just hold me a bit longer’, he pulled me closer in a quick, smooth motion, and passed an arm around my waist so we could dance up close; we swayed to the rhythm, twirling around to the sound of this song that was unknown to us, and the swish of my dress as we moved, ignited by champagne and starlight, and the utterly energetic feeling of being alone with each other in the very symbol of what we both wanted to escape from one way or another: a palace.

I wasn’t sure how it happened, but we were soon breathing the same air, our feet moving fast, his arm around me tight, and his breath along with mine; I joined my arms around his neck, and he laid his forehead in mine, with his eyes closed. His hand caressed my back, my hips, slowly hovering over where he knew my tattoo was as he reached higher to caress my shoulder and follow along my arm, feeling my skin with his palm as we danced; as the room felt warmer, smaller, brighter and darker all at once, as only us existed, no past, no overwhelming future, no lines of succession. 

Just Harry and Mary.

And then we heard a noise at the door, and I almost tripped on my own feet stepping back from him too quickly. 

“I’m sorry, so sorry, ma’am.” Joyce, my security officer, apologized as she popped her heard in. “Your party is ready to leave, only waiting on you, ma’am.”

“Yes, thank you, I’ll… I’ll be right with you!” I said, a little hoarse.

I cleared my throat when she closed the door, taking in a deep, calming breath. I was glad to see Harry was a little awkward himself. He picked up my shoes, and returned them to me with a sad smile, so I sat down in a velvet green sofa in the corner, and put them on as he did the same with his. 

He held the door open for me, and we made our silent way back the same way we had come, with Joyce following a few steps behind. I wasn’t sure I was imagining it, but maybe we were walking a little closer than strictly necessary in such a wide hall, with our hands brushing against each other often, and my lower lip almost swollen at how much I was biting it to keep from smiling.

Once we were back at the gallery where guests were congregating, we tried to act normal, and not many people seemed to have noticed we were gone. But it was hard pretending I couldn’t see the almost too casual smiles on my brother’s face, matching the one in his brother’s and sister-on-law’s. 

Auguste came to tell us it was time to make our formal goodbyes, so I gave Catherine a light, quick hug, wishing her the best and thanking her for the lovely three days, which she shakily returned.

“I hope we’ll be seeing you again soon.” William said, with a cheeky smile it was hard not to mimic.

Finally, I curtsied once more to the Queen, thanked her for her hospitality, and stepped back so my father and her could walk out together, as they talked.

Before I could step out of the room, however, I felt a delicate hand hold on to my elbow. 

“Truth or dare?” Harry asked, in a whisper.

I looked back at my father, far enough not to hear, but walking slowly enough that I had some time.

“Dare.” I picked, looking at him with, well, hope.

He smiled. “I dare you to go on a date with me.”

I grinned at the floor, brushing one strand of my hair behind my ear. 

“Next weekend. I’ll take the train to Savoy. I have a friend who’s got a place there, so I think I can make it without being seen. I can pick you up at… seven, or whenever you leave work.”

“Yes.” I said, nodding. 

I think it was the ‘whenever you leave work’ that did it. The willingness to make it work, whatever it took. That’s what made me say yes.

“Okay.” He nodded, offering me his hand.

When I took it, I felt a folded piece of paper, which made my smile grow bigger as I assumed it must have been his phone number.

He raised my hand to his lips, laying a delicate kiss on my knuckles, as his eyes never left mine.

“Your Royal Highness.” He said, bowing his head.

I curtsied, “Sir.”

Then I bit down my smile, quickly hid the piece of paper in my handbag, and followed my grinning brother out of the palace; the future gleamed with possibility.

--- ---- ---

[A/N: Thank you SO MUCH for reading!!! I’d love to know your thoughts! What do you think? What can I improve? What would you like to see?? Drop a message! Thanks <3]

[haiyuta]

truth or dare | Bang Chan & Felix

Summary: finding out your best friends are cam boy. Admitting it to them they ask you to join for a game of sexual truth or dare 

word count: 5.7k || Genre: poly! camboy chan, camboy Felix, blowjob, fingering, teasing, smut, love, kissing, 

a/n: Inspired by this anon ask here. This was a joy to write so I really hope you enjoy. IM SO WHIPPED FOR CHAN AND FELIX. (I should have edited it more but I’m soooo burnt out sorry)

Going to university was hard the studying, struggling for money, and the lack of sleep.  At least you had a bright side to this money pit hell. Bang Chan and Lee Felix your two friends. 

Pressing your face against your palm you let out a sigh looking at the long list of math equations you just couldn't get. "Y/n I know it's hard, but I believe in you," you heard Chan say sitting next to you. 

Currently, you and Chan were sitting outside in a shaded area for studying. Well, you were studying while Chan was making paper planes next to you. Glancing at him in jealousy you wish you could slack at a time like this. With a sigh, you whined out "I just can't get this."

"You can do this," Chan insisted moving your study material over to look at it "only oh," he paused "50 more problems to review," he trailed off gazing at the material. 

"You guys are looking down," a deep voice said sitting opposite of you. Rolling your eyes to see Felix across from you.

"Just math studying she's not getting," Chan said going back to his general paper airplane. 

Felix gave a small hum in understanding as he watched the two of you carefully. "Chan, we are hanging out tonight right," Felix asked pursing up his lips. 

"Oh yeah boys’ night," Chan grinned lifting his hand for Felix to high five him. 

"Can I come over," you asked eager hearing that. Boys night was normally 2 times a week on a Friday. The night where Chan and Felix would hang out without you more like it. Even after knowing them for a year they always refuted you going to this 'boys’ night'. 

"Well," Felix trailed off gazing at you. You smirked always asking Felix since he never could deny you. You could see his brown eyes flicker to you and the blond wanting to say something. 

"Sorry Y/n it's a guy thing," Chan quickly made up for Felix awkward disposition. 

"You always say that," you huffed looking at Chan. "I'm one of your closest friends I mean I'm not like you and Felix, but I think I matter," you gave a fake pout. 

Chan gave a gentle smile "aw look she's pouting how adorable," he hummed. You felt your stomach twist with the word 'adorable'. "You do matter but no dice sorry," he shrugged grabbing his bookbag. 

"See ya Y/n," Chan said wrapping his arm around your neck for a side hug. "Guys night starts soon," he gave a wink. "Maybe one day you can join," he added.

"Yeah someday," Felix trailed off looking between you two. Felix gave you a small wave with a sheep smile "sorry Y/n guys night," he grinned giving you a small fist bump as they walked away together. 

Without words, they were gone. Damn those boys you thought to yourself. 

It's been hours since you've seen both of them and it was relatively frustrating. You would like to go to Chan's place for a night in. Being a college student, you were stuck in the dorm while Chan was privileged enough to have his own apartment a little way from the campus to go to. 

Placing your bowl of old Chinese next to your side laptop you stretched your neck. Your roommate was always at her boyfriend’s, so it was just you at this point. 

Opening your laptop, you just wanted to relax a little before you go to sleep. Looking at your phone your last text from Felix was a random meme he sent you. Smiling you quickly sent a reply to him. 

The internet was dull, social media was boring and the loneliness of the night was getting to you. You were frustrated about school and your friends. Why couldn't you just come over? you thought trying figure out why didn't they want you to come. 

Was it you? Did they want time away from you? Were they doing something illegal? you thought to yourself.

Without thinking you decided to play some games to get your mind off of them. They would be upfront with you if it was something about you. 

Typing in an online game you sighed ready to melt away on a video game for the night. Playing the game, it got your mind off of Chan and Felix for a while. The mindlessness making you relaxed. 

Pushing your headset away you saw the video game gave you a cam site pop up on the game. "what the," you hummed looking at the site. 

It was bright and flashy site and it was called "Cams4you" quirking an eyebrow you looked at the site it was tasteful you must say. The layout kind of like YouTube but with streaming content. It wasn't all sexual some was asmr, talking, mukbangs. 

The site was interesting your finger on your mouse looking at some of the safer cams. The asmr range was nice. Next to the live stream was a large red how many people were watching and then had a money jar where you could donate to the creator. 

A large "want to see all the content sign up now," it read. Rolling your eyes, you wanted to click off but for some reason, you didn't. With a throwaway email account, you signed up for an account thankfully no credit card number required. 

To your surprise, there was more content on the page. It was organized nicely with genres like cosplay, female, male all that gaze. A small smile slipped on your mouth as you clicked onto the male. 

Browsing through the male streams you stopped to see an empty room in one. Wait that room looked familiar you thought to yourself. Clicking the link your finger slipped off the mousepad to see Felix in the background of the Cam. 

Your Felix on a cam site. Staring at the screen clicked it watching in awe as he plopped himself down on the computer chair. He looked different the camcorder giving him a clear yet grainy vibe. His colored hair swept nicely across his forehead. 

Your mind raced at reality. Lee Felix your friend was on a cam site. Then your mind processed he was at Chan's house. So that means Chan is in on this too. 

Turning up the volume you heard Felix start to talk it looked like he was reading comments at this point. "Am I good," his deep voice was so different it was husky and smooth. He gave the camera a grin "I'm fine I'll probably go to sleep soon," he said nodding cutely.

Looking over at the door he gave a low whine "where is Chan at," he said. Looking down at this phone.

"I'm sorry guys no sexual stuff for me tonight I'm kind of out of it," he said looking at the camera. Your eyes went to the comments as they gave him hearts of 'it’s okay we still love you' kind of comments.

Chan came in a second later his shirt already off and it made you go completely still at seeing your friend’s bare chest. His broad shoulders gave him a large look as he sat down in the chair next to Felix. 

"Did our baby girls miss me," Chan said leaning forward to look at the chan. You even noticed he had blue eye contacts in making him look positively handsome. 

"Mmh a little but they still love me more," Felix flirted with the views giving them a small wink. 

From there they just talked really until Felix excused himself to go to sleep in the living room. "Don't leave Felix you can sleep in my bed," Chan playfully yelled at his friend. 

"No thanks I need sleep and not hearing you jerking off," Felix yelled back as he left. 

It was weird seeing your friends so flirty to each other and the camera. They were naturals you thought. With another right click, you went to their channel checking it out. It was called Aussie Boys with a selfie of Felix and Chan as the icon. Most of the videos were available they did have pay to watch ones but mostly those were special event ones that were locked. Your eyes widen looking at the number of average views they get. It was a baseline 1,000 plus. 

On your headset, you could hear Chan whimper for a second. The sound made your spine tingle. Looking at the video again you bit your lip watching Chan as he slowly peeled off his baggy pants. 

Without question, you closed the laptop. This was too much you just learned they own a cam channel and watching Chan get off. Somewhere in your morals you just couldn't watch Chan get off. 

An inner debate went off inside your mind and your stomach twist, you couldn't keep away from watching. 

Opening your laptop, you refreshed the screen to see Chan lightly teasing his head. It was bright red and looked so aching. Your fingers tingled wanting to touch it. 

"Ah fuck," his thick accent cussed out. Donations came flooding in as he jerked himself off. Leaning in the chair he looked eternal his blond hair so light his hand jerking himself off. You bite your lip wanting him. 

You were fucked you thought to yourself. 

After finding out Felix and Chan did a cam show you tried not to act differently toward them, but you saw them all. You've seen them bare, jerking off, kissing, laughing, moaning and it couldn't leave your mind. 

You watched all the backlog of them on stream. They were funny and handsome had lots of donations and incredibly popular. Some streams were a teasing stream, some were mukbangs some just playing video games. People watched it because it was Bang Chan the handsome blond older Australian and his friend Felix the shy cute younger Australian. 

You also noted about them they kept bringing up a third person in their stream. It struck you as weird. Slightly jealously filled you realizing they claimed she was a streamer and they knew her and wanted her to join them for a game. 

In reality, you can't be jealous because they don't know you are aware of their activities. It was coming to a point you felt like you needed to tell them. 

Sitting at a quiet coffee shop you sighed looking at the coffee you didn't know how to say it to them. They called you here because they wanted to have a talk.

"Hey y/n," you heard Chan say slipping into the chair on your side. He still looked amazing his blond hair swept nicely his smile bright as could be. 

Felix gave you a small hey as he sat across from you. His disposition was still awkward you could tell. You gave them a warm smile back "hey guys," replied. 

"I love this place," Felix hummed enjoying the privacy of the cafe. 

You chatted lightly with them enjoying the moment with them. Forgetting about the whole cam thing until Chan had to bring it up.

"So, Y/n we brought you here today," Chan paused his brown eyes flickered from you to his hands. His thick hands twiddling their thumb. 

"Chan, I don't think," Felix started. The dynamic was there Chan was the "leader" of this whole thing while Felix was more tentative. 

"Your cam boys aren't you," you finally told them. Felix's eyes widen at your words his face slightly burned red at your words. “That’s what you wanted to tell me,” you said.

Chan smirked "And how did you find out about that," he raised an eyebrow at you. "Was our Y/n pleasuring herself to our stream," he teased.

You felt your face go red "you wish I had the cam program pop up and I clicked on it, you guys leave me every other Friday night I was bored," you declared. "I found your page and watched your streams," you said. 

The tension slowly grew at your comment. You see there everything watched them do everything together. Felix choked on his drink lightly "so you saw," he blushed shyly looking at Chan. 

"I did," you affirmed you saw it all of Felix his chest, his body his moans.

Chan leaned back on the chair "okay well that makes this easier now right Felix," Chan smirked looking at you and him. 

"Sure," he hummed his deep voice doing things to you. 

"Y/n please join us for a stream," Chan asked. Your eyes widen at the words you felt a little outer body at his words. 

"Me," you asked looking between them. "So, in your new streams you were asking about me joining," you said shocked. 

"So, you've been watching," Chan teased at your words.

In your mind, they were basically asking you to have sex on stream with them. "Do you want this Chan," you asked him. He gave a nod his eyes glazed with excitement. "And you Felix," you asked the other male. 

Biting his lip, he gave a small "yeah," back at you. 

This was odd in a good way you thought looking down at the clothing you were wearing. Chan told you to wear whatever you want. But he recommended something airy and cute for the stream. So, you decided to wear a black skirt for easy to remove and a tucked in shirt. 

You marveled at the set up they had. The lights were bright giving them a good look to it, the camera was at least a 100 plus dollar one with a two-monitor set up. The camera was dead center in the room as it was angled to show you guys in the large gaming chairs and the bed nicely. 

Chan was setting up the stream next to you while Felix was sitting next to you in his chair. You were sandwiched between the two of your friends.  Felix small hand played with your hand trying to comfort you. 

The camera went with a red light signaling it was on. The monitor that mirrors what people were seeing showed it was showing you and Felix and Chan at the computer. "Hey guys," he hummed looking at the chat. People started to join at a rapid amount which made you assume they had alerts of the stream.  

"Hello everyone," Felix deep voice hummed waving at the camera. 

"Who’s the new person," Chan read the comment slowly a small smile lifted on his lips "she is our friend we were talking about," he hummed "and she's a little shy about being on camera so give her lots of encouragement," Chan spoke. 

The chat did just that with lots of "hellos" and calling you "pretty". "Hey," you said waving at the chat a little stiff in front of the camera. Your heart was thudding against your ribcage eagerly with anticipation. You would be lying if you never thought about Felix or Chan in a sexual manner. They both were incredibly handsome, friendly and anyone you would love to be with them. 

You all talked it out before even daring this. Chan explained and reassured you he wouldn't force you to do anything you didn't want to. Making sure you were comfortable with this new three-way relationship to move into a more sexual manner. 

Felix grabbed your hand a little firmer. Gazing up at the younger male his eyes held so much eagerness in this. Before you knew it, you felt Felix capture your lips. It was a surprise, but you mellowed into the kiss.

"Felix is a little eager one," Chan hummed shifting in his seat. "I know our guest is pretty but wait for the game," Chan teased. 

Breaking the kiss, you looked at Felix in shock at the kiss. It was soft and eager and everything you imagined it could be. 

"Okay so today we are going to play Sexy Truth or Dare," he hummed at the camera. The comments spammed as he told them today's stream. 

"Here are the cards," Chan said bringing up the cards they were black with a sexy kiss mark on them. "Are you guys ready," Chan smirked. 

"Of course," you said feeling your stomach fill with excitement to finally get this started. 

"And these cards are mostly truth a slight dare nothing too major yet we're saving that for later," Chan gave the camera a wink. It was shocking how good he was to the camera. His winks and looks made people pour money at him for just being him. 

Your eyes widen in the list you saw a recent tip was 100 dollars from a random user they commented: "I can't wait for this". A shiver went down your spine realizing that people were actually watching you guys. 

Felix glanced at you his cheeks a little red his freckles showing under the lights. While his hair held a shine to it. Your mind whirled being in-between those your good-looking friends. One who already kissed you. 

Chan raised the card to Felix letting the other male take one. 

Felix's eyes flickered looking between the two of you. Clearing his throat, he spoke the question "Would you rather spank someone or be spanked?" He read out. Looking at you guys and at the camera, he gave the views a smile. "Personally, I would rather be spanked," Felix said embarrassment laced his voice. 

Chan gave a small giggle "Let me guess you couldn't go through with it," he poked fun at Felix.  

"Felix wouldn't hurt a fly Chan," you hummed back grabbing Felix soft hand into yours. "He's our soft boy," you praised him. 

Felix let out a little chuckle "I can show you how hard I can be," he raised an eyebrow at you. The subtle flirting making your body feel all fluttery inside. 

Chan spoke up "Y/n take your card," lifting you the deck. Chan had this aura that made you feel so comfortable. 

Taking the card, you realized it was a dare card. The dare was already pretty lewd you thought. "Blindfold yourself and try and guess who’s kissing you," you quirked an eyebrow. How situational is that? 

"Did you," you started wanting to call him out for setting you with such a direct card so early. 

"And look what we have here," Chan said looking at the camera picking up the blindfold for you. "Let's see if our good friend can tell us apart," Chan teased. 

"Can I," he asked holding the black silk blindfold. Breathing in you gave a small nod in consent as he went over to tie it around your eyes. 

"And just so she won't know me, and Chan will be on the same side so she can't tell," Felix added. You heard them both get up walking around to one side. You guessed on purpose to mix you up. 

You felt a hand reach for your chin the person guiding your lips to theirs. Your mind raced as you met the person's lips. The excitement of not knowing you who were kissing made your mind whirl. Placing your lips to the person you imagined Chan or Felix kissing you making your body buzz with want. The first press of the lips was gentle testing the water kiss. Slowly as that came it was a harder kiss on your lips.

You felt a small peak of their tongue egging you to open your mouth. With ease, you did let them slip into your mouth. The kiss was hot and warm making you want more. But before you could really get into the kiss they pulled away. 

Who was it? You felt like it was Chan. Felix wouldn't be so bold so early you thought. He did kiss you a second ago so maybe he was so bold. 

Before you knew it, you felt a hand lifted to your chin so your lips met there's. You were stirring for more contact wanting more affection. The kiss was soft and tentative with a force you never felt before like the underline emotion was just pure want and need. Either Bang Chan or Felix didn't try for much tongue all they did was lightly lick your bottom lip in want. You felt yourself sticking your mouth out ready to open kiss him. He pulled away before you could really get into it. 

The person sighed and got up as they placed themselves back into their chairs. "Y/n you can take off the blindfold," you heard Chan say. You felt on the other side must have been Felix helped you. 

The light made you blink a little hard. "So, y/n who kissed you," Chan grinned. 

A firm line formed on your lips as you decided. "I think the first one is," you paused he was more assertive so it must be Chan. "it was you Chan," you declared. 

Chan gave a shocked expression for a second "wow that's talent," he praised.

Shifting a laugh, you nodded "Felix is a little more tentative overall," you added looking at the other handsome male. 

Chan gave a flirty smile "kissing Y/n was nice right Felix," Chan asked the other boy. "I mean you did get to kiss her before me and all," he hummed. 

Felix gave a small nod in understanding "her lips felt amazing," Felix said his eyes slightly looking up to remember the kiss. Being praised stirring up a good feeling in your body. 

"Chan pick your card," you said reaching for the deck. Felix was busy thanking all the donors on the screen reading out the comments. One stuck in your mind "that Y/n looked perfect between the boys". The praise was almost endless, but did you look amazing between these two amazingly handsome males. Did you fit into this dynamic? 

"Got a dare card," he smoothly said looking at the words. Reading it slowly he spoke "Whisper in the persons next to your ear something you've always wanted to see me do in bed," he said with a smooth accent. 

"Sorry views this is for our Y/n ears only," Chan gave the camera a wink as he leaned down to your ear. His warm breath hitting your ear. "Y/n I want to see you whimper my name begging for my cock wanting it so bad yet not getting it," his smooth Aussie accent told you. 

Immediately you shifted in your seat with want. "Bang Chan," you lightly gasped out covering your mouth. 

Giving you a wink, he went back to the views. "Before the next round, I'll read out some comments," 

"Felix you look adorable today," Chan read the comment out. "He looks adorable all the time, to be honest, we're just lucky we get to see it."

Reading the comments, you got an understanding of the cam feel. It felt like a YouTube vide kind of. The comments were nice, donations were flooding in. You totally forgot at least 500 people were watching you kiss your best friends. 

"Felix take a card," you hummed reaching for the deck and passing it to him. Giving you a firm smile he took a card. 

Giving everyone an embarrassing smile "I watched hentai and I have no shame," he declared putting the card down. Your eyes widen at the confession admiring how confident he was in his answer. 

Trading the cards to you, you picked one up and read it aloud. "Touch yourself for 60 seconds," you read out. 

You stiffen your back at the comment. "Um is it okay if I sit on the bed," you asked. 

"Anything that makes you comfortable," Felix said. Putting the card down you sat at the edge of the bed. The comments went wild with the realization sexual stuff will happen. 

You looked at both of them in awkwardness as you lifted the skirt revealing your lace panties to them and the screen. Looking at yourself through the monitor you looked lewd. At that moment the whole room shifted with sexual tension. 

You calmed yourself as you slowly brought your hand go down to pleasure yourself. You teased your slit drawing the wetness near. The exoticness of your two friends watching made you more aroused. 

Touching yourself you were delicate and needy the tension slowly grew as you played with your clothed slit. Peeking out to see Chan with a pleased grin and Felix with a needy wanting look. 

"Forget about these fucking cards," you heard Chan say in an aggressive manner as he put them down to go to the bed. 

"Felix can you help out beautiful girl here," Chan hummed sitting on the bed pulling your back against his chest smoothly. 

Felix did as he was instructed. Even in this situation, Chan was more of the dominant right now and you both fended to him. "Felix please," you begged spreading your legs open for him to touch you. 

"We don't want her to come so early so just tease her," Chan hummed out the order. Leaning his mouth toward your neck he laid a few kisses on your neck as his hands went to your waist. His large hands met your waist as he roamed your body. 

"Just relax," Chan whispered in your ear as his hands went further up to meet right below your bra. "I'm right here baby girl," his deep voice so naturally seductive making you buzz with want. 

Felix slowly fingered you his gentle touch made you whimper for more. Looking down at the male he looked so focused on your slit. His fingers lightly petting you slowly only slightly entering to feel your velvety wetness. "She's so damp," Felix deep voice hummed. Spreading your fold to show the camera you off. 

Chan hard manhood stood firm against your back as his hands groped your breast. He felt the fabric over them as he ran his smooth palm over them. Lifting the shirt up enough to show the stream. "I picked out her set for her," he mentioned proudly, of the black lace he bought you. 

The stimulation with being in between two hot and bothered males made your body heat up. Chans fingers found your bra snapping it off in a cool manner. Letting your breast be free for him to play with. 

"As much as I like it on you, I like it off a lot better," Chan uttered. His palm enveloped your breast as he played with them. "So warm in my palm," his dirty talk making you wet. 

"She's so warm Chan," Felix spoke up finally as he teased you. Licking his lips, you knew he wanted to dive in and enjoy himself. 

Chan one hand played with your nipple. Taking the small bud and playing with it "Oh I would love to see them filled with milk one day," he leaned down to whisper. The insinuation of breeding you made your spine chill with want. 

"Ah," you let a mew at the feeling of him pinching and rubbing your nipple paired with Felix now inserting his finger into you this was too much. The familiar feeling of excitement pooled in your lower belly wanting to come soon. 

"Mmh look at the chat praising you," Chan accent came out thicker at the moment. His fingers teased your nipples his one hand traveling down to your slit as he slowly found your clit as he played with it. 

"Don't come, baby," he hummed in your ear. His hardness lightly rocking against your back. Both of their hands playing with you. 

"You're close aren't you," Chan groaned in your ear. With a shaky head, you nodded feeling the coming orgasm fill your stomach. 

"Felix stop touching," He demanded you turned your head to see Chan had a large smirk on his face. "Mmh clean his fingers for him won't you," Chan teased out. 

The loss of contact made your body slightly settle. You gazed at Felix a gentle grin on his face "open," he ordered lightly. 

Without words, you opened your mouth accepting his fingers tasting yourself. The visual of seeing Felix stand before you as you swirled your tongue on his fingers made you want them more. Cleaning his fingers, you probably looked so desperate at this point. 

"Look what you've done to poor Felix," Chan pointed out the outline of a line of his dick showing in Felix's sweatpants. "Got him all riled up," he pointed out once again. 

"Get on your fours baby girl," Chan told you a light pinch on your butt making you shift. Following his orders, you did what he asked. You wondered if Chan was naturally like this or was this a show for the cameras. Something inside you guessed this isn't an act. 

"Now give Felix some pleasure he deserves it," Chan hummed watching from behind you as you grabbed Felix sweatpants pulling them down slightly revealing his briefs. He was already hard against them making an outline. 

You ran your fingertips over his clothed dick lightly teasing the member. "Fuck Y/n," he gave deep moan at the lightest touch. 

Feeling behind you Chan grabbed your hips tapping your ass lightly. "Her ass is amazing," Chan praised. He grabbed at it in a harsh manner feeling it. 

"I want to feel it," Felix groaned as you kept your light touches up. 

"One day you can have it," Chan teased out at Felix. "Today it’s all mine," he added.

Chan fingers lightly played with slit pulling the underwear down slightly. "So many donations I think people like the show," he hummed at the camera. The monitor gave you a perfect view of Chan behind you. 

Pulling off Felix’s briefs to reveal his dick. "Suck it please," Felix whined out practically begging you. Grabbing it you lightly jerked him off. The feeling of Chan behind you made you moan as he slowly entered you. 

You panted with want but wanted to please Felix as well. Wrapping your mouth on his dick you felt Chan lightly thrust in you making sure you could take him. 

"Suck him off good Y/n," Chan egged you on. You moaned feeling Chan starting to slowly thrust into you. Your stomach stirring at the feeling of being fucked. Felix in front of you letting deep moans lace the air. You adored the sound of the younger male deep voice. 

Chans hands were wrapped around your waist as he steadied you as he gave a gentle pace inside you. "Seeing you suck off Felix is so hot," he admitted a breathy groan laced his sentence. 

Your gag reflex was lightly getting in the way, so you lightly backed off. Felix's hands met your head as he thrust into your open mouth his hips rocking in your mouth. The more he did that the more you gagged on him. 

"Oh, fucking hell you clench around me every time you gag," Chan cursed "It feels amazing," he rocked into you harder. 

The scene was lewd as it could be. You are blowing off your friend while your other friend took you from behind. 

The warmth in your body was flaring up you felt your stomach tighten your skin so warm from the teasing. Wanting to help Felix before you came you focuses on the person in front of you. 

You hollowed around him sucking him lightly. Your tongue peeking out giving kitten licks to his mushroomed head. 

"She's so good," Felix gave a deep moan as he rocked his hips in your mouth. Pressing his fingers in your hair he lightly pushed you deeper as he balls tightened as he came in your mouth, you gagged lightly feeling the ropes of come touch the back of your throat. 

"Fuck the clenching," Chan moaned from behind you. Felix unlaced his fingers from your hair his hand grabbing your chin letting the cum lightly drip out of your mouth. 

"What a good girl we have here," Felix said a slight smirk on his face as his thumb touched the cum coming out. Catching it on his thumb he moved it to your mouth making you open your mouth to accept the fallen cum. "All of it my girl," his dark eyes held so much love and lust as you stared up at him accepting his finger cleaning it. The shift from cute too so sexual made you whine with want. 

Chan wasn't done with you as his thrust became sloppier signaling, he was about to come. Your arms tired from holding yourself up you laid your head on the bed letting Chan fuck you into the bed. 

You eyed Felix as he went back to the stream a lazy smile across his face. It made your heart flutter knowing you did that for him. You pleasured him into that handsome smile of his. 

"You feel so good baby girl," Chan moaned as his hips were starting to stutter into you he was so close and so deep inside you. 

Finally, after all the teasing, you could finally let go. You let the pleasure envelope you as he drove into you. The feeling of the tension washing over you signaled you came; a flow of moans left your mouth as you let go. The pleasure washed over you in an amazing way. 

Chan soon chased his orgasm his Australian accent came out thick as he praised you. 

Felix said some words you couldn't care less about to the stream thanking all the watchers and donors you think. Saying he loved the feedback and this experience as he shut off the stream and the bright studio lights in the room. Chan grabbed you pushing you on the bed. 

You looked up at the male wide-eyed to see a lazy smile on his lips. "You're a natural," he praised you deciding to lay next to you. 

"Yah why do you get to cuddle Y/n," Felix playfully pouted at the scene before him. 

"Um because she likes me the best," Chan rolled his eyes covering you with his arm. 

"I want your cuddles Felix," you whined reaching out for the other male. He accepted your arms and laid in them. Sighing with content you felt Felix shift on the bed.

"We really did that," Felix hummed laying in the packed bed. 

"We sure did now go to sleep before I kick you out the bed," Chan laughed out lightly. You didn't know what morning had for you. At least you had your two best friends next to you. 

[xroamywoamyx]

Sleep My Sweet Prince (Spoilers)

Fandom: Sander Sides

Rating: K+

Genre: Hurt/Comfort and Fluff

Word Count:1785

Pairing: Creativisleep (Roman/Remy)

Roman Sat On The Floor Of His Bedroom Knees To His Chest Face Hidden As He Sobbed Quietly. He'd been there for hours. He knew that at this point he was just being dramatic, but dammit. It still hurt. If Jay had said literally anything else he would have been able to take it. Even if he had said Roman was foolish or unnecessary it would have been fine. He already knew these things, Logan made sure he knew it after all. Though with Logan it wasn't genuine and he knew that... and even if it was he couldn't say that he was wrong. He was stupid, he typically prided himself on it actually, most Prince's weren't known for their high intellect. Heroes use to be brave, heroic and charming without being overly bright. If they needed something done that required more then an average IQ then the lovable nerdy sidekick would do it. It wasn't until recently that his brand of heroics became out dated and... And Toxic... He'd only needed to be good looking and strong before, he stuck by a strong moral code...

A Moral Code He Doesn't Understand Anymore...

If Patton...

No.

If Thomas.... No longer Needed Him Or His Brand Of Heroics Anymore...

What Was The Point.

Thomas did have Remus after all and if Janus fit into Thomas' new found sense of morality.\

Who's to say his Brother wouldn't also...

After all Jay had said he couldn't tell them apart....well...those weren't his exact words but that's what he said.

If He and Remus were truly so similar then surely Remus could handle things on his own. He didn't really need to hang around, he contributed the least out of everyone else and he had a ready to go replacement. What was the point of him staying around?

He clearly wasn't wanted...

He continued to sob letting his thoughts run wild each one doing more damage to his fragile self worth. He continued to sob quietly for several more minutes feeling more and more alone as each minute passed.

After awhile there was a soft knock on his door "Go away'' Roman called out ''you're not wanted'' he said voice sounding muffled

The person behind the door scoffed in fake offense ''Well babe I know that can't be true because I'm always wanted'' The door creaked open slowly and as the light streamed in to reveal the hyper insomniac Remy Sanders. Roman glared at the caffeine fiend "I Am Not A Liar Remington!" he spat angrily still fuming in no mood for jokes ''Well someone's in a mood'' Remy said in a slightly softer tone taking a sip of his drink.

'' Rough day?'' Remy asked plopping down next Roman ''buzz off sleep demon'' Roman insulted weakly Remy lowered his sunglasses and quirked his eyebrow at Roman "oh really, you wanna do nicknames right now'' Roman hugged his knees a little closer ''sorry..''. Roman felt something heavy get placed on his shoulders ''Nah Princy you're fine'' Remy yawned wrapping his jacket around Roman before kicking back against Roman's bed '' just don't call me Remington again'' he picked up his drink and offered it to Roman ''want some''. Roma ignored him ''You know I'm not a coffee person Rem'' Remy cracks a smile "who said it was coffee" Roman looked at Remy with genuine surprise and curiosity. Remy laughed to him self smirking and taking another sip "Your loss, ma petite frère".

Roman loosened his grip on his knees continuing to sulk "What are you even doing here..." Remy signed " well it's not like I want to be here or anything" he twirls his cup sarcastically "and besides there's this prince who's keeping me up" he nudged Roman gently."I'm sorry..." Roman said quietly "don't" Remy looks at Roman '' don't do that Princy'' Roman laughs and lets his head fall back and rest against the bed ''I'm not much of a prince anymore" he smiled as silent tears fell down his face these not from anger or frustration at the days prior events but do to real pain and hurt. "Maybe..." Remy sighed ''or maybe, just maybe you're just tired'' Roman laughed ''you can't take credit for everything Rem'' Remy scoffed ''or maybe, I can'' he gently wraps his arm around Roman making him rest his head on his shoulder Roman yawns ''don't Remy...''.

He Took slight offense to that scoffing as he shoved Roman back off of him ''I wouldn't dare do such a thing  Princy, not even in your dreams'' Roman readjust himself removing Remy's jacket from his shoulders. ''I'm sorry'' he says trying to give it back to Remy ''Uh-uh'' Remy holds his hands up setting his drink down properly. ''Remy..'' Roman whined ''no!'' Remy fussed ''Remy I'm burning up'' he looked at him with a pouty face. Remy cupped Roman's face and placed a hand on his forehead ''Yeah but you're cooling down fast and you'll start to shiver, so put on the damn jacket'' Roman wiped his face and crossed his arms shaking Remy off before shaking away "Roman..'' Remy softened his voice. ''It's okay, you're okay Roman'' Remy grips Roman's shoulder making the distraught prince look at him. ''Listen to me Princy'' he places his hand on his chest applying the slightest amount of pressure to calm him down '' you have one of the kindest and bravest hearts of any person I know, please for the love all the shirtless hot male strippers out there, let me passive aggressively take care of you". A chill ran down Roman's back, Remy was right, his body temperature was already beginning to drop and he was getting cold. He tried to stop himself from reacting to the chill and not shiver but unfortunately failed...

Remy smacked his shoulder "I told you bitch, now put on the fucking jacket and let me run my hands through your beautiful hair while you do that feelings thing and tell me your problems" Roman laughed giving in and putting on Remy's jacket. It was actually really comfortable and calming then he had thought it would be. "Feelings things?" he quirked an eyebrow at Remy "that was such a Logan thing to say" he mentions as he carefully slumps himself sideways and lays down in Remy's lap. Remy takes off his sunglasses and glares at Roman playfully '' How very rude of you to imply I am anything like that nerd'' Roman yawned ''I dunno you guys are kinda similar'' Remy tugs his hair a little harshly in response. ''What are you doing here Remy'' Roman asked sounding pitiful, Remy returned to soothingly stroking Roman's hair gently '' I came to check on you'' ''I came to check on you...'' he sighed ''I was worried'' . ''You shouldn't of been'' Roman continued to sulk, Remy rolled his eyes ''oh get over yourself Roman'' Remy chose his words poorly, Roman turned away from him and onto his side in Remy's lap ''sorry...''. Remy sighed in slight frustration at his Royal fuck up ''No Roman that's not what I meant, I mean'' he pauses for a moment thinking hard about his words. ''Don't think you're the only one who, don't think...Dammit'' he ran hand through his hair '' let people care about you Princy you're not Logan and he shouldn't stop people either'' he finally pushes out. ''And I, I care a lot, so I'm going to worry weather you want me to or not, I'm a stubborn sleep deprived coffee gay, you will not be able to out argue me on the ways you're amazing and worthy'' he let out a long breathe after spitting out his mismesh of words that he really wasn't proud of. Roman continued to sulk refusing to rollover and look at him '' Roman...'' he nudged him gently ''talk to me...please'' no response. Remy's heart sunk and he went to remove his hand from Roman's hair disappointingly feeling like he'd failed. ''Don't stop...'' Came a mumbled whisper ''what!?'' Remy asked surprised ''you can mess with my hair...I like it...'' Remy laughed at Roman's resistant response ''Okay'' he smiled returning his hand to Roman's hair. They sat like that for several minutes in silence Roman staying closed off and Remy just patiently waiting for if and when he'd be okay.

After awhile the quiet broke ''You think I'm amazing'' Roman sniffled ''hell yeah I do'' Remy smiled ''I think you're wonderful Princy'' Roman readjusted slightly still keeping his back to Remy. ''Why'' he asked needing validation, Remy was happy to oblige ''Well'' he began ''you're charming and kind, I really did mean what I said about you having a good heart. You're just filled with so much love and hope, It's really awe-inspiring and you come up with the most beautiful dreams for my nights with Thomas'' his voice was low and soft. ''Oh..'' Roman doesn't know how to respond "but honestly that's not enough, you try so hard to make everyone happy, even more then  Patton does, a lot more actually. You care so much about other people and what they think, I've seen you literally hang the stars for people'' Remy went on ''Logan wanted them..'' Roman mumbled again slowly loosening up. '' And you spent many dreamless nights collecting them and then setting them up for him...'' he trailed off. Roman finally rolled over and looked up at Remy ''How do you know that?'' Remy's cheeks tinted pink ''well-I...You weren't there to help me with dreams...and Remus..did it...instead'' the coffee fanatic was having a hard time getting his words out, something that was Very unusual.

''Anyways..are you feeling better'' he tries to hides blush summoning his sleep mask and lazily flopping it on his face ''I'm tired and out of coffee'' . '' Hey Remy'' Roman readjusted so his weight was entirely on Remy's legs. ''Hmm?'' He responded taking off the sleep mask ''thank you'' he yawned snuggling up to Remy still wearing his jacket. Remy was silent for a moment heat rising in his face ''Yeah- anytime Roman..'' he stays rigid at attention coming from Roman not really sure how to process it.

''Rem'' Roman Whispers again into Remy's neck, ''Yeah Ro'' he responds. Roman lifts his head for a minute and kisses Remy's cheek before laying his head back down on again ''Can you stay and help me sleep tonight please''.

Like he'd even have to ask..

Remy smiled to quietly resting his head on Roman's head ''Of Course Princy, You Can Sleep Peacefully Tonight, I Got You'' Remy curled his fingers around Roman's hand and brings it up to his lips and kisses it peacefully putting the prince to sleep.

''Goodnight''

[puckngrind]

Skating Lessons part 2

Summary: You are the mother of a 4 year old that Josh has been skating with during his down time and you start a friendship of your own.

Warning:  swearing (It’s Josh Anderson, do you expect anything less?). 

Word count: 2793

Series Masterlist

Josh: Do you like Mexican food?

You: Is that even a question...

Josh: um...yeah...do you want to grab Mexican Friday?

You: Josh, I. WAS. JOKING.  Yes, mexican would be great Friday.  When should I meet you?

Josh: I’ll pick you up.  7pm. 

You: I have to drop Mason off at my parents so I’ll meet you.

Josh: I’ll pick you up at 6:30 and we can drop him off.

You: um...ok...your car big enough for a booster seat?

Josh sends a snap of himself in his Audi SUV to verify the fact that nothing you said was going to stop him from picking you up and taking Mason to your parents...your parents.  Your parents were going to meet Josh.  Yeah, if you hadn’t already had a mild meltdown about the fact that you were sorta going on a date with a professional hockey player the fact that said hockey player would meet your parents on the same night may just set you over the edge.  You sent a quick text to your mom so she could tame your dad before Friday.  

The thing was you didn’t really think of Josh as being a professional athlete while he was skating around with Mason or texting you.  He was sweet, kind, funny, and didn’t seem to mind that you had major (yet adorable) baggage.  

Friday came and you could NOT focus at work.  It may have been the sheer amount of texts you received from both Josh and your dad.  Your dad wanted to know so many things you could not answer because you just did not know.  Did Josh like you?  You assumed but then you doubted it because of who he was and who you were.  While you got ready Mason sat on top of your counter in the bathroom.  Asking lots of questions which helped your nerves settle.  Then the doorbell rang.  Mason ran towards the door.  Josh must have assumed Mason was going to answer because he was bent down as the door swung home.   “ANDY!” Mason yelled and threw up his fist for a fist bump. Watching your son’s tiny hand giving Josh’s giant fist a bump made your body tingle.   

“You ready to hang out with your grandparents dude?”  Josh swooped down and lifted Mason up.  Mason shook his head so excited.  “Is it okay if I take your mom out to dinner?”  Mason looks over at you and back at Josh then back at you.  

“Yeah, that’s cool.  I get to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa.  Grandpa said we will make s’mores too.” Mason smiles at Josh who puts him down and looks are you with a devilish look you’ve never seen.

“Slumber parties are the best!  I’m jealous dude!”  Josh answers.  “So what do we need to load up?”  He’s now looking you up and down and maintaining your eye contact.

“Oh, um...Just us, Mason’s booster seat is right there, and...” You look around for Mason’s teddy bear which you cannot seem to locate. 

“Bauer my favorite bear!” Mason chimes in and runs towards his room to return with his very loved bear that has a Seth Jones onesie on.  Josh eyes the #3 and then back to you.

“Looks like you need some 77 gear huh?”  Josh smirks and then laughs a little.  

You load up in his car and head to your parents.  As you turn down their street your stomach flips like you are in high school taking your boyfriend to meet your parents.  BUT, Josh is not your boyfriend and you are far from high school.  Josh beats you to the back seat and grabs Mason out of the back.  When the door shuts Josh has Mason’s hand and leads you by the small of your back which makes your face flame red by the time you reach the front door.  Your mom had clearly been waiting for you and her face said it all without her saying anything.

“Sooooooo, you must be Josh?” Your Mom says as she swings open the storm door ignoring your red face and where Josh’s hand is placed.  Josh drops his hand that is behind you and reaches out to shake your mom’s hand. 

“Yes, ma’am.  Nice to meet you.”  Josh notices your dad walking towards the door as you walk in and before you can say anything Josh jumps in. “Mr. (y/l/n), Nice to meet you.  I’m Josh Anderson.  (y/n) and Mason have told me all about you.”  

Your dad was on his best behavior and didn’t question Josh within an of his life.  You stood there as Josh seemed to easily talk to your parents and manages to juggle Mason’s hyped energy without skipping a beat in the adult conversation.  You stood in awe of this man and how in the world was he standing here in your world was beyond you.  

You kissed Mason goodbye and gave quick hugs and pecks to your parents before heading out the door.  Josh opened the car door for you and you slid in.  The car ride to the restaurant was easy.  Josh looking over at you every time he was at a stop light and his elbow almost touching yours which sent electric shocks through your body.  When you go to get out of the car, Josh practically jogged over to you with a look like he was upset.  You wrote it off and headed towards the door.  His hand is back on your lower back as he lead you through the door and to the hostess.  She leads you towards a booth tucked into the corner and you could swear she gave Josh a wink as she turned around.

“So, do you get noticed a lot around town?”  You didn’t mean to start the conversation off like that but you were sure the young girl recognized Josh. 

“Yeah, sometimes.  Not as much when I’m by myself but when the boys are in a group we usually get approached.”  He runs his hand through his hair and it lands on the back of his neck which he starts to rub.  You get caught up in ocean of his eyes that you don’t realize the server had come up.  “(y/n), what do you want to drink?”  Josh snaps you out of your daze.  You order what he ordered and went back to your conversation. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean that to come out how it did.  I just meant, like, um...”  the words could not form into a sentence.  Josh laughs at you.  “You are making me nervous right now.”  You honesty caught him off guard and you could tell.  Your bottom lip slips between your teeth as you look up at him.

“Why (y/n)?  You are the wittiest, kindest, warmest person I know and not to mention the way you are with Mason is seriously the cutest thing under the sun.  You are sarcastic and make me laugh so hard and our conversation is so easy.  So please tell me what about this makes you nervous?  You are fine the times we’ve been at the rink or texting?”  Josh motions around then places his hand centimeters from yours.  The electric feeling radiates through you again.  You meet his eyes and find your words.

“Josh, you are famous.  Like famous famous around here especially.  People know you.  Girls throw themselves at you.  Kids look up to you.  And I’m Mason’s mom.  Average Columbus gir-”  

“You are NOT average!”  Josh abruptly stops your self doubt thoughts that were spewing out of your mouth with no filter. “And yes, I get noticed, and yes I’m ‘famous’ but I’m just a guy from Burlington who just happens to play hockey.  You, you are a rockstar.  How you do what you do and look the way you look and keep me on my toes in the short time we’ve known each other is beyond me.  You are amazing which is why I asked you out on this date.  You caught my attention before I even met you.  I had to know you.  And I’m still shocked you agreed to have dinner with me.”  Josh stops, grabs your hand and his cheeks turn pink.

“Josh, like this is a date-date?  Like you are into me?”  Is all that can come out of your mouth.

“Yessss.  What did you think it was (y/n)?”  Josh gives you that smirk that melts you into a puddle.  You keep thinking about all the things Josh just told you.

“Wait, what do you mean even before you met me?”  Your mind went back to when Josh came up the ramp at the rink and your realized he had said he saw you two and came out early.  “You said at the rink..but...how...when?”  Josh looked like he just got caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar.

“m’kay, so yeah.  You caught that huh?”  Josh’s pink cheeks are now beat red.  He looks at you and starts into his explanation.  “The first day when you and Mase were at the rink I was up in the offices talking about my next community outing.  There is a glass wall and I caught a glimpse of Mason first and how fast the little dude was.  Then....”  Josh clears his throat and looks down breaking eye contact with you, “then I saw him skate up to you.  You kissed him on the top of his helmet and he skated off again.  I knew I needed to meet you.  (y/n), I’ve never felt like I had to meet someone like there is a magnetic force driving me to you.”  Josh has looked back up at you.  Sheepishly he continues, “I hope that doesn’t scare you off. I really hope I didn’t just fuck whatever this is up.” 

“You didn’t.”  You practically whisper as the man sitting in front of you leans in to the table like he felt the weight of this information was lifted off his back.  “Would you want to go back to my house and watch a movie?  You can watch me eat ice cream?”  You found your voice and your nerve.  This was just the boy that you had hour text conversations with almost every night.  The one you chirped while he was skating with you son.  The one you actually missed on the 2 small road trips he went on since meeting but wouldn’t dare tell him that.

“Hell yeah!  That sounds perfect.”  Josh grabs your hand and leads you out of the restaurant.

When you get out of Josh’s car at your house you realize that he’s not following you.  You look back to see him waist deep in the back of car.  “Um, Josh, what are you doing?”  You just stayed where you were as Josh stayed in his trunk for another moment.  

“I was just grabbing my sweats from my hockey bag and I had something for you.”  Josh quickly makes up the space between his car and your door where you were still standing.  He follows you in and hands you a sweatshirt.  “So I bought this for you the other day and kept forgetting to bring it into the rink.”  He hands you a navy hoodie.  It has the 3rd jersey symbol on the front.  The same one on the flag hanging in Mason’s room.  

“Oh, Josh.  Thanks.  I’ll be sure to add it to the rotation.”  You place it on the counter as walk further into your home.  

“Oh good.  So, where can I change?  This isn’t exactly the best movie watching outfit?”  He motions to his current outfit.  The tight buttoned down shirt that looks like if he sneezed buttons would start popping off and skinny jeans that didn’t leave much to the imagination.  You hadn’t taken Josh all in and really had only seen him in gear or sweats.  His legs were huge and muscular.  And not to mention his ass was so perfect you tried not to stare at it multiple times already this evening.  You showed Josh your guest bathroom and you grabbed your new sweatshirt and headed to your room to change too.  You decided to throw on leggings and the sweatshirt he just gave you.  As you slipped it on and caught the back of the sweatshirt.  You flipped around and looked in the mirror.  77 with ANDERSON running down your spine.  You had to laugh.  Of course he wouldn’t just give you a Blue Jacket sweatshirt.  You guessed that he had a jersey or something for Mason too.

“Soooo....” You laughed as you came back out to see Josh sitting on your couch with your remote in hand.  He looked up and smirked at you.  He didn’t say anything but just swirled his finger around.  And you complied.  

“Yes!  If you are going to use my seats you better represent me well!”  Josh laughs deeply and pats couch.  You retreated to the kitchen instead and came back with wine and Halo ice cream for you.  “Is that coffee I smell?”  His eyebrow moved up while grabbing the wine out of your hand.  You sat with your feet under you and slightly leaning towards Josh.

“I’m making iced coffee.  And I’m using your seats?  This is news.”  You take a mouth full of ice cream and you slip back into the ease that you have had with Josh since following on top of him that first time on the ice.  

“I mean...yeah...I figured you might as well take Mase and your parents if you want.  You don’t have to go to every game.  My parents and siblings don’t come often so my tickets just kind of go to waste unless I give them to one of the other guys...”  He trails off in thought then comes back.  “Do you feel like we’ve known each other longer than the few weeks?”  Josh places his hand on your knee and you turn to look at him.

“We we talk about games later but yes, Josh, I feel like you and I are easy.”  He leans in further and grabs your spoon to swipe some ice cream from your carton.  “HEY!  Is this on your ‘approved diet’?”  You start laughing so hard that you almost drop the ice cream.   “It’s healthy ice cream..I’m good.”  He leans in for a second spoonful and you swat at his hand.  

“Mine!” You almost yell at him.  And you see his eyes darken with a mischievous look and you know you started something.

“Oh really?”  He cocks his head to the side and tries to grab the ice cream out of your hand.  You dodge his advances and then his eyes shift to the kitchen and he’s almost sprinting to your fridge.  You practically jump off the couch and are at his heels.  

“Hey!  It’s expensive and MINE!!!”  You yell as he pulls open your freezer looking for more Halo ice cream.  Your foot hits the stainless steel and slams it shut.  Josh turns to you and feel the electricity in the air.  Something you’ve never quiet felt before and with someone you’ve really just met.  Josh closes the small distance between the two of you and grabs your hip.  His look has softened slightly but his cheeks are flushed and his bottom lip is tucked in his teeth.  He leans in to crowd your space even more and you don’t back down.  You just keep staring at his eyes lost in the words you two are not saying.

“Do I have permission to kiss you?”  Josh asks while placing his other hand on your jawline and moving his thumb up and back.  You don’t even get the word yes out fully when he crashes into your lips.  Soft but powerful.  He’s gentle with a dominance that makes your knees weak.  You place your hands on his chest as you break for air.  “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do it?  I’m pretty sure Seth is tired of me talking about wanting to kiss you.  I just didn’t know if you felt what I felt and it seemed silly to feel what I feel so quickly.  I kind of freaked out and spilled all the beans to Seth one night on the road.”

So many things were running through your head.  The slight buzz of from the wine and all the things Josh had told you this evening.  The feelings you had that you pushed away and the ones that you let bubble up telling yourself you weren’t good enough.  This man made everything seem right in the world.

“Josh, we feel the same way but we need to talk about some things before we just fall into whatever this is...”  You trail off and lead him to the couch.

[amnachil]

The College Society Chapter 4 Part 3

Wow, sorry for the lack of uptade. Work kept me busy... Anyway, here’s the next part!

Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey Tuesday March 19

He moaned with pleasure. Gabriel's tongue had soothing effects. The man was gifted. Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey groaned again. He shivered and his hands grabbed the other dude's head. A slow but warm licking made him twitch. He came shortly after. This is what I call a fellatio. Gabriel was defintely very talented. When this later raised his head, the junior blinked. For a dreadful moment, he pictured Liam at his place, eyes full of lust and mouth ready to suck his cock. Oh for the seven hells. That was something he could only dream of.

"So about your prey." whispered Gabriel.

It caught Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey's full attention. Right, I asked him to come because I hope he has intel. He's the official whore of the campus after all.

"Many hunters are on the move." he explained. "A 5000$ bounty is not something you see everyday."

Gabriel stood up and smiled. He was a very average dude but damn, his lips were made to suck dicks. Anyway, the Dean's grandson already knew that crap. He needed names.

"Nobody knows who is behind this but the community thinks it's someone important." continued the lad. "Some of them even think it's you."

"Is a load of shit from a bunch of retards the only thing you found out ?"

"Nah man. Even if we don't know the culprit, we know he used the community's local website to distribute his hunting party. Besides, he already proved he must be taken seriously : he created a forum to share pics and intel about the prey. Anyone who release news earns money. So a hunter has two choices : either go for the 5000$ bounty, either find some intels and sell them to the community. You told me you had someone investigating on this ?"

"Yes I have a girl who know her stuff around computers working on this."

The more he learnt about this whole story, the more Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey wanted to break some bones. How the hell a fucking asshole dared have a price put on his boyfriend's head ?

"Anyway." continued Gabriel. "As for the hunters themselves... I know for sure that Lucy Lopez tried to approach the prey. Also, the newbie Sophia Jacobs is on the move."

These two bitches. Once I'm done with them, they will go back crying in their mother's pussies. Fuck them both. Lucy used her natural charms to hunt so she won't be much of a problem. The baboon wouldn't fall for such an easy trick. But Sophia... She was way more subtle. I'll teach her a lesson soon enough...

Sadly, Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey had a more important matter to attend to. And no, it wasn't the baboon. I'm not that addicted to him anyway ! He would rather cut his own dick than admitting he missed Liam Strucker. He arrived to his flat a little past noon. Of course they were already here : his great father, his mother and his sister. Fuck this. I don't have time for family. He intented to do this quick and then, Sophia would learn what a dick in her pussy could do.

"There he is !" shouted joyfully Ms. Carrey. "My little gummy bunny !"

If only dying of embarrassment was possible. She trapped him in her arms before he could even react.

"Oh I missed you so much !" she yelled even louder. "Come here."

I'm sure she's breaking my ribs. His big sister Kristen Sylvia smiled.

"You're late gummy bunny." she said. "We're supposed to meet for lunch."

"Everything is already cooked." he replied. "All we have to do is go inside once mom stops crushing me."

It made them laugh. Damn he hated these family reunion. Thanks god his father wasn't here. They quickly visited his place. His mother commented everything. Even the closet full of condom that he had forgot to hide. Fuck that.

"I'm happy to see you're protecting yourself gummy bunny." she said while his sister burst into laughters. "But don't you think you've a little too much ?"

His grandfather gave him a dirty look that Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey returned. I was too busy with the bounty mess to care.

"By the way my precious gummy bunny !" shouted suddenly Ms. Carrey. "Don't think I haven't noticed how chubbier you are. Going a little soft my baby ?"

The junior grunted. She was so... so... he didn't know how to qualify her.

"Wait a second." she continued, not very concerned by his pride as a man. "Condoms, a little weight gain... Does that mean you have finally met someone ?!"

Oh no no no. No ! Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey recognised that glint in her eyes. He gulped when she shrieked loud enough to be heard by the whole college. His grandfather and his sister covered their ears promptly. The scream lasted for an eternity. Now he was pretty sure to be deaf for the rest of his life.

"I want to meet her." his mother said.

"Him." he corrected, frankly pissed.

At this point, he knew he had no choice but to comply. She would never let it go. He inherited her stubbornness after all.

"Him ? It's a him ?!" she exclaimed. "Oh this is the best day of my life ! My little gummy bunny finally got a man ! And they've an healthy sex live ! Hey old man, do you hear that ? He has a boy and they fuck !"

His great father pulled a face. After all these years, he wasn't fully used to his daughter in law's eccentricity. And he probably wasn't totally convinced by this boyfriend's thing, since he knew his grandson's reputation. This later was red as a tomato. He never actually fucked with the baboon but the idea... The idea made him hard as a rock and flustered like a teenage girl hit by pheromones.

"Tomorow. Diner." Ms. Carrey concluded. "And that's my final word."

Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey was so horny, pissed and embarrassed that he didn't know what to say. So he nodded. We're doomed. The only rationnal thought he managed to come with was that Sophia was about to live the best night of her pathetic existence...

He decided to call the baboon late in the evening, once he was finally at peace in his bedroom. His mother and sister had been constantly babbling about his boyfriend. Damn he was so tired of them. And it has only been one day... Well, at least Sophia wouldn't be a problem anymore. The girl would take at least a month to recover from their time together.

"Hello ?"

The baboon's voice sounded close to a whisper. Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey glanced at his clock. 11 pm. Damn I woke him up.

"Baboon big news. Tomorow, you and I will have diner with my mother and my sister."

A long blank followed. Was it because Liam was shocked or only because his slow brain was still processing, no one could tell.

"Okay." he eventually said. "Can I go back to sleep now ?"

"Sure."

Damian Nicholas Smith Carrey wasn't sure the message had been understood. But he had done his part.

Liam Wednesday March 20

"That won't do." he complained. "It's terrible."

Behind him, Nate whined. He rolled on the bed like a bored pet.

"I'm sorry but there is no way I wear this."

Nick chuckled when the shortest lad mimiced the act of strangulation. I'm glad to see he's taking it this way. Liam's bestfriend had been very moody these past few days, but he was seriously improving. He started to smile more naturally again, and to speak with them voluntary. Nick and him called that the Archibald phenomenon. (But Liam still had a weird feeling about this man). (He just didn't know why.).

"Maybe try your pink shirt with your blue jeans ?" suggested Colton.

The chestnut lad nodded. He needed to find a good outfit for tonight's diner. When Dami had called yesterday, he hadn't listened because he genuinely needed to sleep. (Who doesn't sleep at 11 pm ?!). (Only the geek brotherhood which Nick belonged to, criminals and super heroes like Dami he guessed.). But on the late morning, when his boyfriend recalled him they had a family diner, he paniced. He wasn't ready for this ! They weren't even dating for that long ! Lost in his thought, he reversed the buttons of his shirt and had to do it again. His friends repressed their laughs while he struggled to do it right. He looked at his reflection and pouted. The shirt was supposed to be loose but it was tight-skin. It showed his strongs arms pretty well... And his soft middlesection too. The slight curve of his belly pleased him. The jeans were snug, obviously. He could already forget the idea to wear a belt.

"You look nice." complimented Colton.

Not to be pessimistic but half-teddy bear like you can't be objective. I'm sure everything looks nice to you. Liam sighed. The zipper was digging in his squishy tummy. His ass looked too meaty. Dami's mother would take him for a child who didn't know how to dress properly.

"That's terrible." he confessed. "I look awful."

"Dude you shouldn't think like that." intervened Nick. "Self-depreciation doesn't suit you at all. You're tall, brawny as fuck and sweet like an angel..."

"Angel ain't that sweet, trust me." he retorted very seriously. (Because yes he had heard things about them.) (Bad things).

"Okay maybe you're also a little stupid." mumbled his roommate before Nate punched him in the gut.

"I think you guys don't understand." Liam explained. "When we went to meet my father, Dami wore a classy suit. He was so... so handsome. And look at me. I'm just your regular kid who try to act all grown up... "

To be clear, the chestnut lad didn't hate his body or anything like that but... He doesn't feel very confident with himself. (When you grow up with a mutant like Raphaël for comparison, it is common sense to accept yourself for what you were, or you would end up in depression.). (So Liam knew he wasn't ugly, but he didn't trust himself for all that.).

"You're a amazing dude who doesn't realise how attractive he can be." replied Nate. "Liam, would you trust me if I tell you there is nothing to worry about ? You're great in any clothes you wear, and I'm sure Damian think the same."

The others nodded in unison. Liam smiled timidely. He had very good friends even for dressing stuff. (Yeah it wasn't very manly for a bunch of young men to speak about clothes but who care ?).

The little confidence he had managed to build up shattered when he faced Dami, his sister and his mother. His boyfriend introduced them as Kristen and Laurelia Carrey. The first one looked nice, and she quickly put him at ease. But Dami's mother... It took only one second for Liam to realise she was a magical being. Her eyes were shining with pure joy. Her smile irradiated the surroundings like the sun itself.

"Oh my oh my !" she shouted. "My little gummy bunny is dating such a vision ! Come inside ! C'mon !"

As they all followed her, Dami grabbed Liam's hand.

"You never heard this nickname." he whispered to his ear. "You'll never use it or I swear to god you won't live another day."

The chesnut lad smiled stupidly. I don't really heard what she said to be honest. I'm way too stressed. They sat around the table and began to eat. Honestly, Liam didn't have much to do. Ms. Carrey talked, talked and continued to talk. She never seemed to stop. He could tell Dami was getting pissed, but no one dared interrupt her. (Well, since Dami had cooked the diner, Liam was too busy enjoying his plate to really listen). He focused back on her chattering when he finished his food.

"And it remind me how much of a prude boy Dami was in highschool." she was relating. "I'm pretty sure it's you Liam dear who did all the first steps. Otherwise, he would have never been deflowered."

Maybe I shouldn't have listen. The freshman could feel his cheeks redden. It was very hot in here. He glanced at Dami, who was chocking on his food. His sister Kristen chuckled.

"You must be very talented if he needs a full closet of condoms." Ms. Carrey continued, failing to take note of the atmosphere. "Oh my, a hottie like you can only be fully equipped if you know what I mean ?"

What was she talking about now ? Fully equipped ? He didn't understood what she meant at all, but Dami was now blushing as hell. He looked so flustered, it made Liam twitch. He felt pins and needles around his crotch. Oh. Now I get it. His boyfriend's mother was a goddess of love. It explained his succubus's tendancies.

"Mom I think you're embarrassing gummy bunny." intervened Kristen. "Let's talk about something less private okay ? So Liam, I don't remember your last name ? Someone cute like you must be famous around here right ?"

"Not really." he answered. "And it's Strucker."

Only when he finished, he noticed Dami's widening eyes. His boyfriend face-palmed. A blank followed. Suddenly, the women looked less friendly.

"Strucker as in Isaac Strucker ?" asked Ms. Carrey. "Dami you must be kidding me ?"

"Diner is over." grumbled the junior. "Baboon, I think you should leave fast."

Liam looked at him, perplexed. Then, he looked at his mother. Oh. She was like a pressure cooker on the verge of exploding. He stood up quickly and followed his boyfriend.

"Sorry." this one mumbled. "But this isn't good. I'll try to calm her so I can't escort you back home."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." assured the younger. "But what's the deal ?"

"I told you, my father and your ain't friends. Just go fast."

A scary scream made him obey promptly. The goddess of love wasn't happy at all.

He was almost home when he ran into the witch. She was waiting right in front of his building, blocking the way. Liam hid in the nearest bush as fast as possible. Damn. I think it's because the goddess is angry. What were his options ? What could he do ?

"I'm speaking to you man."

Surprised, he fell on his behind when he realised the witch was right here ! Oh no, I havn't been careful ! He made a little pray for the unicorns.

"Are you hurt ?" she asked.

Graciously, almost tenderly, she sat next to him. She put her hands on his chest and back with a wide smile. He could smell her poisonous aura. She was gonna eat him or something.

"I'm Lucy by the way." she whispered. "Nice to finally meet you."

She tried to strangle him, (or at least he thought) but he suddenly pulled himself out.

"You won't get me !" he yelled.

He managed to run to the corridor before she even got up. Without a look for her, he climbed the stairs and went in his apartment. She's so scary. I need to be very careful from now on. At least he had escaped the witch once again.

Nicolas Friday March 22 – Saturday March 23

Nick was very proud to be a genius. He always had good ideas. Or at least, he liked to think so. But well, this plan to learn how to swim was the worst he had ever thought of. His fear of water was slowly fading but going to the pool had become a real torture.

"Hey there fatty !" someone claimed when he entered in the wide facility.

He heard Rebecca's loud laugh. I hate them. Some people went to talk to Colton, who arrived with him. How come they were so nice with his friend and yet so mean towards him ? Seriously, he had never done anything to them. Of course Colton tried to speak for him but it didn't work very well... Nick noticed Theo watching them from afar. The captain outlined a smile, but the raven-haired lad knew he wouldn't come nearer. This whole have-sex-with-a-hottie thing didn't end well. Not only the junior didn't want to teach him anymore, but Laura also got away from him. Nick's field of vision was suddenly obstructed by Rebecca.

"Are you sure you're doing any real exercise ?" she teased. "Because you look fatter than in my memories."

He clenched his fists but didn't answer. She isn't wrong, I gained some weight. Again. But she has no right to talk to me like that. He was so pissed at himself to have been friend with such an hateful girl.

"Anyway, I didn't come to talk with you about your fat gut." she continued. "Me and some friends are organizing a little party in my flat next tuesday. I wondered if you and Liam wanted to come since we're neighbour and all ?"

Nick grunted. Was it a joke ? She bullies me and then she invites me to a party ? I'm not stupid.

"Yeah big bad idea." he replied.

Her smile grew larger when Colton arrived. She was definitely planning something. He didn't like that.

"Hey Colton." she greeted him. "Would Liam and you like to come to a party next tuesday ? Nick already declined but I thought I would invite you too. After all, it's Liam and you I want to see."

"I can ask Liam." assured the lad.

Damn this dude. He's so nice, he can't say no... So they got trapped by his kindness, great. Colton probably didn't notice the evil's grin Rebecca made. For once, Nick had to agree with Liam : the dude was a living teddy bear.

* Imagenius is online *

< Imagenius : Sorry I'm late. >

< TheSavior : dw my day sucked alrdy. >

< Imagenius : I was talkin to my hnter friend. So i think i will become one too but there are conditions lol I want to know what this big hunt is abut >

< Abeautifulwomen : didn't know you were so serious abut it Ima ! So what do u hav 2 do ? >

< Imagenius : if i want to join the hunter community i must catch a prey. Meaning maybe i'll get laid this time ! It had been so long !! >

< TheSavior : you're so pathetic >

< Abeautifulwomen : +1 >

< Imagenius : whatever you say fellas :/. So my friend gonna help me cuz he is nice like that. I need to find a prey and that's it. Sav, your roommate isn't available ? >

< TheSavior : No. And you never saw his face, I only sent a pick of his butt ! And we ain't in the same college... >

< Imagenius : can't be sure we never met in real life lol >

< Abeautifulwomen : true that. Would be nice one day. We know eachother for years now. And i could prove to Ima i'm a girl once and for all. >

< Imagenius : won't believe it until i see it >

< TheSavior : Guys don't be nostalgic that's boring. Let's go play now. >

Nick knocked another beer back and belched loudly. That was a good meal. It was for this kind of night that he loved college. No parents to nag, no siblings to bother him. His console, food and beer, it was everything he needed. The squeaking of a door indicated him his peace was about to end. Indeed, Nate entered in the living room. He stared at the many emptied bags of crips and bottle of beer before he sat next to Nick. Nightmare again I guess.

"Wanna play ?" he asked.

His friend declined in silent. He had dark circle under the eyes, and a very bad look. But Nick knew better than asking him to talk. He changed a lot since he moved here. They had met in a summer camp like five years ago. At the time, Nate had been the most joyful boy Nick had ever seen. They had bonded easily. But nowadays, something had died in the shortest lad.

"You can take a beer or some food if you want." Nick offered. "I always take too much, which is the main reason why I'm fat now."

"Sorry, I'm not hungry." replied curtly Nate.

Silence followed. The raven-haired lad focused on his game. It was a difficult level and his partners weren't that good.

"You're very calm for a gamer." commented his friend after a while.

"I'm not always like this tho." laughed Nick. "I just feel bloated so I'm chillin' you know ? Otherwise, I'm kinda bossy when I play. I like to give orders to my virtuals friends."

Nate nodded and went quiet again. He just watched the screen, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Okay. Nick didn't say anything either. Not that he was asocial but he was focusing on his game. He still snacked though. Chewing something helped to concentrate.

"I hear the laughters and the teasing every night." eventually whispered Nate. "I don't always distringuish who say what, but this is very disturbing. And it remind me the pain I felt."

The geek frowned. Pain ? Laughs ? He didn't answer, because he didn't know what to say.

"Archie keeps telling me it's not my fault but... Well most of the time I believe him but sometimes, when I'm alone, I can't help but think I deserved it. Because I always acted so foolish and all, you know ?"

"It". What is "it" ? Nick missed the main target in the game. Slowly, he dropped his joystick.

"I mean, I'm a grown man." continued Nate, still looking at the screen. "It's not supposed to happen to grown man is it ? I think I'm weak. Yeah, I'm a shit who doesn't deserve any kindness. I swear, sometimes I wonder why Archie helps a wreck like me ? He didn't talk much about his own... experience."

So Nate had been beaten and he felt guilty for it ? Nah, I don't think this is it. Bullying could be very difficult to handle, but it didn't look like that. Something happened during this night. He arrived here feeling less than human, hurt and afraid. He experienced something only Archie could truly help with. Something he doesn't want Liam to know.

"I think I'll go back to sleep." whispered Nate. "I'm just talking nonsense."

"Wait. Buddy listen." stated Nick. "I don't know if it's my place to tell or if this is appropriate but... You shouldn't look so down at yourself. You deserve kindness because you're kind with the others and you always had been there for people, especially Liam. So... don't hate yourself okay ?"

"Cant' help it." smiled sadly his friend. "She made sure of it when she played with my body like a toy."

And he left just like that. Nick didn't keep him. He looked at him with wide eyes, not knowing what to do. I think I understand what this mysterious "she" did... But for once, I don't want to be right. I really don't want.

To be continued

Well, this is no surprise, but Damian’s family is a crazy bunch :D And they don’t seem very fond of the Strucker. 

I think, with this last conversation, what happened to Nate becomes pretty clear... The poor lad lived a horrible experience. I’ll put a TW for the parts which explicitly refer to these events.

[the-lupine-sojourner]

Meeting the Bakusquad [Eijiro/OC Commission]

I got another commission! :) This time from the super sweet @asrasdarling​. They are a pleasure to work with, and this prompt is a fun one. 

Now, their OC is something of a self-insert, which is kinda what mine are lol. 

Anyway, Asra asked for a Kirishima X OC piece where the OC isn’t from UA, but is Kirishima’s girlfriend, and how he introduces her to the Bakusquad. I thought that was a super cute, fun prompt and eagerly accepted! 

Only thing is I’m not terribly dirty-minded, so I might not have been able to fully capture your OC, Asra, but I hope you like how I portrayed Jenna!

Sorry it took so long!

As always, if you want your own Commission, please look over This Post Here about pricing and how I do my commissions. 

One last thing; word count, as usual. This piece sits at 3026 words. 

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we? 

God Bless and Good Day!

~The Lupine Sojourner

(Thought this GiF was super cute! (: )

Jenna ran along the hall, eager to get to class before the bell rang, before she crashed into someone, leaving them both on their butts on the ground, whatever had been in their arms spilled out between them. 

Jenna looks up and sees a boy with black hair and red eyes, blushing in embarrassment as he offers her a hand up. 

“S-sorry!” He murmurs. Jenna is tugged to her feet quickly and she dusts herself off.

“Hey, no big deal. Take a breath.” She advises, picking up her stuff as quick as she could. It’s then she takes another look at him and realizes she may know him. “Hey, you’re Eijiro, right?” She asks. He nods, seeming to recognize her, too. 

“Yeah, that’s me. We have English and Science together, right?” Jenna nods. 

“Yup!” They finish grabbing their things and face each other. “Speaking of, we should go.” 

Eijiro nods. “Yeah, or we’ll be late.” They walk together, neither speaking. 

The classes went by quickly and soon enough it was lunchtime. All day, Jenna had struggled to focus on classwork, but her mind seemed drawn to Eijiro. He seemed like a nice kid, but she didn’t know much about him. 

Jenna liked mysteries. And so, she sought him out for lunch. 

“Hey, this seat taken, hot stuff?” She asks, winking for good measure. 

Eijiro spits out a bit of his drink. “I-I’m sorry?” He asks, blushing a little. Jenna laughs. He was cute when he blushed. She bet he was easy to tease.

“I asked if this seat was taken.” She decides against continuing to flirt with him...for now.

“Oh, uh, it isn’t. Feel free to sit.” Eijiro replies politely. 

The pair share a decent lunch, and that seems to be that. 

=#=#=#=#=

 Since that first encounter and lunch, Jenna had decided she was going to pursue Eijiro.

Thus began a series of flirtatious remarks and awkward, unsure responses from Eijiro. 

Jenna liked seeing him blush. She knew it was childish and that she should simply make her intentions known, but they were still in middle school. It’d be a bit weird to start dating right now, even if they were nearly graduated.

Or so Jenna told herself. “Hey, Eiji! Wait up!” She calls, shaking herself out of her thoughts and running after Eijiro.

He turns. “Oh, hey, Jenna. What’s up?” 

“Which high school are you going to?” She asks. Eijiro suddenly seems incredibly nervous, paling and scratching at the back of his neck. 

“We-well, I, uh, haven’t decided.” He explains. 

“Didn’t you say you wanted to try for UA?” 

“I did, but, you know, it’s a really big school, and super hard to get into, so I guess I’m just keeping my options open.” Jenna nods. 

“Makes sense. Race you to the bus stop!” She cries, running after him. He laughs, forgetting his previous insecurity for a moment, and chases her, easily winning. Jenna was a little surprised. 

“You been working out or something?” She asks. 

“Yeah. I do want to- -I am still tossing around the idea of being a hero, so…” Jenna frowns. He seems off somehow. Unsteady and unsure, which was so unlike him. 

Normally, Eijiro was the kinda guy that knew what he wanted and would do what it takes to get there. 

Now, it was like he was afraid to say he changed his mind, but still having second thoughts. 

“...You okay, Eiji?” Jenna asks. “You don’t seem your usual self today.” Normally, she’d have made some flirty remark, but this seemed serious, so she knew better. 

“Y-yeah, never better.” He mumbles. Jenna huffs. 

“And I’m All Might.” 

“I’m serious, Jenna. Leave it alone.” There was no fight in his words. There wasn’t much emotion, either. There was just...nothing. 

“Ei, I’m serious.” Jenna murmurs, hands on her crush’s shoulders. “You can talk to me.” 

“I’m fine, Jen, just please go!” There were tears in his eyes. Jenna decides to take a different approach. 

“Alright, alright. Text me later?” Eijiro nods mutely and walks away as soon as Jenna’s hands let go. 

“...sure.” 

As soon as Eijiro was gone, Jenna pulled out her phone, typing up a search for the latest local news. Scrolling down just a little, she saw that there had been a villain incident just last night. On a street Eijiro would have been walking home on since the buses needed maintenance. 

Suddenly, the pieces fell into place. Eijiro had seen a villain situation and had been scared out of his mind. He was still dealing with that fear now. 

Jenna had an idea. Waiting til after she’d gone home and ran, she texted Eijiro and asked if they wanted to meet for sparring, something they sometimes did after school. 

Surprisingly, Eijiro said no. He said he had already run himself and that he was working out at home. Something told Jenna that was a lie, but she didn’t have it in her to press him. 

Jenna accepted it and wished him luck in his workout before going at the punching bag. 

Her Quirk, Archer, let her sharp shoot anything with a bow with pin-point accuracy, so she needed to get good at hand-to-hand combat if she was ever going to make a real difference. 

Unlike most people, Jenna didn’t want to be a Hero. No, she wanted to be a police officer, using her Quirk to protect as many average citizens as she could. 

As her knuckles slammed into the bag, Jenna considered how best to break down Eijiro’s walls and get him to tell her what was going on in that amazing mind of his. 

There was something eating him from the inside out, Jenna could easily tell, but how could she press him into talking to her without jeopardizing the friendship between them? 

=#=#=#=#=

Turns out, the answer was nothing. 

He voluntarily told her after basically avoiding her all day with that awful, defeated look on his face. 

Then, once they’d done their runs, he randomly called Jenna and she instantly picked up. 

“Hey. I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you all day.” He begins.

“Did you miss me?” Jenna asks, winking at him through the video chat. She feels a little better when he manages a small smile.

“Very funny. I guess I did a little. Anyway, that’s not why I called. I called to say I’m ready to tell you what happened, why I’ve been off lately. It’s true. There is something wrong.” Jenna doesn’t dare interrupt, nodding to show she was still paying attention. “The other day, there was this villain...and I saw some of the girls from school being questioned by the villain to find some agency. I wanted to help, but...but my body wouldn’t move. My spirit was too weak to do anything. I realized I didn’t have what it takes to risk it all to save people. At least, that was how I felt after what happened, but then...let’s just say I’ve found my spirit again! I’m not gonna regret anything anymore!” Jenna grins, excited to see the flame in Eijiro’s heart ignite again, burning brighter than before. 

“Hell yeah! Let’s do this, Eijiro!” She calls, pumping her free fist excitedly. 

“Yeah!” 

And so, the pair began sparring more and more, getting better and better. Jenna also helped Eijiro increase his Hardening’s strength by firing at him while he stood there, unafraid, his arms and face Hardened and determination blazing in his eyes. 

Weeks went by quickly and Jenna was the happiest she’d even been, Eijiro by her side and with a fiery determination to match his renewed spirit. Jenna could tell Eijiro had truly gotten over his slump and was back on track, chugging along and making up for lost time like he’d never faltered. 

And Jenna was right there, chugging along beside him on her path to being a cop. 

Jenna noticed that Eijiro spent an increasing amount of time with her these days, a fact which she was quick to use in her flirtatious remarks, and a fact that made her heart quicken a little. 

Even after weeks had gone by, Jenna still found herself crushing on Eijiro and wishing she had the guts to tell him, but every time she opened her mouth to confess her honest feelings, it came out as just another flirty joke, another poorly veiled attempt to get him to see her the way she saw him. 

Eijiro never saw through the flirting to the genuine feelings Jenna held for him.

That is, til one day. 

It was shortly before the entrance test for UA, and the pair were hanging out after a rough sparring session. 

“Hey, Eijiro?” Jenna asks, squirming a little, but determined not to back out this time. 

“Yeah?” Eijiro asks. 

“You’re going to UA, right?”

“Yeah, I’ve told you. Why?” 

“It’s just...we’re not going to the same high school, and there’s some- -well, I’ve been meaning to tell you something before we separate.” Eijiro laughs, turning to look at Jenna, who was focused on her fiddling fingers.

“Jenna, c’mon, lighten up! We’ll still be best friends, right? What’s the big deal?” 

“The big deal is I like you, dummy!” Jenna blurts. “And now you’re going away and I won’t see you that often, and- -”

“Wait, what? You...you like me? As in...like like?”

“Yes, you baka!” Jenna barks. “Geez, you’re oblivious!” Eijiro hugs her so he could get a word in edgewise. 

“Jenna, look. I...I like you, too. I just figured you didn’t feel the same way. And besides, we’re not going to stop talking to each other and sparring and stuff, plus, um...maybe dating stuff, too, like hiking and picnics, and- -wait do you like picnics? Or hiking?” 

Jenna playfully smacks his shoulder. “You dork! I was so worried you didn’t feel the same way I felt! You mean to tell me you like me, too?!” 

He pulls you into a kiss in the heat of the moment and Jenna can’t find it in herself to complain at all as her body lit up at the feeling inside her, knowing Eijiro liked her back and they were finally kissing. Her hands wound themselves into his hair and she pressed herself against him as the kiss lengthened. 

Eventually, Eijiro leans back and stares at the girl in his arms. 

“That was...amazing.” He murmurs. 

“You’re telling me.” Jenna replies breathlessly. 

“What was that about being worried about separating?” Eijiro teases. 

Jenna laughs. “I don’t remember.” 

Eijiro nuzzles into Jenna’s neck, laughing. “You’re a dork.” 

“And yet...you kissed me.” 

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it.” He retorts. 

“Oh you like me, huh?” Jenna couldn’t resist teasing him. 

“Did I not make it obvious?” 

“No! No you did not! As far as I knew, you only thought of me as a best friend! I had to sit there, crushing over you and burying my feelings cus I didn’t think you felt the same!” 

“Sorry!” Eijiro squeaks, suddenly slammed with guilt as accidentally upsetting the girl he’d slowly come to like...a lot. “I’m not great at this romance thing! I thought you were flirting for fun!” 

Jenna groans, running a hand down her face. “Good Lord we’re morons.” 

“Yeah...sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize, Ei. Kiss me again and I might forget all the waiting.” 

Eijiro instantly obliged. 

=#=#=#=#=

“How much further to the top?” Jenna asks, huffing a little as you continue trekking up the mountain. 

“Not too far, you baby.” Eijiro calls back teasingly.

“This was your idea, idiot! I wanted to watch Netflix!” 

“And I said this was a better idea!” 

Jenna huffs. “Yeah, yeah.” 

“Listen, when we get to the top, the view will be worth it.” Eijiro promises, dropping back a little to walk beside his girlfriend.

“It better be, Ei.” She grumbles.

Eijiro kisses Jenna’s temple. “C’mon, sourpuss. Once we’re done, we’ll shower at my dorm and by then my friends should be done shopping.” 

Jenna could never stay mad at him for long, so she grabs his hand and continues walking, determined to get to the top. 

Once there, Jenna could begrudgingly admit that Eijiro was right; the view was amazing. She could see the buildings that made up UA in the distance, proud and tall among the other buildings in the city. 

“There it is.” Eijiro muses as if reading her thoughts. “UA High.” 

“It’s so amazing you got in.” Jenna asks. Eijiro nods, smiling eagerly. He always loved talking about UA. 

“Yeah, I can’t believe it, either! It’s so incredible there!” 

“I’m sure it is.” Jenna replies, genuinely happy for him as she leans her head against Eijiro’s shoulder. 

“I’m really proud of you, too.” Eijiro says as he wraps his arm around her shoulder. “You’re on your way to your dream, too.”

“Thanks, babe.” Jenna grins and leans up a little to kiss her boyfriend. As always, she let it continue for a while. 

Once it ended, the pair stayed and enjoyed the view for a while as the city bustled beneath them. 

“Speaking of schools, how are things in your high school?” Eijiro asks, feeling bad he couldn’t remember the school’s name off the top of his head. 

Jenna nods. “They’re going great! I’m loving it!” Eijiro squeezes Jenna to him proudly. 

“That’s my girl. I’m happy for you.” He kisses her temple and they return to admiring the view. “Hey, we should probably head back down.” Eijiro notes after a few minutes. “Your mom might start worrying.” 

Jenna nods. “Knowing her, she’s worrying already.” She chuckles. “C’mon, loverboy.” 

The pair half-run, half-walk down the mountain and then walk to the subway station nearby. 

=#=#=#=#=

“Ah. You must be Jenna.” Iida calls once he spots the pair entering the dorm building. “My name is Tenya Iida.” Jenna extends a hand and Iida shakes it firmly. 

“Pleasure.” Jenna intones politely. 

“Ashido, Sero, Kaminari, and Bakugo are not back yet.” Iida reports and Eijiro nods. 

“Yeah we’re gonna shower real quick before they get back, then we’ll have lunch and hang out.” 

Iida nods. “Alright then.” He motions them on. The couple leave and Jenna has to school her thoughts carefully as she walks toward the dorm her boyfriend stays in. 

Her mind kept wandering, however, and she couldn’t fight a blush. 

She walks in, and...her jaw drops. “Dang, babe, this is...impressive.” She says, trying not to succumb to her knee-jerk reaction of ‘what is this?’. All around her were ‘manly’ things and workout equipment, including a punching bag. 

“I call my ‘cave of manliness’.” Eijiro explains proudly. Jenna laughs. 

“It’s great, honey.” She replies, kissing his temple. 

“Really? Hagakure said if she had a boyfriend with a room like this, she’d dump him.” Eijiro murmurs, scratching the back of his neck nervously. 

“Well, she’s a bit petty, then. This room is great! Perfect for you!” Jenna replies, waving aside any thought that she’d dump Eijiro on such minor grounds.

“Thanks, Jenna.” Eijiro breaths out, smiling a little shakily.

“Eijiro, don’t listen to anyone who judges you based on such petty things like room decorations. They’re being a little shallow.” Eijiro nods.

“I’ll try not to.” He then takes a breath. “Now, we need to shower. Mina texted me that they’re heading back and they didn’t go that far.” Jenna nods, smirking a little. 

“Want me to join you, save time?” She teases, unable to resist.

On cue, Eijiro’s cheeks turn as red as his hair, and he backs up a few steps. “J-Jenna!” He squeaks, putting his hands over his face. “C’mon! Don’t do that!” Jenna laughs, unable to help it. 

“Ei, I was teasing. It’s adorable when you blush.” Eijiro pouts, cheeks still red. 

“Jen…” He whines. 

“Look, I’ll take the first shower real quick, and then you can shower.” Eijiro nods mutely in embarrassment. 

Soon enough, the showers were done and Eijiro and Jenna were back in the main living area of the building. 

As it they’d timed it, the doors open and the quarter of students enter, Katsuki yelling at Kaminari as usual. Eijiro walks over. 

“Hey, guys!” He greets. Katsuki turns to him once he was through with what he was saying. 

“Hey, Shitty Hair.” Katsuki retorts. “Where’s this girl we’re supposed to meet?” Eijiro turns and motions Jenna over. 

“H-hi.” Jenna says, trying not to stutter, but feeling a little nervous now that the moment had come. 

These were Eijiro’s friends. What if they didn’t like her? 

“...Not bad, I guess.” Katsuki sniffs, walking away to head into the kitchen, grumbling at whoever was in there to get out so he could cook.

“Yeah, she’s a cutie!” Kaminari chirps, walking over. “Good to finally meet you!” He says, almost in a flirty way. Jenna chuckles as she shakes his hand. 

“You’re not bad yourself. What’s your name?” 

“Oh! Sorry! Denki Kaminari.” 

“Good to meet- -”

“Hi there! I’m Mina Ashido, but you can call me Mina!” Ashido interrupts, shaking Jenna’s hand eagerly. “It’s so awesome to meet you!” 

“Awesome to meet you too!” Jenna replies, easily feeding off Mina’s energy, which seemed to ease Jenna’s nerves. Mina then finally lets go of Jenna’s hand as Sero walks over. 

“I’m Hanta Sero. Good to finally meet yah, Jenna.” He says, bring a bit more calm into the meeting. 

“It’s great to finally meet everyone.” Jenna says, meaning it. 

And, it seems, they liked her already, so she had nothing to be nervous about. 

“Who’s hungry?” Eijiro asks. “I think I saw Katsuki walking into the kitchen, so we should follow and get lunch.” 

Jenna clutches her stomach, not realizing how hungry she was till someone mentioned food. “Yes, please! Good God, I’m hungry.” Eijiro takes her hand as they walk, unashamed. 

Katsuki took convincing to let them help, but eventually they were settled at the table, food and drinks aplenty, banter and stories flying back and forth as the group enjoyed lunch. 

Jenna quite liked Eijiro’s friend group, she decided. They were all so unique and boisterous in their own ways, and she could easily find her place among them, even if she didn’t go to UA.

[fisherfurbearer]

I would absolutely live to hear about Future Plans and heritage fruits! My partners and I are looking at buying a house by the end of the year and I'm so excited at the prospect of a back yard to fill with food plants and gardening and everything! So I'd love to know more about someone else's plans!!

mmMMMMMMMMMMMMMM YOU OPENED THE CAN OF WORMS THE WORMS ARE OPEN THEY ARE EVERYWHERE NOW!!!! OHHHHHHH JEEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOTHING CAN STOP THIS!!!!

MMMMMM. I LOVE. DOMESTIC CROPS AND ANIMALS. SO MUCH.

SPECIFICALLY “heritage” varieties. The pre-industrial/commercial varieties that people lived on for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years, or even the stuff younger than that, it’s just...so!! Good!!!

You didn’t QUITE ask for this but this is where I’m going with it. I LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. The HISTORY of our domesticated crops (specifically fruits and vegetables, but mostly Tree Fruits!!!! But I’m also suuuuper partial to heirloom sweet potatoes/normal potatoes even though I don’t like the taste of sweet potatoes, they’re just SO FRICKING COOL and I want to learn more about other vegetables too) and animals is just....HOOOOO!!!!

Locally adapted,, perfect little....NUGGETS that just...perfectly fit their own SPECIFIC LITTLE NICHES...no matter WHERE you live, no matter HOW much space you have, no matter HOW good or bad your soil, NO MATTER WHAT, there is ALWAYS something to grow or raise, and we can thank so, so much of that to the incredible variety of heritage crops/animals (and methods of agriculture) out there. Mild, cold, hot! Lots of space, little space, no space!! Fertile, barren!! Every condition in every color and shape and flavor and size and ahhhhhhh!!!!! AHHHH!!!!

Hold onto your butts because this is one Hell of a Mega Ramble okay, there is so much to talk about here, oh man.

Some background, which you can skip if you want...!!! It’s a LOT and it get’s VERY NEGATIVE but also VERY GOOD AND HOPEFUL, it’s a real big story and it’s My Story and gives a lot of insight into Why I’m Like This but it’s okay to skip for sure!! Anyway:

I’ve been researching (i.e. writing literally 1.5-2k+ words nearly every single day) for literally 7 years now about all of my various Passions and Plans in life. Obviously breaks were taken due to Sad Times but no matter what I did, no matter what happened, I’d always come back to my dumb awful stupid notes. I have notes on my current laptop, my old harddrive, my SO’s laptop, my stepdad’s laptop, my SO’s OLD gaming laptop, my old netbook, my OLD OLD netbook, every phone I’ve had in the past 7 years (which has been like uhh...five? I have bad luck with phones..) and COUNTLESS pieces of paper and cheap composition books.

To call it research, it seems to silly. Writing these words here, to you strangers on the internet, I CANNOT EXPRESS TO YOU how VITAL these notes are to my VERY EXISTANCE.

I have been researching and writing and talking to folks and asking questions and LIVING AND BREATHING this stuff for LITERALLY, LITERALLY HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS if not ALMOST A THOUSAND OR MORE HOURS at this point!!!! If we were to actually SOMEHOW backtrack all the way to late 8th grade/freshman year when I first started dipping my toes into reptiles and fell in love with my first jumping spider that landed on my arm after I read Darren Shan’s Cirque Du Freak, after being so fascinated by the intelligent giant magic tarantula in the first book, and gathered ALL of my notes from then to NOW (I’m 21 now, if I was in college, I’d be graduating next May) it would EASILY surpass that. For YEARS in high school my family thought I was always playing games on my laptop, but really from the moment I got home to the moment I went to bed, I was watching lets plays with one side of the screen and reading, reading, reading, and writing, writing, writing with the other. For HOURS. Every. Single. Day.

Hell, this has been my most recent “Renaissance” of writing, after The Big Realization of earlier this year (I’ll get to that), and this is AFTER I went on a horrible depressed/manic rampage and deleted like 80% of my notes (that would have been from...hmm. This is what I didn’t delete, what Jessie recovered, and what I’ve added...so March to Early September, when Jessie switched my notes to a new program (I lost a lot of notes from lack of autosaving so now they’re on our nextcloud so I can’t lose them...but I’m too stubborn to use it still) and this is still like. A lot.

Keep in mind the average 10-11 kb file is 1500-1700 words for me. My biggest files (only of the ones I still have, on this laptop) are 40-60 kb. (Also these are Big Secrets that I don’t ever show anyone but Jessie, who I’ve been with now for almost 7 years, so this is pretty dang important to me and a big thing to be revealing.)

Current folder I’m usually saving to:

Nextcloud I don’t bother to use usually but probably should use:

Again, this is ONLY on my newest laptop, and this DOESN’T include the files I deleted a few months ago, nor the files I lost from February-early April after Jessie updated my computer and wiped my files, and I still have a BUTTLOAD left on my old harddrive from last year, but we never moved it up and I don’t feel a need to. (I’ve learned so much. So. Much. In the past year. I think I’ve matured a lot and really become more...Me. But I’ll get to that.)

Also doesn’t include the SEVERAL notebooks I’ve filled front to back this year (cheap $0.50 ones from work...I’ve blown through a couple biggish ones and I think 2-3 little quarter-size memo books) and all the receipt papers I have crammed into my work uniform...

But anyway why is this important? It really helps iron in just how HUGE this is to me. My future “Plans” aren’t just...it’s really important to me. Okay? I am but a humble stranger on the internet and my life and everyone elses’ respective lives are infinitely more complex than we can ever dare imagine one anothers’ existences to be, but just trust me when I say that I’m not pulling this from nowhere, this shit isn’t some sort of “fad” to me, this has been a long, long series of events and realizations and heartbreaks and so, so much pain that have finally led to everything kinda falling into place sometime this year where it hit me.

You see...all of my research topics followed a pattern. It went, in my rough memory, something like this.

It started with reptiles. Lots of reptiles. So many reptiles. I was so naive and young then and my sources sucked and I was very much a novice who dreamed of owning all sorts of cool reptiles when I got older, and of getting a gecko when I went to college. That was how it started and it went downhill from there. I branched off into gardening (I wanted and still want a blue tongue skink and had thoughts about how I’d grow a garden for vegetables and squashes and stuff for the skink and feeder insects) and THAT grew into this whole THING about raised bed gardening, square foot gardening, then into permaculture, which planted the seed for many things to come...and now I’ve ALWAYS LOVED BIRDS,, but when I learned that keeping CHICKENS was a thing (thank you Jennifer (Nambroth)!!!!!!!!!! Our emails back and forth are still saved forever, our talks about chickens changed my life and way of thinking Forever!!!) and I researched that, then I’d jump back to reptiles again, and back to chickens, then more reptiles, then chickens and QUAIL, or OTHER poultry,, and so on and so on. This beautiful fluid branching path that would always rebound on itself and I’d drop some topics, gain new ones, revisit old ones, learn what I liked, what I didn’t like, what were brief interests, and what were there to stay.

Some topics (chickens, new caledonian geckos, antaresia pythons, tarantulas, gardening...) would always come back. No matter what I did...they came back. As I grew as a person, I started to figure out what was important to me (CONSERVATION, animal welfare, reptile/invertebrate enrichment, vivarium design, combining art with animals, and did I mention CONSERVATION? and combating climate change/The World but that came later.) and while some of those points didn’t show up in my research until later...like my obsession with native wildlife/plants and domestic species...it never went away.

And as I grew older, outside of my research life went on, and I really went through A Lot in these seven years. Undiagnosed anxiety/depression all through high school, practically living in the guidance office junior/senior year, dealing with an emotionally abusive and animal abuser teacher for many years, living with my emotionally abusive/narcissistic mother, and eventually going to an amazing art college and having both the best and worst time of my life (Hahah!! Almost straight As and skipped a writing class with my amazing scores and was top of my class, Dean’s list first semester, in the Visionary Women’s Honors society, worked in the admissions office and did lots of cool things, but hahaha also really wanted to die and was Destroying Myself) and trying to get help while keeping it a secret from my mom...lo and behold of course she eventually found out about the Depression when I had to go inpatient near the end of my second semester, and she. HA, I can’t even cry about this anymore. She literally disowned me (took all my money, sold my car, cut me off of health insurance, made me pay my own hospital bills, refused to do my FAFSA for college anymore, dropped all support, and later when I had to come home because I relapsed again and the college made me go on a medical leave of absense, she threatened to kick me out and call the police [hilariously enough though the house was owned by my stepdad, not her, so she couldn’t do anything. Also I never did anything to her and she was just crazy and made up excuses. But yeah not fun trying to walk to work and being threatened over the phone that she was going to have me dragged out of work by the cops and not to come home, hahaha!!!!!! But then also when I did live with my neighbor for a few days she was apparently so distraught?? Haha what a weird person!!!! I haven’t seen her for three years now and it’s been the best thing that ever happened to me. Don’t mourn for me, it’s SO Much better now. Speaking of, she was a PETA-hugging ARA nutjob and if she knew what I was planning on doing she would’ve disowned me either way!!!!!!), and of course fighting to be able to move out and rent an apartment with my SO (I hate the word boyfriend. It’s been 7 years come January 11th, and we’ve been through so fucking much. And she [my mom...] and other people always made fun of him being my BOYFRIEND that that word is tainted for me...so Significant Other it is) and then being forced to live alone there for a couple months,, and then even after that, the fights with his family, the car accident in November, my mom ruining all chances of me going to college (keep in mind I had after leaving college, spent the next TWO AND A HALF FUCKING YEARS OF MY LIFE trying to make it so I COULD go back, spent all of my time, energy, hope, eVERY OUNCE OF MY BEING trying to do so,,, and she manipulated me and then lied to me and made it so I couldn’t), my rebounding depression, my Intensifying Aggression (terrifying. Developed when I was in college...I guess it’s some kind of rapid bipolar disorder, maybe triggered by me going on antidepressants in college, they said. But it was so long ago and they never knew the full story for a proper diagnosis anyway. But it’s gotten manageable and We’re Coping), the housefire on Christmas, moving Once Again to the new place and being told I can’t bring my 15 year old cat (he’s with my stepdad still now but it’s not okay.), the rats have to be in the basement, and oh yeah if you want to attend college again loans will be nearly 13% interest hahaha!!! and then finally just straight up breaking down in February and not leaving bed for DAYS and nearly committing suicide, just the real worst time ever, and my former therapist/psychiatrist place weren’t responding (turns out they discharged me!! haha kinda hard to make appointments WHEN YOU DON’T PICK UP THE PHONE and we DIDN’T GET THE NOTICE IN THE MAIL because our HOUSE WAS CONDEMNED and my mail was being sent to my STEPDADS an hour away!!!!!!!! Also really hard to talk to you when you BLOCK OUR FUCKING NUMBER and HANG UP ever time we fucking call haha!!!!!! Literally on the verge of suicide and not on my anxiety meds for MONTHS but hey sure that works too guys!!!!) which really didn’t help, and yeah it was really just the pits! Just the absolute pits, the Very Worst.

Now at this point I don’t remember exactly when/what changed, but SOMETHING did.

Leading up to February, I wanna say it was about October that I started getting kinda weirdly depressed, and I started REALLY tanking after the fire. After the fire, I had to move back to my stepdads within the night, and had to live without Jessie again and commute really far and keep the tarantulas a secret and in general be very alone and very sad. I started wearing down and it was getting so hard to just...enjoy. Anything. Even just taking care of the pets became difficult, and doing art or researching was impossible. I just...didn’t care anymore. I stopped caring.

On top of that, my climate grief and general feelings of Despair were at an all time high, and I just didn’t. Fucking. CARE. What happened next.

I spent YEARS of my life WEARING MYSELF TO THE BONE trying to get into college, the get back into college, to just try to do this thing that I was supposed to do, my ONE hope of having a career and a future that I probably wouldn’t even be happy with (I was an illustration major. I liked drawing. It’s what I was best at. But looking back, I wouldn’t have been happy doing it for a living. And Moore [no that’s not what my blog is named for, it just also happens to be my last name] was a great college but it just...wasn’t worth $30k a year with no cosigner for loans, even AFTER my scholarships) and my body and mind were wearing down and no matter what I did I didn’t care about myself, my animals, my partner, my life, nothing. I can’t explain how terrifying that is. Of all the time in my life, I think this was the worst. On top of my life problems, it must be said again that my climate grief and Misery regarding the state of our country and the world was also at an all-time-high, and I just felt...POWERLESS. Powerless and empty and uncaring and dead inside. I really wanted to just...drive off a bridge or eat a ton of pills (which I did do a couple times, don’t do that. Please. It’s NOT worth it.) and just stop Existing.

But then something just...changed.

I don’t know what it was, exactly. But I got SOMETHING back. SOMETHING “clicked”.

I’m crying a bit now. It’s so stupid to say, but I truly believe this is what saved my life. Realizing my purpose in life. That everything fell into place and finally made sense.

I’m going to be a bit more concise here but...basically...many of my passions and smaller aspects of myself all fell into place, so PERFECTLY.

It hit me that...ah jeez.

I will digress one more second. For those of you who don’t know, I have two Eurydactylodes geckos, named Vladimir (E. vieiliardi) and Estragon (E. agricolae). They are named for my favorite drama that we read in AP English, Waiting for Godot. It’s an aburdist theater play about two men who wait under a tree for someone (we don’t know who, just that his name is Godot) and that’s about it. Everyone had a lot of different things to say about that weird little book, but my take on it was that it’s supposed to be what happens to two men when they lack a “purpose” in life. Existentialism, and all that. They sit there and sit there and completely lose themselves just WAITING for this guy that they don’t even remember, they don’t even know why they’re there, and they do nothing to try and change that. The difference between existentialism and absurdism, however, is that absurdism specifically discusses this idea of a Chaotic Universe, this Lack of Meaning, this pointless quest of humanity to seek value and meaning in a universe without reason. It’s a fruitless effort, it’s Absurd! But the beauty of absurdism, this tiny idea that stayed with me in the goofy names of my geckos (I chose the names because I thought the play was amusing and I loved the characters’ relationship, which is Quite Gay and so Loving and Charming it warms my heart, and I loved that they called each other “Didi” and “Gogo”) and really held true to my own life. I DO NOT believe that THIS is why this change happened for me, but it’s ironic, no?

Back to Absurdism, Absurdism says... “here is this meaningless, Chaotic, RIDICULOUS universe. There is NO reason for ANYTHING, there NEVER will be, you DO NOT MATTER, you DO NOT HAVE A PLACE HERE. There is NO POINT to anything. So fuck it, and try to find one anyway.”

My original therapist did not understand why I found this so wonderful and inspiring. It’s so rebellious and selfish, I LOVE IT. To embrace the Absurd is to take the bull by the horns and flip it upside down! It’s to stare all of this dreadful pointlessness in the Void, and when it says “Why bother? Why care about these insignificant invertebrates? These ridiculous reptiles? These ABSURD apples???” and flip the bird both hands and say “BECAUSE I WANT TO, BECAUSE I SAID SO, BECAUSE I AM HUMAN, AND I CAN!!!” It’s...also more than that, it’s this long, defiant lifelong journey, this stupid, ridiculous journey of fumbling about trying to find one’s place in a cruel, vast world, and finding oneself in that journey.

I love people. I love the ABSURDITY of humanity, of people, of myself, of others. A Huge part of my Future Plans has to do with People, and Community, and Changing my little patch of the world. It’s not much in the grand scheme of things, but I know it can make a difference to someone and myself and that’s what matters.

Anyway back to the Clickening.

Around that time I had a moment like that. It was as if something in my mind was screaming at me, listen. You are here, and you have always been here to love animals, to love life, to make art, to tell stories with your art, to raise little sheeps.

And like that, it started Something.

I agreed to go to a local doctor, and was put on antidepressants. I’ve been on them since late February. I also got accommodations for work, so I have two excused absenses due to mental illness each month, which was good, because they tried to fire me 4 times now and they haven’t succeeded yet. (I’m DAMN GOOD at what I do, I’m just Sad and Unlucky and Dumb, but I’m doing a lot better now!!) I started taking all of the things I learned in the past many years and what I’ve learned about myself as a person (I won’t talk about it here but I’ve always struggled with my Identity [not gender wise, just...with my mental health and my mood disorder, it’s really hard to know What is ME and What’s The Illness) and it all started falling into place. My needle felting, my love for animals, conserving native wildlife AND heritage breeds with restoration grazing and positive impact forestry, utilizing my Overwhelming Charisma (in person I swear I’m quite a good talker! Way better than my typing here!) for education, outreach, and farmers market sales, my love for life and my fellow human beings and my plans to work hard to help feed my local communities and encourage sustainable agriculture and the dismantlemant of capitalism Love of our native wilds and backyards alike (I also have Big Thoughts about getting native peoples input as well, but I need to research that more and actually talk to people, but that would be in future years!!), and so, so many things!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That started in late February/early March now, and since then I’ve still had Really bad times, but I’d say in the past mmmmm...probably since late July? I think yeah since about then things have really taken great turns. I’ve Matured a lot, really embraced who I am and what I want to do, and while I KNOW my plans are going to keep changing over time (tentative goal is to look for/buy our property in 2025!! That gives us 5 years post-graduation to settle down and see how things go, where Jessie will be working, where we’ll be living, how my mind changes, all of that!!) but I KNOW in my BONES in my SOUL that this is what I have always been meant to do. To raise things, grow things, and to Care.

ANYWAY WOW HAHAHA YOU SURE DIDN’T ASK FOR ALL THAT BUT THERE YA GO THERE’S THE BACKSTORY, THE FIRST HALF OF THE WORMS!!!!!!

TL;DR: I’m a sad sap who is now slightly less sad and has Big Plans that were 7 years+ in the making and I want to take all my Big Thoughts about exotic welfare (well, reptiles and spiders mostly, but sure) and also apply it to DOMESTIC welfare and Make a Dang Difference!!!!

Okay now I’ve become very burnt out, I’ve been writing for like two hours now? So this part will sadly be shorter, but I will definitely write more about it again if you or anyone else has questions or actually wants to hear about it.

Basically...the amount of These Plans that I am willing to let you folks know, is uhh...oh jeez where do I even begin, haha...

Well it started small plans (early years of research, when I used to think a small greenhouse was Super Wild and Crazy) but nah bruh we goin’ full hog, literally. My plans are to get a decent sized property, still in my state, and have a HUGE focus on Sustainability and Positive Grazing/Management! That means rotational grazing to IMPROVE soils!!! Thinning the woodlot and clearing brush for the HEALTH of the forest!!! Reintroducing blight-resistant american chestnuts to restore our forests and support a healthy wildlife population!!!! Using both honeybees AND cultivated native bees [did you know that’s a thing???? You can buy native bee cocoons, like raised humanely, and raise them for pollinating plants!! Like Orchards!!] and grazing pastured pigs and chickens under orchard trees, while also providing BUTTLOADS of native flowers and domestic tree blossoms for native pollinators!! All that great stuff.

My biggest focuses would be raising practical heritage livestock for sustainable agriculture and conserving heritage fruit trees, with a focus on apples and pears. I also want to grow a lot of mutually beneficial/low-impact perennial resources...think honey, maple syrup, nut trees, stuff like that! And I want to graze on pastures with native grasses and locality-specific wildflowers (check out Ernst Seeds, especially if you live in/near PA like I do!! Wow it’s so frickin’ cool) and focus on northern european short-tailed sheep (finnsheep, gotland, icelandic, leader, shetland, and soay) and small landrace American hogs (american guinea hog, ossabaw island hog) and the more recent but so full of potential idaho pasture pig. I also want to raise icelandic landrace chickens for utility (parasite/pest management, composting), conservation, and eggs. I also want to raise rabbits (silver fox crosses for meat, and french angora crosses for fiber! I have a dream of producing high quality tri color angora for spinners...three colors on one animal, and I want them to be especially great for fiber artists who want to raise their own fiber animals but don’t have a ton of space) and I have BIG orchard plans...SO MANY ORCHARD PLANS, HHHHHOOO YES....SO GOOD...also COPPICE WITH STANDARDS and FORESTRY and HOO YES!!!!! I LOVE SOME GOOD OL FORESTRY!!!

I think the best way to describe my current plans standings is that it seperates into a couple different “zones”, for my Current Ideas. This has taken months and so many countless hours of thinking, researching, and ironing out, and I’ve made so much headway in just this past week, but basically imagine this...

It’s mostly split into two pastures, the orchard, and the woodlot.

PASTURE 1

Pasture 1 would be the largest, where we would rotationally graze two primary groups of ruminants. Polled NES-T sheep (finnsheep/gotland) and horned sheep (icelandic/leader) with dairy cows (dutch belted) as well. Dutch belted for milk and specifically cheese production, and they would be grazed in front with the icelandics to help take care of the taller grasses that the sheep would avoid, and help keep the sheep a bit safer. All would be guarded by livestock guardian dogs. Group #1 of the icelandic chickens would be grazed behind them, to help break up manure and disrupt parasite cycles.

Pasture itself would be mostly a big bluestem/little bluestem/indian grass/switchgrass mix, with a good variety of livestock-safe wildflowers (small portion being nitrogen-fixers like tick trefoils and pasture pea) and seed-producing flowers for birds (wild birds and our birds!). Would be rotationally grazed 1-2 days at a time (avg. 3-4 days total) with a 21-35+ day rest period. Polled NES-T sheep would be moved to “silvopasture” (copse with standards, a portion of the woodlot, with coppiced trees for fuelwood/timber interspersed with standard-sized mast producting trees [would double as nut and persimmon orchard, and hog foraging in fall/winter!!!]) in the summer to help them deal with the heat. Summer would be the best time, as it’s after the spring predator pressure and before the acorns fall, which could be bad for them if they ingest too many. Rams and hogs would otherwise graze this land with much longer rest periods otherwise (more like 30-45 days or so).

PASTURE 2

Smaller pasture with similar planting, arranged ‘paddock paradise’ style for a small group of icelandic horses (SO GOOD, and useful!! Little horse hooves are much kinder to the forest than a UTV, and herding on horseback is less stressful for the livestock) and rotationally grazed shetland and soay sheep. Pretty simple, but important. Would also contain Icelandic chicken group #2.

ORCHARD

Worthy of a novel all on it’s own. I want to grow semi-dwarf heritage fruit trees with the fruit drop type synced to the rotation of pastured hogs (idaho pasture pig, american guinea hog, ossabaw island hog) and group #3 of icelandic chickens. Hogs would be in orchard spring-fall, and in the copse with standards fall-early winter. Hogs and chickens would be moved to a holding area during rainy times to help preserve the orchard floor and during winter, where we would also have a large waste management/composting set up for them to root and turn to their hearts content. Should be a lot warmer than the outside in the winter too, and I plan on it being in a high tunnel/hoop house so its covered.

I am ALL ABOUT pairing livestock with crops and encouraging multi-purpose acreage in general, so this is definitely one of my FAVORITE plans so far, and every time I revisit it, it gets better. I also want to raise BEES (honeybees, mason bees, leafcutter bees!!!) for honey and pollination. I also want to plant BUTT-TONS of native flowers and goodies for pollinators, as well as lots of seed producing plants and sunflowers for the chickens to forage for by themselves. These would be some happy livestock, for sure.

WOODLOT

Another huge part of the plan is that I want at LEAST 1/3-1/2 of the property to be Woods. Only a small fraction of the Woods would be managed for livestock foraging and more frequent harvesting (still looking at a good 7-10 year coppice cycle though for trees) and the rest would still be tended to, with the help of the local forestry folks, but it would be preserved for wildlife and low-impact timber and nut/fruit/sap collection.

The VAST MAJORITY of the farm would be multi-purpose acreage for both livestock AND wildlife benefit (and people too of course) and I truly, truly believe and KNOW it can be done. In fact it HAS been done, IS being done, in so many different ways by so many different people in different times, and I know that I want to be a part of it and I can make a difference and use my weird passions for Good and make a dang difference.

Ohhh jeez I’m real sorry I didn’t quite answer your question though but I hope this gives a little insight into what I mean?? And if anyone has Specific questions after reading this (if you make it to the bottom, bless your cotton socks, I’m so proud and also distressed) I can definitely answer them a bit better than this. And hopefully much less...whatever this is, haha!!

[allen-messenger]

I already read some of your drables and i think your writting is amazing, keep up the good work ♥. If you're not busy, may I request some headcannons about a MC that has a resting bitch face 24/7 but it's actually veeeery soft? RFA and Saeran please!

Thank you so much anon, you are so lovely. Your supportmeans a lot to me. Also, congratulations for sending me my very first request ♥ I got a bit carried away, so my HC might be a bit long, butI hope you’ll enjoy reading them anyways.

P.S : I’m sorry if the formatting looks awful on the phone app. I tried to make it look better but it appears I’m awful at it.

Kindhearted MC has a “resting bitch face” (RFA + Saeran)

Yoosung★

Simply put, the boy was so damn worried.You seemed so cheerful in the chatroom, so why did you look annoyed now thatyou were finally meeting in real life? Was he the only one who had been lookingforward to seeing the other? Were you disappointed in him? Was hedisappointing? 

Thousands of negative thoughts crossed hishead. Argh, maybe he should have listened to Zen. Maybe he should have workedup instead of staying in front of his computer 24/7, eating Leys chips anddrinking Ponta. Maybe Jaehee’s was right, maybe he was too short, and maybe hisworn-out hoodie was tacky. And… what if you thought he wasn’t wild enough? Hehad no idea how popular men like Zen acted. Should he start calling you “babe”or “lamb”? Should he start bragging about his looks…? Ah, he suddenly feltincredibly gloomy. He didn’t have half of Zen’s looks, so there was no way hecould ever become as attractive as him. And obviously you would bedisappointed, you were going out with him instead of dating a godlike musicalactor!

“Yoosung… Is something wrong? You lookpale.” You asked, worried.

“I’m sorryI’m not good enough, but… I’ll try to become a better man for you! So… so…!” Hepanicked.

“Huh…?What are you talking about?” You were genuinely surprised. His reaction was sosudden you weren’t sure what to answer.

“You don’tlook like you are having fun at all… I knew it, I am too normal… I am not acool career woman, a famous actor, a genius hacker, or a corporate heir, thereis no way you would like me… I… I am not even ranked #1 on LOLOL!”

“No! It’snothing like that at all.” You reassured him. “I’m just nervous, it is ourfirst date after all. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“I’m theone who should apologize, MC… I must have looked ridiculous, right?”

“Not atall. You are adorable, Yoosung.” You chucked. “You know… Don’t tell the others,but I think you are the cutest member of the RFA.”

All of a sudden, his cheeks felt warm. Hewas sure of it now, you were the supportive, kindhearted MC who had alwaysaccepted his normal, average self. Your words have always felt like they wereimbued of magic to him. Once again, you had managed to make his uneasiness flyaway. This time, it would be his turn to make sure you would have fun.

Jumin Han

For the longest time, the corporate heirdid not even notice your expression. He had zero interest in his employees’ appearanceafter all. The only thing he evaluated them for was their professionalism,their skills, and how useful they were for the company. Although he stronglyappreciated your meticulous work, he did not have a personal interest in you.You were an employee – a really competent one -, and he was a practicalexecutive. That was all there was to it.

However, one day, he overheard negativegossip against you. Some of your coworkers were talking about how contemptuous andarrogant you were, constantly looking down on them. Progressively, they startedstraight up laughing at you, saying someone as condescending as you wouldprobably die alone.

In a single sentence, the corporate heirbrought back peace in the corridor.

“If you have the time to slander your colleague, go back to work. Now.This is your first and last strike. Next time I see youdeteriorate our company’s work environment, I will personally make sure yourdesks are emptied.”

Seeing your coworkers laying low for awhile gave you a surge of relief. Actually, you had been contemplating quittingyour work because of the heavy atmosphere you felt around you. Your gaze mighthave looked harsh, but in truth, you wished you could have got along with yourcoworkers. Although most colleagues acted neutral towards you, a small groupexuded hostility every time you uttered a word. Nevertheless, you had stayedbecause the company worked on interesting projects – also, the pay wasundeniably satisfying.

After this event, Jumin slightly paid moreattention to you. It wasn’t noticeable, but for an instant, he examined yourexpression, trying to find what could have led your peers to think you weredisrespectful towards them, in vain. He just couldn’t understand the reasonbehind their gossip. Your expression did seem to show a bit of disinterest, butyour meticulous reports obviously showed how passionate you were about yourwork. The executive skimmed through the folder you held out to him.

“Your report is satisfying, but I would like you to develop on theeffects our project would have on the environment. Assistant Kang researchedsome data regarding this point, ask her to share the file with you.”

“Understood. Thank you for your time, Mr. Han.”

“Close the door before leaving. While you are here, I’d like to say thatyou can address any complaint you have about your work environment directly tome. You are a valuable asset for our company. It would be a shame if C&Rwere to lose you because of some pests.”

“Thank you, Mr. Han. I will take my leave now.”

For thefirst time, you smiled at work. Jumin Han was said to be a cold, insufferableemployer, but to you, he was just a practical executive who cared about hisworkers in his own way.

Jaehee Kang

The first time you met Jaehee was at oneof Zen’s musicals. You were both seated on the front row, next to each other.The storyline wasn’t that original, but Zen’s acting mostly counterbalanced thescenario’s flaws.

You were completely oblivious to theglances Jaehee threw you during the performance. Usually, the assistant wouldhave been dazed by the spectacle. But today, her curiosity sometimes made herlook away from the actor’s performance. Zen had a solid fanbase by now, andfront row seats tickets for his shows were highly difficult to obtain. Jaeheeknew for a fact that some fans were willing to spend more than 500$ to gettheir hands one of those prized tickets. Because of that, she was bewilderedthe person sitting next to her seemed so dissatisfied in the musical. At times,you even seemed straight up irritated. Even more surprising, you vigorouslyclapped at the end of the musical, giving the staff members a standing ovation.

After a few minutes of contemplation,Jaehee asked you if you had enjoyed the musical.

“Oh, please don’t mind me if I am wrong. You just seemed irritated and…I was just wondering if the show did not suit your taste?

“Ah, no. I… just usually look this way.” Usually, being called out foryour expressions made you upset. However, seeing how Jaehee’s eyes wereshrouded in remorse, you understood that she only meant well. “Thank you forworrying, though. I actually liked the musical, especially the part where the detectivediscovered the culprit’s identity.

Conversing with you, Jaehee realized thatyour cold expression contrasted with your loving nature. Although your eyesseemed to be looking down on others, you were full of admiration for theactors. More importantly, she was grateful you noticed her uneasiness and turnedan awkward conversation between strangers to a passionate debate about Zen’smusicals. She now had no doubt that you were compassionate, and much morecourteous than she was.

ZEN

A while ago, you discovered a websitewhere many Zen’s fans showered him with compliments. At first, you were veryexcited about participating in anonymous conversations about the handsomeactor.

However, when you became his full-fledgedgirlfriend, you had to stop lookingat the forum threads. Messages full of malice towards you were being spammedall day.

“She’s totally in for the fame. Pathetic.”

“She’s dating the most beautiful actor on Earth but she looks so annoyedlol, what a bitch.”

“Hate her. I would definitely give Zenny so much more love lolol ♥”

“Fire her! My love Zen needs a lovingmanager, not some random frigid girl. Guys, let’s make a petition so she getsthe fuck out of here!”

“They’re such a bad match. Seriously,is Zen blind or something? She always looks mad lol.”

“A princeand a bitch faced frog lololol”

Needless to say, you were devastated. Itused to be such a welcoming community, so why did it become that way? And whywould they judge you solely on your appearance? Of course you’ve never beenannoyed by him. At contrary, you loved him. You really did, even if youexpression wasn’t always full of love.

Feeling unworthy of him, you avoided Zen’scalls and only went in the chatroom to talk about the party. After a few days,the actor himself waited in front your doorstep for you to come home.

“Zen…? What are you doing here?”

“Babe… You wouldn’t take my calls, so I came here. I was worried sick.Did something happen?”

He gently wiped the lone tear falling along your cheek.

“Tell your knight everything. Don’t cry, princess. For you, he wouldfight off dragons and witches, so please don’t cry.”

Zen caressed your hair while you told himabout the hate directed towards you. Your sentences were interrupted by manysobs, but he still understood.

“Honey… Don’t mind what they say, please. You are the kindest andmost-loving soul I have ever seen. Those people don’t know who they are talkingabout. How dare they say I am blind? They are the ones who should run to thenearest optician. You are so beautiful you don’t need the princess attire toshine! Your knight will protect you from those dirty mouths, so don’t worry,alright?”

You chucked at Zen’s burst of anger.

“Okay… I love you.”

A week later, your knight in shining armorkept his promise. During an interview, he firmly asked his fans to stopspreading negativity towards you.

 “She is the woman I love, and I can’t bear seeing her hurt because of mycareer. I wish you could see past her expression. If you could, you would seethe golden heart hiding behind it.”

Hisdeclaration was well received by  his fanbase, who created apopular forum where ill-messages against any of his fans, including you, wouldimmediately be deleted.

707

At first, you were a bit reticent aboutjoining the RFA. It was understandable: you were just a good Samaritan whowanted to give back a phone to their rightful owner, and you ended dragged inan association you had never heard about. Watching the CCTV at Rika’s apartment,Seven assumed you seemed annoyed because of the situation you unwillingly endedup in.

As V’s slave, he was the one who gatheredinformation to pressure you into a joining the group. Because of that, he felta bit guilty and tried to cheer you up with silly jokes. He wasn’t sure hisattempts were any successful. Although you wrote he was funny, he could stillsee your irritated expression whenever he looked at the CCTV. Even worse, youreyes were sometimes full of disdain while you chatted with the RFA. He didn’tmention it to anyone, but seeing you warming up to the group members, includinghim, while keeping your scornful glare intimidated him a bit. Did you have badintentions towards the RFA, after all? Should he redo the background check toensure you didn’t have any link to the hacker?

After seeing how much your kind wordsencouraged the members, Seven started to believe your tenderness was real.Witnessing how you pushed every single member forward, the hacker couldn’tdistrust you anymore. His instinct, on which he had sometimes relied on tosurvive, told him there were no lies lurking in the shadow. Placing confidencein V’s decisions, Seven also gradually opened up his heart to you. Actually, itwas hard not to. It wasn’t every day he could find someone who appreciated his oh-so-funnyjokes, after all. Whenever your condescending expression turned into a smilebecause of his jokes, he felt his heart race, just a little tiny bit.

Saeran

When he was a child, the only expressionsSaeran had ever seen were his mother’s fury and his brother’s compassion. Afterhe entered Mint Eye, he stopped looking at people. Even though his eyes laid onthem, he couldn’t really see their faces. His mint-colored irises were meant tofocus on computer screens, not on people. Other believers wouldn’t help himmake his dearest wish come true, but his hacking skills would allow him to havehis revenge on that damn redhead.

Because of that, he had absolutely no ideawhat a “resting bitch face” was like. When he saw your expression, he simplyconcluded you were despising him, and quite rightly. He was the hacker who, insearch for a useful tool, had led you to the trapped apartment, after all.Afterwards, he shot your association’s leader, and was treated like a victim,even though he was the monster. How ridiculous.

However, Saeran couldn’t comprehend whyyou would still visit him every single day without fail. You would silentlyopen a book and read in his company. In truth, he didn’t really dislike your presence.Your visits were peaceful, soothing moments during which he didn’t have to seethe redhead he loathed so much. Contrary to the therapist or to Luciel, youdidn’t expect him to say anything. Other than the faint sound of turning pages,you didn’t make any noise. Yet, he felt uncomfortable you were forced to seehim every day, for a reason of another. If you despised him, why didn’t youstay in the nice, cozy home he’s never had? If you hated him that much, whywouldn’t you stand further from him, like all those stupid nurses? Your oddityraised some concern within him, and he finally asked “Why are you coming here?”.He sounded so bitter, yet so sorrowful. His voice was the voice of anabandoned, broken human being.

“Why… you say…” His question wasunexpected. After carefully weighing your words, you answered “There is noparticular reason. I just thought you would be lonely, alone in this emptyhospital room.”

For a few seconds, the white-haired man searchedfor an answer. However, no words came to his mind, so he stayed silent, andquietly thought that you were similar to his brother after all. Even though hestrongly wanted to resent you, it was so difficult… Your kind nature,contrasting with your expression, made it so hard for him to feel any animositytowards you. So, maybe he would silently enjoy your presence. Just for a littlewhile.

A masterlist can be found here.

[artificialqueens]

Remember me? Of course you do (Biadore) -Burgundy

AN: take this as my apology for the horror that was that last fic. i wanted to write something as fluffy as i could, while also working with trans!adore, with these two prompts:

“She said her name was Sylvie and she was twelve and took me to see her beheaded China doll collection”

“And she never saw him again”

and this was the result! i wrote this actually pretty quickly but im proud of it so, here you go! xx <3

Bianca ignored as most of the younger kids on her block were playing in their yards, some of them looking at her. She was just on her way back from a friend’s house, and wanted to go home before dark. Then a little boy fell in front of her.

And she means fell. Completely face first into the ground, knees and hands probably scraped, and a rickety old skateboard on it’s side on the sidewalk. Bianca didn’t actually care that much. Now, she wasn’t heartless, she just really did not care about this boy. She tried stepping around him, but couldn’t quite stretch her legs far enough.

Until he started crying.

He sat up, tears streaming down his cheeks. However, he wasn’t making too much noise. Some small whimpering, here and there, but mostly he was just trembling. Bianca looked down at him, and his brown hair that was oddly long for a boy. He had on ripped jeans and a loose shirt and converse. She didn’t expect anything more or less from a skateboarder. She reached down and awkwardly patted his shoulder, not quite sure what she was supposed to do. Console him?

“Are you okay?” she asked, making him sniffle and look up. Big green eyes looked up at her, his cheeks shining with tear tracks.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” his words were shaky, and he started to get up by himself. He was slightly shorter than Bianca, and she was fine with that.

“Well, I should probably get-”

“I’m Danny,” he said, smiling. Bianca looked down and saw that he had his hand out to shake. What the fuck was this kid? She hesitantly shook Danny’s hand, noticing how scraped the skin there was. Nothing was bleeding, though.

“Bianca,” she hadn’t seen this kid around, but she had heard Courtney talk about a Danny. Could’ve been the same person.

“Do you wanna come over to my house?” Danny asked, and Bianca was taken aback. They had just met seconds ago because he fell in front of her, and now he was offering to take her to his house. He was definitely bold, bolder than Bianca would ever be.

“Um, sure?” her answer was unsure, but Danny smiled brightly, wiping off his cheeks one last time and grabbing Bianca’s arm. He led her to a small house nearby, opening the door, and letting Bianca enter first. It was clean, for the most part. As clean as any house with kids would be, she guessed.

“Mom, I have a friend over!” he hollered through the house, but Bianca wasn’t sure where his mom was.

“Okay!” a voice called back, making Bianca even more confused. Her parents would kill her if she dared to yell inside, or even bring a friend over uninvited. Bianca’s parents were all about planning and strict rules, therefore Bianca was, too.

“So how old are you?” Bianca asked, not meaning for the question to come out, but Danny’s eyes seemed amused, leading Bianca through the house. He smiled for a bit, coming to a door and turning back to Bianca.

“Twelve,” he answered, opening a door and Bianca’s eyes were attacked. There was a lot to take in in one setting. The floor was messy, clothes scattered throughout the room, a dresser with all of its drawers open, a furby on top of said dresser, and then a headless China doll next to said furby. Besides that, the bed was a mess with a radio on top of it and a huge stack of cds next to it.

“Wow,” was another thing that Bianca didn’t mean to let slip out, but it did and she almost covered her mouth. Danny was still smiling, though, and he practically skipped into the bedroom and patted the bed for Bianca to sit down, too. He started messing with the radio, popping in a cd that was already out of its case.

“Tell me about yourself,” Danny started, staring contently into Bianca’s eyes, making Bianca feel flustered.

“There’s not much to say, I’m pretty average,”

“What’s your zodiac?” Danny interrupted, making Bianca jump a little.

“My what?”

“Your star sign?” he seemed dead set on finding this out, and she didn’t really understand it. She had no idea what he was even talking about. He finally sighed, turning his attention back to the radio.

“What’s your- um- zodiac?” Bianca asked. Danny smiled, and Bianca swore that smile was going to be the death of her.

“Libra,” he answered, looking back at her, “what’s your birthday?”

“June 27th,” she said, and he smiled even wider, his eyes brighter than before.

“Ooh, a cancer,” he said in a sing-song voice, and Bianca was entranced at this point. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, looked at the time and then back up at Danny.

“Um, I think I have to go now,”

“Aw, really?”

“Curfew and all that,”

The two said their goodbyes. Bianca was surprised when Danny pulled her into a hug before patting her on the shoulder as she left.

….

She never saw him again. To be fair, Bianca never really went out of her way to see him again, and she accepted the idea that maybe his family moved. It didn’t really matter because she was in college in a new city and honestly, completely overworked.

There was a small cafe nearby that she went to so often that the main barista knew her by name, knew what she wanted, and that was so nice to walk into after a long day. So after a particularly long last class, she ran through the rainy streets to walk into the cafe. It wasn’t busy, a few people scattered here and there, but nothing too big. She nodded at the redhead at the front, who started working on her latte right away.

She sat at a small booth, and started putting her auburn hair into a bun. There wasn’t anything she hated more than how the rain made it feel, so having it up was a blessing. The door opened again, and she heard another girl put in an order. Bianca started scrolling through her phone, but was stopped when she heard someone next to her speak.

“Is it alright if I sit here?” Bianca looked up, and there was a girl with long brown hair that was messy and the rain obviously wasn’t helping it. Bianca nodded, but instead of sitting, the girl’s eyes widened. Her mouth opened and she smiled brightly at Bianca. Bianca just sat there, wondering what was so special about her.

And then she hugged her. Bianca was hugging a random girl that she met in a cafe. It wasn’t until the girl pulled away that Bianca started scanning her over and looking for memorable qualities.

The girl sat down across from Bianca, and looked at her in the eyes. The girl had bright green eyes and oh my god.

“Danny?” she finally asked. The girl visibly flinched, a look going over her face that Bianca couldn’t quite read, but she was back to normal in a second. Bianca realized what she had done and was about to apologize but the girl held her hand up. Her smile was still wide on her face.

“Well, my name is Adore now,” she said, and Bianca nodded. She could tell some of the same fashion sense was there, purposefully messy. Bianca wouldn’t expect anything more or less from her, she guessed. The smile was still the same, the eyes were definitely still the same. Her lips were a bit more plump and they were coated with red lipstick. Bianca was no stranger to that product, herself, but it looked so much more appealing on Adore.

“You look great,” Bianca finally snapped out of her thoughts, complementing Adore on her new look. The brunette looked down, a blush starting to spread on her cheeks and her smile never leaving her lips.

“So, we haven’t seen each other in a while,” Adore started, resting her chin on her hand, and that’s when Bianca noticed her nails painted black. They were chipped though, and it all just seemed to fit with Adore.

“Do you still skateboard?” Bianca asked, making Adore giggle.

“Hell yeah! I don’t have my license, public transport costs too much, why the fuck not?” to that Bianca couldn’t help but smile, as Adore just seemed to radiate positive energy.

“You’re very energetic,” Bianca commented. Adore smirked, taking a sip of the frappucino she had gotten. The older couldn’t help but watch Adore’s lips wrap around the straw, but their eyes still ended up meeting.

“I’m a libra,” Adore finally responded, licking some foam from off her lip. This made Bianca laugh a little, and Adore seemed to feel successful for getting that out of Bianca. Their last encounter was so much more fast paced and Bianca didn’t really think too much about it afterwards. Now that they were sitting together, bantering back and forth, she couldn’t help but think how lucky it was that she moved.

They both sat together, talking away until about an hour after they had both finished their drinks, even being asked by the woman at the front if they needed anything else. It was amazing how much they had in common, first of all, but how much they were different. That was a big deal because they seemed to click so well together. Adore finally checked her phone, gasping at how late it had gotten.

“Shit, I need to go,” she swore, looking up at Bianca apologetically.

“It’s fine, give me your phone,” Bianca said. It was a bold move but if a bold move hadn’t been made years ago they wouldn’t have gotten here, would they?

Adore handed her phone over, her smile growing as she realized what Bianca was doing. Once she got it back, they both stood up and headed towards the door. Bianca opened it, letting Adore pass by first. As Adore did, however, she pecked Bianca on the cheek. It was soft enough that it was over quickly, but firm enough that it had left a mark.

“Text me later, yeah?” Adore asked, not so much for confirmation that Bianca was going to text but confirmation that Bianca was okay with what just happened. Bianca nodded, waving a small goodbye.

And once Adore had walked away far enough, she did a small fist pump into the air. She had just gotten a cute girl’s number, and she had aced an essay she needed for one of her classes. The day just kept getting better.

[theshapeshifter100]

Guess What? I’m Not a Robot RC Ch18

Chapter Warning: Not that I can think of (let me know if I missed anythnig)

Word Count: 1,852

Masterlist

Previous

Next

1.12AM Friday 12th November 2038

Nothing happened for about 2 hours.

The drones hadn’t spotted anything, all the military had retreated, and no had dared check why yet.

The earlier threat was still in everyone’s head, and they were all listening for an airborne attack.

No one from Android Allies had dared sleep, even as the adrenaline faded and tiredness kicked in. Megan had admittedly napped with Paul, but now she sat with him on one of the trucks, watching the hill line.

It was still freezing, but she didn’t go sit in the truck cab, despite Paul suggesting it multiple times.

“Single van coming towards the van line,” Maggie came over the radio, sounding more awake than she had been half an hour ago. “Drones don’t see anything else. Over.”

Megan looked behind her to see androids assembling into defensive positions. It still amazed and slightly freaked her out that they could do that without audibly communicating.

The whole compound went so silent you could hear a pin drop at the other end of it. So hearing someone shout from the van line was just about possible even if you couldn’t make out the words.

Megan didn’t recognise the voice, but other members of Android Allies did.

“Holy shit that’s Markus!” Alex cried. “I need to see this!”

“Can confirm, that is Markus,” Maggie added. “Wait. The Deviant Hunter’s there, the RK800. Over.”

Megan looked at Paul and gripped his free hand. He squeezed back as some of the androids on their truck talked.

“Why are they both here?”

“I heard the Deviant Hunter tried to go for a YK500.”

“No, even he can’t be that heartless.”

“It’s what I heard. Besides, high chance he’s still controlled by Cyberlife.”

“But with Markus though? Maybe he’s free now”

“You want to take that risk?”

Megan squeezed Paul’s hand again and looked over her shoulder. She had missed something, as more shooters were gathered around the front, guns pointed at the van line.

They then pulled back, and a small group of people came in through the tunnel. Callum was at the lead, and behind him was a small group of androids. Nothing they couldn’t deal with if things went wrong.

Paul stiffened next to Megan.

“It is definitely this Markus, and the RK800, Conner, is apparently on our side. Callum wants Android Allies over there.”

“Why?” Megan asked, and Allison asked the same question once it had been relayed over the radio.

“He thinks it’s best we’re open about who’s here?” Paul didn’t sound convinced.

“Come on, it’s Markus. The guy hasn’t hurt a single human in this entire revolution. We’ll be fine, over,” Alex chided.

“It’s not him we’re worried about,” Allison corrected. “We know nothing about these other guys. Over.”

Paul spoke into his radio. “Some of the shooters are going to watch these guys. We should be okay. Over.”

“…Alright. I’ll head over. Over and out,” Alex clicked off, and there was movement as Alex climbed and jumped down the icy framework, Ella following.

Megan and Paul looked at each other, and he put his gun down before sliding off the truck, landing on the ice. She wiggled towards the edge and looked down to see Paul holding his arms up to catch her.

“I’m not a child,” she raised her eyebrows.

“No, but you’re short and the ground is icy. Humour me.”

Megan went with it, and slipped off the truck, letting Paul catch her and place her gently on the ground. The two of them walked over to the main compound. As they walked the other members of Android Allies appeared out of the woodwork.

The booth lowered to let Nathan and Maggie out, Ivy and Allison dropped down from the rails while Lucas got up from near Zach. Finally Oscar helped Julia from the truck cab they’d holed up in.

Callum waited for them to all assemble. The new androids were loosely arranged into two groups, one larger group hanging back, while four stood closer to Callum.

Megan recognised the RK800, Conner, from the grainy picture Julia had circulated on the second meeting, a week ago? Had it really been so little time?

There were other three androids with Conner. One was woman with strawberry blonde hair tied back into a braid and gaze narrowed suspiciously at the assembling humans. Another was a dark skinned man, who looked like one of the androids from the university. He probably had been honestly.

Lastly was the android between them, skin a few shades lighter than the lecturer android, and with one blue and one green eye.

He stood in the middle and watched as Oscar helped Julia over, as they were the last ones.

“Is this everyone?” he asked.

“Yup, that’s all the crazy humans who decided to help us,” Callum shrugged.

“Aw, Callum! That’s the nicest thing you’ve said about us!” Alex cried, clasping their hands together.

“Don’t get used to it squishy. And note I called you all ‘crazy’.”

“It’s not inaccurate,” Lucas admitted.

“This was insane,” Nathan added.

“But, here we are,” Ivy smiled.

“You’re, all college students,” Conner said slowly. “With the exception of Miss Rowland, and...” his eyes landed on Ella, then Paul, who shifted uncomfortably next to Megan. She reached back to take his hand and rub her thumb over her knuckles.

“You’re all a bit young for this,” Markus took over.

“A lot of political movements in the last twenty years have been started by high school students, so, we’re outside of the average,” Alex added, and everyone craned around to look at them.

“Statistics, I’m impressed,” Allison noted.

“Allison, take it back a notch,” Maggie added.

“What? I just said-!”

“We all heard what you said,” Paul said, before looking at the (mostly) amused androids in front of them. “How did you know to come here?”

“We caught wind that the military had lost control of one of the Recycling Plants. We thought it was worth looking into.”

“Cool, so what next?” Alex asked. “The ones hounding us seemed to have disappeared, but they could come back.”

“It’s unlikely,” the darkest android spoke. “Also, we haven’t introduced ourselves. I’m Josh, this is Markus, North, and Conner.”

“Alright, I’m Alex, this is Ella, Ivy, Maggie, Allison, Nathan, Lucas Megan, Paul, Oscar and Julia,” Alex introduced, going down the half circle they had formed. “You probably already know Callum, and why is it unlikely that the military will come back?”

“We’re a bit out of the loop, we’ve been here since… Wednesday afternoon,” Maggie seemed to have a small existential crisis upon realising that they hadn’t been there that long. It felt like weeks.

“There was a revolution, we won,” North shrugged. “Military won’t be bothering us.”

“Great!” Alex turned to Josh, seeming to have other priorities as Paul relaxed from relief. “You’re Josh?”

“Yes?” he looked confused as Alex broke into a huge grin.

“Nice to see you again professor!” they beamed, which slowly faded. “Also, on behalf of the University of Detroit, I apologise for the fucking mess earlier in the year. Those responsible were expelled.”

“For destruction of university property?” Josh asked ruefully.

“Yeah, sorry.”

Josh waved it off. “No more than I expected.”

Megan realised they were talking about an event earlier in the semester, where a group of drunk students had attacked an android. Must have been this guy.

“Anyway,” Allison took over. “Revolution happened, all good now, we can go home?”

“An evacuation order is planned,” Conner informed, and Ivy scoffed.

“Yeah, we’re not leaving.”

“It might still be dangerous,” Markus intervened. “You might be best off going home to your families.”

“We just went through a five hour firefight and made it out with minimal casualties. I think we’ll be fine.”

“Suit yourself,” North didn’t seem to care.

“You’re more likely to get injured,” Markus continued to argue, and Alex stepped in.

“Don’t worry about us, this is your victory, don’t worry about a group of squishies.”

“We’re running with that nickname?” Julia asked.

“It’s cute.”

Allison groaned. “We’re not running with that nickname.”

“We can put it to a vote!”

Markus cleared his throat, making everyone shut up.

“Perhaps, when things have calmed down, we could use some human allies,” he offered. North shot him a look which he ignored. “Humans that are crazy enough to support us.”

“I think we fit that bill,” Alex grinned.

“And, what about us?” Callum asked. “What did you actually come here for?”

“I came to see if you needed any help,” Markus answered evenly. “And to invite you to join us properly, to join Jericho.”

Nathan raised his hand like he was in school.

“Jericho was a ship right? That was destroyed?”

“…Yes, but we’re still here, and we will rebuild,” Markus smiled at Callum. “What do you say?”

“I’ll have to talk to the others,” Callum narrowed his eyes. “We’ll see.”

Markus turned to Paul and Ella. Paul tensed in surprise, while Ella just looked confused. “What about you friends? Where do you two fit into all of this?”

Paul’s eyes flitted around for support, before realising that he needed to answer this one.

“I’m with these guys. Android Allies.”

“By choice?” North asked, and Paul frowned at her, annoyed at her insinuation.

He made a big show of resting his hands on Megan’s shoulders. “Yes.”

Megan looked up in surprise, but relaxed. However, there was something that made her a little uncertain. She rested on her hands on his and tapped out a metronome.

“And you?” Markus turned to face Ella.

“Same as him.”

North didn’t look happy, but Conner stepped forward then.

“I have your contact details upon scanning your faces,” he informed. “We can get in touch once things have calmed down.”

“That’s not creepy,” Ivy spoke sarcastically, and Conner looked over, face mildly confused.

“In that case, we can get the fuck outta here,” Allison cried before looking over at Oscar and Julia. “Julia, do you know if you need to see a doctor?”

“Helena took care of most of it,” Julia responded, most likely referring to the medical android. “I’ll probably only need to see one in a few weeks to get the stitches out. Plenty of time.”

“Thank God,” Alex breathed, “Anything we need to do before we go? Ideas on how to get back?”

“We can take a van back to the city,” Allison took charge. “Back to yours for now?” she asked Alex, who nodded.

“Fine by me.”

“You have the biggest place, that’s why we went there,” Allison shrugged. “And,” she did a quick head count, “we might need two vans.”

“Me and Maggie can drive,” Ivy offered.

“Alright. Let’s collect what shit we brought and get the fuck outta here!” Allison declared.

Everyone scattered, but Megan saw Alex remain for a moment to address Markus and his group.

“You want to know how crazy we are? We came here to rescue two androids with rolling pins, kitchen knives, a single taser, and layers instead of bulletproof vests.”

They ran off before any android could exclaim horror.

So, quick reminders, this is based on Jacksepticeye's playthrough of Detroit, wherein Simon died, and no one else did.

Weird note, this is the second to last chapter. It crept up on my. Monday will be the last chapter of this, which means I will be working on the other endings! They won't be as long as this, it'll be like the post credit cutscenes. One chapter per ending, although I haven't worked out all of the potential endings for this one yet. Definitely a 'Megan Dead' ending, probably one where they abandon the Recycling Centre. I'll add it to the already existing 'Alternate Endings' post when I remember.

Other Options Flowchart

(Paul) Don't help Megan down

(Megan) Drop down without Paul's help

(Megan) Hold Paul's hand. Don't react.

(Megan) Comment about Josh

(Paul) Agree to go to Jericho (depends on relationship with Megan if that option is unlocked)

Tags @nightmarejim @septicart-appreciation

[sicklylittlesnowflake]

Hey! I have a sot of crazy prompt for you, what if jellybean had come home and about 3 weeks later (because she would have just as bad immune system as jughead) she gets sick and jughead looks after her but gets sick himself so Archie and Betty have to take care of both of them. Thanks!

(Hey anon! I tried numerous times and thought about how this would play out, but I just can’t find it in myself to write a sick Jellybean. I’m personally not comfortable writing that, but I don’t want to turn this prompt down because I want to write you something! So this fic starts with Jughead already sick from looking after JB! Hope that’s okay and thanks for understanding. Also, I literally had no clue how to write Jellybean coming home, because I didn’t want to write Jug’s mum cause i can’t stand her, but since FP is in jail..he’s magically not anymore lol. This is one weird au, my apologies!)

The last time Jughead had gotten sick (it wasn’t that long ago, obviously) it was when he took care of a sick Kevin. Archie was away at a football match, and Kevin wouldn’t dare disturb Betty because she had been pretty stressed and anxious recently. Naturally, the obvious choice was Veronica but she had mentioned it to Jughead in passing but then some family drama cropped up.

Naturally Jughead got to his feet and was up for the job, Veronica was absolutely not happy with this and reassured through text this family thing would be over in a few minutes but Jughead refused. He had made his way to Kevin’s house, much to the shock of Kevin.

Of course, he was grateful, but his shock was more of the fact that he had been expecting Veronica and he did not want Jughead with the immune system of a newborn to step into this virus infected house. Jughead was a good caretaker, surprisingly, but was struck by the virus a few days later.

Betty was not pleased by this at all. She was annoyed that she hadn’t been called, and that Jughead had no sense of self preservation, willingly throwing himself into this killzone situation where he was definitely going to get sick. She scolded him gently, telling him that he should take care of himself better. He promised, and she told him to make sure he kept it.

Which was why now, he was hiding from Betty Cooper.

The most amazing thing had happened to Jughead. Jellybean had come home. She had found out about how Jughead had meant to visit them and their mother had turned him down, and found out that her mother had been lying to her all this time. She had been under the impression that Jughead couldn’t afford to come to them, but the truth was that their mother simply didn’t want him. She was angry, so upset and distraught at this, it lead to a heated few weeks. A decision was made and Jellybean would be staying with him and FP for a good few months so she could process everything and the whole family could sort themselves out.

This stress did not do any favours to her immune system, who unfortunately had the Jones curse of a shitty immune system, and she had become ill.

FP’s immune system had improved as he grew older, but was still below average. He had told Jellybean the stories of him and Fred, how Fred would always take care of him and save his ass when he got sick, which was often, to entertain her and distract her from the illness. Jughead could only smile fondly, seeing himself and Archie in those stories.

Jughead had taken most of the caretaking shifts, despite FP’s worry. FP had to be working harder now there was two of them. As much as Jughead knew that bad things could come out of this, he missed being a protective, kind older brother and seized the chance to be just that once again. He told her stories, watched Star Wars with her, talked to her about music, listened to her talk about things, fed her soup and ice cream..the typical care taking goodness.

When Jughead woke up feeling like shit, he was grateful it was the weekend so FP could continue to take care of Jellybean, who was nearly better. He didn’t want to make Jellybean feel guilty, which she already was, so he simply told his dad he was going to hang out with Archie.

That’s how Jughead found himself sitting at a booth at Pop’s, constantly sniffling and coughing into his jacket sleeve as Pop Tate kept giving him worried looks.

Pop walked up to Jughead with a tray, to his confusion because Jughead had only ordered his usual coffee, which was already delivered to him. He looked up in confusion and saw the man putting down a tray of Pop’s Chicken Noodle on his table. Pop’s Chicken Noodle was strictly a Dinner special, and it was clearly not dinner time.

“Huh?” Was all Jughead could say, as the steam wafted up to his nose and he dabbed lightly at it as it began to run.

“You don’t look good, Jug,” The older man said gently.

“I’m flattered,” Jughead joked, and went back to being serious, “but honestly, I don’t..I can’t take this–well fuck, you’ve made it so..here..” Jughead pulled a fiver out of his pocket. His nose twitched and he turned away from the older man, barely enough time to grab a tissue from a rack and sneeze sharply three times into it. His nose was literally hurting from how much he was sneezing.

Pop shook his head, “Nope. Not taking that, Juggy. Besides, you’re my best customer. You helped me clean up at weird hours and everything, just making it up to you.”

They both knew by “weird hours” it was when Jughead had still been homeless and Jughead still hadn’t discovered the school closet.

Jughead sighed softly, not finding this fair at all, because he had been a burden by spending the night two days. He managed a small smile, “Thank you..” He then sneezed again, groaning at the congestion in his body. His chest felt pretty blocked up so he couldn’t breathe through his mouth nor his nose. It was a pretty tricky situation.

“Hey Pop! One cheese dog with large fries and a soda, please!” Archie beamed as he made his way through the doors of Pop’s.

“To go or for here?”

“For here!” Archie grinned.

Pop approached him and pointed over to where a sick Jughead was eating his soup, obviously too sick to notice that Archie had just walked in.

“Jug doesn’t look like he’s doing too hot, will you go check up on him?” Pop asked quietly.

Archie looked over to see his best friend and his heart dropped.

“Oh my god..thanks so much for telling me, Pop,” Archie said gratefully as he fished out the cash and put it on the counter.

He immediately made his way toward his sick looking best friend and sat across from Jughead, staring at him worriedly.

Jughead finally looked up from his soup and gasped, soup still in his mouth and  began to cough, spluttering in shock as he he suddenly saw his best friend sitting across from him. When the hell did he get there?!

“Fuck, Archie! You scared me!” He croaked, wincing after hearing the sound of his own voice. He cleared his throat instinctively.

Archie raised an eyebrow, “I’ve been sitting here for a bit, Jug. Let’s get this over with quickly, you’re sick.”

Jughead shook his head, “No, I’m not! I’m just..eating here in peace.”

“..Eating Pop’s Chicken Noodle in the daytime? He only gave that to you because he saw you’re sick,” Archie challenged.

“He just gave it to me! I can’t refuse it!” Jughead pointed out.

“He gave it to you for a reason, Jug. Pop cares about you, and he knows you so well, seen you at your worst, he can tell when you’re sick,” Archie shot back.

“..Listen, I know you got sick because of Jellybean and you don’t want to make her feel guilty. I get it, Jug. Kid’s been through some stuff. Why didn’t you come back to ours? You know you’re welcome with us. Sleep in my bed again–fuck, sleep on the air mattress for all I care!” Archie insisted.

“..You miss me, don’t you?” Jughead teased fondly, although there was a hint of nostalgia in his voice. As much as he wanted and loved having Jellybean back, and his father finally fixing his act, he missed Archie. He missed sappy chats at stupid o'clock talking about whatever. He missed Fred’s killer breakfast and the three of them watching movies. They had become family to him recently, and he missed them.

Archie grew defensive, “W-what?! Uh, totally not! I’m glad that you have your family back!! You weren’t going to stay forever–”

Jughead sighed fondly, “Archie. I miss you too. In fact, I think we took the wrong approach. We should’ve eased into this, it was..such a shock, me being there one day and the next day packing my bags and I was gone. We should’ve had sleepovers to get used to the fact we don’t share a room anymore. You guys are family too.”

Archie smiled softly, “..Yeah bud. It’s been really weird without you. You are family Jug, and believe me when I say I’m so happy that you’ve finally gotten your family back, but a little part of me..you know. Please, I know you don’t want your family fretting so how’s about you come to your other family and we’ll take care of you?”

Jughead sighed, “I considered that, Arch, honestly. It’s just..”

“..What, Jug?”

“..I’m hiding from Betty.”

After a good 5 minutes of Archie laughing at Jughead’s antics, completely gaining the attention of the entire diner, to Jughead’s annoyance, Archie managed to get Jughead to come home with him. After Jughead had finished his soup, of course.

The normal 15 minute walk from Pops to his Arch took about 25 minutes, due to Archie helping Jughead limp along home. Needless to say, once Jughead stepped foot into the Andrews household, he was relieved. He had been absolutely drained and exhausted from that walk; a walk that he normally wouldn’t think twice about. His nose ached from all the sneezing he’d been doing, and his chest felt tight with all the deep, chesty coughs he had been doing. He could barely breathe.

“I’ll get the air mattress,” Jughead wheezed, his chest feeling ridiculously painful with congestion. His head hurt so bad, he felt so awful. He was shivering all over, his entire body icy besides the hot air coming out of his nostrils.

“What?! No, Jug! The bed!” Archie exclaimed, the idea of Jughead sleeping on the air mattress appalling.

Jughead opened his mouth to reply, presumably to protest, but a deep, body rattling coughing fit took over him. He squeezed his eyes tight to try and endure the pain in his chest from the fit, entire frame shaking.

Archie’s eyes widened and he rushed to the kitchen for a glass of water and returned with it, helping Jughead down the drink to ease his coughing. Once that was over with; Jughead was completely drained. He looked woozy, slightly swaying and his eyes looked bleary. He was incredibly weak.

One look at the boy and Archie swooped the younger boy into a piggyback and gently walked up the stairs to his bedroom, despite Jughead’s weak protests. Archie wasn’t having it, and gently placed his best friend down onto his bed.

As Jughead plopped gently onto the soft mattress, the soft pillow aiding his splitting headache, he looked down to see the air mattress still there.

Jughead chuckled fondly, “..You never got rid of it.”

Archie blushed, and cleared his throat in embarrassment, “I-I guess not.”

Archie covered Jughead in the blanket to try and stop the intense shivering, feeling his forehead. He frowned, wondering what to do. Fred was still at work, and as much as Jughead got sick, Archie still did not know what he was doing at all.

Little did they know Archie’s bedroom window curtain was pulled open, allowing a unsuspecting Betty Cooper to gasp in shock as she saw a sick Jones boy in Archie’s bed.

Archie jumped as someone began to knock at the door. He dropped the medicine he had been looking at, wondering if that was the right one, in shock. Why would they be knocking? There’s a doorbell. Archie began to wonder about the worst case scenario, was it the police? Or worse, Miss Grundy?!

Archie made his way down the steps and opened the door slowly, afraid to see whatever monster laid behind it.

It was just Betty Cooper.

“Jesus, Betty! You scared me! I thought you were some murderer! Why didn’t you use the doorbell??” Archie exclaimed.

Betty shushed him, “Shush, Archibald! I knocked because there is a sick Jones boy on your bed! I came prepared.” She gestured towards her bag with presumably caretaking supplies in them.

“..Oh thank god! I don’t know what I’m doing, Betts. Usually dad tells me exactly what to do then I do just that.”

Betty smirked, “Do you not..remember what he tells you to do?”

Archie pouted, “Shut up Betty! I have a horrible memory.”

“Awh, Jug,” Betty whispered in pity as she saw an incredibly sick Jughead sleeping less than peacefully.

Archie stood by the doorway, just as protective. He watched as Betty kneeled on the air mattress and pushed his sweat laced curls out of his fevered face. She nudged him very gently.

“Hey Juggy, wake up for me for just a minute?” She cooed.

“..Mhmm..?” Jughead slurred softly, slowly regaining consciousness. He coughed, sputtering into the pillow and opened his eyes slowly, shocked that it was Betty and not Archie.

“I’m not sick,” Jughead spluttered, before his breath began to hitch and he pressed his face against the pillow and sneezed into it harshly. He groaned softly.

“Jug, I’m not mad. I never was–I just don’t like to see you sick. I know you were doing this for Jellybean,” Betty reassured.

“Here, I made you some herbal tea for your chest, Archie said he didn’t like the sound of your coughing,” Betty said gently as Archie approached them and helped Jughead sit up.

Jughead began to cough violently, body once again racked with the harsh movement, convulsing as he struggled to get oxygen into his system. Archie patted his back, allowing him to get effectively get the phlegm building up out of him, with Betty passing him a tissue to spit it out on.

Archie passed him some pills too, and grinned, “I totally knew which pills you needed. I knew this all by myself.”

Betty glared at him and rolled her eyes, and watched as Jughead sipped at the tea.

She smiled softly, “The thyme should relieve some of your symptoms. Oh, and I called your dad..”

Jughead froze.

“Don’t worry–he’s not telling Jellybean. He told her you’re having a boys sleepover with Archie. He is pretty angry at himself that he didn’t realise you were sick,” Betty explained.

Jughead smiled softly, “..Good. Did you tell him that it’s not his fault?”

Archie laughed, a little too loudly for Jughead’s liking, “Betty told him that you should go into the acting business because you’re great at hiding it. Not from us though, we’re exceptions.”

Jughead huffed, “..sure.”

Betty grinned, “If anything else, we all know that I’m the best caretaker.”

Archie looked appalled, “What?! No way! I am!”

Betty huffed, “You?! You don’t even know what the difference between aspirin and antihistamines!”

“Yeah I do! One is for coughs and one is more fevers, right?” Archie boasted.

Jughead stifled a laugh.

Archie went red, “Um..I knew it wasn’t, obviously. I just wanted to see Jughead’s itty bitty smile! See, making the patient happy, can you do that Betty Cooper?? And piggyback him?? Can you do that??”

Betty laughed, “Yeah I can! The very sight of me makes Jughead smile like the sun!”

Jughead snorted, causing him to sneeze again, “Pfft, neither of you can tamper my grunge film noir aesthetic.”

Archie and Betty looked at each other, and grinned.

Betty smirked, “You sure about that, Jughead Jones?”

Archie smiled sinisterly, and then the two proceeded to tackle Jughead into a loving cuddle, causing the boy to smile like the sun was created to shine on him.