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#a good friend of mine had ferrets when we were kids
fahrni · 1 year
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Saturday Morning Coffee
Good morning from Charlottesville, Virginia! ☕️
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Kim and I had the grandkids overnight so they’re worn out and we’re worn out. Heck, even our pups are worn out. The house is really quiet, just how I like it. I’m sitting here in the dark, sipping coffee, composing today’s post.
This week work was mostly about onboarding a couple new iOS Devs who’ll be working with me on our project to add React Native support to existing native apps. I’m really enjoying it. 😀
Caitlin Harrington • WIRED
Last month, Grindr gave its all-remote staff two weeks to pledge to work from an office two days a week starting in October or lose their jobs come August 31. Many declined to return: 82 out of 178 employees—46 percent of the staff—were let go after rejecting the mandate, according to the Grindr union, which went public two weeks before the ultimatum.
Wow. That’s about all I had to say when I read this piece. I have a friend who took a job there — as a remote test engineer — only to have this mandate cross his desk two weeks later. Needless to say he didn’t move and is now looking for a new gig. It’s a real head scratcher.
Ron Amadeo • Ars Technica
The Federated Learning of Cohorts and now the Topics API are part of a plan to pitch an “alternative” tracking platform, and Google argues that there has to be a tracking alternative—you can’t just not be spied on.
Emphasis is mine. At least they admit what they’re doing and it’s pathetic. 😳
You know what’s worse? People won’t switch away from Chrome.
thehackernews.com
Apple on Thursday released emergency security updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS to address two zero-day flaws that have been exploited in the wild to deliver NSO Group’s Pegasus mercenary spyware.
Update your devices right away. The talent possessed to do this type of ferreting around an OS looking for holes is both impressive and terrifying all at the same time.
Branko Marcetic • jacobin.com
The inflation rate — that is, the pace at which prices are going up — might be slowing down, but that doesn’t mean prices are lower. In fact, they are much, much higher for all kinds of goods and services than they were three years ago.
I’ve definitely noticed this when we go to our favorite Mexican restaurant here in Charlottesville.
It’s really becoming apparent in the streaming business. I just received email saying our Hulu subscription is going up to $81.99/month. We currently pay $64/month. That’s close to a 25% increase. 🤬
Taegan Goddard • politicalwire.com
Pence Calls Trump’s Populism a ‘Road to Ruin’
Wow. Pence finally figured it out. Took long enough.
I know folks have praised him for what he did January 6 — myself included — but the truth is he could’ve done a lot more prior to the sixth to avert this, like call the FBI.
MSRC • msrc.microsoft.com
Upon identifying that the threat actor had acquired the consumer key, Microsoft performed a comprehensive technical investigation into the acquisition of the Microsoft account consumer signing key, including how it was used to access enterprise email. Our technical investigation has concluded. As part of our commitment to transparency and trust, we are releasing our investigation findings.
Reading these reports is fascinating. I love seeing them own up to mistakes and solve the problems that lead them there. I personally like to focus on the problem and not point fingers. These reports come across like that to me.
Greg Jones • enginebuildermag.com
As a kid, Dan Keenan loved fixing things, tearing things apart, and figuring out a way to build something new. But he never dreamed his skills would one day lead to being a key player in designing a brand-new race engine for NASCAR.
This is an older piece but is a great little read if you’re at all interested in engine building. I most definitely am and would love to see some deep dives of all the motors used in the NASCAR Cup Series. The teams use a new motor each week! It’s amazing to me how consistent the builds are from week to week.
They do see the occasional failure but those are rare. It would be amazing to see reports from engine builders outlining the failures and the steps taken to mitigate them, just like that Microsoft Security piece linked above.
Michael Meng • eng.lyft.com
Lyft runs hundreds of microservices to power the company’s offerings. Our team, the Developer Infrastructure team, aims to build the best tools to enable microservice owners (our “customers”) to reliably and quickly test changes in a local and/or end-to-end environment.
When we crossed that line from desktop focused computing on local networks to service based computing on the open web software development became infinitely more complicated. I know a lot of folks who’ll disagree with that assessment and that’s fine. It’s how it feels to me. I’m a simpleton and prefer my little self contained IDE and platform. 😃
GMS Racing • legacymotorclub.com
LEGACY MOTOR CLUB™ Signs John Hunter Nemechek to Drive the No. 42 in 2024
It’s fun to watch NASCAR teams make lineup changes for next season. How many more changes will we see between now and next season? Who knows.
It’ll also be nice to see where the Stewart Haas Racing rumors land. Do they run two or four cars next year? Do they have charters for sale? If so, who picks them up?
Oh, right, when is Dodge coming back! 🤣 Yes, I really do want to see it.
Lane Brown • Vulture
The Ophelia affair is a useful microcosm for understanding how Rotten Tomatoes, which turned 25 in August, has come to function. The site was conceived in the early days of the web as a Hot or Not for movies. Now, it can make or break them — with implications for how films are perceived, released, marketed, and possibly even green-lit. The Tomatometer may be the most important metric in entertainment, yet it’s also erratic, reductive, and easily hacked.
I’d not heard of folks gamifying Rotten Tomatoes scores but it makes sense it would happen. Gotta keep those scores fresh so folks will watch your movie and put money in your pocket. 🍅
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emf005 · 3 years
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I'm Trying
Here is my weekly post! I hope you guys enjoy, this is a personal fave of mine. Please let me know what you think of it! I love to get feedback!
Marauders Era
Sirius Black x Fem! Reader, Remus x Twin sister! Reader. Marauders x Reader
Warnings: Swearing, mini make out sesh, sort of self harm, fear
You stole a piece of chocolate from your stash. You always had a secret stash in case you brother, Remus, ever ran out before the full moon. But you also had a bit of a sweet tooth yourself. Well, you could call it more than that actually. See, while your brother was a full werewolf, you were about half, but he didn’t know that. If he knew that he would actually lose it. The only person who knew was Lily, and she had found out by accident.
So, while your brother would always turn into a werewolf on full moons, you only sometimes did. You also got mood swings to the max. But no one ever questioned it because they assumed it was just girl stuff. And the four boys you hung out with, no matter how close you were, didn’t really want to strike up a conversation about that. Ever.
You see, your turning started your second year at Hogwarts. You woke in the forbidden Forest feeling like you had been hit with a ten ton bus. You put two and two together and started to ask Lily’s friend, Severus, if he could brew you a potion in secret. So I guess you could say two people knew. But it wasn’t like Severus would tell on you. You were always nicer to him than your friends were and he seemed to appreciate that. So, he always made you a potion while slughorn made Remus his.
James often asked why you never joined them. While your brother couldn;t become an animagus, you could for some odd reason. You turned into a small black and white ferret, while your brother couldn;t change at all. You felt bad, it was your fault he was like this, and despite his countless times he had told you it wasn’t your fault you both knew it was. But everytime James would ask Remus would answer for you.
“I don;t want her out there. I’m her brother. It's my job to protect her. I wouldn;t be able to live with myself if I accidentally did something to her.” You always clenched your jaw at his response. He still saw you as a little kid, despite being his twin. You couldn’t stand it!
You never thought anyone noticed these secret feelings you held against your brother. Oh how you were wrong. Sirius Black always noticed when Remus would say something to upset you. And he was always the one there for you. See, despite his liking for it, he had caught feelings for you. He thought he could trample them by asking out every girl in the school, but that only seemed to make his want for you grow. But he never said anything. You were his best friend’s twin sister. It was just wrong, no matter how strongly he felt for you.
The full moon was coming up again soon, and you ran down the hall to see your brother and friends waiting for you. Remus looking in his bag frantically.
“Hey, guys!” You smiled with fake cheer. You felt awful today, but you couldn;t let anyone see that. They might grow suspicious of your secret. “What's wrong, Rem?”
“He didn’t restock his backpack again with chocolate.” Peter squeaked. Remus threw him a dirty glance before rooting through his bag again. You internally groaned. You always had a stash in your bag, and you really needed it today. But, you were his sister. Sacrifices must be made. You slung your bag around and grabbed your whole stash and filled his bag with it. You even let him finish the one you had been munching on, much to your disappointment.
“Thank you, Y/N/N,” he said, stuffing the chocolate bar in his mouth. You just smiled at him and put your head down and clutched your messenger bag harder. White knuckling the strap. God, you wanted to rip the chocolate out of his mouth and just eat it. But no. You were a fucking good sister. And a fucking good sister you would stay.
Classes were a pain all day, especially with the smell of chocolate enveloping you every time Remus would open a new package. You had broken four quills by lunch and they were all joking about it.
You all headed out of your final class and down to the great hall, like you normally did. BUt Remus seemed to be in an even worse mode. You were glad he had the chocolate, he might’ve actually murdered someone. You, on the other hand, were so close to murder, but you had to keep that damn smile on and your shirt pulled up high onto your shoulder tightly, despite the heat. That's where Greyback had gotten you. Just a nip on the shoulder before remus thought it was a good idea to attempt to hit him with a chair. Key word, attempt.
Remus was on the end of the line bsides you. Some slytherin accidently knocked into him and he let out a growl as he kept walking and talking to the Huffelpuff. Here we go.
“You got a problem?” He whipped around, staring at the boy clad in green robes. The boy looked at him confused. You recognize him. Your year, Jacob Jemesky. One of the cutest boys in your year. I mean, his eyes alone were perfect enough.
“I’m sorry?” He asked. You put a hand on Remus’s shoulder.
“Rem,” but he shook you off and walked up to the boy.
“I said, you got a problem, Snake?”Your eyes widened and you became red faced. You walked over to him and pulled him away from the Slytherin, shoving him to SIrius and James who held him back and tried to get hima away from the situation.
“I am so sorry about that, Jacob, right?” You nodded a smile on his lips.
“Yeah. And no worries. Your, Y/N, right?” You blushed slightly.
“Yeah. Its nice to finally meet you. We’ve shared a few classes I think.” He nodded before his eyes flashing back to your brother.
“Is he alright? I really didn’t mean to-”
“He’s fine. Trust me. He just gets moody from here and there. I think its like a twin thing between me and him, knowing when one is going to have a bad day and all.” He nodded.
“Well, I have to get going, but I’ll see you around, Y/N.” He waved and started to leave.
“See you around!” You waved back. Your smile dropped as soon as he turned the corner. You took a few deep breaths and walked over to your brother who was still trying to get out of James and Siris’ grips. “You two can let go now.” The boys did as you said but were ready to grab him at any second.
“What the hell was that for, Y/N?” He shouted at you, making your back straighten, ready to take it all. He just had to yell at someone sometimes, and the majority of the time it was you.
“He didn’t do it on purpose, Rem. You know that. You just need to calm down for a second, ok?”
“Calm down? I am calm!” James went to say something but you just shook your head at him. You weren’t going to let them take any of this heat.
“Rem, you're really not. Please just-”
“Don;t tell me what to do, Y/N! I am sick of you trying to constantly manage every little thing that I do. You can’t even begin to understand what I go through! You have no right to tell me to calm down. Or to tell me what I am and what I’m not. You know why? Because I am a fucking werewolf becuase of you,” every bit of air was sucked out of the empty corridor. Luckily empty. But he didn’t stop there. “I took that bite for you! We both know it was your fault! You were too naive to even think for a second that it wasn;t smart to go outside that early in the morning when the moon was still out! It was all yoru fucking fault! So don;t tell me what to do, or how to feel or any of that, because this is all happening because of you!”
You stood frozen as his breath calmed. You had tears slipping down your cheeks which was a strange sight for everyone in your friend group. Yo never cried. But hearing Remus admit that it was your fault, you couldn’t handle it anymore. The dam just broke. You swallowed, trying to get the lump in your throat away.
“Are you better, Remus?” He just stared at you, his eyes turning from rage to fear as he heard what he had said and how you referred to him as Remus and not Rem or bro or some stupid nickname you had given him. You smiled sadly and wiped a tear away. “I’m glad. I’m glad that finally admitting the truth makes you feel better.” You turned and started to walk down the hall only to stop and look over your shoulder. “You know. I just have to say this because I have for a while now. I have always tried my best to be there for you. Always tried to be patient. Always tried to take care of you when you wouldn’t let me do more. And also, I’m not the bloody moron who hit Fenrir Greyback with a chair and didn’t have the arm strength for it and ended up falling out a window!” You spit at him before walking down the hallway, tears streaming down your face at this point.
Remus opened his mouth to call after you, but he saw Sirius bolting after you instead. He had fucked up majorly. He knew it. James took him by the shoulder and directed him towards the Great Hall. James being the only one who knew of Sirius’ crush on you and knowing that Sirius would be able to calm you down better than any of them. And if he couldn’t, then Remus had just gotten himself into a deep deep deep hole.
You sat in the small alcove you had found your first year. It was in a secluded part of the courtyard, only your lily and Sirius knew about it. Which sucked because they knew exactly where to look for you.
Your head was in your knees and silent tears continued to pour down your face and on your knees. You didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know how to feel. You just didn’t know.
“Y/N?” You looked up to see Sirius standing by the entrance of the alcove. He had pushed aside the vines that hid you from view and was watching you, waiting to see what you would do. You sat up quickly and brushed the tears aside, smiling at him.
“Hey, Sirius,” your voice cracked and you cringed. He gave you a small pitiful smile and made you move over so he was sitting next to you. “Is he ok?”
“He will be,” you sighed and rubbed your hands over your face.
“I shouldn’t have stormed off. Or said any of that,” Sirius frowned.
“You know Moony is my best friend, but he started that argument.”
“Yeah but with the full moon coming up… he’s just on edge, and I know that. And he was right, I just didn’t expect him to say it like that. I over reacted.”
“You were just helping out a Slytherin, who you obviously like,” he hit your shoulder and you laughed, you felt your shirt fall down a bit off your shoulder but didn;t go to move it.
“I just find him attractive. That was the first time I've talked to him.” Sirius smiled through his pain and laughed with you. His eyes fell to your shoulder for a moment and he froze.
“Y/N/N, what happened?” He questioned looking at the small mark that the werewolf had left all those years ago. Your eyes widened and you quickly pulled your sleeve back up and cleared your throat standing.
“No-nothing. Um… I-I have to-to… uh.. To go. I’ll-I’ll see you, Sirius. Thank you,” you scurried out of alcove and dashed through the halls. You knew you couldn’t avoid him for long. I mean, the four of them had the marauders map, they would find you anywhere you went. You walked into the Great Hall, thankful to see Lily sitting by James. “Lily!” She looked over at you and her smile fell when she saw the state you were in. She excused herself and came running up to you, leading you out the Hall and to your room.
“Are you ok? James told me the blow out-”
“Sirius saw the scar,” you interrupted her. She froze.
“Does he know?” You shook your head.
“No. But I know he’s going to question me as soon as I’m alone. I just didn't want that to happen.”
“Not yet, you mean.”
“Ever.” She sighed, but didn’t push the subject. She was adamant that you should tell the boys about your… condition. You were adamant that you keep it to yourself, forever.. The fights between you and your twin would get worse, and you couldn’t let that happen.
Sirius walked into the Great Hall, scanning the Gryffindor table for you, he came up empty. He sat down, but kept searching the hall and glancing at the doors every now and then.
“What wrong, Mate?” James asked, taking a bite of his sandwich. Even Remus was eating, slowly, but eating.
“Nothing,” he mumbled and took a banana from the table. If you acted like that around him when he saw that scar, he could only imagine you didn’t want anyone else knowing about it. “Do you have the map?” James nodded and handed over the map from his pocket.
Quickly, Sirius unfolded it and searched for your name. You were in the girls dormitory with Lily. His leg started to bounce while he considered going after you. He could always ask Lily if he could have a second with you. He just wanted to make sure you were alright. You seemed really upset when you stormed out.
Had you always worn long sleeves of some sort?
He handed the map back to James before standing up and heading towards the Gryffindor dorms. Maybe he could lure you out with some chocolate. He knew you were addicted to the stuff, practically eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but you always gave your stash to your brother. Some days he wished you wouldn’t. Just because he noticed how you would stiffen at the smell of it, or when you heard a wrapper from your stash being un-did. He knew Remus needed it, but it seemed like you sometimes needed it just as much as he did.
He bumped into LIly in the common room, he opened his mouth but she held up a hand to silence him.
“Listen, I know you want to check on her. But she isn’t in the best state right now. Especially if you are going to be questioning her about what you saw.”
“I just want to make sure she’s alright. I won’t question her about it.” Lily bit her lip and thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. You had given the last of your chocolate stash to Remus the other day and were in desperate need. But she didn’t want to leave you alone with Sirius in the dorm. He knew how to get into the girl’s dormitory, no shock there, but seldom did it. And normally only did it to bug the hell out of you.
“I’m sorry. It really isn’t the best decision. I have to run out and get her more chocolate from the kitchens, the house elves keep a stash for her down there. Please, don’t go in.”
“I can grab some from Remus’ stash,” he offered. But she shook her head.
“Where do you think the rest of her stash went?” Lily smiled and left. Sirius sat down on one of the couches, his leg bouncing aggressively again. He knew he shouldn’t go into your dorm room. He really shouldn’t. But, the thing is, that only made him want to more.
“Lily?” He heard your voice and looked up and saw you on the staircase, looking worse for wear. Your eyes met his and you froze, visibly freezing.
“Hey,” he scrambled to his feet, but didn’t move towards you.
“H-Hey,” you stuttered, your eyes still locked on him.
“I-uh,” he cleared his throat awkwardly. Why wasn;t he good at being sincere like this? “I came to check on you. See if you were alright.” You eyed him cautiously.
“Uh. Yeah. I-I’m fine.I-uh-well, I can’t exactly explain-” He shook his head.
“You don’t have to.”
“Yeah, but I should. It was rude. And I still haven’t apologized to Rem,” you sighed and sat down on the stair, putting your head in your hands again. He slowly walked over and sat next to you, not talking. He just put his arm around your shoulders. You turned your head into him and he rested his chin on your head.
“You ok?” You let out a breathy laugh. And shook your head.
“Not really.”You heard the clock chime and knew Lily had gone to class and purposefully left you with Sirius, knowing of your… fondness... of him. Damn, you really needed chocolate. “Don’t you have to get to class?” He chuckled.
“When have I ever been on time?” You laughed, knowing how true his statement was. Only when he walked with you was he ever early or on time. Unless it was for transfigurations. He would stand outside the door until class was five minutes in before walking in dramatically, interrupting the entire class, and taking a seat next to you. Mcgonagall would huff in annoyance, but you knew she didn’t hate it. You also knew she knew what he didn everyday and never made any course of action to change it.
“Good point. But we are supposed to have transfiguration now. Don't you think Mcgonagall will miss you?”
“I bet she wouldn’t know what to do without me.”
Meanwhile in transfiguration:
“Ok, Black will be walking through the doors in three, two, one,” Mcgonagall kept talking but looked at the doors and waited for them to bang open with Sirius. Nothing happened. She began to sweat. “Where is he? What is he getting himself into? Did he die? Did someone else accidentally die and he is hiding the body?”
Back to the common room:
“Besides, I think you need a friend right now.” You smiled and nodded. “And chocolate.”
“Did I just get compared to chocolate?” He joked.
“You should be honored. I think very highly of chocolate. In my opinion it's better than christmas.” He laughed.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Christmas comes once a year, chocolate is a year long thing.” he laughed again, and you smiled, proud that you could make him laugh like that. Then your smile faded as you thought if his girlfriend made him laugh like that.
It's not like you would ever date him. You might have a crush on him, but you not only had to keep your secret a secret, but he was also your twin brother’s friend. You couldn’t do that.
“We better get to class.” you lifted your self off him, both of you immediately missing the other person’s body heat. “Mcgongall probably thinks you killed someone.” he gave you a small smile as you ran up to your room to grab your bag. He grabbed his from the couch where he had set it. He slung it over his shoulder and you came running down the stairs, skipping the last four. “Ready?” You asked, your normal smile on your face. He smirked.
“Talking to me for a few minutes put that smile on your face?” He teased as you made your way out of the portal.
“No, I found a few bars of chocolate under my bed.” You said happily, pulling two bars out of your pocket. He rolled his eyes as you opened one and handed it to him. He stared at it for a moment before taking it.
“You don’t want it?”
“I might’ve found four and ate two while coming down the stairs.” He laughed and took a bite of his. You unwrapped yours and started eating away at it. You two made your way into Mcgonagall’s class, Sirius banging the door open.
“Minnie! Did you miss me?” He shouted. You shook your head and laughed as Mcgonagall just stared daggers at him. The class erupted into laughter, but stifled it at one glare from the professor.
“Mr. Black. How kind of you to join us. Same goes for you as well, Miss. Lupin,” her gaze was less harsh on you, but you still blushed and put your head down. You two slid into your seats and began to take notes. Luckily it had been a review day. And Sirius was a master at transfigurations, so he would help you after class since it, ironically, wasn’t your best subject(And by that I mean you were still a crazy master, just not your best class).
You two spent the lesson showing the other students up as you easily changed everything and answered questions correctly. Lily was even struggling a bit at the rate you and Sirius were commenting. Of course, yours were more sincere than Sirius’ sarcastic answers (that were always correct in some sense) but you two still ruled the lesson.
You all left the lesson, you headed down to the dungeons for potions with Remus and James while Peter, Sirius and Lily went to divinations. It was a tense silence, you walking ahead of the boys with your head down and your books pressed against your chest. James joined you in front which you were grateful for, but you knew he was trying to get you to talk to Remus. You just needed a little while, and you told him as much. He just nodded and continued walking with you to potions. You sat towards the back of the class and left Remus and James to sit in your usual spots. Someone sat besides you and you were about to ask them to move when you noticed it was Jacob.
“Hey!” You smiled kindly at the slytherin sitting beside you.
“Hi. I forgot we shared this class. You don’t mind if I?” You shook your head.
“No, of course not.” He smiled.
“You're normally sitting next to Lupin and Potter, right?”
“Yeah. Remus is my twin and we kind of just got the same group of friends. Surprising, right?" You chuckled and he chuckled with you. Slughorn began to teach and the two of you went to work on the assignment together. It wasn't a hard potion today. At least for you it wasn’t. Potions was your best class, although Slughorn was a terrible teacher. Well, it actually wasn't your best subject. That was defense against the dark arts. Potions was a close second.
"Alright class, for your next assignment you will be working with the person at your table for. You will be brewing and writing on a potion I will randomly select for each of you," you looked over at Jacob with a smile.
"Looks like we're partners," you beamed. He smiled back excitedly.
"Looks like it, Lupin. I'll start cleaning up, why don't you go up and get our assignment?" He suggested. You nodded and headed to the front, meeting James on the way.
"You and Jacob?"
"Yeah. He's pretty good at it, so whatever potion we get should be a piece of cake." You smiled up at him. He only offered you a small one in return, making you falter in confusion.
What was that about?
He went back to his table with your brother and you walked up to Slughorn.
"Ah, miss. Lupin! I was surprised to see you not with your brother."
"We had a bit of a disagreement earlier. I'm Jacobs' partner. What potion would you like us to complete?" He looked at you for a moment before his face lit up with an idea.
"How about amortentia? Yes, that would suit you two nicely,” he declared. You rolled your eyes. That was the cheesiest potion he could have given you.
“Sounds great, professor! I’ll tell Jacob and we’ll get to work on it right away,” you turned and sulked back to your table. He noticed the look on your face.
“What did he give us?”
“Amortentia.” Jacob rolled his eyes.
“Honestly? How many times has he given that out to students, can’t he be the least bit more creative?” You chuckled and grabbed your bag from the back of your chair and clung it over your shoulder before gathering your notebook.
“I completely agree. So, how about we meet in the library tomorrow to start on the paper and divy up the work?”
“Sounds good to me!” He smiled as you two walked out of the classroom, chatting a bit more as you left. You were so caught up in your conversation with Jacob you missed a black haired boy waiting for the three of you. He was leaning up against the wall, as he normally did, with his hands in his pockets and his bag by his one foot. The sight of you walking out with Jacob made him freeze and just stop breathing all together.
James and Remus followed the two of you out a few seconds later, not paying any attention to what was going on with you as you laughed at something he had said. You were just standing in the middle of the hallway. What was that about?
“Sirius!” He snapped out of his trance when James’ voice cut through the air.
“Mmh?” He looked at Remus and James, who both had a worried look on their faces.
“You ok? You zoned out for about four minutes straight.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. What’s your sister doing hanging out with that Slytherin you told to piss off earlier?” Remus whipped around and stared at you as you laughed again, his eyes narrowing dangerously at the Slytherin boy. He was the reason you two were fighting in the first place. That was a lie and Remus knew it, but that didn’t mean he had to admit it.
”She’s partnered with him for the project,” James clarified, causing both Sirius and Remus to look at him.
“He sat beside her,” Remus practically growled, tossing another glance as you waved goodbye to him and he did the same.
“What did you expect when she didn’t want to sit by us? He obviously took a liking to her earlier in the hall.”
“Why didn’t she sit by you?” Sirius asked. “You two didn’t make up yet?” Remus grumbled something that no one could hear, but they didn’t really care. You started walking over, ignoring your brother’s presence all together.
“Hey, Sirius. Hey James. Ready to head to dinner?” It was quiet for a few seconds, Remus just staring at you.
“Yeah,” James finally broke the silence. “Lets-uh-let's get to dinner. Quickly.” He took you by your shoulder and started to rush you to the dining hall.
Nothing improved over the week. The full moon was coming closer, making both you and Remus even more on edge. The two of you had attempted to make up, but that just resulted in another, bigger, blow out. James and Peter had to hold Remus back as Sirius and Lily had to hold you back. Both of you were about to pumble each other. You finally threw a very nasty statement at him before storming up to your common room. In your defense he deserved it.
You started to distance yourself from all the Marauders, even Lily in some ways as you focused on your studies. You met Jacob in the library every day to work on your potion’s assignment, which seemed to get Sirius and Remus both in a twist, though one was better at hiding it than the other. That was when the third blow up happened. The day of the full moon.
“I can’t believe you are hanging around that Slytherin.” Remus spit out to you as you were all sitting in the common room before lunch. It was Saturday and none of you felt much like going outside since you would be out all night.
“Excuse me?” You asked with raised eyebrows, putting the book you were studying out of down.
“You heard me.”
“I did, and since when have you cared? Not like you've been in my life much,” you spat. He clenched his jaw and stared at you, all of your friends ready to jump in case you got into another fight.
“Since it's a blasted Sytherin.”
“That's not even a fair judgment. Have you ever even talked to him?”
“Why would I? A pretty boy pure blood who comes from a rich family?” he scoffed. “Sounds like a fun time.” You bristled.
“You just described Sirius!” You yelled. You turned to Sirius. “No offense, of course,” he held up his hands.
“You called me pretty, I’m happy.” You rolled your eyes at him, not helping the butterflies in your stomach when he said that.
“Yeah, but he isn’t a Slytherin!”
“You're condemning all Slytherins to being evil now?”
“Aren’t they?” you were both on your feet now, causing everyone else to join you.
“No you ignoramus! And if you could see two inches past your fucking nose, then you would know that!”
“Name one person other than your precious boyfriend!”
“Slughorn!”
“Bet you can;t do it again.” He challenged. You sneered.
“Snape!” He laughed.
“Really? Him? You decide that he is not evil? Have you seen him?”
“Have you looked in the mirror much? You aren’t the model yourself!” He sneered.
“How about you?”
“What about me?:”
“You look as bad as I do, dare I say worse! And your chocolate consumption has become twenty times it normally is! Now you are hanging around a Slytherin and constantly fighting with me!”
“Me-” you laughed harshly and dramatically. Making it sound almost hysterical and mad. “Your the one who picks the fucking fight everytime!”
“Becuase you make stupid descions!”
“Like hitting a beast in the back with a chair from the top of a two story house?”
“Y/N,” Lily warned from beside you.
“To only save your arse from becoming what I am!”
“Yeah, well, bang up job, Remus Lupin! A for effort I suppose!”
“And what is that supposed to mean?”
“Silencio!” Lily yelled, pointing her wand at you. You yelled a string of curses at her and your brother before storming out of the common area. She shot Remus a glare, something that didn’t happen often.
“You know, she’s going to Hogsmead with him next weekend. I suggest you get your act together before then and actually support something your sister is doing before you remove her from your life completely,” she hissed and chased after you. All the boys were frozen from, not only Lily’s scolding, but the fact that you were going to Hogsmead with him. Sirius felt ill and just stood in place, frozen.
“Great,” James mumbled. “They’re both broken now. At least we are ok, Peter,” He looked over to where Peter had been standing. Now the boy was passed out on the ground. James sighed and shook his head. “Never mind.”
Lily found you in your normal spot, silently crying to yourself. She removed the spell and your sobs were so loud she almost silenced you again. She sat down besides you, but you made no move to put your head on her shoulder like you normally did.
She knew you didn’t want to talk to her right now. She knew it was Sirius that you wanted to speak to, but you had just announced that you were going to Hogsmead with Jacob. Sirius was trying to get over that fact.
“We should probably go meet Sev,” she murmured in your ear. “The potion will make you feel better.” You just shook your head and tried to catch your breath.
“I-I’m fine. I just… I just need a minute.”
“You are going to hate me for saying this, but you need to make up with your brother and tell Sirius how you feel. You made it seem like you and Jacob were going on a date when you know that's not what's happening.” She scolded. You nodded your head, not being able to catch your breath from how hot you were, especially with all the clothes you had on.
“Can-can you help me get the jacket off? Please?” She nodded and started to pull at the sleeve, revealing an arm full of scars. You pulled the other sleeve off, prevailing a second arm full of scars. Your breathing slowed and you were finally able to catch your breath.
You quickly wiped the tears from your eyes.
“I didn’t let anything slip. They-they don;t know anything, right?”
“I almost let you. But that wasn’t the right way to do it.” You nodded gratefully, tracing some of the scars on your arm. You were more on edge today, but, for once, you don;t think chocolate would help. But that was only because of Remus’ comment earlier.
“We should probably get your potion from Sev. I have a feeling tonight's going to be one of your… worse… ones.” You nodded, feeling it too. This wasn;t just going to be an irritating night, this was going to be a full on transformation.
“I’ll have to tie myself down in the Room of Requirement tonight,” you nodded, agreeing.
“I don’t see why you tie yourself down. You take the potion.”
“What if it doesn’t work one night? You are going to have a second werewolf around and on the grounds. It's better if I just tie myself up and be prepared.” She sighed, knowing you wouldn’t see reason in this.
“Will you at least let me be in there with you?”
“Merlin, Lily! No! Are you mad?”
“Remus at least has-”
“And Remus is a normal werewolf. I am not. Something could go wrong at any moment and I am not letting anyone get remotely close to me. You know that!”
“I’m just saying-”
“No!” her eyes widened as you snapped at her. “It's not happening, so stop asking,” you stood up and walked out of the alcove in a huff, leaving her slightly stunned, your jacket sitting where you had once occupied. She thought about going after you and giving it back, but maybe this was what you needed. Someone else to know your secret.
You realized too late that you had forgotten your jacket and turned around to get it when you heard Sirius.
“Y/N! Wait a minute!” You froze before bolting in the direction towards the alcove you knew your jacket would be in. “Y/N!” He called after you again, his voice getting closer. You pushed yourself to run faster, only making you trip over your feet in the process and tumble to the ground with a cry. You were so close to your jacket. But Sirius caught up and froze when he saw your arms. His mouth opened and closed quickly.
You grabbed him and shoved him into an empty classroom, locking the door behind you and turning back to him. He was still staring at your arms and you sighed in frustration, letting a long string of profanities fall from your lips and you paced the room, pulling the skin from your lips, trying to figure out what to do.
You could obliviate him. Of course, that wasn’t the best course of action. You really didn’t want to obliviate your best friend. While you were thinking he came back to his senses.
“Y/N?”
“Mh?” You hummed, still thinking about what to do. He grabbed you and turned you towards him.
“Y/N.”
“Yeah?” His eyes scanned your arms.
“What happened?” You bit your lip and continued to pull it apart with your teeth. WHat could you tell him? “Y/N?”
“You're gonna kill me,” you mumbled and closed your eyes moving away from him and running your hand over your face.
“I-I won’t. Just-”
“I can’t, Sirius. I can’t tell you.” You looked back towards him with nothing but sorrow in your eyes. “I’m sorry. I just can’t tell you.” Then the pieces fit together. Your mood swings during the full moons, you always carrying chocolate and your ears always perking when you heard the wrapper. The way you “just knew” when someone was close by or something was headed your way.
“Please don’t tell me-”
“Please don’t worry about it,” you begged.
“I am staring at your scared arms. How am I not supposed to worry about it?” He raised his voice. It wasn’t a yell, but it still made you flinch. He noticed and lowered his voice again. “Y/N, I need you to tell me the truth here,” you looked down and he walked closer to you. Careful steps. Very careful steps. “That night Remus got turned into a werewolf, did he-” you nodded. Tears welling in your eyes. “But you can transform into an animagus.” You swallowed the lump in your throat.
“I’m not a full one. I get testy around the full moon, but don’t always turn. And I carry the chocolate for Remus, mostly.” He shook his head.
“Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“Because Remus has it ten times worse than me. Please don’t tell him,” you begged.
“Don’t tell him? How am I supposed to not tell him?”
“By keeping your mouth shut?” You attempted the joke, but he just shook his head at you. “Please. I am begging you, Sirius. I really need to meet Sev and I need my jacket an-”
“Snape?” You looked away and bit your lip. “Why do you…”
“He’s the best one at potions in our year. He was the only one who can, well, you know.”
“That's why you protected him when Remus said that stuff about Slytherins.”
“He’s helped me out since second year. And with all the turmoil happening between me and everyone, tonights going to be bad. I really need to get the potion off him. Like now. Please, I will tell you everything later, just please let me go and please don’t tell Remus.” His leg bounced as he stared at you from the table he sat down at. He shrugged off his own jacket and threw it over your shoulders.
“Get your potion. I expect everything to be explained tomorrow and I will not tell your brother, yet.” You smiled and hugged him, throwing your arms around his neck.
“Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.” You mumbled into his neck as he hugged you back.
“Yeah yeah. Just be careful, ok?” he set you firmly on the ground again. “Promise me.” You nodded and slid your hands through the arm holes of his jacket. It was far too big for you, but you didn’t really care. First off because it was hiding your scars. Second off, you had Sirius Black’s jacket on, and that may or may not have made your heart beat out of your chest. And then if you add the way he was looking at you on top of that, you were dead.
“I promise. Thank you, Sirius. You are a life saviour.” You left the room and he stood staring at that door, cursing himself and needed to find Lily, pronto.
“Evans!” He yelled into the great hall where the red head was sitting. She looked over at him with an eye roll, but then noticed his serious expression. Which was, ironically, something he rarely had on his face. She stood up and scurried over to him and he pulled her out of the great hall. “You knew, didn;t you? About Y/N.” She shrugged, guilty.
“She made me swear to secrecy. Do you know where she went? She got mad at me and stomped off without her jacket. I’m assuming you-”
“Saw her hundreds of scars? Yes.”
“She showed you all of them” She creased her eyebrows and his eyes narrowed.
“All? Where is all?” Lily swallowed.
“Everywhere?” His eyes flickered down the hall, almost as if he were looking for you.
“Why does she have more than Remus?”
“Her body heals differently and she didn’t have the ointment he gets from the hospital wing, despite my persistent begging for her to get it.”
“Does her boyfriend know about this?”
“Her what?”
“Jacob. The Slytherin.”
“Sirius, they aren’t dating.”
“But he’s taking her to Hogsmead.”
“To help him pick out a gift for his little sister’s birthday. I said that in the heat of the moment. She was pissed at Remus. Please, don’t make her feel worse about keeping this a secret. And no, she just met him a week ago. She’s known Remus since she was born and you since everywhere in between.” Sirius looked down the hall again before back at Lily.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Do not tell Remus until after the full moon tonight. They are both on edge and it's not going to be a pretty fight.” Sirius nodded, recalling how badly he had wanted to yell at her for not telling them about this.
“Anything else?”
“Go easy on her. It had to of taken a lot of guts not to obliviate you on the spot.” Sirius nodded, knowing she had contemplated it for a split second.
“Yeah, ok. I can do that.”
“Thank you, Sirius. You're a good friend.” He scoffed.
“Tell that to Mooney when he’s beating the daylights out of me.” Lily put a hand on his shoulder before disappearing back into the Great Hall. “He’s gonna kill me for this,” Sirius mumbled before following her into the hall.
You had just finished tying the ropes onto your arms. They were charmed so no matter what tugged at them they would hold you in place until the full moon was over. You had tied them extra tight tonight for precaution. Lily walked in with her arms full of chocolate and some other food for before and after the full moon.
“Do you have to tie them so tight?”
“Yes,” You grunted as you pulled one more time to triple check if they were tight enough.
“Sirius pulled me aside today,” she hummed slightly and took a seat in front of you on the floor. You glanced at his jacket.
“Speaking of,” you said before she could say anything. “Can you return his jacket? I don’t want it to get ruined or anything and I didn’t see him before I came here.”
“You didn;t see him because you didn’t want to. You can’t avoid him or telling our friends about this.”
“Yeah, but I can put it off for as long as possible.” She shook her head at you.
“You are unbelievable.”
“Yep. Can you pass some chocolate over please.” She started to grab it but you changed your mind. “Actually, just hand me the grapes.” She paused and looked up at you.
“Is this about what Remus said?” You looked away from her. “Y/N/N. Is this about what Remus said?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“He didn’t mean-”
“Yeah he did. My brother may be a lot of things, but a liar isn’t one of them. Especially during a full moon.”
“Well, I’m sure he didn’t mean it the way it came out.”
“I’m pretty sure he did.” She just shook her head and handed you the chocolate which you reluctantly (not really) took and began to devour.
“You should get out of here, Lily. It’ll be starting in a little.”
“You took the potion?” You nodded and gestured to an empty vile a few feet away from you. She picked it up and gathered Sirius’s coat. “Are you sure you’ll be ok?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thanks again, Lily. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow, Y/N.” And then she left, leaving you to munch on chocolate in the deafening silence. Counting the seconds until it would begin.
Lily stepped through the doors and back into the hallway, she looked at Sirius who was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.
“I’m going to murder Remus later,” she grumbled and walked down the hall. Sirius jogged after her.
“Why?”
“Here’s your jacket. You know that comment he made about her eating a lot of chocolate?” Sirius took his jacket back and nodded. “She took it to heart and doesn’t want to eat it any more. Well, as much as she normally does. And it makes her feel as close to as hundred percent as she can get around this time.” Sirius frowned. “You know, she cares so much about Remus, and I really don’t think he gets that,” Lily shook her head.
“I think you may be right,” Sirius mumbled and looked back down the hallway the two of them had just come from.
You woke on the floor in the Room. The floor was ice cold and your clothes were in shreds and were hanging onto your body loosely. You were bleeding here and there and sat back, rubbing the back of your neck you groan. You could see the sun was rising from the window the room always provided you.
You glanced at the pile of chocolate and went to get it before you untied yourself but stopped. No. You didn’t need anything right now. You’d be fine.
You undid the rope on your arms and legs. You held your wrists carefully, they were bruised and splattered with dry blood from you tugging at them and flinched every time you ran your hand over an open cut.
Shaking yourself, you stood up and grabbed a fresh set of clothes and your “Journal”. After every full moon you would write down what you remembered, just to get it out of your head. You never talked about it, like your brother did. He really didn;t have to, but you knew that he always needed to get it out to. So instead of making his friends hear it since they were already there with him, he told you.
You quickly rinsed the blood off yourself to the best of your ability until you could take a shower, and tossed on a pair of oversized sweatpants and a tank top with a jacket. The room had provided you with a couch, which you gratefully took with a book, your journal, and some of the non-chocolate food Lily had brought with her yesterday. It would be a while until you would be mentaly fine enough to leave.
Remus was in the medical wing sleeping, three of the four boys asleep in the uncomfortable chairs that surrounded his bed, as usual. Madame Pomfrey had been up and had been ready to tend to Remus’ wounds as usual and had left him and the boys to sleep. James and Peter found it easy to slip into sleep for the rest of the morning, but Sirius found it harder than normal, and he knew it was because of you.
After his ninth attempt to fall asleep he rose and left the room, a silent nod to the healer sitting at her cabinet and writing something, before he left through the doors and quickly made his way to the Room of Requirement.
No one was up yet, he didn’t even know if you were. But he knew no one should have to go through that alone, which you obviously had been doing since second year. It just didn’t sit right with him. He stopped at the wall leading to the Room of Requirement and waited for doors to form. Which they did. He opened the door quietly and stepped in to see you on the couch you looked up, expecting Lily.
“Sirius?”
“Hey.”
“How’d you know where I was?”
“Lily.”
“Right. Well, shouldn’t you be asleep in the hospital wing then?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” He shrugged and sat on the couch you were occupying. “Studying?” You shrugged and moved some of your notes, still not emotionally or mentaly stable enough to deal with people. But because it was him, and your emotions were still in a knot of confusion, you let him stay.
Did your heart always beat this fast when he was this close?
“Did you get your jacket back?” You picked up a piece of chocolate. “Chocolate?” He grabbed the bar and opened it.
“Yeah, Lily gave it back to me yesterday. I was a little disappointed not to see you before the full moon.” You shrugged and ate a strawberry, eyeing Sirius’s chocolate with want, but resisted opening your own.
“I took the potion and rushed in here to get ready,” you motioned to the ropes on the ground; you hadn’t had the energy to clean it up yet.
“Ropes?” His gaze flickered between you, the ropes and your hands, which you were playing with nervously. “You… tie yourself down?” He looked almost horrified.
“Yeah,” you looked at the wall. “Precautions. I don’t take them lightly.” He didn’t know what to say to that. He knew Remus was cautions about this but tying yourself up like that while you went through the agony of transforming?
“Let me see your hands,” he reached out to you, but the motion only made you bring them into yourself. You got shit from Lily when she saw them, you didn’t need that twice. “Y/N, please.” You swallowed and handed them to him. His leg started to bounce at the new, red marks on your wrists.
“It-it's really fine.” you tried to pull them back, but he didn’t let you. He didn’t look up at you and you waited for him to start yelling. Lily always did.
“How bad does it hurt?” You were shocked by the amount of kindness in his voice. You swallowed.
“Uh-not terribly. I mean, my wrists are kind of used to getting torn up like this, so I mean…” You bit your lip and tried to peel the layers off. “I mean, I guess it kind of stings. ANd my back kind aches, but uh… its.. Uh.. fine.”
“Why don’t you go to the hospital wing?”
“Because you guys and Remus are there. If I showed up every full moon when you were all there, it would be a bit suspicious, don’t ya think?”
“Yes, but you’re injured.” You shrugged sadly.
“I've had worse than a few rope burns. I mean, you’ve seen my arms.”
“And Lily said that's not even close to the end of your scars,” you flinched slightly. Which was he talking about? Mentaly or physically?
You knew this wasn;t the moment to be exactly thinking it, but damn when he wanted to he could literally be so gentle and it made you want to burst.
“Yeah. Before the potion and figuring out the rope charm it was pretty bumpy. I mean, it's still not exactly smooth sailing, but- I’m rambling now,” you shook your head and pulled your hands away from him, tucking your hands into your sleeves.
“Have you eaten any chocolate yet?” He asked, rising and making his way to the pile on the floor.
“I haven’t really felt like it,” you shrugged, not even attempting to make the lie seem real. He rolled his eyes and started rifling through the bars.
“Liar.” He grabbed one and tossed it to you. “Here. Eat this, you’ll feel better.”
“I’m fine, Sirius. Really.” You poked at the bar a few times, contemplating taking it. “You look exhausted though. You were out with my brother all night, you should get some sleep.”
“So should you.” You rolled your eyes and looked back down at the potions book in your hands.
“I have to study for this potions assignment with Jacob. I’ve been too distracted with this past full moon.”
“Yes I can see how turning into a werewolf would be distracting,” he scoffed and took the book from your hands.
“Sirius,” you whined.
“What potion did you even get?” His face fell a bit when he noticed the love potion on the page. The majority of the students who did this potion together ended up together.
“It's easy, but a lot of information,” you sighed and grabbed the book back. “I mean, not easy easy. But its,” you shook your head. “Never mind. Forget it,” you sighed and ran your hands over your face.
“Who do you think you're gonna smell?” He asked, leaning back casually, even though he hated himself for asking.
“Probably no none. And the person I hope I smell, well I doubt they'd even consider me,” you rolled your eyes. “I’ll probably smell chocolate and lavender. Or something like that.” But in your head you weren;t thinking about chocolate and lavender. Ok, that was a lie. You were thinking about chocolate, it was right in front of you and your sensitive sense of smell was amplifying it. But you were really expecting to smell was the boy sitting next to you. And you knew you wouldn’t mix his scent with anyone else's.
“Heh. They’d be crazy not to, love.” You blushed but buried your head into your book further. He looked over at you and bounced his leg a few more times.
“You should probably get back to Rem. I’ll probably follow you a bit later to check in on him and give him some chocolate.” He frowned.
“Shouldn;t you be eating all this?”
“I only normally eat a few pieces and give the rest to him. He has it worse than me.” You shrugged. “He deserves it more.”
“And aren’t you supposed to be mad at him?” You shrugged again.
“How my full moons go are based on my emotions. It's better to make up with him. Make everything go back to normal, like it normally does when we get into an argument.”
“Ok, but it wasn;t fair the way he treated you. I know he was on edge, but-”
“Sirius, it's fine. Really. We were both just on edge. And it was fair. I mean, not the Slytherin comments, but the rest of it was.”
“Will you at least eat something before you go? Or get some sleep?”
“I slept plenty after my transformation and I ate lots.”
“Chocolate,” He said exasperatedly. “Eat some chocolate.” You took the bar of chocolate he had given you and took a bite out of it.
“Never thought someone would have to make me eat chocolate.”
“Never thought I’d have to make you,” you frowned, thinking back to your twin's comment.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you would just eat it without even thinking. Ever since Remus made that comment-”
“Rightfully said,” you hummed cutting him off. He sighed and took your book again, kneeling in front of you.
“Why do you care so much about what he says? Especially when he’s not himself?”
“Because I need to make him feel happier. He’s like this because of me. Because of my mistake to want to see the stars he’s in pain.”
“And so are you. Why do you keep torturing yourself?”
“I’m not. I just… I don’t know. God I’m such a mess afterwards,” you groaned, tears pricking your eyes.
“Yeah, well, that's expected,” he smirked and it made you give hima laugh-sob in reply. “Here,” he urged, handing you the half finished chocolate bar. You took a desperate few bites out of it and let the tears fall. He wiped them away quickly and let his hand fall on your knee. “Better?” you nodded and wiped your face to rid it of any chocolate.
“Yeah, sor-”
“Don’t apologize. You should sleep. You look absolutely horrid,” you laughed pitifully and nodded, finally admitting to your exhaustion.
“Yeah, ok. You might be right.”
“Might be? I’m always right.” You laughed again and went to stand up.
“Yeah yeah. Alright. You're always right. I’ll sleep after I make sure Remus is alright.” You promised.
He wanted to argue but knew he wouldn’t win.
“Alright. Come on. Then I’m taking you straight to the dorm room.”
“I have to clean up first. Go ahead, I’ll follow.” He shook his head.
“I’ll come back later and do it.”
“Sirius-”
“No arguing. Come on,” he dragged you out of the room. You visited your brother who was still asleep. James and Peter were up and waiting for Remus to wake up. Once you saw him Sirius dragged you out and to your dorm room forcing you to go to sleep or he would make you eat chocolate until you turned into it. You gladly fell into a dreamless sleep, unknowing of him wrapping your wrists since you were such a heavy sleeper.
You woke up on Monday when Lily shook you awake for class. You could tell she felt bad about it, but you assured her it was fine. You noticed your hands were wrapped and wondered who had done it. That's when you noticed your stomach growling. Quickly you got dressed and shoved chocolate into your bag for Remus and ran down to the Great Hall where everyone already was. You took your usual seat in between Remus and Sirius.
“Hey!” You said cheerfully and grabbed some food and put it on your plate. “Rem, could you pass me the chocolate chip muffins please?” He did so as if nothing was wrong and even bumped your shoulder with his. Sirius just watched, not understanding how your three huge fights could so easily turn back to this. All your classes went as usual, even lunch went well.
Then it was time for potions. You walked in with James and Remus but had to make your way to Jacob instead of sitting with them. You had decided it would be fair to split the research and then have him write the essay while you made the potion.
“Hey Jacob!” You smiled brightly at the Slytherin.
“Hello, Y/N. You have your half of the research?” You nodded and handed him your papers. Excellent. Should we get started then?”
“Sounds good to me! Who do you think you’ll smell?” He glanced over at a hufflepuff with bright red hair across the room.
“I hope I know who.” You smiled. “You?” You blushed.
“I wish. I mean, I have an idea, but they’ll never like me back, especially now.” He shook his head.
“You're super cool, Y/N/N. They’d be insane not to.”
“Thanks, Jacob. Let's get to it then?”
“Lets!” For the rest of class the two of you worked, quietly chatting occasionally as you finished the project together. You heard an explosion and glanced up and Remus and James who were just staring at their cauldron. James obviously being the one who added the wrong ingredient. You snorted and went back to your own potion mixing it together carefully, the brew being the perfect shade of pink. He sat up in his seat and looked at you wide eyed. “It's finished?”
You smiled. “You smell it already? It still has a few hours of brewing.” He nodded. He looked over to the hufflepuff boy.
“Yeah. I can smell it. You?” You swallowed and took a whiff.
Gasoline, smoke, cinnamon apples and chocolate. God that was it. That was him.
“Yeah,” you sighed. “Yeah I smell it.” Slughorn came over and looked into the cauldron.
“My my, looks like you two are finished already! Is your essay finished as well?” You looked over at Jacob who wrote a few more things down and handed it to Slughorn who skimmed it, seeming to be happy with it. “Splendid splendid. Well done you two. You can be finished for today. As a matter of fact, everyone is dismissed if you feel like you are finished. We will be continuing this tomorrow and then they will be due the next day.” The class erupted into chatter and the Hufflepuff boy came over, Jacob held his breath as he stopped in front of him smelling the air. He looked over at him, lust blown eyes.
He bit his lip and sauntered out of the room with a swing to his hips, glancing back at him before leaving the door. You chuckled as he just stared, gawking.
“Go get him, Lover boy!” He grinned at you and ran out of the room after the Hufflepuff. You cleaned up as the room emptied. You told Remus and James to go on without you to lunch. You would be there for a few minutes.
You continued to clean up the station, not bothering to stop smelling your potion, the scent put you at ease. It always did. And you really needed to be at ease right then.
You walked back over to your workbench to see Sirius entering the room.
“Hey, Sirius!” You smiled and he smiled back before stopping, smelling the air. He looked at the potion, swallowed and then back at you. You frowned and went back to cleaning up, making sure not to look at him. But you couldn’t help but wonder who he was smelling. It was clearly not you.
He began to help you clean up and the air was suddenly tense between you. And you just couldn’t take it anymore.
“So, who do you smell?” You asked, jumping onto the work table and cocking your head at him. He shrugged. “Come on, I want to know. As your best friend, I have a right to know.” He hummed in response and inclined his head.
“Just like how I had a right to know your secret?” You looked away.
“I said I was sorry. I just, I was scared if it got out that Remus would find out. I just didn’t want Remus to know that he got turned and I got turned. I would have much rather it been me and only me rather than the both of us.”
“I would've rather it be neither of you,” you smiled up at him.
“Yeah, same. So who do you smell?”
“Why don;t you tell me?” he countered and you chewed your lip. “Come on, just tell me,” he got closer to you, smiling as he glanced up at him. You have no idea where the rush of courage came from. But it came.
“You,” you shrugged, he went wide eyed and stepped back, coughing.
“M-me?” You shrugged, playing it off.
“You,” he smirked at you, composing himself again.
“And what exactly do I smell like?” He asked, placing a hand on either side of your body. You thought about it for a moment, but you knew. Even without him right in front of you and the potion right beside you, you knew.
“Gasoline and smoke from that motorcycle you always work on, Cinnamon and apples because though you’d never admit it they are your favorite, and chocolate because you're always around me or Rem.” he stared at you. You narrowed your eyes at him. “Who do you smell?” It took him a moment to find his voice, and each second he took you waited in agony. What if you just confessed to your best friend and he didn’t like you back. But he smiled after a moment.
“You,” he replied simply, making your eyes go wide. You had been hoping, but it was actually the last thing you had expected to hear.
“An-and what exactly do I smell like?”
“Lavender, from that motorizer you always wear before you go to sleep, chocolate because you practically survive on the stuff- which is adorable-, and ink because you are constantly spilling it all over the place,” as he spoke his voice had gotten lower and lower, and with his voice his gaze also dropped. It dropped all the way down to your lips which you were playing with.
“Wo-wow,” you stuttered out, not knowing how to react. WHat do you do? You were panicking. And before you could say anything or do anything, his lips were on yours and he was standing in between your legs. His mouth was warm on yours and you wrapped your arms around his neck bringing him closer as he brought his hands to your hips to bring you closer. But then a familiar thought rang through your head.
You don’t deserve this…
“Sirius, wait,” you pulled away and he leaned away from you, his hands still on your hips, he looked at you curiously.
“What's wrong?”
“I-I don’t deserve this. I-I can’t put you through this.” He scrunched his eyebrows together.
“What do you mean?” You buried your head in your hands and shook your head. Headache was approaching and you needed your chocolate. After the full moon was never as bad as before, but that didn’t mean you didn’t have your share of problems.
Sirius seemed to sense your need for chocolate because he dove into your bag and pulled out a piece, unwrapping it for you. He handed it to you and you took it gratefully.
“Can you explain what you meant?”
“You deserve better than me. I mean. You're you. And who am I? I’m a weirdo screw up who got her brother bitten by a werewolf.”
“No,” he pulled your face back up to his and looked at you. “You are perfect. I have had a crush on you since second year. And I’ll be damned if I let your insecurities get in the way of me taking care of you.”
“But-”
He shoved the chocolate back into your mouth, shaking his head.
“Do you like me?” you nodded as you chewed the chocolate. He smiled and pecked your lips, your mouth still full of chocolate. “That's all that matters to me. I think we have a few things to tell your brother now though,” you frowned and nodded sadly. You didn’t want to, you really didn’t. He kissed you again and you brought him in closer. You still felt guilty, and you knew you always would. You couldn’t change that. But you could try for him. You could be the best for him. Because the boy standing in front of you, wiping excess chocolate from his own mouth, he was everything you had ever wanted.
And you would be everything he ever wanted in return.
201 notes · View notes
heecyon · 3 years
Text
Enhypen Little Angels Series: A Small Friend
warnings: grammar mistakes (as always lol)
this was supposed to be posted two weeks ago. I'm sorry for the delay
word count: 1,612
Lee Heeseung:
The small family entered the pet shop, making the bell in the door go'ding' as they passed by. The cashier greeted them as Seojoon ran to see all the pets in the place.
“Papa! Look how adorable they are!” Joonie exclaimed and then Heeseung went to his side to check out all the things his kid was so excited about.
“Do you like this one, Joonie?” Heeseung pointed out a small yorkie terrier in front of him.
“Or what about this one?” Mina pointed out a small Maltese puppy.
The couple noticed that their son wouldn't respond to their questions. “Joonie?”
They got closed to their son who was happily seeing a beautiful dark brown coat ferret.
“Mommy, Papa... He's really cute.” He said putting his hand inside the environment the ferret was in and passed his hand through it's soft hair.
“How do you know it's a he?”
“I can tell.” Seojoon was hypnotized by the small ferret, it was like he had found a new friend.
Heeseung went to the cashier and asked for all the procedures to adopt the small cutie.
“What are you going to name him buddy?” Heeseung played with Joon's hair.
“Kirby!”
They both looked at him at him cutely.
“Kirby? Where did you get that name?” Mina laughed a little.
“I dunno? I just thought it was cute.”
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Park Jongseong
The sound of the front door opening and closing caught the attention of both Bella and Mila. The little girl ran to the the living room seeing her father putting his backpack down on the floor.
“Papa!” She ran to hug Jay with a wide smile, then he carried her in his hip.
“Hi baby! Did you miss me? How was school?” He said kissing Mila's cheeks.
“It was good, mommy and I baked brownies after school and they are delicious!” She said kissing two of her fingers which made Jay laugh.
“I'm pretty sure you were a good cook today, so I brought you a gift.” With his free hand he grabbed a small gift box with a white covering and a gold coloured ribbon.
“Hi love, what's that?”
Jay placed Mila down ontu the floor, and then grabbed a bouquet of peonies handing it to Bella, making her smile.
“Tell me we didn't forget an special occasion?”
“Nope, I'm just spoiling my princess and my queen. Do you want to open your gift, angel?” Mills nodded excitedly opening her gift just to find a cute baby pomeranian in the box inside the box.
She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. She looked at her father with happiness and took the puppy in her hands.
“Papa he's adorable! Thank you!” Mills embraced the puppy in a delicate way.
“What are you going to name him?” Jay said as he saw the glow in his daughter's face.
“I'll call him... Prince!” She gave the puppy a kiss on his head.
“Why Prince?”
“Because if you are a king, mommy is a queen and I'm a beautiful princess, then his a handsome prince.” Bella and Jay smiled widely.
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Shim Jaeyun
“There are so many puppies!”
Jacob exclaimed as the newborn puppies layed close to Layla, getting comforted by her fur.
“Can we keep them all?” He looked at Jake with his cute puppy eyes and pouted cutely to convince his father.
Jake got on his knees and played with his son's hair.
“Well, we promised Beomgyu and Yeonjun to give them some puppies, we also promised your mommy's sister to give her a puppy too, so we can only keep one.”
“Aw!”
“Don't be sad kiddo, they are all going to have a beautiful home with a loving family.” Jake kept playing with Jacob's hair.
“But I want to keep them all for myself.” The little boy pouted, and a few tears threatened to spill down his cheeks.
Jake looked at Layla and her puppies and smiled before looking down at his son who was a sad mess.
“What if you pick one puppy now and name them? Wouldn't you like that?”
“Yeah, I like that...” Jacob putted his knees on the floor and looked at all the puppies, before choosing one.
A little female puppy with a darker fur than the others.
“I'll call her Hazel, and know she'll be my best friend.”
“If Jin Ae could hear you right now... she would be hella mad at you.”
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Park Sunghoon
Jin Ae was playing on the backyard, making a small picnic with her dolls, she had a pink dress on and a tiara on top of her head. She served some “tea” in one of her dolls cup, before she saw across her vision something around the flowers that her mother cultivated.
“Is there a dragon around here? You can come out, I don't bite.” She got up and ran to the flowers, and to her surprise she found the most precious bunny she had ever seen in her whole three years of life.
“Gosh, you are so cute. I'm going to call you Gyeoul.” She ran back inside her house withthe biggest smile in her face.
She grabbed on of dolls dresses and put in on the bunny.
“You are mine, you are all mine.” She said just as Sunghoon was walking down the stairs, he frowned at the sudden sight. Why was his daughter hugging a bunny dressed as a princess?
“Jin Ae? What are you doing with a rabbit inside the house? And why is it dressed like a princess combined with a pop star?”
“I found him daddy, he's name is Gyeoul. And his all mine!” Well, that was questionable. But her cute little puppy eyes were manipulating him somehow, she looked so happy with the bunny, Sunghoon didn't want to destroy his daughter's happiness.
“You know that you have to ask for permission to have a pet, but... If you are happy with him...” She squealed and jumped around Sunghoon like the cute little human being she was.
“Thank you daddy.”
“No problem darling. How could I say no to you and your cuteness?”
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Kim Sunoo
What was going on today on the Kim's household? Well... The twins had gotten their first pets.
Hotteok and Keikeu, a pair of hamsters.
“Appa, I think we lost Keikeu!” Young-Jae entered the couples room, where Aera was fast asleep from a hard day of work and Sunoo was drying his hair.
“No way! Those hamsters haven't even been here for three hours!”
The twins were organised, but at the same time they could be very forgetful and clumsy, so it kinda made sense that they lost one of the hamsters.
“We're sorry appa, we should have been more careful.” Young-hee said with teary eyes, also making her brother spill a few tears.
“Oh, no, no! My babies, please don't cry! I don't like seeing you cry. We'll find Keikeu together, so don't worry.” He dried Young-Jae's tears and then patted Young-hee's back to calm them down.
“Appa, isn't that Keikeu?” Young-hee got up and reached the hamster, before giving it a small hug.
Sunoo could only sigh relief... But
“Appa, I can't find Hotteok!”
Holy Fu-
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Yang Jungwon
Let's say that Seung-hye found a siamese kitten in the park without a collar. It was a stray kitten.
She had her favourite blue backpack with her, so she grabbed the cat quickly without Jungwon noticing it.
“Seung-hye, it's getting late, we have to go.”
The girl grabbed her dad's hand as they both followed to the car.
Jungwon buckled Seung-hye's car seat, and then he finally drove home. They were both humming to some music on the radio, when all of the sudden.
“Meow!”
Did he just heard a cat inside the car?
“Meow!
Yep, he definitely did!
“Seung-hye? Did I hear a cat just meow?” Jungwon frowned, looking a the little one with the mirror.
“No”
Hm... Suspicious. Way to suspicious!
“Can you pass me your backpack, please?” He said grabbing the backpack from the backseat.
“No! There's rocks in there!”
“Yang Seung-hye.” He repeated with his voice sounding lower that usual.
“Ok. There's a cat in there, but he was all lonely and he couldn't be alone.”
When they got home, Jungwon continued to grab the backpack, while Seung-hye kept following around, begging him to not take him away from her.
“Appa, please don't take Holang away from me, we have to stay together!”
Good news! They kept the cat in the end.
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Nishimura Riki
There was a sneeze, after sneeze, after sneeze. Maybe baby Hinata was allergic to fur, but they never truly realized it. She was always playing around with Bisco, and now that they got a new dog, she just started having allergies out of nowhere.
“Do you think we have to take her to the hospital?” Niki asked Mei, he was really worried after all, Hinata never had an allergic reaction before.
“Noooo, I don't like hospitals.” She protested, as any child, she did not like hospitals at all, they were really scary for her to be around.
Even though her parent told her not to, she kept playing with her new pet Coco, for her she was the representation of cuteness and happiness all at once.
“Hinata, I told you not to play with-” Niki noticed a few feathers on Hinata's pig tails. That was it, she was allergic to feather, not the dog.
“Wait baby, please don't move.” He said pulling out some feather and hairs at the same time.
“Ouch, you are ruining my hairstyle, silly!”
After that Hinata wasn't going to let Niki touch her hair ever again. And Coco got all the cuddles of the world that night.
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115 notes · View notes
forthehpfanboys · 4 years
Text
You're An Idiot
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Pair: Draco Malfoy x Reader; he/him.
Summary: Draco is being a brat.. Again. No one's surprised when you run into him after getting back late from Hogsmeade. Also, the reader is Hermione's older brother.
Warnings: SMUT (MDI). Just- get the holy water. Swearing, oral, Sassy Hermione?? Still doesn't follow the movies or the books or anything. If I forgot any, please dm me.
Note: Requested! And Bottom Draco-I was up all night typing this. God, I am so sorry for the grammar and crap when I first posted this. I fixed it up, so it should be better!
~DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE~
-
Being Hermione's older brother meant you usually had to deal with a lot of shit, especially since she'd drag you on adventures with the Golden Trio. She'd always use the promise you made to your parents in your face. Yeah. You had sworn you'd protect the younger Granger when she first started going to the school. At the time, you didn't know that'd mean every single bloody year.
Since you were a year older then the Golden Trio, you ended up resolving problems and fixing some of their mistakes and reminding them to sleep during particularly stressful days. You could've swore the four of you just attracted problems better than magnets attract metal. Of course, you wanted them to be safe and healthy, but one little bleached ferret always made it hard. That ferret, of course, was Malfoy. Draco Malfoy.
Stupid Draco Malfoy who always managed to look top notch in anything he wore and Godric what you'd do to get that ferret on his knees, ruin his pretty hair and- You probably shouldn't be thinking this in the dinner hall, especially since you were sitting next to your sister. Speaking of your sister, she turned to you, a smile on her face.
"So, (Y/n). I was curious if you wanted to come with us to Hogsmead this weekend? Harry got Sirius to sign for him and Professor Magonagall accepted it under the circumstances." Hermione's voice rang through your skull as she spoke, your head already nodding up and down. It'd be a nice little break, especially during your 7th year.
"Of course I'm down, Mione!" you wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to her side. "You know I'll use any excuse to be with my favorite bunch of idiots." you messed up her hair, causing her to smack your hands away and almost shove you off the bench.
You let out a laugh, completely oblivious to the Slytherin staring at you from across the room with the most desperate expression on his face. You shoved your sister back, a smirk growing on your face as she fell from the bench.
"Haha! Payback!"
"Not funny, (Y/n)!"
"Yes it is, Mione! You should know by now I'm always gonna get revenge!" you ran a hand through your hair, shooting her a smile. The two boys who sat across from you nodded in agreement.
"He's right, Herman. (haha, reference-) It is pretty funny." Ron smiled, holding his fist out for you to bop.
The week seemed to pass with ease, allowing the weekend and it's snowy fun to arrive without hesitation. You trudged out in the snow, leading the trio of 6 years to Hogsmead. You hummed a muggle Christmas song deep in your throat as you walked, looking up at the snow covered signs.
"Where should we go first, children? Hogs Head? Honeydukes? What ya kids feeling?" One thing you absolutely ADORED was teasing about the age difference between you and the trio.
"We're not children!" Ron shouted, his arms crossing over his bulky winter jacket.
"Yeah! Besides, even if we weren't totally responsible adults, we'd wanna go to the Hogs Head, right guys? Get a butter bear or two?" Harry spoke up, moving his scarf down to speak properly before putting it back over his mouth and nose.
"Uh Huh. Sure." You snickered, your hands shoved in your pocket of your pants. You'd given Hermione your jumper, leaving you in a scarf, fingerless gloves and your long sleeve t-shirt.
The four of you got interrupted by a line of people literally blocking your path. It was none other than the stupidly pretty Draco and his 'gang' stood in front of you, arms crossed like a bunch of wanna be badasses.
"Well, well, if it isn't Potter and his 3 little blood traitors." Draco spoke, his voice filled with smugness and his face dragged in a cocky smirk.
God, did you wanna get revenge against that stupid smirk.
"Oh, please Malfoy. You do this almost every week. Just admit you have a crush on Harry and move on." You spoke, taking a step toward him. The ferret's smirk faltered and turned into a scowl.
"Oh please. As if I'd stoop low enough to like someone like Potter." Draco all but gagged at the idea of dating the messy haired rival and you wondered what he'd look like gagging on your stick. It suddenly became a little warmer in the winter atmosphere.
"Then you have an unhealthy obsession, mate." Ron spoke up, his arms crossed. "Might wanna get that fixed and leave us be."
"Yeah, Malfoy. We're trying to have a good day and you're ruining it with your ugly mug." Hermione spoke up, causing you to feel nothing but pure pride. She'd changed a lot from the shy girl she used to be in 1st year.
Crabb or Goyle, you didn't care to learn their names, stepped forward, causing you to instinctively step in front of your friends. Malfoy scoffed again, looking you up and down before turning his head.
"Whatever." the blonde pureblood spoke as he began walking away, his posse turning to follow, but not without shooting you one last glare.
"Yeah, you... You better leave?" You spoke, confusion clear in your voice. Usually you'd be inches from his face, shouting about the shit antics his father pulled before he backed down. Turning to the other three, you shrugged and led them to Hogsmead, hoping to escape the cold.
Once inside, you all ordered a warm glass of butterbeer as you picked a table by the fireplace. Taking your first sip immediately warmed you up, a sigh leaving your lips.
"Godric Gryffindor. I haven't felt warmth in what felt like forever." You said cooly, smirking to your sister. "I wonder why I would be oh, so cold."
"Ok. We get it. I forgot my jacket. Stop it." The brunette responded, causing Harry to almost choke on his drink and for Ron to snort. You faked a gasp, your hand going to your chest in mock shame. You'd been teasing her about it almost the entire way there.
"Such sass!" You shook your head. "What would mom and dad say?"
"They'd say you deserve to shove it."
"Oh, come now, sister of mine! Don't be a stick in the mud!"
The two friends sitting across from the Granger siblings sat in silence. This was some of the best entertainment they get during the week and they always savored it.
"I'm not being a stick in the mud, you're just being a dick."
"Well you know what they say. You are what you eat-"
Ron and Harry didn't even miss a beat. They broke out laughing together as Hermione shouted, her face a pinkish color.
"(Y/N)!!"
"What? We all know it's true!"
"Merlin's beard you suck."
"That's the point, sis."
"Go- stop. Please. I'm begging you."
"Ok! Ok." you chuckled out, raising your hands in defeat.
You and the trio managed to keep up the conversation easily, but as time went on, it was time to go back, well, that's what you told them. It was time for the kiddos to go back and finish their homework so they had tomorrow to actually relax. Of course, this caused Harry and Ron to groan and whine, but Hermione finally convinced them, saying she'd help.
You let out a sigh and leaned back in your chair, your eyes falling closed. The stupid blonde hottie has been raging in your head for what felt like forever, so you weren't surprised when he popped up behind your eyelids again.
You truly didn't want to admit it, but you'd liked the jerk since he popped up randomly in your second year. He was a twat to your sister and her friends, but somehow he slithered into your heart and head all the stupid time.
Over time like turned to crush, crush turned to yearned, yearned turned to lust, because it certainly wasn't love. That's what you convinced yourself as you tossed your head back, swallowing the last of your fourth butterbeer.
You sat in front of the fire for a few more minutes before you stood up, placed some coins at the end of your table to pay for the drinks and left the restaurant, venturing out into the snow.
It was colder before, thanks to the sun setting over the castle. Shrugging off the cold, you walked down the familiar path back to Hogwarts. You tightened the scarf around your face as a particularly cold breeze blew past you. Once the entrance of the castle came up, you all but jogged to the door, ripping it open. The inside was warmer, thank Merlin.
You were suddenly grateful for the 7 years you'd spent at Hogwarts. You were able to mindlessly walk the halls and make it to the staircase leading up to the Fat Lady's portrait. As you were trudging up the steps, you noticed a A flash of a shadow duck past a knight.
"Oh, ok. Cool. Filch’ll just kill me. Awesome." you grumbled, hurrying up the stairs as quietly as you could, but we're quickly halted. The shadow wasn't Filch or his crazed cat. It was Malfoy.
Of course it was Malfoy. We gotta get to the good stuff somehow, right?
...
Anyway, you sensed he was up to no good considering he should be in the Slytherin Common Room probably sleeping and not sneaking around by the Gryffindor one. You crossed your arms over your chest, watching the blonde keeping his head turned to watch his back as he climbed the same steps you were on.
"Malfoy."
"AAH-"
You all but lunged to cover his mouth with one hand, the other going to the back of his neck to keep him still. "Shut it, you git! Do you want to get caught?" your eyebrows furrowed together as you pressed him to the stairs railing, trying to intimidate the younger male.
What you didn't know was that this was waayy to hot for Malfoy to comprehend. His back went rigid at your touch and his breathing all but stopped as he stared into your (e/c) eyes.
"Well, do you?"
Your hushed voice snapped Draco out of his trance, causing him to shake his head.
"Good, then keep your voice down. What are you doing out here anyway?" you spoke, moving your hands away from him, much to his dismay. He was just grateful you didn't back away. He liked your body against his.
"I was uh-well, I was trying to.. Find the bathroom." He usually kept his composure, but he was failing miserably. He usually kept it together so well but now.. Now Draco was struggling. He was not going to admit he was on his way to sneak into the Gryffindor common room and leave you a love note. No. Why would he do that??
"The bathroom? It isn't up this set of stairs, ya idiot." you grabbed his arm, leading him down the stairs. "Besides, you should have a bathroom on your side of the school, so what are you really doing here?"
"What does it matter?" he spat out. "You obviously think you know everything." you rolled your eyes at his brattiness and walked over to the corridor glancing down it before pressing your back against the wall.
"What are you doing?"
"Shut it Malf-"
"No. I don't ha-"
"I said shut it or I will gag your mouth with your own fucking tie." you covered his mouth again, pressing him back against the wall. "Godric. Just put your ego away for 2 seconds."
Draco desperately wanted to say 'Make me, Granger' but he was lost in the idea of your threat coming true.
Satisfied at his silence, you watched one of the patrolling professors walk down the corridor and right past you two. Not spotting anyone or anything, they continued on before you swept him down the entrance.
"Ok. Come on." You whispered to him as you walked down the corridor. You were taking him to that one girls bathroom that no one goes into, ya know, with Myrtle. You were just hoping she was gonna be literally anywhere but that bathroom.
"Where are we going?"
"You said you wanted a bathroom, idiot. I'm taking you to one where you can piss in peace and leave me alone."
"I.. What?"
"Forget it, Malfoy." You took one more turn and finally saw the opening off the bathroom. "Ok. We're here." Of course Blondie had a problem though. He shot the (h/c) male a glare before scrunching up his nose.
"This is the girls lavatory."
"Oh, you think I care. Funny." you grabbed him by the shirt covering his shoulder and pushed him inside, following after his stumbling form.
"Don't touch me, Granger. I don't want whatever germs mud bloods carry." Draco scoffed, fixing his shirt and brushing off his shoulder, as if dirt was there.
"Call me that again and I won't hesitate to ruin that pretty face you cherish so much." You growled out, grabbing his shirt by the collar and pulling him toward you. "One day that silver tongue of ours is going to get you in a lot of trouble." Pushing him away from your figure, you turned toward one of the many mirrors lining the wall.
You looked at your reflection and fixed a strand of hair, then took off your scarf. It was warm in this bathroom. You folded the scarf and looked back into the reflective glass to see Malfoy smirking in the background.
"What?"
"You called me pretty." He had his arms crossed over his chest. Your aggravated tone did nothing to his smirk.
".. You're dumb as hell, ya know that?" you turned to face the male and his confidence seemed to shrink a little bit. You advanced toward him and he stepped backwards. He wanted to keep distance between you two in case a fight broke out. He'd seen you fight other people bigger than you and remembered how they were sent to the Hospital wing. "You're a twat. You're a self centered brat who thinks he rules this school."
He gulped when he felt his back press against the wall. "Yeah? And what are you going to do about it Granger?" Draco could feel the blood rush to his cheeks. You must've noticed his face turning Gryffindor red because next thing he knew, you were pressed up against him, pinning him to the wall. He felt his breath catch in his throat when your eyes glanced at his lips for a brief second.
"I might teach you a lesson." Your hands came at either side of his head, a dangerous smirk drawing across your lips. You leaned forward, your lips ghosting over his. "You have been such a brat lately. A punishment is in order, hmm?"
Draco's hands tried to grip the wall, his nails scraping against it. Fuck, the way your voice dropped sent blood from his cheeks to his dick almost immediately.
With that, you slammed your lips to his, causing a breathy whine to escape Draco's throat. You tilted your head, your tongue grazing across his lips as your hand slipped through his hair. The blonde wrapped his arms around your neck as he opened his mouth, his tongue meeting yours. With teeth clashing, your bodies pressed together and a hand in his hair, you easily gained dominance.
You pulled from the kiss, causing Malfoy to let out a protest.
"Shut it, brat." You grumbled, a hand covering his mouth as you planted a kiss to the side of his neck. "Besides, we're out past curfew. Would hate to get caught."
He could feel you smirk against his skin, your hand in his bleached locks tugging his head to the side so you had more room. He jumped a little when he felt you bite down on his neck. The younger man's eyes fell shut as you attacked his neck with love bites and hickeys.
Your hand covering his mouth moved to his cheek as you placed a kiss on a particularly big hickey.
"You ok?" your voice was soft and sweet against his ear. He nodded quickly, not wanting this to end, which only caused you to snicker. Draco blinked a few times in confusion when you placed your hands on his shoulders and began to push him down to his knees.
"I'd rather not kneel on the floor."
"Why not?"
"It's filthy!"
You stared at Draco for a few seconds before rolling your eyes and you shoved him down to his knees.
"I don't care if it's filthy. You have magic, don't you? Clean your knees when we're done. Simple." you smirked down at him, joy filling your heart. God, it genuinely felt good to see the cocky pureblood on his knees, his head turned in a silent protest.
One hand stayed on his shoulder, the other moved itself to the bulge between your legs. The groan that left your lips caught his attention. The hand against your bulge grounded down, causing you to groan.
"Oh, now I've got your attention?"
"Shove it, Granger."
"Now, now. That's no way to talk to me, I am older."
Draco rolled his eyes so hard you were sure they were gonna roll straight out of his head. But since this whole event was anything but straight, you figured it wouldn't happen that easily.
The man on his knees swatted your hand away and wasted zero time unbuttoning your jeans and pulling them down around your knees. He stared at the bulge in your galaxy themed boxers, the tips of his ears turning a bright pink. He noticed the damp spot right by the tip and realized it was from him.
Suddenly, his confidence came back, and the blonde quickly began mouthing at your erection. With a rough groan, you rested your hand on top of his head and used the other stabilizing you against the wall.
"Go on, then. Don't be shy." You chuckled, gently ruffling his hair. The 6th year reached up, quickly pulling down your boxers to reveal your hard length.
"I'm not shy." When he finally met your eyes, you noticed his blue ones burning with a lust that you'd only wished to see in your dreams.
"Uh huh, then why aren't you sucking my dick, hmm?" You smirked, pushing your hips forward.
"I might bite it with the attitude you hold." The blonde spoke as he leaned forward, licking from the base to the tip in one, long swipe. You let out a sigh, your head slowly tipping backwards as his tongue grazed over the tip of your wood.
"You love my attitude. I bet you always have."
Draco wanted to mock you or laugh at you or something, but he knew you were right so instead, he sucked on your tip like it was a popsickle. He hallowed his cheeks and kept eye contact with you as he slowly took you into his mouth.
You let out a gasp at how hot it was. Visually and physically, it was so damn hot. Your grip tightened on his hair when his tongue ran along the vein on the bottom.
"Fuck- Ah, Draco-" You tried not to move your hips. After all, you didn't know how much experience he had, but it felt like he was pretty well off.
Draco, however, was focused on the way you said his name. It dragged a moan out of him. This might've been the first time he heard you say his first name and your gravely voice made it so wonderful.
The blonde on his knees suddenly wanted to hear you say it again. He closed his eyes, pulling back to take a breath before he pushed forward. The pureblood focused on trying to take you down his throat. His eyebrows furrowed together when he gagged and chose to ignore his tears.
"Oh shit!" you hissed out, your jaw dropping when you felt his nose press against your pelvis. "Draco, how the hell-?" you bucked forward when you felt him try to swallow around you. "Ooh, Godric!" you tossed your head back, your hand against the wall curling into a fist.
Draco pulled back and slowly went down on you again, a breathy whine leaving your throat.
"You are far too good at this, baby."
All too soon he was pulling off you completely, which causes you to whine and look down at him. He was looking down at his hands that rested in his lap.
"What? Did I say something wrong?" You asked, your head tilting to the side a little bit.
"No!" his head shot up to look at you, his eyes wide. "I mean.. No... No, I've just never been called something so.. Soft."
This caused your eyebrows to furrow together. "Huh. Well, let's change that. Come on." You stepped out of the pants pooled at your feet and held a hand out to him, which he took.
You gently led him over to the sinks, turning him around to face his reflection. "I got you." you whispered in his ear, causing him to shudder.
He nodded his head, looking down at the sink in front of him. The pureblood rested his hands against the porcelain. The 6th year's heart was pounding in his ears, his bottom lip becoming trapped between his teeth.
The blonde felt your hands run from the back of his neck, to his shoulders and down his back before finally landing on his hips. The wizard felt a heat pooling in his belly when he felt your hips press against his ass.
You reached around to his front, undoing his belt and slowly pulling it free from the loops before tossing it off to the side. He finally looked up at the mirror, taking in the reflection of his messy hair, swollen lips and your hands coming back to his front.
"I got you, Draco." Your voice was soft. "Don't you worry your pretty little head about anything." You smiled at him over his shoulder and winked before popping the button of his trousers open and allowed gravity to pull them down.
Malfoy gasped when you cupped his bulge, his hips automatically pushing forward. He'd been hard since you pinned him against the railing.
"(Y/n).." he whispered out, his mouth falling open when your thumb ran across the head of his cock.
"Yes, babe?" Your smile has turned into a knowing smirk. Blue eyes bounced between your hand and that devious smirk, Draco's brain conflicted on which sight was better. "Do you need something?"
He nodded his head, blonde locks bouncing.
"Please." his voice was barely above a whisper.
"Please? Please what?" Your fingers slipped past the elastic of his boxers, a false sense of innocence laced in your voice.
"Move- touch me- damnit, Granger, please."
You finally pushed his boxers down, your hands running along the front of his thighs before finally landing on what he wanted you to focus on. The blonde let out a sigh of your name when your hand finally wrapped around his dick.
A small smile stretched across his face once your hand started moving. The pleasure wasn't new, but was oh so welcomed. He was glad he finally got you.
You gave him a few pumps, allowing his precum to build up on your hand, making everything easier.
"There ya go, baby. So sweet." You whispered, kissing the back of his ear.
Draco brought a pale pink lip between pearly white teeth again, his hips pushing forward to get more.
The hand still resting on his hip came around to the front, gathered a bit of precum off the tip before slinking back around to the back. He used the pre like lube and pushed a finger into Draco's tight hole, causing him to emit a squeal and arch his back a little but.
"Oh, Godric. I'm so excited to wreck you, baby."
"(Y/n)!" he squeaked out as the finger went deeper. He bit his lip harder, the pain slowly dying out and being replaced with a burning pleasure.
You loved hearing your name being moaned like that, just like he enjoyed hearing his when he was suckin' on your lolli. You added a second finger, slowly thrusting them in and out to try and speed this along. You could only jerk someone off for so long anyway.
You licked your lips, a determined expression event on how badly you wanted him. Maybe eating his ass would've been more effective.
"Please hurry, I don't know how much more of this I can take-" his voice was higher in pitch, his hips pushing back against you. "Please-"
"Ok, baby, ok. No need to beg." you chuckled, removing your hands from their working positions. Gently rubbing your hand over one cheek, you spread it open enough to spit in it, just to be safe. "Ready?" your free hand grabbed your own dick pumping it a few times for good measure.
"I wouldn't be asking you to do it if I wasn't, now would I?" the blonde snapped back, glaring over his shoulder. How did he go from so innocent he's almost choking from one finger in him to being a demanding brat all over again?
You rolled your eyes and lined yourself up, carefully and slowly pushing in until you made it past the first ring of muscle. Both of you moaned at the feeling, your hands coming to rest against his hips as his head ducked down, his chin pressed against his chest.
You slowly pushed in deeper, a whine leaving his throat as the twisted pain came back. You reached around to grab his dick again and jerked him off a little bit more to try and counterbalance the pain.
Once you were all the way in, you just let him adjust. You kissed across his still clothed shoulders and neck, whispering encouraging words of praise.
The hand on his hip dragged itself upward, your eyes following it in the mirror. Once it made it to his chest, you cupped one of his pecs through the shirt, feeling his perky nipple pressing against your palm.
Grinding your palm down against his nipple and continuing to rub his dick, you slowly pulled out almost all the way before pushing back in with one sweep.
You literally left him breathless. He was staring at you through the reflection in the mirror, his mouth hanging open, his eyes glazed over with need, his hair a mess.
You built up a pave easily, deep and hard but slow and Draco loved every second of it. His toes curled in his boots, his back arched into your hands while his hips fought to figure out if they wanted to go forward into your hand or back into your dick. It truly was a conundrum for the twink.
"Such a good boy for me, aren't ya?" You spoke up after a while, your voice gravelly and rough and right in his ear. You let out a breathy laugh when he shuddered and moaned from that alone.
The two of you weren't concerned with the sound of skin hitting skin or your moans echoing around the hallow bathroom. You were busy, I don't blame you.
Soon enough, Draco was begging you to speed up, his release starting to creep it's way around. You nodded your head, resting your forehead against his shoulder as you spend your hips up, a grunt leaving your lips.
Draco let out a loud whine when your fingers pinched one of his nipples, his hands clawing at the walls as pleasure coursed through his veins.
"I'm gonna cum in you." You groaned against his back. "I'm gonna mark you as mine and you're gonna sit there and enjoy it."
Fuck yeah, he was.
Draco was nowhere near complaining. He'd been fantasizing of this and so much more for years. He, of course, blamed his hormones, but he knew the effect ran deeper than just lust.
Draco nodded his head. "Please-" he moaned out your name, his thighs trembling from the pleasure. He was getting closer and, honestly, so where you.
The pureblood was so warm and hugged you so right in all the right places and Albus mother-fucking Dumbledore where you getting more of this later.
This stupid cute blonde was so intoxicating it almost made you feel pathetic. Keyword is almost.
You sped up, chasing after your own release as it also reared its head around the corner.
"G-gonna cum-" Draco stuttered out, his voice cracking. One hand fell from the wall to the porcelain sink at his waist. "I-I'm.. Gonna-" he called out your name, loud enough for it to probably be heard by the Gryffindors, as he came.
He tightened and spasmed around you, his legs shaking and tiny moans leaving his throat as you helped him ride out his orgasm.
"Are you good?" You asked, rubbing his back and soon letting go of his soft dick when he deemed it was sensitive. "Do you want me to pull out?"
Draco shook his head, his ears noticeably red from behind him. "I want you to keep your promise."
He did not have to tell you twice. You went back to thrusting into him, both hands on his waist as you sought after your own orgasm. A few moans and groans from you later and you were cumming inside him.
You leaned into him, riding it out until his tight, hot ass became too much. You pulled out carefully, causing him to whine and twitch.
"Let's get you cleaned up, ok, Draco?"
The blonde nodded his head and allowed you to carefully and gently clean him up with a wet paper towel. It wasn't the lost romantic thing used to clean partners, but it was what you had.
After a few minutes of silence once you were cleaned and dressed you spoke up.
"So what.. Where are you doing by Gryffindor Tower, Blondie?" your hands ended up in your pockets again.
"Well I.." The pureblood reached into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out an envelope. "I was going to..."
"Draco, babe. I saw your 'o' face. Just tell me. You shouldn't be embarrassed." You snickered, obviously teasing the younger man.
He took in a deep breath and shoved the letter toward you.
"IwroteyoualetterexplaininghowIfeltaboutyouandhowIwassorryforhowItreatedyoursister-" he was going way too fast for you to understand anything.
"What? I can't.. I don't speak whatever this is."
"I.. Just read the letter!"
With that, you tore open the envelope. It was the love letter Draco was gonna leave by your bedside table.
The letter stated how he fell in love with you from a far over the years by watching you dominate in Quidditch, bringing light into the world with the Twins (let's be honest, imma throw them in this) and just.. Being you. Plus bickering with you was one of his favorite pastimes.
It also stated how he was sorry for treating Hermione so poorly and the citation with his dad and how he was raised.
The Slytherin was nervously wringing his hands together, a nervous expression on his face. "Umm.. Are.. You gonna say something?" his mental fingers were crossed.
You smiled, tilting your head a little bit.
"You're an idiot." You pulled him into a gentle kiss, your hand entangling with his. You casted him a genuine smile. "I like you too, Draco."
The blonde's face broke out in a matching grin and he all but jumped on you to give you another kiss. Once the two of you broke apart, your voice echoed in the bathroom once again.
"There's only one problem."
"What is it?"
"How do we tell Hermione?"
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storydays · 3 years
Text
Season 1, Episode 2, p2
--Later that night--
You kept punching the bag in front of you, angrily. Korra didn't know what she was talking about. Girl didn't even know how to airbend! You growl before destroying the bag, and yelling in frustration. You made your way over to your locker, and started eating (Your favorite snack), and hummed softly, readying yourself for this next match. You watched benders of all ages come in and use the gym and practice. (E/c) eyes watch as two young benders talking softly. The older was a brown haired waterbender, and the child with her was a black haired firebender. The older girl was trying to teach the firebender, something waterbender related with the way she moved, and it seemed like the brother wasn't taking to it very well. 
You stood up, bringing your snack with you, and walked over to the children. "You know, it may be beneficial if a firebender taught your friend." You said lightly, as blue and gold eyes turn onto you. "Well, he doesn't know how to firebend yet. Maybe he's a waterbender, so I thought I could show him what Mama and Auntie showed me." The girl said cutely, tilting her head. You laughed softly, before sitting next to them. "Are you sister and brother?" "Yup! I'm Nagisa! And this is my brother Kazan! I'm 8 and he's 4 and a half! What's your name?" She asked, sitting across from you. "I'm (Fake Name). I'm apart of the Fire Ferrets. Are you two alone?" You asked curiously, offering some of your snack. 
Automatically, the kids stiffened, before looking at each other warily. Before they could answer, you heard a commotion coming from around the corner. You went to stand up and see what was going on, but you didn't want to leave the little ones alone, knowing from the way they were acting, that they were completely alone. "Have you guys ever seen a real pro-bending match, up close?" You asked. "No, we never got the chance to." Nagisa said, sadly. Kazan did some hand motions hands, excitedly. 
"Kazan is a mute. He talks with his hands a lot." His sister explained curtly. You grin, before signing back, 'We're gonna have some fun, you and I.' Kazan grinned before taking your outstretched hand and motioned for Nagisa to follow. She hesitated for a moment before grabbing her brother's hand. "I guess it would be cool to see one up close." She said finally, as the three of you began walking to the chaos. "Can't wait for you to see it." You said, earnestly, tying your snack up, and putting it around your belt loop. 
"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! It's okay, Toza, she's with me." Bolin said to the old gym owner. "Yeah, I'm with him!" A very familiar voice chimed in. You grumbled under your breath before gently gripping Nagisa and Kazan's hands. "Kids, listen to me, if anyone asks, you're my brother and sister, okay?" You ask seriously. They nod, as you stepped forward interrupting the very awkward conversation between the people in the main gym. "Bolin! C'mon, we gotta get ready!" You call, gesturing for the two teens to follow you and the kids. "Sorry, Toza, but we gotta jet." You shot the older man your most charming smile, watching as he soften at the trembling children behind you, before finally submitting. 
"Eh, all right, whatever. I got work to do! See ya, kids later." "Right this way, miss!" Bolin said, cheekily. "And thank you, sirs." Korra replied before whispering another thank you. "Bo, excuse use for a second, will ya?" You then pulled the Avatar away by her ear. "Owowowowowowow!" She whined, before you leveled her with a glare. "Ah, listen and do not speak. 1st, here my name is (Fake name), second what the hello are you doing here? Are you trying to get me caught?" You demanded, crossing your arm, accidentally spraying Nagisa with water from the water fountain, she was trying to get a drink from. 
Kazan smiled behind his hand as Bolin tried to calm the upset girl. Korra shrugged. "I wanted to see a pro-bending match! And Tenzin is being such a hypocrite, preaching about freedom when--Wait, why are you here?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips. "One, I've been coming here since I was 12, and my father supports this place financially, and I'm apart of a few sponsorships  for some of the lower income communities around here. Uncle doesn't need to know anything about me being here, and I won't tell him you were here. Second, I'd like to help you but, what could I know about Avatar stuff, right Korra?" You replied, showing that you were still hurt by her comments. 
She had the gall to look ashamed. "Look, you can stay and watch but you gotta watch some little friends of mine, while Bolin and I finish this last battle." You didn't let her finish as you walked away, and gently led the kids(yes, you consider Bolin a child), towards the Fire Ferret's side of the gym. "What do you think? Best seats in the house, huh?" Bolin asked, cockily. "Wow! It's so big!" Nagisa cried, as Kazan stood on his tip toes, before shaking with laughter as you picked him up so he could see better. "This place is even more amazing than I imagined! Oh, I'm Korra.: The blue eyed girl said offhandedly. 
You placed Kazan on a bench and finished your hair, by braiding two strands with blue beads hanging in your face similar to Katatra's but then pulled the rest of your hair into a low ponytail, feeling your hair brush against your back. "Psst, Bolin." Mako whispered, motioning for his brother to come closer. "Yeah?" The earthbender asked curiously. Fixing his gloves, Mako continued, "I told you, you have to stop bringing your crazy fan girls in here before the matches. Get her out of here." 
"Aw, come on, Mako. All right, look, I kind of promised her, she could stay here." "Plus, if she leaves, who will stay to watch the little tykes?" You ask, after giving the kids some water, and the rest of (your favorite snack), before walking over to the brothers. "Mako, take one good look at those kids, and tell me who you see." You crossed your arms as amber eyes studied the chattering waterbenders and the smiling firebender. He knew what you were getting at. He cursed you mentally before huffing. "I see a Bolin and I before we became pro-benders." He finally muttered.
"Just let them stay for this round, and then I'll take them somewhere safe." You promised. "Yeah, dude. I totally get a good feeling from this. There's something special about Korra, I know it!" Seeing his brother wasn't convinced, Bolin brought Korra over, as you placed your helmet on your head. "Come here, I want you to meet my brother, Mako!" "Mako?" Korra questioned as Kazan looked at the older firebender curiously. "Wow, I've heard you played on the radio." Korra held her hand out excitedly. "Come on, Bolin and (Your fake name). We're up." 
Bolin rolled his eyes at his brother, while you pulled up the bench to the railing so the kids could see comfortably. "Korra, make sure to watch the kids, alright?" She nodded sadly, as Bolin pat her shoulder. "Or I could meet Mako later." "Yeah, sorry about that. My brother just gets real focused before a match. Okay, I gotta go. Wish me luck...not that I'll need it." Bolin said cheekily as Nagisa called out, "You got this, (Your fake name)! Knock them out!" She cheered as you older teens chuckled under your breath. "Sounds like you got an admirer, bro." Bolin snickered as the floor began moving to the middle, you sighed softly, a smile playing at your lips.
"Here we go."
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dreams-got-dimmer · 4 years
Text
New Girl Pt. 2 (Bolin x reader)
Okay here’s the thing I haven’t seen enough steamy Bolin fanfics yet and while I would rather be reading them, I thought maybe I’ll just write one and help out the others who desperately want to read about their fav thicc earth bender.
Summary: multiple part fic?? + AU kind of
(The reader is 18, Bolin is 18 and mako is 20)
Reader desperately needs a place to live and finds an advertisement for two brothers who need a roommate. Maybe more than just living arrangements may come out of this deal... (reader x Bolin) (slow burn)
Disclaimer: I’m changing the story from first person to second as it would make more sense to the reader. If I ever plan on doing POV for Bolin, which I want to it will be in third person. I know it’s a switch up, but I think the story will flow nicer using second and third opposed to using first
Word count: 2399
Warnings: slight angst?
PART 1 PART 3
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“so uh, yeah, this is your room,” Bolin rubbed the back of his neck, “I know it’s not much, but hey it’s something right?” he started to fidget on the balls of his feet.
“So bashful, now are we?” you couldn’t help but notice Bolin’s nervousness now that you two were alone. Mako was only on his break when you had arrived and had to get back to work so he left Bolin to show you where everything was in the loft, especially your room. Red heat started to seep into Bolin’s cheeks at your words. As much as you wouldn’t have minded teasing him more you decided to save him the embarrassment.
“I’m just joking,” a small laugh escaped your lips, “I know how hard it can be to meet someone new, especially when you end up alone together,” started to walk around your new room taking in everything it had to offer, which wasn’t much. But that was the best part about it. It was simple and you could make it your own in no time. The poster wasn’t lying when it said the loft had a view of Air Temple Island. Even being a fire bender, watching the wave push and pull was always calming to you. You could see yourself spending hours just drinking in the sounds of the ocean. You turned back to Bolin and smiled, “You seem pretty outgoing, but I can understand how it can be easier to meet new people when your brother is around,” saying that reminded you of all the times you’ve been on your own meeting new people. Sure, it was going just fine now, but it hasn’t always been this way.
“Y-yeah of course, definitely because my brothers not around, heh,” Bolin went back to rubbing his neck. He didn’t do a great job at assuring you that his brothers’ absence was why he was nervous, but you weren’t going to pry. “Anyway, how do you like the loft. I hope it becomes your home as much as it became mine and Mako’s,” The warmth in Bolin’s cheeks finally started to fade as he smiled at you, “It’s better that I could have ever dreamed of,” you admitted. Your parents house was nothing too extravagant, but it was able to hold you and your family somewhat comfortably. The shelter did it’s best to be welcoming and you couldn’t be more grateful to have a warm place to stay, but it couldn’t beat what you were looking at now. Thinking of the shelter reminded you that there were still items of yours at the shelter. It wasn’t much, but you still didn’t want to leave them behind.
“Do you want to come with me to the shelter so I can pick up the rest of my things?” you changed the subject. Bolin seemed nice, but you weren’t too sure how willing he would be to help you with your things, “I would love to go!” he nearly shouted it, “Then you can tell me more about yourself and I can show you my favorite restaurant,” He broke out into the same smile you saw earlier when Mako agreed that you could move in. It was genuine and precious, and it made your stomach tie in a knot.
Bolin might singlehandedly be the sweetest and goofiest person you had ever met. He insisted on going out to eat first and as you both walked and made it his mission to keep you laughing. The nerves he had before were practically non-existent now. He told you all about pro-bending and even though you’ve been to matches and knew the rules you couldn’t bring yourself to say anything because of how enthused he was to talk to you about it. He even promised to bring you to practice and matches. And even though he was an earth bender he wanted to show you moves you could use in a match and maybe he could even get Mako to show you something too. You happily agreed to everything Bolin offered because 1. It did seem really fun and 2. You couldn’t wait to show Bolin what you were actually capable of with your bending. It’s not like he was trying to be rude, but maybe Bolin assumed you didn’t know how to do much since your parents restricted it. The thing is strict parents cause sneaky kids and you were the sneakiest of them all. You had been sneaking out since the young age of eight and you had learned a lot more than anybody even knew. So, maybe it was a good thing that your parents were that way. If they weren’t you may have never had the knowledge of bending that you have now.
Even though you were going to pick up your things the day was starting to feel like a date. Bolin had brought you to Narook’s, which he happily told you had the best noodles in all of Republic City then proceeded to eat three bowls to himself. You were beside yourself that you had never gone here before. Bolin wasn’t joking that these were the best noodles in all of Republic City and you almost wanted to get mad at him because he just introduced you to your newest money pit. It would be so worth it, though. Especially if you got to have days like this with Bolin. He even refused to let you pay no matter how hard you tried to get the waiter to take your money. If it was a date, you wouldn’t have been angry in the slightest. He was charming you by the second and the way his eyes would shift from jade to emerald within seconds did nothing to stop you from being lost in everything that Bolin was.
The sugary sweet feeling you had in your chest soon turned sour. The feeling wasn’t even caused by the two of you facing the shelter it was what Bolin said that made your insides curdle and all the happiness of the day went numb.
“I can’t wait to introduce you to Korra! She’s the avatar and everything about her is amazing,” he looked at you with lovesick eyes and it made you wish that you were Korra, “She’s beautiful and talented and she’s even on the Fire Ferrets with me and Mako,” a blush crept back onto Bolin’s face and you wanted more than anything that it was you who was making him blush. You wanted to slap yourself in the face for thinking this way. You just met him. He wasn’t anything to you. You tried not to think about how he himself helped you have the best day you’ve had in years, maybe in your life. You’ve been with guys, but none of them have ever made you feel this happy, especially within the first hours of meeting and you and Bolin hadn’t even kissed. You weren’t about to let some boy you just met control your emotions like this, even if he was impossibly adorable.
“I’m thinking of asking her out. I’m just so nervous,” Bolin confessed as he began rubbing the back of his neck, which was oddly attractive by the way. No, stop you can’t keep thinking like that. You tried your best to shake away any thoughts of jealously and the minute attraction you had for the earth bender, “you’re a girl, what would be the ideal date for you?” He pleaded as his lip jutted out into a pout. You gulped. If it wasn’t bad enough that you misread this day so far, this day was the best answer you could give him. Scraping together every ounce of courage you had, you decided to be honest, “My ideal date,” you pretended to muse even though you didn’t even have to utter a single thought to know what it would be, “Honestly just do what you did today and I’m positive she’ll love it,” you breathed out as Bolin’s eyes widen. That was enough honesty for the day. You looked away from him quickly trying to ignore his lips parting.
“We should go get my stuff now,” you shrugged, “There’s not much anyway, so it should be easy,” you didn’t wait for his answer as you rushed into the shelter. Bolin trailed in moments after you and you kept your head down not wanting to talk to him yet. Maybe you just ruined whatever friendship you had with Bolin by telling him the truth. Your thoughts came to a halt as you crashed into something, actually someone.
“Spirits I’m sorry,” you sputtered looking up. You eased when you saw it was just Anzu one of the volunteers at the shelter. Not only that, she also had become one of your close friends during this month stay. The two of you were complete opposites and it was hard to understand how the two of you clicked so well. She was everything you weren’t.  She was perfection and grace. Anzu embodied everything that was ethereal. She was golden and her strawberry blonde hair flowed in a way that made it seem like she was underwater. Anzu grabbed your arms to steady the two of you and began to smile.
“Always so clumsy,” Her laugh tinkled in your ears, “and who is this?” curiosity lined her voice as her eyes shifted to look at Bolin.
“shut it Anzu I am not,” you grumbled crossing your arms, “And this is Bolin he’s my new roommate along with his brother Mako,” happiness spread through you again, “Bolin this is Anzu she’s my best friend, but she also volunteers here,” You motioned between the two and Bolin waved enthusiastically. “No way!” Anzu exclaimed, “You found a place to stay?!” She grabbed a hold of you nearly shaking you, “I’m so so so happy for you. I’m going to miss you, though,” She frowned a bit pulling me into a hug, “Please visit all the time, how am I going to stay sane without you?” you pulled away from each other.
It was a bittersweet feeling because Anzu was right. She had made staying at the shelter bearable and not only that, she had gotten you out trouble too many times to count. She’s even responsible for you being able to stay at the shelter even though you burnt part of the living quarters down out of anger and frustration when you first showed up.
“I’m sure we’ll be able to survive, but I’ll make sure to visit as often as I can,” you assured her.
You both hugged again not really wanting the moment to end, “I’ll let you two get your things, It was nice meeting you Bolin, I hope to see more of you soon,” Anzu breathed out as she glided away down the hall.
You started down the hall thinking about how much you were actually going to miss not seeing Anzu every day. “what happened here?” Bolin stood wide eyed as you approached your room and you didn’t even have to look at what it was, “I did that,” you muttered, glancing at the burnt hallway. Your parents had the audacity to show up at the shelter after a week of staying there. They had more to say about what a horrible monster you were. How they wished you were never born. It was a disgrace to them that a bender was born into their family. The staff was kind enough to force them out of the building, but it only did so much to aid your already broken heart. That interaction was the last straw for you and it precedented the substantial breakdown that caused the burning of half of the bedrooms. No would could get close to you no even Anzu. You had no idea what to feel. It was too much the hate, frustration, and brokenness of it all. It caught up to you and the only outlet you could use was destruction. The next day you apologized profusely to everyone at the shelter and promised that once you started making steady money you would help pay to rebuild that section of the quarters.
“You,” he paused, “Did that?” Bolin was in utter disbelief. You were desensitized to the area having to look at it for the past weeks, his words made you look at it with fresh eyes. There was no denying that it was a gruesome sight. Most of the walls were charred through and there were tarps to keep the outside elements from getting in. All the furniture was pretty much disintegrated and looking at it too long just made your stomach sick, “can we just get my things?” you pleaded feeling small, “I don’t really want to talk about it,”.  You pushed your door open and before you could take a look for the last time at the place you had been staying, Bolin pulled you into a hug. He bowed his head into the crook of your neck and let out a sigh.
“I’m sorry for whatever happened,” He drew back and looked at you earnestly, “Me too,” his hug felt like warmth and hot tea on a bad day. He was surprisingly gentle for how muscled he was and even if you didn’t want it to end you plastered a smile on your face, “Let’s get my things so we can get the hell out of here,” You motioned towards you room. It didn’t take long to gather your extra clothes and odds and ends and before you knew it you were spending your first night in the loft. You looked out at the ocean and let the sounds of the tide help you mull over what happened during the day. You were able to close a chapter in your life that you didn’t think was going to end and as for Bolin he was your roommate and hopefully friend and you weren’t going to jeopardize that just because there was some semblance of attraction for him. Besides, he seemed to really like Korra and that’s what mattered, not the inconsequential feelings you might have for Bolin. You were sure you’d wake up in the morning and the tiny crush would dissipate, for you had bigger things to worry about, like finding a job and actually making friends with Bolin and Mako instead of pining over them.
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a/n: wow guys I'm amazed at myself that I have written this much. But if you have made it this far thank you! I wanted to do a slow burn for this fic and it’s actually a lot harder than I thought, but I am trying my best. I’ve never really wrote fiction before so if you guys have any advice on how to improve my writing, please let me know! again thank you so much for reading this far (: I hope to see you again soon 
-S
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cescalr · 4 years
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Why Is Draco Malfoy So Underrated?
A repost of a Quora answer because Quora hates me for some reason
@vivithefolle​ i take little convincing here I go -
SO!
You. Yeah, you. You, nebulous quora questioner, you think Malfoy is underrated, do you? Well I, CescaLR, am here to set the record straight. The following is the answer I posted to Quora, that was flagged with ‘answer may need improvement’, which means some asshole was trawling the answers to the question posted and didn’t like mine so they had the moderators hide it because said person doesn’t like differing opinions. This post is thereby an archive, so if my answer is never again allowed to see the light of day on Quora, at least my maths is visible elsewhere. 
Hopefully, this entertains you, tumblr user reading this post. Also, as fair warning, if you do like Draco Malfoy and somehow stumbled across this post, I recommend skipping it. 
Why is Draco Malfoy so underrated?
Fleur Lee-Ranger
Author of 857406 words of fanfiction and counting.
ANSWER:
HAHAHAHA.
Ha.
Ha.
hah…..
For god’s sake, I hope you’re not serious.
Let’s look at YouTube, first:
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Does 2.2 million f*cking views on a woobie Draco edit seem like he’s underrated to you? Any character that gets 2.2 million views on an edit that interprets the character in a sympathetic, caring light…. Jesus Christ. They’re not underrated.
You could make a clear argument for them being overrated, by matter of fact!
The first result is his entire life story, and a redemption of the Malfoy family as a whole, and it’s… super popular!
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look at that! 70k likes versus 1.7k dislikes. Let’s use my favourite maths thing once again: Ratios!!
(I hate ratios. The things I do to prove a point, eh?)
This video has 5201431 million views. It has around 70k likes, 1.1k dislikes. We’ll round 5201431, as 70k and 1.1k are both rounded numbers and I can’t be bothered to deal with numbers that are too complicated right now, it’s nearly nine pm. 5201431 -> 5.2 million. It’s the rounded number YouTube itself uses on the search page - check the first image if you don’t believe me, and since YouTube thinks that’s good enough, so will we.
5200000 : 70000 : 1100
52000 : 700 : 11
Divide all by 11 (and round awkward numbers, because we’re already dealing in rounded numbers anyway, which is kind of bad practice, but it’ll do for this context):
4,727 : 64 : 1
As I’ve proven before (not on Quora, you can probably find it in the comments of one of my fanfictions, I’ll end up moving it over here one day when I find the right question), fandom content engagement rates are always pretty bad. But honestly? every four thousand or so views, you get 64 likes, compared to just one dislike. That’s great! That’s incredible! I’d kill for those kinds of ratings!!
(Draco’d probably wimp out, though. hehe. Jokes, jokes.)
As for his woobie video:
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2.3m : 152k : 715
2300000 : 153000 : 715
Nice, don’t need to remove any superfluous zeroes. Bad, for… well, your hypothesis, to put it nicely, since that means there are only seven hundred and fifteen goddamn dislikes on this video, what the f*ck, why do so many people like this b*stard child.
Ahem. Sorry, that’s rude to illegitimate children like myself. There is nothing wrong with having unmarried parents.
…Anyway, lets slim down that ratio:
3217 : 214 : 1
Holy sh*t. I would do more than kill for this ratio. Oh my god.
That’s some great engagement there. So many likes! Clearly, Draco dearie is a very popular boy! He’d love that. I hate this on principle. God am I glad 13 year old me didn’t really use YouTube (I watched gaming content and little else, didn’t even find fandom content until 2015) or I’d have contributed one of those likes, probably.
Oh wait, no! Never mind! I can’t have contributed one of those likes, because this f*cking video was posted last year!!!!!
LAST GODDAMN YEAR!!!!
Do you understand that? Do you - do you have any idea how - just how difficult it is to get that many views that quickly and with that good an engagement???? Do you???????? It has been, get this, seven, seven whole f*cking months, Less time than it takes to make a baby, and this f*cking video has 2,265,900!!! million!!!! views!!!! With a ratio of 214 likes to one goddamn dislike.
oh my god.
oh my god
oh my god
I’m having a minor mental breakdown. Jesus f*cking H Christ on a goddamn bike.
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Look at these comments! Look at how many likes they have!! Oh my god!!!! Draco Malfoy might just be one of the most beloved characters ever to get this sort of reaction, for hell’s sake!
I don’t know what kind of dunderhead you are to not notice how f*cking popular this jackass little b*stard boy is, but god, the whiny little sh*t has more fans than oh, I don’t know. Someone really popular. Tom Holland? I don’t know celebrities. Sorry.
But my point is, for god’s sake, Malfoy isn’t underrated. I don’t know what rock you’ve been living under, my friend, but that sheer idolisation you so crave of your wimpy f*cking husband is right there in front of you! Just search his name, and you’ll see it front and goddamn centre. Those of us that don’t worship the ground he walks on are generally much more background.
For god’s sake, he’s a trope namer.
Draco In Leather Pants.
How much more evidence do you need than that?
Of course, I could be jumping the gun. You could be a fan of his that is frustrated by the fanon interpretation of his character. ‘Why is he reduced to a bad boy with a heart of gold when actually he’s a more complicated asshole with sh*tty morality and no backbone that gives a whole ass damn about his family but not much else?’ Good question! Blame Cassie Claire, though I suppose that’s my go-to for most things.
Seriously though; Draco Malfoy is not even remotely overrated. He’s a whiny, terrible, useless waste of space in the books; and in fandom, he’s transformed into a cool, collected, redeemable or outright good person who’s smart and talented and like, super hot you guys, doesn’t he look cute with Hermione/Harry/Insert Author’s Projected Character Here?!!!!
Also: Y’all are f*cking creeps for this shit:
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THAT’S A SCENE FROM WHEN THE KID IS TWELVE, FOR GOD’S SAKE. I’m not even joking, half of you are nonces and I want nothing to do with you! ‘hot draco malfoy edits’ HE’S TWELVE
HE’S TWELVE
HE’S TWELVE.
Hot take time:
Draco Malfoy is overhyped, overrated, and oversexualised and I want all of this to stop, because you’re doing it to Tom Felton, when he was a child. A child! That’s creepy! Please do not make hot edits of children, thank you!!!!!
Someone call the police. I’m done with this f*cking fandom, oh my god.
(Also, if you think I edited that in like some sick weirdo might do, just go find that video and give it a watch. I wouldn’t if I were you, I’d believe me, because watching that video probably puts you on a watchlist somewhere.
It should.)
Okay. Deep breaths. It’s been a few months, this answer was flagged with the wonderfully opaque ‘this answer may need improvement’, and I’m back to refine this. I’m not taking anything out, but I’m adding some extra investigation. For posterity’s sake; the original answer only contained YouTube analysis. Let’s look through Archive Of Our Own, shall we?
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As I showed in my answer re: the well-liked-ness of Lilly and Hermione, this is the number of total fics within the HP tag.
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This is the number of tags when ‘Draco Malfoy’ is added to the ‘included characters’ filter.
So, in terms of ‘fandom work presence’ (AO3 is mostly fanfic, but it is not all fanfic, there are a few vids and some art on there, too) Malfoy’s ratio is thus:
254603:65469
3.8889… : 1
4 : 1
So, rounding up, for every four works on AO3, there is one that includes Draco dearie. Good lord, he’s pervasive, isn’t he? Can’t turn a corner in the fandom without seeing his pasty ferret face plastered all over the walls… lovely.
Now, once again - that wasn’t the best ratio. I didn’t remove bashing, for example, so not all those works will be positive (as in, since you think he’s underrated, that means - I assume - you think people don’t like him enough) so let’s go the long mile:
I will find a ratio for Mr Malfoy Jr’s fans, versus his haters, in terms of - how many fics bash Malfoy, and how many greatly enjoy his existence?
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Add the bashing tag, and now let’s see how many fics there are with a) Draco in it, and b) Draco Bashing:
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hahahhahagag;k;asdkf
Oh no!
Oh my god I dodn’t…. one second… give me just one second….
Right. Laughing fit over, okay. 17.
So, 65469 works with Draco present, 17 of which don’t like him overmuch, and 65452 like him just fine/present him as he appears in canon! Awesome. Of course, people who present him as he is in canon may not like him the way you want him to, so, not awesome? Hmm. I’m not sure how to filter for that. I suppose you wouldn’t want people who write him OOC, though, because that’s not rating him properly, is it? Should we add OOC to the bashing, to get people who don’t appreciate his… many positive character traits… to the extent that you would like?
Yes, I think we should.
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Now, there’s no tag for ‘OOC Draco Malfoy’, because that would make my life too easy. And, I’m not going through 151 works to figure out which ones have Draco being the one OOC. If they’ve written one person OOC, and they’re self-aware enough to tag it, then I’m going to meanly assume they’ve written Draco OOC as well. When one person’s out of whack, I’ve found everyone else is, too, so I’m not just doing this to be a dick, I promise, it’s for a real, good, understandable reason, one that is not only because I really don’t want to have to do any maths more complicated than basic ratios.
So. 151 OOC works, 17 bashing works. 168 works of not properly appreciated Draco Malfoy, coming up, which takes our 65469 Draco works down to… 65301.
Well, that’s a lot, still.
So, there’s still some tags to remove, like Evil, and Abusive, and all that lark. I’ll go do that quickly, and come back with the maths.
(okay, but I do have to show this:)
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(fourteen works in the ‘Evil’ draco tag?? are you serious???)
(oh and you can’t filter by Abusive Draco Malfoy, like that’s not a tag, so I can’t exclude it, but it really adds to the general atmosphere of ‘Draco Malfoy? Yeah he’s cool I like him’ that this fandom has going on, doesn’t it?)
Alright so! We really only could take away those 14 works. Okay.
By the way, just so you know - I didn’t exclude tags like ‘Death Eater Draco Malfoy’ and ‘Bully Draco Malfoy’ (if the latter even exists), because those are things that happen in canon, and when I think of a character as being ‘underrated’ I include not acknowledging their canon actions, the bad and the good. A character is only as good as their complexities run deep.
So.
For the ratio, I guess;
65469 : 151 : 17 : 14
4,676.3571… : 10.7857… : 1.2142… : 1
4,676 : 11 : 1 : 1
Hmm.
For every 4 thousand 6 hundred fics Draco appears in, 11 of them have OOC tagged, 1 of them has Draco Bashing tagged, and 1 of them has Evil Draco tagged. That is…
That is unfathomably good. I’m really, genuinely having a hard time picturing it. I really, honestly, don’t think there’s been a character as unquestionably overrated as Draco Malfoy in all of fandom, because, good lord, look at that ratio! People love the guy!
Let’s see the good draco malfoy tag, shall we?
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Now, to be fair, most people don’t bother tagging any of this sort of thing, usually, so that’s a minor flaw in my ratio-ing. We can’t actually know exactly how many works laud Malfoy, or hate him, or feel ambivalent, because people don’t tag their shit properly. But I’m hoping this helps, at least a little. Anyway, 905! That’s a few. Not many, but certainly more than Evil or Bashing or even OOC.
65469 : 905 : 151 : 17 : 14
4,676.3571… : 64.6428 : 10.7857… : 1.2142… : 1
4,676 : 65 : 11 : 1 : 1
Yep. That’s not bad, not bad at all.
So. Most people seem to like him, if we’re honest. As I pointed out above, he’s a trope namer. If you didn’t click on the link for Draco In Leather Pants, here’s a brief summary from the TV Tropes page:
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[ Transcription:
Sometimes, a fanwork will portray a villainous character in a more positive light. It can be done out of sympathy for the character, for shipping reasons, as a part of a role-reversal story, several of the aforementioned or for the variety of other reasons.
The common subjects of this treatment are characters who are wicked in a classy or cool way. A physically attractive villain is much more likely to be subject to this trope than a physically ugly one; Beauty = Goodness, after all, and shallow as it may be, it seems that, for some fans, this is the case even when the character's beauty only extends to their appearance. All Girls Want Bad Boys may be a factor with male villains getting a female fandom that views them through this lens. A badass villain will naturally be preferred by many of these over meeker heroic characters at times, as well. Ugly Cute villains also get this pretty easily. ]
So! There’s that. He named a trope all about appreciating a character perhaps (usually definitely) more than they deserve, so I wouldn’t call him ‘underrated’ by most general definitions of the word:
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People seem to mostly believe him to be quite good, actually! Certainly enough to write about him a lot, to draw him a lot, to edit him a lot, to theorise about him a lot, to ship him with the main character so much that the 99th filter ever on AO3 was Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter.
Hey, actually, that’s a good idea! Which filter id is Draco Malfoy?
Now, if I’m not mistaken, it’s been a while since I had to do this -
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Draco Malfoy was the 1589th tag canonised in the tag system of AO3. Let’s check the Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter tag (which I know for certain was 99) to make sure:
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And lo and behold, I was right. That’s mad. That’s mad!!!!
Ooh, I’ve found a fun trick
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To change which rss feed you’re looking at, copy the https:// link up to .atom in the speech marks, and change the highlighted number. That shows you what uses that tag_ids: - in this case, 93 is Draco himself. The 93rd tag, dedicated to Draco Malfoy. Good lord, that’s insane! I guess there really weren’t many other things to prioritize at the time, but that’s still silly to me.
Fluff and Angst appears to be the fiftieth tag canonised, for comparison. Sometimes when you replace the rss feed’s ‘tag’ in the address bar it takes you to the tag’s page instead of the feed, because that tag doesn’t have an rss feed. The more you know!
Anyway, back on track: I think all of that, rss feeds, youtube analytics, fandom presence, all kind of proves my point:
Draco Malfoy is not underrated. He is, arguably, overrated as a character, but unarguably very popular within the greater Harry Potter fandom. Unpopular characters don’t tend to get paired with the lead, at the very least - and you can’t turn around in the Harry Potter fandom without seeing Drarry somewhere, can you?
47 notes · View notes
mayve-hems · 5 years
Text
New Perspective | Dad!Calum
Type: IMAGINE | ONE SHOT | MULTI CHAPTER
Summary: After leaving for four years, Calum returns back to his friends and he has a big surprise: he has a three-year-old daughter, but he refuses to admit it. Until, he falls in love with his little girl, and learns he can’t live without her and her sassy mom either.
Word Count: 15.0k
Note: If you would like to request a one-shot / imagine / story prompt / blurb / HC then I am accepting requests currently and I would love to take them! 
Warnings: Calum is honestly kind of a dick in the beginning and Eve just doesn’t wear a shirt sometimes
Moodboard
-
“As’in” Melody slurred, stomping her left, light-up Sketcher on top of the eye-level stool in front of Ashton. Ashton flinched from the loud noise, scooting back on the kitchen floor just a smidge. “Cooler ‘an you.”
“Of course you are, Mel,” smiled Ashton. He dug his ring-clad fingers gently into Melody’s sides. The brown-haired girl, with one foot on a step stool and the other, bare, foot holding her balance upon the floor burst into a fit of giggles. Laughing with her shoulders digging into her ears and arms struggling to get Ashton to release his grip. “Who said you could wear my dinosaur pajamas?”
“Mine, you - you jerk!” Melody stuttered. Her Uncle Luke stuck his hands underneath her arms and pulled her body from the ground. “Hey!”
“I was saving you from the tickles,” said Luke. “I could put-”
“No!” screamed Melody. She stuck the foot with a shoe on into Ashton’s face. “Off.” She commanded. Ashton rolled his eyes and unstrapped the velcro.
“Was dance practice fun?” Luke asked, pulling his niece’s whole body away from the shoe. With Ashton’s hand holding onto the rubbery bottom, it slid off easily. Melody nodded her head and struggled up the too large countertop. “Did you learn anything?”
Melody gained her stability and stood up straight. With high countertops, she seems to be an inch taller than Luke. “I can do a roll!” Melody stuck her hands straight in the air, preparing for a somersault.
Luke, Ashton, Calum, and Michael had been planning to build a house together since they were in grade school. A custom-built one with five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a Gameroom, an upstairs and a downstairs living room, a large kitchen, and a workout room built into a large shed just outside of the house, and a fully furnished, soundproof basement. Evita “Eve” Sanchez, a girl with luscious long black curls and dark freckles became their best friend and included on their house plans too. Only, Calum didn’t officially go through with the agreed plans and left the state after paying his part of the house, before it was finished.
“No!” Luke yelled, catching Melody before she started a somersault off the counter. “Let’s not do that. I don’t want Mommy to get mad at me.”
Calum’s bedroom was finished, and several arguments ensued between Michael and Eve over whether or not Melody’s nursery should’ve taken over her fathers’ room. Michael got his way, and Eve didn’t turn the barely-furnished room into a nursery. She bit her tongue every time she passed the empty room.
“Did you feed all of your animals, Mel?” Ashton asked, standing up from the floor. Melody gave him a single, hard nod. “Both dogs and your cat?” Melody nodded again. “Your ferrets and your lizard?”
“Mommy fed Norber’!”
“So Norbert was the only animal Mommy fed? If I go ask-”
“-Well . . . Phin and Ferb too.”
“That’s it? Norbert, Phineas, and Ferb?”
Melody bowed her head in shame. “Well . . .”
“If you don’t start feeding your mass abundance of pets, Mel, you know Mommy will get rid of them!” lied Luke. Melody, just like her father, has taken a liking for pets of all kinds. Melody isn’t allowed at the pet store very often because she’ll convince somebody into getting a new animal - lately, she’s been adding to the downstairs aquarium. “How about you give your ferrets some treats, and make sure Norbert has water?”
“Yes, Uncle, Lu’,” Melody sighed. Luke put her on her feet and pushed her towards the living room. She walked from the counter, towards Norbert The Leopard Gecko. Her favorite pets have to be Phineas and Ferb, twin ferrets. Their large cage sits in the downstairs living room for everyone to play with. Originally, Melody wanted their cage in her shared bedroom. Eve quickly said no.
“You aren’t supposed to tell a kid things like that, Hemmings,” a familiar voice said. Luke turned around from watching Melody. The blond didn’t want to believe who was standing in his kitchen, with arms crossed over his chest and a smirk like he’s the fucking leader. “Especially an animal lover like her. She’s got a heart like her daddy’s right? Dog lover and names on Petunia?”
“You think-” Luke started, flabbergasted at Calum’s accusations.
“-Don’t,” Ashton groaned. He faced the intruder that ran away only four years before. “What are you doing here?”
Calum let out a loud breath. “It’s my house too, right? Unless my bedroom was turned into a playground for - what’s her name? Melody?” His black combat boots his loudly, approaching Ashton and Luke quickly. His finger drug itself along the countertop then led a journey to his eyes. At least the house was clean. “So, who’s the mom?”
“Excuse me?” asked Luke.
“The kid - who’s her mom? Is it Evita? I bet you ten bucks y’all fucked and-”
“-Obviously she’s Eve, dumbass,” Luke bit down on his lip. He didn’t know if it was his right to inform Calum that - Guess what! - he had a kid after escaping the state.
“Never thought you’d get with her,” Calum flashed a look of betrayal on his gorgeous face. “What about the Bro Code?”
“I didn’t get with Eve-”
A loud cry cut off Luke’s explanation. He flipped around to see a chair collapsed on the ground, and Melody clutching her right arm close to her body. Luke and Ashton quickly bolted to their niece to see what happened.
“Help!” Melody screamed through tears. Michael and Eve joined Luke and Ashton within moments. Eve, just barely out of the shower, sat her daughter on top of her fluffy robe and asked what was wrong. “Hurts,” Melody cried and pointed toward her dominant hand.
“What happened?” asked Eve. Calum peered through the doorway at the cluster of adults servicing a three-year-old alien activist and Disney lover. Surprise overtook Calum when he watched how Eve messed with Melody’s arm. Within four years, Eve’s hair seemed to have darkened from chocolate brown to jet black and pink still wasn’t her color. Calum made out dark ink all along exposed skin.
“Norber’ want water,” Melody started before letting out a loud wail when Eve attempted to straighten Melody’s arm. “I want to give him ‘dat bottle, an’ I fell!”
“Luke, can you get her shoes on? I’ll put some clothes on and take her to the hospital.” Eve sighed. Calum was surprised at how sure she sounded, not hesitating to be stern in a time of need. Eve’s older sister broke her hand, and Eve completely freaked out and fainted on Calum. That wasn’t an enjoyable experience for him. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
Michael swept the small girl off the floor, giving affirmations that she’d be okay. He set her down on the counter and handed her mother his own jacket after she’d ran down the stairs in just a hoodie and a bra. “We have a visitor.” Michael griped, clenching his jaw hard. “What do we do?”
Eve looked at Calum watching Luke put Eve’s shoes back on. He seemed uncomfortable. “Fuck it, my kid just broke her arm and I couldn’t care less about him.” Eve wrapped Melody’s favorite blanket around her shoulders and picked her back up. “Calum, your daughter just broke her arm, want to come to the hospital with us?”
“Wh-what?” Calum sputtered. He shook his head, trying to hide his bulging, scared eyes.
-
“Where’s Michael?” Calum asked as he took a journey through the kitchen. He stopped behind the girl with a bright blue cast, chewing something that looked like a lazy attempt at pizza. He grimaced.
“Guitar!” Melody said before taking another bite. Tortilla, pizza sauce, and cheese piled together and microwaved on high for a single minute- that’s Melody and Michael’s favorite meals. Besides chicken strips, of course.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“That means he’s in the basement practicing with the guys,” explained Eve. She barely looked up from her load of dishes at her confused face. “What? Can’t she explain where they are?”
Calum looked disgusted. “Why can’t she just say they’re in the basement? Is she delayed?”
“She’s three, give her a fucking break before I break you,” Eve shoved a plate into the dishwasher and finally looked up at Calum. She couldn’t help that he still looked hot; messy curls, tan skin, and bright brown eyes. It was destined that Melody is the cutest kid in the world.
“What is she even eating?”
“Lunch.”
“That is not a meal,” said Calum. “That’s something you feed a child that won’t eat anything besides chicken strips and pizza.”
Eve locked eyes with Calum. Staring straight into his ripped soul. “Exactly.”
Calum scratched the side of his head with the tip of his middle finger. “Can you lead me to the basement?”
Eve smirked. “You should know the house, Cal,” she laughed. “You helped design it. Oh, wait, you-”
“-Yes!” Calum screamed. “I get it! I left! Just . . . fucking lead me to the basement please.”
“Fine,” Eve picked Melody up from the enjoyment of cheap pizza. Melody protested a little bit, but the pain in her arm came ‘round and she stopped. “Wanna’ give Uncle Mike some pizza?” Melody nodded her head and grabbed the plate with her good hand. “Let’s go/”
Melody, Eve, and Calum rounded the corner toward the back door and walked through the laundry room to find basement steps. With Melody on her his, and Calum sadly right behind her, Eve descended down the steps. Michael looked up from his controller and took the plate from Melody and shoved it into Luke’s chest, then took Melody in his arms.
“How’s the hand, Mel?” asked Michael. He kissed the big ‘CLIFFORD’ signature underneath her wrist.
“Hurts.”
“Well, of course, it’s going to hurt, you fell off a chair,” Melody scowled at her uncle. “What’re you guys doing down here?” he asked, dismissing Melody’s continuous sass. He placed her back on the floor.
“Just seeing what the house looks like,” Calum said, looking around the furnished basement. It’s large; larger than he’d remembered. There’s a bathroom behind the wooden staircase, a man cave to the left and a room with tons of band equipment to the right inside of a soundproof studio. Just in front of the stairs was Melody’s playroom. Calum had never seen so much pink. “Pretty nice. How do you guys pay for all of this?”
“Jobs, Cal,” Luke snapped. The youngest of the adults rolled his eyes. “Are you going to get one?” 
“Wait, you guys have jobs? Why aren’t you working right now?”
“I’m a YouTuber,” Michael pointed to a section of the playroom with a backdrop and a nice camera, along with a gaming computer. “I can do whatever the fuck I want to.”
“Bet the rest of you don’t have jobs like that,” Calum shrugged, pointing to the rest of them. Melody already escaped to her dolls and barbies. “Probably mooch off all his money like the lowlifes you are.”
“Actually,” Luke snapped again. “I’m a teacher, and Eve is a tattoo artist.” Calum’s eyes went wide. Eve began to show off her ink to Calum. One really intrigued him; a feather on her left arm that dissolved into tiny fragments that formed ‘MELODY ANN’ on Eve’s wrist. There seems to be enough space for more children too. “Ashton works at KFC.”
“Please tell me you’re joking,” Calum pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Nah, dude, I’m a museum tour guide,” replied Ashton.
Calum snorted. “Nice one.”
“I’m serious.”
 “Bone library, huh?” Calum laughed at his joke. His fingers reached for little toes right underneath Eve’s eat, tattooed in a seemingly-painful way. “What’s what one?” Eve pulled her shirt up just a little bit to reveal the tattoo she sat hours for. The design was as if Melody walked from the front of Eve’s left hip bone, to her back, up to Eve’s right shoulder blade and ended with Melody’s footprint right behind Eve’s ear. Though, she only had the right foot, as if she were waiting for another child to come along and step on her. “Are those actual feet? Like prints from when Melody was born?”
“Taken right from her birth certificate,”
Calum wanted to undress Eve and analyze all the ink beneath her skin. He wanted to know the story behind the entire canvas she’d printed on her back, sternum, legs, and arms. It would take a couple of hours to learn about three years' worth of tattoos. When Calum left, she had a single tattoo of five tally marks on her finger. Each mark was dedicated to her friend group.
“You think I could get a job? Who’s the owner of the shop?” Calum asked. Eve pulled her shirt back down and laughed loudly. “What?”
“I’m the owner, asshole,” said Eve. “You can’t even draw a stick figure. Unless you’re buying, don’t come to my shop.”
“You’re a bitch,”
“I know,”
“Cut the shit, what are you doing here?” Michael asked when Eve and Ashton walked away to play with Melody. Calum ruffles the front of Michael’s blue hair. “Seriously. Why did you just randomly show up?”
“Did some stupid things,” Calum laughed. “Turns out sometimes you have to pay to perform. Dropped out of high school, so music is all I got.”
“Then what are you going to do for a job?” Luke asked, stepping up close to Calum. Michael and Luke were trying to intimidate him, make him see how stupid he is for leaving everything behind one day, leave without a warning, and show up randomly. He’ll never get off scot-free while living with them. “We’ve got people to support. A house to live in. You’re going to have to pay bills.” 
 “You’re joking,” Calum chuckled. Luke and Michael didn’t break their stares off the man. “I don’t have a way to get a job. I’m not good at anything. Can’t I just watch Eve’s kid and be okay?”
“You don’t get paid for watching your own child,” Michael replied in a low voice. “I don’t care if you helped design the place. It’s time to pay bills.”
Calum locked eyes with Michael. “She’s not my kid.” He pulled the curls falling into his eyes back and combed through the dark locks with his fingers. Their intimidation wasn’t working on him. “Guess I’ll have to get a job. Ain’t got nowhere else to go.”
-
Calum shivered underneath the orange tip of a washable marker. Its cold sensation ent socks through his arms, resulting in goosebumps and for Melody to color outside of the tattoo lines. He looked down where Melody sighed and takes in the sight; Melody, with eyebrows scrunched up and her little tongue poking through her teeth, and a marker sitting between her fingers. She was very focused.
Calum notices that their hair curls the same way, and their hair color is the same shade. He catches a curl, twirling it around his digits. A knot sticks around Calum’s finger, catching skinny strands along one of his rings.
Melody yipped. “Hey!” she whined, pulling her head far away from Calum. She rubbed the spot Calum assaulted and acted as if she were to cry. Melody’s dark lip begins to quiver and she burst into a fit of sobs. “Mommy!”
Eve ran into the kitchen, halfway through braiding her hair back for work. “What’s going on?” Eve asked, staring straight at Calum. Quickly, Eve wraps her arms around Melody. Melody laid her head against Eve’s chest. “What’s wrong baby?”
Calum looked down at his hands. “I was messing with her, and I accidentally pulled her hair a little bit,” he answered. Melody continued to cry. “I . . . I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s okay,” Eve answered for Melody. Melody calmed her loud fries and looked back at her father. “It was just an accident. Can you tell him that you’re alright?”
Melody shook her head. “Not ‘right-”
“-Melody Ann, you are perfectly fine. Can you tell him that?”
Melody shook her head again. “Go to work with no?” Eve shook her head as a reply. One occasion, just a few months before Calum showed up, Melody walked into Eve’s tattooing shop for her birthday and got her very own Crayola tattoo of a sunflower on her right thigh. Since that day, she’d used all efforts to get another. “Pwease?”
As they say, you get addicted to the feeling of tattoos.
“I thought you wanted Calum to watch you?”
Melody had requested that ‘Uncle Calum’ put her to bed while Eve was working. Calum disagreed, argued with Eve about how Melody isn’t his kid and Eve needs to find her own babysitter. Calum continued to argue with Eve until Melody’s big brown eyes looked up at his, and she held a handful of markers underneath his nose. She sat next to him on the counter and asked if they could play tattoos. Calum was confused until she began to color in Mali Koa’s bird.
“No!” Melody screamed. “Hurt me!”
“Mel,” Calum whispered. He felt terrible. “It was just an accident.” He’d never had such a feeling of guilt, even the day he ran from New Jersey to New York on the small promise of a successful music career. He’d been promised by an agency that if he left New Jersey, he’d have a good life filled with wealth and fame, as long as he left home quick. His parents told him if he left, to never come back. “I’ll never do it again. I promise.”
“Promise?” Melody stuck her pinky out for Calum to wrap with his own. Calum gave her a stern nod and hooked their fingers together. “Good Uncle Cal.”
Eve’s face dropped. Uncle? Eve wants to break all habits Melody developed around Calum. Telling people he’s her uncle, even calling him Uncle Calum. Eve wants to tell Melody to call him an asshole, a fucking jerk, a liar, and most importantly, Dad. Calum was only comfortable with Uncle Calum. Eve turned around when he’d said that the day after Melody broke her arm, told Calum to ‘choke on her dick’ and stomped away.
“Face masks?” Melody asked, forgetting she’d just been crying. She drug her pointer finger along her face in areas you’d put on a face mask. “Yes?”
“I’m not doing a face mask,” stated Calum. “Never.”
“Liar,” Eve snorted. “You did them with me all the time when we were teenagers.”
“We did a lot of stupid things when we were teenagers, Eve. I’m not doing face masks.”
“Did I just hear Calum reference how bad he is at sex and facemasks?” Luke called, walking through the laundry room. He offered up his arms for Melody to enter and had a pouncing three-year-old in his arms. She thwacked the side of his face with her cast. “Ouch. Jeez.”
Melody got close to Luke’s ear to whisper. “What’s sex?” she asked. Luke looked towards Calum and Eve for an answer but Calum hid his face. Tiny fingers pointed at the pair. “Sex.”
“Well, tech-”
“-Hemmings!” Eve interrupted. Luke’s face flashed terror of the five-foot-nothing girl. “You want to do a face mask with Uncle Lu?”
“Blue one!”
Luke stared down at the floor. The last time Melody, Luke, Michael, and Ashton had done the blue face masks - Melody’s favorite color - they all ended up with blue splotches spread on their faces for a few days afterward. Luke refused to show his bare face in public and stole a whole bottle of Eve’s dark foundation just be able to go to work. Michael slathered his face in blue paint for a YouTube video and played Fortnite. Their lives are very different.
However much Luke wanted to please Melody, he doesn’t want to wear foundation several shades too dark for his complexion. He took his phone out and texted Michael to grab Eve’s golden mask out of his bedroom. He may have stolen it from her. She’ll never know.
“I’m not putting that shit on my face, Eve,” whined Calum.
“You don’t have to,” Luke smiled. “You can leave, or go to your room, or do something that’s not bothering us.”
“You’re seriously just doing face masks?”
Luke smiled a little bit wider. “We let Mel pick out a movie she’d like to see,”
“I can do that, just not face masks,”
“It’s an all or nothing package, bro,”
Calum offered Luke a very disgusted look. “Fuck that.” He hauled himself off the countertop to stand. “Have fun being a girl, Luke. Let me know how the gender reassignment surgery goes.” Luke bit his tongue to not have a witty comeback filled with several choice words.
“Lil’ Sanchez!” Michael called from the staircase. Melody almost fell from Luke’s arms to see Michael. “Heard you wanted the good kush!”
“Michael!” Eve drew out, ready to fight everyone. Luke and Calum constantly arguing, Calum being an asshole, and Michael teaching Melody words he shouldn’t be. Ashton is the only one she can stand.
“Sup dude!” Melody held out her fist and Michael bumped it softly. “Good stuff.”
“Which one do you want, kid?” Michael held up a grey tube he’d also stolen from Eve. The front of it read Clay Mask, but Michael couldn’t stand the scent of the paste. It was too late to give it back to Eve without her noticing. In his opposite hand, he showed off a round tube of golden gel. “Good smelling stuff or Luke’s knockoffs?”
“Blue.” Melody stated.
“Good stuff or knockoffs?”
“Blue.”
They were in for a long argument against a three-year-old.
-
Calum was surprised he didn’t see Eve quickly, inside of her tattoo parlor. He thought the name of a shop would have something to do with Melody, but he’d about had a heart attack when the large neon sign read ‘FIVE SECONDS OF SUMMER TATTOOING’. He walked in immediately and requested the first appointment they had open.
“Man, our artists are busy for the night. You’ll have to find somewhere else,” Jason, Eve’s apprentice, said looking over the schedules for each artist. Except for Eve. All four basic artists were booked with large projects for the night drunks and fucked up stoners. Eve had space next to her name, though, twenty minutes into the future.
“Why can’t Eve do it?” Calum questioned, pointing over the counter at Eve’s full first name written in fancy cursive. He wasn’t used to seeing it written so perfectly. Usually, she writes ‘Eve’ with a light hand and lowercase letters.
“Evita? Man, she’s real good and doesn’t do most people.” Jason shook his head. He looked tired, tripping balls, or just done with Calum. “You have to get special approval from her. She doesn’t put up with anyone’s shit.”
“Ask her then,”
“What? Man, no. She won’t listen to me. How would I even ask?”
“Well, first you walk up to her and say ‘Eve, you’ve got a customer that’ll take your shitty tattoos and will pay fucking cash and a tip. Now tattoo him.’ It’s easy.”
“I think if I say that to her, I’ll be fired,”
Calum sighed and ran a hand through his dark curls. One caught on his ring and pulled like he’d done to Melody just hours early. He thought to himself how weird it was they had the same curls, hair color, and facial features. “Just get Eve.”
“I don’t-”
“-Do it and I’ll tip you.”
Jason turned around in the uncomfortable spinning chair and stood up. 5 Seconds Of Summer tattooing took over an old tattoo shop and a bar, erasing of all the alcohol and vomit stains on the floor and disposing of all barstools and tables. Eve put in a couple of couches in the front of the shop for people that waited, had a bathroom on both sides of the shop, and turned the bar portion into a piercing area. Calum looked around the teal walls at anatomic sketches and cartoon characters drawings. He was very impressed.
“Evita!” Jason screamed. Calum dropped a twenty on the desk.
“I get it,” Eve stammered loudly. “I’m Mexican! But you don’t have to constantly call me Evita like an asshole Jason!” Red burned her cheeks and ears at such anger. To Calum, Evita was triggering to Eve after four years of him calling her it. He was fully convinced she’d explode when her eyes landed on him. “You have blue on your face, dumbass.”
Calum wiped his face and noticed no residue on his finger. “Your daughter got Michael to put on blue shit,” Calum sighed. “Roped me into it too.” Michael, Ashton, Luke, and Melody watched two minutes of The Nightmare Before Christmas, disregarding February creeping upon them before Melody ran to Calum’s room and rasped on the wood. He asked her what she wanted, with his attitude faltering. Melody pointed to the blue cream on her face, and Calum reluctantly agreed with a groan and learned that he’s becoming wrapped around her finger.
“She’s your daughter too,” Eve said. “What do you want?”
“A tattoo,” Calum crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. “Feel like I’m due for one that’s not Crayola.”
“I’m busy,”
“No, you’re not,” Eve looked a little defeated. “We can go for drinks instead. Get drunk, fuck, and you’ll get pregnant and claim Luke’s kid is mine again.” Calum smirked harder than before. Eve resisted punching that smirk off his face.
“Come on!” Eve stammered again, dragging Calum to her office with walls of perfect drawings. “You need to fucking stop!” Eve said the moment she locked the door. Their relationship seemed loveless and dangling off the edge of a crumbling cliff. They’re covering anger at themselves with arguments. Eve’s angry Calum left four years before; Calum’s angry he left too. Their feelings are repressed, but unlike Calum, Eve wanted those feelings back and to know what it’s like to be loved.
“Stop what, Evita?”
“Don’t fucking call me that,” Eve hit her hand on the wooden door and a stinging pain shot down her arm. She didn’t stop. The brunette took all of her anger out on a hard door, tempting the bones in her hand. “You lost the right to call me that the day you left! You lost the right to call me that the day you came up with the thought that Melody is Luke’s daughter!” Eve turned to face Calum. Hot tears full of rage were beginning to gather. “If she was Luke’s daughter, why does she have dark hair? Curls? Why isn’t she pale?”
“You’re dark,” Calum snapped back. “You have curly hair.”
“Melody barely took after me! She took after you, you fucking asshole!” Eve wanted to hit Calum, take the rest of her burning rage out on him. She kept her hands to herself. “She’s supposed to be Melody Hood, not Sanchez. She’s supposed to be calling you Dad, not Uncle Calum! She looks just like your fucking sister, Calum! Stop denying her!”
“I’ll stop denying her the day you admit you fucked Luke.”
“I’ve never fucked Luke!”
“Everybody knows you did, Eve! Why else would you have kept your daughter a secret from me?”
“Because you fucking left,” Eve’s voice dropped low, scarily. She’s shorter than Calum by a foot, but he was scared he would get his ass beat. She could tear him to shreds; rip his confidence up one leg and down the other. “You left without a fucking word! Changed your phone number, abandoned any way we had to contact you!”
“I was doing what I needed to do!”
“Then why are you back? Why didn’t your dream go perfectly? Why aren’t you living happily in New York? Do you just want to torment me?”
“Everything failed, Eve! It’s not like I wanted to come back! I had nothing!”
“Then leave.”
“What?”
“If you didn’t want to be here, then leave. I’ll give you some fucking money. Get out, stay away from your daughter and this ‘Uncle Calum’ bullshit. Tell her that you’re her dad and I’m not the reason she’s never met him!”
“Eve-” Calum tried to say.
“Do you want to be here?”
“I . . . I don’t-”
“Yes or no. Decide right now. Do you want to be here?”
Calum swallowed his thick pride. “Yes.”
“Then man up and quit being everything you vowed you wouldn’t.”
“Get a DNA test.”
“What?” Eve looked down at her bruising hands, suddenly feeling the worst ache from them she’d felt in a long time.
“Get a DNA test. If it comes back that she’s mine, then I’ll be her dad. If I’m right, and she’s Luke’s, then shut your fucking mouth and quit being a bitch about everything. Deal?”
Eve squinted. “Go fuck yourself.”
-
Calum didn’t get a tattoo from Eve that night and took the first opening from a different artist in the same shop. Shay Ramsey, a regular that Eve tattoed a lot, walked into the parlor right after Eve finished cleaning her hands up and showed Eve a sketch she wanted. Eve studied the design and quickly fell in love with the way it had been originally sketched. She stayed up until dawn, tattooing a Medusa staring at a loaded bow pointing towards Shay’s neck. Underneath the bow were Medusa’s snakes with cracks and flowers sprouting from them.
Eve rang Ashton for a coffee and food run after the sun was fully up, explaining that she was working. Ashton pulled on joggers and a hoodie, put Melody in her car seat, and made the drive into town just for her.
“How’s it looking?” Shay asked, looking at the wall right in front of her. Medusa was split in half, which was the hardest part for Eve. Medusa didn’t have a nose bridge or a cupid's bow, to make room for a quote of Shay’s spine. ‘Daughters of the witches you couldn’t burn’ was tattooed in cursive, leading into the arrow.
“I think I’m going crazy, but a relaxed crazy. You know?”
“Makes sense,” Shay laughed a little bit, trying to not move her back from Eve’s needle. Eve only does large and time-consuming projects she knows will tip and sit well. “Miss your baby girl yet?”
“Man,” Eve laughed, turning to dip the needle in ink. “I do. She was with her uncles last night and they did the blue facemasks again.”
Shay laughed again. “You ‘gotta tell them not to do that again. How’s her arm?”
Eve rubbed the sleep from her eyes for a brief moment with the side of her arm. She just had to finish up shading Medusa, and she’d be finished. It would take forever, though. “Good. She’s getting out of the cast in a few weeks. She no longer feels comfortable feeding Norberty by herself.”
“How many animals does that child have now?”
Eve thought for a moment. “Two ferrets, a cat, a lizard, several fish, and she’s claiming Petunia, Michael’s dog, Ashton’s hedgehog, and Calum Hood.” Melody claims all of the animals, but she doesn’t take care of any of them. Though she’s three, so everyone lets her get away with it most of the time.
“Woah, wait. Calum Hood? He’s back?”
“Been here about a month. Spent all of his money, came back to live in the house and is a giant pain in my ass.” Eve shook her head. How dare he just leave her? She’s still not over four years of mourning and fear over raising their child by themselves.
“You two were perfect in high school. What happened?”
“I’m not even sure we liked each other in high school,” Eve wiped the sketch from Shay’s skin. The tattoo was progressing like a snail, but amazingly. “That’s a lie. He was the best thing in my life. Then, he gave me another Best Thing In My LIfe and he’s still sitting a close second.”
“You have to tell him that.”
“No thank you,” Eve watched the shop door open after Ashton unlocked it. “How about a break?” Shay nodded her head. Eve made her way towards Ashton and snatched the brown bag from his hands. “Did you get me food?” She slipped him some money for compensation. Eve grabbed a doughnut out of the bag. “Thank you so much.”
Just like Calum’s face, Ashton and Melody had faces stained with blue. Eve had to laugh a little bit. “Tell Uncle Luke to throw that stuff out, yeah?”
“No!” Melody shook her head. Ashton had thrown it away after he looked at the blue marks for a second time, depositing it in the location it was born from. Trash. “I had strawberries and ‘nanas.”
“You have strawberries and bananas?” Eve repeated back. She began feasting on her donut and sipping on frozen coffee. It tasted like perfection. “Did you save me any?”
Melody shook her head again, rustling her bed head. Ashton only slid a pair of jeans and a jacket on the little girl. Eve didn’t blame him for not dressing her up that much, that’s her job. “Uncle Cal made ‘em.”
“Calum made you strawberry banana pancakes? He hates those,”
“Yeah, but they were fucking good,” Ashton laughed. “Somehow, he knew they’re Melody’s favorite.”
Eve was very surprised.
-
Staring at the seemingly bored man standing in her bedroom doorway, Eve wondered if she should just kick him out. The thought of welcoming him inside of her bedroom made her feel warm and comfortable, she just wasn’t sure if it was the best idea. Calum hadn’t been in her bedroom at all, even when he showed back up and started taking care of Melody. He’d hold her until she slept, then Luke, the seemingly quietest person ever, would carry her up to her room.
It was personal, a barrier from the lives they used to love to the ones they’re entertaining now. Before escaping New Jersey, Calum snuck into Eve’s room, kissed her, and they laid together until she was well asleep. What eve doesn’t know about that night is that it took everything in Calum to leave her. He didn’t want to move hours away, but he had to. Calum remembers preparing to sneak back out and just watching her chest go up and down with shallow breaths. Everything in his body hurt.
After a few seconds of staring, Calum brushed his hair from his face. “We should go drinking tonight.”
“No,”
“Why?”
“I haven’t been drinking since before Melody was born,”
That didn’t stop Calum from convincing her into taking shots of tequila at a bar with their friends. Melody was staying at her grandparents for a few days. Eve could do whatever she wanted.
“Woah, slow down there Sparky!” Calum called, grabbing Eves shot out of her hands. “I think we should go home.”
“You’re just a party pooper,” Eve slurred, barely able to keep herself up. She slumped over a little bit, causing Calum to catch her. “See. I’m fine.”
While Eve isn’t the tallest person, she still manages to have long legs. On the few occasions, she’d get drunk at parties during teenage adolescence, and also go home to have sex all night with Calum, she’d learned how to not trip over her own feet and break her legs. After spraining her ankle walking from a party to Calum's house, she drilled herself to no longer trip over her feet like a newborn foal.
Calum was impressed she managed to keep that ability after several years of not drinking. Calum wrapped his arm around her for support and they stumbled towards the door, Calum getting in the way of where Eve was stepping.
“We should get tacos, Cally!”
A sharp pain overtook Calums' left side. Eve called Calum ‘Cally’ when they were teenagers. It was her favorite nickname for him because only she could call him that. On one occasion that Luke tried to call Calum ‘Cally’, Luke almost ended up with a shiner. Calum and Eve had nicknames for each other that only they could say.
“Yeah,” Calum whispered through a scratchy throat. “I don’t think there’s a place to get them.”
“Then let’s go home and make tacos!”
Calum rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he unlocked the car door and helped Eve inside. She smiled at him and blew him a kiss before he ran to the other side of the car. “Ready to go home?”
“Yes,” Eve smiled wider.
The ride was short for the pair. The bar was a while away from the house, but with a flirty Eve in the car with him, Calum drove over the speed limit before he did something he’d regret soon. Eve sobered up a little bit on the ride and began to remember some of her anger towards Calum. In all honesty, she wanted a kiss from him too.
“How was drinking?” Ashton asked. Eve gave him two thumbs up. “Sounds like you had fun.”
“I don’t even remember why I went drinking,” Eve laughed. Calum pulled her toward the kitchen. “Tacos!” Eve screamed, gathering the ingredients. She pulled meat from the fridge they’d cooked earlier in the night, along with tortillas, and everything you can imagine going on a taco.
“Wanna watch a movie downstairs while we eat?” Calum asked. Oddly, he didn’t want to separate from Eve. He wanted to stay with her, protect her, lay with her, and watch bad TV shows together. Calum misses how he and Eve used to be.
“We can watch it in my room.” Eve shrugged. She grabbed her plate of a soft taco packed inside of a splitting shell and lead Calum to her room.
Melody had left some toys behind, leaving them scattered on the floor. Eve shoved them toward Melody’s messy bed and set her plate on the side table. Calum felt uncomfortable walking into the room as if it were his own, sitting down on the bed like he used to. Eve always sat toward the end so she could see the TV better, but Calum always sat behind her. He laughed when she chose The Jonas Brothers.
“You still watch that?” Calum asked. He took a bite of his cold taco.
“Who doesn’t?”
“Me,”
“Well you’re stupid,” Eve said. She watched the show intently, taking bites of her food every so often. Calum didn’t watch TV, instead he watched Eve break down a wall he wished was never there and let him inside of her. She wasn’t mad at him, she wasn’t trying to pick a fight or argue with Calum. She just sat there, eating and watched a Disney show like her life depended on it. Until she fell back into teenage habits and scooted back to sit in Calum’s lap.
“Comfy?” Calum asked, offering up a small laugh. Eve rested her head on Calum’s shoulder, burying her face in the crook of his neck. He smelled like Old Spice and memories. “Are you going to lay like this for a while?”
“Obviously,”
“But I’m cold!”
“We are laying on a blanket, Calum, learn to use your head,” Eve sighed and tore away from her comfortable position to pull the blankets tucked corners out. First, she got underneath the blue duvet, then sat on Calum so he could be warm too. “Better?” Eve asked, returning to her position.
“Much.”
Calum wasn’t cold. He just wanted to get Eve off of him, but he didn’t know how to say it. He wants Eve off his body so he didn’t feel the fire of her skin touching his, the sight of her small body laid on top of him, or the smell of orchid shampoo filling his nostrils. Calum wanted to forget everything; Melody, coming back to New Jersey, Eve, how he still loves Eve with all of his heart.
“Calum?” Eve broke Calum’s concentration on the window behind the TV. Calum looked down at her and wanted to keep her body in that position forever. “You okay?”
Calum cleared his throat. No. He’s not okay. He’s falling even further for someone he never got over. “Yeah. You?”
Eve looked up. Calum couldn’t help but gape at Eve. “Kiss?” Eve tilted her head back for a kiss. Just like when they were teenagers. Calum hesitated for just a moment. “W-wait. I’m sorry. Just-” Eve hid her face in her hands. Embarrassment flooded her body.
She’d forgotten about everything. Calum seemed to do that to her. She forgot about how she’s supposed to be mad at him, about how he left without saying anything. Calum giggled and reached for her hands.
“Evita,” Calum smiled. It was funny to him - her red cheeks and ears were magnificent.
Eve declined his laughter. “Don’t call me that.”
“Why? It’s your name. Evita Ma-”
“No!” Eve cries. “Stop it!”
“Why do you hate it so much? You used to love being called Evita,”
Eve looked at Calum. Calum thought she was going to fall over and cry. “You used to call me Evita. Only you!”
“And?”
“You call me Eve now,” Eve brushed her hair away from her face. The messy bun she’d tried to do during the car ride was falling in small strands. She felt like she couldn’t see. “Just Eve. I only let you call me Evita, and then-”
“-And then I left and you felt that it was tied to me.”
Eve nodded her head. “Michael tried to joke around and call me Evita one day and I started to cry. Could've been pregnancy hormones or something, but you came back and now it’s like it’s all in the past and-”
“Eve, shh, calm down,” Calum grabbed Eve’s hands before she had a chance to hurt something. Her fists clenched hard and he was forced to undo them. “Listen. I’m here right now, and I’m not going to leave. No matter how much I say I just want to leave, I’m not going to leave. I’m here for you, for Melody, for . . . for everyone.”
“Everyone?”
“Of course.” Calum didn’t realize how tense Eve was until he said that. Her body relaxed as if she’d finished working out or something. She just fell into him and he felt well. “How are you feeling?”
Eve looked up at Calum. “Kiss?”
Calum barely pressed his lips to Eve’s, giving her what both of them wanted. His lips began to feel numb, ripped apart by electricity he only felt with Eve. Neither of them let go. Eve snaked her hand around to the back of Calum’s neck, deepening their kiss. Calum slid his cold hand up the back of Eve’s hoodie. She shivered.
“Your hands are very cold,” Eve whispered, crumbling away from Calum’s lips. Calum nodded his head. January has made their entire lives freezing. “So are mine.” Eve clapped her hands on an area of skin Calum’s collar revealed.
“Yes they are, Eve,” said Calum. They both giggled a little bit. Eve watched Calum, but Calum watched her lips. She bit down on her bottom, kiss-ridden lip. Calum couldn’t stop watching. Eve kissed him again.
Calum loved the feeling of Eve’s lips on his, Eve sitting on top of him in a non-sexual manner - but let’s be real he’d love it either way. They weren’t angry at each other, just happy and acting like teenagers they used to be. Calum’s heart broke a little bit, though, realizing that Eve wouldn’t remember a single thing when she’d wake up the next morning.
She’d just remember drinking.
-
“I’m going to pick up Melody, anybody need anything?” Eve questioned, walking through the kitchen to grab her car keys. She plucks them off the hook and wraps her lanyard around her finger.
“It’s snowing, Eve,” said Ashton. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“You’re so overprotective,” Eve groaned. “I have to pick my daughter up from her grandmothers’ house. Does anybody need anything?”
“You’re not going,”
“Yes I am, Ashton. Would you like anything while I am out?”
“I’ll go with her,” Calum sighed, reaching for a jacket. He pulled it over his head and let the hood settle on top of his curls. “Might as well have somebody else with you. Right?”
“I guess,” Eve snapped. “Let’s go or we’ll be late.”
The cold wind hit them like a ton of bricks. Eve was suddenly well aware of how underdressed she was, and how she should buy a snowsuit. She got into her silver SUV and turned the heat on immediately. It also blasted cold air.
“Cold?” Calum asked with a small chuckle. He pulled his jacket back off, leaving him in just a long-sleeved shirt. “Here,” He said. Eve took his hoodie and slipped it on. It smelled like heaven and even while he only wore it for just a small period, it was warm.
Eve took it off before entering her moms' house, though. She gave it back to Calum so her mother didn’t question why the Hood emblem is on her breast. The short girl became cold and wanted it back.
“Mel!” Eve called before hearing the sound of Melody stumbling down the stairs. “Don’t break another bone!” Melody ran right up to Eve and hugged her legs tightly. “Ready?”
Melody shook her head. “No.”
“Why?”
“It’s cold.”
“Want my jacket, kid?” Calum asked. Melody nodded her head, and for a second time, Calum peeled it off his body. “Arms up.” Melody put her arms to the sky and Calum helped her put it on. It pooled at her feet.
“I swear if she breaks another bone-” Eve started.
“-She’s not going to break another bone, Eve,” Calum laughed. “I can just carry her- see.” He lifted Melody off the floor and onto his hip. “Comfy, kid?” Melody nodded her head. Calum laughed again.
Catalina Sanchez, Eve’s mom, walked into the kitchen and started to swoon. She looked different from the last time Calum had seen her; black hair turned grey, wrinkles embedded themselves in her forehead and underneath her eyes, and she seemed to have lost a lot of weight. “Calum!” She called, opening her arms up bringing him into a hug. “I heard you were back from this little munchkin,” Catalina poked Melody’s belly.
“Sure am, Mom,” Calum replied.
Catalina is the mom of every person she comes in contact with. All of Eve’s friends, all of her sister Emerson’s friends. Ashton, Calum, Michael, and Luke were always allowed around her house to relax, live, eat, or for emotional support. Everyone calls her Mom, besides her grandchild.
“How long? Are you leaving again? Please tell me you aren’t leaving again Mister Calum H-”
“I’m not planning on leaving again, don’t worry,”
“Good. This little girl is happy to have you. She talked about you for about two days straight,”
Calum felt a pang of happiness in his heart. Did Melody talk about him? Bragged about Calum? Calum had never had anything like that before. He smiled wider than he could imagine.
Catalina turned to her daughter. “Now, Eve, I swear you need to get Melody’s speech impediment figured out-”
Eve groaned. “She doesn’t have a speech impediment, mom, she’s just being a kid.”
“Are you sure? She can’t say, Ashton. Melody say-”
“Mom!” said Eve. “Would you stop? Please? My daughter is perfectly fine and is just barely three!”
Catalina pointed her finger sternly at Eve. “Don’t talk to me that way, young lady. If she still can’t say Ashton when she turns four, then she has a speech impediment.” Eve rolled her eyes. “Calum, how about you go warm up the car? I need to talk to my daughter.”
Calum took the cue to go away and headed out the back door. “How was your stay at grandmas?”
“Good!” Melody squealed. “We had chicken!”
“Chicken? No way!”
Calum opened the door of the SUV but stopped when he noticed all the snow accumulating. There was no way they’d get home safely with all the snow. He cursed, but quietly so Melody wouldn’t hear him.
“‘s wrong?” Melody asked. She looked around, trying to figure out the problem Calum was having. If Calum set her down on the ground, snow would reach above her ankles, almost to her knees. The snow wasn’t the only thing falling from the sky, but also hail the size of golf balls and painful sleet.
Calum’s head was turning into the clouds above him. There’s no way that this is happening to him. No way! “We’re going to have to stay here, Kid.”
“Sleepover!” Melody squealed.
-
Calum almost had a heart attack. Eve’s bed seemed to be more comfortable than he could remember, but when she walked from the hallway, into her old bedroom, he couldn’t believe the outfit she’d worn. A large shirt - that used to be his - and he wasn’t sure if there was anything underneath. He glanced away, staring at the floor instead of the beautiful princess closing the bedroom door.
“Are you sure you’re comfortable with this? I can go to sleep on the couch if you’re not.” Calum said with a bit of pitch in his voice. He looked at the window he’d crawled out of the night he left New Jersey. He felt like shit.
“It’s fine,” Eve shrugged. After she moved in with Luke, Ashton, and Michael, she changed almost nothing about her old room. The dresser still sat crooked near the closet door, a small TV was still sitting on top of it, but Calum wasn’t sure if it’d work. Eve sat down on the bed next to Calum. “Are you okay with it?”
“Yeah,” Calum said. He cleared his throat. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because . . . okay, that’s it, I’m going to sleep on the couch.”
Calum grabbed Eve’s arm before she could stand up from the bed and pulled her close to him. “I’m fine, okay? I promise. It’s like when we were younger and-”
“-We fucked practically every night.”
“Well, not exactly,” Calum chuckled. He offered a small smile to Eve, which she took with an eye roll. “When all of us would sleepover. Luke would always sleep on the floor with Michael and Ashton, and after they were asleep I’d crawl up to bed with you.”
“They had no clue about us for like . . .”
“Four months,” Calum said. Eve smiled. She couldn’t remember that small detail, but Calum could. She wondered how much more he could remember about their relationship. “Remember Ashton screaming after the basketball game?”
Eve hid her blushing face with her hands. Giggles slipped through her fingers. “I remember that. You busted open your lip or something and whined every time I put the cleaner on it. I had to kiss you like every five seconds and-”
“And Ashton walked in and screamed at the top of his lungs,”
Eve laughed even harder. “You threatened to tie him down and fill his lungs with orange soda.”
“I had to make sure he wouldn’t tell anybody!”
Eve brushed her long hair from her face and looked at him. Her ears and cheeks were red, but not like a few days before. “He still told Michael two minutes later.”
“How was I to know that he had his phone on him, Eve!”
“Remember when Luke found out? He walked straight here and told my mom-”
“-And she said ‘You’re late’!”
They both tumbled backward from laughter. Luke had walked straight from his house a few blocks away just to tell Catalina, but Catalina already knew. She felt bad for saying that, so she made him his favorite meal. Luke ate it quickly, thanked her, and went to Calum’s mom to spoil the news for her.
“Man, I miss being a teenager,” Eve sighed. She was nineteen when Melody was born. Her life went from studying modern art to being a badass mom with tattoos and ignoring everyone's opinions about her life. “No responsibilities. Get to live life. Don’t have to worry about which Disney movie to watch next.”
“Since when is it movies? We watched The Jonas Brothers, Eve,”
“We did what?!” Eve yelled. “The other day we watched The Jonas Brothers? Are you sure you just didn’t see the TV that well and we were-”
“Eve, the TV is right in front of your bed. I know which show we were watching,”
Eve looked down and began playing with her fingers. Calum was in her room? They watched her guilty pleasure together, and Calum didn’t complain until some stupid show was played? “What else happened?”
Calum didn’t want to reply. He didn’t want Eve to know about them kissing, or how she confessed why she hates Evita, or how he said he wasn’t going anywhere. He wanted to leave her hanging just a little while he came to terms with Melody. It was taking longer than it should’ve and he was even mad at himself. “Nothing important.”
“You sure?”
Calum pretended to think. “100-percent.”
“Really?” Eve asked. “I may have forgotten most of the night but I remember one thing.”
Calum’s heart began beating fast. He didn’t know what she remembered, and he was suddenly worried. He didn’t want Eve’s hopes up, and all of a sudden he had to dip because he can’t take the idea of having a child. “What do you remember?”
Eve scooted closer to Calum. “Your hands were really cold.”
Calum laughed. “They were.” Eve and Calum locked eyes. “Do you remember anything else?”
Eve shook her head. “That’s what alcohol does to me.”
“Are you sure you don’t remember anything else?” Suddenly, Calum was desperate to kiss Eve again. He missed the electricity flowing through his body. But eve shook her head. She didn’t remember the kiss a single bit. Calum wanted to remind her. “Nothing else?”
“Why? What happened?”
Calum’s eyes flicked to Eve’s lips. Just a peck, a small brush, or even a kiss on the cheek. He needed some sort of contact. “Can’t tell you.” Calum locked eyes with Eve for just a moment, then looked away at something else. The closet door seemed like the perfect place to look, but it also messed with his head.
A few times that Calum would stay the night with Eve, Luke or Ashton would show up unannounced and Calum would have to hide, half-dressed, in Eve’s tiny closet. Even worse were times that they tried to stay for a while and Eve had to drag them upstairs to play video games just so Calum could pretend he just showed up.
 Eve followed Calum’s eyes to the closet door. “Want something else to wear?”
“Huh?” Calum looked down at his jeans. “Oh, uh, no?”
“I still have your clothes, Cal, I’m not offering you a frilly dress. I’m offering you something comfortable to sleep in.”
“Sure,” Calum sighed. Eve stood up to dig through her dresser drawers. Most of the clothes Calum had left without, she kept at the new house, rather than the one she lived in once before. A lot of times, they made great maternity clothes.
“Here,” Eve said, continuing to dig through her drawers. She’d expected she left more clothes, but in reality, she left almost none of Calum’s. Calum took the grey joggers out of her hands. They were tied for her tiny waist. He pulled the knot apart. “I don’t think I have any shirts except-” Eve looked down at the shirt she’d been wearing. “Let me look in my closet.”
But the closet was almost bare. Just a few shirts that Eve bought while pregnant, that fit so large they were oversized with an eight-pound baby in her stomach. She’d never choose to sleep in those, however. They had been itchy and uncomfortable. Imagine sleeping in something like that.
“I don’t have a shirt,” Eve shrugged. “Sucks to be you.”
Calum rolled his eyes. “I have my shirt, and my jacket, brat. I think I can suffice.”
Eve shrugged again, but dramatically. “No, I don’t think you will. You should take it off.”
“Is Evita Sanchez telling me to take off my shirt?” Calum laughed. Maybe she did remember the kiss and wanted it to happen again as much as he did.
“You’ll never know,” Eve laughed and stuck her tongue out just a little bit. She looked just like her eighteen-year-old self when she did that. Calum was swooning again. She scrunched her nose up a bit and Calum had to laugh.
“Truth or dare?”
“Truth,”
“What’s underneath that shirt?”
“Dare,”
“Take off that shirt.”
“What makes you think you get to see what’s underneath my shirt, Calum Hood?” Eve crossed her arms. Normally, she’d just tell him, as she’d do with the guys. But normally, she’s wearing actual clothes instead of just panties.
Calum bit his lip and drug his eyes from the floor to her long, tan legs, up to her hips, which happened to be covered by the shirt. His eyes continued trailing up her body, noticing an inconsistency with what she normally wears. “You’re a tease.”
Eve rolled her eyes dramatically. “I am not a tease.”
“You’re not a tease?” Calum stood up from Eve’s bed. “Not a single bit?” He pressed his body to hers, his hands dragging up the back of her bare legs. Eve shivered. “Are my hands cold?”
The drunken night started coming back; they made out on her bed, and she enjoyed it. She was happy to be kissing her high school boyfriend again and feeling his hands on her body. “Maybe.” Eve sputtered out.
Calum seductively smirked. “Are you okay, Evita?”
“I’m fine,” Eve lied. “Your hands are just cold.”
Calum let go on Eve, setting backward to grab the joggers off the bed. “Maybe we should just go to sleep, then. I can warm up, then.” He walked out of the room to change in the bathroom. Eve’s body slumped against the closet door, and she slid until she was sitting on the floor.
She’s fucking up her life anymore, but she doesn’t care.
-
Only a few days after the encounter with Calum at Catalina’s house, Eve woke up to an empty bed, and an empty room. Normally, Melody crawls into bed with Eve or at least wakes Eve up in the morning, but Eve was surprised and concerned when the room was empty. She shot up, looking at the time when it hit her that Melody wasn’t with her. Just barely dawn, and her baby isn’t with her.
Quickly, she ran out of her room, to Luke’s right next door, then to Michael’s on the opposite side. She wasn’t with either of them or Ashton. Melody and Ashton have a bond for the love of sleep and making loud noises. But all three of her roommates were asleep. There was one place she hadn’t checked yet; Calum’s room.
She knew in her heart that the possibility that Melody was in Calum's room was low, especially since Calum sleeps late, and Melody wakes up early. Calum probably went to sleep just not long ago, passing out after a video game binge. Reluctantly, she pushed his door open just an inch.
The room was a disaster with clothes strewn everywhere, and blankets scattered in odd directions. However, Melody was there. Asleep on Calum’s bare chest, snoring just a bit. Eve wanted to capture the moment and relish in the captivating sight she was looking at. Like father like daughter, asleep with The Little Mermaid playing in the background, surrounded by thousands of blankets and pillows.
Eve smiled and walked back to her bedroom.
-
Melody jabbed her finger into Eve’s throat. “What’s that say?”
“It says angel,” Eve replied for the thousandth time.
“What’s that one?” Melody pointed to both of Eve’s shoulders.
“That one is the sun, and that one is the moon,” Eve said.
“Why?”
“Because I liked it,”
“Why?”
“Because you are the sun and the moon?”
“Why?”
“Why don’t you go bug Uncle Calum about his tattoos?”
“Yours is cooler.” Melody traced the crescent moon and the clouds it covered. “Pretty,” Melody switched to the sun on Eve’s right shoulder. “I get one?”
“You’re too young, Mel,” Eve reached for markers Melody left on the coffee table. “You want a washable one?” Melody nodded her head quickly and tore off her shirt. “What do you want?”
“That,” Melody pointed to snakehead just peaking above Eve’s sports bra, in between her boobs. “Pwease?” Eve reluctantly nodded her head and pulled the cap off the black marker.
Her snake is intricate, with geometric patterns along its back and realistic shading. Eve sketched out a simple cartoon snake on Melody’s sternum. Melody didn’t stop smiling until Eve pulled the marker off her skin.
“More? Pwease?”
“No,” Eve laughed, grabbing Melody’s arms to sit her up fully. “You don’t need to be covered in ink yet.” Melody giggled her normal giggle and stared down at her body. “Do you like it?”
“Just like yours!” She waved her cast toward her mom’s chest. “Show them?”
“You want to show your Uncles?” Eve could barely ask the question before Melody bolted toward the kitchen, almost falling on her face. She has her fathers’ athletic abilities, even just at three. Eve followed behind, but slower. “Melody has something to show you,” Eve said, entering the kitchen of men.
They looked up from their odd positions, eating different types of breakfast, not surprised that Melody is running around barely clothed again. In the 5 Seconds Of Summer household, wearing shirts is more uncommon than being practically naked. It’s an unwritten rule in being confident with your body.
Calum set down his cereal bowl on top of a notebook. Eve wanted to know what he was writing, and why it had so many scribbles. “What is it, Kid?” He looked past the snake drawn on her chest.
“Look!” Melody pointed at the snake, and the group of grown men called ‘Wow’ and ‘No way is that real?’
Calum pushed away his notebook and crouched to Melody’s level to look at the snake closer. “Is this real? I’ll kick your butt if you got a tattoo!” Melody giggled at him. “I’m serious! Is it real?”
“No!” Melody giggled. “Mommy’s ta’too!”
“It’s mommy's tattoo!?” Ashton exclaimed, joining Calum. “Are you sure? I’ve never seen this on her.”
“Yeah, Eve, why don’t you show us your tattoo,” Calum chuckled. His brown eyes meet with her silvers and she had to break away. “Don’t be a party pooper, Evita.” Calum stood up and walked to Eve so he could press his finger to the snakes head. “I wanna’ see it.”
“Yeah, man, I’ve never seen it,” Luke laughed. He shoved a piece of bacon in his mouth, ignoring painful glares Eve sends him. “Eve,” Luke drags out loudly. “We wanna see!”
“I will fight every single one of you, don’t test me,” Eve answered. She looked around Calum and pointed at his notebook. “I’ll show you the tattoo if you tell me what you’re writing.”
Calum looked down, then up, toward his notebook, back at Eve, at Melody, then at his hands. It was a hard decision. “Suck my dick, Sanchez,” Eve winked at Calum. Calum winked back. “Boys, I guess we won't get to see the tattoo.”
“I seen it!” Melody yells. She reaches up the drag down the top of Eve’s sports bra. Eve barely caught the fabric before she flashed a room full of guys. “Show ‘em!”
“No, Mel,” Eve giggled. “They don’t get to see it.”
“Fine,” Melody huffed and stomped her little butt back to the TV. Eve looked around the corner to make sure she safely made it to the couch.
“So what is in your notebook?” Eve asked Calum, passing him. Luke tore the bowl away from the paper and hid the notebook underneath his shirt. “All of you are going to hide it from me, aren’t you?”
They all collectively nodded their heads. “It’s personal, Eve,” Calum said, grabbing for his notebook. “You can know when it’s finished. Otherwise-”
“At least tell me what it’s about. Please?” Eve covered her chest with both of her arms. “I’ll show you the tattoos. All of them.”
“Really?”
“No,” Eve reached for the rough notebook again. “Please just let me see it!”
Calum held it above his head, where she couldn’t reach. “No way. You can know when it’s finished!”
“Fine,” Eve snapped. “Next time you let my kid lay with you, tell me first, please.”
Calum nodded his head. “Now show the tattoo or leave, Evita.”
Eve turned on her heel and headed toward her daughter.
-
Calum recognized the sound of Eve’s knock. He waltzed to the door, opened it, and stared eye to eye with Eve. He moved his eyebrows up and down. Eve wasn’t amused.
“Yes, Evita?” Calum asked. Eve barely got a peek into his room, looking around at the torn up sheets of paper littering his bed and floor. The notebook he’d carried like a baby the past few days were seemingly getting smaller and smaller. Eve just wanted to know what he was doing with it - but he won’t tell her.
“It’s time to cuddle,” Eve ducked underneath Calum’s arm and walked into his room like any other day. She brushed the ripped paper off the bed and pulled the most recently-tucked-in blanket off his mattress and settled underneath it.
“Well hello to you too,” Calum let the door latch before pouncing onto the mattress. He straddled Eve’s body with his legs. “Guess whos’ on top?”
“Get off of me playboy,” Eve laughed. The small girl had to use all of her might to push Calum’s body off of hers.
Calum landed flat on his back next to her. “Look who’s sneaking into whos room now, huh?”
Eve poked Calum’s side. He flinched a little bit. “If there wasn’t a sleeping three-year-old in my room, you’d probably sneak into mine too.”
“Never. Absolutely never.” Calum smiles at Eve, and Eve smiles right back at him. “If I show you what’s in my notebook will you show me the snake tattoo?” Eve let out a loud bellow.
“Good try, Hood,” Eve pulled the hair tie from her long, dark braid and her mane fell in loose curls on Calum’s bed. To Calum, she looked beautiful whether or not she was showing the tattoo. “You’ll never ever get to see it.”
“Damn,” Calum swears with a snap of his fingers. “How many tattoos do you have?”
“As I said, too many,” Eve smiles wide, remembering the days she got most of her tattoos. After Calum left, Eve couldn’t get a tattoo until after Melody was born, and that’s when she elected Melody’s footprint to be right behind her ear. After a couple of months, though, she continued the trail down her back in the tattoo Melody is most fascinated with.
Eve got a snake tattooed between her boobs on a dare. Her, Ashton, and Michael were out being stupid late one night, so they started playing the dumb game. It took a couple of rounds to get Eve convinced into a tattoo, but she showed up to Addictions Tattoo Shop. She ended up buying that shop, renamed it, and painted it to her desire. Catalina almost killed her.
“Explain some of them to me,” whispered Calum. He glanced at her. “Honestly. Explain some of them to me.”
“Well I obviously have Mel’s feet, and-”
“-No,” Calum shook his head a little bit. “I express myself through music, you express yourself through art. Explain to me some of them people can’t see.”
“On my rib, I have ‘still breathing’ tattooed with a semicolon. Does that count?”
“Kind of,” Calum turned fully to tug up Eve’s shirt. He forgot her habit of wearing only underwear underneath. He just wanted to see the ink embedded in her skin and it’s a whimsical dance around her body. Just above her hip bone, Calum traced a large lotus flower with paint splatters curling toward the inside of her thigh and around to her back. Eve giggled a little bit. “What does this one mean?”
“I got bored and wanted to try a new technique. Turned out pretty good, right?”
Calum continued to trace, along to tattoos scattered around her stomach. “It did.” Eve was right, she has ‘still breathing;’ tattooed on her left rib in cursive, but a dinosaur on a skateboard smoking a cigarette on the opposite rib. He traced that tattoo and Eve shivered. His hands always seemed to be cold. “What’s this one?” Eve was about to answer when he tore her shirt up a little bit more, revealing moon phases and tiny stars underneath her breasts, curving with the way her body was built. “How’d you come up with this one?”
“My mom was always told me to look at the moon every night, and I’d find comfort in everything,”
“Deep,” Calum tug her shirt up a little more, expecting that Eve would try to fight him about being a pervert. She didn’t, though, thus Calum pushed it up to her armpits and admired Eve’s body. “Nice tattoos.”
“Right?”
Her torso curved perfectly for her liking, and she still had some meat on her bones. Eve was seemingly skinny, but healthy, and like she wouldn’t eat a salad to impress a guy. She didn’t have an overly large chest, the perfect size for Calum to like. During their teenage years, Eve was uncomfortable with Calum seeing her body all the time. She’d hide from him and wear overly large clothes because she was uncomfortable.
Calum pressed a kiss to the bottom of her sternum, right underneath her rips, on the warm, ticklish skin. He pressed the area right above it, then until the shirt was bunched up. He kissed the front of Eve’s neck and on the tattoo that said ‘angel’ in a fancy font. Behind her ear, Calum smirked when she let out a breathy capture of his name.
“You should get more tattoos like that,” Calum stated, tracing his finger around the snakes coiled tail. He didn’t let his finger stop on the tip, but drug it down her body to the waistband of her panties and over to the lotus flower on her hip. “I like them.” He rubbed his finger into her hip bones, digging down just a little bit. “Do you like them?”
“They’re cool,” Eve replied. She grabbed his shoulders to pull his body into hers. She felt his shirt press into her bare torso, and more. Feeling overly nervous, Eve pressed her lips to Calum’s. Something she’s wanted for so long, to remember it for days to come. Calum rubbed Eve’s jaw with his thumb, sneaking his fingers into her curls right behind her ear. “Wait - wait, we can’t.” Eve pulled away from Calum, wiggled to remove her body from underneath his and to pull down her shirt again.
“Wh-” Calum tried to ask.
“We can’t, Calum,” Eve covered her eyes with her fingers and dug her nails into her hair. She wanted Calum back more than she ever had. Calum was the love of her life, her first real boyfriend, the father of her child. If anything were to happen, they’d complicate everything, in Eve’s head. They’d hurt Melody, and she’d get mad about being deceived for over a month about ‘Uncle Calum’. “We’ll fuck everything up, and-”
“Eve-”
Eve stumbled to his door. She turned back to look at him. She loves Calum. Her heart hurt when he left, and when he came back. She wasn’t angry that he was back, but he was angry that he left without saying anything. Eve wants to hate him, to forget about Calum all together, leave behind a life she always wanted.
“Eve!” Calum called when Eve reached for the doorknob. She wasn’t thinking with her head, just what she thought everyone was wanting.
“I . . . I think I need to move somewhere with just Melody . . . no one else.” Then she left his room and locked herself inside her own.
-
“Where’s Eve?” Calum pushed, running into the soundproof room in the basement. He didn’t see her at all, not even when he walked into her bedroom. He could find Melody in the room with Ashton, Michael, and Luke, holding a tiny tambourine, but he couldn’t find her mother. “Have you guys seen Eve? At all?”
“No, what’s up?” asked Luke. He pulled his guitar off his body and placed it on the rack.
“I need to find Eve. Something stupid happened last night and-”
“Oh God, please tell me she’s not pregnant again,” Michael jokes, pointing at Calum’s dick. “Learn to keep that in your pants, please. We need exactly one Melody.” Calum let his arms fall to his sides. He couldn’t even joke around with his friends. He needed to find Eve! “Cal, are you okay?”
“I have to find Eve!” Calum screamed. Desperation filled his tone and strangled everyone around him. Quickly, they all figured out how badly Calum needed to find Eve. “Have you seen her?”
“I . . . I think she’d in the workout room. Have you checked there?”
Calum takes a deep breath. That’s the only area around their property he hasn’t checked. His long legs took him up the stairs, out the back door, and down the stone pathway to a large shed full of equipment. Loud music filled his ears. The music he wouldn’t have expected - Drag Me Down by One Direction. It was obvious that Eve was there.
He knocked once, but to no avail, he didn’t get a reply. She’s distracted. She’s working out, not waiting for knocks on the door and men professing their love to her. Calum opens the door and spots her in the far corner doing yoga.
One Direction and yoga. That’s Eve for you.
Her eyes look in the mirror, reflecting the open door. She dropped to the mat beneath her and stood up. “Get out.” Calum was surprised she wasn’t stern, but rather trying to convince herself that she wanted Calum away. “Get out!”
“You have to stay, Eve,”
“Good to know,” Eve picked a jacket off the floor and pulled it over her sports bra. She looked up at him through her eyelashes. “Your opinion doesn’t matter. I’ll do what’s best for me and my daughter.”
“But it’s not what’s best for Melody!” Calum bit down on his tongue. It was coming. He knew what was coming; a broken voice and shaky hands. A bolt of electricity shot through him. “She needs to be here- with her mom, her dad, and all three of her uncles.”
Eve was surprised, taken aback, concerned at what Calum had said. Her voice went low. “What?” 
“Please, Eve,” Calum wanted to get on his knees and beg. After Eve left his room, he sat up for hours, thinking about Melody and Eve, how much he wanted them around. He came to terms with Melody - a very scary thing - and finally stopped denying it. Calum Thomas Hood has a beautiful daughter with brown eyes and curly dark hair, named Melody. “Please don’t take my daughter from me. Melody means everything to me, and I can’t . . . I can’t let either of you leave.” 
“This isn’t going to work, Calum.” Eve crossed her arms. She didn’t want to believe what he was saying. “You can’t just use her as an excuse when you want me to do something! You can’t use my daughter as a pawn!”
“I’m . . . I’m not, Eve,” hot tears began to fall down Calum’s cheeks. He was so passionate, wanting Melody and Eve to stay, keeping his daughter close, and coming to terms with everything he didn’t want to. “Melody means more than everything combined. I want my daughter! You can’t just move out because of me! If anything, I’ll move out - find somewhere else to live and leave both of you alone. I’ll visit Melody, I’ll make a complete effort to be the dad I should have been for so many years!”
“I think that’s passed, Calum,” Eve knocked her shoulder against Calum when she walked into the cold February air. Calum watched her walk away, down the stone path with all of their handprints stuck into rocks and colored with spray paint. She ignored his pleads for her to listen. Calum wants to change her mind, for her to stay. But Eve has to decide what she needs.
Calum walked slowly back to the soundproof room. He broke the seal of sound, ripping open the door. He didn’t close it behind him. His best friends were playing a song for his daughter - one that they called Airplanes, that Calum had written. To him, it didn’t sound weird without his bass or singing, but to everyone else, they were uncomfortable. Calum flicked off the amps Michael and Luke were connected to, cutting off all the sound except Ashton.
“What the fuck?” Michael screamed, throwing his hands in the air. “Do you have a death wish or something?”
“Shove off,” Calum muttered, searching for his guitar. He picked it by the neck and carried it to Melody. He sat with his legs crisscrossed, right in front of her. “Mel,”
“Ya?” Melody replied with a large smile on her face.
“I wrote you a song. Do you want to hear it?”
Melody nodded her head quickly. “Duh!”
Calum wrote the song for all of them. For Luke’s carefree voice, Michael’s perfect guitar strums, Ashton’s drumming, and Calum’s bass. Yeah, they did alternative parts where Michael or Calum sang, and Luke just played guitar and so on, but those were Calum’s favorite parts. He couldn’t take it; Calum planned on singing for Melody as a present when the song was furnished, cleaned up, and memorized properly. He knew all of the singing parts, all of the guitar's parts. He could do it by himself.
He started strumming. Without Ashton’s drumming, it was bizarre. He kept strumming. “I don’t even like you, why’d you want to go and make me feel this way?” He scrunched his nose up and leaned close to Melody so she knew he was joking. Melody giggled in reply. “I don’t understand what’s happened, I keep saying things I never say.”
Luke, Michael, and Ashton were surprised. When they were puny highschoolers, playing talent shows and basement concerts, Calum never wanted to perform by himself. Even with just their family surrounding them, he wouldn’t sing by himself. On one occasion, Eve got him to sing a little bit of a song she liked, but he quit after stumbling over the lyrics. Singing by himself isn’t his thing, but he can’t express everything with everyone else.
“I can feel you watching even when you’re nowhere to be seen, I can feel you touching even when you’re far away from me,” Calum had to smile wide when Melody poked the tip of his nose in response. “Tell me where you’re hiding your voodoo doll, ‘cause I can’t control myself. I don’t want to stay, I wanna’ run away, but I’m trapped under your spell.”
Calum slowed down his strumming and pointed to the areas he described. “And it hurts in my head and my heart and my chest, and I’m having trouble catching my breath.” Melody replicated Calum’s movements until he picked up strumming again. “Won’t you please stop loving me to death?”
“No!” Melody squeaked.
Calum felt more love for his daughter. “I don’t even see my friends no more, ‘cause I keep hanging out with you. I don’t know how you kept me up all night, or how I got this tattoo,” Calum held out his right wrist, with a pocket watch sitting in a bed of flowers tattooed from the night he argued with Eve. He told the artist to choose a random time for the clock hands, and he ended up with the exact time Melody was born forever on his body. “I can feel you watching, even when you’re nowhere to be seen. I can feel you touching even when you’re far away from me. Tell me where you’re hiding your voodoo doll, ‘cause I can’t control myself,” Melody stared in awe at Calum. “I don’t wanna stay, I wanna’ run away, but I’m trapped under your spell, and it hurts in my head and my heart and my chest,”
Melody did the same moves as Calum; pointing at her right temple, right above her left breast, and on her sternum. She didn’t dare take her eyes off of Calum, though.
“And I’m having trouble catching my breath, won’t you please stop loving me to death?” Again, Melody told him no. “Every time I see you, suddenly my heart begins to race, every time I leave, I don’t know why my heart begins to break.” Melody poked Calum’s nose again, so he’d smile. “Tell me where you’re hiding your voodoo doll, ‘cause I can’t control myself, I don’t wanna stay, I wanna’ run away, but I’m trapped under your spell. And it hurts in my head and my heart and my chest, and I’m having trouble catching my breath. Won’t you please stop loving me to death?”
“Never,” Melody smiled. Calum finished the last cords and placed the guitar on the floor next to him. Melody crawled into his lap so she could wrap her arms around his neck in a hug. His large hands patted her small back. “T’ank you!”
“Of course,” Calum patted her back again. All of his friends were amazed at what he’d done. What he didn’t know was Eve had walked down to the music room to tell everyone to close the door, and videoed the entire song. Especially capturing a photo of the two hugging at the end. “Melody, what if I told you I was your daddy?”
Luke’s eyes became wider than saucers; Michael’s mouth dropped to the floor; Ashton dropped his drumsticks from their constant twirls. Eve, standing just outside of the room, covered her mouth with her sleeve. She was beginning to cry.
“Daddy?” Melody asked, letting go and cocking her head. “You’re my daddy?”
Calum nodded his head. His eyes were beginning to become glossy. “I’m your daddy. And those weirdos staring at us - they’re still you’re uncles.”
“I call you daddy?”
“You can call me whatever you want, baby girl,”
Melody hugged Calum tight again. “Daddy!”
-
“Calum! Calum! Calum!” Eve screamed, running out of her room with messy, static hair all over the place, and wearing only a shirt. She bangs on his door, letting him relish in privacy and a surprise wake up call. “Calum!” She screamed again. By that point, Michael, Luke, and Ashton were all awake, running out of their rooms to see what all the commotion was about. Ashton scooped Melody off the floor. “Calum Hood!” Eve screamed once more, ready to bang on his door even more, but she can’t because he pulls the door open with wide eyes and a petrified face. “Calum!”
“What do you want?” Calum asks angrily. Eve shoved her phone into his bare chest. He grabs it and stares at the screen. A video with his name, and a few comments, and . . . Calum’s eyes go wide. “Is this legit?”
“What’s going on?” Luke asked, reaching for the phone. Calum hands it to him, staring at the floor with saucer-sized eyes. Ashton reaches for the phone, but Luke pulls it further towards him to study the screen. “Eve posted the video of Calum singing to Melody on Instagram and-”
“-One-point-five million views,” Calum says with a blank voice. Absolutely stunned. “Overnight.”
-
Ashton checked the time on his watch. “We have five minutes,” Calum took in a shaky deep breath. “Now, we just have to find Melody.” She moved her little legs underneath Calum’s hoodie, that he was also wearing. Her head popped up, hitting Calum in the jaw. “There she is!”
“Don’t you think you should leave daddy alone?” Eve asked with a large smile on his face. “He’s going on stage soon, and I don’t think you want to be on stage while it’s really loud, right?”
Melody began to pout. “But I want daddy!”
“I know you want daddy, but he has to go on stage and sing your song,”
Melody turned her head to look at her father. Calum smiled at her, but she just rolled her eyes. “Make it good, Daddy,”
“I always do, don’t I?”
“Sometimes,” Melody sighed.
Successfully, everyone convinced Melody away from Daddy Calum’s hoodie, as long as she got to wear it. Calum took it off, put it over her head of curls and helped her fit her arms into the holes. He tucked long locks behind her ear and pressed his lips to her forehead.
“You’re the reason I’m here, baby girl,” Calum smiled. He got famous over the video of him singing to Melody, and after posting a few videos of his new band, 5 Seconds Of Summer, singing, they were asked to go on tour. Calum had only his daughter to thank for his song inspiration and joy. She sparked his failed career, with just a simple smile. “Are you ready to go on stage?”
“More than ever!” Melody pounded fists above her head. Calum tickled her armpits and sides, causing his daughter to erupt in giggles. “Remember,” She said through laughter. “It’s Melody, not Mel. I’m famous.”
“Whatever you say, Mel,”
He tickled her again.
A song started their journey on stage- the classic What I Like About You played with an extra-long guitar riff at the beginning, with lights and fire when Luke said the first lyric. The group danced on stage with their guitars, and Ashton hit the drums with such passion, Eve was afraid he’d break them. They quickly turned to their newest song, Valentine, that Calum wrote for Eve. Eve and Melody stood in the wings of the stage, waiting for the end of the song.
Then the time came.
“And we also have some special people to thank for this awesome career!” Calum said into the microphone, pointing in the direction of Eve and Melody. “First up, my oldest daughter, Miss Melody Hood! Can we get a round of applause for her?” Melody swaggered on stage with a little smirk. She’s Calum’s twin. Melody waved her hand and made the motion to be held, but Calum shook his head. “I got a guitar on me, dear, I’m sorry.”
“You aren’t supposed to tell a kid things like that, Hood,” Luke replied. He reached for Calum’s bass, to hold for the time Melody wanted to be in his arms. “Especially when she loves her daddy so very much.”
Calum shook his head and took off his bass. Melody immediately jumped into his arms, wrapping hers around his sweaty body. “Okay and now we have some other people to introduce.” Calum gestured towards Eve. “My other muse, my wife Eve Hood, and our unborn daughter Liberty Hood.”
Eve smiled when Calum hugged her too. This was everything she ever wanted. Calum, Melody, Liberty, and the feeling of being needed. 
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izupie · 4 years
Note
Okay on the 3 asks thing, let's do 19 & 28 & 36!
Thanks for the questions from this ask game !~
19. 3 animals you’d love to take care of in your house
A cat ;; like, I’m definitely going to get one this year anyway, but I still want one right now. I can’t wait! But I’m being sensible and waiting for the lockdown restrictions to ease and my hours at work to get more stable again. I want a little feline pal again pls
But I would also loooove a ferret. I had a friend who had two when I was a kid and we would walk them on little leashes. They were soooo cute! But they were a bit bitey and I’m at a point in my life where I really don’t want the constant teeny tiny needle-sharp chomps on my hands
I’d also love a bunny. Who doesn’t like rabbits??? They’re so soft. They need so much cleaning though - I swear rabbits do nothing but look cute and poop.
28. 3 things you love cooking/baking
I’m actually a terrible cook! My version of cooking is taking something from my freezer and putting it into the oven for the amount of time it says on the box *finger guns* and I’m even worse at baking, BUT I do like those boxes of cake mix you get where you just add like an egg and some water and mix it together. Even then I can sometimes end up over cooking it though... Cooking is just not a skill of mine,, Anything I cook is using premade things or easy to cook stuff. But it’s not cheating, it’s using the resources available to me lmaooo
I do enjoy making rocky road though - the none baking version. Just lots of melted chocolate, butter, marshmallows and biscuit. Can’t go wrong!
I can make a tasty stir fry using a pack of ready mixed stir fry vegetables, noodles and some premade yakitori sauce! I looove that. 
One of my favourite ‘this isn’t really cooking but it is throwing together random stuff I have in my cupboard’ recipes is my ‘it’s kind of a corned beef hash’ - which is two potato waffles, slices of corned beef on top of them, baked beans on top of that and a fried egg on top of that. 
dONT JUDGE ME IT TASTES AMAZING.
36. 3 ways of traveling that you enjoy the most
T R A I N
I freaking love long train journeys with a whole bunch of snacks and a great audio book in my ears. Watching the scenery flash by, the sound of it, the motion of it (which doesn’t set off my motion sickness too badly either). I love seeing the different stations as the train pulls in, especially if it’s somewhere I’ve never been before. God I miss train journeys,,,,
Plane - long haul. My seat becomes my kingdom on a long haul flight. With my little pillow and my blanket and my neck cushion - watching random movies, eating some good plane food, having a little snooze, getting up and being nosey looking at all the other passengers while I have my little walk... Man I miss flying too. Flying does set off my motion sickness really bad though so I have to take medication that makes me super drowsy and really out of it.
Uhh... Cars set off my motion sickness really bad, but there’s not much fun about them. And boats are the WORST. Except peddle boats. I like those. Still make me feel really sick, but at least I’m having fun. Maybe something like a cable car? Or a tram? Or a horse and cart! I’ve ridden on a camel before too - and that was interesting. Oh wait! Riding on a donkey. I love riding on a donkey. Lower to the ground than horses so not as scary to imagine falling from and they’re just so cute too. Usually kind of smelly though... Or maybe those are just the donkeys I’ve been on. My mum used to hate when I wanted to go on a donkey ride when I was a kid because she couldn’t stand the smell.
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motleymoose · 4 years
Text
Homecoming Pt.3: Bits & Pieces Ch. 3
Chapter 3
This Isn't A Peace Talk
Fandom: The Mandalorian, Star Wars Characters: The Mandalorian (Din Djarin), Gender Neutral Reader, The Child Words: 2.3k+ Warnings: SO MUCH ANGER AND SQUABBLING
Summary:
I get to use my mech skills, but also I have a fight with the bounty hunter.
Notes:
I don't know why it took so long to get this chapter out, but it's here now!!!
Thanks for reading!
Homecoming Masterlist
***GIF NOT MINE***
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The hours bled into one another as we flew ever closer to the Mandalorian’s destination, and I was becoming nightmarishly restless. After checking the patched wiring in the hold’s crawlspace and tinkering with a few spare parts in need of cleaning, I snooped around the hold some more. Most of the hold was empty, except for a couple of crates marked FOOD AND MEDICAL and half-dozen still-frozen bounties in the carbonite lockers. With nothing to do and a whole lotta time to do it in, I prowled about the lower decks in tight figure-eights, much like a wild creature stuck in an observation tank. The boredom was driving me bonkers.
Unable to take the utter lack of stimulation anymore, I grabbed a portable equipment chest in one hand, shouldered the diagnostics kit on the opposite, and made my way precariously up the ladder to the top deck.
It didn’t take long for the bounty hunter to find me, borrowed tools scattered around me and a diagnostics pad in hand, pottering around the engineering room with grease smudged across my forehead.
“I told you to stay put,” the Mandalorian gruffed, nearly tripping over me. I sat cross-legged on the floor, running a simple program to check on the aural sensors. I glanced up at him dubiously. His fingers brushed his blaster in a convulsive if threatening manner.
“You told me to stay out of your way. Engineering isn’t anywhere near in your way, unless you deviate from your way on purpose.” I stopped, trying to sort out what exactly I meant by that. But I batted it away with a hmph. I didn’t have time to figure out my own nonsense. “Besides, can’t a person ogle another person’s band limiter cuffs without the third degree?” Still seated in front of the sensor panel, I craned my neck over my shoulder and up, agitated at the interruption.
The visor tilted upwards, contemplating. Gloved fingertips drummed on the pistol’s grip until he sighed deliberately and relaxed his arm. “Fine,” he said gruffly. “Just - don’t break anything important.”
“I’m a blackthumb. If I break it, I’ll fix it better,” I said, forcefully bright and smiling. The little diagnostics computer dinged. I unplugged it and stood up, stretching the kinks from my spine. Sidestepping the Mandalorian, I slapped his pauldron good-naturedly as I slithered past him and into the bay.
“I do want to take a look at your pressors, though. This ol’ girl ‘bout rattled the teeth out of my head when she came out of hyperspace. May also need to tweak the conversion module to keep up with all that new tech you’ve got back there,” I said, easily falling back into Professional Mechanic Mode. Making my way to the cockpit, I crawled underneath the control deck, holding a pen light between my teeth as I lay on my back and surveyed the wiring system.
A tiny, warm body flopped onto my legs, and I was delighted to see that the child had come to join me. He scrambled up my thighs, across my belly and came to rest on my chest. Big ears wiggling happily, the kid propped his chin in his hands and stared at me intently. I removed the flashlight from my mouth and wedged it between my neck and shoulder, making it easier to talk to him.
I happened to be in the middle of explaining the intricacies of navcomp programming to my rapt pupil when the toe of the hunter’s boot nudged my hip.
“What?” I asked curtly as the long mental list of small improvements faded from my mind. By then my hands were caked in carbon dust, and the child made no move to slide off of me. Resigning to my fate, I signaled for the Mandalorian to continue with whatever it was he had to say; I wasn’t going to be moving out from under the control deck any time soon.
A flutter of cloth on steel, and the bounty hunter was in my space, crouching beside the pilot’s chair, his helmet parallel to the lip of the deck.
“What are you doing to my ship.” His tone was smooth yet menacing.
Rolling my eyes, I shooed the child off of me and clambered out from under the panel. The Mandalorian had retreated to the door while I’d wriggled out. Brushing dirty fingers across the chest of my jumpsuit, I sunk heavily into the co-pilot’s seat, scratching my forehead with my opened multitool. The little one trundled to me from out of the console’s shadows and tugged at my pantleg until I was obliged to pick him up. He held a small silver object tightly in his grubby little hands, and he ferreted it away underneath his tunic as soon as he settled onto my lap.
“Just a few minor adjustments and reroutes. Nothing too fancy or critical. Did you know this ship was stripped by Jawas?” I gestured animatedly with my custom multi-purpose tool. “I wouldn’t have noticed with how amazing the rebuild was, but I could tell by the wiring harness modifications. Distinctly Jawa scavenged mods.” Grinning stupidly, I shook my head in amazement. “Whoever rebuilt the Crest sure knew what they were doing!”
“Yes,” the bounty hunter replied, a little more brusquely than I thought the conversation warranted. He leaned against the cockpit’s door frame, arms crossed and exuding false indifference. He was strangely emotive for how much beskar covered his body.
“No doshing way?” I exclaimed. The prospect of Jawas intrigued me to no end; they were a scavenging people, mainly dealing in mech and droids. Their methods of acquiring said mech and droids could be considered loosely in the vicinity of ethical, if you squinted really hard, but they always did have the best stuff.
The Mandalorian stared out into the inky dark of space, starlight blurring over the silvery dome of his helmet. He cleared his throat, started to say something and then stopped. I waited patiently, the prickly curiosity holding my jittery nerves in place. The kid whined and made grabby hands at my multitool, so I folded it back into itself and gave it to him. It looked absurdly gigantic in his tiny fingers, but he gnawed on it with gusto.
A sigh crackled over the bounty hunter’s vocoder. “An Ugna- my friend. His name was Kuiil. He negotiated to get all the parts back from the Jawas, and then he-he helped me repair the Razor Crest.” The tension he had been holding suddenly dissipated, and his shoulders sagged in something akin to relief. His breastplate rose and fell in a juttering, painful beat, and the strangled sigh of modulated air buzzing from his helmet told me everything I needed to know. Whoever Kuiil had happened to be, I knew that he must have been a very good friend to the Mandalorian, and his loss was still felt across hyperspace.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
The bounty hunter huffed. “Nu kyr’adyc, shi taab’echaaj’la.”
“Not gone, merely marching far away,” I murmured in turn.
The Mandalorian stilled. For a beat, neither of us moved. The silence widened the already substantial gap between us, sweeping away what little bit of common ground we had found purchase on. Having that tiny foothold crumble beneath me in a matter of seconds set me on edge. I didn’t like him any more than he liked me; our mutual dislike for one another had turned into something more, something almost companion-like. But since I had to go and open my big dumb mouth, we were back to Square One.
The kid let out a loud, wet snerkt!, pulling us both out of our respective thoughts.
Arms uncrossing and leather gloves tightening into fists at his sides, the bounty hunter took the two steps from the doorway to the co-pilot’s chair. Without a sound, he took the slumbering child from my arms and stomped off to his quarters.
“I -” A tiny kernel of guilt blared in warning. “Wait, I didn’t mean to- ah, blast it,” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest. I hadn’t meant any disrespect to his friend, or his Creed. I only knew enough Mando’a to get me into trouble, and I hoped I hadn’t overstepped any boundaries by saying the tribute in Basic. Fiddling with my multitool for a long moment, I tried to come up with some sort of apology that would convey my cultural misstep.
Wracking my brain for Mando’a phrases to express my regrets at my choice of words, I didn’t hear him return to the cockpit.
Huffing once more, the bounty hunter startled me from my guilt trip. I averted my eyes, swallowed my pride and braced myself to deliver an apology. “Look, bud. I’m not good with-”
“Where did you get this?” he asked, cutting me off from my apology.
“What are you -”
“Where did you get this necklace??” he repeated, hissing through his teeth.
Silver flashed into my field of vision. I blinked a few times, my eyes refusing to believe what the bounty hunter dangled in front of my face. “Wha-” My voice cracked dangerously. I couldn’t believe it. It was my pendant. My eyes followed the Mythosaur skull as it swung back and forth, mouth gaping in astonishment. A small spark of Hope rekindled somewhere deep down inside my chest, clearing a slim but bright path through the anger and the guilt that had been dogging me for the past several days.
“My - my..” I said weakly, tears pricking at my eyes. “Where did -”
The hunter lunged suddenly, slamming both fists down on the armrests on either side of me. I yelped in surprise, shrinking back in the co-pilot’s chair. Pinned in, I could do nothing more than stare at him, confused.
“This shouldn’t exist. It shouldn’t be yours.”
The small, flickering flame of Hope guttered out, and once more I was cold and empty and full of rage.
“What gives you the right?” I spat. I leaned as far forward as the hunter’s presence would allow, my nose almost pressed against the beskar helmet. “You don’t know me. You don’t know where I came from, or what I’ve done to get here. All I am to you is a bounty that went wrong. It’s not up to you to decide what I can or can’t have.” Chest heaving and fists clenched together in my lap, I stared down the Mandalorian. I was too confused to be scared of what he could do to me, too pissed off to care about his reasons.
That pendant was mine. And I wanted it back.
The Mandalorian’s blank, glassy facade didn’t move. No words, no sounds escaped his modulator. Hot waves of anger rolled off of him, anger that I didn’t understand, didn’t want to understand. The co-pilot’s seat trembled underneath me, but I wasn’t sure if the movement was his or my own.
“Give it back,” I growled, finally breaking the silence. “It’s mine.”
“No.” The rumbling baritone was tense, straining against his control. His whole body held unspeakable amounts of emotion, and he was unwilling, or unable, to let it go.
“Bastard.” I swung up from my hips, clipping the lip of his helmet smartly with my clasped fists.
He stumbled back, dropping the necklace as both hands came up to straighten his helmet. Seeing an opening, I rushed the bounty hunter, driving my left shoulder into his side and pushing him into the opposite wall. With a roar, he ducked out of my grasp, using his momentum to kick out at my knees. I dodged sideways, his boot only grazing my shins. Now off-balanced, I staggered back and tripped over my own feet. I took a nosedive, landing heavily on the pilot’s seat. The air was knocked from my lungs, and for a moment too long I was dazed. At that opportunity, the Mandalorian grabbed the back of my collar and hauled me out of the chair.
“Hrrkt!” I choked, scrabbling to loosen the stranglehold my jumpsuit currently had on my neck.
“Last time. Where. Did. You. Get. This.” With each word, the hunter shook me like a ragdoll. The calm he exuded was frightening in comparison to the violence he was promising.
“Uunrkt,” I replied.
The Mandalorian released the back of my jumpsuit, and I crumpled, catching myself on the pilot’s seat. Pressing my forehead into the roughly-woven seat cushion, I panted laboriously. Tears were streaming down my face. I sniffled loudly and wiped my nose on my sleeve before I spoke.
“That is mine. It was given to me by my caretaker.” The anger I had been feeling melted into sadness. I was tired of fighting the emotion, so I embraced it, allowing myself to finally feel. “It’s the only thing I have left.” I broke off with a sob, burying my face in my hands.
“What was his name.”
I went rigid. Names held power, even I knew that growing up where I did. But he was dead, so surely the issue was moot? At least, I hoped he was dead. The alternatives to why he never returned hurt my heart too much to bear.
“You wouldn’t’ve known him,” I said thickly.
“Try me,” the hunter said gruffly.
I couldn’t get around it now. Even if he wasn’t dead, sharing his name with one of his brethren probably wasn’t the worst thing I could do.
But, then again, if he wasn’t dead, that meant I didn’t owe him anything for leaving me behind.
“Reyn. His name was Drys Reyn.”
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mrs-mikko-rantanen · 4 years
Text
Crash
Ok, this got really out of hand (2767 words....). I'll try to get the read more added to it here soon. This is a re-write, couldn't find the original post, sorry. But! Caretaker!Nyar, whumpee!Avanda so fun stuff. Tw: car crash mention, hospitals
Nyar shook, feeling nauseous as the nurse led him out to the waiting room.  His left hand wrapped in a cast, he'd been given pain medications, and his mind was foggy. Weather that was from the medication, or the concussion, or the shock, he really wasn't sure. 
"My friend...the one that came in with me, where-where is she?" He asked as he sank into the chair. 
"She'll still be in surgery. You can wait here if you'd like. I'm sure…." 
Nyar didn't hear the rest of what she said. He replayed the crash in his head, trying to figure out what had gone wrong. What he had done, what he should have done better, what he was supposed to have done to save her. 
And now Avanda was in surgery. And he had no clue what was going on. His hand shook as he dug his phone out of his pocket. He knew Avanda had been the one who was supposed to pick up Ewan's little brothers, he had to get ahold of someone to take care of that and sort it out. 
He typed Ewan's name into his phone's contacts. Nothing. 
He tried Adair. Still nothing. 
Castor. Nothing. 
MacClyde. 
Adonis. 
No contacts pulled up for any of them, and he frowned. So he called the only person who's name he could think of. The one person he wanted to talk to the most. 
"Hey, I was starting to worry." Jace's voice was full of concern, thinly veiled by the relife that was seeping through the phone's speaker. 
"Hey um. I'm...not gonna make rehearsal today."
"Yeah, no I got that. What's up?" Jace Still sounded worried. 
"I um. We uh. We were. Um."
"Ny? Are you alright?"
Nyar's voice shook as he spoke again. "We um. We were in a car accident."
"Oh my God, Nyar are you ok?" 
"Uh, yeah I think so? I mean I just...I broke my wrist and a few ribs and have a bit of a concussion. But um. Av…" He choked on a sob. "Av was-she took most of it, and they took her into surgery and- I don't know who her doctor is, I don't think MacClyde is working today, I don't know if she's ok…"
"Nyar, babe, it's ok. It's going to be ok. Just take a deep breath for me alright?"
Nyar nodded and took a shaky breath in. 
"Ok. What can I do for you? Do you want me to come to the hospital? Do you need me to call the crew?"
"Um. I-I think you should call Adonis. Av was supposed to pick the kids up. I-I don't have his number. Or either of the MacClyde's."
"Ok. Ok, yeah. I'll call Cas and we'll get the boys and then we'll come to the hospital, ok?"
"Ok."
"Ok. Hang in there, Big Guy. We'll be there as soon as we can be."
"Thank you."
"I love you, babe." 
"I love you too. Drive safe."
He sighed as he hung up the phone. He was terrified. He had no idea what to do. He screwed his eyes shut, trying not to think about the sound of the screeching tires.  
    “Mr. Frostbane?” He leapt to his feet when the doctor called his name. 
    “Yeah, how is she?”
    The doctor nodded at him a little. “She’s doing better. She's a little worse for wear, but that chest wound was really the worst of it. That being said, good job leaving the shrapnel in, it would have bled more if you’d taken it out.”
    Nyar picked at his cast. “Yeah...uh, well that-that was really Avanda’s doing. She’s the medic.”
    “Well, regardless, she has you to thank. The bleeding has stopped now, we got her all stitched up. She’s got a pretty bad concussion, two broken ribs and a broken wrist, among a few other things that we can go into more detail with later. It will be at least a few days before we can let her go home, maybe a week. Have you called her family?”
    Nyar shifted, "I'll um...I'll try to get ahold of them, they don't live in town, they'll have to get a flight. And her boyfriend…” Nyar trailed off. Ewan was on a mission with Thane. They were both pretty deep undercover for now, and he had no idea how, or if the base would be able to contact them. “He’ll be here as soon as he can.”
    The doctor nodded. “Good. In the meantime, do you want to go see her? She’s going to be very sleepy, and pretty out of it, but you’re welcome to go see her.”
    Nyar nodded, “Yeah, um, yes please.”
    He followed a nurse down the hall to the room Avanda was in. There was another nurse in the room, hooking her up to machines and checking the IVs. Avanda was asleep, as far as he could tell. The nurse that had led him in showed him the chair, but he didn’t sit. He couldn’t. She looked so small, and so broken. 
He was hit by a wave of guilt. He was her captain. He was supposed to protect her, keep her safe, make sure that this didn’t happen.
“Don’t blame yourself, Sugar.” The nurse said, looking up from her work at Avanda’s wrist. “I’ve seen that look a lot, and I can promise you that this wasn’t your fault.”
Nyar opened his mouth, but no words came out. He closed it and nodded instead. He reached out slowly, gently pushing a strand of hair out of Avanda’s face. 
“She’s going to be ok, right?” He asked finally.
The nurse looked up, “Sugar, I’m honestly more worried about you. She’s gonna be just fine. You need to have a seat.” When Nyar shook his head, she gave him a stern look over the rim of her glasses that brooked no argument. He pulled the chair up to the edge of the bed and had a seat. She nodded and looked back to her work before finally finishing up, patting Nyar on the shoulder and leaving, with a promise to be back to check on them in a few minutes.
Nyar propped his elbows on his knees, and his chin in his hands. He was torn, he knew that Avanda needed to rest, that she had been through a lot, and that waking her up would do no good. On the other hand, he really wanted her to wake up and tell him what to do. 
He finally leaned back in his chair, groaning and running his hands through his hair. “God, Av, there’s a reason this is your job and not mine.”
He jumped when Avanda coughed. “Oww.” She groaned.
Nyar shot upright again and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Av? Hey, how are you feeling?”
“Cold.” She grunted. Her hand reached up to the breathing tube and her fingers started to tug at her nose.
“Hey, you gotta leave that there.” Nyar reached up and gently moved her hand away.
“Hate cannulas.” She grumbled. 
“I know, but it’s helping.”
“Bullshit.” 
Nyar laughed a little. “Other than cold, how are you feeling?”
“Hungry.” 
“The nurse said it’s gonna be a while until you can eat, they need to wait for you to wake up some more.”
“So? I’m a doctor, I outrank her.”
“You can’t pull rank here, Av.”
“Sure I can. I’m a doctor.”
Nyar shook his head and smiled. “Did the doctors or anybody tell you what’s...uh, what … what happened?”
She squinted and shifted, her hand gently probing her abdomen and muttering a little. “Broken ri-two broken ribs, at least, hell of a headache, so I’m guessing at least a bit of a concussion. Plus I heard a decent bit of talk about aortas, so I’m thinking at least a knick from that stupid hunk of glass?”
Nyar nodded, “Yeah, that sounds about right.” 
“Hey,” She threw a lopsided grin at him and drew out the last letter, “All drugged up and still whippin’ out diagnoses like a pro.”
Nyar nodded and squeezed her hand again. “That’s my girl.”
She hummed a little and her eyes closed again. Nyar figured she was going to drift off to sleep so he leaned back in the chair, ready to drift off himself. His eyes were just sliding shut when Avanda jolted and gasped, a strangled cry escaping her lips.
“What? What’s the matter?”
“Ewan, where’s Ewan? Is he ok, he was on that mission! If he heard about this he’s gonna worry, and then he’ll do something stupid, he wont be focusing, have you heard from him?” Her eyes were wild and darting around the room, and she was straining to get out of the bed.
“Whoa, hey. Easy there, Doc. Ewan is fine. He’s with Thane, they’ll watch each other’s backs.” Nyar gently pushed her back to the pillow. “They’re the best soldiers we have, they’ll be alright.”
“But,...you haven’t heard from them?” Avanda’s lip quivered a little and her eyes were pleading.
Nyar hated himself, but he decided that maybe lying would be best here. “Yeah. I’ve heard from them. Ferret went to get them, they’re both ok.” He reached up and placed a hand on the side of her face, praying that she was on enough drugs that she wouldn’t be able to keep track of time.
Avanda sighed, and her body relaxed, “Ok. Thank you, Nyar.”
Nyar smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I’m here for you.”
Avanda looked around the room, her eyes landing on the beeping monitors next to her. “What’s that one say?” She pointed to one of the screens, squinting, “In the lower left corner, what’s it say?”
“Um, I’m not real sure.” Nyar squinted, “It’s some numbers--”
“What are they?” She tried to sit back up.
“Hey, Avanda, you aren’t the doctor here, remember? You’re the patient. You need to relax, ok?” Nyar pushed her back again.
“Where’s Ewan?”
Nyar checked his phone, and his stomach dropped. Still no word from Jace. 
“He’s on his way.”
    “Did he say anything about the boys?”
Finally, a question he could answer. “Castor is going to pick them up from school, then bring them right here.”
“Ok.” Avanda fidgeted her fingers, toying with one of the IVs.
Nyar took her hand again and pulled it away from the IV. “You need to rest.”
“I know.”
“I’m serious.” 
Avanda pulled her eyes away from the screens for a minute, a confused look on her face.
“You need to let it go. You aren’t the doctor. There are nurses and doctors here who are working hard to make sure you recover. You aren’t responsible for Peadar and Carrick right now. Castor has been taking care of them their whole lives, he can do it again today. You weren’t assigned to that mission, Ewan and Thane are ok.” Avanda blinked and Nyar saw a few tears welling up, so he moved his chair a little closer to the bed. “And you aren’t alone, right? I’m here. You don’t need to worry about anything, because I’m right here, and I won’t let anything happen to you, ok?”
Avanda sniffed.
“You’re safe.”
Avanda didn’t say anything. She just looked away from him and back at the screens and monitors.
“I promise.”
“Thank you.” Her accent was thicker than he had heard it in a long time.
“You can rest now.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s ok. That’s my job.”
“Thank you.” Her eyes were shut now, and the grip in her hand was starting to relax. “Thank you.” Her breathing was slowing down, and becoming more even. “Thank you, Ny…”
Nyar squeezed her hand. “It’s gonna be ok.”
He wasn’t sure if he was saying it more for her benefit, or his. He stayed in the room for a while longer, dosing a little next to her bed while she slipped back under. His phone buzzed and he jumped. 
          We're here. Out in the waiting room. Cas just got us checked in. 
Nyar squeezed Avanda's hand a little. "It's ok, Av. The troops are rallying." He teased. 
He made his way down the hall again to the waiting room. Jace was standing behind Carrick, eir hands on his shoulders and his backpack slung over one shoulder. The thirteen year old's eyes were red and he was staring at the floor. The scowl plastered on his face told Nyar that he was still trying not to cry. Peadar was wrapped around Castor's leg, sniffling and hiccuping as he wiped his eyes. 
"Hey." Nyar's voice was raw still as he stepped closer to them. 
"How is she?" Castor demanded. 
"The doctor said she'll be ok. I can't get a call to her parents though, I have no idea where else to try calling."
Castor nodded. "Ok. That's fine, I can call them. She's ok though?"
Nyar chewed his lip a little, shooting a glance at Peadar. "She's….she's ok. She's sleeping now. Or, well, she was When I left the room, anyw-"
"You left her alone?" Castor practically bellowed. 
Nyar frowned, feeling his cheeks flush as he opened his mouth to snap back. 
              "Hey! He was in the crash too, Cas." Jace reminded Castor. "Besides, we did text him and tell him to come out here to meet us."
            Castor's shoulders dropped a little and he let out a pent up breath. "Yeah, yeah you're right. Sorry, Frostbane. I'll go sit with her a while. What room is she in?"
          "297." Nyar said. He watched as Castor patted Peadar's shoulder and began to lead the young boy to the door. "Castor, wait."
Castor scowled at him angrily for a moment. "I just...I'm not sure she'd want the kids to see her like this." He leaned in a little as he spoke, keeping his voice as low as he could. "She's in pretty rough shape, I just...I think maybe it would be better if you went and saw her first, then you can decide for yourself after."
Castor glanced down at Peadar quickly, then nodded. "Yeah ok. Carrick, here. Go see if you guys can find something to play with, ok?"
The thirteen year old scowled and took Peadar's hand, pulling him away from Castor. 
Castor nodded a little,then shot a look to Nyar. "Thank you. I'll try not to leave you with them for long."
Jace sat down next to Nyar, watching Carrick and Peadar pick through the small toy box, halfheartedly looking for something to keep them busy. Ey frowned, looking at Nyar. 
"Are you ok?"
"...No." Nyar answered. "I should have paid better attention, I should have seen the car, I should-"
"Ny. She's gonna be ok." Jace promised. "The doctor said so, right?"
"I guess." His voice was raw. 
He didn't say much else after that. Carrick and Peadar both came up at some point, asking some little question or other, which Jace thankfully took care of for him. Castor finally came back, waving the boys back with him. As soon as the door closed, Jace reached over and took Nyar's hand. 
"Hey." Ey said softly, squeezing his hand. "It's ok."
Nyar opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Jace wrapped eir arm around his shoulders, tracing a thumb over his cheek from the side. He sniffed a little and wiped his eyes. 
"What if it isn't?'' He asked quietly. 
Jace let out a soft sound and leaned eir head against him. "It will be. She's in good hands. And you were there for her too. You got her here, you did a good job keeping her alive."
"I just did what she told me to do."
"You stayed calm. You followed instructions and you did what needed to get done. That's hard to do, especially in the situation you were in."
Nyar said nothing. Jace sighed and leaned against him. Ey pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, then leaned away, aware that the rest of the crew would be arriving at any moment. Ey kept holding Nyar's hand, tracing a thumb over his knuckles. 
Nyar squeezed Jace's hand as he leaned back as well, resting his head on the wall behind him. 
"I love you."
"I love you too." Jace squeezed his hand as well. "And I'm really glad you're ok. I can't tell you how scared I was when you said what happened."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Ey pressed a kiss against his fingers. "I'm just so glad you're safe."
"Me too."
He just hoped they'd be able to say the same about Avanda. 
5 notes · View notes
lovemesomesurveys · 4 years
Text
Do you feel guilty? if yes, why so? There’s a few things I feel guilty about, but I don’t feel like getting into any of it right now.
Has someone you cared about moved recently? No.
Do you know the band DiscoToTheStars? If you like Nickasaur, NeverShoutNever, shit like that, you should look them up. I’m not familiar with them and I don’t feel like looking them up. I know of NeverShoutNever, but I haven’t listened to them in like a decade.
Are you trying hard in life? No. :/
Do you need to brush your teeth? Not at this moment.
Does your tongue hurt? No.
Where are you?. I’m in my room sitting on my bed.
Are you sad? That’s just who I am, man.
Do you like xbox? I have played one in years.
Do you eat peanut butter? Yeah. I haven’t had any in awhile, though. Now that I think of it it’s probably been a few years. :O
How many fingers do you have? 10. I’m not counting thumbs separate.
Will you be mad at me if i don't make this survey very long? Um, no. I’ll be fine.
Does your tummy hurt? Not at the moment.
Who do you sit with at lunch? I’m not in school. I rarely have lunch these days, but if I do I’m either eating in bed or with my mom. 
Were you wrong all along? Yep. 
Tell me a story about a stupid kid. : Uh, what?
Have you seen "Ferrets" on YouTube?. No.
I fucking hate Rihanna, do you? No. I don’t have anything against her as a person and I like a lot of her songs.
Are you the only person awake right now? In my house, yes.
Do you feel alone? Sometimes. Not so much physically, though sometimes, but more so in other ways.
Are you itchy? No.
Do you need to wash your face? No.
Do you want animals when you grow up? . I’ve had a pet(s) throughout my life. I currently have my 3 year old German Shepherd/Lab mix named Princess Leia.
Do you have an annoying old grandmother? No. I had a great relationship with both my grandmothers, but sadly my maternal grandmother passed away over a decade ago. She and I were really close. My paternal grandmother is still in my life and she’s very sweet and loving.
What year are you taking this? Good ol’ 2020....  -______-
Do you think the world will end in 2012? We’re still here in 2020, but barely.
What's your name? Stephanie.
Are you eating chicken? No. I’m not eating anything at the moment.
Do you like llamas? I LOVE LLAMAS! Sure.
Do you have pubic hair? Casually just throw this in among random questions about chicken, llamas, and ice cream. Okay then.
What's your favorite flavor ice-cream? Strawberry. I’ve answered this quite a bit lately. 
Have you made a survey before? Once, several years ago. I wish I could find it, but it was on Xanga. :(
What's the nearest rainbow object around you? I don’t have any.
Do you have a phone? i don't. Yes.
Do you like the new Myspace? Damn, this is old.
Who are you dating? Wanna tell me about them? I’m single. 
How would you like to kill someone? Um, I wouldn’t wtf. Should I be worried about you, survey maker?
Do you like to wear clothes? Yes. I don’t like being naked, I feel so uncomfortable. 
When's the last time you pooped? You are quite weird.
Are you wearing armpit perfume? Can i sniff? What did I get myself into...
Are you happy? No.
Pencils or markers? Uh, depends?
Do you draw, or sing? Nope.
Don't you hate hangnails? They’re the worst.
What kind of surveys do you like? Long with interesting and random questions. This one is a little too much at times, though.
Have you ever gave someone a hand/blow job? Received one? No.
Did it snow for you on Christmas? It doesn’t snow here. :(
What's the date? Sunday, October 25th, 2020.
Do you feel like a stalker? No, cause I’m not one.
What's worse? Getting a boner or your period in the middle of class? Both would likely be uncomfortable and embarrassing, I’m sure.
Do you read FML, MLIA, OMGFACTS, etc? I used to frequent FML and OMGFACTS back in the day.
Wanna Fuck? No, I’m good.
What's up? I’m listening to an ASMR video and trying to get through this survey.
Are you hungry? No, I ate like an hour ago.
What's your worst fear? Losing my loved ones, dying, getting worse/never getting better, never doing anything with my life... stuff like that. 
What's your favorite pattern? Plaid.
Ever seen a blue waffle? No, but then again I don’t often eat waffles, either. You’d just add food coloring, no? <<< Sadly, that’s not what it is. :X I hate that I know that.
Do you shop at Hot Topic? Yeah. I get majority of my graphic tees from there and their sister store, Boxlunch. 
What's your favorite song? I have numerous favorite songs.
How long is your penis? I don’t have one. Wow, a survey that actually didn’t assume the one taking it was female.
Do your boobs hang low? No. 
Do you ever replace the lyrics in songs to make them inappropriate? No, but I do the opposite of that.
Do you like the band Three Days Grace? Yeah.
I hate the new Gatorade shit, do you? Not sure what new Gatorade “shit” you were referring to.
Do you like ranting? I don’t like it, but it helps to do it sometimes. I like to save them for surveys and Twitter, ha.
Do you like pooping? Sigh.
Are you single? Yes.
So, i'm guessing your bored? Nope.
Do you go out to eat today? I’m not going anywhere today.
Have you ever thought about how the questions asked in a survey might reflect on what happened in the person asking’s life? Yes. I’ve definitely found myself thinking that during this survey.
Do you have fingernails? Yes. Barely, ha.
What's your opinion on Miley Cyrus? I don’t have an issue with her and I like some of her songs.
Do you know who Destry Moore is? Nope.
Can i have your number? Sure, it’s 555-5555. 
Do you know anyone nicknamed Booger? No. Reminds me of that movie, Revenge of the Nerds.
Am i entertaining you? I’m over this survey to be honest.
What's your gender? Female.
What did you call your privates when you were little?
Have you ever named a penis? Do you have a penis? There’s still a lot left to this survey and I’m over it omg.
What's your favorite smiley face? :)
Have you ever worn silly bands? Yeah.
Do you cut yourself? No.
Need a friend? We could be friends. No thank you. 
is this survey getting to long for you? Yes. What's your favorite name? Alexander.
What's your current mood? Tired and blah.
How loud do you like your music? I don’t like it blaring, just a comfortable level to enjoy it. Some may be a little louder than others.
Do you like toast? Sure.
Do you like the band "A Day To Remember" ? I’m familiar with them, but I can’t think of a song of theirs.
Do you have AIDS ? No. Wow, you’re quite invasive.
Are you awkward? Pfft, awkward is my middle name. <<< Saaaame.
Can you joke about rape? Wowww. What's your favorite type of drink? Mine is monster. Coffee and Starbucks Doubleshot energy drnk.
What kind of heart do you make on the computer? <3
Does blood interest you? Nooo. I’m too squeamish and it makes me feel faint. 
Have you realized that there are enough surveys on here for you to never be bored? Well, I’ve been doing them for like 15 years, so I guess so. Although, I’m sure a lot are repeats. And the questions are sure repetitive. 
Do you have a laptop? Yes, which is what I’m on.
Do you have good eye sight? With my glasses on.
How many burnt cds do you have? None anymore. I used to have a ton. I loved making them.
Are you good at English? Yes.
Do you like bands like BrokenCYDE and Blood on the Dance Floor? Never heard of ‘em.
Do you have a favorite movie? I have many. Color? Pastels, rose gold, mint green, coral, and yellow.
Number? Eight.
Have you ever seen a penis? Mhm.
Are you bi-sexual? No.
What do you think about gay people? Um, I think they’re people who are attracted to the same gender. 
Do you believe in God? I do.
Do you like snoop dog? I’ve liked a few songs of his.
Are you horny? No.
Do you like ham? I like oven baked ham with gravy, but not deli ham. I’m weird, I know.
Does Stacyes mom, really have it going on? To him she did.
Do you have dandruff? Not so much anymore. I did when I was younger.
When your watching a video, does it bother if you can see the cursor? I’d likely move it.
is your computer slow? : No.
Do you miss your boyfriend? I’m single.
Do you have toes? Yes.
Are you fucking sick? I'm fucking sick. I’m not feeling well.
Do you want to puke? No.
What color are your knees? The color of my skin.
Are what age did you realize that knees was spelt with a k? I can’t exactly pinpoint the time.
Do you like twist ties? They can be useful.
Do you trust a hoe? I know this is a 3OH!3 reference. I can tell by your vibe.
Are you a vegetarian? Nope.
Will you forgive me for not being able to spell? I don’t care, man. 
TV or Youtube? I like both. I do watch quite a bit of YouTube, though.
Do you live with your grandparents? No. 
Do you hate your family? Nooo. I love my family.
Do you like applesauce? Sure. I couldn’t tell you the last time I had any, though.
is Bzoink the only survey site you can find on the internet? I never use Bzoink to find surveys. I get majority from others on here, but occasionally I’ll go to LiveJournal. I haven’t had to do that in awhile, though.
Do you use smiley faces? Yeah. I don’t go crazy with them, but I use them as I see fit.
Do you like TECHNO?!!?!?!?!?!!??!!!?!?! Not sure why you typed it that way, but nah.
Are you a retarded seal? I hope you’ve grown up and educated yourself since making this survey.
Are you sexy? Nope.
2 notes · View notes
banditthewriter · 6 years
Text
Set It Up, Knock It Down - Billy Russo
Prompt: Hey, Bandit! Hope you’re doing well. Could I request something for Billy in which the reader is friends with Frank and he asks her if she has any friends they could set Billy up with? She isn’t close to Billy but she finds him attractive, and at first it doesn’t bother her to set him up but during the process they grow feelings for each other or whatever. You can take the story wherever you want. Thanks in advance! Prompter: @meloxique
Tags are at the bottom. Let me know if you would like to be added to one of my tag lists!
Interested in supporting my work? Kofi link in my bio!
*gif is mine*
Enjoy!
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*****
The music was a little familiar, but you weren’t able to place it. You nodded along with the beat, humming even though you weren’t certain you actually knew the beat. It had been a pretty rough week and you were ready to unwind.
“You look rough,” Frank said as he settled down next to you with a raised eyebrow.
“Thanks Frank, that’s so sweet of you,” you joked as you put your hand on your chest. “If you weren’t a married man, I’d think you were hitting on me.”
He knocked his shoulder into yours and flagged down the bartender to order a drink. When he had asked you to join him for a drink, you hadn’t thought twice. The two of you met up every so often for drinks or a meal. Usually he had Maria with him, but he looked to be solo tonight.
“How’s Maria and the kids?”
The light in his eyes could rival the sun. He pulled out his phone to show you the pictures he’d taken at Lisa’s recital. And then he showed you a video of Frankie’s soccer game which included him clothes-lining one of the other kids.
“I feel like that’s probably not a move that was taught at practice,” you laughed as you rewound to watch the video again.
Frank shook his head as he accepted the phone back from you.
“Nah, he learned that from Bill.”
Ah, Bill. You weren’t above the petty feeling whenever Frank’s other best friend was mentioned or around. Not that you didn’t want him to have friends, but did it have to be Billy Russo?
The colorful personality made him a winner around the kids, Maria was half in love with him, and him and Frank had bonded during the service. You weren’t quick enough to stop the look on your face and Frank laughed. He shook his head as he looked away from you.
“You’d probably not like to know that you and Billy have a lot in common, would you? Because both of you act like I just spat on the table when I mention the others name.”
“Okay one, that’s just gross,” you huffed with a grimace, the image making you shudder. “And two, you’re kidding me right? What does William have to be grumpy about when it comes to me?”
Frank laughed and draped his arm around your shoulders.
“Take your pick. He doesn’t like that he has to share us with you, he doesn’t like that you don’t seem charmed by him, he doesn’t like that you–”
“Back up Frank,” you blurted with wide eyes, “are you telling me that Billy has tried to charm me? I’ve seen women fall at his feet with him not even doing anything. How’d I not notice when he tried to charm me?”
Frank sighed, a long suffering sound that you were used to from him. He rocked you a bit before he released you to grab his beer.
“Jesus my best friends are children,” he complained until you kicked him in the shin. “Alright, dammit, stop kicking me. I’m guessing that means you taught that to my daughter. Billy flirted with you a lot when you two first met. I told him it wouldn’t work, but he’s resilient.”
You thought back to when you first met Billy and yeah, maybe looking back it was flirting. You’d been going through a rough break up at the time and you hadn’t even noticed the breathtakingly attractive man that asked if you’d like to have a sleepover when you’d joked about sleeping naked.
Oh wow, you really did miss that.
“It’s actually because of Bill that I wanted to talk to you.”
Frank sounded worried and your mind automatically cycled through all of the bad things that might have happened.
“Is everything okay? What can I do to help?”
He looked surprised. Maybe because you were usually lukewarm to Billy, but that didn’t matter if something was wrong. You weren’t heartless; Billy wasn’t a bad guy just because he annoyed you sometimes. You guys actually got along sometimes.
Most of your animosity was just habit at this point.
“Can you help me find someone for him to date?”
There was a beat of silence where you wondered if you had heard him correctly. When he still seemed as serious as he had before he said those words, you burst into laughter.
“I’m sorry,” you chortled gleefully. “You need my help to find the underwear model a girlfriend?”
“He’s not–” he began and then sighed. “There’s a lot more to Bill than meets the eye, but I think sometimes he needs to remember that. He’s never been with the same person for more than a few weeks and I just want more than that for him.”
You propped your chin on your fist as you stared at Frank. Eyes narrowed, you tried to think about it realistically.
“Is Billy going to be aware of me doing this or is this a secret?”
He took that as your agreement and turned to face you.
“He knows. He wasn’t happy with my idea to ask you, but he preferred it to the alternative: Maria.”
That made you laugh. You lifted your glass to Frank’s for a brief toast.
“To Billy’s future happiness.”
Frank rolled his eyes but tapped the bottom of his beer bottle against yours.
This was gonna be interesting.
------
“Did you actually make a slideshow?”
You shoved Billy over to make room for you and your bowl of popcorn. If you were going to do this, you were doing it right. You grabbed the tablet from his hands and messed with the settings so that it projected it onto his television.
“God, I need a drink,” he complained as he grabbed the beer on the coffee table and drained half of it in one go.
“Should I put that you’re an alcoholic on my con list for you?”
Billy glared at you and then grabbed a handful of popcorn from your bowl before he gestured at the television. You took that as a go ahead and you went to the next slide.
“So I have these broken up into three categories. The first are the girls that I think would be good for you, the second are the girls I think you’d be good for, and the last are the girls that I’ve had a grudge against since high school and I’d really like to see which one of you would come out with your dignity intact.”
That made him snort. He tossed some of the popcorn at you and you dusted them off before you swiped to the next slide.
“I didn’t know if this was a women only kind of thing, so I do have some other options if you’re interested?”
He shook his head as he took another sip from his bottle.
“Only cock I like in a relationship is mine,” he said as he patted his crotch before he stood up and headed to the kitchen. “You want another?”
“I have a feeling I’ll need it,” you said in distastefully as you shook your head and looked back at your slideshow.
Was the slideshow overkill? Yes. But you’d agreed to do this so you weren’t doing half measures. Billy could kick you out at any time but you thought that he was being very submissive to Frank’s wishes on this.
Or… did the great man-whore Billy Russo actually want to find love?
He settled back onto the couch next to you, jostling your lap but not enough to tip the bowl. He handed you a new beer and held his up for a second before he took a sip.
“Couldn’t I save us all some time and just get on Tinder or something?”
“You’re looking for love, not a quick lay,” you reminded him easily as you pulled the tablet to you once more. “My one and only Tinder date ended with the guy taking me to a warehouse and me having to lie to him and tell him I worked for the cops to get him to let me to leave.”
He looked at you gobsmacked. Then he shook his head.
“You’re shitting me,” he accused.
“I shit you not. After that I decided that I’d rather find someone organically.” You paused and then shrugged a shoulder as you took a long sip from your drink. “I’m not good at finding love for myself, but I’ve gotten a bunch of my friends hooked up with their S.O’s so I’m not giving up.”
He leaned his head back onto the backrest of the couch. Then he rolled his head so that he could see you, one eyebrow raised.
“If you can’t do, teach?”
You glared but the man did have a point. Graciously he gestured at the slideshow and you nodded as you pulled up the first potential.
“Now Ellie is a great girl. She’s beautiful, kind, funny. She is actively looking for that perfect guy that will treat her right. How do you feel about ferrets? She has six.”
“Next,” Billy said with a laugh, crossing his arms over his chest to get comfortable.
Well. This was going just fantastic.
------
The date had ended horribly. If horrible and terrible had a child, it was the date that Billy had gone on with bachelorette number four. Melinda had seemed like such a good fit for him. How were you supposed to know that she was violently against the military?
At least he didn’t get slapped. Again.
He slumped down next to you at the bar and shook his head, eyes wide as he stared down at the bartop.
“We’ll find the girl for you,” you promised as you flagged the bartender down for a drink. “She’s out there. She’s just stubborn or hiding or–”
“Or she doesn’t exist. Let’s be real,” he said with a disgusted shake of his head, “I don’t deserve love. I don’t deserve what Frankie and Maria have. I’ll never find someone that gets me, that… I won’t get that.”
You reached out and covered his wrist with your hand. While you had started this whole mess as just helping out Frank, you had come to care for Billy. And seeing him like this when usually he was more vivacious and easier to laugh?
It scared you.
“Don’t say that Billy. You deserve love, okay, and we’ll find you someone. It’s just been four dates, we still have time and other options. I can show you–”
“No more,” he barked out as he stood up, pushing away from the bar and away from you. “I played nice for Frankie, I did what he wanted because he’s my brother, but I’m done. Four dates and you know what, I haven’t enjoyed them. Hell, I’ve enjoyed listening to you list what’s wrong with me more than I’ve enjoyed going on dates.”
He started to walk away and you swore as you threw down a few bills to cover the drinks before you chased after him.
“Billy, it’s–”
“I swear to god Y/N, don’t you dare say it’s going to be okay. I don’t care!” He whirled around to face you, eyes dark and pinning you to the spot. “I don’t care about finding love and finding someone to hold my hand. I was happy to just fuck my way through life and you know what, I was good at it. So I’m going to get back to my strengths. Tell Frankie I’m sorry.”
He stormed off and climbed into his car, peeling out of the parking lot and down the road before you could even think of anything else to say. You weren’t sure what broke the dam, but you knew you needed to fix it.
That in mind you grabbed your phone and dialed one of your speed dials. It rang three times before there was an answer.
“Frank? I think we need to re-evaluate this whole thing.”
------
The apartment door looked more like a prison door. You swallowed heavily and marched forward, banging on the door before you could lose your nerve. It didn’t take long before it swung open to reveal a shirtless Billy that looked like shit.
“What the fuck,” he mumbled as you pushed past him.
Wherever this steel nerve came from, you hoped it stuck around. You could really use this to negotiate a raise at work.
“We aren’t done here Russo. Things might suck right now but I’m not giving up and neither are you. Frank is right and you deserve someone that’s going to be around for more than one night. You deserve… oh.”
A half dressed woman came out of the bedroom. She was wearing one of Billy’s button up shirts, half unbuttoned and falling attractively around her chest. Her legs looked to be longer than you were tall, her long blonde hair pulled up in a messy bun that deserved to be in a magazine.
“Jesus you’re quick,” you muttered as you turned away from where the woman had disappeared into the bathroom.
“I don’t think she’d say that,” he teased with a smirk. When you didn’t return with a quip, he cleared his throat and took a step towards you. “You mean that? That you aren’t giving up on me?”
You swallowed and blinked a few times before you looked up to meet his eyes.
“I mean, I’m not giving up on finding you love. What about, uh, what about her? Is she a once kind of gal or should we save a place for her at Sunday dinner with the Castles?”
His grin widened a bit as he looked over your shoulder in the direction of the bedroom.
“She’s definitely not a once kind of gal, if you know what I mean,” he said with a lewd grin. And then, as if remembering who he was talking to, he straightened up a bit and shook his head. “But no, she’s not the person I could see myself spending the rest of my life with.”
The bathroom door opened and you heard the patter of her bare feet as she crossed back into the bedroom. You glanced behind you when the door shut. Then with a grimace you reached out and grabbed a bra that had been draped over the edge of the couch by the strap and held it out to him.
“Well I’ll let you handle… that. If you decide you do want to continue, you know where to find me. I’ll just be revamping my vetting process to make sure no anti-military Melindas make it through the final cuts.”
He smiled and gave you a quick nod, crossing his arms over his chest with the bra hanging from one hand.
You weren’t surprised that he had found someone within just a short time period to warm his bed. Who could tell him no?
------
For about two weeks after that, you are faced with the startling fact that you really didn’t like the idea of Billy being with anyone else. It had been all theoretical, even when he was on dates, but seeing that girl in his apartment? And knowing what they had done the night before?
It felt like your stomach was made out of lead. And not in a way that made it possible for you to eat a lot of really spicy foods and drink enough alcohol to kill a large mammal.
You cared about Billy. You didn’t want to see him throw away his chance at happiness.
You cared about Billy. You knew he was worth more than just sleeping with nameless, faceless, apparently inhibition-less models.
You cared about Billy. You wanted him to be happy, to be in a relationship, to be in love.
You cared about Billy.
Fuck.
Did you love Billy?
------
“Here,” Billy said as he handed you another beer, settling onto the couch next to you. “You look a little glum. Aren’t you the one that made a slideshow for our first date?”
“That wasn’t a date,” you blurted out as you sat up a little straighter, mentally wincing at the squeak in your voice.
“I know,” he said slowly, sitting up as well, “I just meant… are you okay? You look a little rough.”
You jumped on the excuse.
“Yeah, I think I’m coming down with something. Do you mind if we talk strategy another time? I just really wanna go home and rest.”
He nodded and grabbed the drink from you, moving as if he was going to help you stand.
“Of course. Text me if you need anything. We’ll meet up later.”
You rushed out of his apartment and sighed as you stepped into the elevator. It wasn’t like you planned on avoiding him forever, but surely you could for a while? At least until you got a grip on your emotions.
Figuring out that you had feelings for someone was shocking enough. That that person was Billy? Billy Russo for god's sake! The very man you had spent so long ignoring and picking on and dreading to see…
Actually, it made perfect sense.
At your place, you slumped onto your couch and closed your eyes. Your options were pretty limited.
You could keep trying to set Billy up with someone. You could step away and tell him you weren’t able to help him anymore. You could confess your feelings.
Nah, that last one was definitely not an option.
You were leaning towards stepping away when a knock at your door made you sit up. It wasn’t late but you weren’t expecting anyone. Especially since you were supposed to be at Billy’s.
Another knock had you standing up and grumbling. You moved over to the door and checked the peep hole to see who it was.
What… Billy?
You opened the door and gave him a confused look.
“What are you doing here?”
He shrugged a shoulder and came in, a brown paper bag under his arm. He set it on your table and started to pull items out of it.
Medicine. He bought medicine for you.
“I wasn’t sure what you were coming down with so I bought half the first aid aisle.”
You looked at the things he had gotten you and you felt your heart to speed up. This man had gone to a store and purchased a bunch of medicine just because you weren’t feeling well. He brought it all the way over to you.
Confession was off the table. And you didn’t think you could try to set him up with someone without feeling like you were breaking your own heart.
That left only one option.
“I can’t help you anymore,” you said miserably as you stared at the medicines on your table.
Billy shifted from foot to foot before he let out a short laugh.
“I uh, okay. Why? Is it because I’m hopeless?”
He wasn’t hopeless. You were. But you didn’t tell him that either.
“I just can’t, okay?” You stood up and pushed past him to open your door once more. “I really want to be alone right now.”
You stared at his back for a moment before you heard him let out a dark chuckle. When he turned around to face you, you couldn’t place the emotion on his face.
“You said you weren’t giving up on me.”
It’s good that a heart breaking didn’t make a sound because you didn’t want to have to explain how much that hurt. Instead you lifted your chin so that you could meet his eyes.
“Please Billy,” you begged softly, holding on to your nerves by the tiniest thread.
He didn’t say anything else. Instead he just gave a harsh nod before he walked through the door, letting it slam shut behind him.
You closed your eyes and sniffled. It wouldn’t do any good to cry. He wasn’t yours to lose. He was just Frank’s friend.
He wasn’t yours. He wasn’t.
------
“Hey Frankie,” you said as you walked into the house and straight into his open arms.
He had taken one look at your face and immediately went into protective mode. You were getting a glimpse of what Lisa would have when she got older and a boy broke her heart.
“Want me to get Maria? This a woman thing?”
You laughed and pulled back, wiping your eyes. The offer was sweet, especially because you knew he would. Except it wasn’t necessary because Maria was hovering in the doorway with a worried look on her face.
“Do we need to cut someone’s balls off?”
“Goddamn woman,” Frank said with half a laugh before he helped you over to the couch, “she always goes for the balls. But seriously, what’s going on? Want me to have a talk with someone?”
That thought made you laugh. Instead you shook your head and tried to take a deep breath.
“I’m just… trying to handle some things and I didn’t want to be alone.”
“You’re always welcome here,” Maria said as she settled down next to you, her hand finding yours immediately. “But please Y/N, you gotta give us something here. We haven’t seen you like this since you and what’s-his-name broke up.”
You didn’t say anything to that. It wasn’t a break up because there wasn’t anything to break, but that’s what it felt like. It was the loss of something. Or the loss of the potential of something.
“A break up? But you didn’t tell me you were dating someone,” Frank accused as he sat on the other side of you. “Who was it? Want me to kick his ass? I’ll grab Bill and we’ll… Jesus, did I break her?”
You were sobbing and you couldn’t stop it. The problem was that you were also laughing because it was just your luck.
You weren’t supposed to fall for Billy. You weren’t supposed to be crying over him. This was all a mistake.
“Frank, why don’t you check on the kids?” Maria gave Frank a pointed look and he stood up, holding his hands up as he left the two of you alone. Once he was out of ear shot, Maria turned to you with a look. “Don’t tell me you slept with him.”
You choked on your own spit for a second before you met her eyes.
“What? No, Maria, no!”
She sighed as she patted your hand.
“Must mean you’ve got it bad,” she said sympathetically.
That made you laugh. You wiped at your eyes and shook your head as you gained your senses back.
“This wasn’t the plan. I wasn’t supposed to fall for him; I was just supposed to help him find someone to love.”
“Well maybe you did,” she said softly as she squeezed your hand. “Maybe you’re the person he’s been looking for.”
You shook your head and looked down at your hands.
“He wasn’t looking for me. He was looking for… god, he probably already has someone in his bed tonight.”
Maria made a face that said that that was a definite possibility. Then she stood up and dusted off her jeans.
“You need to go to him. If he doesn’t have someone, he will at some point. And if he does, he should know how you feel anyways. You have to tell him.” And softer, “He deserves to know. And you deserve to tell him.”
She was right. With a deep breath, you stood up and gave her a quick hug.
“Tell Frank I’ll see him later? And maybe explain what’s going on to him. I don’t think this is what he had planned when he asked me to help.”
Maria laughed and kissed your cheek. And with that, you hurried back to your car.
------
“Where’d Y/N go?”
Maria sat down next to her husband and smiled.
“She’s gone to tell Billy she’s in love with him. And if my theory is correct, he feels the same and will probably be elated by the news. If he doesn’t fuck it up.”
Frank nodded slowly, his eyes widening as he looked at Maria in a new light.
“You planned this. You were the one that told me to ask her to help him.”
She smiled wider and kissed his cheek.
“They are perfect for each other if they can just both get past the bullshit and see it.”
Frank sighed as he thought about his two best friends.
“Might wanna cross our fingers honey. Just in case.”
------
“Please don’t be with someone else, please don’t be with someone else, please don’t be with someone else.”
It was your mantra as you stood outside of Billy’s door. The thought of walking in on him and another girl du jour made a bitter taste fill your mouth.
With the courage instilled in you by Maria, you knocked on the door. And then immediately regretted it.
What would you say if he didn’t feel the same? What if he laughed at you? What if he was disgusted?
The door opened before you had a chance to think of an answer to any of that. Billy narrowed his eyes at you but he opened the door wider for you to come in.
“Thanks,” you mumbled for lack of anything else to say.
You also shot a surreptitious look towards his bedroom but it looked like he was alone.
“Didn't want the guys watching the security camera to think you were a high class escort.”
That made you frown and you turned to look at Billy.
“I look like an escort?”
“I said high class,” he defended as he moved past you and back into his living room.
Like that had been your issue with the comparison. But you ignored it in favor of frowning when you saw the mostly empty bottle of scotch on his coffee table.
“Have you been drinking?”
He shrugged his shoulder as he poured a glass. He offered it to you, but you declined.
“I find it relaxing after one of my friends tosses me to the side like I'm trash.”
You weren't sure which part of that sentence hurt worse—him calling you friends or him saying you treated him like trash.
Eager to wipe that away, you sat down next to him and reached out to grab his hand. He let you have it, even rubbed his thumb against the side of your hand.
“I don't think you're trash Billy; I think you're great. You're amazing really. I love how smart you are. I love that you don’t settle for things. I love that you call me on my bullshit. I love…”
You weren’t ready to say the rest of that sentence. As you took a breath to try again, Billy seemed to get tired of sitting there and listening. He sprang up from the couch, the scotch sloshing in the glass and trickling onto the carpet under you.
“I get it, okay, I get it. I’m not trash, I’m some sort of treasure, right? But still not good enough. Still not enough redeemable qualities to have someone love me.”
Lord, how much had he had to drink? You stormed over to him and grabbed the drink from him. You were about to put it down but you decided to quickly drain it first. Afterwards you put the drink on his coffee table.
He looked shocked but you didn’t focus on that. Instead you took a deep breath and let it all out.
“I love you Billy. That’s why I can’t help you find someone, but I don’t want to see you with someone else. I freaked out and I pushed you away when I should have just told you the truth. I fell for you and I don’t know how you feel about me, but I wasn’t ready to handle my feelings so I pushed.”
Yeah, you had started rambling at one point, but the words were out. No taking those back. You stared at Billy for a mere foot apart and waited to see how the rest of this would play out.
A clock somewhere in the room ticked the seconds by. Tick. Tick. Tick.
Why had you never noticed how annoying that was before?
“Billy, just say something,” you said with a nervous laugh, backing up another foot. “Tell me I’m an idiot. Tell me to leave. Tell me that we’re better off as friends. Tell me that I’m insane for thinking you’d ever feel the same. Tell me–”
Lips crashed against yours and your gasp was swallowed as he tugged you in closer, his hands cupping the back of your head to angle the kiss. You couldn’t help the light moan that came out as you gripped onto his shirt and tugged, your body pressed along his from lips to toes.
He pulled back first and dropped his forehead to yours. You closed your eyes and waited. Waited for him to say that this was wrong, that he didn’t mean it. That he was just trying something.
“Took you long enough,” he complained lightly as he pulled back. At your surprised look, he laughed and shook his head. “Why do you think those other dates didn’t go past one date? You really think I can’t charm someone into at least three dates before they realize it’s not working?”
That… was interesting. But it also meant…
“You slept with someone else. How am I supposed to realize that you… and me… if you’re boinking Exhibitionist Barbie?”
He laughed and tilted your face up to his. He kissed you again, short and sweet and not distracting at all.
Well maybe a little.
“I didn’t realize you were an option. I thought that you were out of my league, that you probably hated me a little. I didn’t think I was anything but a joke to you.”
Oh god. You wanted to laugh. Or maybe cry again.
“So we’re both idiots. This is refreshing.” 
He laughed at that, his hand brushing against your cheek. 
“I love you too. Don’t think I said that yet.”
He hadn’t, but the words made you feel... beyond happy. You leaned into him a little more and laughed as you dropped your forehead to his shoulder. 
“Oh god, we’re going to have to explain this to Frank and Maria.”
His laughter rumbled in his chest and you leaned back to meet his eyes.
“Frank probably won’t need much convincing, but Maria? If she hasn’t already picked out the wedding colors, I’ll give up drinking.”
Your laughter was silenced by another kiss. And you were more than okay with that.
------
Frank grunted as his phone went off. He grabbed it from the side table and flicked open the notification. A smile spread over his lips and he forwarded it to Maria who was in the other room helping Frank Jr with his homework.
He heard her phone ding and then he heard her happy squeal. He shook his head and typed back a response before he put his phone back down.
Those two had finally figured it out.
------
Mission accomplished brother. Think I found the one.
Hold on to that one Bill. She’s a keeper.
X
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nicknederson · 5 years
Text
you know what i want?
a nancy drew reboot of the old mysteries with a modern take similar to the first person perspective of the nancy drew diaries
so anyway i wrote the first chapter of secret of the old clock (edit: chapter two; chapter three; chapter four)
"Can you wash cashmere?"
“Nancy Drew.”
“Don’t yell at me. It was a joke, Bess Marvin.” Not a very good one, I’d admit. But lately, Bess was on edge about her cousin’s upcoming wedding. I could have cracked the best joke of the century and she would have told me she didn’t have time for humor because she had to focus on flower arrangements. I seriously couldn’t even remember what cousin was getting married. But I was being a good friend. Which is why I was here. At the department store. Picking out our rehearsal dinner outfits.
“Nancy, I cannot deal with this right now,” Bess said with enough dramatic flair to star in a school play. That was one of her new favorite words- cannot. I guess can't just wasn't cutting it anymore. "I have a bridesmaid dress fitting in about ten minutes and I'm pretty sure I gained about ten pounds so they're going to be making even more alterations to it!"
"Maybe stop eating your weight in chocolate-covered strawberries," I tried.
"Oh, what do you know?" Bess complained. "Just buy whatever off the rack and you can return it if I don't like it."
"Yeah, I can return it," I said about as dryly as I could manage. "Because I clearly don't have anything else to do with my life." I really didn't. “But Bess, I think you’re taking this a little too seriously. Laura-“
“Lily.”
“Lily probably doesn’t want you stressing this much about the wedding,” I said. “I mean, you’re a bridesmaid. Not the maid of honor.” I had more of my speech. All about how weddings were archaic and really just a means to trap women in a cycle of impossible standards and unnecessary self-punishment.
“Yeah, that’s great, Nancy. Get me something blue. It’ll match my eyes.” And then she hung up. Well, so much for my speech. It was a good one, too. George Fayne- Bess’s cousin who wasn’t the Lily side of the family and my other best friend- would have liked it. Unfortunately, George was up in the mountain for a summer sports camp and could be reached by pigeon more reliably than cell phone. And here I was- shopping for clothes at our sleepy town of River Heights’s only department store right back at home. No big summer plans or schemes of grandeur before school started again.
That said, I couldn't really complain. Summer was supposed to be the best thing in the world when you were sixteen and didn’t have much to do. Plus, I did need to do some shopping for new clothes, anyway. And I had the benefit of my dad being nice and footing the bill for me. I was originally supposed to get a job this summer- something underpaid, underappreciated, and with a silly uniform presumably in the form of a hat shaped like a hot dog-, but that didn’t happen. Simply put, I forgot. There were probably applications buried somewhere in my room.
I would pay my dad back, don’t get me wrong. But for the time being, I preferred the term ‘appreciated’ to ‘spoiled rotten’. Though that term could easily be applied to two girls I happened to spot talking to a sales associate one aisle over. The place that I picked to shop at wasn't exactly high-end, but it obviously wanted to be. And that was also a fitting description for the two girls.
"This is abhorrent," one of them was snarling at the poor sales rep. Both of them looked to be about my age, but this one just looked older. Maybe it was her greasy hair, maybe it was her major overbite- personally, I thought it was both. She was short, stout, and angry in contrast to the rather vapid-looking girl standing next to her with her eyes sort of glazed over. She was rail thin and sort of pretty if you looked at her from exactly the right angle. Potentially on a full moon with the planets properly aligned and an eyepatch over one eye to make her seem further away from you than she was. "Do you know who we are?"
I'll admit it- I was curious. I have this natural inclination to be nosy and it's gotten me into a few weird situations. But I love drama as much as I love intrigue so I was all ears for this conversation. Pretending to peruse a rack of ugly skirts nearby, I expertly eavesdropped on the conversation. "My apologies, Miss Topham," the sales rep sputtered out. "But I was helping someone else until just now and-"
"My sister and I are about to be very rich!" the stout girl spat. I don't think the tall skinny one knew how to use her mouth to form words. "And we will remember how awful your service is when that happens, do you hear me?"
I will also admit to another weakness of mine- I hate watching people get treated unfairly. It was what made me stick up for kids getting picked on on the playground since I could first walk two steps in front of me. And what was happening a few feet away from me definitely looked like bullying. So when the shorter sister sent the sales rep scurrying off to find something for her, I continued to pretend like the ugly skirts were actually the best thing I'd ever seen just to make sure they didn't do something else awful to the poor sales lady. It didn't take very long for them to do exactly that. "What is that?" the short one harped when the sales rep presented her with a dress. "Isabel, have you ever seen something more hideous?"
The dress wasn't bad. It was a cute powder blue slip that had tulle design near the top of it. It was something Bess might like- especially because it was blue. Still, the taller girl- Isabel- nodded fervently to her sister's claim. Keeping an amicable expression was clearly the sales rep's greatest achievement for the day. "Oh, but this is just in off the designers from Paris. It's haute couture." I wasn’t much of a fashion plate, but I could tell that probably wasn’t true. I wasn't going to fault her for trying. She probably made commission.
Still, the stout sister stuck her nose up at it like it were covered in dog poo. "I don't know what that means, but it certainly doesn't mean 'even mildly fashionable'," she threw out before snatching the dress away from the sales rep. "Go find us something else that doesn't make our eyes hurt."
I could tell by the sales rep momentary slip in composure that that was not her usual job. She practically slunk off to do the girl's bidding and didn't look too happy about it in the process. Meanwhile, Isabel peered at the dress with her big, dewy eyes while her sister held it up and sneered at it. "It's not too bad," she whispered, just loud enough for me to hear it from where I was lingering near the ugly cardigans. I don't know why they thought putting them next to the ugly skirts was a good arrangement. "Mama would like it." Isabel's voice was worse than her face- a high, reedy voice that sounded sort of like a kazoo that someone had left in the sandbox.
Her sister checked the price tag on the supposedly 'ugly dress' and scoffed. "It's too expensive. Daddy would throw a fit if we started spending all of old Crowley's money before we even got it." Now that was an interesting sentence. "But we can just make an adjustment." An even more interesting sentence. Coupled with the fact that she reached up one grubby hand to rip some of the tulle on the dress right off had me nearly drop my jaw in shock. "There," the squatter sister cooed, seemingly pleased with herself. She switched back to sour-faced a second later when the sales rep returned with an arm full of dresses. "We've changed our minds. We'll take this one." She pointed to the blue dress in her hands. "But we will not pay full price."
The sales rep looked like she'd just been punched. "But that's one of a kind!" she said, clearly flustered. "It's the only one in the store."
"Well, it's damaged," snapped the stout sister. Isabel just stood by blank-faced. I realized she kind of looked like a ferret. Her sister, on the other hand, was just a plain rat. "We want 25% off."
"But-" the sales rep couldn't even finish her sentence. I couldn't blame her.
"Where is your manager?" the stout sister trilled. "I demand to speak with him."
At that exact moment, a balding man walking by reeled around on his heel- face serious. "I'm the manager," he announced. "What seems to be the problem here?"
The sales rep went pale as the shorter girl peered at the bald man. "Your associate here just tried to sell us a damaged dress at full price," she insisted.
"No, I didn't!" the sales rep yelped. She snapped her mouth shut the moment her manager levelled her with a look. The 'how dare you be rude to this customer' look that every retail worker feared.
"I'm very sorry, miss," the manager said with a bow of his head. "We'll give you a discount if you'd still like the item. And we'll even pay for the damage to be repaired by a top quality seamstress."
From the looks of the dress, it didn't even deserve that much. But while Isabel had a rather self-satisfied look on her face, her sister didn't look like she was done. "One more thing," she said sweetly. Granted, her attempt at 'sweet' reminded me of black licorice that melted on a dirty sidewalk. "You should take the fee for the repair out of her salary." She pointed at the sales rep and the woman visibly looked ready to faint. "It's only fair."
The manager hesitated for a second before he nodded. "Of course-"
I'd had enough. With a funny little hop, I was over to the group in seconds. "Excuse me," I called out. I flashed a smile- hopefully not looking super awkward. "Yeah, hi, I was just over there and saw the whole thing. She-" I pointed to the sales rep, "Did not try to sell them a damaged dress. They-" I pointed to the two sisters who were giving me the evil eye. "Ripped it when she wasn't looking to try and get a discount."
I could tell I was the sales rep's new best friend. And that I was the Topham sisters' new worst enemy. "She's lying!" the short sister shouted. "I would never do something like that."
Figuring she'd say that, I grabbed her wrist- turning it to reveal some small blue strings of fabric on her palm. "You have some fabric on the hand you ripped it with," I provided fluidly. "And you'll see that there is also some on the floor by your feet. Not anywhere else on the floor- meaning that the dress was only ripped and losing threads right around here."
The girl jerked her hand back as her face went bright red. Her sister looked ready to bolt straight out the door. "I don't know who you think you are-"
"Given the evidence," the manager coughed, interrupting them. "I'm going to have to ask you pay for the full price of the dress you damaged."
The short sister looked like her face was going to explode. "I don't want it!" she shouted. Some other shoppers were starting to linger around the spectacle she was making the same way I had. And of course, the manager was quick to notice.
"I'm sorry, but you damaged the dress so you must buy it," he insisted. "And then I have to ask you to never set foot in my store again."
It seemed a little rash, but the short sister's reaction was worse. She straight up threw the dress onto the ground. "I won't buy that! You can't make me!" Then she stormed off- her sister trailing in her angry wake all the way to the door.
Once they were gone, the sales rep gave a sigh of relief. "I can't thank you enough," she told me. "The repair for that would have cut my pay more than half!"
I just stuck with smiling. "It's no problem," I assured her. "If anyone had been around to see how awful they were to you, they'd have done the same thing." That didn't seem to stop the sales rep from looking at me like I’d accessorized with a halo and matching wings that morning.
"Regardless," the manager spoke up, clearing his throat again. "We're still going to have to do something about this dress."
"Wait-" I reached forward a took a hold of the dress to take a look at the tab. "I'll take it."
The manager looked just as shocked as the sales rep did. "But it's damaged," the manager had to remind me.
"It's not too bad," I assured him. I touched some of the ruffles that the shorter Topham had ripped. "I could probably fix it myself."
"Well," the manager huffed. "At least let me give you a complimentary discount. Both for your help in exposing those two young ladies as crooks and for helping Loralei here."
I didn't argue. I just considered it a bonus. As Loralei rung me up with the 50% discount, I couldn't help, but poke my nose even further into other people's business. You know, as I'm wont to do. "Who were those girls anyway?" I asked. "I mean, did you know them?" I’d never seen them in school before over at River Heights High. After that display, I really didn’t want to.
I could tell by Loralei's face that she did. I could also tell she didn't really want to reveal that information. But I just waited patiently until she caved. Despite everything that had just happened, Loralei was still a sales rep- they loved to gossip about customers. "Those were the Tophams. They've been in here before. Ada and Isabel." Knowing that Isabel was the skinny one, I assumed Ada had to be the stout one. It was fitting because I had never heard of someone with a more unfortunate name. Very invocative of covered wagons and long trips overland with plenty of dysentery. "Don't get me wrong, they spend money when they're here so they're technically good customers. But what you just saw was pretty much the standard fare for dealing with those two."
I just nodded along like this was all news to me and I was a completely impartial party. "I think I heard them mention something about an... old man Crowley?" I had, in fact, heard that, but Loralei didn't need to know that.
At the mention of the name, her eyes went wide. "Oh, you're from around here, are you?" I nodded. "I’m from a town over- in Hayworth. It’s been the subject of debate around there for the last few months!" She paused to look around for other customers before leaning across the counter to elaborate. "See, Josiah Crowley was this eccentric old man who lived around here. He never really had a home- always stayed with relatives no matter how distant- but he was supposedly loaded up to the eyeballs. Well, the last family who got stuck with him was the Tophams- Richard and his wife Cora. And when Crowley passed away, they came forward with a will that gave all his properties, money, and stocks to them!" I made the appropriate face so that she knew I found this just as shocking as she did. "Normally, who cares about those sorts of things, but the Crowley will just struck so many people as strange. He wasn't really a big fan of the Tophams. Fact, they hated him up until they found out he was dying and they'd profit from it. But Crowley used to promise a lot of his other- much nicer- relatives that they'd live comfortably after his death." Loralei gave an unaffected shrug. "Those poor people will never see a dime. A few of them were even contesting the will."
"Really?" I didn't have to feign interest now. I was definitely interested in all this talk of a mysterious will. Hayworth was a little town off the side of a little town- that kind of drama was uncommon for such a sleepy place. And I could swear the name Crowley sounded familiar. Not just ‘two seconds ago when I asked about it’ familiar, but ‘I’ve heard it somewhere before, but didn’t pay too much attention to it’ familiar. "Do you think they stand a chance?"
Loralei gave me a level sort of look as the machine spat out a receipt. "I don't think so." She ripped the receipt off and handed it to me. My 'savings' happened to be in the triple digits and I was sure Bess would just love her new rehearsal dinner dress. "Crowley was a weirdo and not all there on a good day. Chances are, those Tophams coerced him into re-writing the will in their favor." She put a manicured finger to her lips. "But you didn't hear that from me."
I smiled back. "Of course not."
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dxmagedrose · 4 years
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GET TO KNOW THE BLOGGER!
Tagged by: my lover @hammurabicomplex​ I’m tagging: anyone and everyone who wants to pick this one up! share with the class if you feel like it! tag me in it!!
PRESENTING. RANDOM DEEP DIVE WITH INDIGO-MUN AT 2AM ;
FIRST NAME Good fucking question… It’s (sort-of) currently Dylann! I was Kieran before that, though; it’s still used as one of my first names and I’m not used to Dylann quite yet bc I’ve just started using it. 
Indigo is one of my middle names though, and I’ve used it as an online handle elsewhere forever so I use it here now!  [ Fun etymology facts: Dylan(n) is a mythology name generally meaning “born of the wave” (aspiring diver & a water witch at heart). Kieran means “little dark one” bc of my love for horror, && I chose Indigo bc as a kid to be it was neither boy (blue) or purple (girl) and was both and neither as well as my absolute favorite color as this vibrant ass mystical color. ]
STRANGE FACT ABOUT YOURSELF hmmmmm…. I’m a horror lover at heart, so as a child (I wanna say 12), I was walking through an antique store (I have a few cool finds, I considered putting my other one as the fact tbh) and I turned the corner and I saw these two dolls staring back at me at the foot of the stairs of this antique building. my blood froze, and i felt my stomach drop. i got actual, physical goosebumps stumbling across these two creepy dolls staring back at me in the corner, and i couldn’t leave the store without them. perhaps the little painted porcelain boy would be somewhat spooky by himself if it wasn’t for the terrifying lidded gaze of the porcelain girl with the hairline fractures and slightly open lips. i cant look at her. i dont really find dolls scary, I like to find the spookier ones ones, and she makes me paranoid as hell. i keep her face covered and her up in my closet except for when i bring her out to show her off proudly as the spookiest thing I have but……. i dont really collect dolls anymore.  even thinking about her brings a fearful tear to my eye.  i don’t like to think about her for very long, but that’s why I’m so fucking proud to own her. ( YES — I’m THAT white person in the horror film )
TOP THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE ON A PERSON hhhhh a beardy jawline, high cheekbones, crooked canine teeth >:3c
A FOOD YOU COULD EAT FOREVER AND NOT GET BORED OF b.l.t.’s with avocado. ahhhh. my mouth is watering just thinking about it, oh my god. just a bit of salt and pepper???
A FOOD YOU HATE barbecue anything, i hate the taste of bbq sauce, you keep your nasty black goo to yourselves at the grill. twice in my life i have presented with barbecue pizza and both times i cried literal tears. why would you do such a horrible thing to a person? what kind of a monster are you? how do you sleep at night?!
GUILTY PLEASURE the sims. constantly. always. i’ve sunk thousands of hours into my households. oh also uhhhhhh i run two 80s horror blogs, one being a shitpost blog with occasional art of mine and one gremlin fanfic ship blog for horrible, terrible self indulgent fanfics i’ll get the courage to finish writing & post so i can be cancelled on tumblr for at some point. NO, i won’t link them. as i pretend they’re even all that hard to find, within a day i was found on both by someone i admire here a lot :’) ilu bby thnk u eternally for supporting ur local horrifying dumbass wtf
WHAT DO YOU SLEEP IN the same clothes i’ve been wearing all day usually, my sweats & long sleeve raglans or my hoodies. i like being cozy day & and out. and ugh. efoort. just throw me in a blanket in a cool room and im out.
SERIOUS RELATIONSHIPS OR FLINGS serious relationships with some openness or poly. i wish i could fling! just not exactly easy for demisexual autistics lmao.
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN THE PAST AND CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU AND WHAT WOULD IT BE I think I would be adopted by my grandma as a kid. It would save me some trauma but mostly I think it would get my autism diagnosed way earlier and save me angsting all these years of wondering why & thinking it’s my fault I’m struggling so much and so loud and affectionate and different in a world that i didnt fit in the same way. 
ARE YOU AN AFFECTIONATE PERSON when i get drunk i text people how much they mean to me in my life. does that answer your question? ahhh. i’m sometimes a cuddle monster with friends, i message people with long texts about how much they mean to me, but I sometimes really don’t like to be touched at all. 
A MOVIE YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN FLYPAPER.  F L Y P A P E R.  FLYPAPER.  FLY, and, I can’t stress this enough, fucking PAPER. ( Though also Whole Nine Yards and both Re-Animator & Bride ). I have watched Flypaper already like, 5 times this week and I’m still not done, and the other movies have been on repeat for days in this household within the last year. In the past it has also been Donnie Darko & the new Nightmare on Elm Street.  roast me.
FAVORITE BOOK White Fang by Jack London. Have I actually ever finished it? No. Do I still own a copy I’ve had since childhood thru multiple dogs eating it, taking it to and from school, and highlighting and circling all the best parts of chapter one ever since I was a kid and it was too hard of a book for me to read? You bet your ass. If I ever need inspiration I just reread chapter 1. Although one of my other favorites was Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes. But White Fang is like, a weirdly personal text. We stan London’s writing in this household.
YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP ANY ANIMAL AS A PET, WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE FENNEC FOX!! I used to daydream about having my own named Shiloh when I was a lil kid. they’re adorable little things and i am obsessed. i mean, gimme any fox and im happy, marble foxes, red foxes… but I was obsessed with fennec foxes. Also tbh ferrets. I want a ferret.
TOP FIVE FICTIONAL SHIPS [IF YOU ARE AN RP BLOG, YOU CAN USE YOUR OWN SHIPS AS WELL] Rosa & @ninetyscnds‘s Luke, Rosa & @iimpulsivity is already screaming my name, Rosa & Constantine, Jesse & Andrea from Breaking Bad, and the joker and harley of 80s sci-fi Dan & Herbert from Re-Ani.  I am but a simple opossum. 
PIE OR CAKE Pie! I’ll take both pumpkin & melty apple over cake. also, cheesecake is more pie than cake soooo, pie wins.
FAVORITE SCENT my dogs / my blanket. :’)  It’s the most grounding smell in the world. 
CELEBRITY CRUSH oliver jackson-cohen, i’m fucking GAY and im angry about it. there i was, minding my own business, and i saw that asshole in a certain SHIRTLESS GIF and it AWOKE SOMETHING IN ME. dont talk to me about it, holy shit im obsessed with beardy men now god fuckkdafjaask i hate him why did he make me this gay i was perfectly fine being into girls but NOOOOOO him and his dumb hairy chest and sweet rugged face and I——  I also am obsessed with the archaeologist & television personality Josh Gates and may or may not be considering making a fan blog for him bc idk if my anthropology docuseries host is Dad or Daddy but i love him lots
IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU GO I would go on a dive with anthropologists and archaeologists doing fieldwork research in the ancient cenotes of the Yucatán Peninsula. My actual dream job, catch me crying & fantasizing about being underwater documenting Mayan skulls given as offerings. Fuckkkk, I love anthropology so much!!  take me anywhere in the world to immerse myself into culture & archaeology.
INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT Introvert. I have a real life friend I see roughly once a month, and that’s it. Plenty of online relationships, I’m chatty, message me all day every day. but i dont do people well.
DO YOU SCARE EASILY I used to! Really bad. I don’t as much anymore. I do get paranoia a lot still. Having therapists telling you that the FBI could be outside your house watching you through your windows will kind of nervous. ( no google results for: yes hello fbi i am a writer please dont put me on watchlists i just have research i need to do for this idea im working on, would you like to try again? ) I have nightmares nightly but not they never make me afraid, they just make me feel like crap. jumpscares and loud noises and seeing people reaching into their pockets dont set off as many brain alarms anymore tho!! progress haha.
IPHONE OR ANDROID I like my android better bc of capabilities but meh
DO YOU PLAY ANY VIDEO GAMES My mom, her husband & I play COD for family game night, and Silent Hill is my life’s blood. I’ve sunken hours into Sims & Skyrim, and Norman Jayden from Heavy Rain is my #1 fictional character in existence, why do i love the druggie babies
DREAM JOB Oh… You’re asking me to pick? I’d love to be an anthropologist doing work out in the field. Underwater archaeology is peak, but I’m also heavily considering being a body recovery diver or police diver. I’d love to see myself in uniform someday, if possible. Just the thought makes me teary eyed & proud.
WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A MILLION DOLLARS fund my person creative & educational endeavors. get myself a spooky ass abandoned house to make my own home to create in, and travel to the world’s best dive sites. just live a mild life of education, creation & exploration. that’s the dream TM.
FICTIONAL CHARACTER YOU HATE dr. hill is a gross and whiny lil bitch this post brought to u by the miskatonic crew, how is everyone here an even worse bad guy than herbert west precious dan excluded talk shit get hit tho john winchester from spn and both walter white & todd from breaking bad are all in my crew of hated characters. i jusT…   the reani novel is difficult to read because i have to deal with this old sack of shit.
FANDOM THAT YOU WERE ONCE A PART OF BUT AREN’T ANY LONGER Supernatural :-)
… AND THIS CONCLUDES A DEEP DIVE WITH INDIGO!! //
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questionable government spies: chapter 13
AYYYY WE RETURN WITH ANOTHER INSTALLMENT OF EVERYONES FAVORITE AUUUUUU
also I wrote this in research class, global issues, and while watching a cowboy movie so sorry if its not The Best
MASTERLIST
_________
ship: eventual sprace, platonic ralbertttt
warnings: mentioned prostitiution or porn or something but its really just a joke kids, Tense Talk, really long words that may or may not be in English, mentioned bad family relations but nothing explicit
editing: nope none at all
words: like maybe 2k
_________
“Okay, say it again but slower this time,” Race said as Spot unlocked the backdoor and ushered them up the stairwell. It was just the two of them, but two blocks away Albert and Jack sat in the van, ready to come at a moments notice.
“The head responded to our email,” Spot said rather unhelpfully. Race was about to press for more information when Spot cut him off. “I didn't read it, I came right to get you guys. I didn't want to, like, set off an alarm or something. I don't understand how tech stuff works.”
Race smirked at his innocence. Spot had much to learn.
“Luckily for you ‘tech stuff’ is basically my job description, so I’ll make sure you don't get blown up or something.” Jack’s voice in his ear reminded Race that as much as he would like to be, he and Spot were not alone right now. He had to be careful.
“Your job description is actually ‘agent in training.’ Race and I just make you do the tech stuff cause we suck at it.”
“I do not suck at it!” Race piped up, feeling the need to defend his honor. “You're the one who got us banned from Uganda because you accidentally sent that email to the wrong person and then on top of it included that attachment with the picture of-”
“Alright I’m gonna stop you there,” Jack interrupted. “I do not need to hear about the porn Albert has on his computer thank you very much.”
“IT WASN'T PORN!” Albert screamed so loud that both Race and Spot winced. “I swear to god you guys are going to get me arrested, all I did was send the wrong spreadsheet!”
“You keep telling yourself that,” Jack mumbled and Race couldn't help but smile.
“And to think,” Spot mumbled. “These are the people who are protecting our country.”
“At least we’re good looking,” Race winked, earning a laugh from both Jack and Albert.
“You do have that going for you yeah,” Spot said casually.
Race stopped dead in his tracks. Did Spot really mean that? Had all of his snow jokes actually paid off? Race could hardly believe it. But, maybe he was just saying that? There was no way of Race knowing, and unluckily for him before he could ask Spot what he had meant they were turning the corner toward Oscar’s office and smack into-
“Checks!” Spot exclaimed, clearly caught off guard. “I was just- we were just… you know, walking to, uh, I was just showing Philip here, the uh, um…”
Albert sighed loudly in Race’s comms. “Dear god, please shut him up.”
“You’ll have to excuse him,” Race said, rolling his eyes for extra emphasis. “Spot was just showing me how to give someone a concussion using a shoelace and a rubber band and I think he might have taught me a little too well, if you're picking up what I’m putting down here.”
“Not exactly what I had in mind but okay that works.”
“Yeah Spot’s one of our top fighters,” Checks said, immediately warming more up to the the story now that Spot wasn't the one who was talking. “But he’s not the best teacher so I’m not surprised that his tactics backfired.”
“Yeah,” Race laughed. Spot, to his credit, managed to look dazed and confused.
“Oh and boys,” Checks said over her shoulder. “You didn't hear this from me, but I may have heard from Oscar that we’re getting assigned another mission tomorrow, so be sure to arrive on time.”
“We will!” Race called as Checks flounced down the hallway away from them.
“I don't like her very much,” Jack said, but his comment was overpowered by Spot.
“REALLY?” He whisper shouted, shoving Race into the wall. “I would never  get a concussion! My heads too thick!”
“Well that's for sure,” Race snickered and Spot glared at him, putting his hands on either side of his shoulders.
Spot continued to glare at Race, unmoving from his slightly seductive position.
“So, pretty boy,” Race ventured. “You plan on moving? Or are we gonna canoodle here all day? Cause I’m down with either, but I wouldn’t object to a little good old-fashioned canoodling…”
Thankfully, Albert and Spot had the sense to stay silent for once.
“You better watch it Phillip,” Spot spat. And then, as if realizing how close they were, slowly backed away.
They walked down the hall in silence for a few hundred feet, the awkward tension hovering thickly in the air making Race’s heart beat in excitement, until they reached Oscar’s office.
“Alright so he’s out at a manager meeting or something,” Spot said, “but I still think Vincent and Bow should check the cameras and stuff just in case.”
“On it,” Jack mumbled through the line. Then, a few minutes later, “all clear.”
Spot and Race entered the room and Spot sat down in front of the computer, opening the email in question after getting the all clear from Jack.
Race leaned over Spot’s shoulder, enjoying the scent of his cologne as he read the email out loud for Jack and Albert to hear.
“00171,
Bemuzzles chemosynthesis x1 conversationalists fizzy jazzily a deconstructionists fuzz parasympathomimetic x2 hypercholesterolemia bioluminescence x3 thyroparathyroidectomized unprepossessing antiauthoritarianisms comprehensibleness x4 whizzbang paleontologist ultraconservative buckminsterfullerenes chazzanim chlorofluorocarbon psychophysicotherapeutics xy5 schnozzle x6 i acetylcholine x7 anthropomorphous razzmatazzes a chemosynthesis antidepressant zigzagged characteristic jejunum x8 buckminsterfullerene discombobulated x9 plasmodesmata jujus zanza oophorosalpingectomy x10 clinicopathologically alphanumerically x11 carboxymethylcelluloses frizzling counterdemonstration zyzzyvas x12 i quinquennium crackerjacks x-”
“Did you just say crackerjacks?” Albert interrupted, much to Race’s relief because his tongue was getting twisted from all the big, fancy, probably-not-english words.
“Yeah I think so?” Race squinted at the screen. “I’m not really sure what I’m reading at this point.”
“I want some crackerjacks.” Albert said unhelpfully. “They slap.”
“I once cracked my tooth on a crackerjack,” Spot added as he printed out the email.
“My older brother proposed to his girlfriend by putting a ring in a box of crackerjacks,” Race said without thinking before quickly shutting his mouth and shaking off the memory. Spot noticed and gave him a suspicious glance, but said nothing, which Race was thankful for.
“You know, that's great and all, but I would really appreciate it if you guys printed that email and came back to the van so that I can start solving that code cause it sounds like its gonna take a hot minute.”
“Hold your horses ear boy,” Race said, grabbing the email off of the printer with a flourish. “We’ll be there in two wags of a ferrets tail.”
•••
“I’m pretty sure that that was longer than two wags of a ferrets tail,” Jack exclaimed, throwing down the poker cards he was holding, Albert following suit, albeit begrudgingly.
“How would you know how fast a ferret can wag its tail hmmmmm?” Race said, fanning himself with the printed email. “Does your uncle own a ferret farm like mine does?”
“You have an uncle?” Jack asked, reaching for the paper as Race held it above his head out of Jack’s reach.
“Doesn’t everyone?” Race asked, whacking Jack on the head lightly with the papers, but giving them to him all the same. Jack stalked off toward his work station and began mumbling to himself about code. Meanwhile, Race sat down and picked up Jack’s forgotten cards. “I can’t believe you started a game of poker without me!” he exclaimed.
“We didn't,” Albert said, flicking a card at Race. “Those are Uno cards you dumbass.”
Race flicked over his cards in disbelief, opening his mouth to say something but he was cut off by Spot.
“So,” Spot was saying, sitting down on the floor of the van slowly. “Do you, like, live here?”
“Who, me?” Albert asked.
“Yes you.”
“Why are you asking?” Albert crossed his arms.
“You just seem like the kind of guy who would live in a van.”
“What’s it to you?”
“You have weird energy. I don't like it.”
“‘Weird energy’?”
“Yeah,” Spot’s eyes narrowed. “You're hiding something.”
Race’s eyes flicked back and forth between the two men. Obviously, Spot was prone to not trusting people because of his line of work, and Albert did have a lot of secrets, but Race had always trusted him. He had never had any reason not to. Unless- no, he had just met Spot. He wasn't letting him trick him into not trusting his best friend.
“We all hide things,” Albert said matter of factly, but Race could tell from the slight tremor in his hand that he was nervous.
“Of course we do,” Spot said, looking down at the floor, his eyes unmoving from the space between his feet as he sat in silence.
Race, unsure of what to do chose this opportunity to whistle very loudly and very very offkey until Albert shot him a look. Then he began obsessively shuffling the cards again and again.
Finally, Jack let out a yell of excitement. “I GOT IT!”
“That was fast,” Race said, moving over to make room for Jack. “What does the email say?”
“Aaaaahemmmm,” Jack dramatically cleared his throat. “0071,
In regards to your inquiry, I am planning to meet up with all of my heads on the 14th of december. Location is yet to be determined. I have some new information relating to our upcoming changes that will be revealed at this time. More details to come.
6197”
“Well then,” Spot said, suddenly materializing over Race’s shoulder. “Guess we gotta mark our calendars.”
“Indeed we do,” Albert said, standing up. “In the meantime though, the three of us will look more into this, and you can keep us updated on any weird happenstances with the gang. But for now, your services are no longer needed.” He tipped his snapback toward Spot in mock gratitude. “Good day.”
Spot winked at Race and nodded to Jack before opening the van door and climbing out wordlessly.
“‘Good day’?” Race snickered as he and Albert climbed into the front seats. “What are you, Australian?”
“Well, Australia doesn’t exist and neither do I so…”
“That's true!” Jack shouted, moving to the back to secure his belongings.
Albert took the opportunity to whisper something to Race. “You mentioned your family twice today, is everything alright?”
Race winced, he had known this was coming. “Yeah yeah everything’s fine. I just don't like being back here with them so close ya know? It’s screwing with my head a little.”
Albert seemed to accept this answer because he did not ask any more questions.
“What about you?” Race asked. “What was that with Spot?”
“I don't know,” Albert admitted. “That was weird.”
“Yeah,” Race looked down at his lap, almost afraid to ask the next question. “So, what do we do about him?”
“Continue as planned, I guess,” Albert sighed. “We just gotta be really careful. I don't want anything to happen to you.” He placed his hand on Race’s knee as he pulled out of the parking lot and Race covered it with his, a silent promise that he intended to stay safe.
After all, it was them against the world, and not even a dumb, although very hot looking, gang member would come between them.
_________
YEETTTT
this is actually a decent one, lotsa Important Stuff 
were finally getting to the plot!!
also yes there was an actual code I made and if any of you can figure it out you'll get the Snerkle Award Of Honor
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