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thatsmzbitchtoyou · 6 months

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Sugar Mama Chapter 1

And another one! New story involving #sugarbabybucky Summary: Bucky is overworked and struggling to get by. The bills are piling up and he’s consistently in the red with no end in sight. Y/N is a billionaire’s daughter, entrepreneur and philanthropist having a hard time finding true friends or love. She has a proposition for him.

bucky barnes x curvy!reader Warnings: eventual smut, sexual assault (not from Bucky)

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Bucky was exhausted. He had been working three jobs for four years now just trying to get by, and this was his sixth sixteen hour day in a row. Student loans and credit card debt was eating him out of house and home, in the most literal sense. Even living in a rent controlled building wasn’t helping with the bills piling up. He had gone to college for architecture and interior design, which he was doing now working as an assistant during normal working hours for one of the many local interior designers. Then he would go straight to his second job as a waiter in a high end restaurant in downtown Manhattan, then at the end of the night go home and do a few more hours of online tutoring. He had ended his 20s and entered his 30s feeling like an old man, with no end in sight of ever getting a break or being able to break even with his debt. Forget about dating or having a family someday. That all seemed like a ridiculous pipe dream now.

“Heeeeyyyy Buckaroo?” Steve sidled up to him as he was cleaning off wine glasses.

“No,” Bucky cut him off.

“But it’s just–”

“Steve, it’s Friday night, I’d really like to go home and get in bed at a normal time tonight,” Bucky interrupted him, the dark circles under his eyes that he tried to ignore looking more prominent by the day.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry. But Peggy has been hounding me about going to that new burlesque club that just opened and I told her I was working but we haven’t had a date night in a long time–”

“Ugh, fine. But I’m not sharing tips,” Bucky sighed, rubbing his face as he pulled a 5 Hour Energy out of his apron pocket and quickly downed it like a shot.

“Those are bad for you, Buck,” Steve gave his friend a worried look.

“Well maybe a heart attack in my 30s will put me out of my misery,” Bucky half-joked. Steve was silent. Bucky turned to him and scoffed. “It’s a joke. Go, I’ll take the closing shift. Say hi to Peg for me.”

“I’ll take your next closing, I promise. Thanks punk,” Steve gave him a quick hug.

“Yeah whatever, jerk,” Bucky laughed. As Steve went to the back to change, Bucky went to the host stand and figured out who was his next table.

“Whatcha got for me, witchy woman?” he leaned against the stand. Wanda gave him a quick glance.

“I told you to stop calling me that,” she sighed, looking back down at the list.

“It’s not my fault you got witch eyes. And I never said that was a bad thing,” Bucky said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Yeah whatever,” she rolled her amber eyes. “You’re gonna love this one. A Wall Street investment heiress, with some famous friends,” she gave him an unimpressed look.

“An heiress, huh? Well maybe she’ll be my next sugar mama,” he joked, giving her a wink as he adjusted his apron.

“You wouldn’t know how to be a sugar baby even if you tried,” she sassed back at him. “Table 42. She’s all yours.”

“Thanks babes,” he sing-songed at her before heading towards his section. As he approached table 42 he tried to see who the heiress was, but she was unfortunately facing away from him. Her friends, though, he easily recognized from some of the most recent films that had just hit theaters: Clint Barton and Natasha Romanov. Jackpot, he thought with a wry smile.

“Good evening, folks, welcome to Marea. My name is Bucky and I’ll be your server tonight. Could I get you started with some drinks? Or a review of our wine list?” He gave them all a friendly smile as he looked each of them in the eye at least once. The actors gave him quick smiles and glances before ordering generic wines and waters, then the heiress caught his eye. He almost did a double take once he realized who she was. Y/N Y/L/N, the daughter of Wall Street Tycoon Gerald Y/L/N. She was set for life and beyond. Her father was the investment king, knowing just when to buy in or sell out. She had taken on his legacy by doing the same but instead of investing in huge corporations she was investing in smaller businesses and projects, being the key investor until the business could truly thrive, giving her investment a return and getting a chance to grow in an area like New York City. She was the reason the new burlesque club opened that Steve was going to with Peggy. Not only was she wealthy, she was beautiful. Short in stature and plus size, she was an anomaly surrounded by her tall and slim friends, but she embraced her size and used it as a way to both literally and figuratively take up space in the industry and bring attention to the issues of body image, fatphobia, and investing in plus size companies and designers who she exclusively worked with for clothing her for events.

Bucky tried not to ogle and quickly gave her his best flirtatious smile. “And for you?” he asked her.

Y/N gave him an appreciative smile and her bright Y/C/E eyes seemed to really look at him rather than a passing glance like her friends. “I’d like to hear the wine menu, please.”

“Wonderful, we have a…” As he listed off the wines Y/N watched him intently, her eyes searching his face. He felt like he was the one being ogled and yet he persevered, trying not to sound nervous while serving some of the most influential and popular people in the world.

“It all sounds delicious, but I’m a creature of habit, so I think I’ll stick with my favorite Rose, the Billecart-Salmon. And I’ll also have water on the side.”

“Excellent choice, ma’am. Give me a moment and I’ll get those drinks out to you all,” he glanced at them all again before slipping away to the bar for the drinks.

Y/N watched him leave, a small smile on her face, before turning back to her friends. They eyed her ruefully with mischievous smiles. “What?” she asked.

“He’s cute,” Natasha commented, one eyebrow raised at her.

“Very cute. One could even say hot,” Clint added, watching Bucky walk back to the bar. “He’s got a great ass. Too bad he’s working here. He’d look divine in a Prada campaign.”

“You two stop it,” Y/N whispered, giving them a wide eyed glare. “Yes he’s cute.”

“You gonna go for it?” Natasha asked, her grin twisting into something conspiratorial.

“Oh do it! If you won’t, I’ll try my luck,” Clint shifted in his seat as he continued watching Bucky. “See if he goes both ways.”

Bucky was walking back with the drinks on a tray. Y/N narrowed her eyes and made the gesture for them to zip it.

“Alright, here are your drinks! Your waters, and the Sauvignon blanc for you,” he set it in front of Clint, “the Stella Artois for you,” he set it in front of Natasha, “and the Billecart-Salmon Rose for you.” He delicately set it in front of Y/N giving her another warm smile. She reciprocated it as she reached for her wine. She took a quick sip and her eyes fluttered shut.

“Perfect, thank you Bucky,” she said as she licked her lips.

Bucky’s eyes widened slightly before he caught himself. “Well, would you like to start with any appetizers? Or jump right into the good stuff?” he huffed a laugh.

“I’d like the lobster with the salad,” Clint ordered. “And could you make sure that the lobster is really big and thick. I like them meaty.”

Y/N’s eyes widened at him and his not-so-subtle innuendo. Bucky knew what he was doing and just let it slide, nodding in agreement. “I’ll put in a good word with the chef.”

Natasha next to him giggled before ordering. “I’ll just take the scallops and shrimp.”

Bucky nodded before turning to Y/N. “I’ll have the crab cakes and risotto, please.” He nodded again and gave her a smirk.

“My favorite,” he gave her a wink, making her blush. “I’ll get those in and come back to check on you all in a little bit,” he swept the table with a smile before walking back to the kitchen.

“Stop it, don’t embarrass him,” Y/N chastised Clint. “I’m sure he and the other servers get enough grief from creepy patrons all the time.”

“Oh it was just a little fun. Besides, he’s all eyes for you, honey, he barely even looked at me,” he shot back at her as he sipped his wine.

“It’s true,” Natasha said, then gave her an exaggerated wink. Y/N rolled her eyes. “I think you should ask him out. Or maybe he can be your next sugar baby.”

“Oh don’t bring that up again,” Y/N groaned. “It was a one time thing and ended badly. I just wanted to try it.”

“It ended badly because he was an ass, not because of anything you did. You gave him charity and he gave you an attitude. This guy seems sweet, nothing can hurt from just asking,” Natasha chided her, reaching out and pinching Y/N’s arm lightly.

Y/N considered her words. She had wanted to try out the lifestyle of being a sugar mama to a sugar baby. She had a lot of events to go to throughout the year, and as much as she enjoyed spending time with her friends and networking with people, she was getting really tired of these high-class, ridiculous men who thought that just by being famous or wealthy that she would throw herself at them. They wanted to use her for her name and connections. They never really cared about her. So she had tried being a sugar mama to a man who wasn’t famous, down on his luck, and just trying to get a leg up in life to escort her to these functions and give her companionship. But once he’d gotten his debts paid off by her and a taste of luxury he quickly became influenced by the rich douchebags around him and started treating Y/N disrespectfully, so much so that he’d made front page news of some tabloids and embarrassed her. She kicked him out after that and blacklisted him from any upcoming events. If there was one thing that she would never condone it was when others tried, directly or indirectly, to humiliate or embarrass her.

Bucky did seem nice, and very tired. The dark circles under his eyes and his shirt not being as ironed as some of the other servers were small giveaways that he was struggling. She didn’t want to embarrass him either by asking to be her sugar baby and assuming that he was struggling financially.

“He is very handsome,” she conceded, a larger smile spreading across her face.

Natasha squealed, clapping her hands joyfully. “Do it!”

The night dragged on as they ate their delicious meals and ordered more glasses of wine. Other patrons were clearing out as it got later and closer to closing time. As tired as Bucky was, doing his nightly closing duties quietly and discreetly so his table couldn’t see, he was banking on their tips. High end restaurants meant high end clients meant high end tips, and he had rent coming due next week. He packed on the compliments to Y/N and her friends, gave them warm and flirty smiles, offered complimentary items, and gave all his attention to them exclusively. Y/N had asked to compliment the chef and when he came out and talked to her table she whispered something to him that he quickly agreed to and jogged back to the kitchen. Bucky gave him a questioning glance but the chef waved him off.

Bucky watched carefully until he saw Y/N’s hand raise and her eyes searched for him. His cue for the check, which he quickly grabbed and brought it over to her. As he glanced at the insane price he noticed an extra meal that wasn’t supposed to be on there as he got to the table.

“Oh, I’m sorry Miss Y/L/N, there seems to be a mistake on the bill, I apologize, let me go–”

“No mistake, Bucky,” Y/N reassured him just as the chef came back out with a doggy box. He handed it to her and thanked her for coming. Y/N shook his hand and slipped something into it before he disappeared back to the kitchen wearing a rare smile. “Thank you,” she reached for the bill and slid her black American Express into the folder.

“Oh, alright, I’ll be right back then,” Bucky composed himself after the mini heart attack he just had from thinking the bill was wrong as he walked back to the stand to take her payment. Once everything was paid he brought back the folder, this time seeing her friends standing and putting on their coats while she stayed seated.

“Thank you, Bucky,” Natasha said his name seductively as she passed him. Clint gave him a little wave and a smirk as he left with her.

“Have a good night!” He called after them. He approached the table as Y/N was opening her wallet. “Here’s the receipt Miss Y/L/N. Thank you for coming in tonight.”

“No thank you for such excellent service, Bucky,” she complimented him as she took the folder again. “Will you sit with me for a moment?”

Bucky’s eyebrows raised and he glanced back at the bar. The manager, Pietro, and Wanda motioned to him to do as she asked. “Yes, of course,” Bucky accepted and sat himself in the chair across from her where Clint sat previously.

Her gaze flicked over him as she opened the folder, took the pen provided and filled out the parts of the receipt meant for her. She closed it and slid it over to Bucky who thanked her and placed it in front of himself.

“I have a proposition for you, Bucky. And please understand when I ask this that you are under no obligation to accept it and I don’t mean to embarrass you,” she started, looking a little nervous.

“Okay,” Bucky stated lamely as he watched her.

Y/N cleared her throat and put her fidgeting hands down in her lap. “I would like to offer you a type of job. As an escort, a sugar baby, to me.” Bucky’s eyes widened comically as he processed what she said. “I know it’s a strange request. But it’s something that I enjoy trying and it helps others…sometimes. I don’t want to assume anything of you, but I can tell when someone is struggling, and you look like life has not always been the easiest or kindest to you. I mean no offense.”

“None taken,” he replied automatically. “I…yes,” he looked down as he confessed to her. “It’s been, uh, rough, to say the least.”

“Hm,” Y/N hummed. She reached a finger out and pointed to the closed folder. She gestured for him to open it. He did and took a look over the receipt, nearly choking when he saw the amount on the tip line.

“No, no Miss Y/L/N, this is too much,” Bucky protested as he stared at the number.

“That’s what your service was worth. You are worth every cent, and more,” Y/N praised him. “You don’t have to decide tonight, Bucky, but in the meantime, here’s my card,” she slipped a business card over to him. “Think about it,” she said as she stood up. Bucky quickly stood up with her. Y/N stepped closer to him and reached for his hand. They shook hands and she leaned in and whispered to him, “By the way, you’re very handsome.” Bucky’s eyes bulged and he swallowed hard as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek then turned and left. Bucky realized as he watched her leave that she had slipped something into his hand. He opened his hand to find a small folded wad of one hundred dollar bills in his palm. “Oh and that’s for you!” She called out and motioned towards the doggy box still sitting on the table. “Your favorite. Dinner’s on me,” she said and gave him a wink then twirled back around and out the door.

After she was out of the restaurant and beyond hearing Wanda and Pietro ran up to him. “How much did she give you?” Wanda squealed as she looked at the bills in his hand. He quickly counted it.

“$1000,” he whispered as he gawked at the money.

“Give me that,” Pietro demanded as he took the folder from Bucky. He opened it and gasped. “She gave you a $2500 card tip?? What did you do, Barnes, give her and everybody at her table a blow job?”

“Wow…I don’t know if I want to be her or be on her,” Wanda said wistfully as she looked back out the glass door where Y/N had already gotten into her car and drove off.

Bucky felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as he stared at the bills, the $2500 floating around in his mind. He was not comprehending just how much she had given him. He looked at her business card again and knew he had to at least meet with her and find out what she was offering. But to become an actual sugar baby? To have a sugar mama? To have his debt disappear? To be taken care of? He smiled as his fingers touched where her lips had been.

**this picture has me SALIVATING. This is what I imagine sugar baby!Bucky to look like in this. Hope y'all like it!**

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes x reader #marvel #smut #sugarbaby!bucky barnes #sugarbaby #sugar mama #sugarmama!reader #chapter 1 #curvy reader #bucky barnes x curvy!reader

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panthera-dei · 9 months

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Technomancy 101

Hi, friends! I'm back with another witchy FAQ from the past couple weeks. This time from the world of tech magic!

Here are some quick TL;DR technomancy tips for those who may not want to read the long FAQs post beneath the cut:

1. Chest spells (like a jar spell but with a chest filled with in game items that match the intent)

2. Poppet spells using the game characters by giving them items or altering their names/appearances

3. Similar to a chest spell but not necessarily magic per se - using chests or sheds with in-game items as altars and/or offerings

4. Build a shrine / altar / temple with offerings, or leave an item such as a torch in the game world as an offering

5. Burn/bury/destroy ingredients to activate a spell with the desired effect

6. Write an affirmation or a spell on a sign or other in-game item and destroy it to activate as a sigil

7. Build a golem or animal pen or something as a servitor for protection

8. Use some form of sympathetic magic connecting in-game items to IRL items

9. Light sticks, flashlights, plastic lightsabers, and toy sonic screwdrivers make *awesome* wands, especially if they light up and make noise.

10. The possibilities are limited to your imagination!!

(I am choosing Wittgenstein from The Brave Little Toaster movies as my mascot for tech magic, simply because I like him and because I can. Image credit - Fandom Wiki.)

What is technomancy?: Technomancy, techno magic, and tech magic are all terms for a form of magic that utilizes common modern technology, such as smartphones and video games. Technically, “technomancy” could refer specifically to divination with technology; however, in my experience, the term usually has a broader meaning in common usage. I personally tend to use these terms interchangeably, with perhaps a slight preference for technomancy, since I learned that name first.

What are some forms of technomancy?: Common forms of technomancy include digital sigils, emoji spells, shufflemancy, video game spells, and video game altars.

How do I create a digital sigil?: The ways are about as unlimited as creating a physical sigil on paper. You can use a drawing app on a smartphone or tablet, find a digital sigil generator online, use a photo editor on a picture, or even add a string of charged letters to an email signature (just make sure they blend in!).

OK, and what's the deal with emoji spells?: Yes, this is an actual thing (though not a thing that I'm particularly experienced with). They're pretty straightforward. They can be done like a sigil - string emojis together and charge them. Or like an actual spell - put them together and send to cast, or like to charge and send/reblog to cast.

What kind of games can you use for technomancy?: Any of them. Minecraft is a very popular one. So is Stardew Valley. Skyrim and other RPGs are other common choices. As with other forms of magic, the only real limit is your imagination.

What kind of spells can you cast in a game?:

Chest spells - like digital jar spells - are very common.

Poppet spells are another common choice. In games that allow you to create a character, or in games where you can give items to an NPC, you can turn the character into a poppet of someone and give them an item to cast the spell. For example, if I wanted emotional strength, I could create a Skyrim character as a poppet for myself, and have the character drink a strength potion to cast a spell of strength for myself in the real world.

Burying or burning items in games like Minecraft can be done to cast spells that are similar to physical spells that require burning a paper, bay leaf, or other ingredient.

Enchanting! Use the enchanting function in a video game like Skyrim or Minecraft to enchant a physical object. For example, you might choose to connect a physical scarf to a shield in Skyrim, and when you enchant the in-game shield with a damage resistance effect, voila! You now have a fancy enchanted scarf to protect yourself from spiritual attacks.

Customize your avatar to your advantage! In games such as Sky: Children Of The Light, where you can accessorize your character, you can equip different items to cast a different spell on yourself. For example, you might use the Saluting Captain's staff as a cosmetic to cast a spell of protection on yourself, or you could use a particular cape as a spiritual veil.

For deity work & spirit work, consider creating a space in your game (e.g. a chest, shed, home, biome, character, etc.) dedicated to the entities you work with. For example, temples and altars in Minecraft are common. Devotional sheds and chests are popular in Stardew Valley. I’ve named some appropriate Pokemon after an entity or dedicated the critter to them. You can even place a torch or candle in the game world as an offering.

There are lots more out there, too! This list is a starting point, not a limitation. Use your imagination and swap ideas with others, too!

How exactly does all of this work?? How is it possible?!: OK, so the principle behind tech magic is that you're harnessing the energy of multiple sources.

First, the device itself (and if you're using something like a Switch, the cartridge or other physical media). Each of these items has its own materials - electricity, glass and metal, etc. And each of those materials has a magical property that you can use... Glass and metal come from the Earth and have their own correspondences, while electricity is pure energy in itself.

Second, you have the energy of symbolism, or as I like to think of it with a butchered sociology term, symbolic interactionism - i.e., the idea that we create our own reality (or our *perception* of reality) via symbols. In other words, the power of correspondences! A candle is still a candle whether it's physical or digital. Lapis lazuli has the same qualities in this world that it does in a pixelated version. And so forth. So when you use the correspondences in digital spell work, provided that you raise the energy, it can and does have real world consequences. Similar to doing magic in the astral as opposed to the physical world... you are making a conscious decision to connect a digital item to an effect either in the astral and/or physical worlds.

Finally, you're also harnessing the power of belief and the energy of attention, which is where the chaos magic concepts start to come in. The digital worlds are real because you believe they are and you pour parts of your energy and personality into them - and so do *millions* of other people, in many cases. All of that energy is sort of like a reservoir in these games and it's just waiting to be harvested for spell work!

So… This is another subset of chaos magic, then.: Pretty much, yes. I haven't seen it categorized as anything else yet, except for in those cases where technomancy is given its own category.

And what did you mean by “energy of symbolism” again?: Correspondences. Both traditional ones and your own. For example, obsidian corresponds with protection IRL. So if you were making a chest spell in Minecraft for protection, you'd want to consider adding an obsidian block to your spell. Some of this is also stuff that you can brainstorm on your own and explore! Like for example, in the Elder Scrolls series, there are several plants and items that don't exist IRL, such as the corkbulb root - but in the game, that item can be used to make a potion of healing, so for me, it has a healing correspondence. Also, if the game you’re playing has spells already, you can consider how to adapt those spells to affect the real world in a logical, realistic way! Many pop culture magicians have done a great job of turning Pokemon moves into real spells, for example. So feel free to play around (pun intended) and see what works best for you!

How come you only mentioned shufflemancy once in this whole entire post??: That, my friend, needs to be a post for a later date. I assure you, I absolutely can (and probably already have, and probably eventually will) write an entire post about shufflemancy.

How come your formatting is crap?: Because I wrote all of this on a smartphone and pieced it into a post with the mobile app. Bear with me. XD

Where do I learn more and fact check you, smarty-pants?: Tumblr. The answer is usually Tumblr for this kind of thing. Or sometimes Discord. Like pop culture magic, techno magic is simply very new. Some tags to search include tech magic, techno magic, technomancy, video game magic, etc.

#tech magic #technomancy #techno magic #techno witchcraft #pop culture magic #pop culture witchcraft #witchy faqs #witchy tips #witchblr #paganblr

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celerydays · 1 year

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could you walk us through what notebooks & journals & pens /etc you use - they look so good!

I would be SO happy to, you have no idea!!

Alright, let's fucking GOOOO~

Starting off with my current "workhorse" pens - I have like *checks notes* 36 fountain pens and a bit too many inked up atm, but these are just the ones I'm currently reaching for or have inked up more often than not:

TWSBI Go (F): Kinda ugly! But also kinda cute! It's cheap and works great (I friggin love TWSBI pens tbh) and it has a little hole on the cap where you can attach a lanyard or charms, like I did! Makes it cuter imo and it's kind of my emotional support pen these days.

Opus88 Pocket (EF): This 2022 edition has a little Moon tarot design on the cap so it's pretty much the pen I use exclusively for my witchy/tarot practice journals! A lil bummed the cap doesn't post, especially since its a shorter pocket-sized pen, but not a deal breaker and I still love it.

Pilot Custom 823 (F): My grail pen that I've literally coveted for years and just recently acquired at the DC Pen Show this weekend! It's only been a day but I think it could potentially become my favorite pen. Ever.

Pilot Prera (CM): This is my third Prera lol. I just think they're great and really underrated pens! Also a recent acquisition from the DC Pen Show and this cursive M nib is suuuuper fun to write with.

Pilot Vanishing Point (EF): My favorite pen for planning! Super fine-tipped for writing task lists and schedules and love that it's so convenient/quick-draw with the click mechanism.

(I'm totally a Pilot pen ho, can you tell? asdjflaglsg)

Journals/Planners/Notebooks under cut–

Sterling Ink B6 Common Planner: For a good chunk of this year, I was in this planner because I honestly love the size and all the layouts. Super practical and flexible as a system. 10/10 would go back. I've used it to plan, as a reading journal, as a tarot log...

But I get the itch to move around so it's been sitting a little unused since like June, oop.

Leuchtturm A6: I started craving something tiny and minimal so I've been bullet journaling in this pocket notebook for the last month or two and I'm really enjoying it!

Standard-sized Tomoe River Paper notebook: This is pretty consistent in that I don't change up the system itself, but I'm in and out of it for memory keeping/scrapbook journaling! It's almost always a Tomoe River paper notebook of SOME kind that I usually buy in A5 size to go to FedEx and get it cut down to standard. Though I'm thinking of getting a blank Midori MD A5 to have cut down next time - I've been liking the freedom of blank pages for journaling instead of anything lined or gridded.

I really need to catch up with it tbh, but I love sitting in an explosion of printed photos, stickers, and washi and going ham with the pages.

(I do have a flip through of my January-March 2022 pages on YouTube)

Midori MD Cotton B6 Slim: I also have this sketchbook that sorta turned into a visual sketch diary of sorts. I fell off a while ago but want to get back into it because it's super fun to work in and to look back on!

Wide-sized Cosmo Air Light notebook & A5 Filofax Malden: These are my tarot/witchy journals. Grimoires I guess? One is for journaling and all my messier notes while the other is more for reference and ease of organization.

A5 Leuchtturm: I didn't know if I should include this guy, but I've been writing it in a lot recently so I guess I will lol. This is like truuuly a miscellaneous™ notebook.

I got this A5 notebook back in 2017 to use as my very first bullet journal, then found out that this size is personally waaaay too big for me to use as a bullet journal so I hopped off of it pretty quick. It now sits on my desk because since it's mostly blank I'll just pick it up to use it to write literally A N Y T H I N G.

Most recently, I wrote like 5 pages in one night on notes for a fanfiction piece I was working on (I'm not a writer, this fic is never gonna see the light of day by anyone but me lololol. Hyperfixation is so wild; I've put 80k+ words within just 10 days into it so far and it's been hella therapeutic.)

That's all, I think!?

It's funny because I actually have a NEW notebook arriving tomorrow that I'm going to try out as a bujo/commonplace/omni journal of sorts?? I might write an update post after I've set that up and see how I like it <3

#journal #journaling #bullet journal #memory keeping #notebooks #fountain pen #grimoire #sketchbook #commonplace book #tarot journal #cel journals #anon #ask #celerydays

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stardustbarbarians · 7 months

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Enchanted

A Daniel Wagner / Samuel Kiszka fic

Summary: Sometimes it takes some meddling to see what is right in front of you.

Tags: fluff, love spell au, very light angst, low-key funny

Words: 10.8 k

Author's Note: Happy (late) Valentine's Day!! I literally got the idea for this one the day of the holiday and proceeded to write this, thinking it would be at max like 2,000 words. So, yeah, this one kinda got away from me. Anyway, this is dedicated to @ofthecaravel for being more enthusiastic about this idea than I was (she also made the cover pic so everyone say thank you, Karou). Title taken from Enchanted by Taylor Swift. Please enjoy!! <3

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When Danny had the idea to go to the art fair near his house, he hadn’t thought he’d be walking away with an honest to god love potion. I mean, those aren’t real, right?? It’s all just made up for awful rom-coms and Disney movies. So, when that witchy woman had stopped him and gave it to him for free, he thought nothing of it.

He had been weaving through the various booths, eyes catching on all the colorful and sometimes gaudy wares these artists were trying to pedal. Some of them were honestly good, others were just clearly trying to make a quick buck. Danny bought a few things; a few jewelry pieces he thought were cute and a fresh squeezed lemonade.

“Danny?” a woman had spoken up, catching the drummer’s attention. He tensed up at being called out, hoping he wouldn’t be recognized but knowing it was always a possibility every time he left his house.

Schooling his features to be warm and inviting, Daniel turned on his heel to face the woman. She was what Danny could only describe as a “contemporary witch”, complete with long, black hair and a revealing yet classy black dress and a wide-brimmed black hat. Danny had to suppress his scoff at how on the nose she looked, glancing around her clearly witch-themed, yet populated, booth. But, it clearly worked to help sell her goods, so who was he to judge.

“Hey!” he responded, abandoning his wandering and making his way over to her. She smiled widely at him, her eyes lighting up as he approached.

“Oh, my god. My friends are never gonna believe me,” she rushed, her tattooed hands fluttering to her chest.

“How about we get a picture to prove it to them?” he offered, having gone through this enough times over the years to know that that was what most people were after when they spotted him.

She nodded, searching frantically for her phone. When she pulled it out from behind the register, Daniel noticed two things. One; her hands were shaking. Two; her lock screen was a picture of him and Sam posed together. It was a picture of them on stage, embracing and beaming at one another and - wow, is that really what he looks like when he smiles at Sam?

They took their picture, her asking for a hug from him which he happily gave her.

“So, what brings you over this way?” the woman - ironically named Greta - asked, leaning against the table she had set her register up on. Danny worried for a second as her long hair passed over a candle, only for him to realize it wasn’t real.

“Had a free afternoon to myself, thought I’d check the art fair out,” he answered honestly, a shrug of his shoulders tacked on at the end.

She nodded acceptingly. “Find anything interesting?”

Danny held up his fingers, wiggling them to show off the rings he purchased as well as shook his cup of lemonade in front of her, smiling. She laughed, her head tipping back a bit to show off a moth tattoo that rested under her clavicles.

“That’s all, huh? You must be pretty picky.” She looked him up and down, her eyes feeling strangely like they were able to see past his physical form. Danny blamed that on the witch-themed booth she ran.

Danny shrugged again. He didn’t think he was, but then again maybe he was.

“Here,” she blurted out, jumping up from her perch to brush past him to go deeper into her booth. Daniel watched as she stopped in front of a display of bowls that held vials of various shapes and sizes. Each one was sorted by color, some of them even seeming to glow which made Daniel do a double take. There was probably just a light fixed at the base of the bowl to give them that effect.

“On the house,” Greta chirped before tossing something at Daniel. He instinctively caught it, letting out a breath of relief that he had. When he got a proper look at it, Danny realized that she had thrown him a vial of baby pink liquid that had been sealed in a teardrop shaped glass vial. The top was a gradient into Barbie pink and formed to a point, sharp enough to probably kill a man. Daniel turned it over in his hand, the liquid sparkling in the light of the sun streaming in through an opening in the tent he was in.

“What is this?” he dumbly asked, already knowing what the hell it was.

“A love potion,” Greta flippantly answered. When Danny snapped his head up to look at the woman, he saw the mischievous glint in her eye that never reached her soft smile.

Daniel coughed on his own spit as he swallowed wrong. He covered it up by taking a few sips of his lemonade. He had no idea how to react to that.

“Uhh… that’s really kind of you, but I can’t take this.”

“Nonsense. I insist,” she pressed, waving off his concerns with a wave of her hand.

Daniel looked back and forth between the woman and the vial in his hand, weighing the pros and cons. Then he realized how ridiculous he was being. It was a kind gesture and love potions weren’t real.

He tucked the vial into his pocket of his jean jacket and smiled. “Thanks!”

“My pleasure,” she answered, that devilish gleam back in her eye as well as that feeling that she was seeing through him rather than at him, “and trust me, you will be thanking me later.”

That made Daniel chuckle a bit nervously. She was starting to creep him out a bit; time to make a quick exit.

“Right, well. Maybe I’ll see you at one of our upcoming shows!” Danny politely suggested, already backing out the way he had come in.

“Of course! Talk to you later!” Greta’s last sentence sent a shiver up Danny’s spine. It felt like a promise rather than a send off.

With one last quick smile, Danny got his ass out of there and trotted down the booths to get away. He definitely wanted to toss that so-called “love potion” away now. There was no telling what was actually in it. He’d just throw it into the next trash can he saw.

+++

Daniel did not toss it away. Instead, he forgot about it completely and left it in his jacket pocket. It stayed there for a month, silently waiting for the next time someone would wear that jacket and find it.

“Hey, Dan!” Danny was in his kitchen taking some ibuprofen for the headache he was fighting when he heard Sam call out for him.

With a big gulp and a gag he didn’t even try to suppress as he felt the pills catch on the side of his throat, Danny responded with a shout of his own. “Yeah?!”

“Can I borrow a jacket?! It’s cold as balls out and I don’t have one!”

Setting his empty glass of water in the sink, Daniel ran a hand through his curls. Sam had stopped over at Danny’s before the band’s scheduled studio time so the two of them could carpool.

“Yeah!” he shouted back. He went through a mental checklist to make sure he had everything he needed before he left, adding Sam to the bottom of that list.

“What the fuck is this in your pocket?!” Sam called out again, breaking through Danny’s concentration.

“I don’t know! I’m not over there!”

It was quiet again for a moment, Danny quickly going through his checklist again as he passed by his laundry room to grab some socks from the pile.

“Can I drink it?!”

Daniel, starting to get a little frustrated by Sam’s antics already, huffed out in exasperation.

“Go ahead!” he screamed harsher than he had meant to. But, really, how the hell was Daniel meant to know what the fuck Sam was talking about. It probably was a shot of fireball or something he never drank. And if Sam wanted to be tipsy while they recorded… Well, it wouldn’t be the first time.

“It tastes like bubblegum!” Sam excitedly exclaimed, his voice louder as Danny was just around the corner from where he was stationed by the front door.

“That’s great, buddy,” Daniel dismissed, walking past him briefly as he went to grab his sticks from the living room. Doing the pat down on his pockets to make sure he had his keys and wallet, Daniel finally rounded the corner to his front door only to see Sam sprawled out on the ground.

“Sam?” Danny cautiously asked, hoping Sam was just being theatrical over how long Danny was taking to leave.

But then he didn’t answer. Or move, for that matter.

“Sammy?!” Daniel was distraught now, tossing his sticks to the side as he kneeled down next to Sam to shake him.

He still wasn’t stirring, but at least his chest was moving. Daniel frantically searched for a pulse, lifting up his hand to check his wrist. That was when he spotted the nearly empty teardrop shaped vial in Sam’s hand and Danny’s heart sank even further.

“No no no no-” Danny chanted under his breath, pressing his fingers into Sam’s wrist. His heart rate slowed a bit when he was able to feel Sam’s pulse in his fingertips. He sighed deeply, feeling his shoulders sag in relief.

“C’mon, Sammy,” Danny implored, grabbing his friend by the shoulders and began to shake him. It wasn’t hard, but it was enough to make his head loll around his shoulders.

When that didn’t work, Danny bit his lip as his brow knit together. He had an idea, but he’d feel awful for going through with it. With another sigh, Daniel resigned himself to it.

“I’m sorry, Sam,” he murmured, pulling his right hand off the bassist’s shoulder. He reared it back and smacked it smartly against his friend’s cheek. Cringing at how loud the slap resounded in the echo-y chamber of his vestibule, Daniel smoothed his hand back over the pink mark blossoming on Sam’s face.

It worked, to Danny’s utter relief.

Sam’s eyes fluttered open as Daniel caressed his fingers across the angry outline of his hand, groaning as he lifted his hand to his forehead.

“What the hell happened?” Sam grumbled out, sitting up on his own. Danny sat back onto his heels, raking his eyes over Sam to check for any signs of danger.

“You drank the vial in my jacket and passed out, I guess,” Daniel tried to explain, the concern leaking through his tone. Sam still had yet to look at Danny, his eyes having shut once more as he sat fully upright.

Huffing out a laugh, Sam looked at the vial in his hand, a drop of that baby pink liquid slipping out of the opening and splattering onto the floor. He turned it over in his fingers a few times before he spoke again. “Hell of a rush.”

Daniel couldn’t help but snort, his worries easing significantly at the joke. Sam was going to be ok. Maybe a little groggy, but ok. That Greta girl should count herself lucky nothing worse had happened to Sam or else he’d bring down hell around her ears for hurting his best friend.

“Alright, Sam. Let’s get you up or else we’ll be late for studio time,” Danny grunted out as he hauled Sam up to his feet by his arm.

“Right, right,” Sam quietly answered, his hair flying out around him as he shook his head to presumably clear it.

And that was when Sam looked at Danny for the first time since he fell.

“I’m so fucking in love with you.”

+++

“Hey, guys, we might want to reschedule.”

“Yeah? And why is that?” Jake was the first one to look over at Daniel. And when he did, Danny watched as his entire body went rigid as his eyes flew wide open.

“Something wrong- oh my god.” That was Josh, this time. And just like Jake, Josh’s eyes got comically wide as he took in the sight of Danny and Sam.

And Daniel really couldn’t blame them. He’d have the same reaction if he saw his little brother clinging onto his best friend as if his life depended on it.

Sam had long since jumped into Danny’s arms, his arms and legs wrapped around Daniel as if he were a monkey and Daniel his favorite tree. He had refused to get down, Danny having tried to fight him in the parking lot before entering the studio to get him to walk on his own, but Sam was having none of it. Even on the drive over, Sam had tried to climb into Danny’s lap a few times all while gushing about how pretty he thought Danny was. He finally got Sam to stay in his seat after promising to hold his hand as he drove. But as soon as they stepped out of the car, it was no holds barred.

“What the hell is he doing?” Jake asked, his eyes still locked onto his baby brother’s strange behavior.

“I’m holding the love of my life!” Sam answered for Daniel. And if Daniel’s face wasn’t burning before, he was certain it was set ablaze by that. And the worst part was Daniel could tell Sam was using a genuine tone.

He watched the twins look between the two rhythm section members, their lips pursing as they took in the sight. Daniel wanted to hide his face in his hands, but they were currently holding his obnoxious best friend so he couldn’t.

“Oooooooooo-k. Umm, what the fuck is going on?” Josh had abandoned his station at his microphone, setting the equipment down on a chair to his left before he joined Jake at his side.

Danny sighed, his eyes closing in shame. He wanted to look everywhere else but at the twins and their calculating and bewildered gazes.

“You wouldn't believe me if I told you.” Daniel let out a squeak after he spoke, Sam surprising him with kisses he placed on the side of Danny’s neck where his head was nuzzled. He tried to pull away, but Sam just chased after him with his lips.

“Try us,” Josh answered, his arms crossing over his chest as his hip popped out. Jake was idly fiddling with his guitar, probably not even aware that he was playing at all, but his eyes never left Danny.

With a deep sigh, Daniel launched into the story of Greta and her stupid fucking love potion. While he was explaining, he knew his story sounded made up. I mean, for god’s sake, the titular character shared the name of their band. It just sounded like he was caught in a lie. The only thing he knew would work in his favor was the potion vial that he had the foresight of bringing with him.

It was a fight, but Daniel was able to wrangle Sam off of him and set his feet on the floor. However, the man still refused to let go of him completely. So Daniel had to live with Sam resting his head on his shoulder and wrapping his arms around Danny’s torso. With his hands finally free, Daniel was able to fish that vial out of his pocket and toss it over to the twins.

Josh caught it, Jake watching it sail over towards his twin with his eyes. Daniel watched as they inspected it, the baby pink liquid still shimmering in the light. He pointedly ignored Sam and his embarrassing antics. Or, at least he tried to. It was very hard when he kept peppering kisses all over Danny’s cheek and neck as he spoke sweet nothings into his ear. Danny felt shivers dance their way across his skin, his veins warming at all the contact and compliments. But he refused to indulge in them. Sam was not himself right now and he would be damned if he was going to take advantage of him. But, they still felt nice.

After a few seconds of turning over the evil liquid, Josh tossed it back over to Daniel.

“Alright,” Jake started, pulling the cord out of his guitar, “we believe you.”

“Really?” Danny was truly bewildered. He thought the twins were going to think it was some kind of stupid prank they were trying to pull on them. He was actually relieved they did.

“Yeah. We’ve never seen Sam act this way before. Plus he’s a dog shit actor,” Josh answered, a laugh escaping his lips after the last sentence. Danny had to agree; he’d seen the movies Josh had made where Sam was the lead. There weren’t that many.

“Oh, thank god. Because I need help.” Daniel’s tone was desperate, his hands trying to pull Sam’s off his waist. But every time he tried, Sam would just slide them back into place. He eventually gave up, huffing in resignation as Sam giggled in his ear. “Yeah, I’m gonna be honest with you on this one. I don’t know where we’ll even start,” Jake bluntly pointed out, placing his guitar on its stand.

“What if you two try to contact the people who organized the fair and see if you can find the woman who sold me the…” God help him, “...the potion.”

“Yeah, alright. What are you going to do?” Josh was already pulling out his phone, not looking at Danny as he spoke.

“I’m going to see if maybe she posted that picture and contact her that way,” Daniel explained, having to shove Sam’s hips away from his own in order to get his phone from his back pocket.

“Sounds like a plan. But how about we don’t do this here,” Jake posited, his eyes sliding over to where their producer and mixer were watching raptly as Sammy placed yet another series of kisses onto Danny.

They all agreed. They wanted to spare both men as much embarrassment as possible and also minimize the possibility of this leaking and sending the wrong message to their fan base.

Daniel offered up his house considering it was the closest.

“And I’ll drive lovebug here, too.” Danny hooked his thumb towards where Sammy’s face was pressed into the side of Danny’s, a dopey smile on his face as he nuzzled deeper into Danny.

“I don’t think you have a choice,” Josh so helpfully pointed out, trying poorly to suppress a laugh.

“Yeah, ha ha. Let’s go,” Daniel sharply ordered, trying once more to rip Sam’s arms off of him and failing.

“No, no, wait. Let us get one video for blackmail,” Jake quickly requested, already having his phone out and pointed at the two.

Danny, knowing that there was no way they’d relent, groaned and let Jake record his misery.

“Alright, Sammy. Tell us how you feel about Daniel,” Jake prompted, the laugh in his voice barely contained. The youngest perked up at the question, his smile getting brighter.

“Well, where do I even begin! There’s so much I feel about him,” Sam cooed, resting his chin against Danny’s shoulder as he spoke. Danny felt Sam’s hair slip off his own shoulder as Sam tilted his head to get a better look at Danny.

“Why don’t you start with the physical,” Josh, that bastard, piped up. Danny shot him a glare, Josh only responding with an “innocent” smile.

“Oh! That’s easy! He’s got these beautiful dark eyes that you can easily get lost in. They’re this gorgeous shade of amber brown that have this nice green in them that remind me of moss in the forest. Oh! And when they catch the light just right they’re so bright and I get butterflies. And speaking of butterflies, when he smiles at me I can’t help but feel like I’m going to pass out from how beautifully warm and overwhelming it is-”

“Alright,” Danny squeaked out, his voice cracking as his face began to heat up, “that’s enough.”

“No, no, we’re just getting to the good part. Sam, what else about Danny do you like?” Danny bared his teeth at Jake. He knew it was ineffective, what, with his face burning as bright as a stop light.

“Oh, his arms are really nice. I love it when he picks me up because then I can feel them flexing and it makes me all dizzy.” Sam’s voice was dripping in honey. It was so sweet it made Danny’s stomach ache.

“Really? And what about his freckles?”

“One of his best features, definitely. They get all dark and prominent in the summer when he gets more sun. He’s got 137 of them!”

“Alright that’s-”

“And what about Danny’s personality?”

“He’s the sweetest guy ever! I swear, he’s so sweet he gives me cavities. Like this one time, I was feeling really down in the dumps and then Danny went out of his way to get me a case of my favorite beer and made me laugh so hard I nearly pissed myself. He just knows me sooooo well. And also he takes care of Rose the best and he is always so gentle and loving with her… what isn’t there to love?”

“Ok, show’s over. We’re done here,” Daniel firmly decided, reaching out to yank Jake’s phone away from him and end the recording, holding it out of Jake’s reach as he tried to grab it back from him.

Danny tossed it back at him when he was done, watching the guitarist nearly fumble the device to the ground. He shot Danny a confused look at his shift in mood, but he didn’t respond. He simply held onto Sam’s arms as he turned the two of them around and made for the door.

As they walked to the car, Daniel pointedly did not think about the fact that Sam apparently just seemed to know how many freckles Danny had off the top of his head. Or how that made his heart flutter within his chest.

+++

The car ride back was considerably less dangerous than the drive over; Sam hadn’t tried to climb into Danny’s lap since he preemptively laced their fingers together. However, Sammy hadn’t stopped talking. And it wasn’t his usual babbling, no. It was much worse.

“I love you.”

“I know.”

“I love you.”

“I know.” The shock of it had worn off at the thirtieth time Sammy had confessed it to Danny, that first time making the drummer jump out of his skin. Now it was just getting annoying, like the beep of a smoke detector.

“You’re really hot,” Sam giggled, leaning his head across the consul and bumping it into Danny’s shoulder.

Danny just groaned, throwing his head into the headrest behind him and asking god what he did wrong to deserve this cruel and unusual punishment. It was one thing to toy with his destiny, it was another entirely to play around with his emotions.

“I hope we fucking crash,” he whined, the light turning green and taking his foot off the brake.

“I hope we fuck.”

Daniel felt his foot involuntarily slam down on the gas, forcing the both of them to jerk back in their seats as the engine loudly revved like an animal letting out a warning growl. Danny whipped his head over to Sam briefly, taking in his lashes batting flirtatiously and his wolfish grin. The driver felt his heart pounding in his chest, ripping his eyes away from his distracting passenger and forcing himself to look at the road.

“What?” he croaked out, not really wanting to hear it again but also wanting to know if he heard Sam right.

“You heard me,” was all Sam spoke in response, a dangerously flirtatious edge to his words that made Danny’s heart lurch in his chest.

“Just… Just keep those thoughts to yourself, ok?”

“Ok!” Sam cheerfully agreed, settling back down onto Danny’s shoulder. That was another thing about this that was driving Daniel slowly insane: Sam did almost everything Danny asked of him.

He was so, utterly fucked.

+++

“Ok, so Greta must be a popular name among artists or something because the fair organizer said there were about thirty booths registered under that name,” Jake explained after hanging up the phone. He tapped his pen on the pad of paper he’d been writing on idly, turned towards Danny’s spot on his couch. Sammy had tackled him onto it, curling up right against his chest like an oversized dog and refused to move.

“Did she give you the list of businesses, too?” Danny asked, having to crane his neck to look over at Jake.

“Yeah, and I was able to cross off a few of them already,” Jake answered, swiping away at his phone again.

“Nice work,” Danny praised, his eyes darting back to his phone. He and Josh had taken on scrolling through Danny’s instagram mentions in order to try and find the famed Greta. And, Jesus, people really loved tagging him in shit. They had been at it for hours and were still only finding posts from about two weeks ago.

“Is this her?” Josh hoisted his phone up into Danny’s field of view. Danny squinted as he analyzed the woman’s face.

“No,” he groaned, his frustration mounting as they had zero luck.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like Sam like this, it was just… It was too much. Yeah, maybe Danny had been dreaming about this exact scenario for years, but this wasn’t how he wanted to get it. He’d felt guilt slam into him with every touch Sam bestowed upon him as he remembered that Sam wasn’t in control of his actions. It was that stupid fucking potion that was making Sam all cuddly and cute; the normal Sam would never do that. The normal Sam wouldn’t repeatedly confess his love for Danny in a myriad of ways, or kiss his neck and cheeks, or cling to him every second of the day. No matter how badly Danny wanted it to be true, Sam just wasn’t in love with Danny like the drummer was in love with the bassist.

And that was the time that Sam decided to stir just enough to burrow deeper into his embrace with Daniel, grumbling something under his breath that was reminiscent of a cat purring. And just like it never happened, Sam fell back asleep again. Danny watched for a bit too long as Sam’s chest rose and fell with each even breath he took, his face held in a content smile as he dreamed away.

“Man, I haven’t seen him curled up with someone like that since we were kids,” Josh commented, taking a break from his endless scrolling to crack his neck and stretch. He had watched the whole thing, Sam’s stirring and Daniel’s flush creeping onto his face as he gazed down at the cozy bass player.

“What do you mean?” Danny had moved his own phone out of the way to properly look at Josh. The man had taken to sitting on the floor with his back against the couch that Sam and Danny were laying on.

“The last time he looked that content while sleeping was probably when he was about eight-ish; that was when he stopped taking naps with mom,” the singer explained, his eyes cast upwards as if searching the farthest reaches of his mind.

“What, are you calling me his mother?” Daniel felt his face pinch into one of disgust as he remembered what Sam had sprung on him during the ride over.

“No, what he’s saying is Sam has always liked to cuddle, but only feels comfortable doing it with certain people,” Jake clarified, not even bothering to look up from his notepad.

“Yeah, he’s never done that with us. And, now that I think about it, he’s never done that with his girlfriends, either. At least, from what I’ve seen, anyway,” Josh added, rambling just a tad at the end. He even brought his hand up to his chin as he thought, his fingers stroking the hair on it absently.

Daniel had no idea what to do with that particular bit of information, so he elected to shove it into his mental box labeled “The Sam Incident” to be ignored until further notice. It was starting to become alarmingly full.

He went back to his scrolling, his eyes beginning to burn with how long he’d been staring at the screen. He wasn’t aware that he’d taken to running his fingers through Sam’s hair and absently playing with it as he focused on finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Right when he was about to take a break and grab something to eat, he spotted her.

“AHA!” he exclaimed, bolting upright and rudely jolting Sam out of his peaceful slumber. The bassist even grumbled, rubbing at his eyes and shooting a grumpy look at his personal pillow for the violent awakening. Danny felt the sympathy ache in his chest for Sam, rubbing a soothing and apologetic hand over Sam’s arm. Though, with how frizzy and staticky his hair looked, Daniel had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at Sam.

“You found her?” the twins asked simultaneously, Danny feeling briefly like he was in The Shining as they both gave him the same expression as he looked between them.

Daniel nodded his head, turning his phone around to show the others. Sam took the opportunity to sleepily and unceremoniously flop himself down against the drummer’s chest face first, wrapping his arms around his waist. Danny instinctively placed his hand onto his back to steady him, rubbing it as Sam mumbled something into his chest that Danny could not understand.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Jake, ever the impatient one, urged Daniel. He pushed away from the table he was stationed at, making his way over to lean over the back of the couch to watch the drummer’s screen.

danielrwagner: Hey, so uhhh

danielrwagner: This is going to be a strange question but

danielrwagner: Are you the woman who gave me a vial at an art show a month or so back?

Daniel had set his phone down onto the couch, figuring he’d have to wait a while for a response - if he ever got one, that is. What he didn’t expect was for his phone to buzz almost immediately afterwards.

StarshineGreta: Hi Danny!

StarshineGreta: Yes, that was me

StarshineGreta: Why did someone drink it?

danielrwagner: Yeah

StarshineGreta: Who was it?

Daniel swallowed nervously, glancing down at Sammy who was still wedged into his chest and showing no signs that he was moving anytime soon.

danielrwagner: …Sam

Call from StarshineGreta

“Guys, what should I do?” Daniel panicked, his heart rate kicking up in speed inside his chest as his ringtone started to cheerfully chirp in his hand. He frantically looked back and forth between the twins, looking for their help.

“Answer it!” Josh screeched, his thunderous voice that Daniel normally heard echoing through stadium speakers just as loud and commanding in his living room.

With a nervous bite of his lip, Danny did as he was told.

“Hey, Greta. Just so you know, you're on speaker with… with the whole band,” Daniel greeted, making sure to give her the courtesy of knowing that everyone could hear her. But, it seemed that she didn’t even register what he had said. Instead, she launched right into it.

“Alright, how long ago did he drink it and what are his symptoms?” Her voice was nearly clinical if it weren’t for the clear enthusiasm dripping off her words.

“He drank it at about ten this morning-”

“And he’s acting like a lovesick puppy and won’t leave Daniel alone,” Josh interjected, leaning over so that he was closer to the phone to be heard. Though that wasn’t really necessary since the man had shouted, anyway.

“Yeah, Sam won’t stop touching and cuddling him and if he tells him to quit it he gets all mopey and sad,” Jake added, flashing Danny a grin that Daniel merely glared at. She really didn’t need to know all that.

The beat of silence that followed made Danny’s nerves spike into the stratosphere. What he didn’t know was that Greta had merely muted her own mic so that she could laugh as boisterously as she wanted to without being heard.

“Interesting. And how much did he drink?”

“Pretty much the whole thing. There’s about an eighth or so left in the bottle, I’d guess,” Daniel informed, feeling as if the vial in his pocket got heavier as he thought about it.

“Wow. Ok, wow. No wonder he’s so clingy,” Greta replied, her surprise seeping into her tone.

“I wouldn’t call him that-”

“Dan. Try standing up.”

Giving Jake a disgruntled look, Daniel tried exactly as suggested. As he did, Sam’s arms tightened around Sam and pulled him back down towards him. “Nooooooooo,” he had whined out in protest, his brow knitting together in a grumpy frown once more as he looked up at Danny through his lashes.

“No,” he said again, this time more firm and accented by Sam’s grip readjusting around Danny’s ribs to pull himself even tighter against Danny’s chest.

When Daniel looked over at the younger twin, he was met with a small yet smug smile of victory.

“Shut up,” he lamely shot back, wanting to cross his arms over his chest but being prevented by a certain bass player. Instead, he just settled his free arm back onto Sam’s back right below where his hair stopped in the middle of his spine.

“Is it a problem that he drank so much?” Josh asked, completely ignoring the exchange that happened between Jake and Daniel.

“Not really, no. The effects will just be stronger than if he had just drank the recommended amount,” Greta explained.

“Will it last longer?” Daniel quickly interjected, the horrifying thought of having to deal with Sam acting like this for a month causing panic to lance through his heart.

“I don’t think so. Maybe a few extra hours, but it should be worn off by tomorrow evening.”

“And how come your potion actually works? Like, why isn’t yours bullshit like the other ‘love potions’ out there?” Jake so delicately questioned.

“Normally, most of mine are but… well…” Daniel did not like how her tone shifted from confident to apprehensive, “I won’t sugar coat it. The potions I make are meant to amplify what emotions are already inside someone. They can’t manufacture love or hate or happiness if they don’t already exist in the person who drank it.”

After she finished her explanation, the room went silent. Daniel felt as if his mind was beginning to overheat inside his skull as he tried to process the information she had just dropped onto them.

“I don’t get it,” Daniel croaked out, feeling as if his mind was halting all function as he stared blankly down at his phone.

“Do you have that potion on you?” Greta’s voice wasn’t scheming, per say, but it was clear she had a plan.

Daniel dug into his front pocket, fishing out the aforementioned vial. He held it up into the air, looking at it and wondering how something so unassuming could flip his world on its axis.

Before the drummer could even respond to Greta, Jake had swiped it out of his hand so quickly Danny could only blink dumbly at the man.

“Josh!” he called before tossing it towards the man.

“Wait-” was all Daniel could get out before the singer had uncapped the vial and tossed it back like it was a shot.

“Ooh, bubblegum flavored,” Josh cooed after he swallowed, flipping the vial in his hand after he replaced the cap.

Daniel just sat frozen in place. Great, now he was going to have to deal with two Kiszkas attached to his hip at all times and he wasn’t going to be able to do anything-

“How ya feeling, Josh?” Jake had asked in a voice reminiscent of a gameshow host from the 70s.

“Honestly, Jake, I feel no different. Daniel, I love you, man, but not like that,” Josh answered, pointing at his little brother curled up into Danny’s chest like an overgrown cat to prove his point.

“So, that means…” Jake prompted, holding out his hand as if to cue Daniel to understand. It didn’t work.

“I still don’t get it. And now I’ll have two of you on top of me-”

“Oh my god,” Josh impatiently groaned, tossing his head back in frustration as he scrubbed a hand down his face.

“Jesus, you’re dumb, Dan,” Jake added, exasperation of his own causing him to pinch the bridge of his nose as he shook his head.

“I’m sure he’ll figure it out eventually,” Greta optimistically offered, her voice cutting through the groaning from the twins.

“But, wait, what should I do? Is there anything I can do to help Sam? Or, like, cure him?” Danny inquired, electing to ignore the twins and their antics.

“You’re just going to have to wait it out,” Greta answered, her voice not even remotely sympathetic to Danny’s plight.

“Thanks for the insight, Greta.” Jake leaned in towards the phone again, giving it a two fingered salute.

“Yeah, and thank you for the free blackmail!” Josh was smiling as he waved at the phone, his tone chipper and not at all matching the devious words he spoke.

“Any time, boys!”

And with that, the call had ended.

“Well, we best get going,” Josh sighed as he got to his feet, stretching his arms over his head.

“Yep. Seems like you and Sam need some time to yourselves.” Jake had playfully nudged his baby brother on the shoulder with his hand, Sam only responding with a half-hearted grunt of annoyance at being jostled.

“Wait, hold on-”

“Goodbye, lovebirds!”

With a slam of the door that carried with it a sense of finality, Daniel was left alone with a love-drugged Sam. In his house. Alone.

“I thought they’d never leave,” Sam yawned, mimicking his older brother from earlier as he stretched his arms above his head, his face pinching together as he did so. Daniel pointedly did not look at the sliver of tan skin the bassist exposed above his waistband as he stretched, a playful teasing of his happy trail poking out briefly.

“Uh, what?”

“The twins! I thought they wouldn’t take the hint,” Sam playfully implied, his hands tracing up from their perch on Daniel’s stomach to his pecs. And that was when he realized that Sammy was straddling his hips and looming above him with a look in his eye and a smirk on his lips that was anything but innocent.

Danny was stuck in his position on the couch, feeling like those butterflies they displayed in glass with those pins that pierced through their wings stabbing through his own limbs. He felt frozen, caught between his own animalistic desire and his morality; the angel and devil on his shoulders waging a war.

“Are you hungry?” Daniel squeaked out, his voice breaking as he shoved Sam off of him and bolted off the couch. He felt like his face was on fire as the rest of his skin prickled with its own heat. He stood himself on the opposite side of the room, all but pressing his back to the wall. He didn’t care what that witch or the twins said; Sammy would never do that.

He’s not himself.

Once Sam recovered from Danny tossing him into the couch, Sam turned those sultry eyes back onto the drummer. “Yeah. For you.”

Daniel gulped. Sam’s voice had purred out of his lips, matching the very clear bedroom eyes he was shooting Daniel. And Danny was not liking how his body was reacting to that.

“I’ll order sushi,” Daniel quickly stated before bolting out of the room and away from Sam as fast as he could.

+++

Dinner was an ordeal. Daniel had to essentially manipulate Sammy into eating, which made him feel like garbage. But, he tried to reassure himself by saying it was for Sam’s own good. And if Danny had to use his powers of suggestion over Sam to do it, then it was just a means to an end. To be fair, it wasn’t like he was forcing Sam to do something like make out with Danny or anything like that. It was just getting him to eat his goddamn sushi.

It also didn’t help that Sam had scooched his chair right up beside Danny’s and would move closer to him each time Danny had tried to move away. And then Sam had tried to feed Danny his food. Which was… an experience.

“C’moooooooooon Danny! It’ll be cute like Lady and the Tramp!” Sam whined, waving his chopsticks in the air.

Daniel, knowing his willpower against Sam was weakening, relented. He huffed out a “fine” and half-heartedly opened his mouth. Sam squealed excitedly before gently picking up a roll with his chopsticks and placing it between Danny’s lips. Daniel figured the pain of Sam’s nagging was worth the pleasure of seeing his brilliantly excited smile as Daniel chewed his sushi.

“Ok, ok, now me!” Sam exclaimed, setting down his chopsticks before opening his mouth wide and sticking out his tongue like he was about to get his tonsils checked.

With an exasperated yet fond sigh, Daniel selected a sushi roll and brought it up to Sam, cupping a hand underneath it to catch it if it fell. As he placed the sushi on Sam’s tongue, Daniel made the mistake of looking his friend in the eyes. When he did, his breath hitched inside his throat. Daniel could feel as the air around them crackled with a charged energy that sparked to life as their gazes met. And Daniel felt himself unable to tear his eyes away from Sam as he slowly pulled his chopsticks away.

When Sam slipped the food into his mouth and began to chew, that was when Daniel was able to look away.

That was a few hours ago. The two of them were once again cuddled up on Danny’s couch, Sam trying his absolute best to get every part of his body touching every part of Daniel’s. They had thrown on a crime procedural show; Bones or Law & Order, Daniel didn’t know. He was far too distracted by how Sam kept attempting to get Danny to kiss him or let him blow him or an assortment of other things that made his face glow bright red.

He’s not in his right mind, Daniel had to keep reminding himself. And he would not break to love-drugged Sam no matter how many times he would flash Danny those puppy eyes that would normally make him fold like a house of cards under a slight breeze.

“Daaaaaaaanyyyyyyyyyy,” Sam sang, wiggling himself onto Danny’s lap in order to plant himself right in front of Daniel’s field of view. He would no longer be ignored, despite the fact that Sam had always had Danny’s full attention; he just was acting as though he hadn’t.

“Sam, I’m trying to watch this,” Daniel weakly protested. He had no idea what the plot of the episode was, much less the actual name of the show.

“Watch me instead,” Sam whined, his shoulders slouching as he theatrically threw his head back in frustration, “you’ve been ignoring me all day.”

“That’s not true-”

“It’s like you don’t love me.” And that was what finally caused Daniel to break his facade. He looked Sam right in the eyes, taking in the pout of his lips and the dejected nature of his eyes. Daniel isn’t ashamed to admit that he felt his chest ache at the sight. There was genuine heartbreak in Sammy’s eyes that did nothing to quell the guilt that had been thrumming through Daniel’s veins all day.

Sam could not have been further from the truth, really. Daniel did love Sam. Like, embarrassingly so. He felt it swelling in his chest every second that he spent with Sam, even when he wasn’t with him. Actually, that was when he felt it the most, when Sam wasn’t with him. Those were the moments when he found himself wishing for the man to be near, feeling his heart long for his calming and wonderful presence.

But, he knew Sam didn’t feel that way about Daniel. Danny knew Sam the best out of everyone on earth; he’d be able to tell who Sam was in love with. It wasn’t Daniel.

“That-That’s not…” Danny didn’t know how to answer that. He really didn’t. He had no idea if Sam would remember anything from this after the potion wore off. He really did not want to risk the most precious thing in his life.

Instead, Daniel just gently lowered Sam’s head down into the crook of his neck, wrapping his arms around Sam in order to pull him as tightly against his chest as he could. If he couldn’t say it, he’d show it.

Sam calmed down after that, apparently perfectly content to just exist inside of Danny’s personal space. It wasn’t long after that Daniel felt drowsiness creep up on him. Despite not doing much moving around considering the human ball and chain known as Samuel Kiszka was attached to him all day prevented that, he was still exhausted. Emotionally, that is. Who knew having the love of your life falsely confessing his love for you would be so draining? Danny sure didn’t.

“Alright,” Danny yawned, reaching for the remote to turn off the tv, “time for bed.”

“Carry me,” Sam murmured, already half asleep against Danny.

“Sam…” Daniel protested with a sigh, knowing that he was going to anyway but hoping Sam would change his mind.

“Please, baby,” the bassist whined, moving his head so that one eye poked out from his curtain of hair to give Danny that wretched Puppy Look.

Like the whipped man that he was, Danny just sighed as his shoulders sagged in defeat. After shuffling around Sam’s limbs to better fit around Danny as he stood, Daniel walked the two of them up to his bedroom. Danny decidedly did not think about what this would look like to an outsider.

“When did you get so heavy,” Danny grunted halfway up the stairs.

“It’s not nice to comment on a lady’s weight,” Sam shot back, his face still completely nuzzled into Danny’s neck. The breath of his words made Daniel have to suppress a shiver.

“Oh, I didn’t know I was talking to a lady.”

Sam giggled, the vibrant and gorgeous sound making Danny’s heart soar.

Jesus, he was so doomed.

+++

It had taken some master level bargaining on Daniel’s part, but he was able to convince Sam to leave him alone long enough so that they could each finish their nighttime routines. Daniel had just loaned Sam a pair of his sleep shorts and a shirt to use as pajamas; the shorts were just a bit too big on Sam and caused the waistband to sit dangerously low on his hips. Daniel found himself having to force his eyes to focus on anything other than that sliver of skin on Sam’s abdomen, which was an incredibly hard task.

Daniel was far from surprised when Sam had climbed into the bed next to him and proceeded to wrap all of his limbs around Danny. It was like the man had managed to find the exact places where he would fit perfectly against Danny like he was meant to be there. Frankly, it was driving Daniel mad.

“Don’t I get a kiss goodnight?” Sam hummed directly into the drummer’s ear, able to feel the vibrations in his best friend’s chest that was pressed into his side.

The question made Danny sigh. He knew what would happen if he said no.

“You’re going to keep going until I snap or give in, won’t you?” Daniel addressed the ceiling, unsure if he was speaking to Sam or god at this point.

“Yep,” Sam replied, popping the P in the word. Daniel could hear the mischievous smile in his words.

Now, it was just a matter of weighing Daniel’s conscience against his desire to get some goddamn rest. And, well, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to kiss Sam. But, once again, not like this. But… well, it wasn’t like they hadn’t kissed before. It happened a few years ago when they were both drunk; the both of them had laughed it off afterwards, but neither of them spoke of it again. Danny was sure that if he had explained to Sam that he was only doing it to get him to relent so that he could sleep, Sam would understand. Hell, this would be far from the first time Danny had done something Sam had asked of him to get him to shut up so he could sleep.

“Fine,” Daniel had begrudgingly agreed, the word sighed out. But, before he could tell Sam that he was only going to get a quick peck and nothing else, Sam had pounced.

Danny’s cries of protest had been drowned out by the press of Sam’s unfairly soft lips, his facial hair not an unpleasant bristle against his skin. But, no matter how good it felt, Danny couldn’t allow this to continue. There was just one small problem: Sam had managed to snake his hands from where they had wrapped around Danny’s torso to his head. He felt those lithe fingers weave their way into his curls, locking him in place like a boa constrictor did with their prey. No matter how… how hot that was, Daniel was the one in his right mind. He was the one responsible for his own action, so that meant he had to… to… oh, dear lord, Sam’s tongue was soft; feeling like the finest velvet money could buy. It beckoned Daniel’s own tongue, gently pleading with it to slip inside Sam’s mouth. And, truly, who was Danny to argue? And, god forgive him, Sam’s mouth was so warm and inviting, it should be a sin.

Daniel blames his fixation on Sam’s mouth for the reason he failed to notice just how long their kiss had lasted. What finally broke him out of his trance was when Sam’s thigh slipped its way between Daniel’s own, brushing against his interested dick and pulling a surprised yelp from his lips.

Fighting against Sam’s, admittedly strong, grip on his hair, Daniel pulled away from Sam. He made sure to physically push away Sam’s thigh from its spot between Danny’s legs, knowing that should have been his first act. He was out of breath; another indicator for just how he had failed to be responsible. And looking into Sam’s confused and hurt eyes did nothing to help the guilt mushrooming within his chest.

“You’ll thank me later,” Daniel explained, even sounding out of breath as he tried to put as much distance between himself and Sam as the love-drugged man would allow. Or you’ll hate me later.

“But what about here and now?” Sam whined, closing the precious distance Danny had built up.

“You got what you wanted-” and fucking then some, “-just go to sleep.”

“Daaaaaaaan-”

“Go to sleep, Sam.” Daniel snapped, immediately regretting his tone as soon as he saw the genuine hurt in those amber eyes.

With a scowl, Sam settled down into the sheets. What hurt the most, though, was when Sam had retracted all of his limbs from where they intertwined with Daniel’s, flipping on his side to face away from his best friend. Despite having wished for it all day, Danny had no idea it would hurt so fucking much.

Even though he wanted to so fucking badly, Daniel did not reconcile the situation. It was for the best, he had to tell himself. This way, Daniel would be able to actually sleep and Sam wouldn’t be as weirded out towards Danny when he inevitably snapped out of this spell.

It was for the best.

Then why does it feel so wrong?

+++

Daniel had gotten no sleep.

Despite how much he tried, it seemed that every time he closed his eyes he was met by the image of Sammy’s disappointed face. He knew, deep down, that it was the right thing for him to do, to push Sam away like that. But that really was a thin comfort when the hurt in Sam’s eyes before he disentangled himself from Danny was still playing on loop in his head. Isn’t that what he had been trying to avoid this whole time? Hurting Sam? And, somehow, he had managed to do just that. It was frustrating and exhausting and Danny just wanted to get some fucking sleep.

Through the night, however, Sam had managed to intertwine himself once more with Danny. It felt like a hollow victory. And when he eventually, slowly, woke up, Sam had seemed to be completely over their spat from the night prior.

He had simply stretched his arms over his head, his hair a mess of tangles and static, and asked Daniel about breakfast. How Danny had wished that he could just brush off what happened the night prior.

The rest of the day had happened much like the day before; Sam refusing to let Danny stray too far from his touch. It had been inconvenient as Danny tried to go about his day with another person attached to him at the hip. However, he was able to adapt by lunch time. Sammy was still whispering things in his ear that made his blood simmer in his veins and did nothing to suppress his guilt at what images and scenarios his brain supplied him with.

Daniel had resigned himself to the fact that his day now would revolve around Sam entirely. He had wanted to go to the grocery store to restock his fridge that was becoming barren, but he knew there was the possibility that someone would recognize the two of them and their… compromising position.

So, instead of going out and being productive like he had wanted to, he sequestered the two of them to his house. They settled on a Harry Potter marathon, Daniel once again unable to focus on the screen whatsoever with Sam pawing at him continuously. Daniel had ordered food and plopped the two of them on the couch.

By the fourth movie, Sam had fallen asleep in Danny’s lap. Daniel, now with those doe eyes off of him, felt that he was finally able to end his guise of watching the screen. It had reached the late afternoon, that golden light sun streaming in through the windows of his living room and highlighting the lazy dust mites floating in the air. Most devastatingly, however, was how that sun had focused on Sammy’s profile. The man looked angelic, ethereal in a way that should not be feasible for a mortal. His hair glowed a golden hue, making it look like a halo was crowned onto his head. It made Danny’s heart ache within his chest.

Daniel had been so distracted by how gorgeous his best friend looked that he failed to really notice that Sammy was beginning to wake up.

“Daniel?” Sam’s voice was gravelly again. Danny felt his eyes focus on Sam’s, snapping him back into his own mind.

“Sam?”

“Wh… What happened?” Sam had lifted himself off of Danny’s chest, sliding a hand from where it rested on the small of Danny’s back to grab at his head. He blinked rapidly, sweeping his eyes around the room as if it was foreign to him with a grimace on his face.

“How much do you remember?”

There was a pause before Sam responded, his eyes sliding their focus in on Danny’s. “Remember? Dan, I’m not missing any time.”

And if that didn’t make Daniel’s blood run cold.

“So… So…” Danny couldn’t spit it out. No matter how much he wanted to, he just couldn’t say that Sam knew everything. That would make it real.

“So… what happened?” Sam prompted again, seeming to be more lucid with each passing second.

Danny involuntarily gulped, feeling a cold sweat breaking out across his skin. Why was he so nervous? It wasn’t that hard to say what happened; he already told the twins. So why the hell was it so difficult to look Sam in the eye.

“You… You remember that vial from my jacket that you drank?”

“Mhm, tasted like bubblegum.”

“...Yeah. Well, that uhh…”

Oh, for fucks sake! Just say it!

“It was a love potion,” Daniel rushed out, the words all mushing together to sound like one long word.

Another beat of silence passed between the two, Sam staring down at Daniel from his perch in his lap and Daniel looking everywhere he could that wasn’t Sam’s eyes. He really wished Sam would move, it would at least help the raging blush on his cheeks. At least slightly.

“Oh, sick!!”

Finally, Daniel looked Sam in the eye. Of all the ways he had forecasted that Sam would react to that information, enthusiasm and whimsy was not even on the list. He had expected Sam to get awkward, to politely remove himself from Danny’s touch and make an exit as quickly as possible. He had far from expected Sam to link his hands behind Danny’s neck and eagerly inquire about the potion.

“Dude, that’s so cool! You know what this means, don’t you??”

“...No?”

“Magic is real! And we just proved it!!” Sam’s smile was huge, bright enough to outshine the sun.

“Sam-”

“So, like, how does it actually work? Like, I remember that conversation we had with the witch about it only affecting those who already are in love, or whatever, but did she say the actual mechanics of how it worked? Like, is there a special ingredient that it needs to work?” Sam reminded Danny of a puppy in that moment. His eyes were bright and full of enthusiasm, his entire body buzzing with an energy that made it impossible for him to sit still.

This time, it was Daniel who failed to give a timely response. His mind was too busy reeling over what Sam had glossed over during his rambling to properly process the man’s question. Realizing that the reason Sam was looking at him so expectantly was due to him waiting on the drummer, Danny shook his head to force it to work.

“H-Hold on,” he began, taking a hand that had rested on Sam’s waist and bringing it up to his forehead, “you… you remember that conversation?? You were asleep!!”

Danny hadn’t meant for his voice to come out like a screech, however he was just so damn confused that he really couldn’t focus the brain power on proper speech etiquette.

“What?” Now it was Sam’s turn to knit his brow in confusion. “Oh, yeah! No, I was just faking it. It’s an old trick I pull out sometimes to get out of work; I started doing it so that Jake, Josh, and Ronnie were stuck doing chores instead of me.”

Daniel felt like he was losing his mind. How was Sam so goddamn chipper about this??

“Ok. Ok. Oh my god.” Daniel forced himself to take a breath. It felt as if his entire world was crumbling beneath his feet and his brain was struggling to keep up with the rapidly shifting terrain.

“So, you remember that whole conversation.” It wasn’t a question, though Danny had intended it to be.

“Yep!” Danny felt a piece of his soul die at the chipper tone Sam used. He elected to ignore it.

“And… that means you understand how it actually works…”

“Apparently better than you did, Danny Boy,” Sam snarked, a playful grin that bordered on flirtatious spreading across his lips.

Danny could only stare incredulously at Sam.

“And you’re ok with it??”

“...Yeah,” Sam answered slowly, “I already knew I was in love with you.”

And that, right there, was how Daniel Wagner died. In retrospect, he had a good go of it. He was able to follow his dreams, be a rockstar. If he had to pick one, he’d say his one regret in life was ever befriending Samuel fucking Kiszka. It would have saved his life, after all.

“Danny?”

Sammy’s voice snapped him out of his cardiac arrest, pulling him back to the present.

“Y-You… You…” Once again, Daniel felt like his brain was melting out of his head and pouring out of his ears. This can’t be real. Like, it just can’t. “You already… me??”

“Yeah…” Sammy was looking at him strangely, as if Danny were the one acting weird.

“You realize what you just told me, right??”

“I don’t understand why you’re acting so surprised. You already knew this.”

Danny tried to follow Sam’s logic in his head, he really did. He was still under the spell. He had to be. It was the only way Sam’s behavior made any sense to him.

“Sam… you were drugged, ok? I don’t know exactly how, but those… your… actions were not your own,” Danny tried to explain, careful and gentle as possible.

Then, it was as if a lightbulb went off inside Sam’s head. Daniel felt relief hit him; finally Sam got it. They could move past this and save their friendship.

“Daniel, look at me,” Sammy slid his hands from behind Daniel’s neck to rest them on the sides of his face, positioning it so that Danny had to look at him, “I am not under any spell right now. I am in my sane mind, do you get me?”

Danny opened his mouth to speak, but Sam cut him off before he had the ability to protest.

“I am so fucking in love with you. Like, so fucking in love it’s probably illegal. And that was why the potion worked. Because I am in love with you. If I wasn’t, it wouldn’t have worked at all… do you understand what I am telling you in very clear, not-able-to-be-misinterpreted words?” Sam had said every sentence slowly and with a gravity to it that left no room for debate. They were spoken as fact; as law. Just how energy cannot be created nor destroyed, Sam Kiszka was in love with Daniel Wagner.

Yet Daniel still had a hard time grasping the concept.

“But… all that… that cuddling and-and kissing and all that… you’ve never acted that way before,” Daniel reasoned, believing this to be the work of the potion and hard evidence to support that belief.

Sam just laughed, the noise warming up the ice that had frozen in Danny’s veins.

“I always wanna kiss you, Daniel. The only reason I hadn’t yet was because I didn’t think you wanted me that way. And before you try and say it was the potion forcing me, it just never occurred to me to not act upon my feelings.”

Danny was still apprehensive, unable to fully grapple with the concept that Sam wanted to kiss him at all times. But, he was beginning to see what everyone had been telling him the past 24 hours.

“...Prove it.”

With nothing but a quick “ok” spoken under his breath, Sam wasted no time launching forward and locking his lips with Danny’s. His hands slid from Danny’s cheeks to the back of his head, manipulating it so that Sam could tip it back and deepen the kiss. Once again, Danny felt dizzy. But, unlike the other kiss the two of them shared last night, this one was quick and urgent. Sam had something to prove and he was not about to let Daniel walk away from this without getting his point through Danny’s thick skull.

It was Sam who eventually pulled away, having to gasp for air.

“Holy shit,” Danny panted, his head feeling woozy as he took in the sight of his best friend looking absolutely ruined, yet giddy just from his lips.

“Yeah,” Sam breathed in response, his smile turning dopey as he laughed.

“You… You love me…”

Danny watched in real time the excitement and shock that flooded Sam’s eyes.

“Oh, thank fucking god,” Sam quickly uttered, throwing his head back, “YOU FINALLY GET IT!” Sam had taken to shaking Danny by the shoulders.

“That’s actually great news because I’m also in love with you,” Daniel admitted, a giddiness of his own flooding his veins at finally being able to say those words out loud to Sam.

“I would fucking hope so, you dense idiot.” There was no malice in Sam’s words. Quite the opposite, really. He had leaned back down onto Danny’s chest, burying his face into Danny’s neck as they embraced.

“Wait… when did you-”

“Truthfully? When we graduated.”

Daniel started to process what that meant. Since we graduated…

“YOU MEAN WE ACTUALLY COULD’VE FUCKED THIS WHOLE TIME??”

+++

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#greta van fleet #greta van fic #danny wagner #sam kiszka #jake kiszka #josh kiszka #daniel robert wagner #samuel francis kiszka #danny gvf #sammy gvf #jake gvf #josh gvf #samuel kiszka x daniel wagner #sanny gvf #sam x danny #greta van fluff

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creature-wizard · 8 months

Note

Hey! What are some good safety rules for joining covens. I know how easy it is for people to fall into cults and the new age pipeline. What are some good tips?

Watch out for the same kinds of red flags you'd watch out for anywhere else.

Do your own learnin' from reputable sources to get better at recognizing misinfo. Justin Sledge, Digital Hammurabi, Angela Puca, Andrew Henry, and Bart D. Ehrman are all great to check out.

Watch out for conspiracy thinking/conspirituality of the witchy kind; EG "long ago everybody worshiped the Goddess but then the Patriarchy demanded everybody worship a male god," "Lilith is actually a demonized Sumerian goddess," or "the Catholic Church is intentionally hiding the true religion from people." Here's a longer list of conspiracy theory stuff to watch out for.

Watch out for 'em getting caught up in apocalyptic UPGs, like "On X date the Old Gods will return and overthrow the Christian world order" or something.

If they act like you have to engage in some kind of edgy or sexual practice to progress, get away.

If they have a magical grindset (IE, basically acting like if you don't intend to become THE MOST POWERFUL PRACTITIONER then you might as well not bother), get away.

If they claim to be incarnated deities, get away.

If they're quick to throw around spiritual diagnoses (EG, "you have a shadow entity attached to you" or "that girl is possessed by an evil spirit"), get away.

If they're constantly complaining about dealing with negative entities or people with bad vibes, get away. Like you know the saying "if you meet one asshole you've met one asshole, if you met assholes all day then you're the asshole"? It absolutely applies in witchy matters.

If they make you feel like they're the only people you can trust to learn and grow, get away.

If their lore is obviously influenced by White Wolf tabletop games, Dungeons & Dragons, or other pop culture, and they expect you to take it very seriously, get away.

If they very seriously believe that hypnosis can help you uncover past life memories or repressed traumas, get away. (See hypnosis is unreliable for memory recovery, and this is one way we know.)

#answered #witchcraft #covens #red flags #red flag #spiritual red flags #spiritual red flag #witchblr #baby witch

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coinandcandle · 9 months

Text

Witchy New Year Refresh

It’s the new year soon and I wanted to share what I plan to do to invite 2024 in with vim and vigor!

I plan to do this over a few weeks as doing it all at once would be exhausting and just isn’t possible for me. Do what works for you and listen to your mind and body!

Clean and Cleanse

Not just spiritually, but I plan to physically clean my space. Any time I am inviting something new into my home—be it the new year, new energy, or a new way of thinking—I clean and cleanse my space.

I’m not one for spiritual sterility, though. I tend to deep clean or organize my spaces and then I will move on to spiritually cleaning my space! Here are some ways you can do this:

Smoke cleansing - a common one but it’s a good one! Not a great option if you have asthma or pets.

Open windows - It’s pretty cold where I am right now but I still like to open the windows for a little bit to let the air flow through the space and carry out any stagnant air and energy.

Sound cleansing - Not always the best option for folks who live with others or have thin walls but I like to blast music and fill my space with sound. When doing this I prefer to use a playlist that invokes the energy I want to bring with me into the new year!

Spray incense - If smoke isn’t possible for you try using a sprayable incense! Just be careful since this will still distribute a substance across your space and if you have children or pets it’s best to use non-toxic plants for this.

Simmer pot - I love to throw together a simmer pot for cleansing my space. I find it works best in the room you’re in which is likely the kitchen but if you have a wax warmer or mug warmer then you can make a mini simmer pot by placing a heat-safe container of water on it and putting in whatever herbs and oils you want!

Connect and Reconnect

I have ADHD and if something is out of sight, it’s out of mind. To this point, I tend to forget about my oracle/tarot decks, offering vessels, and spell vessels. Here’s a few ways I plan to try to connect and reconnect with the spirits and energy around me.

Clean and organize altars or offering spaces - Self-explanatory but this means dusting, wiping down, and moving things around. It could also mean adding new things and tossing old things that have served their purpose.

Set out new offerings - I plan to try and truly connect to my house spirit(s) this year so I want to find a space in the home where I feel like I can best feel its energy and I will leave an offering. This also means refreshing offerings for deities.

Check-in with spell vessels - I’m a very physical witch, I tend to prefer having a real-world anchor for my spells. This adds up, though, and I’m stuck with a bunch of jars, bowls, pouches, or whatever else. Check-in and see if they’re still active or if you still need to maintain the physical aspect of the spell. If not, dispose of them appropriately.

New Year’s meditation - Practicing mindfulness and doing a meditation session to help me connect with myself going into the new year.

Shadow work or self-care - Shadow work is a form of self-care to me, though some of it can be intense and that’s not how I want to start my new year. Instead, I’ll be doing either some very gentle shadow work or I will be otherwise practicing simply self-care.

Misc

Other things you can do for the new year that I don’t have a category for!

Make a hearty and satisfying breakfast on New Year's Day to welcome in the new year--or at least a satisfying cup of coffee!

Drink tea that invokes the energy you’d like to follow you into the new year.

Make a list of things you would like to learn or try in the new year as far as your practice goes.

Here are some posts to look through for the coming year!

2024 Witchy Calendar by @breelandwalker

Witchy Self-Care post by @ts-witchy-archive

Witchy Quick Tip - Mini simmer pot by me

Celebrating the New Year by @thevirginwitch

Please feel free to add any in either a reblog or comment! <:

Enjoy my posts? Consider leaving me a tip on my ko-fi!~

#witchcraft #witchblr #pagan #witch tips #witchery

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a-d-nox · 6 months

Text

celtic astrology: hawthorn

date range: may 13th to june 6th

advice

they also tend to prefer cool/cold temperatures so stick to the northern hemisphere. they do best to live near water.

animal

the owl; symbol of wisdom and knowledge. sees the truth. nocturnal. secretive. object of superstition and fear.

deity

olden, the daughter of the malevolent giant chief.

hawthorn attributes

small. robust. aren't fussy. protective. short. witchy. chaste. fertile. lucky or extremely unlucky. prosperous. fortunate. bright. innovative. creative. confident. eloquent. charismatic. curious. quick-witted. short attention span. strategist. risk taker. psychic. unconventional. active. restless. easily bored. funny.

hawthorn attributes distinguished with western astrology signs

a taurus hawthorn person is enigmatic, patient, restless, secure, adventurous, eager, artistic, creative, serious, reasonable, has common sense, practical, communicative, dependable, a perfectionist, possessive, warm, sensual, and/or loyal

a gemini hawthorn person is lively, vivacious, constantly in a rush, curious, restless, over analyzes, monotony, impatient, constant change, nervousness, rarely content, popular, fun-loving, flirty, charming, and/or cool/indifferent.

relationship with other celtic tree people

hawthorn people often nourish elder, reed, oak, alder, and birch people.

like what you read? leave a tip and state what post it is for! please use my "suggest a post topic" button if you want to see a specific post or mythical asteroid next!

click here for the masterlist

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#astrology #astro community #astro placements #astro chart #natal chart #astrology chart #natal astrology #astrology readings #astro notes #astrology tumblr #astro observations #astroblr #celtic mythology #celtic #celtic astrology

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builtbybrokenbells · 1 year

Text

Spitfire

Jake finds himself enamoured with an enigmatic woman at the bar, wanting to do whatever he can to get to know her. Unfortunately, circumstance seems to stand in the way of fate, leaving him wondering if he’ll ever get the chance to love her, or if she’ll remain solely a memory.

Read part two here

Listen while reading: witchy woman - eagles

Pairing: jake kiszka x f!reader

Word Count: 6.7k

Warnings: drinking, swearing, bars, smoking, frat boys, creepy/mean ex-boyfriends, mentions of drugs, mentions of sex, touch of physical violence, sorry if i miss any!!

aha! jake mini-series!! not sure how long this will turn out to be, so stay tuned i guess! also, if you can, i suggest listening to witchy woman by eagles while reading :) as always, be kind, enjoy, and don’t mind any grammar mistakes!

Music was pounding through the sound system, bouncing off every body that was present on the dance floor. It wasn’t particularly good, but you were certain that you could get drunk enough to enjoy it. You’d only been inside the bar for a moment, but somehow your friends had already disappeared into the crowd, leaving no indication on where they could’ve went. You paid no mind to it, knowing they would show up sooner rather than later. You pushed your way through the crowd to get to the bar, earning some strange looks. When you landed in front of the wooden countertop, you were a bit out of breath and eager to start drinking. The familiar bartender looked to you, giving you a smile.

“Hey, Mike.” You greeted.

“Was wondering when I’d see your face back here.” He pulled a glass from under the counter.

“Roommates finally let me out of house arrest. Did enough chores to make up for the last time we were here.” You joked. He let out a chuckle, shaking his head at you.

“You’re gonna get yourself hurt fighting like that.” He scolded. The last time you’d been at the bar, you’d gotten in a physical altercation with a frat boy who’d been bothering a girl. You’d never been scared to throw a punch or speak up. Growing up with four brothers really taught you a thing or two about how to fight. Your quick temper seemed to get you into trouble, but thankfully this particular bar staff knew you only got physical if deserved. They didn’t care, because they didn’t want people like that in their bar any more than you did.

“No faith in me, Mikey?” You asked. He slid a drink towards you. You picked it up, taking a sip. “Jack and coke?” You raised an eyebrow.

“Had to go with your second favourite, apparently that fireball gets you feisty.” He grinned.

“I don’t think it was the fireball, baby.” You confided. “I was actually applying for the bouncer position, anyway. You guys don’t seem to want to hire me; figured I just needed to show off my skills.”

“If you were the bouncer, I don’t think anybody would get through the front doors.” He chuckled. “Plus, if we had to pay you to be here, we’d lose out on all our profit.” You laughed as you pulled a twenty out of your purse. As you handed it over to him, he waved you off. “First ones on us, we missed you.” You shoved it back in your purse, pulling out a ten instead.

“Fine, here’s a tip, I missed you too.” You left it on the counter, grabbing your glass. “Oh, and put some better music on. I don’t want my favourite dive bar turning into a club.” He let out another laugh, throwing his head back as he did so.

“Will do, spitfire.” He moved on to the next customer as you turned around, losing yourself in the crowd. The boy on the stool next to you stared at the spot you’d been standing moments before, turning his head to watch you weave into the mess of bodies. He turned back to the bartender, who was making his way over to him. “Refill?” He asked the boy, nodding towards his empty glass.

“Yeah,” he cleared his throat. Mike pulled down a bottle of whiskey from the display, filling a glass with ice and pouring the liquor atop it. “What’s that girls name?” He asked. Mike looked up at him, furrowing his eyebrows slightly.

“The one who was just there?” He nodded his head towards the empty spot beside the boy. He gave a nod. “Y/n,” he answered “but if you think you’re interested, tread carefully, man. She’s something else.” The bartender smirked.

“You seem to know her pretty well. Could you put in a good word for me?”

“What’s your name, kid?” Mike questioned, placing his drink in front of him and taking his used glass away.

“Jake,” he introduced himself, reaching a hand across the bar. “And you’re Mike?”

“Yeah, that’s me. I own the place.” He smiled. “I’ll try my best to send her your way, but no promises. I’ve known her for a long time. She’s a force to be reckoned with. She does whatever she wants, whenever she wants to. I’ve never been able to reason with her.”

“‘Preciate it, man. I think I can handle her.” Jake smiled. Mike let out a laugh, knowing the boy was maybe a bit too confident in himself.

“Whatever you say.”

Back on the dance floor, you’d found yourself surrounded by a group of people you’d never met before, but seemed like they knew how to have fun. You’d finished dancing with one of the girls, blowing her a kiss as you continued on your journey through the sea of drunkards. A familiar head of red hair caught your attention. You pushed past a pair of frat boys, giving a scowl as you did so. They were your least favourite type of people, and the university you’d been attending was full of them. You caught up to your friend, grabbing onto her arm before she could slip away again.

“Hi!” Eve exclaimed, smile lighting up the room. “I didn’t know where you went!”

“Had to go say hello to Mike!” You shouted back. “Where is everyone else?”

“I think Ally’s doing blow in the bathroom.” She giggled. You rolled your eyes.

“Of course she is.” You were a party animal, but even you had to admit that Ally, one of your roommates, definitely had a problem that she wasn’t willing to deal with yet.

“Ben’s probably guarding the bathroom door for her,” you nodded. Ben was Ally’s boyfriend, always making sure she was safe. You liked him; he wasn’t necessarily overbearing with her. He never stopped her from doing what she wanted, but just made sure she was protected while she was doing it. “And I think the rest of them are over playing pool.”

“And you and I are gonna dance.” You smiled, grabbing her hand and twirling her around. She let out a laugh, reciprocating the action. The two of you moved your hips in time with the music, dancing on each other and sipping at your drinks. From behind you, a wolf-whistle sounded. You straightened up, spinning around to see a guy you’d seen around campus a few times. You gave him a glare, flipping him off in the process. He rolled his eyes at you, turning to look the other way. “Asshole.” You muttered, bringing your glass to your lips and finishing the rest of the drink in one gulp. “Come on, let’s go get another.” You ushered her along. The two of you stepped down the stairs leading back to the main floor, catching sight of your third roommate. “Ally!” You shouted, waving her over. Her head whipped around, following the sound of your voice immediately. She gave you a grin as she joined you, hooking her arm through yours. “Hello, sunshine.” You greeted.

“Fancy meeting you here.” She jittered. You had to laugh.

“Let me buy you a drink, sugar.” You gave her a small yank towards the bar. You pooled into some stools, all scooting your chairs closer together. Mike made his way over to you, a towel over his shoulder. He placed his hands on the edge of the counter, leaning forward and giving a disapproving sigh.

“You troublemakers are back again?” You gave him a sweet smile. He was an attractive guy; a bit older, but very good looking for his age. He had his head shaved and tattoos littered his arms. You always played the flirting game with him, knowing you’d let him take you home under the right circumstances. Still, you enjoyed drinking there far too much to ruin it over a quick fuck.

“Couldn’t stay away from you.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. What are you having this time?”

“I’m thinking shots. What about you, ladies?” You asked. They gave a collective nod. “Six jägerbombs.” He obliged, grabbing a can of red bull and the dreaded green bottle. He poured out six, placing two in front of all of you.

“Oh, there’s a guy over there that seems particularly interested in you, too.” Mike said, nodding in the direction of a booth behind you. You raised an eyebrow, giving a smirk.

“Trying to pawn me off on some poor patron?” You asked. He shook his head.

“I’m just relaying the message, sweetheart.” You turned around, seeing a group of boys sitting together. Your eyes scanned them, taking in each one of them individually. One had long curly, dark hair and a sweet smile. He looked different than the other three, who all seemed a bit similar. There was a lankier, taller boy who sat next to the curly haired one. He had a bit of facial hair growing in and long, brown hair that barely had a wave to it. On the other side of the booth, there were two boys who looked quite similar. One had short fluffy hair, shaved down on the sides and a grin that never left his face. The boy beside him had long hair, too, but his aura looked a little darker. His smile wasn’t as wide when it crossed his face, and he looked a little stoned.

They must be twins, you thought.

They were all good looking; you wouldn’t mind taking any one of them home, but that wasn’t your intentions lately. Boys, and girls, for that matter, were not your peak interest. Too much drama, too much effort. You liked drinking and having fun. Freedom was great and you used all of your time not spent with your friends, studying. You didn’t need someone to drag you down. Still, out of curiosity, you had to ask. “Is it sunshine and rainbows, or dark and broody?” You turned around, a laugh on your lips.

“Dark and broody,” Mike chuckled. “How’d you know?”

“Come on, you know me well enough by now. I know everything.” You took the first shot, feeling the warmth flood your chest for a second. It was quickly washed away by the carbonated drink. “He is cute, though. But I’m not interested in wasting my time.” You sighed.

“Y/n, he’s gorgeous. You have to go talk to him, at least.” Ally pleaded.

“Take your shots and maybe I’ll think about it.” You brushed her off.

“He seemed to really like you, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Seemed like a nice guy.” Mike offered, throwing another drink in front of you before he stalked off to serve another group of people. You thought about it for a moment, taking another look over your shoulder at the guy. You found he was already looking at you. He gave a small smile, to which you returned.

“You know, maybe it would be good for you. You haven’t even so much as looked at anyone since the last asshole.” Eve said. You shrugged.

“For good reason.” You kept it short and sweet, not wanting to get into it now.

“Just give him a chance, y/n. You never know.” She took both of her shots back to back without a flinch in sight.

“Oh, I know,” you rolled your eyes. “All guys are the same. They just want to fuck and ruin your life, then act like it never happened.” You stood again, grabbing your drink. The two girls shuffled to their feet, following after you. You made your way to the pool tables, taking a seat on the side of one the rest of your group was playing on. Ally’s boyfriend shooed you off without any hesitation, completely used to your antics. You jumped off, now watching the game they were playing. Ben and his roommate were playing together, and they were down to the 8-ball. The tension seemed a bit high; they always contested each other in pool. It was their version of a pissing contest. You had learned not to comment on it.

The mood shifted in the air suddenly. Mike had adhered to your request, changing up the music. Overhead, the opening notes of Witchy Woman by Eagles sounded, sending a jolt of energy through you. “Thanks, Mike!” You yelled over to the bar. He looked up, giving you a wink.

From the booth the group of boys sat at, Jake looked over at you, pleasantly surprised that you’d requested the music change. You were singing the song to Eve, and she was dancing to your voice. Jake admired the way your hips moved, the life behind your eyes, and the heart you were putting into the performance. “Go talk to her, man.” Josh elbowed his brother in the side. Jake snapped out of his trance, looking over to his twin.

“Oh, no,” he shook his head. “I don’t want to bother her. She looks like she’s having fun.” In reality, he was nervous. He’d never met a girl who affected him quite like you did. Your whole aura drew him in, like you’d casted a spell on him. The way you were so openly you and not afraid to show it was enchanting, and new. Not many people were like that. He thought your song choice had been fantastic, because if he had to pick a song to describe you, it would have been that one.

“Just ask to buy her a drink; she looks friendly enough.” Sam said, now looking back over his shoulder to get a glance at you. Jake took a deep breath, nodding his head once.

“Yeah, okay.” He stood, throwing back the last of his whiskey and advancing towards you. You caught sight of him as he was approaching, finding your breath catch in your throat. He was really good looking, and even better up close. He gave you another smile when you caught his eye. You stopped dancing, trying to channel a bit of your confidence that you’d lost momentarily. “You know, if I didn’t know any better, I could almost believe they wrote this song about you.” He spoke once he got close enough to you. You gave him a smirk.

“Flattering,” you looked him up and down. He was wearing dark jeans; you couldn’t tell exactly what colour they were due to the dim light, but they looked black. He had a dark blue button up on, only the bottom few buttons fastened together. The sleeves were cuffed at his elbows. His chest was tan, the skin looked soft and was inviting you in. His neck adorned a few chains, one with a pendant hanging from it. You couldn’t get a good look at it. He had dark features: brown hair, brown eyes and dark eyebrows. He was beautiful, and definitely had a good music taste for knowing the song, but you weren’t willing to fall for it. You were certain there had to be a catch. “What brings you to my side of the bar?”

“You,” he was blunt. You hated to admit it, but you liked it. His eyes scanned your face, taking in your red lipstick in particular. He wasn’t disrespectful with his gaze, though. It never fell below your shoulders. “I couldn’t let you leave without at least introducing myself.” You gave a chuckle.

“Trust me baby, I’m not leaving any time soon. They shut the bar down when I’m ready to go.” His heart sped at the pet name. “Now, tell me what you really wanted.”

“I wanted to buy you a drink.” His confidence was non-existent, but he attempted to sound sure of himself, anyway. “A woman with a music taste like yours is certainly deserving of a beverage of her choice.” You softened your stare, easing up on him a bit.

“I guess that depends on what drink you had in mind.”

“You don’t strike me as a bottom shelf kind of lady.” He let out a small laugh.

“You got me there.” You smiled. “I think-“

“She’d love to have a drink with you!” Ally cut in, earning a glare from you.

“Come on, Ally, you didn’t even let me intimidate him first.” You rolled your eyes, making a quick joke.

“He looked pretty scared to me.” She giggled. You looked back at the boy, shrugging.

“I guess he does.” Jake let out a nervous chuckle. “Come on, pretty boy, let’s go get a drink.” You grabbed his hand, pulling him along behind you. When you reached the counter, he pulled a bar chair out for you, letting you sit down first. He took a seat beside you, turning to look at you.

“So, witchy woman,” he smirked “what’s your name?”

“Hm, I think I like that name better.” You grinned.

“Come on, I’m sure that pretty face has an even prettier name.”

“Y/n,” you said, crossing your legs. “What about you, mystery man?”

“Jake.” He told you. You looked at him for a moment, slowly nodding your head.

“That fits. You look like a Jacob.” He laughed.

“I do?”

“Yeah, I mean, not in a bad way or anything, you just look like a Jake.” You stated, looking up at him through your eyelashes.

“Noted.” he replied. Mike stopped in front of the two of you. “I’ll get the same as earlier,” he looked to you “and one of whatever this beautiful lady has been getting all night.”

“Lady is a strong word for this one.” Mike chuckled.

“How rude, Mike. I may just have to leave a bad review.” You snipped. He waved you off.

“You love me too much for that.”

“You’re right, I do. I can’t get this cheap of a drunk anywhere else. Glad to see you referred to my Spotify playlist for tonight.” You mentioned, hearing a Cream song begin to play.

“It was too good not to play.” You watched as he poured the drinks. “I should pay you instead of the shitty DJ’s they bring in.”

“Hey, twenty bucks is twenty bucks.” You sent another wink in his direction.

“You think I pay them that much?” The three of you let out a chorus of laughs. He handed you both your respective drinks.

“Add them to my tab, please.” Jake told him. Mike gave a nod. “And all of her drinks for the rest of the night.” He added. You gave him an incredulous look.

“Absolutely not,” you scoffed “that’s very kind of you, but I won’t do that to you.”

“I don’t mind, really.” He assured you. Mike gave him a look of warning.

“She’ll drink you broke, buddy.” He told the boy.

“It’d be worth it, then.” Mike gave a shrug, walking away and doing as he was told without another protest.

“Jake, you really don’t have to-“

“I want to.” He cut you off, a tone of finality in his voice. You closed your mouth, pleasantly surprised at the authority. Usually, it would irk you, but from him, it was more than alright. You sipped your drink before the conversation continued. “So, what do you do for a living?” He asked, leaning back in his chair.

“I’m in school right now, actually.” Now that you were looking at him, you were realizing he might have been a bit older than you. You’d never seen him around the town, or the campus. He was a mystery waiting to be discovered.

“What are you taking?” He asked, eyes never leaving you.

“What do you think I’m taking?” You figured it would be fun to play with him a bit. He studied you for a moment, trying to pry into your brain.

“Something science-y.” He deducted. You were impressed.

“Yeah, actually.” You smiled.

“Biology?” You nodded.

“Well, sort of.” You gave a small laugh. “Chemical engineering. Moving on to biomedical engineering for my masters.” His eyes widened at your statement.

“So you’re a genius, too?” He asked.

“If you want to say that, sure.” You played into it. “What about you, Jacob?”

“I’m a musician.” You narrowed your stare at him.

“Any good?”

“I’d like to think so,” he responded, eyes crinkling with the upturn of his lips. “I guess I’ll have to show you sometime so you can judge for yourself.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” You trailed off. “So that’s why you have such a good taste in music, then?” He gave a small shrug.

“I grew up on the type of music you like.” Was all he replied.

“So you play rock music?”

“Modern rock, yeah.”

“That’s actually really cool.” You admitted. “You play guitar, don’t you?” He nodded.

“How’d you know?”

“Woman’s intuition, if you may.” You scooted your chair closer to him. He welcomed it, doing the same. “So you’re just passing through town, then?”

“Yeah, we had a show here last night. We’re gonna be here for a couple days, though.” He was much more intriguing than you’d originally pegged him for.

“Where’s home for you, then?” You pried, genuinely wanting to know him now.

“Michigan.” He answered, setting his glass back on the countertop. “You?”

“Washington.” You replied.

“You’re a long way from home, then.” He noted.

“Well, I couldn’t really turn down a scholarship from John Hopkins.” You practically scoffed. “My parents would have killed me if I did.” You laughed.

“Yeah, fair enough.” He conceded. “How far along are you?” He asked.

“I’m in my third year of my undergrad. I’m finishing up my bachelor’s early, then I’m starting my masters in the fall.” Jake was blown away at your words.

“You amaze me.” His expression showed nothing short of admiration.

“I guess I can add ‘impressing celebrities’ to my resume.” You smirked, leaning forward slightly. Perhaps it was the alcohol lowering your common sense, but he looked very good, and you’d likely never see him again. It was a win-win for you. “I think I’d like to make your time in Maryland memorable, Jake the rockstar.”

“You already have, Y/n the engineer.” He was leaning in now, too.

“Oh, so you don’t want to kiss me?” You teased. Your noses were practically touching, the smell of whiskey on his breath was driving you crazy.

“No, I would love to kiss you.” He assured you.

“What are you waiting for, Jacob?” Before you could say anything else, his mouth was on yours, desperate to know what you tasted like. It was heated, both of you tipsy and fuelled by attraction, but it wasn’t sloppy. When you pulled away, you giggled at the lipstick that stained his lips. “Reds your colour, I think.” You wiped away the smudge with your thumb. He couldn’t hold back his smile, placing a kiss to the pad of your finger.

“You think so?”

“Mhm,” you hummed. But, in your true nature, you stood, cutting the moment short. “Come find me before you leave, rockstar.” You placed another kiss on his lips, walking away without another word. He followed you with his eyes, dumbfounded at the sight of you walking away. He watched you until you disappeared back into the sea of people, not sure if he should follow or not.

You ventured back to the pool table, joining your friends once more. They didn’t notice you right away, but when the girls caught sight of you, they had a shock at your smudged lipstick. Instead of explaining, you grabbed a pool cue and started up another game after convincing one of the boys to go buy a round of shots.

Jake joined his brothers in the booth, wordless and still trying to comprehend the interaction you’d shared with him moments before. “How did that go?” Josh snickered.

“I… I don’t know.” He said. “I mean, she kissed me, then she just… left.” His twin reached out and gave him a reassuring pat on the back.

“Maybe you’re a bad kisser,” Sam chirped, earning a pointed look from his eldest brother.

“Did she say anything else?” Josh questioned.

“She told me to find her before I leave.”

“Well that’s not a bad thing, then!” He exclaimed, trying to cheer him up.

“I don’t know, man. I’ve never met anyone like her before. I’m scared I might’ve blown my shot.” He sighed, swirling the ice around in his cup.

“You’ll just have to find her, later.” Sam shrugged. “Then you’ll know for sure.”

Back at the pool table, you were on your last solid ball, eyes already on the 8-ball and planning your victory. You lined up your shot, guiding the cue through your fingers and knocking it into the cue ball. It bounced into the orange one, hitting it against the corner and rolling it back into a corner pocket. You gave a smirk of triumph at Ben’s roommate, who still had three balls left to sink. He said nothing, barely willing to make eye contact with you before you took aim again. You shot at the black ball, eyes following it carefully as it landed in the hole without issue. You placed your cue on the table and gave your opponent a sweet smile.

“I’ll take another Jack and Coke. Make it a double, honey.” You told him. Instead of arguing, he placed his own stick down and nodded, walking to the bar without another word. While waiting for him to return, you checked your makeup in your phone camera. You pulled out a tube of lipstick, reapplying it in the places it had worn off. When your refill was brought back to you, you thanked the boy and turned to your own roommates. “I’m going outside, anyone joining?” You asked. The girls nodded, grabbing their drinks. They scuttled behind you as you made your move toward the door. The bouncer caught sight of the drink in your hand and moved in front of the exit before you could get outside.

“You can’t bring that out there, y/n.” He told you.

“Oh, come on. You know I’m coming right back in.” You bargained with him. He didn’t budge. You put on a little bit of an act, letting an innocent look fall over your features. “You know, a lady is never supposed to leave her drink unattended. You never know what could happen.” He faltered, shaking his head, knowing he wasn’t going to win the argument.

“Fine, but make it quick. Don’t let Mike see you, either.” He warned.

“You know he couldn’t stay mad at me.” You reminded.

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” he chuckled. You blew him a kiss as you passed by, Ally and Eve following close behind.

The night was cool, but it felt nice after being inside the warm bar. The exposed skin on your legs filled with goosebumps at the sudden breeze, but you paid no mind to it. You handed one of the girls your drink, pulling a cigarette pack out of your purse. You took one between your lips, offering it around to the others. They each took one, mimicking your actions. You took your lighter and lit all of them, slipping it back into your bra. You took your drink back, letting out a long exhale of smoke. “You guys having fun?” You asked.

“I’d be having more fun if you could set me up with one of mystery boy’s brothers.” Eve said. You gave a low chuckle.

“You can have mystery boy, too.” You flicked off the ash that was accumulating on the end of your cigarette.

“Why? What’s wrong with him?” Ally asked, eyes wide.

“Nothing,” you shrugged “he was a good kisser, probably a good lay, too. Just not looking for anything like that.” You were lying. You were very into him, even before he’d kissed you. If it were with him, you’d be willing to try another relationship. You barely knew the guy, but he had an effect on you you’d never felt before. You knew if he walked out of the bar and joined you, he’d have you wrapped around his finger, and you didn’t like that feeling.

“Babe, he may be a fantastic guy. He seems really into you. I think you should give him a chance.” Eve pushed.

“I told you, not interested.” You replied, leaving it at that. “He’s a musician, anyway. Best case scenario, I fall for him and I get to see him twice a year. Doesn’t sound fantastic to me.”

“No, y/n, the best case scenario is you get to know each other and he treats you really well. Maybe he’d even take you across the world with him.” Ally interjected. You scoffed.

“As if I have time to travel across the world with a horny rockstar.”

“Don’t let you-know-who ruin this for you.” Eve warned.

“I don’t want to talk about him; how I feel has nothing to do with him.” You snapped. She knew your ex-boyfriend was an off-limit topic. She conceded, still knowing that you weren’t being 100% truthful. He’d really fucked you up, and was still trying his best to make you miserable months after your dramatic end by following you around, blowing up your phone non-stop, and ruining any new, blossoming relationships before they could amount to anything. You wanted nothing more to do with him after your caught him hooking up with a sorority girl at a house party, and that was one of the lesser injustices he’d committed against you in the time of your relationship. You were surprised he hadn’t shown up at the bar, yet, just to disturb your night. The cigarettes were slowly dwindling to an end and the tension had yet to subside. “I’m going to have another one, I’ll meet you guys in there.” They nodded, departing back into the building. They were well aware you just needed a minute alone; you’d be fine by the time you went back inside.

You lit another cigarette, leaning back against the building with no real thoughts. You watched the passerby’s, wondering quietly about what was going on in their heads. People were fascinating. It was always strange to think that every person that passed by had their own stories, thoughts and dreams. At face value, they were just bodies. You couldn’t begin to fathom the amount of memories and tales each person that walked by held in their minds.

“Penny for your thoughts?” A voice broke you out of your own mind. You looked up to see the same blue button-up and black jeans from earlier.

“Following me, rockstar?” You smiled. He shook his head, holding up his own pack of cigarettes.

“Just luck.” He leaned against the wall next to you, not close enough to make you uncomfortable, but enough to make your heart flutter.

“Guess so,” your usually witty comments seemed to be lost. The liquor coursing through your veins seemed to be making the decisions rather than your conscious mind, now. All you knew was that he was gorgeous, and you’d never have to see him again after the night was through. You hated that you were so back-and-fourth with your own mind, but you couldn’t help it. Those were your only justifications for what you said next. “Do you plan on taking me home tonight, Jacob?” You turned your head slightly, peeking at him through the corner of your eye.

“If you’ll let me.” He looked at you, now.

“I think that would be alright.” You said, turning your body towards him. He mimicked you, eyes finally fully landing on your face. He let out a shaky breath, stunned by your beauty. He thought he’d never get to experience it that close to him again. Without another word, you threw your cigarette to the ground and pulled him in by his shirt collar, landing your lips on his for the second time that night.

His hand shot to your hip, pulling you into him. Your tongue darted over his bottom lip, begging him to open his mouth. He did so without hesitation, knowing that he’d take you right there if it meant he got to have you at all. You were lost in the feeling, the taste of him intoxicating you more than any of the liquor you’d drank that night. You felt as though nothing could break your focus from the beautiful boy in front of you. But, all things come to an end, and in this case, it was by your name being called frantically.

“Hey, sorry to break up the moment, but we’ve got a problem.” Both of your roommates were in front of you, wide eyed and anxious. You were still coming back to reality, confusion etched in your features.

“What is it?” You finally mustered, taking a step back from Jake, who also looked very disgruntled.

“He’s here. He saw us, and he’s looking for you.” Your expression turned stone cold. Jake looked between you and the girls he didn’t know the name of, silently begging for someone to tell him what was going on. “We have to go.” They tried to usher you away, but you kept your feet planted to the ground.

“Let him find me.” There was no shakiness in your tone; you were serious, almost eager for him to come outside.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Ally said, shifting on her feet.

“I think it is.” You brought you drink to your lips, draining the last of the liquid into your mouth and swallowing it down. “This is my bar.” You reminded them.

“Okay, hold on,” Jake said, intervening now. “What isn’t a good idea?” With that, the front door to the building opened and a boy stepped outside, eyes immediately settling on you. You took a step forward, a smile twisting on your face.

“Finally found me, then?” You handed your glass off to one of your roommates, not looking to see who grabbed it. His eyes were menacing, but they had never scared you before, and they certainly weren’t, now.

“Didn’t have to look very hard.” He took a step towards you. Jake was watching, still unsure of the situation. He looked to the other two girls for an answer, but they weren’t paying any attention to him. “Just had to find the sluttiest outfit at the shittiest bar.”

“This is getting pretty pathetic, Aaron.” You crossed your arms over your chest, giving him a look of disdain.

“It’s been months. You won’t speak to me, you won’t answer my calls, you won’t even fucking look at me when we pass each other on the street.”

“I wonder why,” you rolled your eyes. “We broke up. You were an asshole, I left. Get over it.” You snapped. “Stop following me around to the bars and waiting for me outside of my apartment complex. It’s creepy; get a fucking life.”

“Maybe I would stop if you would just talk to me! I just want to have a conversation, maybe figure this out.” You scoffed.

“No, I don’t think we’ll be ‘figuring this out’ any time soon. Or ever, really. Take the fucking hint and move on. Or get some help, preferably.” He took a step towards you, a look of warning crossing his features.

“Don’t speak to me like that.” His voice was low.

“Should we stop her?” Jake whispered to your roommates, wondering if they were really going to let you take on a guy two times your size all on your own. They both looked back at him, having to bite back a grin.

“Honey, if you’re really interested in her, you’ve gotta understand: nobody can stop her. Most we can do is cheer her on.” The red-head explained. He was still nervous, looking at you and the unknown guy. He was towering over you, but you had no intent on backing down.

“Should we help her, then?” He asked.

“I promise, she doesn’t need any help.” The blonde one spoke now, a ghost of a laugh lingering in her tone. Jake backed down, deciding it was best to just watch how things played out before getting involved.

“You don’t even have the decency to give me any closure, and I come out here and see you whoring around with,” he looked at Jake for a moment. You could see the gears turning in his head while he searched for a good insult. “Van Halen wannabe?” You almost giggled at his shitty pass at Jake.

“At least the Van Halen wannabe could get me off if he wanted to.” You cackled. Your roommates gave Jake a pat on the back, reassuring him that it was alright. He wasn’t even paying attention to the insult thrown at him, more worried about you. There was quite a crowd forming now, everyone wanting to see what the fuss was about. Although, Jake did happen to notice, everybody was looking at the boy as if they were scared for him.

“Sure, you’re laughing now, but you won’t be when you realize he won’t stick around, either. You’re not worth much more than a quick fuck. He’ll realize that pretty soon, too.” The demeanour shifted quickly. You were no longer in a mood to throw insults back and fourth all night. You were itching for a fight. “You can spit out insults all you want, but it won’t change the fact that you’ll end up alone. Wasn’t hard to find someone better. All I had to do was bring home the first girl I saw at that party.” Your vision turned red, furious at the thought he’d even bring up that night. Your hands were vibrating, fuelled with rage at the sight of him, now.

Before anyone could do anything to stop it, your arm raised, hand balled as tight as you could get it, and you swung at his face. Your fist connected with his nose, knocking him backwards. He stumbled, hand coming up to grab where you’d hit him. “Sure, Aaron.” You shook your hand out, barely paying any mind to the stinging. “If telling yourself that helps you sleep at night, keep it up! But if you’re going to lie about it, you can at least leave me alone. Hard to believe you can find someone better when you’re still chasing after me like a lost puppy.” You gave him a sweet smile. He had straightened up and approached you again, about to open his mouth for another jab. Before he could, you moved swiftly, landing another punch to his face. “Now do me a favour and stay the fuck away from me.” It felt nice. You’d been waiting to do that for a long time, finally happy the perfect moment had presented itself.

By that point, the bouncer had caught on that something was going on outside. He’d pushed through the crowd, catching sight of you. “Y/n! Again?” He snapped, making a move towards you. You let out a laugh, stepping back.

“Sorry, Cody!” You shouted your apology to the bouncer as you turned towards your roommates. “Tell Mike I’ll see him next weekend!” You grabbed the girls hands, staring to make a run for it. Jake watched, still trying to process the entire interaction that had unfolded in front of him, amazed that a single punch from you could have knocked a boy that size, backwards. He only clued in to what was happening when you paused in front of a building a few down from where he was standing. You were pulling your heels off, still trying to walk while you did so.

“Wait, y/n!” He called after you, not willing to let you get away that easily. You turned back to look at him, faltering for a moment.

“Sorry, rockstar!” You yelled back, genuinely feeling your chest ache as you ran away. “Nice meeting you!” Your voice echoed through the street. You thought maybe you should turn around and get his number, but pushed the thought away. He was leaving in a few days and he’d likely never remember you, anyway. You told yourself it was for best.

Jake watched your silhouette disappear into the night, debating running after you. But he stood, frozen, until you were completely out of sight. He was head over heels for you from the minute he saw you, even more so now after seeing you hold your own against a man two feet taller than you and probably a hundred pounds heavier. In the background, he could hear the bouncer scrambling your ex-boyfriend to his feet, eager to get him off the property before he had to call the cops. Jake didn’t care to pay attention to it, though, because he was only caught up in wondering if he’d just let the love of his life run away without even getting your last name.

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