#THIS IS 1500 WORDS I DID NOT MEAN TO MAKE IT THAT LONG WHOOPS

[ahatintimepieces]

Oh my~ two song drabbles in the morning? What an early treat! If you’re still doing them, how about „You’ll be in my Heart“ from Phil Collins? A fluff classic and perfect for a cute little story~! Take all the time you need though!

I’m so glad to hear it! And omg yesss. I wrote this kind of quickly and hope it’s okay! It’s... long :’D I got carried away.

The ghost read in his chair. It was a new book he had nabbed from his latest victim. Not the kind of material he usually read but it was fine to pass the time. He had a lot of time in the afterlife. And yet, the past year had been one of the longest he had to endure.

Frustratingly, everything was fine. The forest was safe. The fire spirits didn’t come around too often. The queen was staying in her manor. The subconites sluffed off more than they worked. It was dang near perfect. But there was an absence. One that left him feeling sluggish and unmotivated most days. It took a couple months to admit, but with a heaviness in his chest unbecoming a weightless spirit, he missed the kid.

She just… left. Brushed him away with a broom. He supposed he understood. She had a home to get back to, but… no. He was certain any hopes he had that she would want to… well… stay was just his own selfish desires.

Grimacing he remembered the unsigned documents he had offered to try to get her to stay. They were still filed away by their BFF contract. He let out a sigh, trying to let go. It was what she wanted. It didn’t do him any good to linger in what was lost and gone.

It was just so easy for ghosts to do.

After turning a few pages, a splash came from the shallow pool around his tree. He didn’t look up. It was probably one of his minions and he wanted to finish reading a sentence while footsteps tapped into the opening of his tree.

A pause. Silence.

Snatcher finished his page before realizing maybe something was wrong. Tearing his golden gaze from the page, his usual smile dropped with his jaw. Hesitant blue eyes stared back at him.

“Kid?” His voice was strained. She nodded, her lips in a tight line as she clutched the corner of her cape in her hands.

“Hi,” she whispered tightly, looking down and shuffling on her feet.

He snapped his book shut and she jumped at the sound. Feeling a little guilty for startling her, but too caught up in his own pounding pulse to adequately respond he gripped the armrest with one of his talons.

Could she be back because—No! He inwardly scowled at himself, stopping the thought in its tracks. She did not come back because she missed him. Right? He had to act cool, calm, collected. Conceal. Don’t feel. All that ice queen jazz.

Leaning back, he summoned a smirk as he folded his talons together.

“Lose more of your hourglasses? Or did you want to try your hand at more contracts?”

Keeping her gaze low, she kept fiddling with her cape.

“A-actually.” She cleared her throat. “I was hoping to—landmyshiphere.” She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for a cold laugh or angry retort.

“You what,” he questioned, bewildered.

“Land my ship,” she said a little slower. “I… I was thinking… there was a lot I still wanted to do on this planet. A-and Subcon seemed as good a place as any…”

“What about your home?” Snatcher tilted his head, suddenly fretting over her planet’s well-being. He swallowed his feelings, shaking his head slightly. He hated that he cared so much.

“Hmm?” She paused before sighing. “It’s just—I went back and they—well—” she trailed off, slumping.

“You aren’t in trouble, are you?” He growled, ready to tear into the fool who could have caused her crestfallen features.

“No,” she said quickly. “I guess… I just felt… like they barely cared when I got back.” Her small fingers tightened around her cape, wrinkling it. “They just kept giving me more missions and I… I just felt… bad… all the time.” Her brows furrowed as she seemed to struggle with what she wanted to say. “They probably haven’t even noticed I left.”

“So, your plan was just to camp out in a haunted forest on a distant planet?” Snatcher raised an eyebrow with his golden mouth in a tight line, barely highlighting his fangs. “Why not Mafia town? They at least have markets and food. Nothing can really grow here.” Not anything edible at least.

“Well,” she offered with a nervous smile, “my BFF is here.” A moment passed and her small smile fell. “Snatcher?”

His talons were pressed tightly together as he kept his features frozen. Inwardly, he was short-circuiting. Did that mean what he thought it meant? She wanted to stay with him? It was almost too much to hope for; his heart ached as he tried to stifle the rising elation. He thought about the unsigned document. The one he had drafted meticulously and never had the chance to properly give her a chance to read through it. But… now…

“Park your ship here?” He cleared his throat and straightened, feigning a nonchalant air as he snapped his talons and summoned the document. “Well, let’s see, that’s a big favor to ask.” She squirmed a little and he cleared his throat again, trying to dispel his nerves. “If you want to park here, that’s just like saying the forest is as good as your home and I can’t just let anyone live here. So, tell you what, if you sign this paper and agree to everything it entails, I’ll let you live here and come and go as you please.”

The paper flew over to her and into her hands and a feathered pen appeared nearby. Immediately, her head snapped up with wide eyes.

“A-adoption papers?”

“I mean if you dislike it—" he fumbled, dreading the slightly panicked look in her eyes. But before he could finish his sentence, she grabbed the pen and signed at the dotted line. He blinked, almost in a daze as he waved a pointed talon and stamped his seal on the document. The document floated back to him and his chest swelled as he scanned it.

“That seals the deal, Kiddo. The forest is yours to roam freely—”

Sniffling caused him to pause.

“Kid?” He snapped his fingers, filing the adoption papers safely away before flying over to her as she wiped fruitlessly at her eyes.

“S-so I can c-call you dad, now?” She choked out with shaking shoulders.

“Yeah,” Snatcher said, rather ineloquently for a lawyer ghost who was also once a prince. She cried harder and Snatcher held out his arms, hesitating. Finally, he tentatively scooped her up and she looked up at him with wide, watery eyes.

“You’re safe now,” Snatcher promised, brushing her light brown bangs from her eyes. She blinked up at him and sniffled. His heart leapt to his throat as he thought of a song his mother always used to sing. It had been so long… and he wasn’t sure it would soothe the kid like he hoped… but if she wanted him to be her dad as much as he wanted her to be his daughter… he could try.

“Come, stop your crying,” he lowered his voice into a gentle cadence, brushing one of her tears away with a soft talon. “It will be alright. Just take my hand,” he held out his talon and she grabbed onto it, hugging it against her small stature. He couldn’t keep his smile out of his tone. “Hold it tight.

“I will protect you,” he continued softly, floating back to settle down in his chair, “From all around you. I will be here. Don’t you cry.”

She closed her eyes, leaning her head against his mane as she hugged his hand. Her tears began to dry.

“For one so small, you seem so strong,” he continued as she drifted. Leaning back, he closed his eyes, focusing on the words. “My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm. This bond between us, can’t be broken.” His voice wavered a little as he held the last note, either from lack of practice or from the lump in his throat. “I will be here. Don’t you cry.”

He shifted, trying to get into a more comfortable position. Her head readjusted on his shoulder. Her small fingers linked with his, their palms clasped together.

“’Cause you’ll be in my heart,” he sang, tapping his toes lightly in time to the cadence. Wait—He glanced down, mildly surprised he had shifted without thinking. His human hand was wrapped tightly with hers, and she leaned against the puffy, purple sleeve on his shoulder. His laced boots stretched up past his knees and she perched comfortably in his lap.

“Yes,” he continued, his voice soft as he examined himself for a moment before sighing and, instead, focusing on hugging his daughter close, “you’ll be in my heart. From this day on, Now and forever more.”

“I love you, Dad,” she whispered, keeping her eyes closed as a contented smile bloomed across her features.

“And I love you, Kiddo,” he whispered back, leaning down and pressing his forehead against hers. He sang a little longer, waiting until her breathing stilled and sleep and sweet dreams lulled her senses. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and muttered, “You’ll be here in my heart, always.”

[m-m-m-myysurana]

WIP Wednesday

Ok I got tagged by @blarrghe like at least 2 weeks ago to share a wip. (I’m sorryy!) I am notoriously bad at this sort of thing. So anyway it is actually Wednesday for me now and look who has a WIP to share!! 

This is a snippet which will, in some form or another, make it into my long fic, A Cage We Share eventually. But it insisted on being written right now ty! Kept me up last night until it was out on the page. First rough draft of course so be kind ;)

Neria and Zev spend an evening in the Dalish camp after resolving the conflict between the Werewolves and the elves. 

A Night to Remember, (1500 words)

It was like no performance he’d ever seen. The singer was not dressed in any elaborate costume, nor did he even hold himself above the others, instead he sat close to the fire and sang into it. There were no instruments backing him up, though he did not seem to need it, his voice rang out clear and strong. Some sang or hummed along softly, harmonies and echoed lines fading in and out around them. From the cadence and verse, it seemed to be a story. Zevran recognised the name of one of the elven gods, though he could not pick out enough words to make sense of it. Neria’s eyes sparkled in the firelight as she listened with rapt attention. 

“What does it mean?” he whispered.

Neria looked over and smiled softly before leaning in to whisper next to his ear, “It's the Charge of Andruil. My father used to sing it. I don’t know that I’ll be able to translate it with much grace, but I can try.” 

Zevran nodded, and she settled closer to him, leaning her head on his shoulder. He kept very still, as if any sudden movement might scare her off. He felt more than heard her low words as she echoed the song. Her translation was spoken, not sung, but her voice was no less beautiful for lack of a melody.

“Remember my teachings, Remember the Vir Tanadhal: The Way of Three Trees That I have given you.

“Vir Assan: the Way of the Arrow Be swift and silent; Strike true, do not waver And let not your prey suffer. That is my Way.

“Vir Bor'assan: the Way of the Bow As the sapling bends, so must you. In yielding, find resilience; In pliancy, find strength. That is my Way.”

More voices joined in, and soon it seemed the entire camp was reciting the verse. Not every voice was as strong or beautiful as the first, but together in harmony it did not matter. As the sound filled his ears, an emotion he could not name expanded in his chest, swelling until he felt it might burst right out of him. 

“Vir Adahlen: the Way of the Wood Receive the gifts of the hunt with mindfulness. Respect the sacrifice of my children Know that your passing shall nourish them in turn. That is my Way.

“I am Sister of the Moon, Mother of Hares, Lady of the Hunt: Andruil. Remember the Ways of the Hunter And I shall be with you.” *

When the man finished, and Neria had echoed the last line, there was no polite applause or bows taken as Zevran had expected. A moment's silence passed, in which Zevran felt sure everyone would hear how wildly his heart beat. Then a drum was struck behind him, and he startled, whirling round to face it. The man pounded the drum a few more times, then began a rhythm that had many quickly cheering and standing. Neria stayed where she was on the log they were sitting on, so he remained with her. She twisted around and watched, delighted, as more of them joined in, bringing out more drums, tambourines, bells and fiddles, something that looked like a lute but wasn’t quite, and instruments he had no names for. Others joined in with the voices, not singing any particular lyrics he could pick out, just adding to the ever changing melodies with their voices. People started dancing, forming circles around the fire, and soon the camp was thrumming with the music so that even his heart seemed to beat to the rhythm. 

Neria swayed her head from side to side, eyes gleaming as she clapped along. Zevran stood, grinning as he held his hand out toward her. 

“Shall we?” 

“Oh, but I haven’t danced in years!”

“Shocking! I think it's time we remedied that, don’t you?” 

Neria laughed and let him help her up. He had not even had time to release her hand before a woman had his arm and was pulling them both along toward the dancing. With little ceremony, she broke a space between two dancers who, once they realised what was happening, very happily made space for the three of them. The dancer’s movements didn’t cease once as they attempted to join the circle, and the ensuing chaos created much laughter. The woman wrapped Zevran’s arm around her shoulders and wrapped her own around the woman beside her. A taller man wrapped his arm around Neria’s shoulders and Zevran shifted his arm under her arm and around her waist. 

Zevran had danced before, many times, though it had been nothing like this. Most dances in his country were made for two people, even in groups the dancers were in pairs. And of course most of the ones he had learnt had a focus on romance and seduction. These movements were made not in any effort to appear graceful or attractive, and indeed he was neither of those things right now. He stumbled over his feet many times as he attempted to copy the steps. They seemed to constantly shift and change, he would only just begin to pick up on one set of movements before they had moved on to another. Neria laughed, stumbling nearly as much as he did. She, however, seemed to pay no attention to what her feet were doing, instead her eyes were up and her head thrown back, as if she were simply feeling the music. 

It took him a while to realise the voice closest to him was hers. He had never heard her sing before, her voice was low and soothing and sweet like honey. Something glimmered on her face, reflecting the dancing light of the fire. Tears? Once he noticed he could not tear his eyes away. This was the happiest he had ever seen her, and yet she was crying. It confused him, but he did not dare interrupt. 

Soon the circle broke apart, though the dancing did not cease. He and Neria were separated, and he was guided through a sort of weaving dance. Each person he passed linked arms with him and spun before sending him off to the next person. This continued until he was quite dizzy, laughing as hair flew out of his braids. 

Then suddenly it was Neria who was swinging with him. He knew the next part meant he had to let go, but he didn’t want to. So he held on, using their momentum to throw them out and away from the fire. Neria screamed with laughter as they whirled, spinning wildly until they were some distance from the other dancers. 

He wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her closer as he slowed them down. When they’d finally stopped, Neria’s grin was wide and open, and both of them breathed heavily. Their noses nearly touched, and couldn’t help but remember the last time they were so close. Heat flushed through him unexpectedly, and something sparked in her eyes, a look he recognised from that night. They were out in the open, the whole clan could see them if they looked the right way, but he couldn’t care less. He dared to lean into her lips and was delighted when she responded with far more enthusiasm than he’d expected. There was a loud whoop followed by whistling and laughter, but Zevran did not want to pull away to see if it was aimed at them.  

The kiss was clumsy, all teeth and breathless laughter, but in that moment he wouldn’t have had it any other way. She pushed her hands into his mess of hair, destroying what remained of his braids, and he tugged at her waist until their bodies were flush against one another. Her foot caught on something, and she stumbled, falling against his chest. He was still so dizzy that they both went over. He caught himself before they hit the ground, and managed to lower them down, almost gently. Neria lay on his chest, wide eyed for a moment, but then she burst into a fit of laughter, rolling off of him and onto the damp leaves. He couldn’t help but join in. 

After some time their laughter faded as they focused simply on breathing again. Neria looked up at the sky, and Zevran followed her gaze. Framed by the clearing in the tall trees, clouds had parted to reveal a glimpse of the night sky. For a second he was taken back to the time he’d spent stargazing with Talisen and Rinna, out on the roof of their tiny, crumbling apartment. Those nights were always accompanied with so much cheap wine that his memories of them were hazy and faded. This night he hoped to keep clearly in his mind for as long as he lived. 

“Thank you.” Neria whispered the words so quietly, he wasn’t sure he was meant to hear them at all. 

He turned his head to look at her, watching her breath rise and fall as she stared up at the stars. A soft smile tugged on her lips, and her lashes came to rest on her cheeks as she closed her eyes, more peaceful than he had ever expected to see her. 

No, he would not let this memory fade.

*The song was adapted slightly from this codex entry about Andruil.

You can read about the beginning of Neria and Zev’s relationship here! <3

[z-iridest]

Yu-Gi-Oh!: Renegade

Chapter 3- Dragon vs. Phoenix Part 2:

Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh!: Renegade:

"I summon Amazoness Chain Master to the field, which increases my Amazoness Sage's attack points to 3800 due to the effect of United We Stand. Now, I attack you directly with Amazoness Sage! Amazoness Sage, time to end this!"

"I activate the Trap Card: Mirror Cylinder! This handy little trap takes your attack and directs it back at you, destroying all your monsters along the way and inflicting damage equal to the combined attack points! Say goodbye to 6800 of your Life Points, Yuko!" Yuko cried out as she was thrown backward by the force of the attack, hitting the ground hard with a groan.

"Yuko!" Her friends cried simultaneously.

"She's only got 1000 Life Points left!" Jacob yelled with wide eyes.

"I can't watch this!" Isaac added, covering his eyes.

"Have more faith in her. She may have lost a good chunk of her Life Points, but this isn't over." Pops told them. "All she has to do is believe in her deck."

Yuko Adonis: 1000            Cornelius Yang: 2600

“How does it feel, Yuko? How does it feel to be on the brink of losing?” Yang taunted.

“This duel isn’t over yet. You still have 1000 of my Life Points to knock out, and I don’t plan on letting you do it... You're just lucky I can't do anything more right now. I end my turn.” Yuko replied. With a smirk, Yang drew.

“Either way, it's my turn now! I summon Protector With Eyes of Blue. I may not have the Blue Eyes White Dragon in my deck, but with 800 attack points, that's not gonna stop me from bringing you to my mercy! Protector With Eyes of Blue, attack Yuko directly!" Yuko grunted in pain as she was attacked, taking 800 points of damage. Yang laughed.

"You have 200 Life Points left, Yuko! Use your next turn wisely! If you don't draw a monster now, this duel is over on my next turn! I end my turn for now." Yang smirked as he ended his turn.

Yuko Adonis: 200 Cornelius Yang: 2600

"Don't count me out just yet, Yang! My turn!" Yuko shouted, grabbing the top card of her deck with her eyes closed. 'It all comes down to this one last draw.... Heart of the Cards, don't fail me now!' Yuko thought. "I draw!" She drew the card and opened her eyes, flipping the card so it's face was toward her. She cracked a smile.

"Uh-oh, she smiled!" One of Yang's friends shouted.

"What's she plannin'?!" A second one asked, sounding a little panicked.

"You're about to find out... I summon Blazing Phoenix in attack mode!" Yuko summoned the card currently in her hand, hearing her friends cheer. It wasn't that strong of a monster, only having 1500 attack points, but it was still a good card. "And because I was able to summon it, I now get to special summon a level 4 monster from my deck, and the card I choose is my Phoenix Warrior!"

"Yang, this ain't looking too good!" The third one shouted.

"Shut up, I can see that!" Yang shouted back in reply.

"Yeah, well I bet you never saw this coming! My Phoenix Warrior has a special ability that allows me to Special Summon one more monster from my deck to the field as long as the monster I choose has 1500 defense points or less, so say hello to Flame Champion! But sadly, my Phoenix Warrior and Blazing Phoenix won't be around for long, because now I'm tuning my Phoenix Warrior with my Blazing Phoenix..."

"OH, NO!" Yang yelled in fear.

"Here it comes!" Jacob exclaimed in excitement.

"I Synchro Summon... Phoenix Mage!" Yuko shouted as her ace appeared on the field, spinning her staff and striking a battle pose, a smirk on her face. "But, I'm far from done... See, due to my Blazing Phoenix's special ability, my Phoenix Mage gets a 500 attack bonus this turn only. Not only that, but due to my Phoenix Mage's ability, all Fire Type monsters I have on my side of the field gain an additional 500 attack points. Which means my Flame Champion now has 2400 attack points while my Phoenix Mage has..."

"3500 attack points?!" Yang shrieked.

"That's right!" Yuko exclaimed. "Flame Champion, take out his Protector With Eyes of Blue first with Flame Strike!" Flame Champion obeyed Yuko's order, attacking Yang's only monster left. Yang's face went pale, realizing he had only 1000 Life Points left, and a 3500 attack point monster was staring right at him. "Let this be a lesson, Yang, next time you wanna push around little kids on my turf, you're gonna pay the price! Phoenix Mage, finish him off with Phoenix Scepter Blast!" Phoenix Mage smirked before attacking Yang directly, knocking him backwards with a strong blow, his Life Points hitting zero as he landed.

Yuko Adonis: 200 Cornelius Yang: 0

"Yuko won! She won!" Her friends cheered, whooping and hollering as Yuko walked toward Yang, who was in a state of shock.

"I lost.... How could I lose?" Yang trailed off.

"Good game. You had me on the ropes for a while there, but I hope you learned your lesson... Don't ever mess with anyone around here ever again." Yuko told him sternly. "Now get off my turf before I kick your butt again." The boys went running, all except Yang.

"Hang on a second, you may have won by the skin of your teeth, but a deal's a deal. You get to keep my rarest card." Yang told her, taking out a Synchro Monster from his deck, handing it to Yuko. Yuko's eyes widened a bit when she saw it before looking at Yang.

"How did you get this?" Yuko asked.

"My grandfather was one of the original Chasers... He was the one who got Akiza. Black Rose was passed down to my Dad and then it was passed down to me when I joined the Chasers..."

"So, hunting down duelists runs in the family?" Yuko asked, bitterness in the edge of her tone.

"Hey, it's not like that, Chasers have no choice but to listen to him now... Ever since one of the Chasers spared the sister of a duelist from the Underground around 11 years ago, he's been making death threats to any Chaser that shows mercy to a duelist... Especially their family." Yang told her. "See you next time, Yuko... I'll be waiting for our rematch." Yang told her before walking off, leaving the teenager standing still, in shock of what she had been informed of.

"You won, Yuko!" Jacob exclaimed.

"Congratulations, Yuko." Pops smiled.

"Yeah, but look what he had." Yuko showed them the card Yang had given her... Black Rose Dragon. Everyone's jaws dropped in shock except Pops, who's eyes widened in a shocked recognition.

"That's Akiza Izinski's ace!" Adom exclaimed, voicing Pops' thoughts.

"Holy crud..." Isaac trailed off.

"They got her too..." Jacob breathed, running a hand through his hair.

"Were you really expecting her to get away?" Adom asked.

"No, I wasn't, I just... I'd hoped that there was a possible way that she could have gotten away." Jacob answered, shifting a bit sheepishly as he spoke.

"That accounts for every Signer being caught... Except Leo and Luna." Yuko realized.

"No, Luna was caught... Wasn't she?" Jacob asked.

"No... It couldn't be... Luna had to have escaped..." Pops trailed off, though he didn't look too convinced of it himself.

"We'll figure that out later, right now, we have that little kid to worry about." Yuko answered before leading the way back into the shop and down the stairs, Adom being the one to help Pops down the stairs. "Holden, it's safe now, you guys can come out." Yuko called for the young boy. Holden peeked out from a well hidden area of the garage, the little girl waddling right behind him as he ran up to Yuko.

"Are they gone? Did you kick their butts?" Holden asked as Jacob leaned against the wall and Pops, Adom and Isaac all sat down in a chair. Yuko nodded.

"They're gone, kiddo. I beat their leader in a duel, and look what I won." Yuko showed him the Black Rose Dragon, the boy's eyes lighting up in wonder as Yuko noticed the little girl come out slightly to look at the dragon card, seeming just as amazed as Holden.

"Wow, it's so beautiful... I hope we can see her in action someday." Holden told her. Yuko smiled.

"One day, you will, I promise...." Yuko told the little boy before putting Black Rose Dragon in her deck and ruffling Holden's hair. "Now, how about this one? Do we know her name?" She asked, kneeling down to the little one's height, only for the little girl to hide behind Holden again. Holdeen shook his head, his hair swaying back and forth with the quick motion.

"I've tried asking her, and she hasn't answered me.... She just keeps making these weird hand motions and tapping her lips." Holden answered, his little shoulders going up and then back down again in a hopeless shrug, though Jacob straightened when he heard Holden's answer.

"Hand motions?" Jacob asked.

"JSL?" Adom guessed.

"That's possible." Yuko replied before looking at the little girl, who was busy trying to hide behind Holden. Yuko smiled. "Can you hear my voice?" Yuko asked as she signed her words in JSL, thankful of the times her foster mother had made her perfect the sign language. Everyone watched as the little girl peeked out from behind Holden, staying hidden while her big brown eyes stayed trained on Yuko. Yuko smiled a little. The little girl was coming out of her shell a little. "You don't have to be afraid of me, I won't hurt you, I promise." Yuko signed each word she said. "My name's Yuko. Is it okay if I know your name?" The little girl came out just enough to show her hands.

'"My name is Alita."' The little one signed. Yuko smiled.

"That's a very pretty name, Alita. Can you hear my voice at all?" Yuko signed as she asked, her compliment making the little girl blush. In response, the little one nodded.

' "My voice just doesn't work, so I can't talk." ' Alita signed in response.

"That explains why she was using sign language." Adom replied, having known enough JSL to know what Alita had just said. "Her vocal chords must have been damaged when she was a baby."

"Poor thing." Pops commented before everybody froze when Alita winced, grabbing her arm. Yuko gently touched the little one's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Yuko signed as she talked again. Alita's eyes were filled with tears of pain and she shook her head, pointing to her arm. Yuko noticed that it was a prosthetic arm... But it was extremely damaged to the point where it was giving off electric currents every few minutes and hurting the little girl. "Is it okay if I take a look at it?" Yuko asked, watching as Alita's eyes widened in fear as she hid behind Holden again, shaking. Holden looked up at Yuko worriedly, his little brow furrowed. He looked as worried about Alita as Yuko was currently feeling. Yuko placed a comforting hand on Holden's head before taking her glove off her left arm.

"Yuko, what're you doing?" Isaac asked, but found himself ignored by the young woman, watching as the little girl peeked out to look at Yuko. Her eyes stayed wide, however, the fear that had previously been in them was long gone. Amazement shone through as Alita reached her flesh hand toward Yuko's robotic one before she hesitated, looking at Yuko for permission as her little eyebrows furrowed. Yuko nodded.

"It's okay, Alita. You can touch it if you want." She told her. Alita's little hand soon touched Yuko's robotic one, following each gear and crevice as she seemed to be memorizing the pattern on Yuko's prosthetic hand. Yuko smiled, knowing that this had been what the little girl needed to be at ease... To know someone was just like her... "Alita." Yuko directed the little girl's attention to her after a moment. "Is it okay if I look at your prosthetic arm now? I can fix it if you want me to." She asked. The little girl froze for a second before shaking off her fear and nodding, a brave look on the little one's face. Yuko smiled before she looked at Holden. "Can you go get my tools for me?" Yuko asked. Holden nodded and raced upstairs with Isaac and Jacob following him to help him get the toolbox down. Meanwhile, Yuko got Alita comfortable, using her robotic arm to scan Alita's prosthetic to see what the problem was.

"What's going on with her arm?" Adom asked her, Pops keeping the little one entertained.

"Well, you remember that network Dracnus connected the DracTech prosthetics to in order to keep tabs on everyone in Cypher City? There's a part in each of them that allows an electric current to kick in everytime Dracnus wants to deal that person punishment." Yuko told him.

"I thought Dracnus couldn't do that to our prosthetics from down here, the signal can't reach Underground City." Adom replied.

"You're right, it can't... But for some reason, that part in Alita's is broken so that the electric current goes off every few minutes. It's not a strong enough charge to stop her heart, mind you, but it is strong enough to hurt her." Yuko responded as Holden came back with her tools. "I'm going to fix it so it stops hurting her altogether." Holden put her tools next to her.

"Here you go." Holden told her.

"Thanks, little man. You're the best." Yuko smiled, ruffling his hair again.

"Holden, where the heck are Isaac and Jacob?" Adom asked.

"After they helped me get Yuko's toolbox down, they went into the shop to "hold the fort down".... Whatever that means." Adom answered, using air quotes and causing Yuko to have to hold back her giggles. There was something about the look on the six-year-old's face as he used air quotes that struck Yuko as absolutely hilarious. After a deep breath to still her laughter, Yuko focused on fixing the part on Alita's arm that was bothering her, speaking to Alita to keep her distracted from what was going on.

"Alita, how old are you?" Yuko asked. The little girl held up her flesh hand, showing four fingers. "Four?" Alita nodded in confirmation. "That's super cool."

"Yeah, you're like... One year away from being old enough to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels for the first time. It's super scary at first, but I promise it's a ton of fun once you get the hang of it." Holden excitedly told Alita, a smile crossing the girl's face. Yuko chuckled a bit and let Holden tell Alita all the perks of being 5 years old while Yuko fixed Alita's robotic arm.

A few hours later, Yuko was looking over the blueprints of the Phoenix Whirlwind's original designs as she waited for the diagnostics to finish. 'How can I rebuild this so it's my own?' She thought, her arms crossed over her chest. She tapped her foot a couple times before glancing over at the pullout bed. Fast asleep, with her robotic arm fixed and her tummy full of good food, was Alita. A small smile crossed Yuko's face before a soft beeping indicated that the diagnostics were finished. Her brow furrowed and her smile dropped when she saw just how much damage had been done. 'I was afraid this was gonna happen, those stupid Chasers made sure Jack could never duel again on this thing.... Hell, would Yusei even know how to fix this?' She thought with an eyebrow raised before setting to work. After a while, her vision got blurry from looking at the blueprints too long, causing a frustrated sigh to leave Yuko's lips as she closed down the screen and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Pops was right, I really oughta get more sleep..." Yuko trailed off under her breath, though it pained her a bit to admit it. She slipped off her boots, sliding into bed as an exhausted sigh left her lips. Her emerald flecked sapphire eyes drooped, her hair falling in her face like a curtain as her eyes finally closed. 'I'll jump on repairs early tomorrow... For now, though, Pops is right. I need rest....'

While she slept, Yuko was unaware of the chaos that was about to unfold... Unaware of the growing threat on the surface...

[shes-claws-deep]

Nero - Strength and What Comes With It

Thank you for your commission, @meatboll3! I hope you enjoy this 1500 word fic of Nero showing off his strength and getting fucked in the process ;D

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It might be because he's been away for a while, but Nero's been particularly attentive lately. And by attentive, you mean he's literally become your shadow. A tall, pale-haired, ivory skinned shadow. He follows you around the house like a little puppy, quipping ever so often but typically staying quiet unless you say something first, offering to 'lend a hand' if it looks like you'll need one. He carts around boxes, heavy loads of books, and once a heavy armchair, all while walking around bare as the day he was born.

You're not complaining, of course, not when his beautiful body is on display for your viewing pleasure. Not when his back muscles ripple with each step that he takes, when his thighs and biceps flex as he shifts the heavy load in his arms. And who can forget the perfection that is his tight bubble butt that jerks when you give in and give it a little pinch. Oh, he doesn't complain whenever you get handsy. Far from it, in fact, by the looks of his little lip biting and soft moans when your nails get involved.

That's not to say that Nero isn't copping feels of his own, but he is far more subtle. Little touches that could be easily mistaken for innocent caresses but for the sly grins and smirks on his face. Like when he grabs you by the waist and hoists you high enough that you can reach into the top shelf for...something. By clamping one arm around you like an iron bar, he holds you up easily for as long as you need, which lets his free hand wander over your legs freely. You could dismiss it as a steadying hand if it were anyone else, but Nero and his demonic strength mean that single arm around your waist is more than enough to hold you up. Although, it'd be hard to think of his free hand as steadying when it slides up your bare inner thigh before it hits your shorts, his incredibly warm hand searing your skin. Rubbing and squeezing until you're trembling and scrambling to remember what you wanted from that shelf.

And then. And then when he sets you down, it's by letting you slide through his grip slowly, making sure your ass slides past his bare, half-hard cock, making sure that you can feel every inch of his rock hard, beautifully sculpted body. You appreciate it, oh you really do, so much so that you stay in place and feel his powerful arm flex under your breasts, tightening deliciously and pressing you back against his chest.

After a while of feeling him up, of reaching back to scratch and knead at his bare thighs, you pull away and drag a teasing finger over his jaw. "You said you needed to rearrange your gym equipment, right?" Your voice is a low purr, breathy and sensuous and paired with a sultry look from under your lashes.

Nero gulps and grins, lowering his head to put his lips to your ear. "Why, you wanna watch?"

Chuckling darkly, you inch around him and wander off without whatever you were looking for in the cupboard. "I always want to watch, pretty boy."

Behind you, Nero bites his lip and follows dutifully, already thinking of ways that he can misplace his free weights. Luckily for him, once he enters his little home gym he doesn't have to fabricate a reason because he genuinely can't find his weights.

"Lost your weights, honey?" Your voice swirls around his ears as you watch him root around a couple of benches on his knees. Oh man, that is one hell of a view right there, his heart-shaped ass and his heavy balls swaying as he reaches under tables and benches.

Nero picks his head up and grins toothily at you, crawling out from under the table and heading over to you on all fours like a cat. "Maybe. Luckily, I've got a spare."

"Oh yeah?" You bite your lip and stay still, allowing him to come up right to you and nose at your thighs. You know exactly what he means. God, fuck, you do love joining in on his workouts. Getting into a pushup position on his knees, he raises his back enough that you can comfortably take a seat on the broad expanse of his upper back, a hand landing on his shoulder to steady yourself as you take your feet off the ground.

You're not light, hardly a feather, but you feel that way when Nero punches out his pushups like a champ. He keeps on talking to you while you help him keep count, though you often lose count when you feel his muscles working under your ass and thighs.

"Hey, that was definitely 50!" He twists his head so he can look up at you, his elbows locked to keep him upright. "Where did you learn to count?"

You laugh and pat his head, scratching at his scalp until you can feel his back tremble under you. "I can't help it if you're so distracting, Nero. Alright, 50."

Snorting, Nero leans into your touch. "Yeah yeah. Keep count this time, alright?" As if he would tire even if you didn't. This time, he puts his right arm behind his back, his clever little fingers tickling your thigh as he holds onto you. And so with one powerful arm, he presses down, then back up. Down and up. Just like with his regular pushups, he doesn't seem to notice your weight on his back at all. Heck, he even crosses his ankles and does his pushups that way.

Saliva fills your mouth as you feel his impressive strength, as he finishes his one-armed pushups and goes down on his elbows to a plank position. Now that he's still, though, you can feel the minute tremors in his muscles, the shifting of his body as he tightens his core to keep his body absolutely straight. It makes you want to make him tremble for an entirely different reason. And also to lick him all over, because a light sheen of sweat is building up on his skin and making him glisten under the bright lights.

But you're patient. Oh so very patient. So you wait for him to finish his minute-long plank and for him to fall flat on his chest as he relaxes.

"Ow, my dick," he whines, lifting his hips to shift his cock to the right. Whoops, he must've landed on it the wrong way.

Seeing your opportunity, you scramble off his back and push on his shoulder to roll him over. "Oh, you poor baby. Let me take a look~" His dick looks fine. More than fine, what with it quickly hardening over your intense gaze and 'clinical' physical examination. "Where does it hurt?"

Nero bites his lower lip and plays along. "The uh, the tip-" Then he throws his head back as you lean down and press a kiss against the head that peeks out from under his foreskin. "Nngh! It-ah, it still hurts, mistress~" Hips twitching and thighs flexing, he puts on his best puppy dog eyes and controls the reflexive twitch of his cock when you crawl between his legs and splay your hands out over his hips. "Maybe you can-mmh!- massage the pain away."

Swallowing your giggles, you oblige and press your lips to the underside of his head, right where he's most sensitive, and give him a nice little kiss. And another one. And yet another one. Massaging him with your lips alone and giving him just the barest of sucks until you can see clear precum beading on his slit. "Like that?"

He's panting and moaning already, his hands digging into the floor on either side of his hips to prevent himself from grabbing at your head. "Y-yeah, just like that." Then he gulps and tries his luck. "Do I get a candy for being a good patient?"

A sharp grin stretches across your face and you purr throatily. "Mmm, I'll do you one better, Nero." Rising from your position, you slowly crawl over him. Letting his throbbing, red hot cock brush against your shirt, your shorts, smearing his precum all over your clothes until you're sat on his balls, your panties and shorts all that's stopping him from feeling your pussy on his flesh. "Tear my shorts off."

You don't need to say another word. His hands dart to the crotch of your bottoms, his strong fingers and bulging biceps ripping apart the admittedly flimsy fabric so the seam breaks, creating crotch-less shorts and ruining your panties beyond repair. With it out of the way, you sit down hard on the underside of his cock, your hips rocking and flexing to spread your wetness all over his needy flesh.

"Nngh, you're wet already?" Nero still has the presence of mind to quip, his pearly whites bared as he closes his hot hands around your thighs. "Guess you were really turned on."

You mirror that toothy snarl. "You could say that. It's hard not to be when I've got all this spread out in front of me." Even flat on his back and completely relaxed, Nero's impressive muscles are still evident and provide the perfect handholds for you. "Now shut up for a bit while I ride you." At that, you rise up on your knees and take his cock in hand, angling it into your pussy so you can slide down on him.

Nero whimpers and tightens his grip on your thighs, his throat working as he struggles to clear the saliva from his mouth. "O-oh, damn, where's the gag when-uh-when you need it, huh?"

It turns out that your hand works well enough as a gag, particularly when you slip several fingers into his ready and willing mouth to play with his tongue. "Looks like I'll have to keep your mouth busy," you pant out and let your eyes roll into the back of his head as his girth stretches you wide, his cock pressing deep into you the further you sink onto him. "Suck my fingers, Nero."

Finally properly distracted, Nero obeys and takes one hand from your thighs to close around your wrist, keeping it there so he can properly worship your fingers as he would your pussy. All the while, his hips are rocking in time with yours to press deeper, to sink all of him inside you as you struggle to take him.

As wet as you are, his cock is considerably big. Big enough that you let out a cry when he finally goes in balls deep, your knees clenching around his waist as you pulse around his thickness.

Up at his mouth, Nero's tongue is working overtime around your fingers, his hot breaths swirling over your hand and his moans making themselves known. He trembles as you do, though his are from preventing himself from thrusting. He'd give anything to move, to fuck up into you as hard as he dares, but that look in your eyes stops him. The look and your free hand that creeps around his neck gently.

"Slowly," you gasp, "Fuck me slowly."

With a grunt, he obeys, planting his feet firmly on the ground and rolling his hips up into you in a slow wave. Quiet, shucking sounds join his breathless whimpers and your own little moans, growing in intensity as he starts fucking you harder, though no faster than his original pace.

Cheeky boy, you think with a smile. "Faster now, Nero."

"Yes, mistress," he growls around your fingers, leaning up into your hand as he starts rutting into you hard and fast, his pace furious as you begin to bounce on his cock from the power of his thrusts. "Mmmmhhh mistress!"

You love how he becomes like a feral little bratty monster like this, growling and teething at your fingers even as he anchors you at your wrist. Even as you tighten your grip around his neck, he doesn't fight you, instead using it as a sign to go faster. To go harder. To inch his hand closer to your clit.

"Yessss," you hiss, throwing your head back and leaning harder on his throat. "Touch my clit, Nero. Make me cum!"

His hand catches on your ruined shorts, fumbling adorably until his calloused thumb presses sweetly over your throbbing, soaked clit, rubbing it just the way you like until you're fucking him as hard as he's fucking you. Your breasts bounce in your bra from the force of your combined thrusts, beads of sweat dripping and soaking the back of your shirt as you work faster, grind harder, scratching at his pale, lightly scarred skin until he's vibrating under you with need.

His thumb on your clit, his tongue over your fingers, and his cock throbbing and piercing you deep, it all gets too much for that powerful heat growing in your gut.

"Come on! Comeoncomeoncomeon-" Nero chants under his breath, his eyes going glassy and unfocused. "Mistress!"

And that's all you need. With a loud guttural snarl, you cum on his cock, your eyes blowing wide as a powerful orgasm wracks your body and wipes your mind. All you can think about is how his cock is still hammering away at you, how his throat flexes under your hand, and you're still rolling your hips and making him prolong your bliss for as long as possible. Eventually, your pleasure thins out to a fine point, turning painful and white hot and making you wrench yourself off his cock with a loud gasp.

"Mistress!" He cries out, his hands going to your hips as though to pull you down. "Oh come on, I was so close!" His voice is raw and wrecked, perhaps more because of his incessant moaning and groaning than anything your hand on his throat could do.

Still trying to gather your senses and your scattered brain cells, you wave a hand in the air. "W-wait, give me a second."

Nero growls. "One." Then he bowls you over and gently lays you on the yoga mat nearby.

"Oi!"

"You said one second!" He defends himself and starts rutting at your soaked, partly clothed thigh. "Don't leave me hanging, please?"

You groan and flop back down, using a saliva-soaked hand to push your hair back from your face. "Oh fine. But not inside me, I'm too sensitive."

Nero grumbles but nods, shifting your legs together and throwing your ankles over one broad shoulder. "I can do that." Now with his sodden cock trapped between your thighs, he ruts gently, kissing your calves all the while. Soon, he gets really into it, pounding into your thighs and pushing you all over the place.

You laugh and hold onto his sweat-soaked thighs, digging your nails in when your grip slips. "Don't cum on me! I like this shirt."

He growls darkly. "Then where the hell am I supposed to cum?"

A dark glint enters your eyes. "You don't."

[intothedanvers-e]

Young, Dumb, & Broke

Word Count: 2.6k (whoops)

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader

Summary: You just graduated high school and were ready to embark on your last summer of being a dumb teen and going on adventures before having to face the realities of the adult world. One day you were driving to a lake to meet some of your friends when your car broke down in the middle of nowhere. With no service and no gas stations around you wandered a little down the street and found one house where you went to ask for help. You expected to find an old couple living in the middle of nowhere, but a nice young British guy (Tom) answered the door. Due to unforeseen circumstances you spend the rest of the afternoon and most of the night together, but when it’s time to leave he says he wants to see you again. You exchange numbers with the cute British guy and embark on a long, secretive summer fling. You both lie about what you do for a living and what you were both doing in the middle of nowhere, but the moments you too bonded were all genuine. Will he find out about your plans after summer? Will you find out what he actually does for a living? Will this fling extend past summer?

Authors Note: Thank you for all the feedback on this series! So i think im officially commiting to updating this once a week on Tuesdays! Mondays are usually a drag for me so i end up finishing a bunch of writing anyway and it helps perk me up for the rest of the week! I know its monday but next week ill update it on tuesday :) if you have any feedback/comments or would like to be added to my taglist for this series let me know!! this chapter is a little longer but I wanted to sort of finish this part to move on to cuter angsty stuff ;) i genuinely hope you enjoy this as much as i enjoy writing it!! thanks for readin <3 

Here’s my masterlist!

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 5

Chapter 4

You jumped up from the couch, your phone alarm startling you awake. You quickly turned it off trying not to wake up a sleeping Tom on the other couch. It was too late, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He smiled at you as soon as he saw you were awake.

“Sorry about that, I forgot I put an alarm on my phone so I can get up to shower. I didn’t mean to wake you up”

“S’alright. I should probably make breakfast before we go on and take a look at your car,” he said getting up from under his blanket.

“Oh you don’t have to come with me I don’t want- “

“Already decided!” he yelled as he walked into the kitchen.

He started playing music from a speaker as the sound of pots and pans being shifted around became louder. You quickly took a shower and came back out to meet Tom for what you thought was a quick breakfast. To your surprise he’d made a full spread; pancakes, cut up fruit, a ham and cheese omelet and some toast.

“Whoa thank you for breakfast,” you said sitting down in the seat next to him.

He just gave you a big smile considering he was already shoving things in his mouth. His hair was super bed-head curly and his eyes seemed sleepy but content. He looked adorable to say the least. You realized you were staring at him and quickly looked down at your various plates of food, quietly cursing yourself for staring at him for so long and hoping he hadn’t noticed.

“The car should be coming to get us at about 10, if that’s ok with you.”

“Do you mean like a taxi or something?”

“Uhh yeah,” he said quickly.

“You didn’t have to; I could’ve just walked.”

“Nonsense. Y/N when will you just let me be nice to you?”

You blushed and simply nodded your head. You spent all night trying to not be an inconvenience you didn’t even consider maybe he was just a really nice guy. He finished all the food in front of him and got up quickly.

“I’m going to go get ready before they come get us,” he said walking toward the stairs, “don’t you dare wash dishes, just put them in the dishwasher okay?”

You shot him a thumbs up and he disappeared up the stairs. 30 minutes later he walked into the living room as you were casually laying on the couch reading a book. You looked up at him and felt the butterflies again. His outfit was nothing special, a plain white shirt with regular jeans and a dark flannel, and his hair was slightly more tamed but just looking at him made your heart race. You didn’t want to admit it, but you may have a slight crush on him. You sat up as he walked over to you and plopped down on the couch next to you. He had a small box in his hands.

“I, uh, found an extra one of these in one of my suitcases. I ordered one online and they accidentally sent two. I was going to return it but seeing how much you like the character I really think you should have him.”

He handed you a tiny box with a Spiderman keychain in it. He was hanging upside down in his classic spidey suit.

“Oh my god this is adorable. He’ll look great next to my tiny Iron-Man. Thank you.”

“Just a little something to remember last night by,” he said looking deep into your eyes.

“How could I ever forget?”

He cleared his throat and looked down at his feet. He looked at the watch on his wrist and stood up.

“The car should be here any minute if you’d like to wait outside.”

“Sounds good.”

He quickly grabbed your duffel bag and headed out the door. You were going to tell him you didn’t mind carrying it, but stopped yourself and let him be a gentleman. He locked the door as a fancy blacked out Range Rover pulled up.

“What kind of taxi service is this?” you said your eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

“It’s not. He’s more like a, uh, chauffer?”

You turned to him and looked at him like he was crazy.

“What?!”

“Hey I’m not old enough to drive a rental car so, uh, my friend Harrison always manages to hire a chauffeur for if I need to get around places! It’s no big deal, I know the guy.” he said doing a quick handshake with the driver who had gotten off to open the back door for you. You climbed in the car shaking your head at Tom who got on the other side. Within a few minutes you were pulling up next to the mechanic. You could see that they were working on your car. You quickly thanked the driver and climbed off. Tom grabbed your bag and sent the driver on his way.

“Hey if I need you I’ll call you big guy. You’re the best man.”

They did their little handshake and he drove off. The both of you walked into the small office together. A middle aged man turned around in his chair to face you.

“How can I be of service to you today?” he said in a thick southern accent.

“Hi I’m Y/N, uh my car is the one that got picked up late last night. The small green one.”

“Oh that car. Got some of my best guys working on it, although I will say I do think you’d be better off selling that piece of junk and buying a new car little lady. Don’t know how much longer it’ll last.”

“I just need it to last through the summer.”

“Well let’s go ask Hal how it’s comin along and we’ll see if it’s even fixable okay lil lady?”

You nodded and followed close behind him, Tom close on your heels. You walked over to the car and saw that four guys were working on various different parts of it. The guy from the office was talking to who you assumed was Hal. You took a step closer to see if you could hear anything. Hal turned to look at you and extended his hand toward you.

“Hello ma’am I’m Hal, the best mechanic at this here Complete Auto Body. I take it this is your car?”

“I’m Y/N, yeah this is my baby.”

“Well no offence ma’am but I think she’s far gone. We can repair her for the time being and make her drivable but I think in about six months’ time you’ll be back in here with some irreparable damage. Might consider selling her off.”

“Six-month reliability is fine. I just need her to pull me through the summer.”

The guy looked at you confused and nodded. He turned to the three guys who were all hovering around your car.

“Well you heard the lady.”

They all went back to working on your car. The guy from the office walked you back into the tiny room.

“They should be done within the hour ma’am. If you give me a few minutes I can gather up a quote for you.”

You nodded and he left the room quickly. You and Tom sat on two chairs that were up against a wall. He turned to look at you and you realized he had a confused look on his face.

“What?”

“Why do you only need your car through summer? Are you planning on buying a new one?”

You looked down and started picking at your nails.

“No but, um, I’m moving away after the summer. I was planning on selling my car right before I moved so that I don’t have any more baggage that I don’t need.”

“Oh for like college or something?”

“Yeah kind of. I just need it to get me to and from work this summer. After my last shift I’ll drive it off to sell it and I’ll be done with this town.”

“I thought you liked it here?”

“I do, I guess. But I just need a change of scenery. Its home. It’ll always be home; I don’t think my mom wants to move anywhere else. I just need to not feel like I’ll be stuck here forever you know?”

He gave you an empathetic smile and looked like he was about to tell you something but was cut off by the guy walking back into the office.

“Here you go ma’am,” he said handing you a yellow receipt.

You smiled and looked down at the paper. You felt like your head was going to fly off your body.

“1500 dollars?!”

He walked over to you and began explaining everything you were paying for but you couldn’t hear a word he was saying. All you could think about was how big of a setback this would be toward you finally getting away from this town. You had just about 1500 in your savings account but that was going straight toward your moving away fund, or at least it was supposed to. You suddenly thought about the emergency credit card your mom gave you. She would probably be mad as hell if you used it but at least this way you could pay her back in payments and not all at once. It would set you back a month or two but you could continue to make the payments from anywhere in the world which meant you could technically still leave whenever you had enough money. You cut the guy off and stood quickly.

“I need to make a phone call.”

You quickly walked out of the office and dialed your mom. She was out of town and probably working but you had to try, you didn’t want her to find out about the credit card charge from the bank but from you instead. It went straight to voicemail. You tried a few more times with no luck. You decided to try one last time and this time it only rang once and went to voicemail. You decided to leave a message.

“Hey mom. So something came up and don’t panic but good ole Patricia took a beating last night. No it wasn’t a crash but she got pretty fucked up. Anyway unfortunately it’s about 1500 to fix her and, uh, I’m using the emergency card to pay it. Please don’t be mad. I’m going to pay you back every last cent, with interest if you want. I’m really sorry. I know I fucked up. Call me back. Bye.”

You hung up and groaned into the sky. This was just your luck. You wanted nothing but to leave and expand your horizons but something kept having you tethered here. Despite how nice and good you were to people, you always seemed to get the worst karma. While you were standing there feeling sorry for yourself Hal walked over to you.

“She’s all yours ma’am. My boys are just dustin’ her off for you.”

“Thank you Hal. I just need to go back inside and pay her off.”

“My pleasure ma’am. Be safe out there.”

He shook your hand and quickly walked off. You dug your wallet out of your backpack and walked back into the office. To your surprise Tom was standing in front of the man’s desk shaking his hand.

“Nice doing business with you kind sir.”

“Yeah whatever,” the man said handing him your car keys. He saw your confused expression and quickly pushed you out of the office.

“I have to, uh, pay him.”

“All taken care of Y/N,” he said pushing you toward your car.

“What are you talking about Tom? I can’t just leave without paying him.”

“It’s paid for,” he said using your key to open your trunk to set down your duffel bag.

“What do you- “

It instantly clicked in your head. Had he just paid 1500 dollars to get you your car back?

“Tom what the fuck?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you just pay 1500 dollars?”

“No.”

“Tom!”

“Not technically.”

“TOM WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“Can you please get in the car and I’ll explain everything where 15 guys with heavy tools can’t hear us?”

You quickly climbed in the driver’s seat. Your heart felt like it was going to pop out of your chest and it felt like you were sweating bullets. You didn’t like owing people things, and you already felt like you owed Tom a lot for letting you crash at his place overnight; you didn’t want to owe him actual money at this point.

“I’ll pay it all back. We just need to go to an ATM so I can take the money out of my savings,” you said turning the car on.

“No Y/N it’s really not a problem. The guy was trying to scam you. While he was explaining everything you were essentially paying for, some things weren’t adding up. I know a thing or two about fixing and restoring old cars, and he was telling you about things that didn’t even exist. When you left to talk to your mom I asked to see the receipt and called his bluff. You really only owed him 650 dollars, so I decided to pay it off so you never had to look at that sleazebag again.”

You were trying to process everything he was saying, your head was spinning so much you had to pull over.

“Wait how did you know I left to call my mom?”

“The windows might have been open?”

You gave him a death glare.

“Okay look think of this as an investment. I could tell by the tone in your voice that you’re the kind of person who hates asking people for things, especially your mom. I figured you’d probably been saving up to move out of here for as long as you could remember and I didn’t want this to fuck it up. I’m investing into your future Y/N. I could feel the passion you had in your dreams from the way you talked about them last night in the pool, and I believe in you. I had the resources to help you, so I did. No strings attached. I just really didn’t want to see a bad thing happen to a good person.”

You sat there a second without saying anything, hands glued to your steering wheel.

“650 dollars is still a lot Tom. I can’t just accept that from anyone, especially someone who has already opened their home and risked their life to give me a place to crash. Let me pay you back, please?”

“Y/N I promise you you don’t need to.”

“Let me be your unofficial tour guide,” you said quickly.

“What?”

“Let me show you around, from the point-of-view of someone who knows this town like the back of my hand. Whenever I’m not working and you’re not busy I’ll come pick you up and we’ll go on an adventure.”

He looked at you and smiled.

“Deal. I was hoping this wouldn’t be the last time I would see you this summer.”

You pulled off the side of the road and began driving.

“Oh you and I are going to get real close this summer Tom. That’s my official Y/N promise, and I never break a promise.”

You took a quick glance at him and smiled, he gave you his signature goofy smile with a slight shade of pink in his cheeks. Your summer just got a lot more interesting.

Tag-list: @hollandlovely @greenarrowhead @justanotherfangirl2015 @oh-dear-tommy @marvelnerdxinfinity @lafayettes-baguettes-1 @hollandhugs @tiredofallthetroubles @marvel-ing-at-it-all @built4broadway

strikethrough means i cant tag you for some reason :(

[animatedpileofbones]

DA q's!! 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 14, 17, 25, 33, 34, 37, 40, 42, 47, 51, 52, 60, 63, 66, 77, 78, 79, 98, and 99~! (◠‿◠✿)

eli i love you man here we go, this is long sorry but i have a Lot To Say! i literally wrote like 1500 words for these so it’s under a readmore.

1 how did you get into dragon age

i was on tumblr when inquisition came out and a lot of my friends and mutuals at the time suddenly became dragon age blogs for a while (some still are, howdy!) yEARS later i found origins on discount at gamestop and decided to check it out and whoops now i’m a fucking mess forever :)

4 about my warden(s)

My first, and most recently rehashed* warden was Gwinek, she was a casteless dwarf rogue, dual wielder. I didn’t know there were specific temperaments in this game like in 2 but I play her as gruff but fiercely loyal. She would do almost anything for her friends and sister, but is very naive in matters of magic. She romanced Leliana.

*rehashed because I came to the series completely blind, and as such made some not so great choices the first time around.

I also have an elven mage, named Lemmen, she was also a big helpy helperton but slow to trust. She romanced Alistair and I don’t like to think about that sacrifice. :’)

5 about my hawke(s)

My first Hawke was Marcel, a dual wielding rogue and I played him purple. He is big into his friends, obviously, but mostly just wants to be liked despite the fact that he is accidentally an asshole sometimes. He romanced Fenris. All my Hawkes romance Fenris. I love Fenris just so much and I keep telling myself one of these times I’m going to romance Isabela but then Fenris walks in all drama and vengeance and I’m just too gay to handle it. My latest Hawke was Lucien, a… purple dual-wielding rogue. He erred on the side of blue, though, whereas Marcel was vaguely red, so. Not Entirely the same but view my problem, especially going into...

6 about my inquisitor(s)

My first inquisitor was Vodahl Cadash, a… dwarven dual-wielding rogue. :) He was pretty anti-chantry but was also more invested in taking care of his crew than making enemies, preferring to let Josephine handle PR and just say what she told him to say while he supported his team as he saw fit. He lived for life on the road, mostly, an adventurer type, but whatever his inner circle needed, they got. He romanced The Iron Bull, because I’m a thirsty thirsty bitch. I rehashed the dwarven rogue in Heraht, this time romancing Dorian; Heraht was much more enamored with surface life, not necessarily Ferelden-style though. He was well manicured and a bit on the sarcastic side of charming. Right now i’m playing a human sword-and-shield warrior, Errol Travellyan, and he is accidentally just Dorian But From The Free Marches in personality. He can be easily frustrated, I play him fairly no nonsense at times but he’s trying to maintain his Approachable Facade. He’s…. also romancing Dorian OH NO

7 favorite origins backstory

Oooh this is tough because I love Leliana so much, and Alistair just makes me cry all the time I Love That Man, ooh this is tough but I think I have to say Morrigan. She is a story gift that keeps on giving, and I think this is because of what we learned in Inquisition. Without that info, I think… OH NO WAIT IT’S SHALE, HANDS DOWN IT’S SHALE

11 best hawke quote

it’s not specifically a quote but when you bring the viscount’s son back in act 1 and you can either keep your mouth shut about their disagreement or Well Actually yourself into that conversation, that’s my favorite.

14 favorite origins party combo

Before you get Shale, it’s Alistair, Leliana, and the dog. After Shale, it’s Shale, Leliana, and either Zevran or Alistair.

17 mabari name

In Origins, I named the mabari after a person from the backstory. For Gwinek it was Leske to keep her friend with her even now. For Lemmen it was Jowan, because at least the mabari would never let her down. In DA2, it was a family pet, so for Marcel it was named Champion, and for Lucien it was Handsome Cal, and you can envision all sorts of titles in there but I didn’t have enough characters. Lord Handsome Cal Esquire III (he was the first)

25 favorite inquisition place

It’s the Hissing Wastes for sure. It’s always dusk, it’s so vast and beautiful. I love just hanging out there.

33 favorite dragon age character overall

Hey Eli? I hate this question! I am doing my current playthrough solely for the benefit of Leliana this is true. But I have a horrible weakness for two (2) men, Fenris and The Iron Bull, I can’t choose between them, and also Varric, and, asdlfjasdf how could you do this to me? I also identify very heavily with Dorian, and, I’m going to just cry instead of answer this, how about that?

34 least favorite character

Oh it’s Anders no doubt, no question, I hate him. I hate him so much. Like don’t get me wrong, I am in full support of mages taking back their space in Thedas, I just. Have known guys like Anders and the way he hits on f!Hawke like immediately after his intro quest, y’know where we had to kill his boyfriend? felt so bad and just turned my mild irritation into full-on hate.

37 blood magic yes/no

Nope.

40 moment/action i regret in game

Just like everything with the ending of Origins. I don’t prefer to do the ritual with Morrigan because I tend to play women which means I need to coerce Alistair into doing it and I did that for exactly two savestates (one being my Cousland because I wanted to see how that went and then the first time around with Gwinek) thinking “this is the best long term post-game choice! Neither of us have to die! And I’m not even making him be king!” despite it sitting bitterly in the back of my mind the rest of the series. then comes Inquisition and the full consequences of my actions hit me like a brick in the face and I eventually scrapped that playthrough and went back and didn’t be a shithead shitbag, replaying Gwinek entirely so that choice wouldn’t have even begun to make sense to her. I regret that so much.

42 who do i wish i could romance

VARRIC “PARAGON OF MANLINESS” TETHRAS

47 best antagonist

Arl Rendon Howe from Origins, cos he was voiced by Tim Curry and that was just so sexy of a choice. In all seriousness though, Meredith from da2.

51 favorite warden/hawke/inq headcanon any/all

Lucien Hawke routinely had sleepovers at his estate in Hightown. He tried to a couple times while living with Gamlen, but everyone was too sad to indulge him.

Heraht nearly breaks up with Dorian on a near weekly basis whenever Dorian accidentally lumps him in with the Fereldens re: hygiene. Also, not a headcanon but just the way I played but the two of them absolutely had coordinating outfits at all times.

Gwinek shared tents with Wynne most nights, finding in Wynne the mother she wished she and Rica would have had.

Also with Gwinek, she may have helped her sister’s paramour become king but she doesn’t trust him half as far as she can throw him and comes down to Orzammar on the regs to make sure he’s treating Rica right, and he knows damn well that Gwinek put him into that throne and she Will take him back out of it, and he can’t do shit without risking absolute chaos. 

This is also a good time to mention my ot3s: Hawke/Fenris/Isabela, Heraht/Dorian/Bull

52 favorite npc headcanons

Fenris took to reading rather easier than Hawke would have guessed, only Hawke didn’t know just how well Fenris had taken to it until years into their relationship because Fenris thought the “lessons” were cute.

The Iron Bull introduced hot cocoa to Skyhold and literally changed so many lives in that moment; quartermaster Morris pulled so many strings to get marshmallows in, and when they arrived the first time the celebration was almost a riot.

60 who do i wish had been given more story

Weird to say for the woman who had her own Origins DLC and also was pivotal in Inquisition, but Morrigan. She’s just really interesting to me. Also, Warden Stroud. I think he was just there to be the Easy Low Stakes Choice to leave in the Fade honestly but I hated not having a reason to care about him. I didn't play any da2 dlc tho.

63 best story moment

This is tough? I enjoyed the landsmeet in origins. I think most of da2 was great story. Except Orsino obviously. I think I’m just going to point to all of da2. Yeah.

66 something i hate about any of the games

it can’t seem to decide how it feels about the qunari. also that there are characters that absolutely are not straight that the writers decided Actually, Despite Everything, They Are Straight Actually :’)

77 what moment/memory still gives me chills/feels

Definitely definitely Dorian’s confrontation with his dad. That was so well acted, I felt that pain and betrayal so viscerally. It hurts every time. As for a different brand of chills, y’know when if you seduce The Iron Bull and stuff finally starts happening there, and he lifts the inquisitory by the wrists in One Hand and remember I was playing a dwarf, oo golly that shit is All I Need In Life

78 what am i hoping for in da4

More magic and Old Gods and stuff! More Morrigan? Familiar faces!

79 what am i worried about for da4

Familiar faces! :’) Also just so heavyhanded “morally gray” issues that is actually just bad edgy writing. Worried we will be racelocked like in 2 :(

98 if i could be any non human da species which/why

Dwarf, because halflings don’t exist in thedas and dwarves are fairly industrious as a culture

99 where would i live

Despite what I just said, I would probably live somewhere in the Free Marches! Kirkwall ended up pretty fucked and I am absolutely biased because da2 was my favorite.

[bowersclub-losersgang]

Dancing With the Devil

Chapter One: Fallen Angel (SFW)

Pairing: Lucifer (female) x Patrick

Word count: +1500

Warning: swearing

Rating: SFW

Summary: Lucifer shows up in Derry to apologise to the losers club & bowers gang for her demonic clown that terrorised them but she ends up caring for all of them and even develops feelings for Patrick Hockstetter.

Another quiet morning in Derry, another seemingly uneventful day, but oh, were they in for a treat.

Upon this crisp winter morning, Lucifer had arrived. Yes, Satan, the devil, whatever you want to call her, she had arrived and wasn’t planning on leaving for a while. She had presented herself as a 16 year old girl, with long brown hair and a set of golden brown eyes.

Her black combat boots thumped against the vinyl floor of the halls of Derry High School. She smirked at every confused face that stared at her.

The people were confused since no one new had shown up in Derry for years, the last person who had moved here was Ben Hanscom but unlike Lucifer, Ben didn’t stand out, he made sure he didn’t. But Lucifer, she wanted to stand out, she wanted all the attention on her.

However, attention wasn’t the reason the devil came into town, no, she was sent to apologise. Apologise for what? You ask. Well, to apologise for the demonic clown that terrorised the town, specifically the group of seven losers, and also the gang of four delinquents.

It was the first period of the day and Lucifer was honestly just winging it. She wasn’t enrolled legally, but she’d managed to convince the principal she was, a perk of being the ruler of hell.

As she reached the classroom that the six losers were sat in she opened the door with a little too much force, not realising the strength she had. The door flew open in a split second and the door handle got stuck in the wall when it made a hole. The while commotion made a loud bang and caused everyone in the classroom to jump and stare.

“Whoops!” Lucifer said sarcastically, “let me just fix this,” she tugged door out of the wall and closed it properly, gently, but then she noticed the huge hole in the wall, “yeah, that’ll leave a mark… oh well!” she shrugged and faced the teacher.

The teacher was an old lady, with white hair and wrinkled skin. Her glasses were falling down the bridge of her nose as she stared at the teenage girl angrily. “Who are you?” the old lady asked rudely.

Lucifer smiled brightly and held out a hand, “Lucifer, but you can call me Luci,” her thick British accent was now prominent that she was speaking aloud. She kept her hand held out but once realising the teacher wasn’t going to shake it, she lowered it back down to her side, “very well then…” she mumbled but then regained her powerful stance and smirk, “I’m your new student,”

The teacher stared at her dumbfound, not only by her name, since who would ever name their daughter after the devil, but also the young girl’s confident attitude, it felt like she ran the place.

“I’m sorry, your name is Lucifer?” the teacher wanted conformation that she’d heard correctly before and wasn’t going crazy.

“Yes indeed, father had a lousy taste in names, but it’s grown on me over the years,” Luci said with a sigh and slight shake of the head.

“Well, I wasn’t informed we had a new student joining us,” the teacher said returning to her angry, rude tone.

Lucifer laughed and swept imaginary dust off of the old hag’s shoulders before patting her head and saying, “well now you are, darling,”

Luci began walking to an empty seat that happened to be among the six kids she was hoping to see.

“I don’t like your attitude young lady! I’m sending you to the principal’s office!” the wrinkled lady exclaimed, stomping her foot down.

Luci quickly snapped back around and turned on her manipulating powers and said, “No you’re not.”

“No I’m not,” the teacher repeated and went back to teaching the lesson.

Luci smirked and continued her journey to the seat that was in between ben Hanscom and Bill Denbrough. In front of her was Richie Tozier, who was in between Stan Uris and Eddie Kaspbrak. And in front of Eddie was Beverly Marsh. Each of the self-acclaimed losers looked at her in awe. She smirked knowing they were impressed by her attitude and confidence.

“You losers want to hang out after school?” she asked, after school was the best time to apologise for Pennywise and then she could quickly return back to Hell.

Without thinking or even paying attention to what the girl had called him, Richie answered, “Fuck yeah!”

 After first period Luci winked a goodbye to all of the losers, making each of them blush, even Beverly Marsh, Luci just has that effect on people.

Now Luci was on her way to the classroom that Patrick Hockstetter and Henry Bowers were in. Unlike the last class, Luci had made it on time to this one, yet was still the last one in. this teacher seemed nicer as well, he was in his early forties and had a thick moustache.

“Oh hello! Are you new here?” he asked upon Lucifer’s arrival.

“Yes I am!” the girl exclaimed, already taking a liking to this teacher, he seemed like he wouldn’t give her any trouble.

“Well why don’t you introduce yourself to the class!” he said smiling brightly.

Luci didn’t even hesitate before speaking to the class, since, of course, she loved the attention, “Well I’m Lucifer, most just call me Luci, other than my name, nothing else is really interesting,” however, Patrick Hockstetter would silently disagree with that statement.

He found the girl very interesting. For starters her name is the same as Satan’s, but even before he knew that, even when she had walked into the room, Patrick was infatuated. He almost felt like he knew her, not her face, but her spirit. And he wouldn’t be incorrect in thinking that, because Lucifer was the one who had saved him from the demon clown. Yes, Pennywise did get Patrick but once Patrick was back in his natural mindset of ‘nothing is real’, Pennywise couldn’t eat him or even kill him, so instead he kept Patrick paralysed like the other children, and like he did with Beverly. Once the losers club chased Pennywise pack to Hell, Lucifer was forced to check out the damage and part of that was to bring Henry back to his usual self, and to make up for the other damages, she manipulated some people to let Beverly stay in Derry, manipulate some people to let Henry off the hook, and also brought Patrick back to consciousness, but only because she took a liking to him.

“Well go on and take your seat Luci,” the teacher said motioning to an empty seat.

Luci strutted to the seat that was right in front of Patrick. She was secretly delighted to be so near him, she wanted to properly meet the mortal boy who many believed deserved her title.

Ignoring the teacher, Luci turned back to look at the dark haired boy who sat next to his mulleted friend.

“Mister Hockstetter, what pleasure to officially meet you,” she said smoothly.

“You know me?” he asked, he wondered how in the hell she could already know who he is.

“Of course I do, how could I not know the boy who’s coming for my title?” She almost sounded like she was flirting and the Bowers boy witnessing this all picked up on the flirty tone. It made him roll his eyes and huff back into his seat with crossed arms. “And what’s wrong with you, Bowers?”

Henry chose to ignore how eerie it made him feel that this random girl knew his name, instead he just narrowed his eyes and focused on her, “just cause your name is Lucifer, doesn’t mean you’re really the devil,”

“Hey now, don’t underestimate me, darling,” she said, almost threateningly.

“Yeah, or what, Satan?” Henry scoffed while leaning further into his chair.

Luci smiled a sweet smile and hooked her index finger around his collar and brought his face close to her own, “or I’ll bring back the demon clown that made you kill your father, and some other creatures, and I will raise Hell on the streets of Derry. Got that?”

How does she know about the clown? Henry thought, and so did Patrick as he overheard the conversation. The mere thought of the clown made both boys shit themselves, but hearing Lucifer threaten them with it, scared them more.

“Everything okay back there?” the teacher called out to the three teens who paid no attention to whatever he was saying.

Luci turned back around and smiled her fake, sweet smile once more, “absolutely perfect sir!”

He smiled, nodded, and went back to writing on the chalk board. Luci’s smile dropped off of her face before she looked back the two, stunned boys. “You two will meet me behind the school after school is over,” and instead of winking, like she had done with the younger group of losers, she flashed her fiery red eyes which made Henry almost jump out of his skin. Patrick, however, sat there marvelling at the girl who had, at least to him, proved she was the devil.

So that day, Henry Bowers and Patrick Hockstetter had found out the truth.

The devil had arrived in Derry, and she wasn’t leaving any time soon.

Tags: @rune-of-a-writer @hockslutter

[inksmellsnice]

Title: Blue Roses Rating: K+ Pairing: Jay/Nya Words: 1500 Summary: Jay reminisces as he and Nya head together into the future.

Nya and Jay (and Jay's ever-excited parents) had tossed around a lot of ideas, but one thing about the wedding was always a given: blue roses. A single blue rose pinned to Jay's light blue tuxedo. Nya, adorned in a deep red kimono, carrying a blue bouquet. Petals of blue roses cascaded down the white isle that separates the two as the bride enters the room and silences the chatter of friends and family.

Jay can't even hear the strings start to play – all of his senses are focused on staring at his about-to-be wife and telling himself not to faint. He thinks he hears Cole lean over and mutter something to him teasingly but it doesn't register.

Nya sees how smitten Jay looks and the hundreds of awed eyes staring at her and clings tighter to her bouquet to resist fiddling with her hair and destroying hours of work. She looks to the ground, to her brother smiling reassuringly, to Jay's parents grossly sobbing, before finally regaining to nerve to look up at Jay and smile as she reaches the altar and takes her place beside her fiancé.

Master Wu starts into a long diatribe they've rehearsed a dozen times, and the two ninja gaze into one another's eyes and think back to how they first met, and how they became a couple, and how they finally – after a great deal of soul-searching and turbulence and pirates – decided they wanted to spend their lives together.

"So, um, Nya! We've been together for a long time, right? Well, I mean, we weren't together again until kinda recently I guess, but when you add up the total amount of time we've been dating, it's been a pretty long time! And I was wondering if… well… Look, what I'm trying to say is… Oh, this is stupid."

"Yer telling me, kiddo," Ed commented.

"Oh, Ed!" Edna scolded, taking off her black "Nya" wig and scratching her head. A park made out of junk metal with Jay's mother standing in was hardly the optimal way to practice proposing, but it was the best idea the Walker family had. "The boy is doing his best! Nya is a strong, independent woman, after all. Of course he's nervous to ask her!"

"Well why should he be? Why, those two are as close as we are, don't ya know, and Jay's a smart young man! Any girl would be lucky to have him if he'd just show a little confidence!" Ed patted his boy on the back. "Ladies like a man with confidence, son. It makes them feel they'll be taken care of. There's no need for you to be scared; you love Nya, don't you?"

"Yeah, Dad, I just…" Jay looked around at his humble junkyard home. After the initial shock and high of learning he was also Jay Gordon, he'd realized that didn't really change as much about him and he would have liked it to. It didn't help that his biological father's dating advice had turned out to be a huge garbage fire; what Ed was saying was probably more practical but sure didn't sound as good. "I just… don't always know what she's thinking. First she liked me, then it seemed like she couldn't stand me for a while, and now we're back together, but I still don't really get what she sees in me."

"Oh, honey," Edna rested her hand on Jay's shoulder near Ed's, "she sees something about you that you don't even see in yourself! You need to put a little faith in her – you know very well she wouldn't stick around if she didn't really care about you."

"Right, listen to your mother, and just do what I did! You walk up to that girl, get on one knee, show her that fancy ring and your signature Jay smile, and confidently ask Nya to be the future Mrs. Walker!" Ed's eyes lit up. "In fact, I think I still have my old suit from when I asked this Mrs. Walker!" He gestured to Edna and then skipped off towards the trailer, rambling about it being good luck or something.

There was a pause while Edna and Jay waited for Ed to be out of earshot.

"…So how did Dad really ask you?"

"He choked on a chocolate covered strawberry while leading up to it. The ring box fell out of his pocket while I was giving him the Heimlich."

6PM. The end of the year was closing in, and Ninjago Central Park's trees were covered in snow and fairy lights. Dinner had thankfully come and gone without anybody needing a life-saving maneuver, and Jay stared ahead at Nya tightening the water-themed scarf Lloyd had given her for a recent holiday. It was like she could tell he had something to say and was giving him a little space to think, but he wondered from Nya's slightly dejected stance if she thought it was bad. Jay wanted to remedy that assumption before things could get anymore awkward.

"Uh, Nya…"

Nya turned and looked back at Jay. Her black hair was tied back into a bun with a few strands running playfully down in front of her face. She looked gorgeous with the backdrop of colored lights and snow and for a moment Jay, much like the first time they met, was unable to string together a coherent sentence. "I…" he choked out before clearing his throat, "Nya, you…"

"Is everything okay, Jay?" Nya took Jay's hand. It felt impossibly warm. "You've seemed off all day. It's like, I'm here with you, but you're not really here, you know?" She chuckled nervously. Jay joined her.

"Haha… sorry. I guess I'm just really nervous."

"About what?"

"About, well," he already had her hand in his; it was now or never. Jay reached his free hand into his pocket as he slid down onto one knee.

Literally slid. The sidewalk was slick with ice and he fell a bit too hard. Jay grabbed harder onto Nya's hand for stability and she almost tumbled down right after him, fumbling to catch her balance and keep up with the situation. By the time the two were stable, they'd gathered a fair amount of attention from passers-by.

"You okay Jay?!"

"Yeah, fine. Ow." He clutched the ring box tightly in his hand. "Nya, y-you mean the world to me. You make me so happy and I…" Something about looking at her as he spoke both managed to make him more nervous and know exactly what needed to be said. "…I was wondering if… hoping that… Nya…" he let go of Nya's hand so he could open the box and presented Nya with a handcrafted ring featuring red and blue stones.

"…Nya, will you marry me?"

Nya just stared at Jay for an uncomfortably long time (especially with the growing audience), but after that beat her face lit up in a grin. "Yes! Jay, yes! I… I'm…"

She bent over to kiss him and slipped. The engaged duo finally collapsed together onto the cold ground, laughing the whole way down.

"Oof!" Jay was snapped out of his memories by Cole elbowing him – his part was coming up.

"…Jay, do you take Nya to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"Oh, yes! I mean, I do." Chuckling echoed through the crowded church and Jay turned beet red. Nya was among those giggling good-naturedly. Somewhere, there were fans watching this streamed online who would never let him live that down.

"And do you, Nya, take Jay to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," Nya said, smiling over at Jay reassuringly. Jay's anxiety melted away.

"Then I now pronounce you man and wife." Wu smiled as he looked between his two students. "You may kiss."

Jay gulped and turned to Nya, reaching his arms towards her. He stared at his lovely bride with shaking hands hovering over her waist for a moment before Nya understandingly pulled him closer and their lips met. Ear-splitting cheers erupted (Ed and Edna could clearly be heard whooping it up amongst the cacophony) and Jay and Nya pulled apart after a long moment. Wu introduced them as a married couple the best he could over the cheering while the new family gazed at each other lovingly.

There would still be many adventures to come, and Jay and Nya still had a lot to learn about themselves and each other, but now they knew that no matter what, they could count on one another to be there through it all. As lovers, as best friends, and as part of a great team.

[nclexexamination]

HOW ONE NURSE PASSED THE NCLEX IN 75 QUESTIONS

We’re letting one nurse take over a segment our blog. Wait a minute, why? Well, we want to give you, and other student nurses, an open and honest look at life beyond nursing school. From studying for the NCLEX Exam and passing it to the job hunt and the day-to-day of a new nurse, you will be able to follow the ins and outs, the ups and downs.

Allow us to introduce you to Savanah Case, RN, BSN. You may remember her from our “What End-of-Program Nursing Students Wish They Knew When…” blog series. She was in your shoes not too long ago and is full of stories, advice and tips that you will want to know.  

Meet Savanah Case, RN, BSN

Hello all! My name is Savanah Case RN, BSN (those letters still seem surreal to write after my name). I am currently working in the Mother Baby department at Olathe Medical Center’s The Birth Place. I have been done with school for a whole six months now and time has absolutely flown by. It wasn’t until the end of my schooling that I was able to narrow down the areas I hoped to obtain a job in – Mother Baby/Labor and Delivery or Emergency Department. Needless to say, I ended up at The Birth Place and have absolutely loved it for countless reasons.

Throughout the next six months I will share my story and experiences with all of you, but first, I would like to dive into the test everyone begins to think about the minute they find out they have been accepted into nursing school – the NCLEX. Without passing this exam, I wouldn’t be able to do what I love – be a nurse.

End-of-Program Testing and Scheduling the NCLEX Exam

I attended a nursing school that used ATI within our curriculum. So, towards the end of my program we had to take the ATI Comprehensive Predictor, which from my understanding is very comparable to the NCLEX and calculates your probability of passing the NCLEX. The Predictor would be the longest test I had ever taken in my entire life and my ability to take the NCLEX depended on this. Needless to say, this definitely made me nervous.

Once I passed the Predictor I had a big decision to make as to when I wanted to take boards. It’s a dilemma I’m sure all of you will face, and you will probably change your mind at least five times. The minute that you do commit to a date and click that “schedule” button, your mind will start to race.

My advice is go with your gut – if you don’t like to feel rushed, give yourself time, and if you will put off studying if it’s too far out, schedule it soon! By this time in nursing school, you have an idea of how you study and how you work and test “best”. I decided the content was not going to get any fresher in my mind as time went on so I got on the website and booked the soonest NCLEX date I could get – May 9th.  

Sidenote: When scheduling your test think about the time of day you would prefer to test/your daily routine. Every morning before class I got up and went running, ate my breakfast and then hit the books – which is why I scheduled my exam for 7:30 AM. Testing at this time allowed me to wake up, get my workout in and eat my breakfast just like I normally would! However, if you’re not a morning person, I wouldn’t suggest testing early in the morning.

Studying for the Exam

So, how did I study? I mainly used two resources for my studying that I purchased on my own. There is no perfect time to study and let’s be honest, no one WANTS to study for the NCLEX but you just have to dive in!

When I Started Studying:Around Christmas time, roughly five months before graduation, I bought the NCLEX RN app for my phone. Slowly, and I mean very slowly, I started taking questions on it. When I say slowly I mean the first two months I was lucky to take 10 questions before I went to bed – but some is better than none, right?

This app has about 1500 questions you can take, and they even will split them into categories (Labs, Med/Surg, Maternity, Psych, Peds, Pharmacology, Fundamentals). On the app it will also show you the time you spend on average answering questions and how many you have gotten right.

How I Prepped:Knowing that my goal was to take the NCLEX in May, I purchased the NCBSN five-week course and started to use it towards the end of April. I liked this option because the people that make the NCLEX make this study tool. Because of time purposes, I stuck to the quiz banks offered on this site and tried to take one full set a day for 10 days straight prior to my test date which was roughly 150-200 questions a day.

Sidenotes: On these quizzes, I got anywhere from 40%-100%. So, don’t get stressed out if you aren’t getting high marks every time!

How Many Hours I Studied: Timewise, I can’t put a number on how many hours I spent studying, but I know it was a lot. I am a “fast test taker” so the time spent was always different. Study until you feel comfortable or until you hit a wall. Once you hit a wall, step away for a bit and come back to it later once you’ve taken some time to relax!

My Best Study Tip:Not knowing how many questions I would have to take during the actual exam, I tried to take as many as possible. When taking questions, I would suggest the “practice like you play” philosophy. (AKA: build your own testing environment). For me, that meant putting my phone away, finding a place where there would be no noise/distractions, no one else around and absolutely no resources! While you’re taking questions keep a blank sheet of paper nearby to write down topics that you might want to look over or review!

SATA Questions: SELECT ALL THAT APPLY. If you don’t already hate seeing this (SATA), you will by the time you finish taking your NCLEX. My biggest suggestion is to get comfortable seeing this next to your questions and take as many as you can! I would say over half of my exam was SATA.

The Final Check: I also ended up taking a practice predictor from the ATI website prior to taking my NCLEX. This helped me to gauge my overall competence level, and it gave me another set of NCLEX-style questions to practice on.

Overall studying wise, I knew that I personally needed to take practice questions, which is why that was more of my studying method. I did review some content, especially if I wrote it down when taking questions. You will constantly feel like you’re not studying enough or you may not feel confident that you’re studying the right way. You will probably never feel that you are “prepared” for this test, but in all reality, you’ve been preparing for two years.

It’s Test Day! The Before, During and After

The day before the test, take it easy and try to relax (HA! Easier said than done, I know). But seriously, try to schedule something fun to take your mind off of it and then get to bed at a decent time. At this point, you just have to accept the fact that you’re nervous. Embrace it!

Testing day – I literally could. not. sleep. all. night. long. I tried my best to sleep, but I think I maybe got three hours, whoops! I had my roommate take me to the test, drop me off and made plans for her to pick me up. This made it easy for me to stay “in the zone” that morning.

During the test, I tried my best to stay calm. There were questions where I had no idea what was being asked and there were questions I knew the answer to almost immediately. While you’re testing, stick to the way you test. If you take your time answering questions, don’t rush into one.

And if you seem to move through questions faster, don’t completely change your style! When my screen went black, (I didn’t believe this actually happened, until it happened to me) I had no clue what to do.

I thought, “That’s it? Am I done? Is this a joke?” And just like that, the waiting game began…..

If I’m being honest, I remember walking out feeling like I was in a daze, almost like I felt nothing, if that makes sense. However, the more I started to think about it, the more confident I felt that I had in fact passed – but I still had no idea. The first 24 hours of the waiting game I felt as good as you can try to feel, but the second 24 hours is when the doubt set in. This is when you start wanting to Google those “tricks” to see if you had passed because you’re too impatient to wait the whole 48 hours. Luckily, I talked myself out of attempting any of those tricks and just kept waiting.

I remember sitting on my bed at 47 hours and 55 minutes watching the clock, and the clock moved slower than ever. Finally, I was able to pay my $7 to receive early results and saw the word “Pass” in really small letters …yes that’s it. Balloons don’t trickle down your screen, the word isn’t in bright colors,“Congratulations!” doesn’t flash across your screen,  it just says just “pass”. Nonetheless, I cried tears of joy and screamed so loud people thought I broke my leg.  

So that’s it, that’s how I passed the NCLEX in 75 questions. The emotions, the stress, the hard work, and the excitement.

[skivvysupreme]

“Halftime” - Kurt/Blaine

because Blaine loves football and Kurt loves scarves

and because I’m a helpless little monster

self-indulgent (as helllll) fluff about Gaga’s concert at the sports thing. thank you @whatstheproblembaby​ for info about the actual game lmao 

1500 words | AO3

“Mark my words, Anderson: you’re gonna owe me $50 when this is all over. Falcons have the lead and they’re not letting it go.” 

Blaine shakes his head and sets three cold beers and a fresh, warm bowl of cheese dip on the coffee table as he rejoins his in-laws in front of the TV. “Oh, I’m just ‘Anderson’ when there’s a game on the line, huh?” 

“You’re just ‘Anderson’ whenever you’re in a Patriots jersey,” Burt laughs, elbowing Blaine just hard enough to tip him over a little on the couch. 

“Am I still ‘Carole?’” Carole asks, exchanging an amused look with Blaine from Burt’s other side. She and Blaine are both in blue and white, sporting #12 jerseys; Burt, clad in the Falcons’ black and red, had grumbled at the sight of both of them when they all sat down together in the living room.

“Of course, honey. Coulda picked a better player to represent, but...” 

“I’ve got a soft spot for quarterbacks,” shrugs Carole, a soft little grin on her face. Burt sighs and wraps an arm around her shoulder, kissing her cheek. 

“Brady’s got four Super Bowl rings!” Blaine scoffs. “You can’t deny that he’s good!” 

Burt rolls his eyes and turns around on the couch. “Kurt!" 

“Is it time for Gaga?” Kurt calls back from his and Blaine’s bedroom. 

“They’ve got me outnumbered, come back me up!” 

“Kurt, babe, you love Tom Brady, don’t you?”

There’s an exasperated groan, and then Kurt yells again, this time louder, more insistent, and borderline hysterical: “IS... IT... TIME... FOR... GAGA?!” 

“No, baby -- I mean, once these commercials are over, but--” 

“You’re both grown men, figure it out!” Kurt answers, and Blaine laughs and stuffs a tortilla chip in his mouth. They’re not getting anything out of Kurt until the halftime show starts. 

“I know my son, and he loves an underdog just as much as I do,” says Burt. “He’d root for the Falcons.”

“I know my husband, and he would root for the Patriots by default, because Mr. Tall, Athletic, and Talented is exactly his type,” Blaine retorts, adding with a self-deprecating little shrug, “I gave him two out of three.” 

Carole laughs out loud at Blaine’s comment, covering her mouth with one hand so she doesn’t spit out her beer. Then she quickly swallows and waves a hand at the TV, bouncing in her seat as she yells, “KURT, IT’S TIME!” 

The bedroom door bangs open as Kurt sprints into the living room, wearing his old “LIKES BOYS” t-shirt from Glee club and a pair of snug black sweatpants. He doesn’t bother sitting in the open armchair, instead choosing to bounce on his toes behind the couch, his hands clenched into fists.

Blaine stares with his beer halfway to his mouth. He hasn’t seen that shirt in years, and, well... he supposes it still fits, in the sense that Kurt has managed to get it onto his lean, muscular person without ripping it. Blaine takes a long swig of his beer and turns back to the TV. 

The camera cuts to a starry panorama, soft piano playing in the background, then zooms in on Lady Gaga in a sparkling, silvery bodysuit with huge shoulders. Kurt gapes at the screen. “Where is--? Oh my god, is she on the ROOF?” 

“Holy crap, she’s on the roof,” Blaine confirms. 

“Oh, she sounds so good,” Kurt gasps, his hand on his chest, subconsciously mimicking Gaga’s stance as she sings “God Bless America” with American flag-shaped lights above her. “This is the most patriotic I’m going to feel this year, I just know it.” 

“I’m with you there, Kurt,” snorts Burt. 

Then Gaga jumps off the roof, descending onto the field on a wire as lights flash all over the stadium and pyrotechnics explode around the stage. Kurt screeches. “Oh my god, this is amazing, this is already epic, she is next-level!”

“Ma-ma-ma-ma...”

“IT’S ‘POKER FACE!’ IT’S ‘POKER FACE!’”

Gaga lifts off the stage and flips as she sings, still suspended in a harness, and Kurt dances in place as he watches her, looking positively delighted. Blaine can’t help but look back and forth between Kurt and the TV, his husband’s reactions too adorable to miss. He loves Gaga too, and he’s excited to see her perform, but his excitement is no match to Kurt’s.

The music shifts, and Gaga leaps from her platform again, flipping through the air towards the main stage and landing smoothly in a fleet of dancers. Kurt’s fingers wiggle anxiously in the air as he waits for the next song, the music still giving too much ‘Poker Face’ for him to tell what it is. 

When the beat and chords of “Born This Way” kick in, Kurt closes his eyes, clutches the back of the couch and breathes, “Yes, yes yes--”

“You okay back there, buddy?” Burt laughs, looking over his shoulder at his son. 

“I -- this shirt, it’s from -- this song, it’s so important, especially now,” Kurt says, shaking his head as he composes himself, standing up straight once Gaga starts to sing. Then Kurt starts to dance, and Blaine recognizes his moves from an old Glee club video they’ve watched together several times over. It was the first time Kurt performed with the New Directions after his transfer to Dalton and back. Blaine feels a little pang in his chest when he thinks about that performance; he distinctly remembers swooning at that video the first time he saw it, watching Kurt be so proud and happy with his friends, leading the song with Mercedes by his side and “LIKES BOYS” across his chest. 

Kurt has the same look on his face now as he did then. Blaine still swoons.

Burt jumps when Kurt suddenly screams along with the song, “NO MATTER GAY, STRAIGHT, OR BI, LESBIAN, TRANSGENDER LIFE, I’M ON THE RIGHT TRACK, BABY, I WAS BORN TO SURVIVE!”

“Jesus, Kurt--”

“Do you know how many homophobic jerks must be watching this right now?” Kurt crows, rocking back and forth on his toes with joy. He leans down and hugs Blaine around the neck, and Blaine turns and kisses his cheek, beaming. 

The music changes again, and then--

“AAACK!” Blaine croaks, Kurt’s grip around his neck quickly tightening a little too much before he releases him and starts pacing in circles behind the couch. 

“Oh my god, oh my god, if Beyonce is here, I’m gonna pass out.” 

“Telephone” is a fierce performance, but devoid of Beyonce, and Kurt puts a hand on his chest when it’s over, sighing in relief, “Oh, good, I don’t think I could’ve handled that, I -- Is that a keytar? LOOK AT THAT GOLD JACKET!” 

Carole bursts out laughing, “Kurt, sweetheart... Breathe.” 

“Just dance, gonna be okay, da da doo doo!” Kurt’s shimmying and twisting his arms around in the air, completely absorbed in the music. 

Burt turns to Carole and says, “In 23 years, I don’t think I’ve seen him this excited about anything.” 

Gaga’s at a piano on the other side of the dimmed stage, glowing yellow lanterns popping up in the audience’s hands throughout the stadium. “America? World? How you doing tonight? We’re here to make you feel good, you want to feel good with us?” 

“This is beautiful. She looks beautiful,” Carole says, swaying along in her seat with the audience -- and Kurt doing the same behind her -- as Gaga plays “Million Reasons.” 

“I love her so much,” Kurt whispers, leaning against the back of the couch. Blaine reaches for his hand and watches Kurt for the entirety of the song, the soft, dewy look on his face tugging at Blaine’s heartstrings. 

Then it’s time for “Bad Romance,” and Kurt squeals as he backs away from the couch and dances along with more New Directions choreography, imprinted onto his brain for eternity, it seems. The dancers are going crazy, Gaga’s going crazy, lights are spinning all over the place, the stage is exploding with fire -- Kurt starts laughing again, sheer unadulterated glee taking over his body as the finale reaches its crescendo. 

Gaga, at the top of a staircase at the edge of the stage, screams, “SUPER BOWL 51!” drops the mic into the audience, catches a football thrown in from off-screen, and leaps off the platform into nowhere, her landing unseen.

Carole, Burt, and Blaine erupt into applause, whooping and cheering, but Kurt goes silent behind them. 

“Did that live up to your expectations, Kurt?” Burt asks, swiveling in his seat to look at him.

Kurt takes a deep breath, his abrupt stillness a little alarming after the display he’s just put on. “That was transcendent,” he announces, his voice gone tight as his eyes begin to water.

“Oh, Kurt, are you okay?” Blaine hops off the couch and puts a hand on his back, rubbing in soothing circles. 

Kurt nods, blinking at the ceiling. “I hope the rest of the game is just as exciting for you all, but I have to call Tina. Right now.” He squeezes Blaine’s shoulder and returns to the bedroom. Just before he closes the door, he pops his head back out, clears his throat, and says, “By the way: Blaine is right. Gisele’s husband is incredible.”

Burt sighs and heads to the kitchen for another beer as Blaine and Carole cheer and high-five each other behind him.

[damnavidans]

Egobang - Pathos

Pairing: Egobang - Dan/Arin Rating: G Words: 1500 - The street magician AU no prompted, but that I got into my head and wrote pretty quickly. (Heads up @i-am-avacado and everyone else who might need something a little silly and cheerful.) - Arin was on his way to the bus having ventured into the city on his day off. He had been scouting book shops and record stores for most of it, but was still empty handed as he left. He didn’t mind though, sometimes it was more about the feeling of a book store than actually buying anything from it.

As he rounded a corner, he heard the chatter of a large group before he walked right into it. One person, a brown haired man in a leather jacket, was speaking a little louder than the rest. Tour guide, Arin thought briefly, as he tried to crisscross along the edge of the crowd, toward the bus stop.

They weren’t in an obviously tourist filled area, but he knew by now that there was always some obscure themed tour somewhere, in fact, the man in the leather jacket looked like he belonged in one of those. His hair long enough to graze the cover of any 80’s vinyl from the bargain bin of a thrift shop. 

“Any volunteers for this one?” The man called out. “You, perhaps?”

Involuntarily, Arin slowed down, turning his head toward what was happening.

The man was looking at a young woman in the front of the crowd, almost assessing her, before he smiled and nodded. “Yes, you’ll do perfectly. I need one more!” He looked around, scanning the crowd, and eventually pointing out an older lady.

Not tour guide, Arin realized. A street performer.

It drew Arin in. But not in the way he would be drawn to painters drawing caricatures on the sidewalk, or to musicians with their open guitar cases. This was about the crowd, the way people seemed to mill about the man and his wild hair, the way they laughed and let out little gasps of surprise. Arin stopped entirely, stcking to the edge of the crowd as he watched the man perform a trick with three boxes and a ring. The magician talked fast through the entire trick, though it didn’t seem nervous, just like a part of the show. Arin applauded when both the women’s boxes turned up empty, and the magician could happily tuck his ring back in his pocket.

“Fingers!” The magician exclaimed as he sent his two volunteers back into the crowd, causing a few in the audience to laugh. “We’ve all got them,” he said before making a short, dramatic pause.

When he spoke again, it was at first too quiet for Arin to hear where he stood. A few people raised their hands in the crowd.

"You sir, there," the magician said, suddenly loud enough again. "You, in the Princess Peach shirt, what's your name?" Arin looked down at his chest, at the Peach pattern with crowns and umbrellas. The crowd moved, he could see the shuffling of feet. When he looked up, it was straight into the brown eyes of the magician. "What's your name?" the man asked. "A- Arin," he replied. He felt a little sick. The man smiled, and his eyes crinkled up at the corners when he did. "Arin," the man repeated, exhaling the ah-sound. "That's a great name. I'm Danny," he placed one hand on top of Arin's arm. "Do you want to play a game, Arin?" "Um," Arin said. The man, Danny, was still smiling, and Arin found that he was nodding . "Good, thank you Arin, if you'd just come with me," Danny said. Both his hands were on Arin's arm, one on either side of it, as he backed out of the crowd and into the cleared space where he had stood before. "It's very simple," he said, his hands moving to Arin's shoulders as he stopped him. When he moved three strides away, Arin wanted to follow. "So. Here's how it works. Perhaps if you back there want to part a little, just so you know that no one is giving anything away?" Danny gestured to the crowd, which moved around until he seemed satisfied. "Now, Arin," he paused, waiting for Arin to meet his eye. "Behind your back, hold up any number of fingers. Both hands or none. And then look at me, without giving anything away. Don't say anything, don't move. And I'll try to guess how many you're holding up." “Okay,” Arin said. “You understand what you’re going to do?” Danny asked. His expression was gentle, patient. As if this could take all day and he wouldn’t mind. “Yes. Hold up fingers. Got it,” Arin said, and although he had sounded sarcastic in his head, it didn’t transfer at all into his voice. Danny looked at Arin in deep concentration and gave him a nod. Arin's lungs felt suddenly too small for the amount of air he wanted to breathe in. He held up three fingers.

“So I think it’s just one hand, not all fingers,” Danny said. He spoke softly, seemingly to himself. “Three, it’s three.” Arin pulled his hands out from behind his back. “It’s three,” he said, and he couldn’t help but smile at how genuinely pleased Danny looked, and how the crowd was applauding around them. "Well now, you're probably thinking that there's someone behind you giving it away. So, put your hands in your pockets for me," Danny said. Arin followed instructions. “Just everyone around, make sure nothing can be seen there if you move your hands around. Good.” Danny looked up, fixing his gaze on Arin again. “You’re doing great Arin, just look at me, and pick any number of fingers. Whatever you want.”

“I got it,” Arin said, smiling. He knew he didn’t have to be reassuring, but the tone came naturally. He held up all fingers on his left hand. “You got it?” Danny looked at him, his mouth twitching slightly. “Five, am I right?” Arin pulled his hands out, showing them to Danny. “Perfect! And again?” Danny prompted.

Arin moved his hands in his pockets, but didn’t put any fingers up. His eyes were still fixed on Danny’s, and he tried to reason that this was all part of the trick, but he felt it surging inside of him, a presence whirling around.

Danny bit his lip, and his brow furrowed. “You’re either… None. You’re not holding up any fingers, am I right?” he asked.

Arin drew his fists from his pockets, and Danny let out a happy whooping sound, reaching forward to pat Arin on the arm. “Well done, you’re doing great! Let’s try something else for the last one,” he said. "Now, Arin, look at me,” he said, taking a step back again. “Some of you at the back, make sure I’m not changing my fingers around, okay?” He gestured around, and a few people stepped closer. “Arin,” Danny said. “Look at me.” Arin did, instantly finding himself in that place, the one where they felt almost- “How many fingers am I holding up?" Danny asked. Arin's chest hurt, and Danny's eyes looked deeper from a distance. "Six," he said automatically, and his breathing felt lighter. Danny smiled, his widest smile yet, eyes almost squeezed shut. He pulled his hands out from behind his back. Six fingers clearly held up for everyone to see. Arin laughed, because there was nothing else he could think of to do. The crowd applauded and Danny came over, squeezing his hand this time. "Thank you very much! Excellent, well done!" he looked around at the crowd. "A huge thank you to Arin everybody!" The crowd cheered some more, and with a clap on the shoulder, Arin was once again immersed in the crowd. As Arin walked away, he felt odd. The city felt too loud and crowded after the rush of the performance. People were brushing against his jacket, or a car honked at him when he missed the green light, or someone veered on their bike at the last second so to not hit him. He felt like he was only a part of something much bigger, and that felt strange because minutes earlier, when Danny looked at him- Even if it was just the entire deal with the trick, Arin had felt like the only important person in the world. * There was a distance to his thoughts, when he came home. Whatever he did he couldn't quite catch them, couldn't catch up. "I was dragged into this street performer thing today?” he told Suzy when he sat down on the couch, placing the takeout he had picked up for them on the coffee table. "Yeah? They any good?" Suzy asked from the hallway, her voice echoing. "Yes. I mean i'm sure it was all standard stuff. Like, I know he didn't actually read my mind or anything. But to me," he paused as Suzy entered the room, feeling suddenly silly. "There was just something about it, which okay, I suppose it's supposed to be. But I can't stop thinking about," he cut himself off again. "-it." "You'll have to point him out to me if you see him again!" Suzy said, smiling widely as she sat down next to him. "You wanna watch an old episode of something?" "Something?" Arin asked, leaning over the bags of food. "Whatever, really.” Suzy nudged him with her elbow. "Yeah. Okay. Yes. We can do that,” Arin said. Before he got up, he squeezed Suzy’s wrist gently. He couldn't express why, entirely, but he felt relieved for the opportunity not to talk for a while.

(TBC ? Maybe? If you like it.)